Timon
PRIDELANDERS
Posts: 7
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Post by Timon on May 10, 2023 1:53:20 GMT
Timon owed Pumbaa a lot of grub.
He hadn’t expected Simba to take the human into his family so soon, admittedly. But when word got to them that Simba had essentially adopted Sam into his family, he wasn’t shocked. Just maybe… Bewildered? Of course, Simba was adopted himself by the two of them but he’d never considered he or Bunga might one day pay it forward. Especially not after Kion and Kiara were grown and Timon was pretty sure his oldest son was done having kids.
But weirder things happened, he guessed. Timon had seen the way Simba looked at him at the ceremony and knew his kid well enough to know. After all, Simba had the biggest heart Timon knew even with a few hiccups. If anyone knew that love definitely crossed species and upringings, it was sure the three of them and Bunga anyway.
But he also knew parenting kids with trauma was hard. And Simba would probably need a little guidance on this new venture. And Nala too, if she was around and willing to listen to it. After all, Simba had been the one adopted after a traumatic event the last time. And to say Timon had learned a lot about raising other species and dealing with hurt was probably being a little less than generous.
So he took the long walk alone, given Pumbaa had elected to sleep in that day and trudged inside the mostly empty den. “Hey Simba, ye around!?” He shouted out. "I heard the news and thought we could talk!"
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Simba
PRIDELANDERS
King of the Pridelands
Following in my father's pawprints
Posts: 83
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Post by Simba on May 15, 2023 18:45:46 GMT
"Hey, Timon. Yes, I am, I am just doing my morning patrol now." Simba replied to his friend. He had planned to go to the Watering Hole first, but now as the meerkat was here Simba changed his way and walked over to him. He had also planned to check the Gorge after the earthquake once again (despitce the fact he didn't like visiting that place). After the Mfalme Mkuu ceremony the king had forbidden every Pridelander to go there because he considered it as an unstable ground and wanted to see if everything was alright.
"What's up? Searching for Utamu grubs? Hopefully it won't end in an awkward situation like last year, hehe." The lion giggled with a wide grin on his muzzle. He remembered how the meerkat had fallen into a muddy puddle while climbing a tree for a grub, and it still made him smile whenever he recalled Timon's face. Besides, he loved pulling his leg for that.
"Anyway, where's Pumbaa?"
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Timon
PRIDELANDERS
Posts: 7
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Post by Timon on May 15, 2023 19:29:58 GMT
Oh good, he caught him in time.
Morning patrol was the perfect time in his opinion too. It meant that Sam would undoubtedly be out with the other cubs. Less chance he’d misunderstand and think he was trying to bad talk him in any way. “Perfect, I’ll join ya! Pumbaa’a being a lazy butthead, y’know how he can be.” He waved off the thought. After all it was true. “It’s cool though, we can have this talk with him later too.”
With a small smile, he decided that like most things in life he’d get right to the point. “So some interesting news got to us a couple days after that ceremony of yours. Word getting around is you adopted adopted another son,” he nudged the massive lion playfully. “Not that I’m surprised. I saw you with the man cub and had a feeling long before Zazu ran his mouth. Obviously. And I’m partly here to congratulate ya.”
How to say this without sounding like a jerk? After all Simba was two kids in at this point anyway. But still… “But I also wanted to lend some advice, y’know. Like… Listen, I know you were a dad long before Sam came along,” he explained. “But this is a more delicate situation I’m sure. I hear the kid’s been through the ringer, and he’s… Ahem, a totally different species. Kids probably going through his brain - not the least of which is suddenly being royalty now… So, I guess what I’m getting at is…”
God he was bad at serious talks sometimes. “Well before I give my two cents of advice with no idea how it’s going. Did you have any questions for the guy who personally raised a lion and a honey badger twice his size?” He decided to lighten the mood. “One of whom came under similar circumstances I may remind him.”
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Simba
PRIDELANDERS
King of the Pridelands
Following in my father's pawprints
Posts: 83
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Post by Simba on May 16, 2023 18:06:30 GMT
"Okay, hop on." Simba offered and bent down for Timon so he could climb onto his head. He didn't expect such a weird company for his morning patrol, as usually Zazu was the one who went with him. Nevertheless, the lion didn't mind at all since he had been so busy with the problems around the Pride Lands recently that he didn't have much opportunity to meet or talk with his friends, and now he was glad he had the chance.
"Hmm..." Simba didn't really know first what to react on Timon. Actually, he had already got the instructions from his father Mufasa (more or less, and as for the missing parts Timon couldn't give an answer anyway), but he didn't want to hurt his dear friend by not listening to him at all. Although, Timon had a little bit different point of view about the world than usual.
"Thanks for your offering. Actually, it was Nala's idea to adopt him into the family. Furthermore, my father once told me when I was a cub that family and love were not always of blood. Now I understand what he was talking about. Sam may be not linked to us by blood, still he is one of us now. Like I am linked to you and Pumbaa."
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Timon
PRIDELANDERS
Posts: 7
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Post by Timon on May 16, 2023 18:23:20 GMT
Timon hopped on without much effort. Taking a cross-legged position on his head.
Huh, Nala’s idea? And going by his father’s teachings he totally got that. Nala has always been such a protective mother over the cub she could imagine it had carried over to others too. “Well, I think it’s a great idea. And your old man is wise with his words, for once,” Timon explained. “Not that it wasn’t hard at first. Let me tell you we were the talk of the town so to speak too. People were afraid you were gonna eat them.” He joked with a hint of laughter.
He leaned back a bit, thoughtfully. “I hope you’re ready for that too. They’re gonna ask questions. And be bigots sometimes… Not that I think you’ll have a problem, as king you don’t have to put up with that crap,” He threw up a hand at the notion knowing full well that Simba wouldn’t put up with anything. “But I’d start getting him taught about the “royal” stuff early. If there’s one thing I learned from raising you, it’s the quicker the kid acclimates to their new lifestyle the less problems happen.”
He could remember the grubs being the easiest part, but also how it’d taken them time to explain boundaries lions didn’t always have. Among other things. “I mean obviously don’t just throw the kid to the lions heap. But I looked at it like re-teaching what you learn when you’re a baby cub,” He knew that he had done a lot of teaching to Kiara and Kion when they were young. So it was the best analogy he could think of. “I remember with you it was tons of fun because you were older - I could get things across easier. It really helped me bond with ya.”
Timon looked down at him after he’d said that to add. “Though you two seemed plenty close obviously. Especially if you’re saying ye love him. Heh,” he admitted. “I gotta ask though, how much do you know about his past? Is it like when we got you and you left out the whole king thing?” Of course, Sam had only opened up a little to Simba, Kovu, Kiara, and Sarabi. So Timon wouldn’t have known anything about his abusive mother or the streets.
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Simba
PRIDELANDERS
King of the Pridelands
Following in my father's pawprints
Posts: 83
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Post by Simba on May 27, 2023 16:56:44 GMT
A naughty smile formed on Simba's face, although Timon couldn't see it. "And what royal stuff? Like how to belch? Or how to dig for grubs?" The lion laughed. "The tons of fun with me? Like when I roared at you and you started flying like a missile? Or when I fell down from a tree and you got stuck under Pumbaa and me? Or when I kept repeatedly batting you into the air like a ball of yarn?" He didn't mean to mock his buddy, what's more, he just wanted to have some fun with the meerkat. It was a funny conversation already, but with Timon it can't happen otherwise anyway. Not because they were not able to have serious talk, but because they were so close to each other - like brothers. Nevertheless, with Timon Simba was not expected to act like a king, but he could speak free, and he could be the same guy he had always been inside. "But to speak seriously, yes, he told me some things about his past. He told he had been not wanted by his parents, he became a street guy very soon and that he had had a friend called David. He doesn't seem to have a happy cubhood either."
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Timon
PRIDELANDERS
Posts: 7
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Post by Timon on May 27, 2023 17:39:49 GMT
Timon felt like he saw his life flash before his eyes when he said that.
Sometimes he forgot that despite the big ball of fuz being king now, he still has his fun. Which was definitely a good thing, especially since most monarch’s were dull as hell. In his opinion, but raising Simba has been a unique challenge. Not that he’d trade it for the world of course - those were good memories as well as shell shocked flashbacks. “Ah the good ole days, before everything got complicated. I remember it like it was just yesterday,” He said in a day dreamy voice. “Not so much being caught underneath Pumbaa. Have you smelled him lately? I’m surprised I survived!”
Hmmm… That was a lot to take in.
How could a creature be unwanted by their parents? It almost sounded like the kid has been discarded young. It was a foreign concept to him - when animals didn’t have parents they just… Got raised by other animals. What kind of crazy, backwards world were these humans living in? “Didn’t want him? Didn’t WANT him? Don’t they know that you can’t just yeet a whole cub!? You don’t just suddenly decide “oops, I didn’t want this after all”. Yeesh, no wonder you two acted quickly,” Timon pointed out. Rather annoyed just by the standard alone. “Well, the good news is he’s still a cub, which means you have a chance to turn that around. Think ye already are. I was watching him with the other cubs the other day. Kid’s really coming out of his shell.” He then added. “But still, no one took him in until now?”
He tapped his chin a bit. Something kept coming back to just… Abandoning the kid. It felt like there had to be some more to the story - and while he hated to say it… “You don’t think his parents were hurting him do you?” Timon asked. “I’ve heard stories about some monkey’s doing it to their young. Real bad things… If that’s the case, I wouldn’t blame him for trying to AVOID it.”
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Simba
PRIDELANDERS
King of the Pridelands
Following in my father's pawprints
Posts: 83
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Post by Simba on Jun 2, 2023 20:08:54 GMT
"The good old days." Simba repeated muttering to himself in a barely audible voice. Yes, the years spent in the jungle were fond memories to him too. Those were the days of freedom, of no responsibility, of real Hakuna Matata. Not that he didn't like it here, what's more, being with his family was worth everything.
Despite the good company, Simba had to pay attention to the events around, after all he was not supposed to forget it was actually his morning patrol. They were passing by the Watering Hole, so the lion changed direction to get a better look. It also meant he was not giving full attention to Timon now, nevertheless mostly he could comprehend the meerkat's words. It also took a little shorter time till he gave an answer.
"Humans are not saints or perfect creatures either as you can see. They make mistakes too. Besides, Sam hasn't told me much about his past yet. As I can see, it's painful for him to talk about it, just like for me. But yes, it was her mother who had abused him a lot."
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Timon
PRIDELANDERS
Posts: 7
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Post by Timon on Jun 4, 2023 4:51:06 GMT
Not saints was one way of putting it.
But this was something Timon admittedly didn’t know a lot about. He and Pumbaa had gotten really lucky in that sense. Simba had his troubles, but his parents loved him. And Bunga had been a baby when they found him, basically a blank slate. Abuse wasn’t unheard of among animals but he’d never run into it… Like at all.
“Well that really is a horse of a different color. I know some friends who adopted abused cubs,” Timon looked thoughtful. “It took them a while to open up. The sooner they do the better I think. I don’t know though. You know me, Hakuna Matata. That’s a lot of stuff to take in.”
Timon still believed these things were part of the reason it was sometimes good to forget. But he also wanted to help his kid, so it was hard. “Maybe I’ll just leave that one to you. You were good with Kion and Kiara through tough spots,” He admitted. “I ain’t gonna pretend like Pumbaa and I didn’t make our mistakes. You did it better.” He admitted. “But at least the next time a parent touches the kid it’ll be with affection. He seems so young - imagine never being nuzzled or hugged by one. Even when it drives us nuts.”
That did give him a thought though. “But y’know, now that the kid basically got free rein? Maybe he and I can help a little too!” He said with a run of his paws. “Hakuna Matata may be exactly what the doctor ordered too! A nice lazy day away from everything going on. Bet r hasn’t had that.”
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Simba
PRIDELANDERS
King of the Pridelands
Following in my father's pawprints
Posts: 83
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Post by Simba on Jun 11, 2023 12:12:52 GMT
He found everything fine and peaceful around the Water Hole so far fortunately. The animals here gave a warm welcome to their king as they got closer, Simba also giving them greetings by nodding. The lion slowly bent down to drink a little before continuing his patrol to the eastern borders.
"Hmm, I think you're right," he started pondering. "Raising Sam will be different on two matters. On the one hand he is a human after all. On the other hand, he has an abused past. Although I think I can relate to him in this context as I have a difficult past behind my back too."
Simba smiled when Timon mentioned Hakuna Matata and that how deep faith he still had that it could be medicine for anything. Not as a mockery, because the lion didn't forget it had been the medicine for him as well to be able to turn back on his past as cub. But now, being an adult and mature lion, Simba knew - unfortunately - it could not be a solution for everything.
"No one can do Hakuna Matata better than you and Pumbaa." He chuckled. "Speaking of Pumbaa, are you sure he is not going to look for you?"
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Timon
PRIDELANDERS
Posts: 7
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Post by Timon on Jul 4, 2023 8:41:15 GMT
A difficult past was definitely one way to put it.
Though the way that Simba said it he figured he should have a bit more faith in the kid. On one hand, he felt like he was still young and needed lots of guidance. But he had to remind himself that he’d already raised two cubs - it wasn’t his first rodeo.
“Well, I’m proud of you. Every cub should know what it’s like to be loved and have parents,” Timon pointed out honestly. After all, he spoke the truth. “Plus hey! He’ll keep you young and energetic! He still seems to act like one… Gonna be interesting to keep up with.”
After all, kids to keep up with did of course help keep you youthful.
Oh right, Pumbaa. Would he be missing him at this point? He didn’t really know. The guy could nap for a year if he wanted to, couldn’t he? “I don’t know. If he does he knows where to find me,” Timon replied honestly. “But I’m sure he’s just as happy and proud for you guys:” he chuckled.
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