She wasn't particularly enthralled with the idea of these porcupine plants. There had already been a misstep and an accidental slide into some of them, all of which she had managed to pull out by herself so far. It didn't help the fact she was sore from it all, bit whatever. There was worse that could be going on, she supposed. For instance, she could be struggling through insane amounts of anxiety and dealing with an unexpected pregnancy while living away from her husband. In addition, her firstborns could be missing and her husband's older cubs could dislike her. He could have slept with another woman at some point, spiked her off a mountain or otherwise been a brute. Yeah, it could be worse. Hecuba sighed and pressed on, hoping for some semblance of peace in a world that craved anything but.

table by koi

Caligula was... well, he had no idea where he was for certain. It was filled with lots of plants that one did not wish to touch. And it took only a single touch to learn that much. And that single touch had him angling his body this way and that to keep from running into the pokey plants again.

This was especially so when he spotted a grey figure further on. He was curious to see how she was doing. They hadn't really had a chance to sit and talk just yet. Perhaps this time they would be able to, though maybe not the sit part exactly. There didn't really seem to be enough space between these things in order to really sit.

"Hecuba! Wait up!" He called after the lioness as he danced his way carefully around the plants in his run to try and catch up with the lioness.

@Hecuba

So lost in her thoughts (and avoidance of the cactus needles), Hecuba hadn't noticed @Caligula until he'd called out for her. She immediately felt a twinge of guilt as she turned to glance over her shoulder at his quickly approaching form, wincing every so often when he drifted too close to a pokey death. Hecuba felt a myriad of emotions as she watched him, but she certainly didn't turn away. All she could focus on was how drastically their lives had both changed within the last few months, and before she knew it he was nearly alongside of her. "Whatever these things are, they suck," she said with a lazy grin. Hecuba was not an inherently evil woman; in fact, she was actually quite lovely underneath the grit and grime. "How are you doing?" At least now there was no one else around to bother them.. and no potential wars looming overhead to set them on edge.

table by koi

They had promised to speak at a later time but had never set that time or place to do so. So why not the current moment since they had managed to find each other again. Or more like he had found her. But still she had stopped to wait for him to catch up. It seemed that she didn't mind using the present to catch up and work things out.

It also helped since he wasn't constantly scraping his hide against the prickly needles in his rush. It gave him the opportunity to slow up some in order to be able to pick his way carefully around the pokey plants.

He laughed at what the lioness had to say about the plants once he had caught up to her. "I certainly wouldn't suggest touching them more then once. Not even that if it can be prevented." Yeah, it hadn't felt all that great to bump into them. But it was manageable even if annoying. He hadn't run into it hard enough for the spines to be stuck into his flesh.

"I would suspect better than you are." Not that he was bragging. His tone said as much as it was laden with the weight of the world. "I can't begin to imagine what it has been like for you. I never wanted any of that to happen. I might not have always agreed with Drakon's choice but I didn't dislike him." He had tried to talk to Drakon and Hecuba both and reach some sort of compromise but then Sarthak had done what he did and had ruined all of Caligula's negotiations. "I'm glad Hanneth was able to bring him back. I don't know why he is getting into so many fights after all that happened." Caligula sighed and shook his head. "Men, right? Always thinking with their claws. What is it? The bigger the mane the more they feel they have to prove themselves through combat?"

@Hecuba

Hecuba couldn't recall ever hearing the man laugh before. She supposed it made sense considering they had only discussed incredibly unfunny topics, but it still caught her off guard to hear it. If anything, it was nice to know he wasn't always as somber as he had been before.. but then again, she hadn't been herself either. War and love brought out the worst in everyone, she thought. He wasted no time in diving into the conversation, leaving her nearly reeling from the plunge into her husband's death. Although she knew he meant well, it was difficult not to take his comments as.. not mocking, per se, but hammering it home. "It's been hell, @Caligula," she finally admitted, shoulders slumping. "My daughters ran off when they saw him go down. They've been missing ever since. Drakon isn't the same man he used to be, but it seems dying didn't give him any less drive to rule a pride." Hecuba glanced at her paws, sighing. "I think it's a man who feels he has failed so much he has to lead a pride and reestablish himself as anything but the man who died." Hecuba didn't know, naturally, but she could take an educated guess on why he tried so hard to accomplish his goals.

table by koi

Caligula laughed a lot more than he had ever shown Hecuba. Of course most of the time he was laughing at himself. Of course there hadn't been an opportunity to do so before with what had been going on. There hadn't been an opportunity to just laugh and have a good time when they were dealing with such serious matters at the time.

The bronze lion listened as Hecuba explained what had happened. He had been lucky that he hadn't lost his own children. He still had his family intact even if the dynamics had changed. As he had speculated He was doing better than the lioness was. He felt sorry for her but he wasn't certain how to express that. He also wasn't certain that she would appreciate it if he tried.

"I suppose he is trying to heal in his own way." The maneless male said when the lioness explained her view on things. So far Sarthak hadn't tried to claim a piece of land yet. He wasn't certain if that was a good thing or not. But then Sarthak hadn't gone after Drakon again yet. That had to be a good thing at least.

"How about we discuss happier things? I seen that you have settled down somewhere. I'm still looking for that perfect place. You know, somewhere without a lot of water." Which meant the Cove was completely out of the question. And well, he didn't really know much about the other leaders to know if he would want to settle wherever any of them had claimed. "Also, what do you think these things even are? Think they are good for anything?" He asked as he nodded his head in the direction of the cacti.

@Hecuba

Hecuba would have preferred some platonic pity cuddles over the weirdness that lingered between them. It was strange to see him in the aftermath of what she was trying so hard to forget, but he looked soft. Probably a good cuddle partner. She shook her head, weirded out by her own eagerness. She just wanted some love, okay? "If healing mentally means needing to be healed several hundred times physically, how long before he realizes it's a dumb way to cope?" Hecuba heaved an exasperated sigh. The question was rhetorical, but she wasn't against listening to his answer if he had one. The pregnant lioness shifted her weight. Ah, right, happier topics.. uhh, she didn't have any of those easily accessible at the moment and her brain short circuited until he lead the way. "Yes, it's.. unusual. I haven't been in a pride where I'm not running it before. It's a nice change." More relaxing, she thought. "As for these, uh.. I guess you could use them to scratch an itch if you're super careful? It makes me wonder what's inside that these spikes are protecting." Hecuba assumed it must be gold based off the quills alone, but she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to be the tester. @Caligula

table by koi

Caligula wasn't against cuddling but he wouldn't imagine that Hecuba would ever welcome him close by. It was for that reason he kept his distance. Plus they had never exactly hit that friend stage before as Caligula didn't mind showering his friends with physical affection. He had shown that with Ambrosine at the claim.

"Maybe there is more to it than that. Perhaps he feels the need to punish himself for whatever." That was a Caligula thing to do, which meant it wasn't likely for Drakon. The white lion had never shown himself to have the same amount of issues that Caligula did. "I would suggest talking to him. Let his know how what he does makes you feel." But then Caligula would always vouch for trying to talk things out. "And if that doesn't work then just knock some sense into him yourself." A grin was added along with these words. He was joking, mostly, as the bronze lion had never been an advocate for violence.

The maneless lion was nodding along to what was being said. "It is certainly less stressful. You really only have to worry about yourself instead of having to take care of everyone else. You get more time to do what you want and not busy trying to keep everything from blowing up." And even that wasn't a guarantee. "And the best part of it, naps."

Caligula looked at the spiky plants with a critical eye as Hecuba suggested that there was something inside of them. "There is only one way to find out." Carefully he reached out a paw with fully extended claws to one of the plants. The appendage hovered above the plant as he tried to figure out the best angle of attack. It was completely covered in spines and there wasn't really anywhere that he could touch without getting pricked. Caligula really wasn't looking to get stuck but he was also curious as to what was inside.

@Hecuba

Punish himself? Hecuba blinked. "If losing all of his children and his life wasn't punishment enough, I don't know what would be." It was a disturbing thought, honestly, and she would rather believe he was turned on by the violence than trying to beat himself for penance. Hecuba shrugged at his advice, offering a wry smile. "I have tried both." And that was all that needed to be said on the matter, as far as she was concerned. Although she hadn't physically punched her husband, she had ragged on him so hard she assumed he would end up with a black eye or two. She stifled a yawn at the mention of naps, fighting off her own sleepiness in order to stick around for the exploration. Hey, if @Caligula wanted to get pricked like Sleeping Beauty, she wasn't going to stop him. Besides, hopefully he would figure out what was inside. "Can we break these off?" she asked, lifting a paw to test the durability of the spikes. Hmm.. maybe.

table by koi

"You would think." He agreed but he also knew that sometimes it wasn't that simple. Sometimes there was just more to it than that. But again He couldn't imagine that Drakon would be anything like him. He couldn't begin to speculate why the white lion was doing what he was doing. Or why he continued to do it despite knowing how Hecuba felt.

He laughed when Hecuba was practically encouraging him to touch the poky parts of the plant now. "Go ahead and try it." He said when she lifted a paw as well. He touched one of the spikes with a claw and pressed upon it until it broke off. "Maybe if we can clear just a small section..." As it would take way too long to clear the whole thing. They only needed a big enough spot to be able to tear open the plant anyways.

@Hecuba