Dysi knew that Sukanya could take care of herself, the independent, if not more than a little anti-social, female had been doing so since she was an adolescent. Perhaps even younger than that, though her parents had foolishly believed that they had been still taking care of her, up until the point she parted ways with them as a young adult. Dysi knew better though. He’d know Sukanya from a very young age, they’d been cubhood crushes even! Sukanya had been taking care of herself, and at times even him, for a very long time.
Still, he made sure to call by the female’s den, or track her scent to wherever it was that she had travelled to that day, to check on her. Just…in case.
Sukanya glanced up at the familiar sound of Dysi’s pawsteps approaching, and she peered down a sleepy gaze from her tree. She spared him a warm smile, even if it was fondly exasperated. Really? Again? He’d called by to see her only yesterday, and now here he was, again.
“Hullo Sweetness,” Sukanya called down sleepily, her voice husky from her nap and from a general rawness in her throat. “Fancy seeing you here.”
She didn’t really mind that Dysi stopped by, but it wasn’t as if she was going to die if he didn’t. Her lungs hurt in the mornings, yes, and sometimes during the day and yeah, sometimes at night too, but it was just a little pain. She wasn’t going to die from it! She shook her head, dispelling her thoughts and smiling at the boy. It felt nice to have someone fuss over her though…
Dysi smiled up at her, a fond expression on his face at her girlish smile. Ah! Still as pretty as she was as a youth! He thought, his smile growing more brilliant. “Good morning, dearheart.” The sun had been up for a few hours, which meant she had only been asleep for a little while, but still, she was coherent enough to speak with him. He knew better than to approach her too early in the morning. He’d likely lose his head waking her before noon!
The duo were caught up in their familiarly peaceful moment, that they didn’t notice the bright blue female approaching with a broad smile. Parisette, her ‘babies’ now fully grown, had ventured from the safe world of her pride into the rogue lands, looking for a little excitement to pass her days. She still loved her pride, of course! They were wonderful lions, but sometimes she wanted something less…predictable.
Unfortunately, the rogue lands had yet to provide her little more than a few passing moments of interest, when she had discovered a watering hole where she hadn’t expected one. Hardly fur-standing stuff! Bah, she wanted fun, not more boredom.
When she caught sight of the obviously lovestruck leopards, she beamed. Oh! Perhaps she’d make some new friends, or entertain some strangers with a play? It certainly sounded more amusing than wandering around on her own for a couple of hours trying to find excitement.
“Hello there!” She called out brightly, caughting both by surprise it seemed. The male jumped in fright and the female almost fell from her tree branch. Clearly, neither had seen her approach. “Sorry!” She apologised immediately. “I didn’t mean to startle you!” She gave them a small smile, hoping they’d see her sincerity.
Dysi was the first to respond, more used to meeting strangers than Sukanya was. “No apologies necessary! We just weren’t paying enough attention,” he excused, offering the lioness a warm smile in return. Sukanya followed his lead and smiled shyly at the lioness, before offering up a short but friendly “hullo” in her direction.
Parisette stared at the pair with wide eyes and couldn’t hold back a giggle. “Oh! You two are such a cute couple!” She cooed, staring at the male’s white and the female’s black, along with the female’s blue and the males pink and purple! Oooh, what a lovely colour scheme, Parisette mused, thinking back fondly to the male with the stripes and the gold, oh and his black was lovely…She had been fond of the father of her cubs, but she hadn’t been too sad that she hadn’t seen him again. He was nice, but a fling was far more exciting than actually mating someone, she thought brightly.
Sukanya’s jaw dropped at the exclamation and she felt her cheeks heat and her ears drop to her skull in embaressment. Her and Dysi? No! They’d tried that as youths and it hadn’t worked out well. Sukanya had been scared and Dysi had been denying who he was. It just hadn’t worked and it still couldn’t work. They were still those same people, deep inside. It’d never work. She didn’t manage to say any of this outloud though, so the act of denying her words fell to Dysi.
“No!” Dysi exclaimed, before clearing his throat, his own cheeks warm. “Suki and I aren’t a couple. We’re just friends! I mean, we tried it once but it didn’t work…” Dysi trailed off, not sure why he’d mentioned that. He didn’t look at Sukanya, focused instead on the female lion who looked…oddly disappointed at Dysi’s words.
“Oh? You’re not?” Parisette said, disappointed that the pretty pair would not be producing pretty leopard cubs that would be raised in a loving family…oh, well that sounded kind of boring now that she thought about it, but she perked up at Dysi’s extra comment though. “A tragic cubhood lovestory?” She queried. “They’re always so tragic!” Instead of sounding sad, she sounded happy. She loved tragedies! As terrible as it sounded, but they were always just so much more dramatic than the other stories.
“Not tragic, no,” Sukanya finally spoke up, rescuing the confused Dysi. She gave the lioness a small smile, trying to be polite even though the lioness was thoroughly confusing the younger leopard. “We were just typical adolescents, thinking we could be part of something huge when we didn’t even know who we were yet. We stayed friends though.” Sukanya cast Dysi a loving look, her affection for him welling in her chest. “He’s still my best friend.”
Dysi glanced up at the female who stayed perched in the tree, and offered her a warm smile. “And she is still mine,” he admitted, mostly for Sukanya’s sake. His look spoke of fondness and love, as did her own. Sukanya couldn’t help her smile growing a little more.
Parisette watched the exchange with glee. “Ooooh!” She gasped. “You two are adorable!” They didn’t even see that they were in love! How tragic!
Sukanya flushed a little warmer and ducked her head. “Thank you?” She offered, and Dysi stifled a chuckle. Suki had always been terrible at taking compliments. He smiled at her warmly, before turning back to the lioness. “Sorry to deprive you of a couple to gush over, Miss….” He trailed off, wondering what her name was.
“It’s fine!” Parisette rushed to assure. This was way more fun than some lovey dovey couple anyway. “The name is Parisette, from the Suka’fumo pride, not that it really matters but I figure any talk of the Suka is good for pride numbers! If anyone likes plays, fun, costumes and nobles, be sure to send them our way, huh?” She winked at the pair, liking how their expressions ranged between amused and confused every time she spoke.
“We’ll do that,” Dysi agreed. “A pleasure to meet you though, Parisette,” he said, bowing his head to her. “I’m Dysini’mbus but call me Dysi.” He didn’t introduce Sukanya, that felt too ‘coupley’ to do.
“And I’m Sukanya,” she spoke up from her tree, seeing that it was her turn for introductions. “Pleasure to meet you.”
“The pleasure is all mine, you adorable pair!” Parisette said cheerfully. “Tell me, do you two live around here?” She had taken on a mission, to realise that they were in love with each other – what a wonderful story it would make back in the pride! But first, she had to make sure she could find them again!
“I do,” Dysi admitted. “I have a den nearby that houses my daughters and myself, though I move occasionally.”
“I travel,” Sukanya said, “I have been hanging around this area because of Dysi though, so I suppose I do ‘live’ around here. Why?” She stared at the lioness with some worry. What was she up to?
“Oh no reason!” Parisette tried to excuse, “I just wanted to see if I would run into you again! I’m staying in the area for a little while, I think and you two are just so friendly. Perhaps you could show me around a bit?” She stared at them expectantly, and as predicted, Dysi broke.
“Of course,” he said, unable to resist the wide eyed look. “We’d be happy to.” Sukanya would go along, if only to keep Dysi amused, but she wasn’t too keen on the idea. There was something about the lioness that was odd. She was too…happy. She shook her head, but smiled at her. “We would” she agreed with Dysi.
Parisette beamed. “Perfect!” Operation ‘Make-Leopards-Realise-They-Are-In-Love’ was GO!
[Word Count: 1,531]
