To him, the conversation about whether to engage or not was over. It had been deemed that @Thrain was not permitted to engage in combat with him, lest he wish to lose something. Limb, ear or potentially even life. Jafar did not know who this male was or what he was capable of, but he clearly wished to overthrow a perfectly comfortable family and that was all that mattered to him. One could take a pride without ousting an entire family that was already comfortable but to challenge for another's pride? Shady, scummy and had no business in his or Linnaea's life.

No... he answered aggressively as he turned his nose and pointed it directly to Thrain in an effort to express that he better spill. Mmm, perhaps I have. Dark face but with a giant white stripe from nose to head? Sedona had given him a lot more frustrations than any of his children ever had. Gone and found herself in the deep end with lions that were only going to get her in trouble with their daft decision making. Did he care? Yes, but he could only manage one issue at a time. Multitasking was something he was not very good at.

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Well, the snapping of @Jafar's snout to attention had Thrain pouting in quiet regret. He had admittedly assumed his father knew something of the giant Miroslav boy Sedona had become infatuated with, and suddenly had he realization he was dobbing her in. He didn't particularly care about Sedona's reaction to it, but if Leonie knew he was a snitch...

"Uh," he inhaled awkwardly, knowing full-well that his his first and foremost allegiance was always to his father - but he still carried some of that boyish desire to fit in with the 'cool kids'. "Yeah that's him, a Miroslav I think," he didn't think that would really be an issue, but found himself not particularly wanting to go on about it all too much.

If only Sedona had tried to listen to her father's teachings instead of being a fool to carry on in such a way. Jafar wished he could convey that some lions did not have her best intentions in mind and that that, now put to memory, Miroslav would likely only find her in the middle of trouble. Perhaps that was exactly what she wanted was the thrill of trouble but that was no situation that Jafar could help her out of. Though, if it came down to it he was still a slave to his only daughter and would fight for her if necessary. But to him in this moment, her problems were hers unless she came to him and expressed an interest in being a part of the family. She had decided, in her adolescence, that her time was better spent elsewhere. With a boy rather than flesh and blood. Sedona is an adult now, I suppose. She'll make her own choices and need to deal with whatever consequences follow. Jafar couldn't help her if she did not wish to be a part of their lives. @Thrain was perfect, honestly. Perfect in the way that very few children ever got to be in the eyes of their father. Never had Thrain asked him to bail him out of a situation or got thrown at the borders by a cautious-labeled enemy for knocking on the wrong door.

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Thankfully, @Jafar is more reasonable than he really anticipated. True, the lionesses of the family had less weight and expectation on their shoulders than the males - that was working in her favor. "Yeah," he agreed quietly, nodding vaguely at his fathers words of wisdom, "I am friends with his sister. She's great... funny, smart, talented. But the recklessness runs in the family."

That much was certain. As a boy Thrain had caved and visited Caladan with her - thankfully he had managed to dissuade her from trespassing, but it still almost ended in chaos. She was a thrill seeker for sure, but perhaps that's what made her so exciting. Though, Leonie had all but vanished too.

As they waited to see if Linn would show up, he began to wonder what the odds are that she was somewhere else entirely. Doubt spreading through his mind as well as instinctive jealousy, though his conversation with @Thrain was likely keeping it boiled to a safe temperature. The admittance of knowing the Miroslav's sister and being friends with her, made his gaze turn right back to the boy with surprised interest. Especially when he went on to give her compliments as though she were sitting there instead of his father. Sounds like you have a crush on a Miroslav much like Sedona. While he expected that his heir would have interests outside of Firnen, he couldn't decide if he was bothered by who it was or bothered that he was only hearing about this now.

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Although Thrain had mostly eased into gossiping with his Padre, his relaxation and dreamy thoughts were entirely diminished by @Jafar's comment. "What?" his ears snapped awkwardly back into his mane, a flush of heat racing to his cheeks, "No. Uh." He hadn't really thought about Leonie all that much since she had gone, and his way of describing her had come as second nature.

"No, she's... wild," he really did like that about her though, who was he kidding. "Besides, I haven't seen Leonie for ages either," where they had all disappeared to he had no idea. Perhaps moved on with their father after he left the Oasis - if that's what had happened.

"Do you know who leads the Oasis now?"

The tells alone of ears folding back and that sheepish look in @Thrain's eyes was enough to prove even a 1% chance of a crush. Son, just because a woman is wild doesn't mean she is any less desirable. Teaching him a lesson still, it appeared. That even though a woman was unpredictable, messy, indecisive or any other things Thrain could've come up with didn't make a crush any less a crush. Just... be smart. That was all he asked if it truly was a crush and he wanted to eventually pursue it. Jafar wanted the very best for Thrain. Wanted him to succeed and have everything that he wanted. If he wanted this Miroslav girl, then at least he could warn him to be careful and be smart if he went through with it.

I think serving as your mother's Sovereign has made me lazy, was his answer to whether or not he knew who led the Oasis now. Jafar had not attended very many challenges but perhaps that was because he wished to always be present in the one that he and Maia owned. Never wanting to leave it in the event that something happened and he was too far away to step in.

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Admittedly, Thrain had labeled Leonie wild in the hopes it would deter @Jafar and end the awkward discussion. However, the King is a man of realism and wisdom, and instead of scrutinizing the girl, he only reminds his son that all women had their value - as did all lions, in one way or another. Sure, some traits were more favorable, but all were useful.

"Right..." he trailed at his Padre's insight, amethyst gaze lowering briefly to ashen toes. She certainly was very pretty, but given he hadn't seen her for some time, he hadn't had much chance to think about it. "I'll make a point to attend the challenges from now on," he revealed, though he was sure that was a Scout job - he shouldn't find any reason to slack-off.

"What's Tomas doing?" he asked, a tiny smirk drawing his lips. Thrain took great pleasure in having a little pink brother - his world of being large nad privileged was sure to crumble when Linnaea's (as yet unknown) litter arrived.

Linn lagged behind some long moments after hearing @Jafar call for her. A monkey had decided to harass the medic on her way. It took her a minute to finally get it to go away without killing or hurting it - they kind of owed the monkeys a favor for chasing off Aeistrios. She appeared eventually, a few stray twigs and leaves wrapped up in her long pelt for her efforts, shaking hadn’t dislodged them so she’d have to pick them out later. Can I help with something? She looked at @Thrain and offered the boy a nod in greeting before it settled on Jafar.

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From the time that they were young, it was something he had taught his children once he realized that not all of them were going to be large. That even the smallest lions could have some strength. It may not be brute, but it could be wielded with great might. If this girl @Thrain admired was wild, then she was wild but if it affected his family then he would make sure to teach her a fair lesson in being an adult. Whatever wildness was brought with her, she would deal with its consequences.

The question of what the youngest son was doing was quickly left on deaf ears. Oh, @Linnæa. Thank goodness! He rose from his seated position and made whatever distance he could before attempting to push his forehead against the side of her face. Thankful as ever that she was here, unharmed and mostly just accounted for. And she didn't smell like she had been in a "tussle" with another male. If anything, it smelled like monkey. As he pulled his head away, he instinctively picked out a twig that had been stuck to the end of her mane.

Thrain was catching me up on what happened at the borders, he started with carefully but he certainly did not wish to immediately bombard her as he had Thrain. He tells me that you two knew each other? There, yes. That was a great way to put it without immediately accusing her of having let another guy press his eyeballs all over her body from a distance. Yup! Perfect, he was quite proud of himself for the control he showed even if every nerve in his body felt aggressively protective of the woman before him.

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