At this moment, Brio was completely convinced that there was no other lion as miserable as he. Honestly, what in the name of the Great Lion had he been thinking? He had just been so fed up with Medli’s god-forsaken mystery lion, had just wanted her to stop for once in her life.... and he may very well have ruined their friendship.
To make it worse, he had fled afterwards like the coward he was - too chicken to actually admit that he wanted her to finally just pay attention to him instead.
How could he face her now? He’d probably have to go live as a hermit somewhere, far from the pride in the hopes that she wouldn’t be able to reach him.
Or was that continuing the cowardice...?
Hmm.
Well, none the less, he’d never be able to show his face around her again, not that she would ever want to see it anyway. Maybe he could get away with moving to the edge of the pride? Maybe he could convince Fetuao to move out there with him, since he was a guard.
”Well, aren’t you a sorry excuse for a lion.”
Speaking of.....
Brio removed the arm from over his face, huddled into a ball as he was, to look back at the familiar voice. As if summoned by his thoughts, the striped male was standing beside him with a raised eyebrow, mixed amusement and concern clear on his face. He supposed that he looked quite the sight right now, what with the miserable aura probably radiating from him. Not to mention how unkempt his mane and fur likely was. With how terrible he’d been feeling lately, Brio hadn’t found the will to keep his fur looking nice.
With a huff, the black and white male buried his face once more, uninterested in talking. Fetuao was a great friend in normal days, but when you’re feeling down? Yeah, no.... he had a habit of giving things to you straight. If he thought you’d done something dumb, he was likely to tell you.
And Brio already knew he’d messed up. He didn’t need his best friend to tell him that.
Most assumed that Medli was his one and only friend, and thus his best friend, and they’re not completely wrong... but they weren’t completely right either. After all, he wouldn’t have been able to endure this long if he hadn’t had someone to go to about his feelings towards Medli. Having grown up with Fetuao, the two had become good friends as cubs, and the lion was his go-to for male companionship...
... usually.
Fetuao let out a snort as his low-class friend seemed to curl further into himself, “Alright, what happened? You look like someone beat you up, stole your favorite lunch, and then kicked you for good measure.” If he were to take a wild guess, he’d say it had to do with Medli. Again. Honestly, those two were both hopeless.
He wasn’t close enough to Medli to do much about her end of things, and having been the one chosen to escort her sister, Itla, to the border tonight, he knew better than to push his luck. He imagined she wasn’t feeling particularly good about her sister leaving, was probably doing everything to pretend it wasn’t about to happen.
Brio, on the other paw, was in a prime position to be badgered by Fetuao, and he would. For both of their sakes.
And so he wouldn’t have to hear about this so called mystery mate.
Honestly, what a ridiculous idea. Was Medli planning on letting “visions” guide her every move? What a terrible way to live! But Brio obviously cared a lot about her, and from what he’d seen, he was willing to bet that she felt the same way, if only the stubborn girl would listen to reason. He idly wondered what Aporia would think of this situation, but shrugged it off.
There was a moment of silence as Fetuao waited for Brio to speak before an orange-yellow eye peeked out from behind an equally bright mane. “I... I screwed up, Fet.”
”Okaaaay....” When nothing else came, the striped lion huffed and nudged at his friend’s side, “And how did you do that?”
It took a bit before Brio finally answered. By the time he’d finished, Fetuao had narrowed his eyes with a calculating look, then shook his head in exasperation. Like he’d said: hopeless, the both of them. While he was no master of love, he could at least give good advice, and it was high time these two faced their problems head on.
“Brio, you need to tell her the truth. You said she doesn’t want to face it? Then show her it’s worth facing! Show her that you’re worth being with, not this faceless lion. If she still doesn’t want to, then....” He paused there, then continued with a shake of his head, “Then you’ve got to let go. This isn’t healthy for either of you, and it’s high time you both came to terms with that.”
Brio’s gaze had slid down to his paws by the time Fetuao had finished, but the thoughtful look on his face showed that he was listening. He knew his friend was right, but... it was just so difficult to build up the courage to do it.
Show her he was worth it....
His eyes lit up as an idea came to him. Perhaps that could work...?
It was worth a shot.
Fetuao smiled as he saw the expression. Cuffing his friend’s ear gently with a paw, he turned and began walking away. His last parting words were “I believe in you!” before he made his way over to the designated meeting spot. It was almost time to escort Itla out, and he wanted to give a Brio space to work.
Brio barely heard his friend leaving, his ear twitching being the only indication of such. Instead, his mind was on his idea. It was a decent plan, one that would only work at the perfect time. A quick glance up at the sky showed a clear night sky, stars twinkling merrily above him, and he knew...
Tonight was a perfect night, but he would need to move quick to get things set up first.
With that in mind, the male stood and bounded away quickly.