Das Tor
Hakuna had, much to her chagrin, dozed off at some point. Perhaps it was because she'd been so warm and comfortable...Well, whatever the reason, she was awake now. And back to being a watchful guard. So far, no one seemed to be foolish enough to try and disturb Verge and his newly-found twin. Hakuna would have woken immediately if someone had. And even among demons...her gaze when annoyed was highly unsettling. Her orange-amber gaze flickered to the two other males in the den. It was odd, a little. Odd, but nice. This Te had made Verge happy again...something she'd never quite managed.

And rather than be jealous of him, she was happy and content. So long as Verge was happy, she was. It was as simple as that. She never really wanted anything to be complicated, thus why she was perfectly fine as 'friend' and confidant and subject.


Manda
Te had been sleeping rather comfortably beside his brother. He'd vaguely heard murmuring voices earlier but nothing of the conversation was even remotely threatening, so the large red male had just flicked an ear and gone back to sleep. Now, though, he was just about ready to wake up for real...and when he did, he was a little startled to see a female close by who almost seemed to be ... guarding the entrance to the den. Moving to stretch a little, Te nuzzled at his twin's ear just a bit and then got up to pad toward the female. "Heya..." he said softly, wondering why she was there.


Das Tor
lm smile on her maw. "So...you're awake now. I want to thank you." She nodded to Verge. "Never have I seen him actually happy. I owe you a great deal." Shifting, she sat up. "My name is Hakuna'jina. I'm a Sinta'hare of the pride, and have been with it since its refounding. Verge...Verge found me, and because of him, I've grown into what I truly am, rather than the chaotic creature I was before." She didn't dare think of what might have happened had Iartuupe found her first.


Manda
Te raised a brow slightly at that, glancing between Hakuna and Verge. Well, so they had something of a history together. "Sounds interesting," he half-drawled, tail tip flicking around a bit. "I don't think either of us was very happy apart..." he murmured then, ears going back a bit. "But somehow it's weird to think of Verge having made friends... y'know?"


Das Tor
Hakuna chuckled. "Perhaps. He's never been the most...sociable since I've met him." But...that didn't matter much to her. A slight grin creeped onto her muzzle at a rather mischievous thought. "Would you like to hear something you might find even more weird?" Now how would Te act, knowing his brother had little ones running about (though they weren't exactly LITTLE anymore...they'd all, save Zika, gotten larger than their mother, for certain!).


Manda
Te blinked at that, and tilted his head slightly at her. "Should I be afraid?" he asked, jokingly. Really, he didn't think that whatever she was going to say would surprise him -too- badly.


Das Tor
Hakuna chuckled. "Mayhaps you should be. You see...Verge has quite a few offspring in the pride." She would know...she was mother to one litter and something of friends with the mother of his other litter. "A couple of them even have markings very similar to your own." Sira and his 'twin' sister Mayiti...of which Sira was FAR more tolerable. Mayiti just reminded Hakuna of a stupider version of her younger self.


Manda
Te -did- blink at that, staring at her for a moment or two. At first, there was a flash of jealousy at that news. But... then he winced slightly and mentally smacked himself. Of course... Verge had thought he was dead. Why shouldn't he move on? So to speak. It wasn't exactly ... as if Te had been completely celibate either. "I ... have to say, that does seem strange for him..." he finally murmured, hoping that Hakuna might have missed spotting the other emotions.


Das Tor
Unfortunately, she hadn't missed them. And fortunately, she chose not mention a thing...yet. "Yes." It was still one of her greatest joys and sadnesses, having born Verge's cubs once. "Both times...were to increase the numbers of the pride." She'd not really known the reasons behind his time with Mora other than that, but she wasn't the sort to pry. Now, she did say something about what she'd noticed. "So you needn't worry." She smirked at him.


Manda
Te actually flushed slightly at that, though it was hard to tell under his red fur - thank the gods. His ears flicked back for a moment, though, which was harder to hide. But he didn't try to argue, just... smiled a bit sheepishly at her. "Caught me, huh? But... he thought I was dead." Te sighed softly. "So I can't really blame him."


Das Tor
Hakuna chuckled. "No worries. You make him smile. I don't think I've ever seen him smile, really smile, in the time I've known him until now." Not that Verge's smile was anything most creatures would recognize as such. "You hold a place in his heart no one else can ever fill." THAT made her a little jealous...but she squashed that down. She would always be at Verge's side anyways, guarding him even from himself if needed. And he never, ever would need to ask. "So...thank you again. For coming here."


Manda
Te smiled at that, a quick and honest flash of teeth. Nothing really like Verge's secretive little smile - the one normally reserved just for him. "Well, it's nice to hear that. Didn't really know what I was gonna do when I got here... " he murmured. And stopped. He didn't really know how much, if -anything- that anyone in the pride knew about their history.


Das Tor
"He told me he'd thought he'd killed you." Her voice was much quieter now. "He never told me what it was about, but I never pried. It hurt him enough saying what he had to me." And she hated seeing Verge hurt. The strongest always seemed to hurt the most. "I'm glad...he was wrong, though. Not often I'm glad he's wrong. But this is certainly one of those."


Manda
Te nodded at that, looking faintly relieved. "I guess I should meet these little nephews and nieces of mine sometime or other, hmm..." he mused, staring off into space for a moment. He was starting to wonder now, if perhaps ... even by accident ... he might have some kids of his own running around out there. Maybe he could talk Verge into letting him go and look someday. Though not soon... for now, he was perfectly content to stay right here by his twin's side.


Das Tor
Hakuna nodded. "I can introduce you to one later, if you wish? He's the first-born of the lot, and takes after his father's darker coloring." Nyota was the one that had made HER most proud so far...and that she'd felt the most connection to. He'd gone from a chaotic creature like she'd been to a calmer individual. She blinked as something small and dark crept to Te's side...and she sighed. "Ellie, leave the newcomer alone. You should be with the Yana'hine, not sneaking into the Aran'shale's den."

The juvenile froze, looking at her mother with wide amber-orange eyes....then grinned sheepishly at the large red lion. "Uh....hi!" She pouted. "I just came to find you, Mommy. And when I saw the new lion....well, I gotta say hi!" Despite the excitement in her voice, she kept the volume down, well aware of the sleeping king not far away. And she didn't want to disturb Mister Verge'lian!


Manda
Te blinked at that, and glanced down at the young female. Crouching a bit, he tilted his head at her. "Well, hello there. What's your name?" he asked softly - obviously not in any way shy of children. He -liked- kids, he'd just... not really ever thought too much about starting any kind of family - not out there.


Das Tor
Hakuna rolled her eyes and chuckled. She'd need to go soon, if Ellie had come looking for her. It generally meant she was needed for a lesson. She was rather proud of the fact her second daughter was being rather well-behaved for her.

Ellie grinned brightly now. "I'm Lith'elen! But Mommy and my brothers and big-half siblings call me Ellie!" So what if Ellie didn't sound demony. She was demony enough!....She hoped. Oh how she hoped.


Manda
Te chuckled softly at that and nosed slightly at Ellie. "Well, I'm Telemakhos, but most just call me Te. Tilting his head back toward his twin, he winked at her. "I'm his brother - but trust me, I'm the smarter one of the two." That was, of course, a blatant lie ... but hey, you had to have a little fun, right?


Das Tor
Ellie giggled. No WAY was anyone smarter than Mister Verge'lian! Not even his brother! "It's awesome to meet you, Te! But...I gotta steal my Mommy. She's needed for fighting lessons." Because other than the Aran'shale, her mother was THE best fighter in the pride. And so was the main teacher, beyond the cubs teaching themselves. "I hope to see you again soon!" With that, she bounced over to Hakuna and carefully tugged on her tail. "Come on, Mommy~"

Hakuna smiled and sighed. "Alright, little one." She looked to Te and nodded. "It was very nice talking with you. If you ever want to talk again, my own den isn't far off. Or..." She ruffled the tuft on Ellie's head. "Just follow the bouncing fuzzball. She's by far the most energetic of the cubs." She stood. "Welcome home, Te."


Manda
Te smiled at that, and nodded. "Thanks ... I'll do that," he promised. Fighting lessons sounded pretty fun too ... might have to look into that later on. There'd been a time or two he had had to defend himself when he was out on his own, but he hadn't -really- sparred in quite a while.