Welcome to Gaia! ::

Astrid was rolling a stone under his paw, staring up at the clouds as the formed in the sky. It looked like more rain was about to fall from the heavens, were the Gods crying over the prides current affairs? Taking a deep breath, the dark lion heaved a sigh and then bristled at the seemingly familiar voice that called over to him. Staring straight ahead, he was visibly annoyed but collected himself quickly, then turned his attention over to her.

“Well, after my nap I tend to find a generally quiet place for drinking and contemplation but that seems to have been cut short today.” Raising a brow at her, his tail lazily flicked back and forth. Last time they met she was going through some teenage angst, but today she seemed a bit happier overall. “Did your crush tell you they liked you back or something? You have spring in your step.” Pointing at her feet Astrid’s eyes trailed back up to her face, allowing her a few moments to respond.

When she sat down he couldn’t help but sigh again. Would this encounter be like the last few times a lioness in the pride found him interested? He absolutely hated small talk, especially when there was an obvious motive behind it.

“Okay, I will play along for now. Tell me about the garden… how do you keep it from drowning here with the rain so abundant?“ Astrid’s eyes rolled up at the sky, hoping to point her attention to the brewing storm.

Astrid rolled his eyes and chuckled at the lioness, she was as smooth as a pebble beach. “Suuure… No time for gents right now. You are just talking to me because I remind you of some other lioness you know I am sure.” He couldn’t help but roll his eyes again, his paw stopping on the smooth part of the stone. It felt nice and cool and ate away at any agitation he might have been feeling.

Taking in another deep breath, Astrid started rolling the rock under his paw again, absently listening to the young lioness prattle on about her little garden. He had no use for that sort of thing, but it was ever so slightly enjoyable none the less to just listen to her talk. Again, it reminded him of one of his many, many siblings… His lids felt heavy as his heartbeat slowed. This was truly comfortable, just one on one conversation… or lack thereof.

And then came another question, this time about something he had absolutely no understanding of. “As charming as you are asking me for advice, I have absolutely none to give. I am not a gardener in any way, shape or form. I don’t eat plants and I am not a healer by any means so why grow them? Is it somehow enjoyable?”

His tone was a touch harsh, but he was trying to be at least a touch friendly. The stranger seemed to have been looking for him for some reason or another and he felt it only fair to give her a trail period.

“Hah, well pardon me for being somewhat observant.” Astrid smirked at the females antics, this wasn’t the worst way to break up a day after all. Rolling the pebbling over his paw a couple more times, he switched it from his left to his right, allowing it to press into pressure point.

Unfortunately for him, no amount of trigger pointing would help the easy his sudden turn of their conversation. His body was now alert and rigid and he had stopped mid-rotation of his paw and just stared at the younger lioness. “…What happened to your mother?” Astrid’s heartrate was skyrocketing and with it a headache was starting to develop. First in his temples and later in the back of his eyes if he wasn’t careful.

Astrid could literally hear his heartbeat as the lioness spoke to him, his breathing becoming shallow and fast as he processed what she was saying. With each thump of his heart the tension in his head grew, as did the pain. He didn’t know his mother, his father… just the adoptive family he had now. He was thankful. He was thankful. He was thankful. Astrid kept repeating those words in him mind, pushing stones deep into the tissue of his paws, causing him to nearly gasp. He had to break out of the panic before it set in deeper. Forcing his paws down on the stones again with more weight he did end up noiselessly gasping and then… there was nothing.

Astrid felt for her, he truly did, but he had no words to offer and he hadn’t even realized he was tearing up until his eyes stung with the salty wetness of tears. Looking at her almost pitifully, he frowned deeply. What do you even say to someone who had something like that happen to them? How do you ease the burden? Saying sorry seemed almost laughable. In the end he just stood there with his mouth half open for several seconds until he closed it finally.

“Astrid.” Dual colored eyes looked away from her towards the ground beside his feet. “You offered something personal… I thought I would repay it.” Searching the ground for a hole he could hide in, his heart continued to beat hard in his chest. It almost made him want to vomit, the painful throbbing in his head and the anxiety he was feeling. This conversation had taken a terrible twist, one he wasn’t exactly thrilled to handle. Hell, he wasn’t even sure he could handle it.

“Um…” He didn’t know what to say, so he just stood awkwardly like a gazelle about to be pounced. This just wasn’t his week.

Mismatched eyes just stared intensely at Meria as Astrid stood unmoving for over a minute. It was like the news had broken him and he was rebooting. Was she making this up to mess with him or was this actually true? Furrowing his brows he just shook his head, lowering it until it was on the ground with his paws on his head.

“…You can’t be freaking serious.” Hiding his face behind his paws, Astrid hoped death would come and let him escape from this piece of social hell he was experiencing. Standing up suddenly, Astrid glanced at Meria for several more seconds and then turn away.

“I… need to go.” He was feeling overwhelmed at this point and although it was strange, he felt the need to share time with Satinka right now. As crazy and unruly as she was, she did understand Astrid’s social issues the most and was a comfort for him when solitude wouldn’t help. “Maybe I will see you around… Meria.”

Not waiting for a goodbye, Astrid quickly got to his feet and all but scrambled to get out of the area. This left an opportunity for Meria. If she wanted, the young lioness could have definitely follow behind, because the once careful lion was try very hard at all to slip away undetected.