Ro Vasuva
"Well, this is different," Ro Vasuva remarked to himself as he picked his way through the boggy area. "Different, and not particularly pleasing. I can't believe that anyone would want to live here on purpose."Of course, that was part of the point. Nobody lived here anymore. There had clearly been a fire, and that was probably why nobody lived here anymore, which struck Ro as being all kinds of stupid. The place had probably been plenty unpleasant before the fire, given it's generally swampy nature. He knew the place had once been inhabited by the detritus he found that tended to indicate habitation.
"Just as well there's no one about," Ro continued, talking to himself because there was nobody else around to talk to. "Anyone who deliberately lives in a swamp was probably an idiot. I don't think I'd really like to meet them. Idiots being, well, idiots, and generally not much good for anything except playing with."
Blomkvist
"You're right about that, boy," Blomkvist said in his most menacing voice, rising from behind a stunted, and yet miraculously still leafy bit of foliage. The leaves themselves were scorched and the bush would never again produce another set, but it had served as an adequate hiding place for Blomkvist when he heard the sound of someone delivering a monologue he probably assumed was a soliloquy."And, me, I am in the mood to play," he went on, continuing to sound menacing as his sharp-toothed grin heavily implied that he was thinking that the red-maned lion was enough of an idiot to make something fun to play with in this scenario.
"What do you think, idiot boy? Shall I play with you until you're all broken and bloody, and then leave your corpse to be swallowed by the muck?" Ordinarily Blomkvist didn't go in for that sort of thing, actually, but intimidating people was sort of what Stormborn did, and he enjoyed that.
Ro Vasuva
Another lion might have cursed, either himself or fate, or even the other lion, when a previously-unseen lion emerged from an unlikely hiding spot and began to threaten him. It was a perfectly good time and reason to curse. After all, there was barely any cover left after the fire, and yet he had somehow failed to investigate the only obvious bit of cover for a quarter mile for a potential ambush. That was definitely a bit of idiocy on Ro's behalf.And yet Ro was not much given to surprised expletives, or indicating surprise in any way, really. He had grown up learning to keep his face either blank, condescending, or fierce, for the most part. When he had been training a Neumar he had learned also to be seductive, but that part of his repertoire would hardly serve him here. The part where he hid any sort of startled reaction was far more useful.
"I don't think you would find it as entertaining as you believe," he answered in a tone that was both calm and menacing. Two could play at that game, and Ro had a demon inside him to help.
Blomkvist
"Oh, I don't know about that. I think I could derive a great deal of amusement out of the whole thing," Blomkvist replied, doing his level best not to evince any of the annoyance he actually felt at having failed at even startling the red-maned lion."But why don't you tell me why you think I wouldn't find the experience entertaining? You clearly like to talk. I heard you jabbering on to yourself for miles across the swamp, like you were the only person around." He didn't add the word idiot to the end of that because, really, there was no reason to do so. It was so clearly implied it practically echoed in the breath after he finished speaking.
It was just a little uncanny how the red-maned lion hadn't even twitched when Blomkvist revealed himself. Perhaps Blomkvist hadn't been as well-hidden as he'd thought. The possibility irritated the pink and white lion. It wasn't like it was easy to hide in a burned swamp when you had Blomkvist's coloration.
Ro Vasuva
In fact, Ro would have conceded that failing to see Blomkvist had been stupid of him, and even that talking aloud as he had been doing when Blomkvist revealed himself had been relatively foolish, but so far nothing had come of it except some bandied words and implied threats. Ro wasn't concerned about those."It seems like you're pretty fond of the sound of your own voice, too," Ro pointed out. "After all, I'm hearing a great deal of talking and considerably less of my own crying or begging than I thought I would be, if you were really in any sort of position to make good on your threat to break me."
He smiled a sinister smile that some ladies found devastatingly attractive but sensible people recognized as a predator's grin. "Please, do give it a try. I've never met a lion of your coloration with this much spine to him. It's like seeing a talking rock or something. Simply amazing."
That much was true. The white lion would have been a slave in Ro's old pride, based solely on the color of his coat. That weak pink would not have been sufficient to save him from that fate.
Blomkvist
Blomkvist blinked at having his accusation of being too talkative turned back on himself, and then began to chuckle in genuine mirth. He was talkative, at that. It was, however, a short-lived exhibition of good humor as the lion went on to make disparaging remarks about the color of Blomkvist's coat. Not that he hadn't grown up hearing those, but it didn't really make it any less annoying. If nothing else, the repetition and predictability of that sort of thing was tiresome."Let me guess: you would expect me to be more feminine and flowery in my demeanor. Am I right? Well ******** that and ******** you. I'm a Stormborn reaver, and I think you'll find my coat a good deal more intimidating when it's stained red with your blood." It was a response he'd given so many times he could just about speak it in his sleep. It still had a good deal of bite behind it, however, because he was not going to allow any slurs cast on his courage. He had fought in a number of holmgang challenges because of idiots like this one, who thought coat color had anything to do with personality.
Ro Vasuva
The line about finding his coat more intimidating was new to Ro, and he appreciated it, but he wasn't going to react to it. Instead he smiled his sinister smile once more and pointed out, "Again, you talk and make threats instead of taking action. I'm beginning to think that maybe there's nothing behind all those words to worry about at all. Shall we find out?"As he spoke it occurred to him that with as much mud as the white lion had covering him presumably for camouflage purposes, unless he was spectacularly clumsy and had fallen numerous times, there wasn't much chance of him getting blood on his coat even in the unlikely event that Ro did come out of a fight badly. Should they ever get in one.
"I am more than willing to fight you, if that is what you want to do, but I am also willing to forget all the insults you have spoken to me if you will do the same, and have us each return to what we were doing before. Me, to seeking my father, and you to...crouching in the mud, I suppose."
Blomkvist
Blomkvist had actually been in the process of drawing a similar conclusion about the red-maned lion's willingness and ability to fight, although he had not actually said anything about it. He didn't appreciate how the lion with the amber eyes kept bringing it up though. It sounded distinctly like an outlander's way of saying that Blomkvist had flowery blood.He was actually not all that surprised when the outlander suggested a peaceful solution to their encounter. Someone who loved to talk that much would probably think the best way out of a potential fight was to just let bygones be bygones. After all, they'd never see one another again. Unless Blomkvist took him as a thrall, but the idea of dragging an injured or unconscious lion across this mud was horribly unappealing.
"I suppose we could do that, you and I," he allowed. "But I don't see what insults you have to forgive me for. It seems you're getting the better end of the deal."
Ro Vasuva
There was a part of Ro that was disappointed that he wouldn't be fighting. That was his demon, the one he occasionally had to fight back when he was dealing with rogues. Although this lion apparently wasn't a rogue. He was a Stormborn reaver. Whatever that was. Probably his pride's warrior equivalent, based on the way he'd said it. Ro dismissed it with a mental shrug."Perhaps you're right about that, reaver. But you did begin this conversation by implying that I was an idiot and that you would enjoy toying with me, also implying that I'm weak enough to have been made into a toy. Personally, I find that kind of insulting. But I am willing to let it pass in this instance, because I happen to think this mud is disgusting and I don't want to get any more of it on me than I have to."
He barely stopped himself from saying more, remarking on the white lion's mud-covered fur and possibly opening up a new avenue for argument, defeating the whole purpose of his proposal.
Blomkvist
"Hm." Blomkvist thought back and recalled that he had, indeed, said those things, and that any Stormborn would have considered them insulting, had they the wit to understand what was being implied. He nodded, accepting that insult had been mutually given and he was willing to forgo the pursuit of vengeance."Well, don't die in bed," he bid the dark-coated lion. It was a mark of respect for him to use a Stormborn phrase to bid him farewell, or to bid him farewell at all, for that matter, but probably the outlander wouldn't realize it. Why the Stormborn didn't rule the whole continent was sometimes a mystery to Blomkvist.
Rather than puzzle the mystery of the Stormborn's lack of conquests, Blomkvist picked his way through the mud, walking in the opposite direction to the outlander and deliberately flicking his tail to get mud on him in passing. Oops.