Ene (impotentwaffle) wrote in cwf,
@ 2010-06-17 23:28:00

To Noah
Majid was good at his job. Near the end of Haben's father's reign, he had acted as an enforcer. For a long time, he'd managed to keep the peace within the immediate Pride, but in the end, it had been too much for the few lions who remained loyal to the idea of a Pride structure. When the lions of Africa had dispersed to their own devices, forming groups closer to small tribes rather than one grand pride, Majid had fallen to taking mercenary work for humans and lions alike. When Haben had disappeared and was presumed dead, Haben's father went downhill, losing his spark for leadership. It was painful to watch the King fall so far and Majid stopped seeing him, abandoned him really.

Now he was in Coldwater Flats, having tracked Haben's best friend Noah to that location. It was a commission, a job and nothing personal. Majid had been around while Haben and Noah were growing up, young himself then, but old enough to do the job that Haben's father required of him. Strangely enough, he'd been tribute to the King--a gift from another Pride. Majid didn't mind much, having been objectified like that. He'd wanted to get out of Iran and that had been his opportunity.

He'd been staying in a cheap motel in town, biding his time and observing Noah. The boy had been visiting a local wolf pack frequently, though Majid did not know for what purpose. What would a lion have to do with a pack of wolves? He didn't dare step on their territory and so he waited until Noah was in town to finally approach him. He had an ice cream cone in his hand, of all things, and he simply stepped out in front of Noah as he was walking. "You've gotten bigger," he noted mildly.

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crucio
2010-06-18 06:21 am UTC (link)

When Noah had left Africa, it had been for more than reason. One, like Majid, it was difficult to see Haben's father fall apart. Two, Noah wanted desperately to find his best friend because he just knew deep down that Haben couldn't be dead - he couldn't be. And the last reason was that when the pride started to break up, he'd gotten taken to a smaller tribe that was more barbaric than the one he'd grown up in and was use to. When he'd been promised as a mate to someone he hated, had no respect for, that was the last straw. Fear had been holding him back from leaving to explore the world in hopes of finding Haben, but being promised to Jato was the thing that he needed to push him. So he'd taken off.

His father had passed away a long time ago, but he'd left Noah all of his money - and it was a lot, so it was easy for Noah to disappear once he'd gotten the guts to. Finding Haben, finally, was perfect. Noah didn't let on just how important and monumental it was to him, mostly because Haben had Robin. It was hard to admit that he loved Haben like that, and it was easier to just pretend he didn't.

Going back to Africa, like he spoke of, to him meant going back to their old pride - back to Haben's father... If the man was still alive. It was hard to say.

The pride and Africa were the farthest thing from his mind, though, as he headed down the street. He was scrolling through some messages on his phone when he heard the familiar voice. He blinked and lifted his head to look up at Majid in surprise. He'd been promised when he was sixteen, and it was years later. Jato couldn't possibly have wanted him that bad, for all these years? Noah blinked.

"What are you doing here?"

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impotentwaffle
2010-06-18 06:38 am UTC (link)

Folding his arms across his chest, he examined the boy who wasn't really a boy anymore. For a long time, he'd protected him and ultimately, that's what he felt he was doing now. Noah belonged back with his kind. Wandering the world was no good for the safety of a lion. Christ, he'd end up in a zoo, or some other disastrous place. "I'm here to collect you," Majid said flatly. He was never one for beating around the bush and the only reason he'd observed Noah for as long as he had was because he wanted to see what he was doing here and why he wasn't moving on. There was something holding the young man to this place, but Haben hadn't come into town recently so Majid hadn't seen him or even sensed him.

"Jato's father sent me. You ran out on an obligation. Not a good thing, not an honorable thing." He tilted his head, clearly not understanding how Noah could do such a thing.

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crucio
2010-06-18 06:41 am UTC (link)

"I'm sure Jato has found another mate by now," Noah replied flatly.

It was obvious that Majid hadn't seen Haben. If he had, he wouldn't be acting so calm. He would have snatched Haben as soon as he'd seen him, and Noah was worried. A part of him thought that maybe he should just go back with Majid to keep Haben safe.

"I really don't care if it wasn't honorable. It wasn't an obligation, an obligation is something you feel - I don't feel obligated at all. You're wasting your time, I'm not going back with you."

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Ahaha, is Jato male or female?

impotentwaffle
2010-06-18 06:56 am UTC (link)

"Noah," he said sternly. "Look who you're talking to. When I'm ready to take you back--you'll be going back." He was completely sure of himself. While Noah may have grown considerably since Majid last saw him, he was certain that the other lion was no match for him. Noah had always been so willful, and Majid had liked that about him.

He took a relaxed bite of the ice cream cone, licking at a bit that had dribbled down the side. He always seemed so damn calm, like nothing could rile him up. It almost made him seem hollow, some dead little automaton. But every once in awhile there was a spark, something that fired within him that was anything but dead. "You've stayed here longer than any other place."

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male - gay pride ftw!!! aha!!!

crucio
2010-06-18 07:03 am UTC (link)

"Majid, I don't care who I'm talking to, if I don't want to go - I'm not going, so you can go fuck yoursel," Noah said back.

Goddamnit, he was angry. He didn't want to go back to Africa, not like this. He was allowed his choices, and he didn't want to be mated to someone like Jato. It was silly to be a romantic maybe, but he wanted to fall in love. He wanted what Haben had with Robin, especially after seeing it first hand.

"So what? I've made some friends here," he added as he watched Majid take a bite of the icrecream cone.

Noah had always had a strange crush on the other cat, an attraction that he'd never quite understood. Before he could really let it develop, though, he'd taken off. And of course of all the people to come fetch him, it had to Majid.

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impotentwaffle
2010-06-18 07:10 am UTC (link)

His weighted sigh indicated that he felt like he was speaking to an impertinent child. "The wolves are not your friends. Haven't you ever heard the phrase 'fighting like cats and dogs?' We're not meant to get along." Majid was all about old wives tales, old traditions that people followed just because their ancestors had followed them.

"If I must, I'll tie you up, throw you in a trunk and ship you back. What is wrong with Jato? He has a high status, as do you. It's a good match." Majid had never been mated, never had the opportunity due to his status as enforcer. He couldn't be favoring anyone, though it was obvious that he had favored Haben and Noah, letting them get away with more than he'd let other cubs get away with. Noah especially because he'd been a willful child unlike any Majid had seen. But Noah was clearly a man now, and he was going to treat him as such.

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crucio
2010-06-18 07:14 am UTC (link)

"If you must, then go ahead and try," Noah said flatly with a heavy frown as he crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes. "I don't care who he is, I don't want him. Why would I be with someone I don't want? Hasn't he found someone else by now? I've been gone for years, honestly - is he that pathetic he can't choose someone else with his high status?"

Noah wasn't ever afraid to speak his mind, or talk back, no matter who it was. He'd always been that, and it clearly wasn't something that he'd grown out of.

"You don't understand - you don't have to be told who you have to fuck or let fuck you for the rest of your life."

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impotentwaffle
2010-06-18 07:21 am UTC (link)

He frowned. So much disrespect for the old ways in so little a time frame, and Majid had his hand clamped tightly around Noah's upper arm, manhandling him back into the alley where he'd come from so that they were away from prying eyes.

Getting in his face, he glared at him, staring him down even though he knew that never worked with Noah. "You would because that is how we work. We find mates who continue the hierarchies because we a lions and that is what grants our species its power, safety, and ultimate happiness. It is the new ways, the new world, that tore our Pride apart." That wasn't entirely true. In fact, many of the more rigid, restrictive belief systems had been what ultimately caused so much unrest. But Majid didn't want to believe that.

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crucio
2010-06-18 07:33 am UTC (link)

Noah hated being pushed around or told what to do. His defiance had gotten him into trouble on more occassions than he could count, and here it was, doing so again.

When he and Majid were alone in the alley he glared back, having to look up a little bit because Majid had a few inches on him. He gave the other man a shove, knocking the stupid icecream cone from his grasp.

"You're ridiculous. The reason our Pride fell apart is because there wasn't fair leadership. There are some things you can't be told what to do over, like who you should be with. Don't give me the bullshit about continuing on with the hierarchies because I can't get pregnant and neither can he. If that's what he wants, he definitely picked the wrong mate."

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impotentwaffle
2010-06-18 07:44 am UTC (link)

"Well, he certainly selected a stubborn one, but he thinks it's worth the trouble." He looked down at his ice cream cone and looked genuinely disappointed. With a sigh, he released Noah and leaned back against the opposite wall of the small alley. "And I am told who I can and cannot mate with. No one. So really, you should be thinking yourself rather lucky that you are meant for someone."

Majid was married to his job--or at least he had been when Haben's father was ruling. Now that he was for hire, he supposed he could get into a relationship, but at 33 it seemed far too late.

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crucio
2010-06-18 07:50 am UTC (link)

"I'd rather be with no one than him," Noah snapped back angrily as he crossed his arms over his chest again, though this time he was leaning against the wall behind him. "And really, you're the one who's allowing yourself to be told what to do. Grow a backbone. Leave like I did. Go see the world and meet someone you want to be with or whatever, I don't give a fuck, just don't bother with me because if you take me back I'll just run off again and you'll be chasing me around for the rest of your life."

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	impotentwaffle 2010-06-18 07:55 am UTC (link)
	"You're a snot," he finally said. "And you owe me an ice cream." His eyes lingered on him and then he looked away. "You ran away, you didn't leave. I'm not a coward. I do not plan on shirking my duties. Besides, it would be nice to have you back in Africa. You didn't say goodbye--though I guess I would have tried to stop you if you'd thought to say goodbye to me." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

crucio
2010-06-18 08:02 am UTC (link)

It was true, Noah was a snot. He always had been, and he always would be, he was sure. At Majid's words about the icecream cone, Noah couldn't help but laugh a little bit. Majid always had been so... Strange. Not in a bad way, but just... Odd.

"Maybe you would have just come with me," Noah replied. "Maybe I should have asked you to. I should have known they'd send you to come find me, maybe if I'd taken you with me I'd save myself some trouble."

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impotentwaffle
2010-06-18 08:29 am UTC (link)

"Well, I am the best." It would just make sense that he would be selected to track Noah. If he was joking or being serious, no one would ever know. He walked the line perfectly between deadpan and honesty.

The idea that he could have gone with Noah struck Majid with a little confusion. Confusion because as soon as Noah said that, he thought perhaps that he would have gone, even though it went against what he believed in. He could have fooled himself and taken it on as a sort of job--protecting Noah. Really, it would have been because he would miss the kid if he didn't tag along after him. "I am positive that you would not have had much fun with me along."

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crucio
2010-06-18 08:35 am UTC (link)

Noah caught that flash of confusion in Majid's eyes, and it really surprised him. He blinked and furrowed his brow a little bit, unsure of how to process that look, and at Majid's words he shook his head a little.

"I don't think that, I think I would have been less lonely," he admitted after a moment. "I don't want to go back, you know - you don't have to go back, either. You could just stay here with me."

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impotentwaffle
2010-06-19 11:36 pm UTC (link)

"Then they will think I've failed and was too cowardly to return home. You know I can't do that." It went against everything about him. Majid had intensely traditional notions of honor and shame. Despite all of that, though, he didn't like the idea of forcing Noah to do something he was so against.

"You have friends here then? People that you love? Is it here that you want, or just not back home?" He insisted on calling it home because that was the only one he'd ever actually known. Iran was never home to him. "Why would you want me to stay? I'll just be bossy." He repeated the word that Noah had used to describe him a few times.

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crucio
2010-06-19 11:48 pm UTC (link)

"Why do you care what they think? It doesn't matter what they think, especially if you don't go back. You'd never see them again," Noah said with a frown as he glared over at Majid. "Yes, I have friends and people I care about here." He loved Haben, but he was holding that word back on purpose. "And being bossy is better than being an opressor who makes people do things that that don't want."

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impotentwaffle
2010-06-20 12:39 am UTC (link)

"It matters. We are what other people think of us. It's important." He didn't like the frown or the glare and he took a step forward. "But I suppose I could go back empty handed and tell them that you did not want to return with me." Deep down, he knew that that would mean that Jato would send another mercenary, someone who may not be able to track Noah down, but who would definitely bring him back by force if he found him. Majid did not like the way that played out in his head and a spark of confusion showed on his face again.

He'd put himself close to Noah again, bearing down on him a little because that's how he got people to do what he wanted--he intimidated them. "Is that what you want? You want me to just go back and let someone else come for you?"

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crucio
2010-06-20 01:12 am UTC (link)

"It doesn't matter what people think of us, what people think is what they think - it's just an opinion they make about us and most of the time it's unfounded or biased," Noah said back, and when Majid came closer to him to intimidate him, the younger lion just stared back squarely.

Intimidation never worked on him. And it wouldn't now, either.

"I don't care what you do as long as you don't force me to go back there," he finally said after a moment.

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impotentwaffle
2010-06-20 01:25 am UTC (link)

Why that wounded Majid, he didn't understand. The fact that Noah said he didn't care what he did--it made him shift uncomfortably and he took a step back. "I would have come with you if you had asked," he said finally, nodding a little.

After a moment of just staring at Noah with an almost blank look on his face, Majid made a gesture down to his ruined ice cream cone. "I meant it when I said you owed me another one of those." Like usual, he had no intentions of revealing the decision he had come to about how to deal with this situation. Instead, he turned and started to walk back to the hotel he was staying at.

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crucio
2010-06-20 02:27 am UTC (link)

Those first few words surprised Noah, and he blinked a little bit in confusion as Majid went on to talk about the ice cream cone. He barely heard that part, though, and he started after the other lion with a frown on his lips.

"Well, I'm asking you to stay," he told Majid. "So stay. You don't have to go back, just stay here."

If Majid would have left with him, why wouldn't he simply stay, too? It made sense to Noah.

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impotentwaffle
2010-06-20 03:13 am UTC (link)

He kept up his pace, though it wasn't brisk by any means. Really, he wanted Noah to follow him all the way back to his hotel. He wanted the other to know where he was staying just in case he changed his mind and said that he wanted to go back with him. Not that Majid was foolish enough to believe that that would ever happen.

"Jato and his father paid me money to travel the globe looking for you. I must return to Kenya and pay them back." Because he clearly hadn't been able to do his job. When he set out, he'd really believed that he would be able to drag Noah back like any other lion he'd been hired to find. But Noah was different. Haben would have been too, if the boy had still been alive.

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crucio
2010-06-20 03:20 am UTC (link)

Noah honestly had no idea what Majid was going to do. He wasn't the type to give up easily, if at all, and while Noah had always found that quality admirable it also made him a little bit nervous. The idea of being taken back to Africa, back to Jato, was terrifying to Noah even though he didn't want to admit it outloud. The punishment for running away would be great, and Noah was very aware of that fact.

"So you're really just going to go back, then?" he asked after a moment as he reached out to snag Majid's wrist.

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impotentwaffle
2010-06-20 11:24 pm UTC (link)

Majid turned as Noah clasped his wrist, making the connection of movement as graceful as a dance. He looked pointedly down at their hands and his expression softened just a little. "No, I'm going to stay for a little while to try and convince you to come back with me. But I'm not going to force you. I thought I could, but I cannot." He sighed a little at that, clearly frustrated with his own realization.

"I knew you when you were this high," he said as he put his free hand low to the ground. "I can't beat you up and load you into a cargo trunk. No matter how much you sometimes deserve it."

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crucio
2010-06-21 12:45 am UTC (link)

Hearing Majid say that struck a chord in Noah, and his brow knit up as he swallowed back a swell of emotion he couldn't quite explain. Noah had never known Majid to give up on a mission, and the idea that he was going to for him made him feel things he didn't know how to properly deal with.

"You can't convince me to go back," he told Majid, "But I'm glad you're staying."

He stepped forward and pressed his nose against the other lion's shoulder, smiling a little at the familiar scent. He closed his eyes and hooked an arm around Majid's waist, and he stayed close.

"If I go back they'll punish me, you know."