Hel was bored out of his mind. There were so many young cubs coming and going, and he'd spent so much time away from home and his family... he smirked. Oh right, Astrid.
He was maneuvering his way over rock and dirt, aiming to head towards a familiar den, when a splash of brown caught his attention.
It wasn't so much the brown pelt itself, no. That was normal enough to come across. No, what caught his attention was the set of wing markings emblazoned on the young female's back, similar to his own, and he chuckled, recognizing her.
Without warning, he approached. "I take it you're a relative of Astrid's, aren't you?"
Behr had been minding her own business, not straying too far from home in case her mother called, when the deep baritone of a lion was talking to her. She tossed a stink eye over her shoulder, half tempted to shoot him down, when she noticed who he was. Ah, Freya's son, and her kind-of brother? Her whole family dynamic was a bit skewed, but it worked for the better part of growing up. That didn't mean her mother's warnings and constant wariness didn't stick with her about this particular lion.
She snorted at him, "Helvegr. I'm surprised you noticed, you've been by what, three or more times already?"
Hel growled, but quickly reigned it in. Now was not the time for his temper to get the better of him.
"There's too many of you." He ended up snapping anyway, tail flicking in annoyance. He glanced towards the den, taking a step in that direction, "Is she home, by chance? Your mother, of course. There's something I'd like to discuss with her." He smirked inwardly, not letting himself get carried away. Astrid had cubs now and by some miracle they hadn't been his. Where was the fun in that? He was determined to make her life just a little bit more miserable one day at a time, But, of course, he had his work cut out for him with these teenagers running around.
Behr gave him a once over, rubbed the wrong way, and she took a cautious step in his direction, "No, she isn't. Why?" It felt wrong, this visit, much different from the other ones, but she couldn't put a paw on why. All she knew was that her gut told her to keep him back, and that's exactly what she intended to do, whether he liked it or not. He was a goofball, all the times she'd seen him before...
Hel huffed, "You're lying." He took another step towards the den, only to watch as she made herself much fuller in the entryway.
"What would I get from lying? She's not here." Her voice wavered only slightly, but she quickly cleared it and puffed herself up, trying to hold her own against the adult male despite the fact she was absolutely terrified.
Hel turned his gaze on Behr, growling a little more deeply in his tone. "My sense of smell still works quite well, cub. Why don't we both go in and say hello together? I'm sure your mother would prefer your company over mine." Plus, he humored himself with the thought of having the both of them cornered, and the idea of tormenting one to torment the other seemed enjoyable.
Behr could almost hear the malicious intent in his words, and she put herself in the path of the den ever more while keeping well out of his reach, not wanting to be caught in those dirty paws.
"I am no mere cub, Hel. When I say she isn't here, I mean it." She spat, her warning clear as day in her words.
Hel laughed, full on laughed at the sheer courage she possessed. "You are certainly not your mother's child, are you?" He circled around, lazily looking for a way past her and finding none. But he took the time to give her a once over as well, admitting to himself she was a more interesting lion than her mother had been, for as long as he'd been alive.
Behr's fur crawled with the look, and she was disgusted. But then she smirked, "Of course, YOUR mother is in there as well. You should be able to tell that much, with your sense of smell so strong... Maybe you SHOULD visit."
That stopped him in an instant. One whiff of the air would prove her point, or so he believed, and his gaze hardened into a mask of pure disgust. He took one hard look at Behr before getting very close to her face, mere inches from her as his tone became almost sickeningly sweet to retort. "She won't always be, will she? I can always come back again, my little Behr." With that, he turned on his heel and left, leaving Behr with a mental image of a beast in lion form.
She turned back to the den, a relieved breath escaping her before she nearly choked on it.
She hadn't expected her bluff to work, hoping the scent of her recently departed aunt would be enough to chase him off, and her luck had paid off. What she would do if he came back again, however, was beyond her, especially when he could tell his mother didn't visit all that often with the gossip going around of the female pair being secretly mated off to one another.
That lion was disgusting and he had to go, even if he WAS the son of Aunt Freya, but finding a way to be rid of him would take more than a reaving or two. Something needed a more permanent solution...
Unfortunately, she wouldn't share that experience with either of them, though she was much more prone to sticking close to the den. Especially on the days when her mother would be home alone.
Although Astrid would question her over it, she'd never divulge an honest reason, brushing it off as a nesting thing.
[Word Count: 1,001]