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 Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 2:17 pm
Fafnir let out a low growl and shut his pale eyes against the world around him, curling up closer against the cool stone of the den wall beside him. It was dusk, but most of his family was gone, probably out to look at the moon for a while before it got too late. Not that he particularly minded the alone time. He had been getting quite a few disappointed looks from his parents as of late and some of his sisters had been quite huffy with him. Any time he didn't actually have to deal with them right now was a blessing. He supposed he should probably be looking for his own den soon anyway, but he hadn't had the time to think about that with everything else that wasp plaguing his thoughts.
All he wanted was for life to go back to some semblance of normalcy. He would devote himself to his training, ignore the growing ache in his heart, and be a loyal servant to Ally like he should have been. She would mate someone of a proper rank, have cubs, and make her pride happy. And he.. He didn't know what he would do. Even the thought of her with someone else made him seethe inwardly and made his eyes sting, he didn't know if he'd ever have enough room in his heart or his head to think about anyone else the way he did Ally. With a sigh, he tried to push these thoughts away, opening his eyes to stare at the wall opposite him, as if he might find some sort of answer in the blank rock.
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Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 6:13 pm
Badiri had had a busy day, spending his time on duty patrolling near the borders and other busy and popular areas of the pride. As a guard, he'd come to know much more about the pride's territory, about where everything was. But he also was able to assess patterns in how often these places were busy, what times they were busy, which sides of the border were most active.. he was learning a lot. His day had been spent wandering back and forth from these busy areas, circling certain parts of the territory and eventually it was time for him to go home. He too was thinking about where to settle into a den of his own, but for now he was more than happy to stick it out at home.
When he reached the den, it was apparent he was one of the first to return for the night. He might have guessed the first, but he soon saw his brother seemingly staring down a wall. He stepped closer, stopping several feet away, just staring.
"Tsk tsk," he hummed, "You look terrible, Fafnir."
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 5:18 pm
The voice that greeted him was one he certainly could have done without a while longer. He wanted peace and quiet just a little longer, thus he could have kept on wishing none of his family came back to the den for a long while, perhaps least of all Badiri. As much as he loved his brother, he did have a grumpy demeanor at the best of times and for some reason, the thought of this combined with his current mood didn't paint a pretty picture for Fafnir. He probably deserved whatever he was about to get, though. He was pretty sure of that at least.
"Don't remind me," he finally muttered with a soft groan, tearing his eyes away from the wall ahead of him and leaning back his head against the wall behind him instead. He rolled his eyes up and away from where he had been staring, the pale orbs locking onto the more golden ones of his brother's. "I'm not sleeping real well," he shrugged as he said it, as if it were a perfectly reasonable excuse. He didn't doubt that every last one of his siblings knew the real reason though, if one of them knew. News in the family traveled fast and his parents didn't exactly do much to stop it, at least now when they were of the opinion that any punishment was well deserved.
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 5:28 pm
Badiri loved his family, he enjoyed his life and accepted his place well enough. There would always be a part of him who was jealous of what Fafnir had managed to accomplish, fair and square even, or would have if he weren't such a moron. But even he was understanding and accepting, it was surprising that of anybody who might sabotage Fafnir in a competition for the love of the queen.. that it turned out to be Fafnir himself. He fought the urge to roll his eyes at his brother's excuse, shaking his head. He didn't know much about any of this, but he'd have to do something, say something.
"I can't imagine why," he said lightly, taking a seat and turning so he could see outside and around them as much as he could see Fafnir, "Finally got rid of that ridiculous girl off your back, you should be sleeping better." He made no effort to even pretend he didn't know what had been happening, and he was perfectly comfortable speaking the way he did about the queen- she wasn't here, no one of a higher class was here. Just them, two middle class lions who could say whatever they wanted to each other.
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 5:41 pm
As far as his family went, they'd all done their fair share of giving him glowers and glares, huffs and sighs, eyerolls and head tosses. None of them, however, had said one cross word to him about this so far, not a solitary thing, as if it wasn't worth their time to tell him how much of an idiot they all thought he was. That had suited him perfectly fine, as he didn't need them agreeing with the thoughts in his head. It seemed, however, that Badiri was about to take it upon himself to break that vow of silence on the matter, and it couldn't have been at a worse time.
"She's not ridiculous," he seethed immediately, dropping his gaze away from his brother and staring at the floor of the den as if it might catch fire. His brow furrowed into a deep 'v', the frown on his maw deepening. He might not be a part of Ally's life anymore, at least as far as he was concerned, but that didn't mean he had to sit by and listen to people talk badly about her. He sincerely hoped that wasn't what Badiri was about to do, he didn't have the energy or willpower, or whatever it was for this. "I slept just find when she was around, thanks," it was said almost childishly, in a snarky way.
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 5:48 pm
"I don't know about that," Baddie responded with a shrug, still keeping his tone light and conversational, still sounding like it wasn't that big of a deal, "She's started talking to this little bird, you know. A bird, not even a nice, useful, big one. It's smaller than my paw and can't even fly as far as I can tell." As a guard, Badiri saw a lot of what generally was going on in the pride- and he had particular interest in how Alcmene was reacting because he knew how Fafnir was reacting. It was the truth when he implied he thought she lost her marbles, carrying around a little bird like she did. But then he didn't blame the bird for the lost marbles, either.
"Maybe that's true," he commented on the sleep issue, decidedly leaving out an argument against it relating to all the trouble they'd got themselves into in the past.
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 5:53 pm
"What does her talking to a bird have to do with anything?" he grumbled, bringing his eyes up again and narrowing them on Badiri. Ally was really nice, she liked to talk to everyone, and if she had decided that this little bird was nice, well, then why couldn't she talk to it? He clenched his jaw a bit as he watched his brother, trying to decipher just what he was getting at. He certainly wasn't trying to imply that she was crazy because she was talking to a bird, was he? Hell, Fafnir knew he'd done much worse in his life - like make up a story about walking, talking, giant rock turtles that caused earthquakes.
"Shut up Badiri," he muttered, pushing himself up into a sitting position, instead of lying down now. He was too restless to lie down anymore, he needed to.. do something. "You have no idea what you're rambling about anymore," he looked away and out the exit of the den, as if one of their siblings might stumble along and rescue him from this conversation. Not likely, not with all the bad karma he'd collected.
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 6:00 pm
"It's just kind of weird," he explained with another shrug, "Don't see many lions doing it. Nothing wrong with it, I guess, if a bird's the only friend you can keep." Badiri's main plan seemed to be to insult Alcmene until Fafnir snapped, but this also had the benefit of pointing out how ridiculously lonely she must be. He never saw her with any lions when it wasn't official business, anyway, but he had other things to worry about so maybe he didn't really know. What he did assume, though, was at least making Fafnir more verbal about his misery.
"What's the matter, Fafnir?" he said, not good at faking offense so his tone didn't change, "I'm trying to agree with you, you're better off!"
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 6:24 pm
He could feel the muscles in his jaw tightening as his brother kept on babbling away about how strange Ally was, and how she didn't have any friends. He was growing angry with him, but so too was he growing angry with himself. It was his fault she didn't have any friends because he had been her best friend, but had been wasn't was. That was no longer his position. "She's just going through some rough times right now, Baddie," he said, though his anger made it come out in a near-growl, "give her a break." He honestly couldn't blame her for not wanting to talk to anyone. Hadn't she said they had all started treating her differently? All of them, including him.
"I'm not better off!" he finally growled out, pushing himself up to his feet and turning to look down at his brother. "That's not even the point of what I'm doing, so you're not agreeing with me at all," he was shouting, for perhaps one of the first times in his life, but he could barely control it. He was tired, upset, feeling sorry for himself. "This was never about me, it was about what's best for her!"
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 6:33 pm
Badiri stopped talking now and kept his yellow eyes on his brother as he slowly watched him snap. Fafnir never seemed to have a temper, that he was so angry about this now was a good indication of what he wasn't acknowledging. He only hoped this would not ultimately make it worse, he was doing his best to indicate that Alcmene did not seem to be better off without him by saying how crazy she'd become and how Fafnir was the one who was better off. When Fafnir stood there, staring him down, growling and shouting, Baddie got to his feet as well to at least keep them on even eye level.
"That's a nice thing to say," he shot back, this time his tone changed to something more vicious than agreeable, "You don't need to make excuses like that to me, but if it makes you feel better.."
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 6:37 pm
He had to admit, he never really had the guts to stand up to anyone before, and as soon as Badiri stood up to be on eye level with him it almost made him want to back down. Almost. But this was Ally they were talking about, Ally his brother was insulting, and for what?
"What are you trying to say?" he growled out through gritted teeth, feeling almost delirious from lack of sleep coupled with this sudden raging anger. He heard the sudden change in tone of his brother's voice, and part of him had to wonder what Badiri's motives really were. "You can't honestly think I'd sit here and suffer through something like this for my benefit?" The whole idea was ludicrous!
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 6:44 pm
"Her only friend is a bird," he said very slowly, very carefully, "It's obviously better for you that you bailed, and that is what I honestly think."
Badiri was stretching the truth, but at the same time he was being and looking very serious. He could understand the motivation but when it came down to it, now he was expressing exactly what he thought about the whole thing and he was sure he wasn't the only one who thought this. Fafnir was either an idiot who couldn't see the big picture or he was looking out for himself.
"Besides, you're an embarrassment as a hunter," he added with a smirk, careful to keep making it about Fafnir, "Imagine how you'd look as king."
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 6:57 pm
"Her only friend might be a bird," he hissed, turning his eyes away, "but I don't have any friends at all now that I've pushed her away. Only annoying, fussy siblings who keep berating me about my decisions." It was the truth, though it had never really bothered him before. Ally had been his only friend because he had always had Loki, who he supposed was his friend too, but it wasn't really the same.
He didn't know what Badiri wanted now. He seemed to be pushing one thing at him one moment, and switched it up the next, so much so that Fafnir was entirely confused as to where Badiri actually stood on his decision now. Was he mocking Fafnir for what he'd done, or just agreeing with him in such a way that even their mother might raise a brow at his tactics? It was the king comment, however, that seemed to put a decision in Fafnir's head.
"That, that type of comment right there!" He brought up a paw and pointed it directly at Badiri's face. "That's the kind of thing I wanted to stop, talk of me being king and courting her and whatever else nonsense would cause trouble for her right now," he shook his head, shutting his eyes as he did so, "we were never even like that together, you big git." Name-calling, it was obviously bringing out his better, mature nature, this fight.
Still, the thought of him being King, even for just a moment, sent a shiver of fear down his spine so hard that he had to wonder for a second if this had all been just about Ally. Had some of this been because he was afraid? He opened his eyes to stare down at his feet, looking like he was caught between being miserable and sick all at once.
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 7:15 pm
"I wasn't talking about trouble for her," he snapped back, noting how the commentary on how lame a king he would make had changed his whole argument. He was understanding more and more about what Fafnir had done, but still couldn't see it as anything but a selfish move. It seemed impossible to go back to disguising what he felt as some kind of light-hearted agreement, it was turning into a plain old shouting match.
"You're an idiot. A blind, selfish idiot," he said, stepping forward and pushing back against his brother's paw with his whole body, "And you're a coward for running away. Nobody is happy and all the moping is pathetic- and annoying." Badiri was obviously willing to side with the majority, at least in their family, who saw something more than just friends between the pair of them. He didn't know much about love but he'd seen and heard enough to guess that at least Ally was a little more upset than she might be. As a public figure, she was generally much more together. One lost friend made the changes that much less believable, and was the reason even her mopey behavior was just as irritating. Not to mention that he was enjoying fitting in as many insults as he could.
He was out of words for the moment, and just stood aggressively nose-to-nose with his brother. If this was saving anybody any trouble then the pride was doomed. Two mopey lions were causing more trouble than rumors, especially the one who had a real job to do.
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