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~~~~

“Chakavu? Hey, Chaka!”

The princess’s ears swiveled to catch the sound. She couldn’t see who had called out her name, the grass had grown so tall that it could practically hide a giraffe—but she knew who the voice belonged to anyway, and Chakavu grinned.

“Home already?” she called out, her tail twitching eagerly, “I thought your hunting party had gone all the way to—whoa!”

She barely dodged the blur of brown fur, who leaped up out of the tall grass to land beside her. There was barely enough room for both of them on the small rock, and, when he turned to face her, their noses brushed against each other.

“Hello,” said Sefu.

“Hi,” she laughed. Chakavu backed up, and looked her friend over. “So, how was your first hunt?” she asked, “Did you catch a wildebeest, like Lapha wanted?”

“Actually… I talked ’em into goin’ after something else.” The lion reached down into the grass, and pulled up a large warthog leg. “Cause it’s your favorite ‘n’ all.”

“Sefu!” squealed the princess, “You’re kidding me!”

“It’s right there, isn’t it?” he grinned, as she nuzzled against his neck, “Go for it, I didn’t bring enough for me—woulda, but I needed to sneak away from the guys.”

Chakavu laid down and began digging in to the meat. Sefu flopped onto his stomach beside her, and gazed wistfully at the chunk of food.

“Oh! Crud, I almost forgot,” she said, getting back up even as she tore off another mouthful, “I got you something, too.”

“You got me something?” he balked.

“That’s what I said, isn’t it?” she replied, with a wink. Chakavu put her paws on the trunk of a large tree, and shook it. Out of the branches fell an antelope, so small that the princess caught it in one paw.

“A suni!”

“I keep telling you suni are too tiny to make good lion prey,” said Chakavu, as she lay the carcass at Sefu’s paws, “But I know how much you like them.”

“Spirits, thanks Chaka—what’d you do this for?” he asked, his mouth already full.

“Well, I thought you guys were going after a wildebeest!” she said, “For like half of you it’s your first time hunting, I figured you might not be able to bring it down—so I got something for you, in case.”

“You’re a real sweetheart.”

“You are too.”

They kept eating, for a while. She glanced at him out of he corner of her eye, just to catch him looking quickly away from her. A minute later he would do the same, and catch her looking away.

“Hey,” he said, finally, “I missed you, while you were in the mountains.”

Chakavu smiled.

“I missed you, too. King Sokwe’s great, but I like this a lot better than talking politics.”

“You don’t like bein’ future queen?”

“Hmm? No, that’s fine—it’s just that talking with experienced politicians is still weird for me.”

“He didn’t offer you no creepy nephew or somethin’ to marry you?”

“No!” she laughed, “Good luck making a lion-gorilla baby happen.”

“That’d be, uh, a gorilion.”

She nudged him affectionately, as Sefu laughed.

“I don’t want any political marriage,” she said, leaning her head against his shoulder, “To a lion or otherwise.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Since I have the option… I want to be with someone I really like.”

“You waitin’ for the right guy to come along?” he asked.

“Maybe.”

“Someone who’d make a good king, huh? Who knows the pride real well?”

“That’d be nice.” Chakavu fiddled with a bone from the warthog leg, shifting it from paw to paw. She knew very well what she wanted to ask, but not quite how to ask it. “Are you offering?”

“Wha—to marry you?” Sefu balked, “Like now?”

“Yeah, right now!” she said, playfully, “We get married tonight, my uncles can abdicate, and we’ll have to handle everything in the whole kingdom by ourselves!”

Sefu chuckled, finally realizing that she was joking. With the tension broken, the pair felt more at ease, again.

“Okay, maybe I don’t wanna do that, yet,” he said, “That—that can be later. But I want to spend more time with you, alone, like this. Do you wanna go down to Mwamba Cliffs, tomorrow morning?”

“Like a date?”

“Yeah, like a date. We’ll watch the sunrise.”

“I’d love to.” She smiled, before taking another bite of meat. “Well, we’ve established that we both want to be married, some day—any other big talks we should get out of the way, early?”

“Hmm… oh, I know one thing.”

“Go on.”

“So you know that, uh, everybody in the pride besides your family has a lotta inbreeding, right?”

Chakavu nodded, not sure where he could be going with this.

“Well, something about me that’s, uh, really cool is that I’m less inbred.”

She nearly choked on the warthog leg. Sefu winced and patted her on the back.

“That is cool!” she coughed, “Sorry that I started laughing—don’t get me wrong, that’s nice. Your dad used to be a rogue?”

“Yeah,” he answered, happily, “So I’m pretty healthy! And, um… any cubs I have’ll be even healthier than me, y’know.”

Chakavu couldn’t help but blush under her fur, as she put her paw over his.

“I want cubs too,” she said, with a cheeky smile, “If that’s where you meant to go with that.”

“Yeah,” he said, taking ahold of her paw, “That’s where.”

The pair sat in silence for a few minutes, leaning against each other. The summer wind ruffled Sefu’s still-growing mane, and Chakavu cuddled closer against him.

“Hey,” he added, turning to her again, “When you had your first hunt, did it go this good?”

“No,” she snickered, “Definitely not this good.”

~~~~

I rarely have an easy time finding headcanon voices for my OCs... but Sefu sounds like Sylvester Stallone as Rocky, I knew that immediately He was designed for me by

Princess Chakavu, King Russom’s sister, with the lion who will one day become her husband, Sefu! Chakavu did not get a royal betrothal (despite the fact that the kingdom was newly established, and most monarchs would be eager for one at that stage). Her brother didn’t feel comfortable deciding her husband—more than that, he was concerned that putting the weight of ‘future queen’ on her shoulders was enough pressure already, without her being put into a political marriage, too. …That’s the reason in-universe: out-of-universe, the reason she didn’t get a betrothal is because I wanted the royal family to integrate fully with the rest of the pride, and that meant intermarrying. Neither Russom nor Ndoto have any blood ties to the lions they’re in charge of, and I felt like they oughta With the generations already going by, lots of new blood is refreshing the pride’s shallow gene pool—by the time that Timira and Kirijah roll around, the past is very much behind them

Also, I admit I was worried that their conversation was too therapy-speak/unrealistic. But she’s in training as a politician, and I’m trying to establish him as super blunt—I figure they’re the right characters for extremely straightforward talk. Still, not entirely happy with it. …Oh well

Description
Previous

~~~~

“Chakavu? Hey, Chaka!”

The princess’s ears swiveled to catch the sound. She couldn’t see who had called out her name, the grass had grown so tall that it could practically hide a giraffe—but she knew who the voice belonged to anyway, and Chakavu grinned.

“Home already?” she called out, her tail twitching eagerly, “I thought your hunting party had gone all the way to—whoa!”

She barely dodged the blur of brown fur, who leaped up out of the tall grass to land beside her. There was barely enough room for both of them on the small rock, and, when he turned to face her, their noses brushed against each other.

“Hello,” said Sefu.

“Hi,” she laughed. Chakavu backed up, and looked her friend over. “So, how was your first hunt?” she asked, “Did you catch a wildebeest, like Lapha wanted?”

“Actually… I talked ’em into goin’ after something else.” The lion reached down into the grass, and pulled up a large warthog leg. “Cause it’s your favorite ‘n’ all.”

“Sefu!” squealed the princess, “You’re kidding me!”

“It’s right there, isn’t it?” he grinned, as she nuzzled against his neck, “Go for it, I didn’t bring enough for me—woulda, but I needed to sneak away from the guys.”

Chakavu laid down and began digging in to the meat. Sefu flopped onto his stomach beside her, and gazed wistfully at the chunk of food.

“Oh! Crud, I almost forgot,” she said, getting back up even as she tore off another mouthful, “I got you something, too.”

“You got me something?” he balked.

“That’s what I said, isn’t it?” she replied, with a wink. Chakavu put her paws on the trunk of a large tree, and shook it. Out of the branches fell an antelope, so small that the princess caught it in one paw.

“A suni!”

“I keep telling you suni are too tiny to make good lion prey,” said Chakavu, as she lay the carcass at Sefu’s paws, “But I know how much you like them.”

“Spirits, thanks Chaka—what’d you do this for?” he asked, his mouth already full.

“Well, I thought you guys were going after a wildebeest!” she said, “For like half of you it’s your first time hunting, I figured you might not be able to bring it down—so I got something for you, in case.”

“You’re a real sweetheart.”

“You are too.”

They kept eating, for a while. She glanced at him out of he corner of her eye, just to catch him looking quickly away from her. A minute later he would do the same, and catch her looking away.

“Hey,” he said, finally, “I missed you, while you were in the mountains.”

Chakavu smiled.

“I missed you, too. King Sokwe’s great, but I like this a lot better than talking politics.”

“You don’t like bein’ future queen?”

“Hmm? No, that’s fine—it’s just that talking with experienced politicians is still weird for me.”

“He didn’t offer you no creepy nephew or somethin’ to marry you?”

“No!” she laughed, “Good luck making a lion-gorilla baby happen.”

“That’d be, uh, a gorilion.”

She nudged him affectionately, as Sefu laughed.

“I don’t want any political marriage,” she said, leaning her head against his shoulder, “To a lion or otherwise.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Since I have the option… I want to be with someone I really like.”

“You waitin’ for the right guy to come along?” he asked.

“Maybe.”

“Someone who’d make a good king, huh? Who knows the pride real well?”

“That’d be nice.” Chakavu fiddled with a bone from the warthog leg, shifting it from paw to paw. She knew very well what she wanted to ask, but not quite how to ask it. “Are you offering?”

“Wha—to marry you?” Sefu balked, “Like now?”

“Yeah, right now!” she said, playfully, “We get married tonight, my uncles can abdicate, and we’ll have to handle everything in the whole kingdom by ourselves!”

Sefu chuckled, finally realizing that she was joking. With the tension broken, the pair felt more at ease, again.

“Okay, maybe I don’t wanna do that, yet,” he said, “That—that can be later. But I want to spend more time with you, alone, like this. Do you wanna go down to Mwamba Cliffs, tomorrow morning?”

“Like a date?”

“Yeah, like a date. We’ll watch the sunrise.”

“I’d love to.” She smiled, before taking another bite of meat. “Well, we’ve established that we both want to be married, some day—any other big talks we should get out of the way, early?”

“Hmm… oh, I know one thing.”

“Go on.”

“So you know that, uh, everybody in the pride besides your family has a lotta inbreeding, right?”

Chakavu nodded, not sure where he could be going with this.

“Well, something about me that’s, uh, really cool is that I’m less inbred.”

She nearly choked on the warthog leg. Sefu winced and patted her on the back.

“That is cool!” she coughed, “Sorry that I started laughing—don’t get me wrong, that’s nice. Your dad used to be a rogue?”

“Yeah,” he answered, happily, “So I’m pretty healthy! And, um… any cubs I have’ll be even healthier than me, y’know.”

Chakavu couldn’t help but blush under her fur, as she put her paw over his.

“I want cubs too,” she said, with a cheeky smile, “If that’s where you meant to go with that.”

“Yeah,” he said, taking ahold of her paw, “That’s where.”

The pair sat in silence for a few minutes, leaning against each other. The summer wind ruffled Sefu’s still-growing mane, and Chakavu cuddled closer against him.

“Hey,” he added, turning to her again, “When you had your first hunt, did it go this good?”

“No,” she snickered, “Definitely not this good.”

~~~~

I rarely have an easy time finding headcanon voices for my OCs... but Sefu sounds like Sylvester Stallone as Rocky, I knew that immediately He was designed for me by

Princess Chakavu, King Russom’s sister, with the lion who will one day become her husband, Sefu! Chakavu did not get a royal betrothal (despite the fact that the kingdom was newly established, and most monarchs would be eager for one at that stage). Her brother didn’t feel comfortable deciding her husband—more than that, he was concerned that putting the weight of ‘future queen’ on her shoulders was enough pressure already, without her being put into a political marriage, too. …That’s the reason in-universe: out-of-universe, the reason she didn’t get a betrothal is because I wanted the royal family to integrate fully with the rest of the pride, and that meant intermarrying. Neither Russom nor Ndoto have any blood ties to the lions they’re in charge of, and I felt like they oughta With the generations already going by, lots of new blood is refreshing the pride’s shallow gene pool—by the time that Timira and Kirijah roll around, the past is very much behind them

Also, I admit I was worried that their conversation was too therapy-speak/unrealistic. But she’s in training as a politician, and I’m trying to establish him as super blunt—I figure they’re the right characters for extremely straightforward talk. Still, not entirely happy with it. …Oh well