"We were expecting you to come HOME once you'd acclimated," Lena's father said sternly as he sat beside his wife and across from his daughter in the rather communal area that Animalia's main Thanksgiving Dinner was at their city hall's main entry area.
It was a nice space and in some ways was done better than some of the things back in their own hometown in Alabama, but that really wasn't the point of the comment and complaint. That point was fairly obviously felt as his daughter, who had come to Lyre/Animalia to correct for some weight and cholesterol issues that had put her at risk for major cardiac related illnesses, had not only not returned home, but had apparently hooked up with another Lion Animalian, who had to be younger than Lena, and was also already involved with someone. That could be seen as he looked across the table to see Jeff seated to his daughter's left and with Zoe seated on the other side of him. To Lena's parents, this was not normal.
"Well, to a degree, it would be instinctive lion behavior," Zoe spoke up, looking to defend Lena, who sat quietly for a moment, "to be part of a pride. Largely to gain the perceived protection of having a male around and having hunting partners with regard to other lionesses, many of which are often sisters or cousins to each other."
"Yes, but Horizon and Animalians have always said that Animalians are not slaves to those baser instincts," Lena's father countered quickly, and with narrowed eyes.
"And lions have also demonstrated they can survive outside a typical pride structure," Lena's mother added, "there's no recorded evidence that the Tsavo Maneaters had a pride to hunt for them, despite the fact that with the exception of one having slightly damaged teeth, they were both in reasonably good health."
This earned a nervous blink from both Jeff and Zoe. Jeff because he really didn't want fight with Lena's parents, partially because it also struck his own gained instincts of a male lion defending what he felt to be HIS pride and would be akin to any protective parent. This made him assume that Lena's parents loved her very much and either felt that he had done something elicit to their daughter and were coming to her rescue. Some of the first meetings with the uplifted Lion Animalians, like Aslan, had likely reinforced that given that they really didn't see a problem with polygamy, at least with regard to sex. They might understand that Humans were typically monogamous, but that didn't mean they would dump all the millions of years of instinct that they had. The other part of it, was that to a degree, he'd come to like Lena after an awkward first meeting and really didn't want to upset her. The fact that she seemed to accept that he was already involved with Zoe only further surprised him, and he wasn't sure on how to respond.
"I did plan on coming back," Lena said slowly, "but things just sort of happened..."
"Just happened?" Lena's mother asked.
"Yes... back during the Year of the Tiger competition," Lena began to recall.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Acclimation to her new form proved fairly easy and it let her catch up with the things that she'd read about before her conversion. She could manage them fairly, but Lena also found that they often caught up with her in surprising ways. Some of the things that went on with the other Lion Animalians came off well enough, and while some of their social interactions made her a bit uneasy, there was also a measure of comfort that she'd felt talking with them from time to time. The unease came from the fact that several of them, particularly uplifted Lion Animalians, were quite comfortable in rather open relationships. They might be married to only one Lioness Animalian, but they didn't oppose sharing, and to Lena, coming from a relatively conservative Alabama family, that seemed odd.
However, at the same time, Lena also found a surprising amount of comfort in meeting with some of the other Lioness Animalians when they had free time from their jobs or families, depending on who worked and other things. In an odd way, it was like hanging out with real friends and partners, which she assumed related to Lion's social behaviors. Given some of the jokes that had been made against her in the past for her weight issues and her studder, Lena also liked the fact that the other Lioness Animalians weren't as hung up on things like that. And when they did note it, they seemed to work toward ideas to try and help her with it and her confidence which she accepted readily.
It also gave her time to engage in some workout regimens as well, some coming from her curiosity at how strong she was, given how much muscle she'd put on in her conversion and finding that she also had a lot more energy than she'd had in the past. She wasn't quite up for taking the hunter safety courses and buying licenses, particularly given that at this early stage of the year, the tags for things that would be in the size range for an African Lion, or even an Asian Lion, to target wouldn't be available until the fall. But the workouts let her burn energy and think over various things that would relate to things that related to her family's diner, much of it related to the changes in her own diet, but also in things that she would have to handle in relation to handling cooking. She wouldn't want to shed fur into anything being cooked, though the thoughts often went in various directions.
Though, with the Year of the Tiger competition going on, Lena had found many of the workout rooms at the Claw Coliseum often busy and full. Shelly had been helpful, and Lena liked the Siberian Tiger Animalian, but with her being in the Year of the Tiger competition, Lena couldn't count on always getting to work out with her. Lena accepted that did her best to get her workouts in when she could, this Saturday afternoon proved no exception. The main room was quieter than she expected with only a lone male Lion Animalian present. He was double dosed, but he also seemed to be younger than her. His mane also seemed to match a Human hair color and gave her some indication that this Lion Animalian had once been Human. Privately, Lena also felt some minor sense of attraction as this Animalian as he did squats. This ultimately left her a bit distracted, and she tripped over a different barbell that had been on the floor and raised a bit a clanging noise and then had Lena hopping on one foot and cursing her luck.
"OOUCCH!" Lena gave a pained groan as she hopped on one foot and rubbed her stubbed toes with her hand.
This served to get the male Lion Animalian to stop his reps and then turning around to find Lena hopping there a few paces behind him. He seemed to recognize her, and put the barbell down to approach.
"Hey, you're the Guennol Lioness of Animalia," he spoke, "you okay?"
"I... I... I... I'm f-fu-f-ai-ne-nuh," Lena answered slowly, "Just stubbed my toe."
"Oh," the Lion Animalian said slowly, though he still came forward as Lena regained her feet and the throbbing in her toes went down.
"And I-I'd pre-fu-fu-fur Lizzie... or Lena," Lena told him.
"I'm Jeff," the Lion Animalian answered, "are you sure you're okay?"
"Yes," Lena said slowly and trying to keep her cool, "it's just a spu-spu-etch im-imp-impe-di-ment."
"Oh," Jeff managed, "and you're interested in working out?"
"Just ke-ke-eep-ing in shape," Lena managed as she found herself practically tongue tied as she looked to this male, "con-ver-er-ting made me stronger."
"Makes sense," Jeff nodded, "I got stronger when I got my first dose... largely to keep up with my dad, who converted before I did."
"Your father?" Lena asked.
"Yeah," Jeff nodded, "and he went native too... He married the Lioness that converted him, and the two of them work together at the Meat Market."
"The Muh-eat Market?" Lena blinked.
"Yeah," Jeff nodded, "but he's seemed happier with her in many ways... and to a degree, I've enjoyed some things when I got my second dose from my girlfriend... or bond-mate if you're going for the more Animalian term. Her name is Zoe, have you met her?"
"Maybe," Lena answered, "I'm still new... try-trying to learn..."
"Yeah," Jeff nodded, "it has had all sorts of things that happened as a result. My dad... who goes by the stage name "King Andrew" had some other issues that were there when he converted, and my stepmom was really only supposed to help him with some of the instinctual issues that came with it. His falling for her just sort of happened after that. In this... he's had a lot to learn and learned it all well. And to some extent, even I've had a lot to learn as well."
"Lu-lu-i-kuh the men-nn-nee muh-ates?" Lena blurted.
"Well... that's there, but a lot of that is pretty standard Lion instinct and behavior," Jeff commented, "and not every Lion Animalian follows it. Those that do... were either uplifted from Lyre's zoo or couldn't make a decision between two females and just went with both of them when they also showed interest. Much of the rest, may often just be a very open relationship. It's not common, but if all parties accept it... I can't say there's anything wrong with that."
If Lena's cheeks weren't covered in fur, she was sure that Jeff would have seen her blush.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"And so, you just decided to jump in on polygamy because you bumped into him?" Lena's father asked.
"No... that actually took a little while and meeting Zoe as well," Lena commented, glad that she had gotten a bit better at managing her speech impediment since her conversion. It was still there and at times she'd slip into it, but she was doing better with it now in November. "He helped a bit with my speech impediment, as did Zoe. And as they helped me... I shared some of the things that got me down before my conversion. Things the other girls in high school teased me for."
"And at that time, it was largely to be friendly," Jeff added, noting the distrusting look on Lena's parent's faces hadn't really gone away, "I never forced anything on her... shoot... she's strong enough that she could probably pin a few of the male Lion Animalians in a wrestling match. Something befitting the nickname she got after her conversion..."
"And it was friendly and did not pu-pu-ut pressure on me," Lena added, "and in time... it made me more interested... and with Jeff now in college, it is-isn't that bad."
Her studder had returned a bit while trying to deal with her parents, and particularly her father, who seemed to be the most against the idea.
"Well, that's not pressuring," Lena's mother said slowly, "but... it still doesn't sound right. And it's kept you from coming home?"
"It's open and friendly," Lena said slowly, "and with Jeff still in college there really hasn't been a final decision as to whether it would be a double wedding or anything close to that. It is, for the moment, an open relationship."