He was having a bad day. It wasn't just the coughing, though. Lutfi felt it deep in his mind, the despair of his situation. He felt as if he'd done nothing with his life, accomplished nothing. He found a tree to settle under, body shaking as he collapsed. It did at least a bit to alleviate the coughing. At some point, he started to doze, chest rattling sightly.

When Pavla found his dear friend, he found himself momentarily worried that the disease had claimed him. "Oh, Lutfi..." He walked over, nudging the deep pink lion with a paw. One pale eye slid open, bringing a smile to the earthen lion's face. "Oh, good! You're NOT dead!" He got a glare in response, which he promptly ignored. Instead, he lay down next to Lutfi, pressing their sides together. His expression sobered, right into his eyes, as he looked at his friend. "I do worry, you know."

Lutfi only let out a grunt, laying his head back onto his paws. "Nope, still alive." He was silent for a moment, tail flicking. "Unfortunately." He could feel violet eyes on his head and let out a sigh, sitting back up. "Oh, don't look at me like that. I'm suffering here." A part of his brain reminded him that he'd done this to himself. He loved Shinkai, cared for her deeply, and this was her homeland, her motherland. This was where she was happiest, with her pridemates. So for her, he'd come, despite knowing he'd potentially contract the disease. "Not sure sometimes if anybody'd miss me when I'm gone." He didn't even have a legacy.

"Nilofer and Shinkai would miss you!" There was a pause, before he quietly said,"I'd miss you..." Pavla shifted, crossing his front paws. They lapsed into silence, during which Lutfi laid his head back down. After a while, he began to hum, the sound seeming to soothe Lutfi next to him. "You've been deep in a coma," he sang, "But I stood right here. When you thought there was no one, I was still right here... You were scared, but I told you... Open up your eyes." He rested his chin on Lutfi's side.

Shifting, Lutfi didn't peek an eye open. He was listening, though. He frowned just slightly, wondering what in the world Pavla was going on about. He stretched just slightly, feeling just slightly better. Damn, maybe that singing WAS worth something. He didn't feel that tickle in his throat, instead only feeling content. One ear DID twitch, as a fly landed on it.

"Never stopped being someone, who could love you well. Had to show you the hard way, only time will tell.." When had that happened, he wondered. When did he care so much about this lion? This grumpy pink lion who came in with an old face familiar with the pride's ways, who he had only aimed to cheer up. He did care about the lionesses that Lutfi remained with, but he cared for Lutfi more. "Revelations and heartaches-"

"Make you realize..." This was absurd. Pavla was none of the things Lutfi had looked for for his harem, nothing he saught for a banu. Blue, spots... Very much female. Nilofer fit that description perfectly, having large blue spots across her back. It was only a small part of why she was his beybanu, though. He'd grown up with her, known her since they were cubs. His fall for her had been gradual, even with the silly promise of cubs that she'd be his beybanu, and any lioness he brought back from his banu hunt would be second to her. Shinkai, on the other paw, was simply blue, so much blue. Nothing but blue, like the sky above, like his own eyes. And his fall for her had been faster, the way she cared unconditionally warming him over. So what was it about Pavla...?

He looked at Lutfi, a smile tugging at his lips. "I was always in front of you..." He pressed his face against the coal-dark mane. "So wake up, your sleeping heart. I know sometimes we'll be afraid, but no more playing safe, my dear... I'm here, so wake up." Something in Pavla thrummed, humming with the song, humming with... What was it? It was more than caring, more than affection. It had gone beyond at some point, some undetermined dot in a linear path. He didn't care when it was, though, only that in the now, this was where he wanted to be.

Lutfi let out a sigh, rolling onto his back. He only lived once, he supposed. "You've deep in a coma, but I stood right here. When you thought there was no one, I was still right here." He reached up, one paw touching Pavla's cheek. "You were scared, but I told you, open up your eyes." He closed his eyes. "I was always in front of you... So wake up, your sleeping heart. And we will dream a dream for us, that no one else can touch, my dear, I'm here, so wake up."

He leaned into the paw, smiling. "So wake up, your sleeping heart... And we will dream a dream for us, that no one else can touch, my dear... I'm here... So wake up." He shifted, face burying in the coal-dark mane again. That humming within had gotten stronger, seeming to drown everything else out. He felt paws wrap around his neck, but didn't mind, content where he was. Nothing, it seemed, could go wrong in the world, and he was happy, as Lutfi seemed to already be feeling better, emotionally. A quiet sigh was the only other sound he made as he began to drift off, nose filled with that scent that was uniquely Lutfi with just the barest hints of Nilofer and Shinkai. Though he was no seer, his dreams were filled only with thoughts of this strange family he was finding himself more and more part of.

Something had filled Lutfi, a gap he hadn't realized was there. When he imagined his heart, he thought of a rock with holes in it, what had at first looked like two that he'd been able to fit two branches into. But when he turned it over in his mind, he found another he hadn't realized was there, and now it had a branch of its own. The content part of his brain told him that this was fine, it was right because it felt right, but another part worried... What happened now? Only time would tell.