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Rakesh had decided to take a midday nap, especially since it seemed like Na'an would be gone for a while. He had learned to give the enticing female some space, because she would otherwise get irritated with him and his following advances on her would be spurn. Na'an was a high-strung companion, but she was completely worth it. The lioness was interesting and compelling, and Rakesh had met no one like her in all of his young life.

He'd hold onto her for a while yet, learn what he could from her and get what he wanted out of her, and then move on his way. It seemed like such a fool proof plan too, especially since she was starting to show a certain amount of receptiveness towards him. Of course, 'receptiveness' was a more vague word to use when describing Na'an. She was likely just as receptive to a rock as she was to him. But, he'd keep on trying.

Rakesh groaned and rolled onto his side, the first sign of movement from the napping lion. He slowly opened one blue eye, watching in disbelief as a vulture circled overhead of him. "Hey, I'm not dead, you dumb bird!" That was not the way one went around making friends, he supposed.

Rakesh was hardly in the mood to help some vulture out in finding a free meal. Now, if she was some legitimate damsel in distress, Rakesh would have been far more interested. But, a bird had nothing to offer him! Light blue eyes stared blearily up at the hovering bird - she was just out of his reach too, or he would have irritably smacked her away. He was curious to see how far she'd fly if he aided her with a sound slap. Trying to get the vulture into his distance, however, was too much effort with very little reward.

Rakesh settled for laying back on his side, watching her circle him as if she expected that maybe, just maybe he would keel over dead for her. "I haven't been in the company of corpses today, so I don't think I'll be of much help to you," Rakesh drawled. He was giving her an answer so she'd maybe feel less inclined to bother him.

But, then it occurred to him that she could see quite farther than he could. "Hey, while you're up there, can you scan the area for a pale lioness? Snooty looking. I doubt she's gone far." And if she had, Rakesh would simply find her again. He was quite determined when it came to Na'an.

"Because I still gave you information. Now you know there aren't any corpses in the area, and to take your scavenging elsewhere," Rakesh reasoned, his words slow and lazy. While it wasn't the information she had been seeking, it was still information, and Rakesh considered it to be good information too. He could have easily lied to her and said that he saw something, just to send her on some endless quest for food. Instead, he had taken the nice guy route and informed her that there was nothing in the area.

It was very gracious of him, and this vulture sucked at showing a healthy appreciation for the favor he had given her. "I'm not asking you to fly that far either, just a little bit to determine if she is or is not nearby. You have a height advantage that I do not possess." He did, however, think he was far superior in the looks and muscle mass department. Then again, he also thought it was very difficult to be more attractive than him. If nothing else, Rakesh had a healthy opinion of himself.

"But, you didn't," Rakesh answered, his voice strained as if Lanista was testing his patience. He always thought that birds were a waste of time. Anything that wasn't a feline hardly got his attention, and even then they were considered second class to lions. Really, the vulture should be quite happy that Rakesh was even rousing from his nap to respond to her. "You asked me instead of looking for yourself, and I gave you an answer based on my knowledge. Now I am asking a similar thing out of you, to use your knowledge to answer my question."

He rolled his eyes back up to her, a small frown tugging on his lips. "It is a fair trade." It didn't have to be the answer she wanted, and it could have been something she could have solved herself... but she had asked him, and he had given her what she wanted despite his reservations. He didn't think it was so ridiculous that he ask for something from her in return. But, perhaps he should stop trusting birds altogether, if they tried to weasel out of a perfectly good bargain because it required effort out of them.

"You've got to be kidding me," the blue lion grumbled to himself seconds after the vulture had carried herself away. He had never been insulted by a bird, and his first experience actually surprised him into silence for a few moments. He couldn't even throw a witty comeback at the departing vulture. But, he figured it was just like a bird to shy away from any effort, especially a vulture. They just glided about and waited for something to die so they could pick at the bones.

Disgusting.

"STUPID BIRD!" Rakesh yelled at the disappearing figure. He hoped Na'an was nowhere nearby to actually overhear him. It would be a little embarrassing to explain to the lioness that he had been scolding a bird for not helping him locate her. Around Na'an, Rakesh tried his best to be alluring and mature, but sometimes his youth just got the better of him.

The blue lion grumbled to himself and rolled onto his other side, back facing where Lanista was flying off to, and went back to his nap. His dreams, unsurprisingly, were filled with too many vultures trying to pluck out the hair on his mane.