The day had been long and though it hadn’t been overly interesting there had been a few noteworthy events that had gone on. For one, there was the matter of Nurina. How strange the way the world seemed to work… lions would dip in and out of lives. She could not honestly claim any dislike for the other yellow lioness after spending the better part of the day with her… in fact, she’d even found Nurina to be somewhat amusing. Her seriousness translated well into sarcasm and tongue in cheek sort of humor as she relentlessly commented on lions and lionesses she apparently found foolish. That was the sort of friend that Hial could get behind!
Still, she was happy the day was over and felt that her den was a welcoming site as she approached, smiling slightly as she wondered wether her ridiculous husband would be there already or not. As she entered the smile sighed away from her maw… Feykir was not present. She hesitated at the entry way, feeling it was quite lonely in the den when she was by herself… some nights she would ask Audhild to come stay with her when Feykir was out on his viking trips… but where was he tonight? He was not to set out on any journeys. At least, none that she was aware of.
Feykir yawned and stretched, bidding his friend a fond farewell as he started his walk back to his and Hial’s den. He hummed, finding himself in a rather cheerful mood… life was good. Even though he enjoyed exploring the lands and making merry with his band of fellow reavers he would not hesitate to admit that his favorite place was next to his female. Hial was a force not to be reckoned with… she was feisty and funny, not to mention she was alluring as anything. He puffed out his chest as he thought of how lucky he’d gotten in life, for a moment thinking it wouldn’t be bad if he never had to go on a viking trip again. Though maybe too much time together would drive them mad? He wasn’t sure, it’d never been an option… of course he also knew that Hial wanted time away from their homelands as well… their first litter had stopped her… would the second do the same?
Not that there was a second litter… but they were trying. He smirked a little, thinking he might like to try again tonight. As he got close to their dens he could see her form silhouetted in the entryway and he slowed so he could let his fond gaze linger over her, remembering all of her every chance he got. When he got close he grinned, ”Oi, what’s eating you m’love?” He bumped his head right into her butt, laughing as she stumbled forward.
Had she been down wind she would have smelled him coming long before he ever got close! Hell, she should have been able to hear him approach… but her mind had been distracted. She yelped ever so slightly as suddenly something was bumping into her, her feet scrambling forward in a very ungraceful manner. Her teeth were bared as she started to turn… and she calmed only slightly when it was Feykir’s voice which she could hear. ”Feykir! Enough of the cubishness!” She growled out, but it only caused her mate to laugh cheerfully. She nipped at his nose and sighed, relenting as she rubbed into his neck and his mane. She deeply inhaled her husband’s scent, quietly relieved he’d returned so soon after her. ”I thought perhaps I would have found you here when I arrived… but I see you were galavanting about as usual.” She snuffed, finally pulling away from him and moving further into their den.
He grunted, ”Aye!” He followed right behind her. He knew she wasn’t really mad but it caused some worry just the same. Hial’s moods changed quicker than storms raging over the sea and it was hard to guess when to placate her by playing along and when to tell her she was being cub-like herself. ”My love, I was just out lookin’ all over fer yer beautiful self.” He claimed, deciding it was not such a bad lie. Besides, it wasn’t as though he’d been off doing anything in poor taste. It wasn’t like Dagrún was a bad influence… in fact the opposite could be said. Dagrún was a lot of the reason he and Hial had finally gotten together in the first place, at least on Feykir’s part. ”Dagrún sends good tidings.” He added, deciding a full lie was never the best way to go with Hial even if his intentions were well meant.
She turned herself around so she could get a good look at her husband, one eyebrow slowly arching up in a disbelieving manner. He was ridiculous! ”You are…” She huffed and shook her head, a small laugh slipping past her maw and then becoming a more full laugh when she saw his eyes light up. She moved closer to him and nuzzled into his mane. ”Oh does he now? Just recruited him up for the search party?” She teased, it was clear she didn’t fully believe him but… Feykir would say what he wanted when he wanted. That was how he was over the entire time she’d known the darker pelted lion. ”You are lucky we are married.” She concluded, smirking as she nipped his cheek harder than usual.
He was glad he’d been able to turn her mood around, laughing along with her. A happy Hial was the most important, it was what kept him happy too, after all. ”Yeah, yeah, yeah.” He gave a small yip as she nipped him, tugging away and swinging his paw at hers as though to trip her. There was no really force behind the action though, so it wouldn’t matter if he hit or if she evaded his ‘attack’. He moved forward in the same moment, playfully tackling her onto the ground as he nipped here and there playfully. He enjoyed the sound of her laughter, enjoyed getting to spend as much time as he could with her. Soon he would be leaving the pride for a time again, but he hadn’t yet been able to bring himself to tell his wife.
Hial squealed with laughter and then started to push and hit with her paws, giving up on being too rough or a little mean. It was just she and Feykir in their den, and the only strangers who might visit would possibly be her children. She could relax her attitude for a little while. After a short while they finally settled down, and a content purr rumbled from her chest as they lay there snuggled up together. These were the moments that made the journey worth it, she thought. The moments which had made staying in their homelands alright, though she’d often claimed she could do anything her mate could do and do it better. It made raising three strong and beautiful girls worth it… though that one wasn’t hard at all to be thankful for and to have been truly worth her time and efforts.
”This is nice.” She mumbled, not sure if she was sleepy or wanted something more intimate with her mate. ”Oh! … You’ll never guess who I ran into today.” She purred out, a soft chuckle following.
His chest rose and fell deeply and in a calm rhythm, his eyes half lidded as they relaxed together. He could give her the news of his departure tomorrow. It was still a few days until they would leave, anyways. ”Hmm?” He snorted, starting just slightly. Gods above, he must be getting old… he’d already started nodding off. A real shame, he knew there could be more fun to be had if he just stayed awake… ”Run inta?” He repeated, blinking and shaking his head to rid himself of the sleepy onslaught. ”Lessee… well not Dagrún.” He joked, a lazy smile splaying across his maw. ”And our daughters would be too easy to guess… maybe that lawspeaker? Remember that?” He chuckled thinking about their union to one another. ”You are right m’love, I do no think I will guess it.” He smirked, bumping his forehead into her own. ”Will you tell? Pretty please?”
She snorted and shook her head lightly, she was surprised she didn’t spend half her life dizzy since she’d met the dark male. She laughed out loud as her husband brought up their union, glad she had been laughing half her life since she’d met the handsome braggart. In fact, she was sure she laughed even more than that. ”Do you remember long ago… before our girls and before our union? That weird lioness who tried to warn us of some weird doom plaguing our futures?” She snorted, ”Remember? Before you and I were ever…” She motioned back and forth between them with her paw, smirking.
”Oddly enough I spent the day with her… I found her to be quite a breath of fresh air. She even agreed with me that the past was washed out with the sea, by no means should we worry. Not that we ever had.” She laughed again thinking of it, how ridiculous it had been. Hial was not sure if she believed in divine visions or not, but she certainly did not believe in an ill fated future with her husband.
He squinted as his wife brought up the stranger, struggling to remember. Vaguely he could picture a yellow blob in his mind… but no name and - oh. She was speaking of that… he snorted and then started to laugh with her, twirling his tail around her own. ”Aye, aye. Remember how long we poked fun after? And how long you kept denyin’ yer feelings!” He teased, grinning at her because he’d been in just as thick of denial as the lioness. ”Well sounds like a well met day.” He started to groom his wife as they reminisced about their past adventures and foolish struggles. The night was solely theirs, and he could not be more pleased with it. Hial was right, of course, that their was nothing to worry about in their future.
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