|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Jan 17, 2014 6:24 pm
 Kuhesh, frankly, was not big on celebration. True, he did love...well, like his new pride. Could it still be called new? Hn. Well. New enough. He and his Amuxiahd had of course been part of the annual ceremonies in the past, both to join the pride and to reaffirm their bond as mates. Usually though when all the clans came together he was content to lurk in the center of his own clan's territory. If someone came to him he would visit and be civil, but he was not exactly the social butterfly. Rumors spread like wildfire though, and he knew on some level that the pride's leaders were not entirely thrilled with their clan's representation. Nothing had been said directly, but the mood of the place was enough to make even him take notice.
At least they'd been the home of the Sky Champion though. Apparently that was worth something. Amu, being her kind self, had been encouraging him since the festivals to go and congratulate the young female...And that was what he was doing today, apparently. It had a bit to do with Amu not letting him back in the den until he 'helped boost morale and contributed more than food'' to their new 'family'. Well. This was important to her. And sleeping outside was too cool at night. So he'd gone wandering through the clan's temporary encampment, gruffly asking after the champion Aduladi's location. It only took a few short inquiries to point him in the right direction. Now he had to just figure out how to say 'good job' without coming across like an a** or overly sappy. Great.Lithia_Brandon Ahaaa sorry my intro suuucks. XD Ku's not friendly.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jan 17, 2014 6:37 pm
ShinosBee Hahah this will go well, then. >>
Just friends!
That was something Haini put profound effort into not thinking about, because she always turned into a bashful, goofy, pile of useless embarrassment whenever she tried to. Wondering if her feelings meant anything more than what she said out loud was just far too difficult for such a silly lioness, at least as far as she was concerned.
Anyway, what if she over stepped a line and he did not feel like she did, then she ruined everything? That sounded like something she would do, and she dreaded it.
Spotting a lion heading her way, she smiled bashfully and nodded her head in greeting, as she was trying very hard to do now with everyone that passed her. Before this new taste of confidence, following her Sky Ceremony win, she had simply kept to staring at the floor. At least this way she could be polite, and even make new friends.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jan 17, 2014 6:59 pm
Lithia_Brandon He is such a stick in the mud. >_> He has a heart of gold though? Eh...iron pyrite maybe...?
He grunted to himself, jolting out of his stock-stillness. He was going to do this after all. He'd said he would. His assessing looks continued as he neared her, probably a bit uncomfortable thanks to his rather dire looking face. He didn't mean to frown. He just didn't really have a reason to smile.
"...You won the Sky Tournament? Good. Better someone from Earth than not." His tail flicked, smacking a fly off his flank. "Haini, right? Congratulations. I'm sure you're sick of hearing that by now." His scowl deepened slightly. "My Amuxiahd was livid I'd not though. So there's that."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2014 1:19 am
Haini was bashful, before the Sky Festival at least, and even now she was still trying to get her head around other lions coming up to talk to her now. Like everyone could suddenly see her, when before she was invisible. She had always been too shy, too uncomfortable and far too awkward to really make any friends.
Now she was very overwhelmed, and just glad she had her rock to cling to. Zuberi was likely suffering for it, all her nervous babble and the way she was probably hounding him for attention, but hopefully he was able to put up with it, and her, enough to stick around.
She watched the male lion that approached her, ears drooping a bit as he stared at her. What was he thinking? Did he not think she was a good champion? Did he want to challenge her and take her trophy away? But she loved the cape so much! She did not really want to fight anyone, either, because it would not have the same feel as the fights before. It would be scary.
She was already scared.
"I... I did," she eeped out, when he spoke to her. She felt like she had shrunk into the size of an ant. While that was not true, she had hunkered down as much as her body would allow, watching him from lower than if she was sitting normally. She smiled a bit when he said congratulations though, perking up.
"Thank you! I... I did my best. I don't mind hearing it. It's not every day that I do something others are impressed with. I mean. Ever. I never do anything important or good." She blushed under her fur, but she didn't feel like she was exaggerating. "Thank you for coming over, though. It's nice to hear, a-and I appreciate it."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 19, 2014 8:16 pm
At least Kuhesh had the sense to realize that he was upsetting the poor girl. He did his best to neutralize his expression, schooling it into a mild, if still somewhat sour sort of flat line. He genuinely had no interest in fighting her. A childhood being raised to fight and kill his brother...that had never come to pass, and the realization that he didn't have to shed blood left him not wanting to. She could keep her trophy - the idea of challenging for it didn't even cross his mind.
Her reaction to his praise surprised him though. Had she never been given praise before? Thinking she never did anything good...Maybe she wasn't perfect, but gods above if he knew. Distantly he was reminded of his own daughters, long gone now, and felt a slight flutter of the urge to reassure her. "I'm sure if you won then you were meant to. It's nothing to shake a stick at, your win. And I can't imagine you've never done anything else." He glanced her over, noting her tattoos but still basically unable to read them. Were there any for achievements? He had no way to know. Still, he could probably scrounge up something else to offer a bit of approval over...right? How hard could it be?
"You hunt, don't you?" That was something basically everyone did. Her too, he guessed. "Food's important. Might not seem it, but it is." He frowned again, a slightly amusing thought coming to mind. "My mate won't let me back in the den until I congratulate you, and you let me, and didn't make a fuss like some bird-brained over-confident youngling. That's something good."
There. That counted as a compliment, right?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2014 2:12 am
"I hope so! I think, most of the time, my good luck tends to be a fluke, and it's the bad luck that's the normal thing. But the tournament was a surprise, and it was so much fun. Even if I didn't win... it let me feel things I'm not used to. Like uhm. I mean. Confidence. Not too much, of course!"
Her tattoos really didn't reveal much about her, except that she had wanted to have more spots than she was born with, and had not been very creative or revealing when getting them. She was a simple girl, at the end of the day, and her tattoos revealed that as much as her demeanor did.
"I do hunt," she said with a sheepish smile. She survived, at least, though she had a plethora of embarrassing stories to never share about her hunts.
Tripping over, falling over, leaping past and basically annoying her prey were all things she was not super excited to tell anyone about, but were things that happened a lot. More often than should really be possible.
"Your mate seems very nice, to ask you to congratulate me, and you seem very nice for coming and doing it, even if you didn't want to. I really appreciate the company, and it's nice to know there are such kind lions in the pride! I mean. I know there are nice lions, of course, but. Uhm. That there are nice ones that... also want to talk to me. And be nice. Uh. Well, anyway. Thank you."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2014 4:34 pm
Oh dear. If he wasn't so determined to, uh, cheer up the lioness, Kuhesh probably would have sighed and nodded and wandered off. He wasn't good with conversations to begin with, and she seemed a bit that way too. He knew well enough to duck his head at her compliment though - Amu was one of the most amazing lions he'd ever met (never mind that he was biased) and he couldn't agree more.
"Well, now that you've won the Sky championship, I imagine plenty of lions will be interested in meeting you properly, if they've not before. You will compete again next year, I'm sure. You've already won once, so...try not to lose." The way it came out, his advice sounded a bit more like 'try not to mess up' or 'try not to humiliate us' than a general well wish, but he'd meant it genuinely. He scoffed to himself. He really was miserable at this small talk stuff.
"I suppose I'm glad I came. You're different than what I thought. I think next year I will come and watch the festival." Or compete. He might feel bad if he won over her though, having seen how rather...nice, if timid she was. Distantly he thought of his birth pride, and was suddenly grateful such a sweet lioness hadn't been born there. "My Amu would like it, I think. Perhaps between now and then you'll keep practicing? If you keep at it, you can't get any worse." Okay, that really was meant to come out better. Maybe he should jsut stop before he jammed his foot deeper in his mouth.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2014 5:46 pm
"Well, I mean. They like to say hi, but I..." she frowned, thinking over most of the conversations she'd had recently. Some went well. Others...? Not so much. She went through waves of confidence and gracelessness. At the moment, she felt she was riding the wave somewhere between its highest and lowest points, and she was not sure if she was going up or down.
Probably down.
Her ears drooped a bit as she was told not to lose next year, and she nodded her head stiffly, as if making a very serious promise. She had to do her best, anyway, to make sure she honored her clan and her pride, as much as she had to honor herself and those that believed in her. Oh god, this was a lot more pressure than she'd realized, and it had only been a couple of days!
It was going to be a very long year.
"I'll do my best to get better, and to practice!" She laughed, perking up a bit. He was right, she supposed. She had gone in blind and managed to win: it wouldn't hurt to practice, and try to make it less of a fluke and more of a skill based thing next time. Even if she lost the title, she would know she put her best effort in that time, and wasn't just relying on a random patch of luck.
"Thank you! For visiting and offering me advice. I'll do my best!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2014 11:01 am
She went through ups and downs faster than a bird in flight, it seemed, but Kuhesh was pleased that things seemed to be ending on a happy note more than not. He'd never hear the end of it is Amu heard he'd somehow upset anyone, especially someone he'd been sent to be nice to.
He dipped his head in acknowledgement to her promise. He'd no doubt she'd certainly try her best. "If you fight, I think I will root for you," he admitted. He enjoyed the status she'd brought his clan, but more, she seemed a sweet female. A bit timid, unsure, but that would pass with growth. Probably. And he would root for her. Amu surely would, but he'd try to remember to as well. Enough encouragement might help her along the way to being more confident too.
"We'll be waiting to see what you can do. I'm sure it'll be fine." With a flick of his tail he was off, stamping back the way he'd come. Maybe now he could have a nap like he'd wanted in the first place.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2014 11:53 am
Haini was a hard one to really follow, but that was probably because she rarely knew what she was feeling and when. She was so jittery and nervous, she had to go moment to moment and react to things as they came up, or she would always be wrong. Not that she got things right, most of the time.
Keeping her head down and being quiet would probably work better.
"I look forward to seeing you at the festival next year, then!" She laughed brightly about that, bouncing close to him and giving him a light, affectionate nuzzle before bouncing back. She was so bashful around others, but she did just want to make friends. She simply never had the opportunity to before, and didn't really know how to now, and was just trying to make things up as she went along.
"Have a good day! It was nice meeting you!" She called as he padded away, smiling and feeling better about herself than she generally did. She hoped this would be the new normal for her, a more confident and happy normal. That would be just fine by her.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
