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 Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 10:23 am
Influx of new members was steadily growing, and while Panu was still missing, life had apparently decided to move on without him. He had grown accustomed to not having him around, and given the circumstances, he had to admit things were running pretty smoothly. The only one that he was worried about was Nerida - she'd managed to raise her children without their father and it showed in their actions and the personalities they seemed to have developed.
His mind swayed back into the topic of children in an attempt to escape the grimmer topics about his brother, and he found himself focusing on his own kids. Granted, they were no longer kids - all of them had grown up and were pretty much taking care of themselves. The only one he'd not heard about in a long time was Orhni, but he thought she was probably doing fine in Tianxia.
Sometimes he wished he could simply bring her back, summon her magically or otherwise.
Letting out a snort at his own thoughts, the Song keeper turned to gaze at the flowers he'd been hiding under; he'd found a rather comfortable spot in the jungle, with bushes surrounding it and flowers hanging over him. He came whenever he felt the need to escape the bubbly nature of most of the other pride members, which was... rather often, really. Most pride members knew not to bother Nili, more often than not unless it was horribly important - he'd never been a people's person, and it was likely he would never be. Which made the whole 'having to take on an apprentice' a rather difficult task for him.
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Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 10:30 am
Sewti always knew where her mate was, maybe just because he was so terribly and utterly predictable. She herself wanted a little peace and quiet for once, after finding a rogue lurking at every turn, and what better way to get that than curling up with her mate for a little cuddle?
Only, as she came strolling along with a grin fit to split her face, she instantly felt the mood hanging around her beloved. If he could have made rain clouds just from being moody, there would have been a miniature hurricane whirling around her feminine mate. With a simple sigh, she let her grin fade just a little and prepared herself to cheer up her ever-dramatic lover.
"What's wrong, darling?" she crooned as she fell in at his side, careless of curling up to him and rubbing her head against his thick mane. "I've never seen such a long face in my life."
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Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 2:04 pm
"They're annoying," he told her bluntly with a thundering frown, "And loud, and horribly persistent," there was no need for him to elaborate that 'they' meant the other pride members. In all honesty, while Nili was very good at his job, he'd never done very well with others. There were only a select few members he got along with, and the list was so short he was sure he could count them on the fingers of one paw, "And they want me to take an apprentice," by they, he mostly meant his mother, whom had managed to pull out of the darkness that had consumed her upon her mate's disappearance, "I can't take an apprentice, Sewti. I'm more likely to shove them off the face of a cliff out of frustration than teaching them anything," which was a lie, really. After all... despite all his talk, Nili would have never hurt a fly - more because he just lacked the strength and real malice to do so than anything.
The only battle he'd ever gotten into, against his brother, he'd lost miserably. Again his thoughts swirled back to his brother, the real motive for his gloomy mood, "Also... I was thinking...that he must be dead," again he left out a name, finding it unnecessary to elaborate on whom he meant, "Or so help me, he better be, because if he ever returns, I'm going to beat him to an inch of his life," he grumped and placed his head over his arms - he'd never really gotten over Panu's disappearance. It was true that... life had chosen to move forward, but Nili remain rather stuck, "I wonder if Nerida is really fine with it."
Despite his dramatics and antisocial tendencies, Nili was emphatic by nature - it was perhaps that reason that made him pull away from others so often. A self-defense so as not to get attached.
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Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 2:12 pm
"I think he's too stubborn to die," she said with a small shrug, leaning her head against Nili's and reaching up to playfully bat at one of the seashells braided into his mane. He always had varying, different ones depending on his mood and the day - she liked them. "Besides, even if he comes back, you're not really the type to beat anyone up, no offense darling." She offered a weak smile as she pulled away and moved so she could look into his eyes. Then a grim smile spread across her maw. "But I'd beat him up for you. For us both. Nerida too."
She sighed and let her tail flip silently behind her as she turned to stare at the ocean in the distance. "I'm not sure if it bothers her or not - she's not really the type to show it. Or maybe she's just not the type you can really tell with." Nerida was one of the craziest members in the pride, Sewti could never tell what that damn lioness was thinking - or talking about for that matter. How Nili understood her was beyond her.
"As for apprentices," she smirked, a devilish twinkle in her eyes, "why not one of your cubs? You're not allowed to get angry with them." Then she frowned, a playful tone in her voice. "I guess all the ones we have are too old to train by now though."
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Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 2:24 pm
His frown returned as she spoke, looking over at her before a sulk covered his featured, "You're not helping," for an adult lion, he was doing a rather splendid job at pouting childishly - oh, he knew she was right, granted. There was no way on earth he would ever be able to win against Panu (or even anyone half his size, really, given his awkward tendency to be more upset with a ruffled mane or a broken claw than any male had the right to; all one had to do to win against Nili was possibly scratching his face, as it would derail him into hysterics).
His gaze slid back to her, his head still posed on his paws, "You'd have to make it hurt. Beg for mercy. The Muses help him if he ever shows up... those poor cubs of his. I really feel for them," which was one of the reasons he'd made sure to stick around a lot while they grew up, going against his nature - patience had never been a virtue he'd held onto tightly, "I think it bothers her. She's not taken up a mate. My mother managed to have a litter of cubs even after father died. Nerida... I don't know if she's holding onto hope, or if she's too upset to give it another try."
As she spoke again, he wrinkled his nose, "I don't think that'd work. They're too old, and all have ranks of their own - they picked their path. It'd hardly be fair to..." he paused when he noticed the twinkle in her eyes and the way she was looking at him - was she implying what he thought she was implying?
He looked like a deer caught in headlights, utterly unsure if he should mention something or not - or if either or not would offend her, so instead, he watched her silently, effectively lost for words.
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Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 5:59 pm
"Oh, I know," she cooed, nuzzling her face up against his gently, "but it's the truth." Her mate was not a male made for fighting, but then, she wasn't really a female made for nurturing. They were an odd pair made for each other.
"Yeah, his poor cubs indeed," she echoed, turning her head and looking at the caves of the pride in the distance as if the Story Keeper himself might walk out at any moment. "They did alright without him though, and Rive has done a good job with the pride." She offered him a reassuring smile - at least until he got back to talking about Nerida. Did he really think it was that odd? She was probably just too freaking crazy, but Sewti didn't really want to say that. "Who knows what is going on in Nerida's head," there, she finally settled for that. It sounded a little less offensive.
She listened to him work his way through to her meaning, her smile growing ever more mischievous as she watched him unblinkingly. She didn't so much like having cubs as she did making cubs - it was a purely male inclination in a very female form but she was utterly shameless. "Cat got your tongue?" She almost said it with a straight face, but at the end her lips cracked into a smile and amusement crept in.
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Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 6:55 pm
He would have 'hmphed' at her if he hadn't been so busy gaping openly at her suggestion. Perhaps it was because he was so used to her taking on the dominant role of the relationship, or perhaps it was simply in his nature, but while she was shameless, he embarrassed enough for the both of them.
He tried to get his mind out of second gear and into working again, and though he managed it wasn't without huge difficulty - he tried to answer to her previous words in an attempt to keep his mind busy and out of the gutter, "Uhm... yes, yes he did do a good job. Hadithi would be proud - I know mom is and..." he paused there, finding it utterly imposible to simply continue down that line of thought when she was laying there looking horribly coy and tempting, "My tongue is perfectly fine, just a bit..." just a bit what? Tongue-tied? "Surprised, that's all."
Granted, he had no idea WHY he was even surprised anymore, and despite the show he was putting up, it was clear he was more than vaguely interested in the idea, however, not so much for the future apprentice idea, "Are you really considering what I think you're considering?" man, all she had to do was lead the way, really. He was game - he'd have followed her to the ends of the earth, and seeing as how this was hardly the ends of the earth...
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Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 9:34 pm
"It doesn't sound fine", she purred out, narrowing her eyes at him, an expression on her face that said she expected something disastrous to happen to him at any moment. She even leaned in a bit to poke her nose at his cheek as if she were inspecting him for any odd sign of sickness. "You look peeeerfectly alright, though," she made a point of drawing out the 'perfect' part.
"Of course I'm really considering it," she said with a smirk, her playfulness fading to simple devilishness on her part. "When am I not considering it?" She rolled slightly onto her side with her tail flickering behind her, battling lightly against his legs just to be a pain.
"I think maybe I should take you somewhere else so I can take consider it.. better." She shifted and rolled back onto her stomach, looking back at her mate with a grin fit to split her face. At least she had managed to s**t the mood away from hurricanes and rainclouds. She was really good at cheering Nili up, whether he wanted her to or not usually.
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Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 2:26 pm
Nili was having a rather hard time keeping his emotions (and thus his facial features) in check, specially so when she purred at him. as she leaned in, he tried to make it a show to lean away, looking a bit like a frog caught in a viper's stare - had anyone been watching at that moment, it might've looked like the female was planning on eating him up and not leaving even a morsel behind.
He even tried to talk when she dragged out the 'perfect' at him, but found that when he opened his mouth, no sound came out, and short of sounding like an idiot by 'yipping' at her... it was probable he had been robbed of all words. Thus so, the song keeper snapped his jaws shut and attempted to follow her train of thought without having his mind blue-screen-crash midway through.
That was a good point though - she was always considering it. Why had he even asked. He watched her silently for a long while as she rolled away and it took all his concentration not to follow after her, instead remaining rooted to the spot. After a while, when he was sure his words could be controlled again, he spoke up, "Lead the way?" problems were no the furthest thing from his mind.
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Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 2:44 pm
Sewti laughed, a pleasant sound of victory, as he finally gave in and asked her to the lead the way. Without further comment, she dipped her head at him with one of the mischievous smiles in place, and pushed herself up to her paws. When would he ever learn to just give in and let her have what she wanted? It was always faster and the outcome was going to be the same anyway.
Unlike many females that would have swayed or called attention to themselves to tease, Sewti just stood over him, towering for the moment as he lay amongst his flowers. "Come on then," she cooed out at him, then turned and made for the line of the jungle. She paused once to glance over her shoulder with a raised brow, as if to ask what was taking him so long, then disappeared quickly into the underbrush.
She wasn't going to hold his figurative hand - Nili was a big boy. Sort of.
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Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 2:51 pm
His eyes never left her as she got off the ground and padded away from him. It wasn't, however, till she vanished through the bushes that he turned towards the flowers he'd been laying amongst and frowned at them, "You're all brats. I hope you enjoyed that," and no sooner did he lift himself off the ground that the wind rushed by, moving the flowers merrily - some looking like bells, some as if they were dancing, making the song keeper snort mildly before rushing after his mate.
After all, she was only going to wait for so long before coming to find out what was keeping him, and telling her he'd been saying goodbye to his muse was not going to sit well with her when they had... better things to do.
That aside, the flowers wouldn't have minded if he'd left without saying a goodbye - they also knew when there were more important things to do (even if the keenly insisted that they were without the most important, most beautiful muse within the pridal borders - the world even).
There was a time and place for everything.
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