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To say that Leli'ubati did not get out often would be a great understatement. Bati, when he had his own way, did not really get out at all. He enjoyed his time spent in the comfortable, dark caverns that his pride called home; that he called home.

That did not change how much he liked the night air, though. Or the stars, really. He had heard a great many stories about the stars and tonight he decided that he was going to spend time in the darkness amongst them instead of just by himself.

Maskhara, on the other hand, very much liked getting out. Mostly because she had never really found a home, and certainly did not consider any of the pride lands she had flown over, or creeped through, her home. She never really thought about it, though: she did not really need a home, when she was living happily enough wandering.

She liked the night, though. Naturally, she liked not being seen, and the darkness certainly hid her well. The greens of her pelt were dark anyway, and the mottled texture aided in blending in to the surrounding in a way that she couldn’t when it was fully light.

Tonight, she was flying, and it was all but impossible to see her, save as she passed in front of stars and the lights twinkled as they vanished. For her part, she was not anticipating running into anyone or anything else, though.

So she didn’t see the other God, either.

Bati didn't consider himself the most observant of gods all the time. He was good enough when it came to things in plain sight; okay when it was time to count cubs to make sure that no one had gotten lost while wandering through tunnels. He was better when it came to counting stars, though. The best of the best, he would likely boast.

That being the case, the shadow blocking the stars caught his attention almost immediately. Almost, because he paused to blink first, bringing a paw up to rub at his eyes as though they might be at fault before looking back again. No, there was most definitely something blocking out the stars...

"Hellooooo out theeeere?"

The voice startled her, and she let out a little noise to reflect that before dropping out of the air, disappearing with a rustle of thick leaves into the boughs of a nearby tree. She poked her head out, hoping whoever had called to her had not seen her drop and certainly could not see her looking out for him now. It usually was not her on the receiving end of a startle: usually, she was the one others failed to see, and she startled them.

Her heart was racing.

“Hello?” she dared to call back, though now she was below him and not where he had seen her before. It would be disorienting, even for creatures who were observant. But she was hard to spot at the best of times, and now she was actively trying to hide. She saw him, though, and watched him with wide eyes. A God, like her? She had not run into many, but her last encounter had been very nice, and she hoped to meet more like herself, and learn more about what they all did so she could figure out what she was supposed to do.

His own brow furrowed as a voice answered him; an unseen voice, it seemed. His nose wrinkled at that as he shifted low to the ground. The act did absolutely nothing to hide his rather large form. One didn't just hide a fluff-ball of his size, not in plain sight at least.

When his great, in depth investigation (re: peering around) did nothing to provide the source of the sound he straightened himself out, tossing his head lightly to ruffle his mane before bringing one paw up, staring at his claws as though they were the most interesting thing about; as if he cared enough to think they might need a polish.

"Fine, fine. It's not like I want to see who's out there anyways." Siiiigggh.

Maskhara watched him, eyes narrowing, and she decided to take a risk. She dropped out of the tree, landing lightly nearby, then skittering low to the ground toward him. She stopped just short, behind a rock that was far too small to hide her, watching him again. At least now she was visible, mostly. She had her wings curled against her, her ears back, everything about her as low to the ground as possible.

“I’m right here,” she offered softly. Her voice was gentle but not scared, so much. She was just unused to being seen, or wanting to be seen. But he was another god and she did want to talk to him because of that fact. Still, she felt he was mad at her, and it might be better to stay out of sight. Which she could easily do.

Still, she stayed where she was, mostly only pretending to be hidden.

“Who are you?”

"Bati." He said simply as he lowered his paw, curiosity in his voice as he leaned a bit of weight on it as though trying to peer closer in her direction. "Leli'ubati, really, but those who know me... And some who would rather not... Call me Bati."

She looked at him and tried to commit his name to her memory. Bati. That was not the most complicated name she had ever heard before, but then he elaborated and she nodded her head in understanding. Lel… something. She had already forgotten, and she felt sheepish for it. Something that had rubbed off from her friend, Tindika, she imagined.

The God of Failure.

“Hello Bati,” she said. She had made the resolution to try to get to know other Gods, and she would damn well try. She stood, walking a little closer, standing up, though her ears and tail were still drooping nervously. “My name is Maskhara. Goddess of Camouflage…” she offered him a smile in the darkness, wondering if he could see her. Her smiles were sometimes few and far between, and never as big as she thought they were, so maybe he would not be able to see it at all.

"Mm... Well that would certainly explain why you're so sneaky; blending in so well and all of that." He nodded slowly as he tilted his head, eyes squinting just a bit in an attempt to get a slightly better focus on where she was. "Mask seems like it would be silly to call someone by... Hara, hmm..." He shook his head, pondering out loud for a moment.

"Oh. Bats. That's what I'm the God of, if that matters. It didn't really to the cave dwellers, but they seemed to think it made a bit of sense."

She smiled and nodded her head, blushing under her fur. She felt different around this god then she did around Failure, she noticed. Maybe because she kept thinking that he was handsome. She hadn’t even considered that when she made friends with Tindika, and now she was starkly aware that not all her interactions would go the same way as that one.

“Usually they call me Mask… but Hara is nice too… no one has ever called that before.” She looked at him and tried to master herself, wondering why she felt like a cub, “Bats for Bati. That makes sense. I mean, for your name. I am not sure I have ever seen a real bat before.” She tilted her head, her wings flexing. It was strange to say, because she had bat like wings herself.

“Am I keeping you from something?” She had a feeling she had interrupted him.

He took another slow, hesitant step towards her, likely seconds away from invading her personal space if she believed in such a thing. The pride that he had been raised as a member of certainly didn't and it was likely only the knowledge that she was a Goddess (he had heard stories about them, not recalling much about any others beyond his own mother beyond that) that kept him from inspecting her too closely; crowding her too much. He didn't want her to run away.

"Hara it is, then. Or Maskhara... Or whatever you would like me to call you." His smile was broad and warm; friendly in a way that one who was used to considering everyone he ran into as family would be... Which was odd, considering he generally hid from outsiders the first time around.

"There are lots of bats down in the tunnels. Well. One of the tunnels. Well... One of the tunnels when the pride's cubs aren't terrorizing them. Not that they always do, but..." He paused, brow furrowing for a moment before his gaze lifted to the sky at the mention of being kept from something. "I was watching the stars... And then a shadow passed over them."

Mask wasn’t too used to other creatures getting so close to her, but she watched him quietly anyway. She blinked, surprised, then smiled awkwardly as she tried not to shy away from him. She wanted to meet him, she reminded herself. But her eyes were glued bashfully on the ground.

“Hara, I’d like you to call me Hara,” she said bashfully, thinking that it might be nice for someone to have a name no one else called her.

“I think that shadow was me. I mean, I think so anyway. Anyway uhm.” She blushed further under her fur, glad that he couldn’t see that at least. “I like the stars…” she wasn’t sure what else to say, blinking and looking down at the floor again.

"I... Like a lot of things." He grinned as he leaned in, pressing that boundary of personal space that one more time in letting his nose linger just inches away from the tip of hers before drawing back quickly, flopping down on his hindquarters rather solidly as his eyes drifted back to the sky.

"The stars are the kind of light I like. The moon, sometimes, when it's not too bright... The sun? Not so much. My eyes are sensitive to that sort of thing. Probably because of the caves. You could get lost down there if you didn't know where you were going..." He shook his head slowly after thinking on how he could get lost in the stars above just as easily.

"So what's your story, Hara?"

She looked up at him, cross eyed when she realized just how close he was to her.

“I don’t like the sun that much, either,” she said, though for her it wasn’t about it hurting her eyes in any way. She just didn’t hide as well in broad daylight as she did when it was darker, and she was very aware of that. The trade off was there wasn’t as much going on at night as there often was during the day. Still, there was enough to keep her always interested.

“My story?” She seemed confused by the question, “I… like to watch the mortals, and learn about them. I don’t… talk to people very often, but I think I like to now. What… what is your story?” She looked at him again, adjusting herself so she could see him without everything going blurry. She seemed to shrink into herself because of the closeness, but something in her made her stay.

"I wound up here because I got lost. I thought I would practice porting myself from one place to another... And I forgot how to get back. So I stayed." He sighed softly, eyes seeming a bit distant as they fixed on the stars for a moment before slowly drifting over to her.

"It's not so bad here, though, amongst the mortals. Well, amongst my mortals, at least. I don't wander out amongst others all that often... If you decide to stay maybe you can meet them? They like hearing stories from Gods. I'm sure you being pretty wouldn't hurt either."

“I always live here,” she said, “well, not here. But around… here. I wander around. I would like to meet your mortals. If they like stories… maybe they have a lot to tell me, though I don’t have many to tell them. No one really… uhm… sees me, that often, so I don’t…”

She looked down. Maybe he wouldn’t like her because she was not that interesting. He seemed to really like stories, and she didn’t think she had anything interesting to tell him. She had seen a lot, but she had never thought to remember it all, so she could tell someone else about it.

“Do you have a place to sleep tonight?”

"I always have a place to sleep." He smiled as he pushed himself up onto all four paws again, stretching out slowly with an arch of his back. "If you're tired, which I'm sure with all of that flying you are," flying made him tired. At least partially because he was bad at it. "You can stay with me tonight... And tomorrow? We'll talk more about my mortals... They'll tell their stories to anyone willing to listen and I am sure they will be on best behavior." One way or another...

"C'mon, Hera... Let me show you my world."