[PRP] It's a PARTY! (Azure, Ambrosio and Omari)

[Mogami]

“Omari! Join the fun! It’s a party, a party!” The loud voice belonged to none other than the pirate Azure, who was not one to give Omari the solitude the younger lion seemed to appreciate so very much. The blue lion’s voice and gait betrayed the amount of fruity cheer already in his system. “There are a lot of ships her’ today!”

And where there were pirates gathering, there was a good amount of fermented fruits and corsairs bringing in the meat, joining the pirates in the usual singing and just frolicking around. It really was a party. And idiots like Omari who tried to hide from it all, had to be reminded of what a being a pirate truly meant!

As soon as he spotted the sand-colored lion, Azure jumped to his side in a wave of sand and promptly pushed the younger lion out of his comfy spot. “Up ye go! Come and meet the new guy! The Commodore said he’s really good with his paws…”




Omari was trying very hard to sleep but the noise nearby was becoming insufferable. Honestly, it was dark already! Didn’t that automatically mean they should stop fooling around and get some rest? He’d already managed to ditch his birds with some fake orders so why couldn’t his crewmates just shut up?!

With time, the noise only seemed to get worse and here he was… Omari’s bane.

“Azure…” The name came out as a growl and there was a thunderstorm rumbling in the adolescent chest. But he knew it would be pointless to resist – Azure could be just as stubborn as his sister at times like this and he was giving him some extra lessons in sparring... Still growling, the younger lion shook the sand from his coat before he started walking. “Stop pushing already!”  

[Pearlyblue]

Ambrosio was having the time of his life. These pirate fellows sure knew how to party! Pretty ladies everywhere, and fermented fruits of all kinds - the prime ingredients for a superb partying mood.

For the moment, however, he was frowning. The Blue-spoted leopard was absolutely sure that there had been a big, blue lion here just a minute ago, who really knew how to party, but now he couldn't find him.

How hard could it be to spot such a dark blue lion? ...Admittedly, it was a colourful bunch he was searching through, but still - Ah! There he was! It seems the lion had left the party for a moment and was now coming back, together with a (handsome) youngster who seemed to be decidedly lacking in party-time cheer. Ambrosio stuck his tail straight up, so he would be easier to spot, and yelled with a grin:

"Ohoy there! Azure, wasn't it? Where did you run off to? the party is just getting started over here!"

He had already had enough fruit to feel on top of the world, but he was planning on having much more, and he wanted to make sure he had the most cheerful comrades around him as he indulged. What a party!  

[Mogami]

Azure ignored just about anything Omari said as he pushed him all the way to the heart of the party, easily sliding between all the creatures that had gathered on the spot.

“See, see! This guy, this leopard dude! Es’kuro, this is Ambrosio! I was just talking about you!” His last words were directed at Ambrosio, words that were clearly a little too cheerful. “There’s a bunch of your brothers around too. And your sister. She’s looking really pretty, you know? Look at that bod…” His eyes narrowed mischievously and he readied himself to dodge anything – like a paw full of claws – that Omari might throw at him.

--------

“Azure!” Omari growled as he was pushed around by his boisterous crewmate. ”It’s nice to meet you.” He told Ambrosio automatically, eyeing the leopard curiously for a moment before he turned to the blue lion again. “Azure, you b*****d! That’s me sister you’re talking about. Hold ye tongue or I’ll cut it for ye.”

As he looked around with an annoyed expression, Omari did see a few familiar faces. His captain didn’t appear to be here, which was odd, so perhaps he had taken some time to be with Makena, Omari’s mother. Another thing that he did not want in his mind right now.

------------

Azure laughed happily, eyeing Ambrosio with a wicked grin.

“See? This guy doesn’t know how to have fun!”  

[Pearlyblue]

Ambrosio had to fight really hard with himself to keep his grin from turning devilishly mischievous as he assessed the youth that his big blue friend (anyone willing to party down with him was a friend in Ambrosio's book) had brought in to the party. The leopard had seen his kind enough times before to know right off that this guy... was a hopelessly good target for teasing. His interaction with Azure only served to solidify this first impression.

Oh me oh my, what's a boy to do? Should I behave? He looked at Azure, and noted how the blue lion seemed quite up for some cheeful shenanigans himself. Besides, his eyes traveled back to the frowny-faced youth, this fellow did seem to need an awful amount of unwinding. Or perhaps upwinding. Whatever made him loosen and live up the most, really.

He let loose a carefree laugh and sidled up close enough to the youngster to be sure the kid would be feeling uncomfortably close to him. "So I can see, Azure. Real pity, that, at a wonderful party like this!" He leaned in, speaking into the young lion's ear in a confidential way, though he still had to be loud enough to be heard over the mirthful noise all around: "You don't know what you're missing, friend. Es'Kuro, was it? Your sister is having fun, so should you! You're far too young to be looking so serious when everyone else are partying!"

Almost without pausing for breath, he looked up at Azure again and grinned. "What do you say we get our young friend some fruit? No one can stay sour-faced at a party like this once he's got some some fruit in him!"  

[Mogami]

“Yeah, she knows how to have fun!” Blou’Siel said with a chuckle, giving the grumpy adolescent a friendly nudge on the side. He did a silly little bow towards the leopard, his tone quickly changing to one of mock seriousness. “A most interesting suggestion, kind sir. What say ye, oh venerable pirate Es’Kuro?”

Actually, he really wanted to get Omari to lighten up – completely out of control would be nice, too – but he figured it would take a lot of fruits to get the desired effect. He had to take advantage of the fact that Ambrosio was also here with them. Together they’d definitely get Omari singing, dancing, burping and partying like a true pirate should.

-----------

When the leopard said his sister was having fun, Omari actually did a silly double take... just to make sure she wasn’t having too much fun. His suggestion didn’t exactly put the sand-colored lion on great spirits either. The first and last time he’d tasted the fruits, he’d cheerily told his real name to the annoying blue b*****d that was nudging him for no apparent reason. Most might say his matey was a friendly drunk but Omari had another word for it… clingy. It was bothersome. Besides, those horrible fruits were bitter so why did everyone seem to like them so much and insist that he eat them as well?

“No, thanks.” He said sourly and quickly tried to change the subject. “So, Ambrosio. Have ye been assigned a ship yet?”  

[Pearlyblue]

"No?" Ambrosio pulled back and gave the boy a disapproving frown, that quickly melted into a well-rehearsed only-slightly-hurt-but-mostly-concerned sadness. "Don't say no, Es'Kuro, my friend. That makes me sad. Have you no intention of joining your friends and comrades in these lovely festivities? Don't you like our company?"

He sent Azure a quick glance, but didn't dare to break the act by winking, so he hoped the blue lion would catch his drift nonetheless. Then he lowered his gaze as if trying to hide his embarrassment and cleared his throat. " I haven't been assigned a ship yet, and I'm not sure where I'll end up... So I'm just trying to make as many friends as possible right now... I'd have hoped you wouldn't mind sharing a fruit and a laugh with me..."

He tilted his head and gave the young boy a hopeful smile, his head and ears lowered to convey a sense of submissive imploring. Force wouldn't help, he was sure. But coaxing just might, if done right.  

[Mogami]

“C’mon, Es'Kuro.” Blou’Siel said more seriously, secretly ecstatic about the direction of the conversation. Ambrosio was good, he had to give it to him. “It’s not every day that we celebrate the arrival of a new member. It’s only right that show a really warm welcome to a new pirate, a new brother.”

It was very hard to remain calm when he could see that Omari was wavering. It was even harder considering how much he’d eaten already. But he kept his cool and remained stoically serious until he was certain the little ploy had worked.

---------------------------------

There was a slight look of concern in Omari’s expression now as if he had just realized that this Azure-Ambrosio partnership might prove to be rather troublesome in the future. Gods… there are two of them now, the young pirate thought grimly to himself.

He eyed the leopard suspiciously, wondering if he was being played. He probably was but Azure’s words rang true and he did he feel guilty about not joining this party wholeheartedly.

“Fine, fine.” He relented, with a long dramatic sigh. “But just one or two…” before he knew it, however, it seemed his blue friend was already piling a small mountain of fruits at his paws. Damn you, Azure, the sand-colored lion growled in his head as he took a bite and made a funny expression of distaste.  

[Pearlyblue]

As soon as the sand-coloured lion bent his head for the first bite, Ambrosio shot Azure a brilliant grin and a well-done-friend wink over Es'Kuro's head, managing only by his very best effort to keep himself from laughing out loud in sheer glee.

"Thank you for making an effort for my sake, friend," he said to the lion he knew only as Es'Kuro, giving the young man a brilliant smile to underscore just how much he appreciated it. Seeing the slight frown of distaste on the youth's face, he gave the kid a friendly shoulder-nudge and lowered his voice conspiratorically:

"yeah, it tastes really bleh at first, doesn't it? But isn't it amazing how the taste totally changes and becomes all sweet and nice the more of them you eat?"  

[Mogami]

Pearlyblue

Had he been played? Of course he had! Even without that idiotic grin on Azure’s face, it was fairly obvious that he had once again been talked into eating the darn fruits. And yet, he still felt a twinge of guilt at being so grumpy when Ambrosio had even called him “friend”. Omari sighed before chomping away with a wicked pace, wondering how long it would take for Azure to be satisfied.

---

“Good, good!” Azure said with growing excitement meeting Ambrosio’s wink with a silly grin that spoke volumes regarding his state of mind. Victory! “See? It’s not so bad, is it?”

---

Omari ate in silent rage, pointedly ignoring the blue lion and the leopard until he decided he had obliged them enough.

“It still tastes foul.” The sand-colored lion said with a small amount of dishonesty. The fruits were a little sweeter than the last ones he’d tried which was certainly an improvement as far as he was concerned... Ambrosio seemed to be of the same opinion too so he trusted his initial reaction to the fruits all the more. “Enough.” As he lifted his head and tried to walk, however, Omari seemed to stagger and he blinked rapidly as if he was having trouble focusing.

---

Ah, this was why Azure loved to get Omari drunk. The younger lion not only disliked the taste but seemed to have zero resistance for the stuff and yet he had swallowed an adult’s fill of spirits. What was he thinking?! Eventually, the blue lion had to look away and laugh in silence, unable to hold it for any longer.

(sorry for the belated reply, I didn't get a notice for this one so I completely missed it ^.^')  

[Pearlyblue]

Mogami

Ambrosio couldn't completely supress a surprised snicker as he watched the young lion gulp down the fruit like he was trying to win a competition. He hid his little outburst by diving into the fruitpile himself, coming back up with a nice, savory mouthful. He sent Azure a look that was somewhere between 'whoa, this kid doesn't know what he's doing, does he?' and 'oh boy oh boy, this is gonna be FUN'.

When the kid came up for air and declared he still didn't approve of the taste, Ambrosio had to let his laugh out.

"Oh, I don't believe you mean that," he laughed, "but I do believe you've had enough - for now."

Looking at the wobbly youth,the blue leopard's mirth only grew. "Easy there, friend, slow down, we can't have you collapsing on us right off the bat! The night is young and there are females and singing and so much more fruit to be had!" After a short moment's deliberation, Ambrosio winked at Azure and added: "And you sure seem to know how to party, my friend! You're very good at this!"  

[Mogami]

Pearlyblue

Later, Omari would declare that he had purposefully gotten himself drunk and exaggerated his drunken appearance just so that he could get Azure off his back but anyone could tell that he didn’t really mean it. Ambrosio and Azure in particular would probably remember how unbalanced the adolescent really was at the moment as his following words might reveal.

“You know what? I’m leaving. I’m going to take a nice, long bath.” A swim. In the dark. While drunk. When everyone else was distracted by a party. In mermaid-infested waters. Azure’s suddenly panicky expression only seemed to only further encourage the adolescent as he started to walk away from the other two felines. “Perfect night for swimming.”

------------------------------

Azure was exchanging a few amused looks with Ambrosio as he watched Omari stagger, looking like he was enjoying himself tremendously. It didn’t last, however. When the adolescent told him he was going for a swim, the blue lion really believed the adolescent was serious and it was clear the kid was in no condition to be anywhere near deep water.

“Hey, hey, hey. That’s a really bad idea, buddy.” The blue lion actually moved swiftly to stand in front of Omari. “The mermaids will getcha, they will. Tell him, Ambrosio. Well, Ambrosio doesn’t know yet but those little poppets will pull ya down to the deep just f'fun. Be reasonable, Es’kuro.” Now that was a twist: Azure telling Omari to be the reasonable one.  

[Pearlyblue]

Ambrosio panicked a little, too. Not because he knew much about the mermaids yet, but he sure did know enough to see that this young fellow was in no condition to go swimming, no matter the water. In fact, he might not even be stable enough to go splashing in a puddle without supervision.

The blue leopard hurried to Azure's side. "Whoa, whoa, hey... Azure's right, you shouldn't go swimming... besides, the water's all cold and salty - it'll mess your pretty fur right up, it will. And-and you can't just up and leave the party! It's just getting started! Come on now..."

He gave the youth a grin and tried to give Es'kuro's chest a friendly but firm push with his shoulder, with the sincere intention of physically turning him right around, back to the party. He wasn't a very strong leopard, but he hoped the young lion would be distracted and unstable enough not to put up too much resistance. It was worth a shot, he figured.  

[Mogami]

Pearlyblue

Whee! =3 We can end it with one more post or two, I think.

Omari enjoyed the all the fussing that was going on around him for a bit longer, somewhat impressed by the way the other felines were physically placing themselves in front of him in order to stop him from doing something stupid. He was even a little touched as he’d never thought Azure could worry so much and actually become someone who would watch his back in the future. But at some point even their concern stopped being amusing and the adolescent growled quietly under his breath, looking rather irritable.

“Enough, enough! I was kidding. Do ya really think I’m that stupid?” he barked at the older felines, giving Ambrosio a light shove that didn’t seem to have any effect. “I’m going to sleep! Like I was trying to do before ya dragged me here.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll get him to his den.” Said a small voice from above as a green parrot dropped on Omari’s back.

“He’s fine.” Said another and a white little bird landed between Omari and Azure, barely acknowledging the leopard’s presence as she was too busy glaring at the blue lion.

-----------------------------------

Azure looked conflicted, unsure of whether or not to believe the younger lion. He had just decided to follow him anyway and was about to apologize to Ambrosio when both of Omari’s parrots fluttered to the scene and took responsibility for him. He’d known the birds for long enough to know how close they were to the adolescent. One of them, though he wasn't quite sure which one, had actually saved Omari once already by getting help the day Omari had been injured by one of those rotten Stormborn lions.

“If he leaves his den, will you tell me?” he asked Galleon (because Knut was still giving him the evil eye, obviously blaming him for the sandy lion’s poor state). The green parrot nodded once and Knut hissed and gave Azure a swift peck on the paw before fluttering to Omari’s head where she gently nibbled on his ear with affection.

“Ouch.” Azure backed away and watched the trio leave, turning to face Ambrosio. “He’ll be fine, right? Let’s get back to the party.” Almost no hesitation. Shameless.  

[Pearlyblue]

Mogami

Thanks for your patience, as usual! I'll be fairly quick. Just want a little more funny from Ambs. smile

Ambrosio was just beginning a heartfelt denial of having any notions about Es'kuro's lack of intelligence, and would perhaps have inferred that their concern was more immediately about his lack of sobriety, when suddenly two birds swooped in out of nowhere and caught him completely by surprise.

During the exchanged that followed between Azure and the two parrots, Ambrosio just stood there with a dumbfounded look on his face, blinking at the birds and opening his mouth, only to shut it again. It was only when the three turned to leave and Azure actually spoke to him that whatever spell the blue leopard was under seemed to wear off, and he turned an (even for his inebriated state) unusually sparkly look on his big, blue friend.

"He's got birds? Are those his birds? Oh, my stars, that's AWESOME! I have to get me a bird. Just think of how easily they can stea-" He caught himself and coughed once, making a little show of clearing his throat.

"But, umm... Are you sure it's all right? He's all wobbly, and they're... Well, birds. If he trips and lands on one of them, he'll break its bones for sure. How far is his den? Maybe we ought to go with, just in case...?"  

[Mogami]

Pearlyblue

No problem! It's always a pleasure playing with you!

“Oh, he’s fine!” Azure said lightly though it was a little difficult to look trustworthy when he was trying to pull the leopard closer into a big bear hug but his paw kept missing Ambrosio by a considerable distance. “That green bird saved him once… or was it the white one? Galleon and Knut, they’re his birdies. There’s an interesting story there, let’s join the others and I’ll tell ya. The green one had som'babies a while ago, maybe ya’ll get one if there’s moreggs…”

His stomach made a gurgling sound and a bit of smelly air travelled all the way up to the blue lion’s mouth. He didn’t even bother to stop the loud burp that escaped him then and instead he just laughed liked an idiot.

“Come, brother. LET'S GO DRINK SOME MORE!” he said with renewed enthusiasm.