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Aquapuga was very tired. The leopon was not sure what had possessed him to KEEP the six cubs he found out in the middle of the snow. The pride had gone out looking for the mother of the cubs after he returned with them, but no sign had been found of her. They thought that either she abandoned them or died, but nobody knew. The leopon had found them trying to wade through snow and looking very cold. He had no idea how long they had been out there, but he knew that cold look on their faces. The male leopon had taken pity on them, brought them home, and kept them because he found them.

Aquapuga had had several females offer to take the cubs off him, though not many because they were all 'cursed', but he took none of the offers. He was half regretting it but half not. Half of the time they kept him up, annoyed him, and drove him up the wall of his den with just being frustrated with what he should do, and then half the time they would do something adorable, loving, sweet, whatever that would make him love them. It was confusing, tiring, and down right harrowing. He was about to his wits end. He had them all napping at the moment and was sitting outside the den, enjoying the quiet.

Aquapuga looked up as the lion spoke to him. Upon seeing the coloration of the other male, he relaxed a bit and took a closer look. There were not too many in the pride that gave him trouble, either of his species or his coloring, but he was still concious of the pridal feelings on the cursed colors. He was also relieved to see it was not a certain female. He was not sure he could take her rambling talking today. He recognized the male after a moment and nodded to the other male. "Yes, it is nap time... six of them... six cubs... I do not know if Elsa told you about the litter I found out in the snow." Elsa had given him permission to keep them, he swore part of that had been because his den was so close to hers in case he needed help.

"I am Aquapuga, a friend and guard of Elsa... you are her mate, Tikahn, correct? I have seen the seven cubs you sired, but I will say that at least there are two of you... there is ONE of me, and six of them." Aquapuga was smaller than a lion and right now looked even smaller as he was haggard and sleep deprived. He spared a glance inside the den to make sure none of them were up and moving. One moving would get the other five awake in no time. The cubs seemed to be right around the same age as Elsa's litter, so he was dealing with the difficulties of keeping them INSIDE and out of trouble.

Aquapuga saw that wince and chuckled. He rarely smiled or laughed really, but it was becoming a more common occurrence. Since meeting Elsa, the leopon was finding a friendlier side that he never knew he had inside him. Most of it he was finding by pulling up memories of his stepfather, his mother's dear sweet mate that she called Pansy. The leopon had pulled from those memories to try not to disappoint Elsa. Elsa was the closest thing to family he had here. He owed the lioness his life for digging him out of that snow drift he would have otherwise been trapped in. She had brought him here and given him a den near her own.

"Elsa has offered to help some, but she is so busy... I have once or twice put a chatty lioness to use telling them stories or such. I am glad that Elsa has been so understanding about my wanting to keep them... and needing to keep an eye on them." Who would have thought the queen of any pride would let a single male shirk his duties as her guard to keep foundlings? Normally they would have given the cubs to females that wished them and told him to get back to his duties. "I was sent by my own restless paws on a walk... some would have left the cubs, but with no sign of a mother about, and them looking cold and lost.."

Aquapuga gave a soft look back toward them. "I could not let them freeze." He wondered if his mother would be proud of his actions or not. He knew his stepfather would be, and he suspected his mother was not as hard as she would like others to believe. She likely would not say anything but he thought she might approve of his actions. He knew Elsa approved of his saving them, cursed colors or not. The scary part was the fact that the darn things looked like they actually WERE his cubs in color and pattern. "I don't think the gods had anything to do with it, but if they did, then at least they are kinder than most think them."

Aquapuga shrugged a bit at the other male's comments. The cubs could be grateful, they certainly had taken to calling him papa with very little encouragement from him. He thought it kinder for them to think him their father for the moment especially with as close to them as he appeared. "One month, two months? I do not remember anymore... they were barely able to keep on their paws when I found them... They still needed to nurse... but the wetnurse kept asking to take the home... so I decided to have two of them that come every other feeding time."

Aquapuga had taken to sending them home between feedings and having them for every other and as much as possible so they would not grow overly attached to the cubs. He was very afraid that someone would take them from him with as little as they were, and that was part of why he was refusing more than the needed help most of the time. He might not be able to feed them on his own, but he would be darned if he was going to let some lioness steal the cubs from him just because of that. They were his, for better or worse.

"I guess I am being paranoid.. but I keep thinking someone is going to take them when I am sleeping. They need someone that can protect them." And that was the leopon's job in the pride. He was the queen's protector, which he did to some extent by having his den so close to hers, but now he was also a guard for these cubs. He could not let them be harmed, especially with the hostility toward their light coloring. "They are what the others call cursed colors... like me. Noone is going to harm them while I can help it."

Aquapuga closed his eyes for a moment. "One can hope it changes, but I believe in being prepared for the worst instead of relying on hope alone. If the others realize they are being outnumbered by the newblood, that could lead to worse feelings rather than better. Being outnumbered can make one feel cornered and threatened." What if they thought to fix the problem by getting rid of the next generation of 'cursed'? He did not like how the cub viewed his color, but when it came to himself, he really did not care much either way. He knew he could defend himself, but the cubs were helpless.

Aquapuga had gone soft as his mother would have said, but he knew she was doing the same because of her mate. The leopon was pretty sure at this point his mother would say nothing of his softness since his step father was the prime example of softhearted. "I can count these cubs as my family, I guess. My kind are not known for being able to have offspring, so perhaps the gods were trying to give me the only kind of family I will be able to have. No matter, they will be protected as my own. They certainly look like mine." That was something he could not deny in the least. The coloration and general markings were very similar. It was rather eerie.

Aquapuga nodded to the other's words. Perhaps he was right. The gods did strange things at times, this could be one of their odd decisions. "I will be the only type of parent I can be, a protector. I am thankful Elsa approved of my keeping them. I do not know that I would trust another to care for them." There were certainly plenty of others that could, but he could not bare to let them to another. The gods grant him the ability to be a good parent, or they would be worse than if they had been left in the snow.

Aquapuga had to admit that Tikahn seemed very nice and a suitable mate for Elsa. His friend, the queen, had chosen well with this one. "Elsa chose a good lion for a mate... do not let anyone tell you otherwise. You have wisdom and a desire to protect her. These are the best things one can ask for in a partner." There was stirring in the den and he heard a little mewling of a cub just getting awake. The leopon sighed and looked at the other male tiredly. "It would seem, I am needed back inside the den. Perhaps we will speak again soon." Back to work for him it would seem.