Sometimes a lion just needed to be by himself to think. Kekäle was having one of those times right now. He had ditched his stupid captain in favor of Lucivar, which meant that he and his sister would be in the same viking band. He didn't mind that. He was actually kind of looking forward to that, since they'd done all their youthful training together.
No, what had Kekäle in need of solitary contemplation was his last conversation with his mother, wherein she had told him two unsettling facts. First, that she and his father had decided to try to have another litter. That had been something he did not need to know, thanks. And second, she thought it was high time Kekäle and his siblings started settling down with mates. She thought the fact that two of them were reavers was a clear sign that they were mature enough for families.
It had been a deeply unsettling conversation, made all the more so when his mother had offered to help him find a bride, at which point Kekäle had actually interrupted her and told her that he had to be at practice with Lucivar's band, which had been a complete lie. Instead he had stalked to the beach to watch the waves and think.
Puhterodactyl
Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 11:45 am
Brynhildr grumpily sulked along the coast. She was planning on hopping in on any next viking that was going out. Anything to get away from her family. She found out recently that her brother and his thrall were apparently trying for cubs. And that was just gross to know. But even worse, her GRANDMOTHER, Chayah, confessed to Bryn and her mother that she had spent a... cozy... night with a god and may or may not be pregnant with some nice half aunts and uncles for Bryn and company.
The lioness shook her head. Why was everyone but her in such a rush to pop out cubs? It almost made her feel, what was it... badly about herself? As though maybe it was the right thing to do. Was she supposed to have a maternal instinct? Or the will to procreate and perpetuate the species? Thinking to herself, she made a face as if she'd smelled something that reeked. It was a rotten thought, she figured.
Finally looking up ahead where she was walking, she spotted a dark male. Hmph, males probably never had any issue with whether or not they felt compelled to breed, she mused.
Kekäle's first instinct upon realizing that he was no longer alone on the beach was to snarl at the interloper and tell her to bugger off, but he suppressed the urge. He wasn't empathetic enough to come up with the thought that she might have problems of her own to contend with, but he at least he could recognize that it was in no way her fault that his family seemed to be obsessed with dynastic expansion.
"It's a good day to die," he greeted her with feeling and the sort of inflection that he would not mind if he was the one doing the dying, because his life was full of woe.
After greeting her and noting without any particular interest that she had facial markings like his friend Ruzul, he glanced skyward. He was almost certain that he had felt a drop land on his nose, and while it was entirely likely it was simply spray from the gigantic body of water nearby with waves splashing up on the sand, it also might have been rain. Call him picky, but Kekäle liked to know if he was being rained on or splashed.
Puhterodactyl
Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 1:57 pm
The reaver recognized the greeting as a traditional one, but instead opted to share her problems with a stranger.
"Ugh, tell me about it," she lamented, and blew a puff of air to get her forelock out of her white eyes. Brynhildr sat nearby and groomed some ruffled furs on her paws before following his eyes upwards. Kekäle was in for quite the trip if he got her started.
"Brynhildr," she followed his eyes upwards. "Looks like rain, maybe." Good, the weather would match how gloomy she felt, freshly out of adolescence, she still had some teen angst in her.
That had been a greeting, not an invitation to start pouring out her problems. Kekäle had problems of his own! To which another had been added: it was it was very difficult to interrupt a reaver once she got started, so he had to cut her off quickly, before she actually went into a recitation of her problems.
"Kekäle," he replied.
He didn't comment on the rain. Talking about the weather would be even worse than listening to whatever girly problems she had. He'd done more than his share of that with his sisters, even Svana, who was generally pretty practical and a great fighter.
"Ever notice families are impossible?" he asked, since it seemed they were going to have a conversation. He supposed he could live with that, but they'd be talking about his problems. He had real problems.
Puhterodacty
I'm sorry. He's not usually this selfish. I think it's the threat of rain.
Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:13 am
Brynhildr rolled her eyes and groaned.
"Tell me about it!," he had just gotten her started. Poor, poor Kekäle. She moaned and flopped down near the male and thumped her tail on the ground, clearly agitated.
"My grandmother might be having god spawn, my brother and his thrall are trying for cubs, it's too much! Am I the only one not baby crazy in my family? Am I weird for being the only one not popping out cubs right now?" She only paused for a breath before continuing.
"I mean they all say it's not a big deal I'm not doing anything about cubs, that it's okay I'm a Reaver instead, but can't I do both? I was just planning on waiting, but have I waited too long?" She looked at Kekäle as though he had answers. Maybe he could squish some bugs and ask her what she saw in the pattern of their guts.
Oh wait. Maybe he had meant his family. Bryn supposed she had vented and it was only polite to allow him to do the same.
Kekäle found himself listening to Brynhildr's woes and suffering whether he wanted to or not, and as he listened he found himself nodding sympathetically. Hers sounded like a pretty wretched infuriating lot. Her grandmother was having cubs? At least his grandparents seemed to have left off on reproducing, thank the Stormlords.
"My story's surprisingly similar to yours," Kekäle admitted. With a smile he added, "Fewer gods, I think."
He paused, trying to decide whether he ought to mention that his parents were also trying to have another litter. He didn't feel as inclined to vent now as he had prior to hearing about Brynhildr's family. It reminded him that his mother would not appreciate him spreading gossip about the family. But it wasn't just family gossip. It was Kekäle's life. Maybe if he just stuck to that.
"I'm a reaver. I'm enjoying being a reaver. My mother thinks the fact I've found occupation that I enjoy means it's time I found a wife and started having cubs. She offered to help me find one."
Puhterodactyl
Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2015 9:19 am
Bryn blew a puff of air up at her forelocks and rolled her eyes, but with a small smile when he said fewer gods. She nodded solemnly, empathizing with him.
"Well, they're not pushing a husband on me, just "subtly" trying to get me to start having cubs. None of the women in my family have had mates or husbands, so at least that pressure is off." Well, save for an aunt. She sighed and stretched out.
"Maybe I should just go Viking, find a cub and say I popped it out while I was away." She scratched her chin, that might just work. Then again... Everyone would wonder who the father was, it'd have to be a lion, it'd have to be incredibly young, look like her, have an inattentive guardian who would let her get away with it and so on and so forth. No, that plan probably wouldn't work. The lioness scowled at the dirt. What if her best option was just getting it over with?
"So what are you gonna do?" She looked up at him. Maybe, since they had similar issues, whatever he did about his would be a good template for how she should react to hers.
Kekäle's eyes widened in a sort of eyeroll-shrug combination. "I really do not know. That cub-stealing idea of yours sounds pretty good though. Think you could grab one for me, too?"
He grinned, and whether he meant it to or not, it was actually a kind of charming grin. Talking to Brynhildr had helped him calm down a bit and put things in perspective. Whatever pressures his family might put on him, he would never have to be pregnant, and he could not be married against his will. Neither could Brynhildr be married against her will, but the pressures were different.
"Actually, I'm fairly certain my mother would be scandalized at the thought of any of her children having cubs without both parents being around to care for them, and being bound in marriage. But her parents were outlanders from a very strange pride."
In some ways his mother was quite flower-blooded, although he would never say that aloud. She had done a really great job of raising her cubs to be proper Stormborn, and in that respect she was every bit a Stormborn wife and mother. She was just very, very soft-spoken.
He sighed dramatically. "I just don't see why it matters."
Puhterodactyl
Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2015 4:41 pm
Bryn let out a little laugh. "Sure, I'll get ya a real cutie."
She sighed and nodded. If she did bring a cub back, it would be her responsibility, like it or not. Everyone would assume it was hers. That was the point, after all. Yes, it probably would be more prudent to share the responsibility with someone. The lioness sighed again.
"I mean, I feel like we can only do so much to keep our families happy. They should be happy with what they get." She pouted and propped her head up with one paw.
Flicking her tail about, she groaned.
"Well, I guess we'll both just have to figure out something, right, Kekäle?" She winked at him, and wondered what they would come up with.
"That's great," he smiled. "No one would believe the cub was mine if it wasn't cute."
His smile dimmed a little, even though he agreed with her next point. He agreed, but it didn't seem likely that anything would change with regards to his family's expectations. Not unless one of his siblings decided to settle down and start a family first, thereby distracting his mother. Unless it backfired and she took it as a sign that his sib was setting an example for him to follow.
"They should be. We're both awesome people. I mean, you said you're a reaver. That's really impressive. Your family should just be bragging about that from morning 'til night." Even in his family, a daughter who became a reaver was someone to brag about. His parents were terrifically proud of Svana. He wondered if they nagged her about starting a family.
"Something other than cub-napping?" he clarified, grinning in response to her wink. "I think we can come up with something."
Sometimes a lion just needed to be by himself to think. Kekäle was having one of those times right now. He had ditched his stupid captain in favor of Lucivar, which meant that he and his sister would be in the same viking band. He didn't mind that. He was actually kind of looking forward to that, since they'd done all their youthful training together.
