Pride Rock Inc.

A human corporate AU of The Lion King. Questions or requests for headcanons or fics are always welcome (:

[priderock-inc]

Welcome to Pride Rock Incorporated!

Welcome to Pride Rock Incorporated: a human!AU of The Lion King where the circle of business never ends, and the only thing getting trampled is the competition.

Featuring:

Mufasa, the charismatic CEO, whose roars in board meetings are the only things louder than his impeccable (or, depending on who you ask, atrocious) tie collection.

Scar, the ambitious VP, whose scheming mind is as sharp as his wardrobe, turning every boardroom into a stage for his dramatic power plays.

Sarabi, Mufasa's efficient secretary (and beloved wife), who handles the chaos with grace, effortlessly managing schedules and reigning over the office like the queen she is.

Zazu, the slightly uptight chief advisor, who embodies punctuality and protocol, bringing order one morning report at a time.

Rafiki, the mysterious head of HR, who weaves the threads of office harmony with a touch of enigmatic wisdom.

Timon and Pumbaa, the happy and hapless IT duo, bug-squashers extraordinaire whose motto is "Hakuna Ma-data" until the server crashes yet again.

Simba, Mufasa's curious 7-year-old with a penchant for exploring, who turns the office into his personal playground and treats every memo as a canvas for crayon masterpieces.

And more!

Questions or requests for headcanons or fics are always welcome (:

If you want to start from the beginning, this blog is on AO3.

My main blog is @reine-du-sourire.

This entire escapade originated from a series I'm crafting on AO3

WIP list that you may feel free to bother me about actually finishing:

-karaoke night

-Simba and Nala coming after school and discovering The Graveyard (janitor's closet)

-Business lunch with HathiCorp

-Subsequent hotel shenaniganry

-Scar's foray into Shenzi's makeup channel

-Team-building exercise at the rock wall

-Simba gets ahold of the PA

-Mufasa institutes "Casual Fridays"

-Business networking dinner at a fancy hotel

-Scar and Zazu find themselves stuck in an elevator during a power outage

-The gang heads to the Triton Royale

-Photo shoot

-Bring Your Parents To Work Day

@onemeh asks for:

-Mufasa and Iago bonding. Considering Iago's last boss was less than ideal, I'd love to see that dynamic

-Scar and Mufasa. Just a bit of bantering/hanging out/not having to deal with family trauma for one second, please and thank you (here's one! Here's another!)

-Shenzi, Banzai and Ed hanging out. Maybe a brief Scar cameo. (With a bit of luck, the house won't even end up on fire at the end.)

-This one taps into Hurt/Comfort a bit but maybe Zazu comforting Scar (or maybe the aftermath of that? That would also be an amazing read), since I believe there was only the Elevator Incident and we've seen it happen a few times the other way around? And they have definitely gotten a bit closer since that.

-Simba in the office again. Being courious about anything and everything, even Zazu's paperwork. Anything with him is bound to be tooth rotting fluff.

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Company photo day

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Where does Sarabi work? Does she drop by the office aswell sometimes along with Simba?

Sarabi is Mufasa's secretary! Simba comes to work occasionally with Nala after they finish school

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“you’re burning up, are you sure this is just a small cold?” - Mufasa to Scar possibly , gotta love that family fluff.

"I am cold," Scar murmurs, and burrows deeper into his brother's shirtfront. "'m not burning up... at all..."

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Young Scar angst?

“Absolutely not! He looks like a girl, Uru!”

Ensconced on the couch and biting his lip in an attempt to remain silent, Scar turns a page of his book. 

“Mufasa’s growing his hair out too, Ahadi, in case you didn't notice.”

Another page. He hasn’t even read the first one.

“Of course I noticed. Mufasa’s hair is a reasonable length for a fifteen-year-old boy. Taka's is getting too long.”

“He likes it like that.”

“Well, I don’t. It looks ridiculous. There's absolutely no need for a boy from a family like ours to go around with hair almost touching his shoulders-”

“Family like ours,” Scar mimics under his breath. 

“There's nothing wrong with him developing his own style! All boys do at this age!”

“If that's all it is, that's one thing. But if he's doing it just to make a statement, as I suspect he is-” 

Scar grits his teeth. 

“Just leave it alone, Ahadi.”

“At least he straightens it. Can you imagine what those curls would be-”

“Shorn off?” Scar drawls, deliberately loud enough for his parents to hear him. “Like you did when I was five?”

The voices from the kitchen stop abruptly. 

When Ahadi comes striding out of the kitchen, Scar has to steel himself to keep from flinching. 

He stays still as he can, glancing up with a studied indolence from the page that he still hasn't taken in a word of, and raises an eyebrow. “Yes, Father?”

“What have I told you about eavesdropping on your mother and I?” 

“Who knows? All these scoldings- they start to blur together eventually. Difficult to keep track of, you know.”

Uru comes into the living room just as Ahadi’s eyes narrow. “Taka.”

“Yes, Mother?”

“Don’t speak to your father like that. Ahadi-” she takes her husband's arm, gently but firmly, and pulls him backward a pace. “Let's finish this discussion elsewhere, please.” 

Ahadi doesn't budge. 

Scar doesn’t break eye contact.

Uru's lips thin. “Ahadi.”

“Maybe I should cut it,” Ahadi growls. “Is that what you want, Taka? To force my hand? Or would you rather go around looking like a-”

“Like a what?” Scar hisses, slamming his book shut. “Like a girl? Like one of those unsavory characters from the other side of the city and not like the son of the CEO of Pride Rock? Think when Mufasa takes your place, he'll let me have autonomy over my own head? Or will he keep being the perfect son and do the same thing you'd do in every single-”

“Taka!” 

Both parents yell his name at once, and Scar nearly does flinch this time. 

“We will finish this conversation later,” Uru says firmly. She almost drags Ahadi backwards out of the room, throwing a quick look over her shoulder at her son as she goes. 

Scar can't quite decipher it. 

He decides he doesn't care to. 

He remembers, back when he was five, going around the house and trying to hide every single pair of scissors he could get his little hands on, just to make sure his father wouldn't cut his hair again.

But he's too old for that now. 

He doesn't open his book again for nearly a quarter of an hour. 

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Scar + being your mother to work day

Uru is treated like visiting royalty.

She'd been here before, obviously, when Ahadi was still CEO, but she happily greets all the fresh faces and exchanges news with the old ones.

She insists on being accompanied by both of her sons the whole way through.

Not knowing whether to address her youngest by his proper praenomen (Taka) and not wanting to use the nickname he usually goes by, Uru settles for calling him by his middle name, Askari.

Scar's reasonably okay with this.

Uru laughs over the state of the coffee machine. It rarely worked when Ahadi was around either.

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Do Scar and Mufasa ever spend time together off the clock? Like at a company retreat or tennis match? Maybe Iago and Zazu are paired up with the brothers but Mufasa steals Zazu.

I feel like the only exercise Scar actually enjoys is martial arts; he especially hates doing any other kind of physical activity with Mufasa. (Ahadi used to compare them a lot, and Scar got sick of it.) He loves mental exercises, though, and beats Mufasa almost every single time they play chess.

But he does enjoy spending time with Mufasa.

Not that he'll always admit it.

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Prompt: "You need to call him now. He's worried sick about you."

"I'm not calling anyone," Scar snarls. "You can tell Bagheera that my back has betrayed me for the umpteenth time. I am not in the mood."

"He's been calling me," Mufasa says, pushing his brother back down against the couch cushions. "He wants to know where you are. You're never late for sparring practice. The only reason I haven't told him is because I wanted to respect your privacy."

"Then respect my privacy and get out of here before I throw this cane at you!"

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Prompt: Scar stops by the office late one night and finds Zazu still there working.

"I- lost track," Zazu says, after a very long pause. "Of the time."

Scar raises an eyebrow at the moon, shining demurely beyond the window and throwing gentle floods of light into the almost-nearly-deserted office.

"I did," Zazu snaps.

Scar raises his other eyebrow. At Zazu this time.

With a angry movement of his wrist, Zazu grabs a stack of scribbled-on reports and brandishes them in the VP's general direction. "You think I want to be here right now, this late, going over these accounts for the third time because-"

"Yes."

"Well, I don't!"

"Then prove me wrong." Scar grins, leaning against the doorpost and crossing one ankle lazily over the other. "Put down your pen, stand up, exit this room, and leave this work for tomorrow."

It's a mark of just how tired Zazu is- or how good that idea sounds- that the advisor actually lets the pen fall from his fingers and starts to push his chair b-

"Wh- no! Absolutely not! I need to finish up here first!"

"Did my dear brother say so?"

"I- no. Not technically, no."

"Then who says you have to stay?"

"I say so!"

"One more question, Zazu."

Zazu attempts to tune him out.

He peers, desperately efficient, at the paper in his hands. The letters upon it blur before his eyes.

"Don’t ignore me. Just one more question."

"I do not have time for this right now!"

"Not an answer. So just one more question, if I may." Scar crosses the room in a few swift strides and comes to a halt just in front of the desk. The moon can no longer be seen from behind his head; he's backlit now, silver wreathing his dark hair like an aura.

He's smiling very, very dangerously.

"Make it quick," Zazu manages, and curses the quaver that enters his voice.

That dashed purr floats forth from the pool of molten shadow. "You're too kind, Zazu. Now listen carefully... if Mufasa did not tell you to stay here to complete this work, and if my word is law at this company when he is not present, and if I am to be obeyed unless I am contradicted by previous or subsequent orders by the CEO-"

Zazu feels his heart slamming against the inside of his ribcage like a trapped bird.

"-unless you want to call him right now and ask him to override me, you will listen to what I am telling you to do. Put down your pen, stand up, exit this room, and leave this work for tomorrow."

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Omg, new promptssss :D

"behind all that swagger we see you for what you truly are." SCREAMS Iago <3

Iago coughs, grinning sheepishly. "Ya like what ya see, I hope..."

Mufasa doesn't smile back.

"Yes," he says. "Actually,  I do. And so do the other employees here."

"Oh. Well, that's a first."

"And we'd love to see more of it. Iago, you're in no danger at Pride Rock. I don't know what your previous employment looked like and it doesn't make a difference to me. But letting your guard down just a little bit might allow you to be more comfortable here."

Iago considers this for a moment. His lips purse outward, almost comically, the way they usually do when he's thinking hard.

"Any thoughts?" Mufasa prompts. "Keeping in mind what I just said. I'd like to hear the real Iago."

"Y'know, Boss, in full honesty, the real Iago's gotta tell ya that this is the weirdest performance review I ever got."

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Zazu has a nightmare about Mufasa scolding him angrily and calling him good-for-nothing and not worth the space his desk takes up.

Shaking, Zazu wakes in a puddle of sweat (and also, if he's being perfectly honest, tears).

He knows it's not true. He knows it wouldn't happen.

…but it could-

He avoids Mufasa’s eye for most of the week and stiffens every time the CEO addresses him.

"Is everything all right, Zazu?"

Zazu finds himself trembling as he nods. "Yes, sir, very. Perfectly all right, sir, thank you very much."

"Will you let me know if anything is bothering you?"

Zazu freezes.

Mufasa’s eyes are warm, golden in the sunlight streaming in from the office windows.

"Yes, sir," the advisor whispers.

He can't bring himself to lie aloud.

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61. Monster AU

Zazu: Scar, really, don't you think it's a little early in the day to be drinking wine?

Scar, who's been in a really bad mood all day (hangry) until Mufasa gently reminded him to go take a blood bag from the refrigerator and who's now trying to drink it in peace:

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Anon 1 with the boss, checking in. I realized today he has some Scar in him too.

I stayed up late making an extensive prep document for a podcast appearance. He walked in 15 minutes before the recording and goes, "I didn't read it. I didn't even practice. 😏"

And then of course, he crushed it in the interview. So annoying. 

Epic. Wow, what a guy.

Sounds like you're enjoying Zazu-ing 😊 ...mostly

("Then may I ask why," Zazu says tartly, knowing full well that the answer will make him even more annoyed, "you wanted the document at all?")

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"I'm Uncle Scar's precious little prince! He says so all the time!"

-prompt for you guys

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on the topic of real-life Mufasa-coded people I got permission to call him Muffy. I am also Zazu-coded. Hello other anon we are in this together

You're calling your boss Muffy? That is utterly amazing.

You guys are truly the absolute best ❤❤❤

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Quick prompt: Grocery day (any characters)

"Just how many fruit-flavored sugar cereals can there possibly exist?" Sarabi sighs, running after Simba to stop him from accidentally sweeping an entire shelf of brightly-colored boxes onto the floor.

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Your story snippets are so funny! They make my whole day.

I just started a chief of staff job for a very Mufasa-esque guy and I feel for Zazu sometimes. It's like herding (big) cats, you know? 😁

😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊 thank you!!!!!! It always makes me so very happy to hear this and I so appreciate it!!!

Oooh, that's epic. Best of luck with that! I hope your coffeemaker works better, though (;