Curled up under a bush, Maraka was enjoying a peaceful nap. The cheetah's long tail covered his nose, as his long limbs stretched and kneaded on the dirt now and then. After a few minutes, he rolled onto his back, stretching out his front limbs with a yawn, tail flopping out of the bush. He was falling back into deep slumber, when something began swatting at his tail. His blue eye slid open as his tail began twitching with irritation... And whatever was swatting it was following it with their paws. He let out a low growl before he shot up out of the bush. "WILL YOU STOP THAT?!"
The cheeton had been wandering when she spied the tail flop out of the bush. Osoi'batto went over, staring at it for a moment. She frowned, clicking her teeth together, before reaching over and batting at it with a paw. Her ears pricked as it began moving, and she began chasing it... Only for a cheetah to pop out of the bush. The pink and blue hybrid reeled back a bit, small ears folding as she hissed. As she stepped back at his angry question, Batto glared at the cheetah. "Well, if you didn't just flop your tail out, maybe it wouldn't be poked and swatted at! Do you act like that around CUBS?"
Rising out of the bushes, Maraka glared at the hybrid. "What I do and don't do is HARDLY your business!" He began to circle her, ears back. "And just what are YOU doing, poking random tails? Would you like it if I did that to YOU while YOU were trying to sleep?" His beauty sleep had been utterly RUINED! "Who taught you manners, a HYENA?" Nasty things... He hated being around them. For one, they stunk. For another, their manners were simply ATROCIOUS. Not to mention their penchant for eating not only rotting flesh but BONES, too! They were like... What was that word pair humans used...? Garbage disposals!
The hybrid let out a huff, tail flipping in agitation. He was circling her... Like he was about to attack. "Hey, at least I'm not sleeping under random bushes. Most sensible animals sleep in a DEN of some kind." She turned around to keep an eye on him at all times. "Hey, what's with your eyes? Did honey get in one or something?" She'd never in her life, up to that point, seen anything with two eye colors. Indeed, she'd never before experienced the thing called heterochromia. Every pair of eyes she'd ever seen, especially those of her mother, brothers, and sisters, were all matchig pairs. "You don't see things in blue through one and yellow through the other, do you?"
The cheetah scowled. "No, you idiot, I have heterochromia!" He stopped circling when it was clear she wouldn't let him get behind her. "It's what makes my eyes two different colors." He gave a toss of his head. "Got it from my father, if you MUST know. Did you get your stupid from YOURS?" Why would any self-respecting cheetah couple with a lion? It didn't take him much to deduce just what she was - She was a hybrid, a union of a lion and a cheetah. It was in the shape of her face - It was a very cheetah face, yet she had a mane and tail like a lion. Why did lions have to get into everything to muck it all up?
Her ears folded back as she glared at the cheetah. "Oh, I'M the idiot?! At least I'm not sleeping with my TAIL hanging out! What if a hyena found you?!" She then swatted at him. "And don't you DARE insult my father, he's a GOOD lion! You are one RUDE cheetah, you know that? You should be ashamed, sullying the name of a proud race!" While Osoi was of mixed blood, she was proud of both halves. She wore her hybrid status as a badge of honor, something she hadn't run into before with others. She'd met a pair just a couple days prior, hybrids like her. But while one was half cheetah and the other half lion, both were half leopard. That had surprised her, but at the same time made her smile a bit. They couldn't have cubs, but they were rather adorable together. "I hope you have hybrid cubs come and bit you on the butt!"
Maraka scowled at the cheeton. "I would think that if I'm going to reproduce with something that's not a cheetah, I'd have the presence of mind to NOT be able to be FOUND!" He eyed her, still frowning. "Why would your mother want to associate with a lion, anyway?" They were so big and brutish, it seemed rather stupid. He couldn't begin to fathom the appeal. HE wouldn't breed with one, at any rate. At least if it was a leopard, they looked somewhat close. Leopards, after all, looked more like stubby and fat cheetahs... Or cheetahs looked like long and gangly leopards. Either way, the hybrid made from it was, to his opinion, perfectly proportions between them. Cheetons were.... Not so much.
This time when she swatted at him, Osoi's paw made clawless contact with the cheetah's nose. "Oh, you're so RUDE! Lions are more than just big brutes, you know! Some are quite small, and others are gentle giants!" As grumpy as he was, Batti was a gentle giant. "Besides, my lion blood gives me size that my cheetah blood doesn't, while my cheetah blood gives me a speed and agility not afforded to my lion relatives!" She posed, tail flicking. "And besides, I could pass for a lion if I found someone stupid enough!" She'd never pass for a cheetah, of course, but passing for a lion was plenty fun enough.
He gave a huff, wiggling his nose. "Oy, paws off the merchandise!" He rubbed his face, scowling. "And whatever... Keep telling yourself that to make yourself happy... There's PLENTY of prides out there that'll kill you if you get close, you know! They're not all stupid!" He had to give it to lions, they could be a wiley lot. "Stay away from the swamps, the lions there WILL kill you, they're ALWAYS led by a seer." He gave a flick of his tail. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go find somewhere ELSE to take a nap, since you insist on making it so INCONVENIENT for me!" He turned, padding off, red ears back as he listened to make sure she DIDN'T follow.
Osoi could only grin to herself. Ooooh, she'd gotten under his fur! She'd have to find him again later... Poking this cheetah was rather fun! The pink cheeton looked about, before heading the direction she'd come from. Where was her father at now...? He wasn't with those red and orange lions again, was he..?
