[PRP] First and Second (Elvis & Kati)

[Princess_Feylin]

Not long after the queen's games Elvis experienced his first real growth spurt. He didn't feel any different, but his mother told him his mane was growing in and she was constantly fussing with it, trying to make it less messy and unruly. Elvis found it annoying, too, but by the time he reached adolescence he would have found a way to style it so it stayed out of his eyes, though he didn't know that yet.

He'd been bragging about his victories to his siblings ever since the games, and they had finally gotten to the point where they all banded together and dunked him to get him to shut up. Elvis continued, undeterred and undaunted by their jealousy, for he knew that was what ailed them. After all, none of them had even thought to enter the competitions. They'd been too cowardly to try even.

Elvis didn't need their support and agreement. He knew he was wonderful and marvelous and all those other fine things. Knew it like he knew his own name.  

[YourxStarlessxEyes]

Kati trotted through the swamps in a bright mood. Her many siblings had cheered her on during the queen's games, and they were proud of her second-place finish in the race, what with her late start and all. And she had tied for first in the frog-catching competition! Her family was all very happy for her, and she'd spent the time since then enjoying the attention that came with the end of the games, trying not to let all the talk inflate her pride and dreams even more.

Suddenly, the young lioness spied a purple and white cub. Why, it was the boy who'd beat her in the race and who'd tied her in the frog-catching game, what a coincidence! He seemed a bit bigger since the last time she had seen him. Huh. Kati had never really gotten the chance to talk to him after the games, so she padded up to him with no hesitation. "Hey there. Congratulations on your win in the race," she chirped to her former competitor. "You were good competition."  

[Princess_Feylin]

Elvis was at first startled to find himself approached by a cub he'd never played with before, or even been introduced to, but then she spoke and a very self-satisfied smile spread across his face. She was one of his fans. Elvis knew he had a lot of them, though most were too shy or two awed by his general magnificence to come forward. Still, he was happy to accept her congratulations as his due.

But what was that nonsense about him being good competition? He had not had any competition at all. Except in the frog-catching, where he'd tied with a girl he'd barely noticed until after all the day's events were over. She'd been covered in mud by then, as had he, and so he had no idea what she actually looked like. He thought she might have come over to him after the race to congratulate him, but he had a hard time remembering much of the moments immediately after that event.

"Thank you," he said. Then he decided to take a gamble that this girl had been in the competitions, too, and said magnanimously, "You did well, too. For a girl."  

[YourxStarlessxEyes]

Kati could see her compliment had made the boy happy, which was good. She liked to be a good sport, and it was true, he had done well. Although something about his smile was a bit odd, but the cub couldn't place it, so she forgot about it.

"You're welcome," she replied, and her smile widened as the boy went on to also compliment her. "Oh, thank you, I- excuse me?" Wait, what was the last part the other cub had said? "What do you mean, for a girl?" she asked sharply, her eyes narrowing and tail beginning to thrash behind her. She hated it when boys thought they were stronger, faster, or better than girls. Kati had many brothers and she could keep up with them, and often even beat them. Her sisters were nothing to be laughed at either.  

[Princess_Feylin]

"What I said," Elvis replied without any realization that he had insulted her. At least, if he was aware of it, he didn't know how he had managed it and wasn't about to feel ashamed of it. If she had a problem with it, it was probably a silly, girly problem and none of his affair.

"You wouldn't expect a girl to do as well as you did in the games," he explained, and then added, just in case she was very slow-witted, "I gave you a compliment."

Girls really weren't very bright. Well, except his mama. His mama was wonderful, and absolutely his favorite girl ever. He'd happily spend the rest of his life with her. But that was different.

"Oh, let's just talk about something else, all right? What are you doing out here?"  

[YourxStarlessxEyes]

Princess Feylin

Sorry it took me so long!

Kati's lips curled back slightly, as Elvis continued on obliviously. "Why?" the cub demanded. "We can be just as strong and fast as boys," the young lioness said, a little snobbily. This cub was very rude, and if he had given her a compliment, it was a back handed one, although he didn't know it.

After glaring at him for a moment, Kati gave a small grumble. "Well, fine. Thank you for the compliment." Her expression cleared quickly. There really was no reason to hold a grudge, it wasn't in the nature of cubs anyway, really. Soon enough it would be forgotten.

"I'm just out exploring. I wanted to meet some cubs besides my siblings, so I was looking for people to play with!" Kati chirped, tail flicking back and forth. "What about you? How come you're out here?" she asked, head tilted to the side curiously.
 

[Princess_Feylin]

Probably Kati would regret thanking him for the compliment in a moment when Elvis made his reply to her assertion that girls could equal boys.

"Uh...no. Not really. Girls are smaller, and they stay that way when they grow up. There's no way you could be as strong or fast as a boy, unless he's a younger boy." And, Elvis thought proudly, he had been one of the younger boys participating in the queen's games. So he'd been competing against older, bigger cubs who should have been both stronger and faster...but weren't!

Still, as far as he was concerned the subject was now closed. He'd corrected her, explained why she was wrong, and they could go along with the rest of their conversation. Returning to an old topic would likely bore him and annoy him.

"I'm just enjoying the day," he said. And it had been the truth until Kati had begun to be contentious (in his opinion).  

[YourxStarlessxEyes]

Princess Feylin

Kati's brow wrinkled and her ears twitched as Elvis argued against her statement. What he didn't realize is that having come in second in the race and having tied with him in frog catching, Kati had also beaten bigger, stronger cubs, including boys who were older than her! 'So there!' she thought, sticking her tongue out at the other cub when he wasn't looking.

"That's nice," she replied, immediately bouncing back to her normally sunny disposition. "What do you normally like to do out here? Some of my siblings like climbing trees, which is fun, but I love playing in the mud!" she declared.  

[Princess_Feylin]

YourxStarlessxEyes

Sorry it's taken me so long to get to this. It got misplaced in my list of tags.

The tongue thing went completely unnoticed. If he had seen it, Elvis probably would have just pointed out that she didn't seem like a very nice little girl, and then blamed her parents for that failing. After all, his parents did a stupendous job raising him, did they not?

"I like to run," he said. "Playing in the mud isn't so bad either, but running is more fun."

He was oblivious to the fact that his next words would be every bit as thoughtlessly rude as almost everything else he'd said so far. At the rate he was going, it was likely he would have almost no friends his own age within the pride. Thank goodness his future pilgrimage would give him an opportunity to meet people he had not offended as a cub.

"You can get plenty muddy while running, too, if that's what you like. But most girls don't really. They just say they do."