|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 12:50 pm
With a dramatic sigh, he flopped into the shade of a boulder, curling up in the cool, long grass that grew there, burying his face into his paws. It smelled of earth in this spot, and that comforted him in his unease. Had he been more of a baby, he might have cried from his loneliness, but he knew that Loki wouldn't have appreciated that in him. She wanted him to be strong, like her, or what sort of pair did they make? He grumbled and put a paw over his nose, rolling somewhat onto his side until he could turn his back against the glare of the sun in the distance, putting himself entirely in shadow. Master of sulking.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 1:25 pm
Alcmene loved her siblings, there was no questioning that- but she was always, always on the lookout for more friends. It was a personal quest of hers, though she had her sister and brothers and had met that other young lioness.. she would have to know everybody eventually, but she hadn't come to that realization yet. She was out walking on her own for the afternoon, scrambling around trying to entertain herself as she went along. She might not have noticed Fafnir as she skipped along by him if not for his bright mane.
Once he caught her attention, too, she wasn't going to back down. Smiling brightly she turned and jogged over to him, "Hey there!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 1:44 pm
He almost sighed at the sound of the voice, knowing instantly by the sound of the approach (it was far too joyful to be Loki) and the tone of voice that it wasn't his sister. His mother had always taught him, however, that he shouldn't be rude. She was a lady of great merit, his mother, and he hated disappointing her more than Loki, even if it was in a different manner.
With a bit of a frown on his mug, he pushed himself up, his back still towards the other, and then turned around to face her. Undoubtedly, the motions probably made the strange wing markings along his back flex - they always caused some stir of interest from adults. His pale eyes drifted towards the younger female where she stood, head tilting slightly as he drew himself up a little and forced his sulking mood down a bit. "Hi," he said slowly, watching her. He thought she was one of the royal cubs, though he wasn't sure. His mom had pointed them out to him once, to make sure he knew them - she was always very adamant about these things.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 2:09 pm
The heiress was used to others recognizing her, or at least thinking they did. And sometimes she too made connections between which lions looked like other lions she'd seen, and this happened to be one of those times. You'd never think so by colors, but otherwise he reminded her a lot of one other cub she'd met- Aza'ryuu. She had wing markings, though they were feathery, and had had the funny .. speckly stripe (or so she called it, for now) thing down from her nose to her tail. How unusual that they would share such distinctive markings but look so completely different. Maybe she would ask.
"I'm Alcmene," she introduced herself politely, "Who're you?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 2:50 pm
"Fafnir," he said his tail flickering slowly behind him as he hesitated, "I'm.. Mwezi'Mtoto and Malkia's son." He wasn't sure if that would mean anything to her or not, but his mother had told him it was polite and proper to introduce himself that way. It was easier when Loki was with him - she usually just introduced them both.
He shifted, slightly, suddenly uncomfortable in the presence of the other. He didn't meet new cubs often, especially not without his sister, and without her guidance he wasn't sure what he was supposed to be doing. "I, uhm, you're the.. king's daughter, aren't you?" That seemed like an okay question to ask, he thought. He hoped it wasn't rude, or his mother might reprimand him for it later.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 3:03 pm
If the heiress had not already been used to being known as the king's daughter, she might have been somewhat confused by his decision to mention who his parents were. The names were familiar, but other than that they meant very little to her personally. She smiled, though, not wanting to be rude either. She didn't get to say anything else before he asked about her parents, as she was distracted by his uneasy behavior.
"Yeah- er-" she was about to correct herself and say 'yes' but she had no need to be super formal with another cub, right? She puffed up playfully instead, "That's me! Well, and Miakoda too but she's not here right now." The cub looked around as if for confirmation before looking back to Fafnir and nodding.
"It's nice to meet you, Fafnir."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 3:09 pm
Her lack of formality wasn't exactly rude to him, but he did find it a little odd. His mother wasn't precisely strictly formal, but she had fed him certain rules to the point that he simply expected certain things from certain lions. He supposed he didn't really know what to expect from the king's daughter, but it really wasn't this. She was just so.. carefree. It was really a relief.
"Miakoda is your sister then?" he said with a weak smile, though he had relaxed a small fraction as they stepped into a territory of conversation he knew how to relate to. "I have seven sisters," he said with a very soft, shy laugh. Then, as if thinking better of it, he hesitated. "Well, Rin is adopted, but she's still my sister."
He dipped his head a little, his smile weak, but noticeably there. "It's nice to meet you too, Alcmene." Having company was almost enough to ebb away the feeling of loneliness that came when Loki was gone. Maybe this would be good for him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 3:16 pm
Alcmene did not yet care what others thought of her. She was cheerful, friendly and eager to please (and impress, on occasion). She noticed a very slight change in his demeanor, and took that to be a very good sign. She nodded again when he made the logical leap as to who Miakoda was.
"Yes," she said, and blinked in surprise when he said he had seven sisters. She knew the large litter, knew of it at least, so she wasn't too surprised. They were, after all, the majority of the lions in the pride around her age. "Wow, that's a lot of sisters. I only have one sister, and two brothers. Just me, Mia, Taigi and Erion!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 3:28 pm
Her cheerfulness was certainly influencing, because the longer he sat there with her presence radiating like that, the easier it seemed to be for him to talk. His posture relaxed a little (though it still remained as polite as one might expect from an older cub) and the smile on his maw widened a little. He was still shy, and a little hesitant, but it wasn't as awkward as it had first been.
The blink of surprise didn't seem to phase him in the slightest - he knew all to well that he had a lot of sisters and that their litter, including he and his brother, was very large. "I have a brother too, but if I listed off all their names it would take forever." He smiled and shook his head, his tail flickering behind him. His smile faltered a little, and he glanced down at the ground, finding the silence between them for a moment. It was unsettling, and he immediately grappled for something to ease it. "One of my sisters is, uhm, my twin," he said, hesitating, but his smile came back a little as he brought Loki into the conversation - that would make her happy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 3:44 pm
"One brother and seven sisters," she said, putting it all together. Their family sounded like it would be very, very busy. That was twice as many cubs as in her family, and then of course Fafnir didn't count himself so there were more than twice the number. It sounded busy but also like it'd be fun.. and interesting. Maybe her family would be that big eventually, maybe her mom and dad would have more cubs! She had no idea how it worked yet, but she figured it had to be possible. Daddy had an older brother, after all. She wasn't sure how much older though.
"You have a twin?" she repeated, sounding very curious, "What's the like? You look like a girl?" She almost giggled, not meaning it how it sounded and her tone was not malicious in any way.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 4:11 pm
Sometimes he wished their family was a little smaller, if only because it really was really busy. There were two parents to care for all of them, and Rin really did try to help, but sometimes it only made things worse. He didn't even want to think about the fact that some day his mom and dad might have more cubs - that thought would have been terrifying.
"Yes, I have a twin." He knew that was more strange to people than the fact that their litter was so big - twins were really rare. Her words made him stop though, his mouth forming into a frown and his brow furrowing. It wasn't offensive exactly, but he supposed that he really did look like a girl. After a minute, he managed a small laugh, shrugging his shoulders and making his wing markings flex again. "That, or maybe she looks like a boy?" He laughed again, and let his tail flicker as he thought about it. "It's nice, having her. I'm usually with her all the time, but today she went somewhere without me. We're closer than the rest of our siblings are - mom thinks it's some special twin.. bond." He couldn't explain it, but he had to agree, and by the look on his face it was obvious he thought so.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 7:22 pm
She looked surprised when he turned her comment around on his sister looking like a boy, and she laughed along with him. That was very true too! It didn't take a lot to realize that adults lions and lionesses looked differently, but for now the differences would have been minimal. Or so she assumed from her own knowledge of cubs, boys were a bit fuzzier and got more and more fuzzy as they grew.
"Maybe," she said, agreeing with a final small laugh. When he continued to describe how it was having a twin, she listened intently, curious about the whole situation. It would be odd having someone who looked just like you, but did that really make them so different from your other brothers and sisters?
"Twin bond," Ally repeated, making an exaggerated thoughtful face, "What's that mean exactly? Why is she different from all your other sisters?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 7:30 pm
He was very aware of how much attention she was paying him as he tried to explain the bond he and his sister shared. It made him self-conscious and he fidgeted a little, staring down at his paws again and narrowing his eyes a little on his toe markings. He wasn't used to anyone paying attention to only him - usually it was shared between he and his sister whenever they talked to anyone, and most of it was usually on her.
"Well," he attempted, clearing his throat a little in an attempt to make his voice a little louder and not so weak, "mom says it's just something special we share. I don't know what it is exactly." He shrugged a bit and forced himself to look back up at her - it was rude to look away from someone when one was talking. "I love all my sisters, and my brother too, but Loki is my very best friend at the same time. I feel better when I'm close to her, and when she's away.. I get sad." He frowned a little at that, but pushed the thought away. It was odd, talking about this, because he had never had to actually voice the feelings about the bond before, at least not to anyone but his mother. Doing it with someone that might as well have been a stranger was a bit odd, to say the least.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 7:39 pm
Alcmene was used to attention, but so far it had not gotten to her head. Instead, she seemed as interested in others as they sometimes seemed in her- as if that was naturally how it was supposed to be. She didn't have anything this interesting to talk about, though! She didn't know of any other twins, so this was a very unique situation.
She nodded when he said he loved all of his siblings, understanding that and agreeing without any question. She was with him until he described how he felt when he was around Loki. That explained why he was being so shy and why he was so sad looking when she first stumbled upon him.
"Why'd she go somewhere without you now, then?" she asked curiously, looking around as if Fafnir's double would just appear.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 8:02 pm
He knew that his mood was probably easy to see, but there wasn't much to do about it. At least, now that he was talking to her, he wasn't curled up into a ball and sulking. Loki probably would have been irritated if she had come back to find him like that - not that she hadn't before, so she wouldn't have been surprised by it in the least.
"Why?" he asked, blinking slowly, as if someone would be able to tell him the answer that he was supposed to give her. With a bit of a sigh, he shifted his paws uncomfortably, then glanced up at her pale eyes with his slightly brighter ones. "Well, I don't really know, but my mother says that it's because even she needs to.. have her own space sometimes. She says that we can't be together always." He knew, on some level, that it was true. There had to be more than just the two of them. He frowned, pawing at the soft earth and then offered her a smile. "I guess she's right." He knew she was, but that didn't change the fact that he felt like being a big blubbering baby until Loki came back.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
