Shaji had gotten up early that morning, but that seemed to be fairly normal for the lion. He had even dared to give his sleeping mate a quick nuzzle, whispering to her that he'd be back in a while. After refreshing himself at the waterhole located away from his den, he went off into the depths of the Pridelands. A few of his offspring had remained within the Pridelands, and it wasn't unusual for Shaji to visit them from time to time. He swore sometimes that if he did not, he would never see his children. The majority of his cubs had moved on to other lands, or had started their own families here within the Pridelands.

He had one daughter that was slacking off in all those departments. Shaji worried, and he knew he shouldn't. In time, he was sure his child would find her own way in the world. Jamii was just... having trouble getting started with it. His daughter had been independent for a while, but had shown no inclination in moving up through the ranks of the Pridelands or taking on a mate and starting a family.

Right now, all of his grandcubs had grown, and he was feeling the loss of having cubs around deeply. There was perhaps the slight chance that his daughter could help fill the void in his life by finding herself a nice male to settle down with...

"Dad. What are you doing here so early?" His dark daughter stood at the entrance to her den, her blue eyes sharp in the morning's light. She took after him in that regard, early to rise, ready to take the day on.

"Good morning, Jamii," he greeted his daughter warmly, and ignored the way she wrinkled her nose at him. Her name. At least he wasn't calling her by her full name, but she had always preferred to go by JB. He couldn't understand why - it wasn't very feminine. He accepted it all the same, but managed to slip up far too often. It was a habit to call her by the name she had been given from birth. Remembering those days brought a little smile to his face, and he could have gotten lost in that dream if Jamii didn't manage to bring him out of it.

"Dad. DAD. You could have at least waited for mom to wake up before coming over. She's going to think you've got better things to do than spend time with her." Jamii walked up to her father, nuzzling her cheek into the thick fur of his mane in greeting. While she loved her parents, Shaji's affection could be overwhelming at times. It was no wonder why she put her den so far away from where her parents' were. Their meetings were best kept short and sweet.

"She was resting, you know how she is in the morning. Anyways, how are you, all is well?" There was an eagerness to his voice, as if he expected some miraculous news to be delivered to him in that moment.

"Uh... yeah, nothing's changed since the last time you saw me... last week," Jamii answered flatly. She was beginning to suspect what this visit was about. No matter how well-intentioned he was, or how hard he tried to hide it, he was the easiest lion in all of the Pridelands to read. All their visits somehow came around to this, with Shaji trying to dodge revealing his intentions with Jamii instantly picking up on them

She sighed, deciding she might as well get this out of the way or it would loom over their entire visit. "Okay, dad. I am not seeing anyone. I am not pregnant. No, you can not try to set me up with the lion next door again." Jamii waited a few seconds to let that information sink in to her father's head. For a moment, she saw the gold lion deflate - defeated once again. Her heart almost couldn't take it, to see the wind knocked out of his sails. "Maybe next week?"

Definitely not, but she needed to give him something to hold out for. If he would just tell her mother that he wanted cubs, the pressure would alleviate from her. What he was holding out for, she'd never know. How her mother didn't realize was another story entirely that she did not want to get into. Hopefully they could come to some sort of resolution so Jamii didn't have to be questioned every week about her love life, or lack thereof.

"If you go from having nothing in your life to having everything in your life within one week you're going to give me a heart attack." Shaji finally managed to shake off his disappoint. The only thing that would terrify him more was if Jamii suddenly went headlong into starting a family. He wanted to see her life change a little... just not that fast.

"Deal. So maybe next time you won't immediately try to ask me about my love life?" She tilted her head, widening her eyes to give her dad a pleading look.

"Okay, okay. I won't." He would. They had gone through the motions multiple times before. But, he could never seem to hide his excitement for the possibility of his daughter one day giving him grandcubs. He smiled then, the gesture sweet and kind. Shaji rose back onto his feet and affectionately nudged his daughter. "Would you like to take a walk with me? It's been a while since we've done anything more than just sit around and talk." The invitation was simple and sweet, much like Shaji had always been.

Jamii couldn't deny that she had a good father, one who had always been there through the ups and downs and all the trials of her life. "Of course," she agreed softly, and proceeded to follow her father off into the day. What was intended to be a small trip inevitably turned into a day's length of an adventure. She was sure her mother would be a little annoyed her mate had disappeared for the day. But, it was also very hard not to forgive Shaji for his transgressions. He was a pretty good lion, after all.