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 Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2019 6:44 am
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Since the War, Ebbe had found himself working even harder, if that was even possible. His Queen was injured, their future King, taken. And what did he have to account for it? Nothing. Adults had been injured in the battle, children had lost parts of them, and yet Ebbe seemed to come out unscathed. He found himself releasing a deep sigh. He would no longer observe the training going on in the lands. No, he needed to partake in it. Even as he grew older, he needed to continue to prove why he held the title he did. He didn't get that way by watching. He did it. The scars marking his skin proved that.
His new way of thinking only meant later nights, and even earlier mornings. Delphi had begun to share his den, and while things had been awkward at first for the Monarch's Claw, he soon began to relax slightly while in the privacy of their quarters in her presence. Her own injury seemed to be healing, as was the pride. It was a small sign, but a good sign. The Outlands would soon return to their former glory.
On a particular late evening, Ebbe found himself entering the den, worn. His orange eyes were tired, and his sluggish movements only portrayed said feeling on his body. Perhaps he was pushing himself a little too much? But Ebbe was Ebbe, and he was almost all work and no play. His weary eyes scanned the den, looking for Delphi.
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Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2019 7:06 pm
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Life for the Claw's apprentice had become something of a whirlwind. Just as she thought she was on the mend from the worst event of her life, she had been thrown headlong into one hurdle after another that quickly spiraled down, down into chaos. The attack on the Queen had exacerbated her injury to the point that she had not been well enough to be a part of the war. She had fretted the entire day as she heard screams and roars in the distance, praying to the ancestors that they would see her stubborn lover home in one piece. The moment he had walked through the opening of their, of his, den she had been shocked by the relief that overwhelmed her.
The fact that he was even a lover in her mind these days was just one more of the debris in her whirlwind. They had gone from uncomfortable strangers to terse mentor and pupil to.. what? Delphi did not think he considered her his mate so much as he did the most capable female with whom he would bother to have relations; she was a means to an end most days. Yet she would have lied if she said she did not think that her presence at his side, that their private nights in his den, did not do something to ease the ache in his heart and the tension in his bones. If she could not be a part of the war at the very least she could just be what females had been since the beginning of time - a companion. A shoulder to lean on. A comfort in the chill of the night.
She had begun to hope that very soon she could resume the training that Ebbe had begun with her before her injury and before the war. She was on the mend and doing well even if the fight with Calypso meant a setback. She worried for his health, mental and physical, as he spent longer and longer days training and patrolling. He always came home, though, and tonight was not any exception.
As his shadow darkened the doorway, Delphi's pale eyes rolled up to greet his fiery ones. She had been lying in the same spot for hours with heavy thoughts on her mind that showed on her face before she could vanish them away. As if he had caught her doing something she ought not to be, she cleared her throat and pushed herself up slowly to a sitting position. Today her heart was both heavy and light; she would not be able to train with him for long if he agreed to let her at all but perhaps she had news that would please him.
It was hard to know with the older male.
"I've been waiting ages," the words should have been accusatory but they lacked the fire she usually reserved for taunting him, "welcome home."
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Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2019 6:14 am
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A small light flickered behind his tired eyes, catching the thoughtful look on her features before they faded. Even in his exhausted state, the lion was as vigilant as ever.
His ears flicked at her first words, even the tone was different. Something was up with the darker female, and the analytical claw did not know what it was. Could it have been her stuck in the den, away from training? Maybe his longer outings was starting to take a toll on her mentally, just as it were him.
He looked over her form, checking her injuries in his mind, before closing the small gap between them. Ebbe was by no means a physical lion in the terms of intimacy, but he would spare a soft headbutt and a light purr occasionally. No one else would have seen it, so why hide that? Ebbe was a strange creature in his thought process.
"I'm sorry," the male apologized. "With everything that has been happening I just...needed to make sure the pride stayed together." Ebbe rarely apologized. Delphi had definitely caused a small change in him, even he had to admit it. "How are your injuries?" It was a daily question the male asked. Perhaps tomorrow, she could venture out with him to resume her once training. Even if it was out for just a small amount of time, the companionship would do well to ground Ebbe. |
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Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2019 9:36 am
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Delphi had grown accustomed to his lack of intimate gestures so when he allowed them, she would always take the moment to indulge in them. As he came close and pressed his forehead to hers, she shifted and let herself bury her face into the thick of his pale mane. Things between them could still be awkward most days but she thought they were learning, growing, into something that could exist comfortably.
"They feel fine," she mumbled in answer, distracted. He smelled like iron and salt, a scent that was both familiar and somehow comforting by now. It did a little to soothe her fretting heart but she knew she could not just wallow in her fears and keep what she must speak a secret for any longer.
"I think we should talk about my place as your apprentice though," she began, then sighed at her own words. Never one to shy from confrontation, she forced her eyes up to meet his and drew a deep, unsteady breath. It was unlike her to be so nervous, especially around him, and she was sure if she continued to behave like this with no explanation then he would begin to worry. "I met with a healer and a vessel today, Ebbe. We will have cubs within the next few months."
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Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2019 9:54 am
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He nodded approvingly when she had said her injuries felt fine. "Good."
However, her next words caused him to shift away from her, to stare into her own pale eyes with narrowing fire orbs. "Talk about your place as my apprentice? Why? Do you no longer wish to serve as the future Monarch's Claw?" He found himself quickly asking. She couldn't just give up that! He never would have thought those words would leave her mouth.
But the following words were almost like ice hitting his veins. Ebbe froze, his jaw slightly agape as he stared at her.
..Did she just say...cubs?
His eyes flickered towards her belly, where life had begun the process of growing within her. Another shift of his gaze back to her, as he stared dumbfounded.
"...are they sure?" he whispered shakily. Sure they had been trying occasionally, but Ebbe didn't think it would happen this soon? In his mind, it would take years perhaps, not the few weeks that it had been since the order was given. Did the knowledge of her having cubs mean she would no longer be sharing his den?
"...Will you be returning to your own residence then...with this information?" Ebbe's tone was low as he asked. There was something in it, a sense of...longing perhaps? Ebbe was always terrible with words. How could he muster that he wanted her to stay here even after the order had been fulfilled? |
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Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2019 6:09 pm
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Whatever anticipation had swelled up within Delphi dissipated as a look of complete and utter shock rang through the older male. It was like a knot being pulled free, releasing her worry in a moment of amusement over his baffled face. It was almost like he did not expect this to happen, despite trying.
"Very sure," she answered, "I should begin showing any day now. I.. didn't want to rush it. I know how the vessels gossip sometimes."
It was not something she wanted to face until she had to. It wasn't because she was ashamed over becoming a mother, or even over baring Ebbe's cubs, but she had never been viewed as anything but a rogue or a warrior. Mothers and all that they entailed were.. strange to her. It was going to be an experience like none other and she was keenly aware of the way his eyes lingered on her belly, like everyone's would, until they were lingering on orange and dusky cubs instead. The thought made her draw in a deep, shaky breath, but she kept a handle on her composure despite the flurry of new anxieties running rampant through her mind.
"I thought, perhaps, I might stay?" She didn't miss the strange tone in his voice even if she couldn't exactly place it. He was subpar at expressing his emotions at the best of times. Well, unless that emotion was anger or disappointment - he could express that like a master. "We'll want to raise them together, won't we? And I don't.. know the first thing about this."
For the first time, she let her worry spring to her face as she watched him.
"I don't know that I could handle going through all of this by myself, Ebbe."
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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2019 4:06 pm
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Excitement? Nervousness? Anxiousness? A combination of all three? Ebbe wasn't quite sure what he was feeling. His heart what thumping wildly in his chest, he was sure if there was no other sound in the room, Delphi could hear it.
Breathe. He reminded himself. Somehow between the news dropping and now the male hadn't. Instead, he swayed slightly on his feet, until he found himself seated next to his apprentice.
She would stay? The notion caught him off guard. Here he thought she was agreeing to the union because the Queen had ordered him. But now that it was done, she...would stay?
A nod, and the even hint of a smile tugged at the corner of the male's lips. "Yes. That is the most ideal." He wanted to help raise his children. He didn't see his last litter grow. He had failed to protect them, he wouldn't fail this one.
"Don't worry. You will be a great mother." Another uncommon compliment from the Claw. "You won't have to go through this yourself. The pride will be here." He stated, before clarifying. "I will be here." There was a soft rumble from the male, his anxiousness slowly dissipating, replacing itself with anticipation, and just a small amount of fear.
His eyes flickered to her belly again, as if to see through the skin to the developing kin. "Do you think there will be many?" |
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Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2019 8:58 am
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Was she imagining that hint of a smile on his mug? She didn't think so, Delphi wasn't a foolhardy lioness and she definitely wasn't prone to imagining things. No, he definitely seemed pleased now that the worst of his anxiety had begun to ebb; he seemed happy. Whatever uncertainty had been holding him back seemed to have disappeared in the wake of the news and for the first time since all of this began, she was starting to think that maybe, perhaps, this could be a little more than some strange deal.
The realization that she even wanted that struck her with surprise.
With a deep, shaky breath she leaned into him and let her face bury into the thick mane just above his shoulder. His scent was calming and it sank a feeling of security deep into her bones. With him here, at her side, the future did not seem so scary. At least for the moment.
"Yes," she murmured, turning her face so that her cheek was still pressed into his pale mane but her words were not muffled within it. "Maybe not the largest we've seen lately but still, enough, especially for us."
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Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2019 3:11 pm
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Perhaps this time he had been spending with the darker female was sinking in to him, changing him on the exterior. Never would he have allowed someone to brush against him, let alone bury her face in his mane.
The news of having a larger litter, even one not as big as the largest born thus far, heightened his anxiety slightly. His previous litter was small, two boys, something that he felt was the perfect size (on the contrary to his mate at the time). More than that? He hid a frown, not wanting the anxiety that had begun to build again worry Delphi. Worry led to stress, and stress was no good for a pregnant lioness or the developing cubs within.
"...Do you need anything?" He would need to go tell the Queen, let her know that her order was done. Her kin would have strong protectors, not just from Ebbe, but from other litters born. While it would be his duty to tell her, if she had said she was fine, he would be okay with staying with her for the evening. After all, it wasn't every day you found out you were going to be a father (which...you had been actively avoiding,). |
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Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2019 3:24 pm
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It pleased her that he did not pull away or deny her the small amount of affection that she sought out; it would have been silly, she reasoned, for him to have bothered by now. After all, they had been doing much, much more than simply cuddling in order to get to the point that they were at now.
"Other than some sleep?" she shook her head with a tight smile as she, at last, leaned up and away from him. "I'm sure that will just get worse as the days go by. I've never had cubs but just watching the ladies in the pride of late, it seems... difficult."
There was a very real hint of anxiety over the prospect but she squashed it down and lowered back to her belly so she had to look up at him from the floor just to see his face. He was such a hard character to read, even now, even as well as she thought that she knew him, but he did not seem displeased. Maybe he didn't seem thrilled like she imagined a true mate would but she definitely didn't think he had regretted this choice. At least, not yet. Maybe he would when they arrived and it was the both of them having a hard time sleeping.
"I know you want to tell her," she said gently, nodding her head at the cave mouth, "so just go."
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