Dinah was having a good day. She hadn't really found anybody to chat with but she had managed to catch herself a tasty little snack. A hare, in fact, which made her feel quite pleased with herself because they were speedy, tricky little creatures and catching one all by herself wasn't a small feat. Or she didn't like to think so anyway. Besides, fresh food was always a welcome treat over scavenging. So, in a cheerful mood and sitting out in the warm sunshine, she enjoyed her meal, not worrying herself about any thieves that might come by looking to take her hare.
Jino was having an equally good day, though he hadn't been so lucky as to catch himself a meal just yet. He didn't like hunting unless he had to, he knew there was someone with food around and so he had set out to do what he did best. Just as Kina sometimes liked time to herself, so did he.. and he didn't want to have to find someone with enough food for the both of them anyway. This way was much better, yes indeed it was! He slithered his way through the grass, spotting the lioness easily enough (she was much larger than him, after all). He stopped a safe distance away and raised himself up.
"Good afternoon, misss."
Dinah barely managed to get a bite out of her meal when the serpent suddenly sprang into view before her. She was surprised but she wasn't put off. She didn't meet many snakes and while she didn't have a true liking for them, she didn't have any reason not to treat them as kindly as any other creature. She took a moment to wipe her muzzle with a paw to make sure she was presentable before she addressed him.
"Good afternoon, sir," she responded brightly, "Lovely day, isn't it?"
"Yes, lovely," he agreed with some detachment, not really caring to talk much about the weather. She seemed like a reasonably friendly lioness, she just might share. He slithered closer, already sure of his safety in the company of this lioness.. though he wasn't yet sure of his success.
"Smells like you've had more successss hunting than I," he said carefully, his tongue flicking out.
She kept on smiling as he came closer, taking a good look at him. He was a lovely color, he'd blend into fresh grass nicely. Or perhaps a tree. Which made it hard to imagine that he couldn't atch anything tasty for himself, but the grass was pretty dull in coloration here. And she had claws as well as teeth.
"I did catch something," she agreed, "But surely you could too! You look like you'd have speed on your side." He did look very quick, but maybe that was her imagination compensating for his size and lack of claws.
Ah, he definitely liked her. Flattering could go far but he knew better than to pay it much attention when he was trying to get a hold of something himself. This was how he hunted, he preferred this much more to the actually going through the whole ordeal himself.
"Perhapsss," he said, "But I thinking perhaps we could make a trade? My energy is spent but I might have something to offer."
"A trade?" she asked, perking up curiously. She wasn't exactly eager to give up her hard-earned meal but she wasn't going to reject him harshly.. and she was definitely going to hear him out. If nothing else, Dinah would be polite. She glanced down to the hare, it barely had a bite taken out of it. And it looked far too big to be a good meal for the snake but she didn't know much about their eating habits.
"What can you offer?"
"A little insight, perhaps," he offered, slithering closer and grinning. A hare would be a good meal, he could almost snap it up from here.. he could probably even get away with it but that was considerably less fun for him. He usually had fun with these things, when things went his way, anyway.
"I'm a seer," he explained, using the most common and least dressed-up term for it, "I can tell you about your future, things to look forward to or things to watch out for." His tongue flickered again and he looked Dinah in the eyes. He reached out to find her past, something he could use to identify himself as a seer. Not too much of interest but he could hear her name, or what he thought was her name. A useful start.
"A seer?" she repeated with some interest and some skepticism. She didn't exactly believe him but she thought it might be an interesting little trick. She could almost tell, too, from the way he was looking at her that he was trying to figure out a way to convince her- so she stared back, always with a good-natured smile on her face. This would be very, very interesting!
"That's right," he said, relaxing and looking up with a very slight grin. Just like she could tell what he was doing, he knew what she was doing. She wasn't rude enough to demand proof but that was what she was waiting for. It was what everybody unfamiliar with the ability wanted. A reason to believe it was true. It was why an attentive con artist could pull it off nicely.
"So, do you want to know, Dinah?" he asked with a satisfied hiss.
While she was impressed that he got her name, she put a protective paw over the hare and grinned at him.
"Lucky guess," she challenged, having her own fun with it now too, "What could there be to know about my future? I'll find out for free eventually, won't I? Convince me." This was definitely more fun this way!
Jino held back a sigh when she challenged him. Whether or not she believed him clearly didn't matter, she was more reasonable than many of the targets he and Kinagiri often got payment out of. It was almost admirable, but it wouldn't help him get a meal. He lifted himself up again, pushing himself into her future, becoming very still and quiet for a moment. When he snapped out of it, he couldn't help but grin. He knew something important, something valuable.. but, as was his policy, he wouldn't tell her.
"Not all of life's surprises are pleasant ones," he warned.
"No?"
How very vague of him! And very expected. While he didn't seem sincerely threatening, it wasn't a tactic she appreciated. But best case scenario, he still wasn't saying anything she didn't already know. She could still get it for free.
"What good will worrying do me?" she asked, "It's not valuable unless I can change it, but if I can change it, I'd never know you were right."
Taken aback by her reason, Jino hesitated. He almost liked this lioness, she had a good understanding of what it could mean, knowing your future. You learned quickly when you could see your own future how much of a part you could play in what happened, you had to be careful.
"You're much smarter than some lions, Dinah," he said, relaxing once again. This wasn't going to work out.
"It was a nice try, though," she said with a smile, "I just don't need to know anything."
Dinah looked back down to her hare. It wasn't easy to catch but she wasn't starving either. While she didn't like being tricked or stolen from, she was usually more than happy to share when she could. And she did given Jino credit for trying. She pushed herself up to her feet and kicked the hare over to him.
"Help yourself, I'll go catch something else," she said smiling, and then turned to find herself something else to eat.
For all Jino could see of the future, he wasn't expecting her to just hand over her prey like that. Though once she did it, he couldn't seem to be surprised by it. She did just seem that nice. It almost made him feel bad about what he had seen in her future, but what was going to happen would happen. He watched her go off before busying himself with devouring what was left of the hare.
Fin.
