You must love me

Date: Oct. 2nd
(a cookie for whoever names the musical the thread title is from)
(thread opened for Mega and Sabini bonding time)


It was late at night, close to midnight. The large, crippled, brown-maned lion was out on patrol that night. He stepped around the corner of a tent before moving down the rows. The squeaking of the wheels of his crudely made chair was the only sound that broke the silences of the night. Mega’s ear perked up at the sudden sound of footsteps coming down the row of tents towards him, or so he thought.

“Hello?” he called out softly.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

Eyes of olive green gleamed with the reflected light of the moon, turning the approaching lioness' gaze to a pair of green glowing globes. Sabini had been bedded up in the central chamber of Priderock, happily kept warm in a sprawling pile of limbs and lionesses. She couldn't remember ever having such a comfortable place to sleep or being accompanied by such a number of sleeping companions - and yet, for all the comfort they provided, the whiteborn runt couldn't find sleep. Too much had changed in her life for her to ponder, and the buzzing of thoughts behind her eyes kept the haziness of sleep at bay.

So she'd gone out for a bit of a moonlit stroll. Crickets chirped between the strange shelters the two-legged pale ones had erected, and all around were the sounds of sleep. Quiet night air was broken by the occasional wordless moan or a shifting of a pallet as some poor soul fell torment to dreams both pleasant and terrible in origin as well as a strange squealing... Following the latter had led Sabini to a lone pridemate.

Blinking slowly, Sabini offered a smile. Though lions were more nocturnal by nature, those who held stable positions in the powerful lion kingdoms were often said to develop sleeping habits more like the creatures they preyed upon. Having said that, seeing Mega up and about was a bit of a surprise to the runty lioness. "I imagine pulling that..." A brief hesitation, a glance stolen at the source of the squeaking. "--Thing around must be tiring."

The male gave her a smile. It was always a pleasure to see one of his old pride-mates.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

"I'm on patrol tonight," he answered, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "Besides, it helps me keep in shape lugging this thing around" he motioned with a bob of his head to the cart behind him.

"I imagine pulling that..." A brief hesitation, a glance stolen at the source of the squeaking. "--Thing around must be tiring."

"It's not. Well, it was at first but I've gotten used to it by now," he sighed, turning his single orb to the lioness. "How have you been holding up? Have you talked to the children? Well, I can't really call them that now," he smirked. "You get the idea."

"The king actually trusts you with patrolling?" Sabini blinked in surprise - the Pridelands' monarch must be awfully assured in his position to be permitting foreign males to do such a thing! Then again... There was the matter of Mega's new disability. Perhaps this was the only task Mega could complete anymore? Sabini's gaze flicked to the strange wheel-object again. Broken legs, broken spine, broken anything - the words were death tolls to rouges and those not living near enough to Grass Walls to call for a mandrill shaman. Were it not for that odd attachment, her ginger-maned friend would likely be dead or worse.

It was a depressing line of thought. Just a bit.

"I see..." Light paws carried the slim little thing towards Mega, stopping when she was abreast of him. Mention of her 'lovely brood' brought a subtle frown to a face that turned rather vacant quite quickly. At least with Mega she could be honest. "They are irritable and needy as they've always been. When they aren't batting at each other's throats or seeking my attention, they're causing trouble for the lions here. If they keep that up, it's only a matter of time before the king notices and sends Babu away..." Would that be all bad, though? Her brute of a son sent away? A paw was reached up to drag from an eye down the length of Sabini's muzzle, a sigh accompanying the movement. "I'm less than pleased that they followed me here."

"The king actually trusts you with patrolling?"

"Yeah, he does. Well, I mean I scout around, and if I see something weird I call someone and they handle it. I'm just what they call...uhh, what's it now? A guard dog, I think?" he pondered after pausing a moment to think of the word.

"They are irritable and needy as they've always been. When they aren't batting at each other's throats or seeking my attention, they're causing trouble for the lions here. If they keep that up, it's only a matter of time before the king notices and sends Babu away..."

Mega frowned a moment in thought. "They are a paw-full, huh?" he said, tilting his head to one side. "Maybe it's for the best. I mean, Babu could hang back with Leo and guard our territory," he suggested.

A soft snort answered the ginger-headed male. "I wouldn't trust Babu with that. He'd be more likely to turn on Leo and take the territory for himself." There was not much love for the son coming off of his mother. Boga she could care for - the female had a link to a father that Sabini had heard about via her own mother in her soft coat of white - yes, her shade and stature reflected her mother's parentage more than her father's. Babu however was his father's son both inside and out. He was a monster.

Gusting out a breath, Sabini tried to turn to lighter trains of thought. "Nevermind them. They'll be fully grown and off to their own prides, soon." Good riddance, too. If I ever have cubs after these two it'll be too soon! "What do you think of the Pridelands? And... And the pride here? Are they all friendly?"

"I wouldn't trust Babu with that. He'd be more likely to turn on Leo and take the territory for himself."

Mega gave a disgusted look. "I'm surprised he hasn't done that already with just Leo there," he said, giving a shake of his mane and dismissing the thought.

"Nevermind them. They'll be fully grown and off to their own prides, soon."

"Mmmh, and then it will just be us and Leo," he sighed, "finally some peace and quite" he chuckled, smiling at her. "The Pridelands are nice as always, and Simba's pride is nice too, I guess, although the stuff with Kula and Simba is starting to worry me a little," he said.

The silence became impregnated as Sabini's eyelids flickered and lowered, screening her gaze as she looked to the ground before her paws. Peace and quiet in the pride of three, huh? Sabini wasn't so sure. She'd never truly felt like one of their 'pride' - the arrangement they had was something she'd fallen into after a mad dash for freedom. Leo's lands were never meant to be a forever home. It wasn't a matter of the lioness not wanting to leave, though she did like and care for her protectors, it was more a matter of...

Never getting around to it.

"About that..." Sabini's voice was quiet with passive calm, her olive gaze trained upon the ground as she began walking forward on the path of Mega's patrol. "I've been thinking about my future. What I want, now that the cubs are grown. I didn't come here to be a part of a war..." A slim paw was raised and looked upon disdainfully. "I'm hardly built for it. But any lioness willing to fight in the king's name can earn a place in the pride, right?"

The cream-colored lady looked towards Pride Rock, where the pride in question laid in slumber. "Once the lands are peaceful again, I think... I think I might stay and start looking for a mate."

"About that..."

Mega turned to glance at the female letting out a 'hmm?' type of noise, allowing her to know to go on.

"I've been thinking about my future. What I want, now that the cubs are grown. I didn't come here to be a part of a war..."

"You don't have to be," he said quickly, but stopped once she started speaking again.

I'm hardly built for it. But any lioness willing to fight in the king's name can earn a place in the pride, right?"

"That's right," he said, nodding once in confirmation. Mega's good eye narrowed in a squint as he tried to understand what the lioness was getting at. Mega then followed her gaze as it laid on Pride Rock.

Oh, was that it? A moment later Mega got his answer.

"Once the lands are peaceful again, I think... I think I might stay and start looking for a mate."

Mega stayed quiet for a moment, trying to figure out what to say next. Peaceful. Will their lands ever be that again? He hoped so one day. "It's safe here," Mega finally said, "but do you not feel safe with me and Leo?" Her last few words caught his interest "A mate? but..." he trailed off. Now it was his turn to be quiet, praying she would answer his question for him. He looked at his cart. Was that it?

"Of course I feel safe!" The tone was reassuring, eyes wide and unassuming. "I owe you both so much, taking me in as your own when I was nothing but a cold stranger. It's just, you know..." Were lions able to blush Sabini would have. She simply ran a paw over the slight scruffiness across the crest of her skull. It was a gesture of embarrassment, of discomfort. Sabini was unused to speaking of her personal problems. "I'm the only lioness, and I can hardly mate myself. That's just asking for a life of loneliness." A traveling rouge she might have been, but Sabini craved partnership. At first she'd had her mother - now she wished for someone she could curl beside for an eternity. Someone who would betray neither her body nor her heart.

Olive eyes glimmered with hope in the moonlight, heady with adrenaline and gentle desires. "Here there's a whole pride of lionesses, and most of them aren't even spoken for, by mate or by the king apparently." Of course, Sabini could hardly say she'd met the king, but he didn't seem to be keeping that close an eye on the pride's females, so she assumed he wasn't keeping concubines amongst them. That aside, there had been the local gossip about a possible future queen...

Sabini had never been to a kingdom led by a female. The thought of females in power - and one that was more than easy on the eyes - excited Sabini's very soul. Wartime aside, the Pridelands seemed to be a good place for a girl hoping to settle and make her own place.

Sabini grinned, thoughts spinning through smiling faces and kind greetings. "Surely here even someone as rusty at flirting as me could hope to find a receptive lady-friend, don't you think?"

Of course I feel safe!" The tone was reassuring, eyes wide and unassuming. "I owe you both so much, taking me in as your own when I was nothing but a cold stranger. It's just, you know..."

Mega let out the breath he hardly knew he was holding. "I know" he said, taking a step forward, bowing his head embarrassed himself for a moment, though he hardly knew why.

"I'm the only lioness, and I can hardly mate myself. That's just asking for a life of loneliness."

"I-I think being in a new pride will do you some good. Not that I want you to go by any means, I mean, you can make new friends," he said, watching her for a moment.

"Here there's a whole pride of lionesses, and most of them aren't even spoken for, by mate or by the king apparently."

Mega gave a nod of his head, but inside a small crack formed in his heart. Mega loved it when she smiled. He always did.

Beautiful, he thought.

"Surely here even someone as rusty at flirting as me could hope to find a receptive lady-friend, don't you think?"

"There's me," he blurted before quickly shutting his maw, looking like a deer in the head lights of a car.

The pause that followed was long enough to allow at least five people to exit the theater and replenish their refreshments. Sabini found herself unable to do much but stare, a confounded expression upon her face.

"Uh. Mega. Not for nothing, you're like my best friend and all... But I said lady-friends." Brows arched high on the femme's forehead. "You know, lionesses? Females?" A sudden realization turned confuddlement to shocked confusion. Sabini tilted her head slightly, chin lowering as she peered at the ginger from beneath arched brows. "You do know I'm gay, right?"

Mega still had that same blank deer in the head lights look even as Sabini spoke.

"Uh. Mega. Not for nothing, you're like my best friend and all... But I said lady-friends."

The one eyed male nodded dumbly, just staring at her as he absorbed her words.

"You know, lionesses? Females?"

Nope, oh hell this was not happening. He nodded again, still having that stupid dazed look on his face. Then Sabini leaned towards him and said the words his mind couldn't compute.

"You do know I'm gay, right?"

"Yes?" his tone, however, contradicted him. Mega just stared at his best friend, not knowing whether to laugh, or just break down from pure embarrassment.

Clearly he hadn't. A paw travelled up to rub at the back of a scruffy neck as Sabini glanced away, lips pulled down in an teeth-baring grimace of pure awkward tension. "Ah. Well. Yeah, I... Shit Mega, if I'd known you felt that way..." Kohl-marked lips caught on sharpened canines as the lioness nipped at her lower lip. "I'm sorry, man."

Olive eyes rose to Mega's singular optic. "How long have you had feelings for me?" Now that she looked back, it was a wonder she hadn't caught onto it herself - but she'd just never even considered that a male friend might harbor feelings for her. She'd never actually hidden her own sexuality... Just failed to show it off. It wasn't like there'd been a multitude of ladies for her to seduce in Mega's territory.

ah. Well. Yeah, I... Shit Mega, if I'd known you felt that way..." Kohl-marked lips caught on sharpened canines as the lioness nipped at her lower lip. "I'm sorry, man."

"Thanks, Sabini" he muttered, picking his head up to meet her green eyes with his single orange orb, a thin line forming on his muzzle as if he was thinking of what to say when her question came about.

"how long have you had feelings for me?"

"After a few months when you to came to join me and Leo," he answered, then frowned as a sudden thought entered his mind. "Does this mean Boga and Babu aren't mine? Or Leo's even?" he asked. That was the most confusing part of this, or so the ginger male thought. He gave a small glance down to his front paws, afraid of his best friend's answer. "No-not that it matters though."