Young Alexander was finally back in Orion. It had been a few weeks since his last visit, and since then, he had begun to grow into his body a bit more. He was still lanky and his mane was nowhere near full, but he was bigger, taller at the shoulder, longer from end to end. And his curiosity had only grown with his age, it seemed. His father’s teachings were now utterly imbedded into his mind, and so his curiosity was always overlaid with a small amount of guilt. His father wanted him to hold himself back a little, to act proper, to be a gentleman. His father wanted him not to eat meat, not to go off exploring when he was teaching the boy things, not to back-talk. His father demanded much of him. And Xander didn’t… quite know how he felt about it all. His father clearly loved him, and he loved his father just as much. He
respected King Adeyemi in a way he didn’t respect anyone else. But that didn’t make dealing with him much easier.
Still, the lessons were not difficult. They were boring, perhaps, but not difficult. He took each lesson in stride, and practiced whatever it was until he was sick of it. He knew he still had a long way to go, but he was gaining ground all over the place, and he was proud of himself for it. But it was exhausting, and so he slipped away when he could. This was why he now lay on his back – ‘Entirely improper,’ his father would say – and stared up at the glittering white ceiling of Orion, sighing happily at a chance to relax for once…
@Cure
Xander had sort of dozed off after a while, and he was snoring lightly when something heavy fell on top of him and pushed all the air from his body. He let out whatever was the opposite of a gasp as the air whooshed from his lungs, and his honey-brown eyes snapped open in a panic. Instinct immediately took over, and he rolled onto his paws, causing whatever had landed on him to fall off onto the floor. He let out a warning growl from deep in his chest and throat, still half-asleep and not really noticing how tiny his attacker was.
He loomed over the creature, big and imposing, fur stood on edge, expecting another attack at any moment. And then his brain seemed to catch up with his body, and he blinked in confusion at this… little baby Gemling. He sat up and forced the fur along his nape to settle. Even if this child had attempted to actually
hurt him (which he highly doubted) he wasn’t about to go attacking a baby. That would be… evil.
“Someone should teach you not to attack sleeping Gembounds, little one,” he chastised.
“Or, really, not to attack any Gembounds, regardless of whether they are sleeping. You are young. Are you on your own?”
@Cure
This little cub had clearly never been taught manners, but Alexander could not fault
her for it. She just didn’t have a father like
his father. He lay down in front of her to seem less intimidating, letting her circle him as much as she wanted. She insisted that she wasn’t attacking him. He opened his mouth to counter her, but then she said,
‘If I was alone, are you going to eat me?’ Alexander faltered, mouth still open, and then chuckled, trying to keep himself from guffawing at her question. Was he going to
eat her? Ha!
He got out of his laughing fit after a minute, and grinned at her.
“No, I am not going to eat you, regardless of whether you are alone. I would never eat another Gembound – at least, not the kind that talk. And especially not a child.” He paused, studying her. She was cat-like, but there was something about her that was different from the other Cats he had seen, as if she were not purely Cat. He tilted his head to the side curiously, but couldn’t think of a polite way to ask her what she was. So, instead he asked,
“What is your name, little one?”
@Cure
His laughter seemed to startle Cure in a confused manner. Her ears pinned back as she tilted her head to the left as if to question just what exactly he had found so very funny. Her cheeks puffed as she soon began to assume he was making fun of her and her tail began to lash about behind her. "It's not nice to laugh at people," she grumbled as she began to pourt over it. Outside of her sister, no one had ever laughed at her and when Remmy did it she was teasing Cure about something or another. She plopped her rump down rather grumpily before she lifted her her and looked him over.
As he began to ask her name, Cure was eventually over it and was now trying to compare herself to the tan feline. "My name is Cure!" She introduced herself with a broad grin, holding he head up high and proud. "What's your name? And what kind of cat are you? I've never seen one with fur at the end of their tail before," she blinked at him, eager to hear his response. For a moment she wondered just what her parents would say to her being around a gembound they probably didn't know. Or did they? She wasn't sure, but she wasn't about to ask them about it. Then they would know she had snuck away again.
@Alexander
Alexander’s face immediately became serious when she grumbled that it wasn’t nice to laugh at people. She was right, of course. How could he have been so thoughtless?
“I apologize,” he said solemnly.
“I should not have laughed. It was unkind of me.” He gave a bow of his head in hopes that she would forgive him, but she didn’t seem bothered by it at all a moment later. So her name was Cure…
Cure! His mind traveled back to the last time that he had been in Orion, when he had met Ser Niru and Lady Amaria. Amaria had told him that her children were to be named Remedy and Cure.
He shook his head and went back to concentrating on her words.
“My name is,” he took a deep breath,
“Prince Alexander Adera, of the Flame, son of King Adeyemi Adera of the Flame.” He looked at her sheepishly.
“Please just call me Xander. It is much less of a mouthful.” He was about to tell her that he knew her mother, he thought, but she spoke immediately afterwards. So much for being polite and not asking what someone was… He grinned at her, holding back another laugh, for he knew it might hurt her feelings.
“I am a lion. All lions have tail-tufts, that little bit of fur on the ends of their tails. At least, I think they do. I have only met one other lion, but he definitely had a tail-tuft.” He figured since they were already at this point, he might as well ask her what she was, as well.
“And what, if I may ask, are you? You look like a cat, but not like a cat I have ever seen. I met your mother some time ago, I think. Lady Amaria? You look a bit like her, but not exactly.”
@Cure
Xander watched Cure’s face slowly took on one of confusion. And, he had to admit, this kid was
cute. Not that he was much older than a kid himself, but he hardly ever thought of that. One of her ears had gone sideways and her face scrunched up in the funniest way. Xander wanted to laugh so much, but he tried to keep it in. He almost failed, but managed to pass the escaping laughter off as a cough. Where had this little creature been all his life? He realized then that what he had really needed all this time was a friend. Sure she was sort of irritating, but what could expect from one so young?
He dutifully lowered his face towards her so that she sniff at him some more, grinning at the jab against his father. Under normal circumstances, he would have instantly gone to his father’s defense, but this girl was just playing, as she made clear when she pawed at the air in front of him. What he was not expecting was when she seemed to temporarily lose her mind and squeal like a dying pig. She grabbed the sides of his face with her paws, pressed her nose against his, and said,
’You know Mama?!’
He blinked at her in surprise, and then stuttered out an,
“Ahh… Yes?” He cleared his throat.
“Miss Cure, would you kindly let go of my face?”
@Cure