Kame'bufuu = Bold
Tai'kipepeo = DodgerBlue
Kame'bufuu had finally managed to drag himself away from his growing gaggle of children and into the cool sanctity of the den. He sighed heavily as he hit the ground tiredly, feeling as if his eyes would roll back into his head at any moment. He had returned from his shift on the border watch and had been promptly bombarded by Kinaya and his daughters and sons. Of course he obliged all their whims, from kisses to cuddles to play, making sure each had enough Daddy time to themselves before telling them Daddy needed to go pass out before he dropped dead; of course that didn't sound as funny aloud at it had in Kame's tired mind.
Looking around he noticed the blue coat of his other Banu, Tai. He figured she was attempting to escape the rambunctiousness as much as he was. Kinaya could handle the cubs on her own for the moment, she had more energy than Tai and Kame combined it seemed. Pulling his aching muscles up from the ground he approached her to see if she was asleep or merely enjoying the silence, "Tai?"
Stirring, as she had been reveling in the sudden quiet, the entire day one fraught with energy and an abundance of youthful enthusiasm. The cubs were adorable, but she was rather glad she was here to assist their weary mother, as they were more of a handful at times for both the lionesses to manage. As such, it had left her paws sore from many tiny nibblings, and her mind exhausted from trying to fathom some logic from their chatter.
Ears perking, she raised her head to regard her Pad, and a smile slowly covered her maw. "Kame..." She greeted quietly, heaving herself up in like kind to meet him. "Something on your mind?" Honestly, she was becoming fond of this odd little family. It wasn't exactly conventional, outside of this pride but...there really was an appeal to it, under the paw of someone like Kame.
"Hmnn? No, no," Kame replied as he dragged himself over to join Tai in the place she had been resting. He hadn't meant for her to wake up from her rest, or pull herself up from the ground, so he moved as quickly as he could to her and plopped back down so she could go back to resting. He knew that during the day, Kinaya and Tai were worked far more than Kame was. Their tiredness came from herding around eight little ones all day, his came from being old.
"I wasn't sure if you were just resting or asleep. I didn't mean to wake you," He apologized as he lowered himself back to the ground with a tired grunt. He noticed Tai's own tiredness showing and couldn't help but feel horrible for the sheer amount of children he had placed on her and Kinaya. He offered a small smile, speaking to her once more, "They look like they stampeded over you as well."
"Well I wouldn't call it sleeping, per say..." She murmured, clucking her tongue faintly at the male. "And the children aren't so terrible, they're just very young and enthusiastic..." A slight eye-roll accompanied the statement, "Moreso than I or their dear mother. But that's more a statement to my lack of fitness than anything...they're probably good for me, were I to be honest with myself." That smile flickered about the edges of her maw once more, "And you...are you pleased with your children?" The other had spoken so ardently of leaving a legacy when they had first happened upon one another. This...this was a very fruitful, promising start.
To tell true, Tai was somewhat saddened that it had not been her own efforts that had brought forth this batch of younglings. But that would come in time, as she was well aware...and naturally, as Kame was in charge, it would fall upon him and the whims of the lioness' body to cater to that decision. It was something she could not rush, and would simply look upon her motherly duties towards the cubs that were not of her blood as a prelude...a taste of what it would be like to have babies of her own. Damn. That biological clock must really be ticking.
"I know, I know," Kame replied. The babies were young and full of endless energy, while he was older and had limited energy as it were. He couldn't help but still find his comment funny, though. Whenever they spotted him and ran to greet him, their little paws against the ground sounded as if there was a stampede coming their way; it was adorable to him.
"It is how the women where I came from said, 'You don't know true joy until you have children." Kame said, obviously pleased by his growing gaggle of younglings. It was true he hadn't imagined he'd be having children so soon, and the adjustment to such a life came swiftly, but he was managing it, and was enjoying it as well. He was happy Kinaya gifted him with eight beautiful cubs.
"I was suprised, though," Kame admited, giving Tai a small smile, "I don't have rotation tomorrow, so I can help you and Kinaya with the little ones. Give you both some time to yourselves."
It was that same appeal that had beckoned to Tai as well, her heart swelling when they came scampering up to greet her, eyes alight in anticipation of a rousing new game or other, equally good bit of news that would entertain them suitably for hours to come. There was a copious amount of affection to be found in their exuberant gnawing and tail-pouncing, because, after all, love hurts at times.
"I think there may just be something too that." She admitted quietly, "And perhaps I've seem that in Kinaya's relationship with her babes, to some extent...though I'm not sure if even she expected to many." A chuckle welled up in her throat, "Did you know that she came first to ask me why she was getting fat?" Poor dear, she had her heart in the right place at least.
"And your help will be much-adored, Kame...after all, the children do love to see you. They really will be an honor to you..." With that, she shifted to lean her head against his mane for a moment, sighing almost wistfully.
Kame knew that Kinaya had come seeking Tai in regards to her being pregnant, but she did not tell him that she was first showing in the pregnancy, that she had come to Tai concerned that she was getting fat. The dark pelted male couldn't help but chuckle a little at that tidbit of information. At times Kame forgot that Kinaya was still very young, and that she was completely uninformed about certain things, like pregnancy. Her innocence was something he truly did love about her.
"She did not tell me that," Kame said, bending down to give Tai a lick on her cheek as she leaned into him. He knew in his own heart that there was no way that his children could ever disappoint them. They were miracles to him.
"One day there will be a little stampede of your gorgeous children running around," Kame smiled, giving Tai a nuzzle. It wasn't hidden that Kame wanted more children, but he wasn't going to press the matter when there was eight little ones already tiring out Kinaya and Tai. He would wait until Tai was ready and sure that both could handle so many little mouths to feed.
"It was almost adorable, the darling..." She shook her head, "She is a grand aid with the younglings, but there are the occasional moments where I forget she is not one of them." Especially when they all tussled on the floor together in one grand pastel and black blur wherein it was impossible to tell whose limbs belonged to whom any longer. "And I rather suspected she would not have...she seemed a little worried at first as to whether you would be pleased, though I told her rather matter of factly that you would be overjoyed." There was perhaps a touch of smugness there, in her predetermination of Kame's reaction. But...she reveled in knowing those closest to her, and meant not a whit of harm by it.
Rumbling her soft pleasure at the dark male's words, she nodded sagely, "Of that I am quite sure...though admittedly, the actual process of pregnancy will be a new experience for me as well, and despite the obvious drawbacks, I'm rather looking forward to it." Perhaps when these newlings were somewhat better equipped to handle themselves for a couple of hours, instead of constantly demanding the attention of their watchers. "Though some part of me hopes we'll have a touch less than eight this time..."
Kame knew that feeling. Kinaya was younger than Tai and much younger than Kame; her energy level, curiosity and innocence was that of a cub sometimes, and though having to inform and teach her sometimes felt odd as she should know certain things, it never felt like a burden to Kame, if anything he was happy to be useful to her, and she in turn was happy to be useful to him with her new found knowledge.
"Kinaya has her heart in the right place, even if she is being silly at times," Kame said, enjoying the time he had with Tai alone. He hadn't had much alone time with either Kinaya or Tai lately, and he felt neglectful for it, even if it wasn't exactly his fault. He had duties he needed to uphold once again, and he didn't wish to cause displeasure with the males of the pride, considering he did not know of them all yet.
Kame smiled at Tai's comment of hoping for less children than the amount Kinaya and Kame had successfully created together and while he wanted a nice big family, he didn't want to overload Kinaya and Tai with too many cubs, "I will be pleased with any amount of cubs you gift me with, Tai and I will make sure you are as comfortable as Kinaya was."
