Paws treading lightly on the ground, Pumilio found himself out alone once again; Avani had wanted to stay behind, as she had been feeling increasingly tired as of late. He didn’t really mind it, though. Sure, he absolutely adored her company, but he sometimes needed time to himself, to just think about things. He was still young, but his life already seemed pretty complete - something he’d dreamed of since he was a cub. Ever since he met Avani, his temper has calmed greatly. Though, that could have just been because he wasn’t really around others as much as he used to be. His time was now devoted exclusively to Avani, and that’s just how he liked it.
Feeling the wind against his face, Pumi couldn’t help but smile. Everything seemed to be so perfect in his life right now – he was on his own, making his own life, and he had the girl of his dreams coiled up in his paws. He loved her so much, he couldn’t even stand it sometimes. Sure, there were days when he thought he could just….but that was only when she wanted to go against him. He hated it. There were times when he really didn’t know why she would want to go against him, to go out on her own for days at a time. It brought tears to his eyes, seeing how she apparently didn’t realize that she wasn’t safe out there. That she needed him.
Today, though, the distance was his own idea. It hurt a little to part with his beloved for a day, but he thought that it’d be for the best, in the long run. She had been wanting so badly to have a day to herself to experience the world on her own, and he had so been against it. But maybe, just maybe, this would keep her desire to go out at bay. It would keep her with him. If he could, Pumilio would lock her away, in a private place where only he could find. She would be his only, and no one else’s. Sometimes, he really feared that she would go out one day and never come back; he thought she might be swayed by some playboy, or kidnapped by some powerful male because of her beauty. In fact, there were multiple points just since this morning where he wanted to turn back and just smother her with his love. Some might have seen it as excessive – perhaps even borderline controlling – as one of Pumilio’s siblings had thought when he first brought Avani back to the den when she was just a cub. But he knew the truth – he knew that his love was overflowing, and that she felt the same love for him. Until the day he dies, he would never let her go. Never.
Just thinking about the day they met made him happy. Of course, it wasn’t the most magical of meetings, but it was fate. As a cub, Pumilio had always been fairly violent and temperamental, and that day, he had taken his frustrations out on a small hare. As he stood there, with the sun slowly sinking towards the horizon, he noticed a small brown lump of fuzz nearby. At first, he didn’t think much of it, but it slowly crept up closer and closer, and then it finally latched onto his leg. A bit surprised, Pumi had initially bared his teeth at it – but as soon as he saw her adorable eyes looking up at him, so completely helpless and frail, he couldn’t help but take her home with him. From there, he loved her more and more every day. Back then, she did everything he asked, without hesitation or even a thought. He molded her into the leopardess she was today, but somehow, her undying loyalty to him would flicker every once in a while.
He couldn’t help but blame himself for that fault; he had let her see too much of the outside world. It was because of that, that she began to start to want to see everything, feel everything. A world that once belonged solely to him now had a dark shadow looming over it. It didn’t deter him, though, as he knew that he could give her certain things that only he was able to. Their love, for example, was something that only he could provide. He knew that without him, her heart would become barren. He was the only male that could make her feel feminine, make her feel like the world revolved around her – because to him, it did. Nothing else mattered to him. All of his actions, from day to day, were for her.
Even this moment of separation; it was all for her benefit, whether she realized it or not. He wanted her to be satisfied with just staying with him, that he thought she definitely needed this time away from him, to realize what he gave her and what she was missing with him being away for an entire day. It was really wearing on his heart at this point, though. Soon, he knew, he’d want desperately to make a family with her. It sounded terrifying yet amazing all at once, how there could be little embodiments of their love. Then, she wouldn’t be able to leave his side. But those were thoughts for the future. She was, he knew, still young. They both were. Before they did anything like starting a family, he wanted to have her to himself for a little while longer. In fact, part of his mission today was trying to find a cave that they could make their new home. It would be wonderful, having a private, enclosed space where he could love her all the time and she would never have to leave.
Thinking about it even more, he shook his head, knocking his in-depth thoughts away. He was determined now, and with night getting ever-closer, he really needed to find their new sanctuary, so he could return to his beloved with great news. Letting a smile rise on his maw, Pumilio flexed his claws and stretched back, readying himself for a sprint. All of these thoughts of Avani gave him strength and energy, and he wouldn’t dare waste it.
