"What a pensive stare," He had finally arrived. It had taken a Justicar to sign off his request given they were so busy, but Gus had finally been allowed to leave and enter the Bahari'mtoto. What he had found was not the usual jovial atmosphere he had first encountered, and instead he was greeted with a considerably more somber one. He'd heard on the grapevine that they had experienced some loss, but on the whole he had also discovered that there had been some upheaval as well. He would delve in to this later, something that would be unavoidable given that his own mate looked like she had seen the dead walk.
Clearly he had missed the main events and for that he was thankful as he wasn't entirely sure he should have even been there, but for the time being it was apt that he come when summoned and find out what had spurred the pink lioness to bring him back so soon. Admittedly he had already promised he would be back within the next few months, but she had cut this short and requested that he come now. She'd left her message deliberately vague as well, which implied that it wasn't all good news.
"It's been a long two weeks," Zephyranthes sounded tired as she gave the white lion a gentle nudge. She would have been elated to see him had it not been for the fact that she had called him here under such grave circumstances. "The original request had been because of your son," she sighed and lifted her paw to massage the side of her head. "But it seems to have become so much more than that and at this time I don't really have a solution for any of it," she admitted.
"All right," Gus slipped into the shade and took a seat, regarding his mate for a few moments. "Perhaps we should start with the original reason that I'm here early and then we can move along to the rest of the issues," he offered. He was no politician and had no desire to be one but he would at least act as a sounding board for Zephyranthes. If there was any advice he could give, then he would give it, but if he couldn't provide any insights then the very least he could do was listen. Generally she was smart enough to resolve her own issues, so it was with considerable curiosity (and concern) that he now wondered what had occurred with one of his children to require his presence.
"Right, yes..." Zephyranthes took a breath. "It's Kvasir, the others haven't done anything that requires your attention, but he has." She began. She wouldn't say that she was impressed by the poor manner in which the lioness had conducted herself as well, insulting Zephyranthes hadn't really endeared the pink lioness to her cause, but she did have the capacity to acknowledge when her own son had gone too far. Thus she had chosen to place the offence aside and had put Liviythan's response down to being hurt herself; Kvasir had caused an affront and many things had been said that shouldn't have been said, despite the niggling in Zephyranthes mind she had warned herself off being childish and had kept her peace.
Until now.
"He has taken it upon himself to adopt the teachings of some of the more hardline individuals in the pride," she admitted. It hadn't been for want of an education on her part, she'd always kept the cubs busy, but she'd also encouraged free thinking and exploration. As such her cubs had each gone their own way and it seemed Kvasir had slotted himself in to a part of society that he didn't seem to realise had treated his own Grandmother rather poorly. While she hadn't been concerned with it when it had begun, things had quickly spiralled out of control and she had been left in a position where she had a child that she didn't agree with - his opinions were simply too crude and his manner of raising those opinions left a great deal to be desired.
"In fact his opinions are of such severity that he took the opportunity to educate a lioness about her choices in life," she continued.
"Those being...?" Gus would admit that he didn't know the more nuanced aspects of the Bahari'mtoto, but then again Zephyranthes knew very little of the details surrounding the complex nature of the Al Siq too. He was sure that there would be certain elements of this pride that would take just as much time to explain as it would take him to describe certain aspects of the Al Siq!
"She chose to depart from pridal tradition and have cubs that have no father to their name," she explained. She might not have agreed with the choices on a personal level, she was traditional in the sense that she much preferred a stable family, but when it came to what her son had said... This was just not the manner in which she wanted that view point to be expressed.
Ah, so bastards were not approved of within the Bahari? Gus took this as a learning, though he knew they were controversial within the more high ranking echelons of his own pride's society. As a civilian he had the benefits of being less focused on his bloodline, and more interested in enjoying himself. His 'rank' within the Al Siq could go either way and fatherless children weren't necessarily the end of their world... That being said he certainly couldn't speak for the fate of a noble cubs and how their lives would be let. Quite frankly, he'd put all his wealth on the fact that they would still have a better life than those who had the misfortune of being black.
"I see," he clucked his softly.
"It's not really the done thing here, to put it lightly it invites the fury of the sea," she explained. Some of the Bahari'mtoto were more religious than others, she wasn't quite sure how devout she might be, but she also preferred to avoid any risk. At the very least, Gus could empathise with her on that one given that the Al Siq followed much the same pattern, they simply handled their omens slightly differently than the Bahari. "Nevertheless she chose to have them and they have become functioning members of the pride, some of them even seem to have pursued long term partnerships and found love themseles," she shrugged. "In short they are no more different than us and they have proven this by being embraced by the sea as well."
"Except...?"
"Except that Kvasir chose to speak the words that the most hardline traditionalists had been apprehensive to say when our fallen King was around -"
There it was, there was one of the changes... Gus made a mental note. He'd heard the rumours but now he'd had it confirmed.
"The problem is that those opinions are more welcome at the moment, particularly within the new leadership," she admitted. "But I don't agree with it and I had hoped he would know better," she grimaced. "I've spoken to him at length but he's unapologetic, he sees himself as being in the right and as far as he's concerned, being silenced was part of the problem to begin with."
"Was it?" He was playing devil's advocate here, but he needed the full picture.
"...I will admit that Ram's decision to not acknowledge the more hostile elements of society may have caused some friction which they are now taking advantage of, but that doesn't mean that you can call someone out loudly in public as a whore," she pursed her lips. "His own grandmother made the same mistake this lioness did and his own mother followed the same path as this lioness's children... I became a valuable member of society," she pointed out. "Mistakes were made and these should be acknowledged but there is a time and a place, there is a need for tact... And quite frankly he has none."
It was Gus's turn to raise a brow at this. Admittedly she had a point, there was a time and a place for everything but surely surpressing the view point of one side made things worse. His concern must have been written on his face as his own mate narrowed her eyes, he wasn't entirely sure he should be chastising his son for having controversial views. Addressing the lack of decorum was certainly valid, but his views regarding the traditions of the pride were his own and he had chosen to side with those who valued culture and tradition over more lax views.
Ironically, Gus would have been the pot calling the kettle black on this one.
In fact it was like Zephyr would have pointed this out if she knew how his own society functioned.
"I'll speak to him about the tact piece," he spoke at last and took a breath. "But I am not going to force anyone to change their view point, those changed by force tend to entrench themselves and become more hostile," he pointed out. He'd seen it happen of course, but his experiences were isolated to smaller matters such as who to vote for in an election or which of their resident athletes were going to win in a particular competition. Again, an ironic turn of events given that the vast majority of the Al Siq's issues were born from entrenched and unrelenting view points.
"But -"
"He needs to learn them in his own time," Gus pointed out. "Forced change is never permanent, gradual realisation tends to mean that there is a greater chance the changing stance will be longer lasting," he smiled wryly. "But... Maybe I can do something beyond trying to change his mind," he clucked his tongue. "Maybe a change in scenary?"
"So take him with you?" Zephyr sounded just a touch strained as she considered this option. She'd grown used to her children being around even if she had tried to encourage them to see the world and broaden their own horizons. Now that one might be hauled off to do just that she was feeling a touch apprehensive; what if something happened to him? Kvasir was being a pain in her backside at the moment but that didn't mean she didn't love him!
"If he's removed from his tutors for the time being and he has the chance to see a variety of different cultures, including the one I come from, then he may come to the realisation that he was unreasonable on his own," Gus shrugged. "It would be an opportunity for growth and in some respects it might be an eye opener for him," he paused briefly. "Once he reaches the Al Siq and experiences his father's world, he might realise how good he had it here," he pointed out. After all, while Gus would take measures to assume his son wasn't drafted in to the military, that didn't mean that Kvasir wouldn't encounter distasteful individuals who might make his life a touch awkward.
He'd be a foreigner after all, something peculiar. He might be blessed with a white coat but in the grand scheme of things he was still different and there were certain differences that the Al Siq liked to fixate on. They only seemed to change their own view points when it was politically convenient to do so.
Kvasir wouldn't know what had hit him.
Zephyr seemed to consider this for a while and then shook her head, perhaps there was some validity in what her mate was saying, even if she didn't feel entirely comfortable with the concept of her cub being so far away from her.
"Sometimes you need to be cruel to be kind, right..?" she said slowly and pursed her lips. "Maybe you're right about a culture shock."
"I'll make sure he comes home safely," Gus promised with a half smile. "But with our opinionated son placed to one side for the time being, perhaps you want to touch on why the pride is acting like the world has ended?"
"Well our King died," she started.
"Ah."
"And then things just kind of...started to go down hill from there."
"I guess I should make myself comfortable then," Gus murmured. "Might be easier to start from the beginning with that one as well," he advised. She'd probably abridge it, but he'd best prepare himself all the same...
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