[PRP] Dinner? You and me? Yes, no? (Asho x Meli)

[demonstration_evil]

Asho set out food and made sure the ties on his temporary den were correctly tied before he sat down and took a deep breath. He had invited Meli for food just the two of them, after her meeting his parents had gone very well. It did help that his parents had liked her. They'd said she was sweet. Especially since she was helping with fixing the pride when she had been an outsider before the tsunami had even happened.

He liked her a lot. She was friendly and nice to talk to and... "Wow, I am going to completely blow this." He sighed, sitting back on his haunches and closing his eyes, trying to meditate. Meditating was important. His father had always said so: It helped with inner focus and remembering how to breathe and...

...he had always really sucked at meditation. How could anyone sit for THAT LONG and be quiet? He'd admired his father for that ability. He could really have used it right that moment.

Especially that moment.  

[nessiaing]

Meli was nervous, she could feel the butterflies fluttering around her stomach. She wasn't sure why she was so nervous. She had been spending time with Asho on and off and it was always good. She had even met his parents and that had gone well. She figured meeting the parents was a big step, you didn't introduce someone to your parents unless you were interested in them right? She also assumed that his parents had liked her as it wasn't long after that that she received Asho's most recent dinner invite.

She made her way to the den she knew Asho was living in now. Everyone had been so displaced by the tsunami so many were living in temporary dens. As she came up to the den she paused, she tried to catch her breath and calm her nerves. She knew she was being silly but yet she still couldn't her heart out of her throat.  

[demonstration_evil]

"Meli!" Asho said, sticking his head out the den, having been waiting for her a little too impatiently. So much for the meditation. It hadn't exactly been his strongest suit. Ever. He really wished he could do that.

"Hi. Welcome. To my... humble abode." He gestured to his temporary den. "Sorry it's a little small and all... but hey, we're still recovering at all so I've been helping everyone else instead of myself. I have a feeling you know a bit about what that's like." He grinned, still blushing a bit and trying to keep things together.

"I figure once I've helped my parents rebuild theirs and probably my siblings too then I'll probably get around to mine." A slow process to say the least. "I don't think I really have your building skill though. You're way better than I am." He laughed, elbowing her lightly. "Maybe I'll be able to strong arm you into helping out in exchange for dinner."  

[nessiaing]

The lioness was surprised when all of a sudden Asho's head came popping out of the den at her. She supposed that he was likely just as nervous as she was. There was something about this dinner that had a heavier weighting to it than any other time the two of them had hung out.

She recovered fast from her surprise however and and put a smile on her face, "Why hello there." she said she she made her way inside his den. It was a tight fit but it was cozy. "To be honest it looks very similar to the den that I am holed up in." she told him a grin on her face. Many would think that a builder would have a fancy den, but Meli had instead focused on setting up everyone else.

"You are good to your family, clearly your parents have raised you right." Meli was honestly a little jealous she had grown up without a family and in some ways it had made her stronger but in a lot of other ways she felt like she was missing out on something everyone else had, maybe one day she would have her own family.

"I would gladly help you with anything." Meli answered him a smile on her face, even though Meli was jealous of his family she loved spending time around them they gave her a sense of belonging and they barely knew her.

"So what do we have for dinner tonight?" she asked as her thoughts drifted to thoughts of joining Asho's family, she was likely getting ahead of herself but she wanted it to be true.  

[demonstration_evil]

Asho turned even redder than he already was, "I'll have to tell them that you said that. But then they'll probably get big heads about it." Probably not, but hey, he liked to tease them about whatever he could get his paws on. "They like you, by the way. Said you can stop by whenever you need anything. Be careful though, they might be trying to get you to help them build stuff. They aren't very coordinated."

He stepped aside to invite her in. "And hey, look at this. Already have food and everything. You're probably sick of it by now, but we have fish! Lots and lots of fish! That I spent more or less all day getting and I'm a terrible hunter so I really hope you like it. Like fish, I mean. I like fish."

Now he was rambling like an idiot. "...how do you feel about fish?"  

[nessiaing]

Meli let out a breath it would seem that Asho was just as nervous as she was and that made her feel a little more at ease. "Well I would hate for the uncoordinated to try and build there own den... that could be disastrous."

When she saw the haul of fish that Asho had manage to collect she was impressed. "That is quite a bit of fish, I imagine it is hard for you to to hunt, what with those bright red paws of yours. The fish would see you coming a mile away. At least I have blue paws to help with my terrible fishing ways." she told him with a chuckle as she took a seat.

"I like fish, it took some getting use to though. Its not like land prey. It can be oily depending on what type you catch. I guess I am still learning of my preferences." she told him with a smile. She could spot at least a couple fish in the pile that she knew she liked. She shuffled her paws trying to find words, she reacted the opposite way as Asho to her nerves she clammed up while he rambled.  

[demonstration_evil]

"I uh..." Asho hung his head, "I kind of cheated with the fish thing. Some of the others saw me... failing at it pretty badly so they helped out. Hunting doesn't really run in the family." He laughed, sitting down with her.

"Um... well, there's different kinds... here..." He pawed at one, shifting it over towards her. "This one is less oily, kind of bony though so you just kind of have to peel it the right way. It's good though, I like it!"

Nice one, Asho. He mentally kicked himself. "Not that um... just because I like it you'll like it... sorry I'm rambling. I'm just... really glad you wanted to come by and have dinner with me... is all... you know?"  

[nessiaing]

Meli gave Asho a kinda smile, it was clear that the male was beyond nervous. She scooped up one of the fish he indicated and began to carefully peel it, she was paying attention to the bones as she went. Finally ready she lifted the piece of fish in the air and placed it delicately into her mouth.

She chewed for a few minutes and then felt the meat slide down her throat. "MmMm' she told him with a grin, "I've been eating the wrong fish the whole time. And why wouldn't I like something that you liked, I mean you like me you must have impeccable taste." She gave a little laugh, hoping she didn't read more into Asho's feelings than was there. She lifted her eyes up nervously to meet his, "I mean I came to dinner because I like you, I wouldn't have missed it."  

[demonstration_evil]

Asho gave a huge smile, puffing out his chest and feeling a lot more confident after what she had told him. "I'm glad that you like it! I was worried you wouldn't. Not everyone has the same taste in this kind of thing, you know?" But he was relieved either way.

"But I'm glad... that you like it. The food and hanging out. I really enjoy spending time with you. I was kind of wondering if... would you like to maybe... go out sometime?" Which he realized was stupid. They were ALREADY out together, generally speaking.

"I mean like... I like you, like you. Really like you. Enjoy spending time with you and... wow I am kind of the worst at this, aren't I?" He laughed nervously, not really wanting to know what she would say if he had completely messed everything up.  

[nessiaing]

Meli was calm as the male spoke, but as he went on she felt the butterflies in her stomach growing. It wasn't because she was dreading saying no to him, no it was because she was going to say yes. Even though she knew now that he liked her the thought of saying yes to something so official like this was overwhelming. Perhaps a first step to something rather huge and amazing.

"Yes Asho yes." her voice was filled with excitement. "I am so glad you asked me because I don't think I would have had the guts to ask you." she told him with her nervous chuckle.

She decided to put the poor male out of his misery a little, she got to her feet and quickly gave her a kiss on the cheek. She quickly turned red, "So umm I guess I will see you tomorrow night?" she asked him her voice quivering just a little.  

[demonstration_evil]

Asho's smile very nearly split his face in two, "Really? Like for real? Oh man. Here I was getting all ready to woo you! Did I woo you? Did it work?" He silenced himself, though it didn't work very well or for very long. "Sorry. I didn't mean to... you know, get over excited. It's maybe one of my... you know, less flattering traits. You're just really great."

He smiled, playing with what was left of his food and smiling sheepishly, "Do you want to... come back here? I can try and find some new fish. And I'd catch it myself this time. No asking someone else to do it." Though it'd probably be crappy. "...or I guess I can just trade my skills for it. That'd probably be a better plan. Is that okay?"  

[nessiaing]

Meli giggled at the males reaction, "Yes Asho you wooed me, very very successfully." she told. She bowed her head trying to collect herself the giddiness had built up within her. "All your qualities are charming Asho." she said in a soft voice.

"How about we go fishing together?" she suggested, it would be fun working together and seeing how well they did. "What do you say tomorrow? I'll meet you down at the beach." she asked. She figured it would be good fun to splash around in the water with Asho and if they caught some fish that would be great, if they didn't well at least they will have gotten to spend the day together on the beach.  

[demonstration_evil]

Asho grinned, nodding furiously, "Yeah, that sounds like a great idea! You can see me make an a** of myself, it'll be great! Can you swim? We could swim too." He hadn't wanted to go near the water since he thought he'd lost his father, but suddenly that seemed far away.

With Meli he felt like he could do just about anything.

"So I'll uh... see you tomorrow then?" They'd have a great time... as long as the weather held out anyway. He was sure it would. After all, everything was sunshine and rainbows with her around.  

[nessiaing]

The female couldn't hold in her grin. "Yes swimming and fishing and a picnic on the beach." She decided it was going to be an amazing day and maybe even the day they would take their relationship to the next level, she knew ti was early but Meli had already figured out that Asho was the one. Hopefully she wouldn't embarrass herself with her poor swimming and fishing tomorrow and scare him off.

"Tomorrow it is." she said in a light flirty voice before turning away and ducking out of his den and heading for her own. She knew that her dreams would be filled with the wonderful red lion tonight.  

[demonstration_evil]

Asho sat back, grinning to himself and chuckling, feeling like a cub again. She was so great.

"Wow." He said, flopping backwards on the sand and curling up, "Wow." That had gone better than he'd ever expected it would.