(Private for TheWhistlerify)

[UncoordinatedPisces]

Mjuvi himself, was so over the moon, that it took him a few moments to register that Marini was hugging him. When he did realise, his eyes widened a little out of pleasant astonishment. He went to hug her back, surprising even himself at the affection he wanted to show, but she moved away. The blush on her cheeks matched his own as he cleared his throat once again.

He loved her smile, so found himself smiling back. He lost himself for a moment, partly because of the happiness at Marini staying and partly because...well, it was hard not to get lost in those eyes of hers. He opened his maw to say something, but Siri and Akina quickly ran out of their hiding place. "Mjuvi! You're not even looking for us!" Siri called grumpily. Mjuvi snapped out of it and turned to face his little sister.

"I was having a break! You two were so hard to find. Must be a new hiding spot!" He called back, shooting a smile at Marini. Luckily for him, Akina confirmed that it was a new hiding spot and the two cubs quickly forgave Mjuvi. Not soon after, Nura and Dakari appeared in the small clearing next to the den. Mjuvi padded up to them both, unable to stop his smile. He had almost forgotten about their talk by the waterhole.

"Dakari, is it okay if Marini stays? She'd like to" he said, his voice picked up in a cheery tone. He felt as though he had to ask him, even if he didn't like having a 'leader' of sorts, Dakari was the best possible option. Nura smiled in surprise. So the young lioness was staying? "This group is getting bigger" Nura chipped in, "We're shaping up to be more of a pride!" The suggestion struck Mjuvi. Maybe they were more of a pride. Of course, pride's did have an assigned leader and each pride member had a role to play - but Mjuvi was fine with that.

Spoiler: show

When he did realise, his eyes widened a little out of pleasant astonishment.
Images don't belong to me, they are bases that I coloured to match the colours of Mjuvi and Marini, the image doesn't quite fit what was going on but I wanted to try it out. An almost illustrated RP would be fun xD

[TheWhistlerify]

Marini continued to sit there in front of Mjuvi, still smilling happily and staring into the adolescent male's eyes. Normally she would quickly grow very embarrassed at situations like this one and break the eye contact. This was to be expected even more considering the fact she'd just hugged him - seeing how this was as close as they've ever been since they'd met one week ago. However, she was just too happy in order to pay her embarrassment any thought, even if it was definitely there.

The more she looked into the young lion's eyes the more she realized just how much she enjoyed staring at them and the less significant her timidness became. It looked as if he was about to say something else to her, but that was when Siri and Akina barged in and interrupted them. Marini had completely forgotten about their little game of hide and seek just like Mjuvi obviously had as well. Before her mind could comprehend the fact that she wished the cubs had stayed hidden for just a while longer, Dakari and Nura arrived back from wherever they'd been to.

Dakari's train of thought regarding his conversation with Nura by the waterhole (and especially that short nuzzle afterwards) was interrupted because it was literally impossible to ignore the huge smile on his brother's face. He couldn't recall ever seeing Mjuvi so happy before and, in all honesty, there have been moments in his life where he wondered whether such a thing was even possible. When he realized what the younger lion was so thrilled about, he couldn't help but chuckle. "I thought you'd never ask." he said, before grinning at his brother. "No, really. The answer's obvious."

The lion did appear to become a little thoughtful at Nura's remark. Knowing that a pride's leader was usually a male, he suddenly recalled that he and his siblings were not the children of their former pride's leader. As such, neither of them have ever been taught anything about leading a group of lions. Dakari and Mjuvi were the only two lions in the group, and the latter was far too young... But him? Leading a pride? Heck, he could barely hunt on his own. "Yeah, I suppose we are." he said, but quickly added "A sort of a pride, maybe..."

[UncoordinatedPisces]

Mjuvi could have hugged his brother they way Marini had hugged him. He very much doubted that Dakari would have refused to let her stay, but nothing surprised the adolescent any more. He nodded at Nura, still thinking a little about her comment. "Thank you, Dakari" he managed to say back before making his way back to Marini. He wasn't quite sure of what to say to her now, but he knew that he was going to be happier in the long run.

Mjuvi didn't think he could ever be as happy as he was at that moment since his mother was killed - but here he was, smiling like a fool. It seemed as though lions got over their grief quicker, they had a greater understanding that lives went as quickly as they came. Of course, he'd never forget her, that'd be impossible, but he knew his mother would be happy that he was smiling. Especially over a lioness.

Nura smiled warmly at the male beside her. A sort of a pride? She thought otherwise. She had more faith in Dakari than he did in himself it seemed. "Oh, I'd like to think we are now. We're not exactly a normal pride...but a pride nonetheless". Nura appeared very eager. Ever since leaving her home pride she often dreamed of being part of one again. It would be great for Akina to be part of the pride system.

She realised that Dakari would be the assumed leader, and that he might not like the supposed weight of the responsibility, but if he had doubts she'd make sure to tell him that she was there for him. For advice, and for friendship, and maybe more in the future, but she hadn't had all that time to dwell on her feelings.

[TheWhistlerify]

Marini was obviously more than just slightly relieved when she heard Mjuvi's brother say that she could stay. Even though he wasn't technically the leader of their little group and / or the one who made the calls (seeing how he just plainly wasn't like that) it still felt nice to know that he wouldn't mind having her around. From the looks of it, Nura wasn't going to have a problem with her presence either. Smiling at the adolescent lion as he came back over to her, she was about to say something to him when she suddenly remembered that they were most likely going to be interrupted again very soon.

"I think it's about time you kept up your promise to your little sister." she said somewhat teasingly, unable to help herself. Now that she was staying, it seemed like she would be more than able to live up to her own promise to play with Siri and Akina once her leg fully recovered. The young lioness didn't know just how long exactly it would take until that happened, but she was too happy at the moment in order to worry about her leg anymore. It was nearing recovery as it was.

Dakari couldn't help but chuckle to himself at the eagerness of the lioness as his side, which was quite impossible to ignore. While he's had his siblings after the loss of their mother and pride membership, Nura had been forced out of the pride system on her own. Well, with her daughter, but Akina was fully dependent on her mother. It should have occurred to him that she would like to belong to a pride again, especially one that would accept her despite the circumstance regarding her mothering a cub, even if it wasn't a very normal or large one.

Despite having belonged to a pride, Dakari didn't know much about the pride system in general or about how to manage it. But Nura was obviously very excited about the idea, and the possibility of them all becoming a pride somehow reminded him of just how upset she'd been back when she'd spoken to him by the waterhole. Being part of a pride again would make her very happy, there was no doubt about that... "Alright." he said, smiling at her. "But I don't mind if it's not normal because it'll be different from anybody else's. That's the exciting thing." he added with a grin. True, he had quite a lot of reservations about this, but he would do it for her as well as the others. Surely Nura knew how this whole system thing worked to some extent...