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Dhaka'kali heaved a heavy sigh as he settled by the borders of the pride for a brief rest from his duties. It'd been a quiet night so far and he felt he owed himself a little break, especially given how he'd been giving himself a hard time about his lot in life. Alone and seemingly estranged from his family...though he was probably related to everyone and their uncle in the pride by blood. Relationships, though? None to speak of.

The large male flopped down and rolled onto his side, eyes steady on the sliver of the moon and wondering how things had wound up this way.


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Quiyue had just finished a bit of a social meeting with his friend, Mulika. Their families were so intermingled with one another that their relationship would never become anything more than friendly. Quiyue didn't want that, either. They were better off as friends, gossiping about the pride and trying to match up the few friends they had with one another. It was almost funny that their matchmaking never involved themselves. Perhaps neither were ready for that.

He had done well despite all the drama in his life. His mother was gone, yes, but he hoped she was happier out there in the rogue lands. At the very least, he still had his brother in the pride. Ah - and the moment he thought of Kal was the moment he saw his brother. That wasn't his intention, but he supposed it all worked out in the end.

"Kal! What are you doing out here, looking so lonely?" Quiyue had chosen to be a hunter, but he really was just wandering around out near borders of the pride to stretch his legs.


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It was a familiar voice that caught his attention, and there was a ghost of a smile on his maw when he saw his brother make his way over. He didn't make any moves to greet him, though slowly but surely his smile brightened up. "Not lonely," he snorted, waiting until Quiyue was closer before swatting at him with his tail. It was amusing to him that his brother would show up just as he was thinking about family. "Just bored. You know how it goes."

With that he straightened himself out finally, another sigh escaping him as he rolled over onto his belly. "What are you doing all the way out here, though?"


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"Well, I imagine you're only bored because you're sitting out here alone," Quiyue pointed out with an arch of his brow. It was in that moment that Kal's tail smacked him in the fact. Quiyue made a sputtering sound, spitting the limb from his mouth. Ugh. Kal was lucky that they were related. "Really, you've got the dark and brooding mastered. It's a miracle no female has flung herself at you yet."

He rolled his eyes and took a seat next to his sibling. Obviously, Kal needed Quiyue around to keep him from getting too bored. Brothers needed to stick together, no matter how obnoxious one was being. "I'm just stretching out my legs. I've spent most of the day running my mouth with Mulika, so I felt like I needed to get some exercise in."


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Kal snickered quite a bit at his brother's reaction. Certainly having him around kept the boredom away, so he was quietly grateful for the company. "You look more like Dad but I think I picked up more of his dark and brooding thing," said the lion as he shook his mane out a little bit. "As for the females," he shrugged. "We're related to practically all of them here so I'd prefer that they don't fling themselves at me, thanks very much."

He felt his mood gradually lightening up as Quiyue explained himself. "Running your mouth doing what?" He wasn't too familiar with a whole lot of the pride as he was mostly alone, but that name at least was incredibly familiar. He probably would know her if he saw her.


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"Kal." Quiyue spoke up, his voice suddenly sounding far too serious for the black and blue lion's usual demeanor. "You're at the border. Females come by all the time. You can just woo one into the pride. All you have to do is glare in their general direction and they'll be hooked." What Kal said was true. Within the Mwezi'Johari, he and his brother were practically related to... well, everyone. There were very few bloodlines as prodigal as their own, and they were near the head of it. The only reason their bloodline hadn't grown worse was because neither brothers had taken a mate.

"What we do every week. Sit around and talk," Quiyue replied with a sigh. "You'd know that if you came around and hung out with us every now and then. But, no, here you are sitting here. Brooding." He was only being slightly critical of Kal. But that was also his right as a brother.


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He snorted at the idea of "woo-ing" a lioness into the pride. Certainly he'd seen it done before, but glaring in their general direction to get their attention wasn't something he planned on taking out of his dad's playbook. That was, as he understood it, how things happened for his parents, after all. "I'm not in any kind of rush," he eventually said, "And you don't seem to be either so shut it." He was smiling, at least, and said it in a very lighthearted tone.

"Brooding is my specialty, you know that. If I knew it didn't kill the mood in a group I'd hang around you guys more often."


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"You should be. You're getting old. We're an embarrassment to the family, having no children at our age." Quiyue's voice was a mimicry of an actual scolding. He wouldn't truly pressure his brother into settling down with a female. He understood how hard it was to find a suitable mate within the pride. A lot of females were wary of marrying into such a large family. It would only make it harder for their offspring to find suitable mates of their own.

"Well, you've certainly done a good job at brooding." He looked around the area, white eyes taking in his surroundings. "There's no females in sight. You must have chased them all off, you monster." Quiyue teased his brother, leaning over to playfully whack the backside of his head.


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He scrunched his brows but couldn't bring himself to disagree with being a bit of an embarrassment to their family all things considered. None of his siblings, at least as far as he knew, had a family to call their own despite their age. "We'll have families of our own eventually," was all he could think to say. "But truthfully, Yue, we'll have to convince wandering lionesses into joining. I won't risk falling for someone I'm related to."

"And there's not anyone in sight," he curled his lip at the teasing, then snarled a bit with the whack to the back of his head. "So I did chase everyone off, not just the females. Doing my job."


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"I don't know, Kal. I'm starting to doubt it at this point. You brood too hard, and I don't have any charms to speak of." Perhaps it was too late for them, and Quiyue honestly had no idea how he felt about that. It was likely the way of the world. Their bloodline survived in other ways, they didn't have to contribute to it. But, Quiyue could not deny it would be nice to have a mate of his own. "I think if I ever met a rogue lioness, I would never be able to convince her to come into the pride with me just to marry me."

He leaned back, gaze lifting to the stars. There was the moon, all that their pride revolved around. He hoped the Great Lion would give him some guidance in life, but he never asked for it. "You're too good at your job," Quiyue finally replied, scowling at his sibling.


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"Some females like brooding and find not charming to be charming," he gave his brother a swat to the shoulder. "Believe in yourself a little, would you? I brood so much but even I haven't lost hope yet." Not that he was in any rush, either. It just had never been at the top of his list of priorities. "We'll find our respective mates eventually."

There was a brief silence that fell between them and he followed his brother's gaze skyward, eyes once again on the moon and all that it meant in their way of life. At his brother's words he snorted again and glanced over at him, a spitting image of their father. "It's why I still have it, I suppose. Maybe until I find a mate and marry out of it."


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"Some," Quiyue emphasised. They did not exactly appeal to the vast majority of females. If separated from their pride, they'd likely stand a better chance. But the Mwezi'Johari was his home, and he never wanted to leave it. He couldn't follow in his mother's footsteps and abandon this lifestyle he had grown up in. "If we were to lure some females in the pride, I imagine we would have already done so. But, I guess you never know. We could get lucky."

He shrugged his dark shoulders and rose back up onto his feet. "Well, I hope you marry out of it soon. Spice your life up." Quiyue leaned over, nudging his brother's shoulder. "I'm going to start heading back. Are you going to stay out here brooding?"


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"Some," he repeated, and he had a feeling he and his brother were thinking the exact same thing. Still, he couldn't bring himself to leave just for the sake of finding a mate. This was life to him, and he couldn't imagine himself anywhere else. "But yeah, we could get lucky. How 'bout I keep an eye out for you, since I'm out here brooding so often?"

Kal followed in his brother's footsteps and stood up as well. "I need spice in my life?" he asked, nudging right back. "I'll head in with you, I'm just about done anyway. Explain this spice that I need while we go?"


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"I appreciate the help," Quiyue replied with a little smirk. He didn't think his brother would find anyone out here, but one never knew. At least there was an extra pair of eyes out and about for his sake. Quiyue waited from his brother to rise and follow him, and then began to lead the way back towards the heart of the Mwezi'Johari.

"Uh, you should be able to figure that part out yourself," Quiyue joked with his brother. Eventually, on the way back, he did tell Kal exactly what he meant by 'spicing' up his life.