[PRP] Clumsy and Everything.... (Jayani x Farraginis)

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Farraginis had been familiarizing himself with the two-legger ruins. It seemed like a logical pasttime for any new member of the colony. And yes, he'd been following in the footsteps of several young leopards. Not that he minded. They were more proof that this was a good place to live. He couldn't imagine that anyone would have children if they weren't certain of said youngsters' safety.

But that had been earlier and now the leopard had been stalking the boundaries, looking for Jayani. She'd gone out hunting, or something like that, and he didn't think it had been with a party. Hence his concern, given the leopardess' less than stellar sense of direction.

"Jayani!" he breathed with a sigh of relief as he finally caught sight of the black and white female approaching.  

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"Yes I was...what does sort of mean?" The leopard's excitement faded into suspicious concern. He knew that Jayani was prone to...understatement, particularly when it came to things she was less than skilled at, but the fact that the leopardess was limping genuinely had him worried.

There didn't seem to be any bloodstains on her pristine white coat, but this was a jungle and there was plenty of water around, not to mention how long she'd been gone. Admittedly, she didn't seem to be making very good time with that injury, but he wasn't going to let go the possibility that she'd alread cleaned up a wound to hide it from him and any others.

Actually, that wasn't a terrible idea overall. Perhaps he didn't see a use for that kind of subterfuge here, but there were definitely advantages out in the savannah for hiding the fact of an injury.  

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Farraginis winced visibly. Jayani was a wonderful, sweet leopardess who appeared to have no ability whatsoever to survive on her own. Well, obviously she'd done that and for quite some time, but she couldn't have been prospering. Which made her shortcomings even more obvious now.

Not that any tactful leopard would ever mention such a thing to her.

"Jayani," he said at last, "has it ever occurred to you that bad things seem to happen whenever you leave the colony?" He hoped that she wouldn't take offense, but this was as delicately as he could think to put things!  

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"That's not true!" Farragins returned. "Everyone's useful in some way!" True, the colony didn't have a huge support structure of people who remained within the ruins all the time. But there had to be some way to keep Jayani from getting lost, injured, or worse when she was out there on her own...

...that was it!

"How about this...instead of you going by yourself, I go with you?" the leopard offered. Yes, he was even newer here than she was, but he'd certainly never even sprained an ankle before due to clumsiness and was capable of being quite subtle in his movements. In fact, the reason he'd been such a poor hunter in the savannah was more because he'd been too cautious to attack most prey, in case they should get loose and injure him in return.  

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Oh thank the gods he'd had that sudden brainstorm. It had probably just saved his life and if not that, his standing with Jayani. He managed to keep himself from sagging or sighing in relief at her acceptance of his proposal. And perhaps that way he'd be a more successful hunter and she'd be less prone to getting lost or injured.

One could only hope, at least.

"Then as soon as you're healed, we'll go," Farraginis promised the white leopardess. It was strange, how much time they'd spent together ever since he'd come across her in the jungle. But he certainly wasn't going to object. In fact, he had been trying to sit on his own inclinations to spend even more time with her. But he didn't want to smother her with attention, not even because she was the colony member he knew best or because she was rather attractive.

And he really needed to stop bringing that up, even in his own mind. There was no guarantee she'd feel the same way and he didn't want to embarrass either of them by making an issue out of it.

"In the meantime, let's get you to a place where you can lie down!" he concluded aloud, rather more firmly than the situation required. Farraginis then proceeded to chivvy her along to a part of the ruins they both knew she could relax and get some rest.