Kekale
One of the many things Kekale had not been adequately prepared for when he went viking was the proper manner of laying traps. Oh, he could arrange an ambush easily enough, and he could physically make traps of an acceptable caliber, but when it came to placing them to the greatest effect, that had been an awakening for him. Now, however, he was very proud of his ability to determine the best place to lay a trap to ensnare a particular quarry, be it a potential thrall or merely dinner.At the moment, he was laying the finishing touches on a trap which should work via tension to strike an unfortunate passerby hard enough to bruise, if it was a lion-sized passerby, or possibly break bones, otherwise. It wasn't really a trap so much as a warning system, as whatever it struck would almost certainly cry out, alerting the band to the need to investigate the area. It was an idea he was working on for when he became a captain, so that he wouldn't have to post guards when the band stopped for the night.
Elisef
Eli had been sent after Kekale, almost as an afterthought, because the captain had thought it would be a good idea for her to learn about setting up traps. She had appreciated the consideration at the time, since she wanted to be a good reaver, with a wide array of skills, but she had not anticipated how much she would end up appreciating what she was watching.As far as she knew, Kekale didn't even know she was there, or that she had been sent after him, which was really for the best. Initially she had begun by watching Kekale setting up the trap, but her attention and gaze had quickly wandered to a surreptitious perusal of his very fine figure. He was younger than she was, but not by too much, and he was very good-looking. His muscles were defined and moved beautifully beneath his dark coat, and the way he smelled was just intoxicating.
She was practically salivating as she observed him, all without making any sort of sound to announce her presence. She didn't want to interrupt her viewing pleasure if she didn't have to.
Kekale
The fur at Kekale's elbows tickled, letting him know he wasn't alone. He flexed his foreclaws, making sure they could slide easily from their sheathes and took a couple of shallow breaths to scent the air before turning around to face Elisef, who he had identified by her scent."Elisef," he greeted her. "Is everything all right? Does the captain want me to return?"
While he waited for her response (everything was fine, she didn't know of any reason for him to rush back) he studied her critically. Her family hadn't meant for her to be a reaver, he recalled, although there had been female reavers in the family. Hers had been a soft life until she decided to go viking, apparently on a whim. Still, she had kept up with the band well enough, and he thought she was making a fairly good showing. He could see the activity already bringing out a more svelte figure which, frankly, he had no difficulty appreciating as a male.
Elisef
"Ah, you can call me Eli, actually," she corrected, feeling a little tongue-tied at being caught, although it soon became apparent he didn't realize how long she had been observing him when he asked if he was needed by the captain."I was just sent to watch you lay out the trap, but you set it up so quickly, I seem to have missed the process." She wondered if saying so would mean that he'd disassemble the thing and put it back together and in place just so she could watch. She was torn between hoping he would, and hoping he wouldn't.
"Probably I wouldn't have missed the process if I hadn't been so distracted by the scenery," she went on, deciding not to behave like a child. The emphasis she placed on scenery should have indicated that she was not, in fact, talking about the scenery, as much as she was talking about Kekale being an improvement on it.
Kekale
Kekale nodded, but did not offer to take his carefully laid trap apart to show her how he had put it together in the first place. "Another time, if you remind me, I'll show you how I set this kind of trap up."To be honest, he was a little taken aback by the fact that she claimed to have been so distracted by the scenery that she didn't pay attention to what he was doing. He knew for a fact that he had not found his first experiences in the rogue lands to be nearly so engrossing, but then, it had rained on the band for the entire viking, so there hadn't been much to admire about the scenery.
"The rogue lands can be pretty interesting," he allowed. "Especially the first time you leave the stronghold. They're a lot warmer and dryer, for the most part, which...is a mixed blessing, I suppose."
As a lion with a dark coat, the added warmth of full sunlight, which was a rarity in the fog-covered, cloudy lands the Stormborn inhabited, was actually kind of exhausting hour after hour, day after day.
Elisef
Eli glanced down and offered a smile that was mostly coy, but a little self-effacing as she thanked Kekale for his offer to show her how to lay the trap at another time.Her smile faded into a disgruntled expression when she realized that he had completely missed the point of her remark about the scenery. Well, men weren't known for their grasps of subtlety, although she had hoped a lion who laid traps would have a better appreciation for it. Still, with haunches like his, Eli could forgive a little thickness about the skull.
"I wasn't actually talking about the weather, although it is warmer," she agreed, moving closer to Kekale and steeling herself to put it all on the line. "Still, I don't think that's the rogue land weather. I think that's just a matter of being close to you."
To make her point as clearly as she could, Eli gave Kekale a very thorough, very obvious once-over, to make sure he knew she was talking about him being hot.
Kekale
Oh. Oh. Well, that was kind of awesome."It's no trouble. You can call me Kale, by the way," he said while he took a moment to get his thoughts in order. She had invited him to call her Eli, after all.
Being young and being the sort of male he was, Kekale's instinctive reaction to Eli moving closer was to inhale her scent to see if her pheromones could confirm what she seemed to be implying. He wasn't as subtle about this as he might have been, but she was no longer being particularly subtle, either.
"Now that you mention it," he replied, leaning closer to the older lioness, trying to be smooth. "The heat doesn't seem to all be coming from the sun. But, personally, I feel as though you might be the source. And even if you aren't, it cannot be said that you aren't a vast improvement to the scenery."
Elisef
"Kale," Eli repeated with a very pleased smile. "Very well."He was so close he was almost touching her, and to her surprise she actually could feel heat radiating from him. It wasn't the first time she'd felt heat coming off another lion - that sort of thing tended to happen in a pride that was chilly as their was - but it was the first time she had found herself close to panting at the phenomenon. Or maybe that was just his nearness.
"You know, this trap is pretty far away from the rest of the band," she remarked. "It's almost like we're the only two lions in the rogue lands."
This last line she delivered looking directly at Kale, hoping he would take her meaning and that she would not have to be more explicit. It had not been part of her upbringing to be ashamed of sex, but at the same time she had never actually had sex, and didn't like the idea of having to take the lead the whole time. She had stated her interest, he had confirmed his, and now she felt it was time for him to act.
Kekale
Now that Eli mentioned it, Kekale really couldn't help thinking about the fact that they were truly all alone out here, and it would have been impossible to miss her point when she looked at him like that. It was also very nearly impossible to form a coherent sentence when she looked at him like that. He wasn't, after all, particularly experienced with these sorts of things, unlike his two best friends, and so he wasn't as cool about being nearly propositioned as he would have liked.Plus there was the fact that they were in the same viking band at the moment, and that could get complicated if things went sour. Especially if she wanted something more from him. He was all for a fun fling, or even repeated episodes, but he knew Eli was not the lioness he would settle down with, and he didn't want to give her that impression.
"I'm not looking for a relationship," he began, trying his best not to sound apologetic. "But I want you."
Elisef
Eli nodded, swallowing the stupid bit of hurt when Kale told her he wasn't looking for a relationship. She reminded herself that she wasn't looking for one, either. It was just that she was the older lion here, and it should've been her privilege to be the first to say so."That's fine," she said airily. "I'm not looking for anything serious either. I just want to take advantage of this opportunity."
She hoped he phrasing made him feel at least momentarily as unappreciated as she had felt, despite the heat when he said he wanted her. It wasn't as if she was going to get involved with a lion who was outlander blood on all sides. Both her parents came from old blood families, after all, and she was proud of that. It didn't mean she couldn't have some fun now, though. Right?