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 Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 11:23 am
As the sun set, usually the moon could be seen rising but no sun had lit its passage through the sky so waking up there was no moon to say goodbye to. At least none that anyone could see. But Aureole still felt the feeling of the Great Spirit with her and thus knew it was still there, silent and invisible but there. She stood a bit away from the dens watching the sun rise. She had been quite restless of late.
It had been sometime since the first of Unyezi and Aureole's midnight adventures and it had made everything different in so many ways. Some of it was bad - her muscles ached occasionally for what to her seemed like no good reason. At other times, she would find herself out of breath after a meager walk. Her appetite was ferocious that she found herself hunting more just to sate it. Maybe all her exertions were catching up with her after all. But it had also done some good in that she didn't feel so distant from Unyezi and their meetings were much less awkward than they had the habit of being. It made her feel almost as if she had been hiding behind a shell for much of her time. Although she wasn't quite sure what the shell was or what exactly broke it.
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Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 11:51 am
Like Aureole, Unyezi had experienced quite the improvement in his mood in the last couple weeks. Feeling closer and less awkward with Aure, he was finally feeling fully settled in. He'd become slightly more awkward with another friend, but then Dinaledi seemed to be distancing himself a bit nowadays. Ah well, there wasn't much reason to dwell on that for now- his daily life was settling well enough into a reasonable routine. Stability, it was nice. He had noticed Aure's odd behavior, but made very little of it.
The nights around the full moon were never Unyezi's favorite times, without the Great Lion watching them so carefully it seemed the time they were most vulnerable, though rarely now did something seem to go awry.
Waking in the morning without Aure in the den was not terribly surprising, and Unyezi took it as his cue to get up for the day. With a yawn and a stretch, the king stepped into the slowly brightening outside and looked around to his mate. Spying her not too far away, he walked over to greet her, smiling.
"Good morning," he commented when he was within earshot.
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Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 3:34 pm
Aureole looked over her shoulder at him, smiling. "Good Morning," she sang. "Did you sleep well?" Not that there was anything especially abnormal to prevent him from sleeping normally. It was simply just a polite question to ask with general concern. It was also an opening to a conversation.
She shifted her weight gently to keep the weight she was putting on from getting caught uncomfortably. Aureole gestured to the space beside her for him to sit.
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Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 3:37 pm
"I did, and I'll sleep better now that the new moon's passed," he commented cheerily, meaning nothing particularly odd by it. It was the simple fact that things were always that much happier seeming when you could see the moon. "How about you?" he asked politely, taking a seat by her side as she gestured.
"You are up rather early," he pointed out.
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Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 8:24 am
She smiled at him as if he should know better by now. "Well usually I'm up all night and only snag a few hours of sleep. Only natural the days I don't, I wake up too early. Plus I have some things to ponder." She looked away to hide a slight nervousness she was feeling, not sure if it was visible on her face. "If I was a recorder, it'd probably be a little easier."
He needed to be told but she wasn't even quite sure if it was true, herself. She hadn't spent much time around other lionesses in situations similar to hers - physically, she meant. So it was easy enough to say that at the moment, she was a bit lost.
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Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 8:44 am
"I suppose so," he agreed with a small shrug, though he wasn't giving up his opinion so easily, "But it's usually up through the night, not waking up early in the morning." Unyezi smiled, tilting his head curiously when she said she was pondering some things- especially when she said it'd be easier if she was a recorder.
"What kind of information would a recorder have that you don't?" he asked with a small chuckle, "You're the smartest lioness in the pride."
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Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 8:59 am
She shuffled just a bit, nervously. "Well I'm just trying to trace something back to the start of it. But then again, I'm not even sure if it's what I think it is. I'm sure that a recorder ...or maybe even one of the other priestesses could tell me quicker than I can even think." She was sure he could help but she was also slightly afraid to say anything, especially if it wasn't what she thought it was. Because telling him would just be exciting him and didn't want to let him down if it wasn't.
She pressed her cheek and that whole side of her face into his mane. "But thanks for the support." Against his fur was comforting and could help soothe her thoughts. But it was also very distracting.
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Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 9:06 am
He didn't seem terribly convinced by her anxiety or her answer about it. Aureole was always reasonable and smart about things, maybe she was trying too hard or hadn't gotten enough sleep- though that was almost impossible to imagine, she wasn't a big sleeper, she'd already pointed that out once.
Unyezi smiled and snuggled against her when she leaned into his mane, "It has to be something really strange or confusing if you can't figure it out. Anything I can help with? I'm not as smart as you, but sometimes another perspective can help."
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Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 9:42 am
As she had previously told herself, to tell him what she suspected could potentially not be good. She had the feeling that if she told him, whatever he felt, he would feel in excess. She sighed because although she was afraid to tell him, she also wanted to share it with him. After all, he'd appreciate knowing if it was true, he had been around her enough to know, and the telling of it would just be like a weight off of her shoulders. "I think I might be pregnant," she murmured, half-hoping the words would be lost in his fur. She felt anxious then like a knot in her stomach waiting for his reply. For the moment, she didn't know what she wanted, much less what she wanted him to think as though the words had hexed her.
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Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 9:51 am
Unyezi had put very little thought into cubs outside of the conversation with Ledi, it'd only really made him defensive because the youth had been acting like he knew not only what was best for the pride but what was best for Aure and Unyezi as a couple. And despite the night in the mountains, he really hadn't thought more about it. He was caught completely off guard when she finally spoke up.
Pregnant?
Momentarily tensing at the word as the meaning sunk in, he came quicky to the conclusion that being so unresponsive was probably not a good way to be about this.
"Pregnant?" He repeated finally, "From- from-- really?"
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Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 9:59 am
Aureole flustered, blinking and using his mane as a shield almost. She wasn't quite sure if his question of disbelief was a good response or a bad one. "Well I... I don't know," she stuttered. It was what she had been trying to put together after all. She felt the knot in her stomach tighten before realizing she hadn't been breathing. Aureole was used to rationalization and logic but her thoughts were so jumbled and her emotions relatively uncontrollable. It made trying to come to an affirmative conclusion so difficult that it was troubling. It was why she had wanted to see a priestess about it but at the same time, afraid to.
She sighed to try and recollect herself, pulling away so that she could actually see his face. Aureole knew that running from things did her no good.
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Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 10:13 am
As the idea of him and Aure actually having cubs sunk in, the fact that he and his best friend would be parents together.. they'd been closer than ever lately, certainly it felt more possible than ever. The moon was the last thing to come to mind, instead he was struggling between excitement and concern over the general idea, and then her uncertainty about it.
"How would you know for sure?" he asked, moving around a bit so he could look at her despite the fact she was almost hiding in his mane.
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Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 10:20 am
She sighed and looked up at him. "That's the thing. I don't. I just know that I've been eating more, I can't concentrate half the time. Sometimes... sometimes I'll just be walking and find myself out of breath. I mean, it might not be that but, I mean, I just don't really know what it is. Just kind of have to cover all my bases, I guess," she replied. "I mean, I suppose it's not all that likely that that one moment could be... well, successful in such a way." Oh goodness, she hated feeling nervous like this.
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Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 10:28 am
Unyezi listened to her description of her symptoms, wondering what on earth those things could all mean if not something like this. They both obviously agreed it was possible, they were smart enough to know how this came about even if they'd never experienced such a thing themselves before. If their mothers were here they would certainly have known if she was right or not, it wouldn't have taken them any thinking. He didn't suppose it would be a good time to mention something like that.
So few in the pride had had cubs before, there really only seemed to be Nerit and Malkia now. Mitsuki dealt with pregnancy all of the time, though, she might know something, might be able to help.
"I don't know what else it could be," he commented quietly, not wanting to be terribly pessimistic but only seeing those being potential if Aure was ill and she hardly seemed 100% sick, "You haven't changed much lately, have you? I mean, you don't look unhealthy or anything.."
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Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 10:57 am
She forced a smile, just the very ends of her mouth upturned. "Yeah, that's the thing. I don't have any actual symptoms of a sickness. None that are normally associated with sickness anyway." She looked around awkwardly. "Well, I mean, I suppose it's a good thing? I mean we were supposed to reach this stage eventually anyway, right? Assuming that's what this is, of course."
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