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Kerer had been walking contentedly while Arusi went along at his side. It was nice to have her beside him instead of ranging ahead and forcing him to raise his voice in order to make any sort of remark or observation to her. He did not fail to notice that she was practically dragging her paws in the dirt, perhaps commenting on his speed. He just chose to ignore it. He hadn't asked her to hang back with him. He rarely did, knowing how it grated on her nerves to move at his slower pace.

"Only boring people are bored," Kerer quoted. He didn't know who he was quoting, but the phrase had popped into his head and it was apt enough.

Smirking just a little bit, Kerer continued, referring to an event that had taken place only a few days ago. "Besides, I would have thought that pair of leopards who thought we were going to eat their cubs would have been enough excitement to last you at least four days."

Lysende had decided that she didn't much care for the lands away from her pride. There weren't nearly enough places for her to swim, and she wasn't actually as good at catching land bound prey as she was at catching fish and eels and suchlike. Still, she had not yet succeeded in her quest to find males to present as gifts to her sisters and so she had to press on.

A short distance from the pool where she had been resting Lys could hear voices. Well, she only heard one voice actually because they pair had only moved into hearing range as Kerer began to speak, but the point was that she heard someone. And that someone was male. Excellent.

Lys waded into the pool, which she knew got only a little over two meters deep at its deepest point, paddled out toward the center, and then began to flail and call out for help. In her experience, this was the fastest way to get a male's attention.

Kerer refrained from asking her how she could possibly be bored. It wasn't that his threshold for excitement was so much lower than hers, but he preferred his excitement to take place a night, when he was more awake and better equipped to handle it. That is, when he was less sluggish from being too damn hot. Having a mane was not all it was cracked up to be.

At least remembering the leopards had cheered Arusi somewhat.

Kerer swore when he saw Arusi take off without a second thought, but he had already been moving when he heard the lioness's call for help. He just wasn't aware of it. If you were to ask him, he would tell you that heroics weren't his thing. He was as surprised as anyone else when he found himself leaping into the water with a splash, calling to Arusi, "I've got this. I'm the stronger swimmer."

Well, that was quick, Lysende thought approvingly. Good. It took far more energy to pretend to drown than it did to swim. She couldn't be sure that her rescuers were all that good at swimming though, despite the male's assertion that he was the stronger swimmer. Stronger was definitely a relative term, and she didn't know how strong a swimmer his companion was. So she flailed herself a little closer to the shore.

Unfortunately, both lions had come splashing in after her. One was female, and not much use to Lys. But the male, well. He might be exactly what she was looking for. Young, heroic, and...that was all she knew for the time being. But soon she'd be "drowning" right next to him and he'd rescue her and then she could start getting to know him.

Lys was pleased that once he got close enough the lion actually did seem to know what he was doing as far as rescuing her and had her on shore quickly.

Kerer would have been surprised to learn that Arusi was annoyed by his uncharacteristic burst of speed. In truth, it hadn't been something he'd given any thought to. He'd just heard the sounds of a person in distress and is body had acted.The fact that the person happened to be in water, which was an element he felt wholly comfortable with, was an added bonus, but there was an excellent possibility he would have behaved much the same had it meant running into a desert.

"Are you all right?" Kerer asked the sodden lioness. She had the most striking blue eyes he'd ever seen. The way they seemed to glow against the dark, velvety fur of her face was kind of captivating. He was definitely staring.

He also completely failed to hear the question Arusi directed toward him. Instead he continued to stare as the lioness took a few quick breaths and gazed back at him in a way that seemed to be full of some emotion. Kerer really couldn't begin to guess which one though. He wasn't all that good at reading people.

"Yes, thanks to you," Lys replied faintly.

She wasn't much of an actress, but she could breathe shallowly and stare at a person. Her sisters would probably do better at the staring than she did, thereby managing to convey more, but judging by this young lion's reaction Lys didn't think she was doing too badly. He definitely seemed enthralled.

His companion, on the other hand, could be a problem. Lys knew she would have to figure out what their relationship was before she continued too much further with this whole thing. There was no point in wasting time and energy on a lion who would not be easily snared because some other lioness already had her claws in him.

"Please, what is your name?" she asked.

Kerer wasn't purposefully ignoring Arusi. He simply couldn't seem to tear his attention away from the beautiful lioness he'd just pulled out of the water.

"I'm Merit-Kerer," he answered her, continuing to stare even though he knew that he'd been doing so for far longer than would be considered polite. He didn't want to look at anyone else or listen to anyone else. He wanted to fill his senses with her while he could because he knew that she was the sort of lioness who did not stay long in the life of a lion like him. "Please call me Kerer though."

Reluctantly he stepped away from her when he realized that his incipient mane was dripping down on her. Had he been human he would have flushed with embarrassment. How could he not have noticed that before? And she had been too polite to mention it! Augh! He could just die.

Lys smiled up at her rescuer and murmured, "Kerer. It is a strong-sounding name. Thank you again for saving me."

When he stepped back awkwardly she had to stop herself from laughing. She recognized that clumsy motion as the movement of a lion who had just realized the awkwardness of his position and was trying desperately to right it, though only making things worse in the process. He was evidently not a habitual hero.

"My name is Lysende," she said, rising gracefully to her feet in the space Kerer had given her by moving. As part of the standing up motion she brought herself very close to him once more and licked his ear before offering the feeble and obviously false excuse, "There was a drop of water."

"Arusi?" Kerer said, casting a glance in her direction for the first time since he got a good look at Lysende.

"Why don't you go dry off in the sun somewhere for a few hours?" He phrased it like a suggestion and his inflection said that it was a polite recommendation, but there was an undertone which said quite clearly get lost. But just in case she wasn't picking up on subtle cues, he elaborated, "Somewhere else."

He really, really wanted just to have some time with this beautiful lioness who seemed to be interested in him, for whatever mysterious reason. That sort of thing was not an everyday occurrence in Kerer's life, and Arusi was obviously trying to spoil everything.

Lys batted her eyelashes. For the time being she had nothing really to contribute to this interaction between Kerer and his female companion. She wanted to add her voice to his in telling the starry little lady to shove off, but that wouldn't be very ladylike of her, now would it? So she waited with something resembling patience.

At least it seemed Kerer and the girl weren't involved. He wouldn't be so quick to try to lose the girl, Arusi, if they were involved. On the other paw, Arusi might not be aware that she was not the object of Kerer's affections. She certainly did seem bent on ruining Lys's plans for a brief romantic interlude followed by being led back to the pride and Lys's sisters.

"I think there's a nice warm rock about a quarter mile from here," she suggested with feigned sweetness, unable to hold her tongue any longer. "You'd probably be very comfortable drying off there."

Kerer realized that he may have made a pretty crucial error in attempting to get Arusi to give him some alone time with this ridiculously attractive lioness when he saw his friend's face and noticed the fur beginning to bristle. He winced. That was definitely an offended face.

To be fair, she was being pretty dense, he thought, but the fact was he'd been pretty tactless and, for that matter, inconsiderate. Even by his very low standards. To make matters worse, he was essentially throwing Arusi over for a perfect - really, really perfect - stranger. His parents would be unspeakably ashamed of him.

"Arusi, wait!" he called after her retreating figure, a little too late. "I didn't mean it like that. I...damn!"

Lys watched the exchange and posed prettily, pretending that it had nothing to do with her. She sensed that she had the young male well in hand, and if she just kept her mouth shut and let him come to his own conclusions about which female company he would prefer, he would be that much more tractable than if she did anything overt to influence him. That was what her mother had taught her.

That was why she was so surprised when her hold over Kerer suddenly failed utterly and he pulled away from her, apologizing to the departed lioness and beginning to chase after her without even saying goodbye.

Lys stared after him, shaking with rage and barely managing not to chase after him. Not so that she could attempt another seduction. So she could rip his guts out for not going along with her plan. She'd do the same to the little lioness he was with, too, if she had the chance.

But that was unnecessary. There were plenty of other fish in the sea, as the saying went, and with an effort Lys settled down and began grooming herself so that she would look pretty for the next male to come by.

There we go. Probably we could call this one finished. cool