(Backlogged~ Ari = Juve, Kito = Cub. )
Kito was a younger kid. So, Ari wasn’t too keen on having to spend some time with him. However, since she was growing up to become empress, it was ideal to have a “good” relationship with her land’s nobles. This is how the young heiress ended up stuck with the little lying fluff ball while their parents were… meeting, or something. Her parents, honestly, hadn’t seemed thrilled about it. It was no secret to her that her mother and her aunt didn’t really get along, and even her father and the lord of a north house seemed to have a kind of strained “friendship”. Sometimes Ari honestly wondered how the couple had even ended up lord and lady of the north house.
“I love this. “ Kito grumbled, and Ari rolled her eyes. She could only do this because he wasn’t looking at her, of course. The mle obviously didn’t love this quite that much himself. “Do you always lie this much? ” She sighed, covering her eyes with a paw. Ari didn’t really love dealing with other kids, especially not younger ones.
He looked at her, and grinned slightly. “No? “ She realized why he was grinning, of course. That was a lie too. “Of course. ” He didn’t always lie, this was true. Sometimes he even seemed to joke about his own lying habit, going out of his way to say the opposite of what he meant. The worst was really just when you pressed him with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question. But, of course, Ari didn’t like it either way. She’d be empress someday, and it just seemed like it would be –so- much easier if her nobles were sane. Unfortunately, it seemed like a lot of them weren’t.
“So, how are we related, again? “ The cub piped up, looking up at her. She frowned slightly, it wasn’t that hard to grasp. But, then again, this cub was a lot younger than her. At that age where you’d still get mixed up on your right and left paw. His mane tuft wasn’t even that puffy yet. Her first instinct was to be snippy, but, as usual, Ari watched herself.
“My mother and your mother are half-sisters. That makes us cousins. “ Kito tiled his head, and nodded. “Cousin, “ He mumbled, musing this over. He actually liked this, the idea that a cousin of his was this powerful. The little blue-gray cub loved having a powerful family. His parents were the lord and lady, his aunt was the current empress and his cousin was going to be the future empress! Of course, just being a cub, and a young one at that, he wasn’t so sure what all of this meant. It was just a cool title, and, from what he understood, it meant they could boss around those of lower ranks. “I have an important family. “ He grinned.
For the first time this afternoon, Ari was pleasantly amused. “Mine is important-er. ” She allowed herself this childish moment. This little runt probably wouldn’t remember it anyways. Besides, it was funny see his brows furrow and glance up at her quizzically. “My parents outrank yours. ” She explained, shrugging.
Kito looked away, a paw on his chin and pondering. “Well, I’m gonna take over the pride, then. And then I’ll be emperor and even important-er! “ The younger cub declared with conviction, and stomped a paw on the floor. His little moment of ‘I-am-impressive’ was short lived, though. He recoiled once he head Ari laugh lightly. “What? I will! “
“Now you’re lying, Shan. ” Kito would have argued, really, he would, but this distracted him. He still didn’t quite grasp the whole proper name thing. “Is my name Shan or Kito, anyways? And why do you only have one? “ Most people called him Shan. But every now and then, someone would call him Kito. And everyone he’d met referred to his cousin as Ting Lan. This question quickly killed Ari’s amusement. Why did she have to explain this?
“Well…” She paused, thinking about the best way to explain this to a young cub. Though, she supposed it wouldn’t make that big a difference. “Kito is your normal name. If you ever meet an outsider, that’s what you’d tell them. Kito is your name, only pride members are supposed to call you by your proper name, which is Shan. And I have two names too. My proper name is Ting Lan, my normal name is Ari. “ She explained, though her voiced sounded somewhat strained and impatient.
Kito made an ‘oh’ face, then looked down, pondering a bit more. Ari was already dreading more questions. But, the one that came wasn’t that awful. The younger cub did something she honestly wanted to do; he groaned and flopped his head down on his paws. “Why are we here, anyway? “ He whined, and she sympathized.
Of course, she’d never show it in such an ungraceful manner. “It’s good for us to know each other well. ” She didn’t really bother explaining why, his little cubbish brain probably wouldn’t understand too well. But, of course, he glanced up at her. “Why is it good? “
And this was a moment she was glad he was a cub. Because though he could ask very annoying questions that might not sound so well if she answered truthfully, she could give him lame little answers and he’d take them. “Just because. ” And that was universal, it seemed. Most really young cubs seemed to take this as a perfectly acceptable answer. Or, at least, Kito did. He nodded, as if it made the most sense in the world. That kind of closed eye nod that went ‘of course, I should have thought about that.’
“How much longer do we have to hang around here? “ They had been silent for a while, and Ari had almost been falling asleep as Kito rolled a small rock between his paws. “Probably not much longer. ” As far as Ari was concerned, they’d spent a good amount of time making nice with each other. And she was sure Kito would get home and tell his parents they had a –great- time, because he was that kind of cub.
… It might actually be better if he told them the truth. Because then they might assume him to be lying and deduce they had a good time. Well, she supposed no one would be surprised it had been boring. “I think we’re good. Jian! ” She ignored Kito’s startled expression at her call. He’d probably forgotten about the blue lioness, Ari often did, too. This was one thing Ari like about this personal bodyguard. She was good at vanishing, staying at the right distance not to eavesdrop, but close enough to hear should she be called for.
Soon enough, the largeish blue lioness seemed to pop into existence and make her way obediently over. She didn’t ask for orders, but that was fine. “We’re going to head over to drop Shan off, “ She indicated to the cub. It wasn’t that far, Kito was too young to make huge trips. “I’m pretty sure we’ll be joining my parents afterwards. So, once we arrive I’m pretty sure you can just go do whatever you wish. ” The blue lioness nodded, and Ari stood up as Pupitar fell back slightly behind them.
Kito was looking at Ari’s bodyguard with amazement. He wanted one of those. “Come on, furball. ” The blue-gray cub scrambled to his paws and hurried after the heiress as she trotted away. Being important was so cool.
