Rikmóðr
All her short life Rikmóðr had been hearing about the upcoming wedding between her big brother Raskogr and his fiancée Seqineq. The event itself had been pushed back due to her birth (well, hers and the others in her litter, if she was being completely accurate, which was something Raskogr tended to insist on), but now that she had grown up a little, a new date had been found and it looked like it was finally going to happen.For instance, Rikka was in Seqi's family den with Seqi and her sister Reka and their mother and a number of Seqi's friends, deciding how Seqi ought to be adorned for the ceremony and what sort of things she would need in setting up her new home. In truth, Rikka didn't have a great deal to contribute to the discussion, and she didn't really get any of the jokes the older lionesses were making, although she could tell that they were joking, which kind of bored her and annoyed her all at once, even though she'd been really excited to be invited at first.
She had been just about ready to see if she could maybe slink off to play unnoticed when a voice boomed from outside the den, "I'm coming in!"
Brummen
It had been Brummen's intention to avoid the family den all day, knowing as he did that Seqi would be there with all the lionesses who would be involved in celebrating her upcoming nuptials. That was entirely too much female company of the wrong sort for Brummen's taste. He knew that any male foolish enough to make an appearance would, at best, be teased mercilessly until he retreated, and at worst, forced to sit and offer opinions on pointless things like purple or blue paint for her coat.Unfortunately, he found that he needed some bandages for a bite he'd gotten the other day which was now beginning to weep again. It would undoubtedly be healed by the wedding, providing he could keep it clean, but in order to keep it clean he had to keep it covered, which meant he needed bandages, which meant he needed to poke his head briefly into the silliness going on at home.
In his most friendly bellow he warned the lionesses that he was coming in and assured them once he was inside, "Won't be but a second, ladies! Carry on!"
Rikmóðr
The sheer volume of the warning had startled Rikka to an alertness she hadn't felt that day since about an hour after arriving at Seqi's gathering. She sat up straighter and looked to the entry, just as all the other lionesses were doing. What she saw there was a massive lion, about the same size as her brother Ragnvard, whose muscular silhouette temporarily blotted out all the light from that port of ingress.The other lionesses obviously recognized him and began calling out to him teasingly or else berating him for daring to show his face in this bastion of femininity. Unlike her brother Ragnvard, who probably would've had something nasty to say, or else something that made the lionesses squirm because it was inappropriate, this lion ducked his head and smiled like someone who knew he deserved what he was getting, and was just going to endure it.
"Just getting some bandages," he mumbled in a voice that still filled the space. Rikka would've bet this lion had no secrets, simply because he couldn't possibly speak quietly enough for secrecy.
Brummen
It was much as Brummen had expected, braving the lionesses' gathering. Another time he might have slowed his pace, engaged in some banter or even ogled some of his sister's more attractive friends, but he knew better. In this instance, the best possible course of action was for him to get in, get the bandages, and get out as quickly as he could."Where are they?" he grumbled to himself as he pawed through the area where the family usually kept its healing and first aid supplies. His grumble was as loud as most people's normal speech.
"Ma!" he called at a volume completely unsuited to the space. "Did someone move the bandages? I can't find them. We're not out, are we?"
He wouldn't have drawn attention to himself like that, except he remained convinced it was still the best way to expedite this whole thing, rather than conduct an entire search himself, fumbling around and getting scolded for making messes, all the while hoping nobody would ask him whether he preferred the white flowers or the yellow ones, or something equally baffling and ridiculous.
Rikmóðr
Rikka's ears flattened as the large lion bellowed about his inability to find the bandages he was looking for. She wasn't the only one, although she noticed that Seqi and Reka and their mother seemed completely unfazed by his astonishing volume. She also realized, looking around at the lionesses who were now joking about how helpless lions were in the home, and what babies they could be, that not one of them seemed aware of how incredibly strong and handsome this particular lion was. That mystified her, as she could not seem to make herself look anywhere except at him.Seqi's mother, Kunik, told him that, yes, the bandages had been moved, and where they had been moved to, but Rikka could tell by the way the lion's ears were perfectly still and his jaw seemed to go a little slack that her instructions had passed quite completely over his head, and he had no idea where she was expected to look. Evidently his mother had noticed the same thing and began to give him more detailed instructions while using her ears and whiskers to point where he ought to be looking instead.
Brummen
Brummen was positive his eyes must be glazing over as his mother repeated increasingly detailed directions to finding the bandages' new location. Even his tail had begun to droop in defeat as he realized that he was never going to find the bandages and, worse, he had brought his sister's gathering to a complete stop, which could only mean that the females would soon turn on him. Already he could hear them giggling about lions' uselessness.Finally he just nodded and pretended that he had understood what she was trying to tell him, even though he now had even less of an idea than he had to begin with. A large part of him wanted to know who had decided to move the damn bandages anyway, and why it had been allowed. It was important for household safety that every member of the family know where to find the necessary materials to dress and treat their injuries. Especially reaver family members, like himself, who were more likely to need these things than the freeborn lion who was undoubtedly responsible for their relocation.
He still couldn't find the bandages, and he could tell that the lionesses were beginning to lose their patience, so he finally admitted defeat and asked in what was, for him, a small voice, "Can't you just show me?"
Rikmóðr
It made no sense. Rikka would have been annoyed by this kind of helplessness in one of her own brothers because of how it smacked of laziness. Her companions were clearly annoyed by it. But Rikka couldn't bring herself to be even mildly irked by it. In fact, she was actually smiling like a dopey fool, although she was unaware of it, fortunately, or else she might have had to leap off a cliff for shame. She was smiling because rather than finding the lion's behavior annoying, she thought it was kind of endearing.She was startled from her reverie by Kunik saying her name: "Rikmóðr, will you be a dear and show my idiot son where the bandages are?"
Rikka nodded and skittered across the space to the location Kunik had been trying to convince her son to investigate. In the background she heard Kunik remarking despairingly, "Honestly, Brummen. Anyone who didn't know you would think you were simple." It made her wrinkle her nose in disagreement. She didn't think he was simple. She thought he was the best-looking lion she'd ever seen, and it distressed her to think that he probably needed the bandages because he'd been injured.
Brummen
Brummen stepped aside and watched in some astonishment as a little lioness he had never seen before today, and whom he was sure had never been in the den before, darted over to him with a wrinkled nose and in a matter of moments went to exactly the spot his mother had been trying to get him to find, producing the bandages with an ease that made him feel a little bit moronic."My thanks, little lady," he whispered voluminously, lowering his head as if that was actually required for her to hear him, which it really wasn't. "I'm Brummen."
As frustrated as he was by the whole situation, the little cub seemed halfway terrified, and so he made an effort to seem less enormous and intimidating than usual. She was likely part of Raskogr's family, so it would be better if he didn't scare her, probably, since Seqi seemed to like her enough to have asked her to be here today. He added his best, most charming smile, just to make sure she knew that she was safe with him.
Rikmóðr
Rikka would later chastise herself for her behavior, but when Brummen leaned close her eyes grew wide as shells and her heart beat pitter-pat. She could only nod at his introduction, worried that he would interpret her silence as annoyance or dismissal, which it absolutely wasn't. It was just that she couldn't find her voice to answer him. She would blame her speechlessness on his smile.Nobody had ever smiled at Rikka like that, although in the future she would grow more accustomed to it, and when Brummen hit her with the full force of his most charming smile, she was gone. This time it was her jaw going slack and her ears going still.
He took the bandages from her paws, making her very aware of how enormous he was, as his giant face came close to hers momentarily during the transfer. She swallowed nervously and then watched with big, sad eyes as he straightened up and offered everyone good-natured apologies and farewells around a mouthful of bandages.
She knew then that she was absolutely and totally in love with Brummen, and decided then and there that she would one day marry him. She couldn't imagine ever wanting anybody else.
Brummen
Brummen was careful as he took the bandages from the tiny cub's even tinier paws, holding them delicately between his teeth and being relieved that he hadn't accidentally taken a toe with them, for a variety of reasons ranging from social to sanitary.His quest complete, the reaver beat a hasty retreat, enduring more verbal abuse that would have followed him beyond his departure had he not taken a moment to pause before leaving and tell his oldest little sister, "Seqi, you look beautiful. Rask has no idea how lucky he is."
He meant it, of course. Over time he had come to know Rask a little, and while the slightly-built lawspeaker frequently baffled Brummen, the reaver was confident that his heart was in the right place and it was obvious that he adored Brummen's sister, which was as it should be. There would have been no sport in murdering a lion as scrawny as Rask, but that wouldn't've stopped Brummen if it had become necessary.
Right now, though, he wasn't thinking about murder. He was thinking about bandages and weddings. Happy, harmless thoughts.