Améh was gone, but that wasn’t a big surprise for him. She had a habit of coming and going as she pleased. He worried that one day it would lead up to a instance of ‘crying wolf’- but as it were, he continued napping without much concern towards what might have become of his strange and impish mate.

It was mid-afternoon, and the heat was already rising off the ground. But thanks to a small rain shower it was much cooler then it had been the day before- and he was glad for it. To think that he had been easily overheated! Capriciously, he blamed the thick curly mane, but even he knew better. Phib just was not as young as he used to be. The thought of it made him shift, and irritably dig his long nails into the earth.

But unfortunately for the great green lion- sleep was not going to fill his afternoon.

He first felt that something was up when a heated breath of air brought into his nostrils the faint and foreign smell of another animal. He ignored it at first- his belly was full, and he doubted the creature was fool enough to bother him. It smelled too clean to be a hyena.

The second warning he received, was a leaf fall. It danced downwards up from the top of the tree he was resting under, skirted, and landed flatly on his brow. Unable to ignore that, he rose his head and brushed it off with one shake of his head, and out of compulsion, he looked upward.

What he saw certainly did not please him.

“My uncle!” Purred a lightly accented voice, and from the tree limbs, a long, rather large red leopeard oozed from it’s clutches. He suspended himself by his hips, and allowed the rest of his body to slump forwards, leaving his face hanging just inches above where the large lion had directed his attention. “What a surprise! To think you are following me-!” He squeaked in mock dramatics, the leopard’s bright blue eyes flashing.

With a snort, Phib turned away. “Jaden-“ he muttered. “Give me some peace.”

Jaden oozed a bit further, his claws digging into the tree. “Piece? A piece of what?”

“That’s not what I said-“ The male muttered.

Jaden opened his mouth to retort something back, but instead lost his balance and fell across the resting lion’s back with a thud. Phib flinched against it and growled lowly, his tail angrily twitching as he turned his red eyes upon the smaller male.

Jaden quirked a grin, and lightly pawed the white lion’s chin. “Well! If you wanted company you only had to ask-“ He remarked, and pointedly received a paw to the face before he could finish.

Shaking his head, Phib pressed the male’s head into the ground, and looked in the other direction, privately wondering how upset Améh would be if he decided to strangle him. Outwardly- he mused on it.

"Probably very!" Jaden responded, although mostly muffled from the dirt. Phib glanced towards him, rather curious as to how he'd actually managed speaking like that.

"That's quite a talent." Phib remarked.

From the earth- "Doesn't impress the ladies much at all though!"

Phib rolled his eyes placidely, and glanced away. Finally, he lifted his paw up, and the red leopard settled himself.

“Such a rude, brutal uncle.” he pursed, curling the corner of his tail into a corkscrew. “Where’s Améh anyways? Did you chase her off already?” As much as Jaden hated to admit it- he had quite a bit of respect for the oddly monogamous relationship Phib and Améh seemed to have going on. In fact- he was almost jealous. Sure, flings were nice. But the promise of a nice body to curl up against wasn’t exactly there on an every night basis. For the life of a bachelor, he spent a lot of lonely nights to himself. Not that he wanted a steady mate, or anything. Couldn’t handle that kind of commitment. But still- he had to admit, the certainty was nice. He was just surprised that it was the kind of life Phib had taken up. Hadn’t he had like, what? Nine girlfriends?

“You know how she flits about,” Phib uttered gruffly. “I don’t have a tracker on her, you know.”

“You should.” Jaden grinned, and again played with the mustache like fur on the white lion’s chin. “Who knows who’s she’s meeting right now? What if she’s got some other guy on the side?”

Phib snorted and rolled his bright red eyes. “That woman can barely manage herself out of a basket, let alone carry on another relationship elsewhere. She’s probably picking flowers.”

“She does like flowers.” Jaden remarked, and turned around in Phib’s paws. “So-“ he kicked, pushing the lion’s head up with his paw. “What exactly are we doing?”

“I was resting.” The foot caught his lip and forced it upwards. “I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re doing.”

“Oh, I’m trying very hard to be agitating.” The red leopard short back.
“It’s working rather well.” Phib gruffly remarked, and pulled his head away. “Please. You’re acting like a cub.”

“Ah, I was a cute kid.” Jaden sighed, and crawled from the spot he was to resume his place back in the tree. Phib lifted his head as he the shadow of the leopard strolled over the branch just above him. The shadow danced over his figure, and the bright red eyes settled on the deep blue of the other’s. “Wasn’t I?”

Phib puffed out his whiskers, and tossed his mane once. He remembered the cub- although he didn’t like to think that in some manner, he had actually raised the delinquent leopard to be the man he was today. Améh and him had found the cub- or, Améh had. She always had an uncanny knack for finding injured things. He supposed it shouldn’t have been too surprising- that was how they had met. But the cub had been just a little thing. They’d told him his mother had probably starved to death, but in all honesty, Phib imagined his mother just gave him the boot. There was a famine at the time, and it didn’t seem so unlikely.

“You were an ugly kid.” Phib reflexively jested.

“You’re an ugly old man.” The leopard shot back, and licked his paw. “But, I love you. How about some company, eh?”

Phib grunted. “What are you doing now?”

“Now? Now I was just being annoying. Seriously though- I think you need a tracker for that woman. You got to keep them in line, you know. Trust me- I know leopard women, and there ain’t nothing trickier then a leopard woman. Get them in the trees, and it’s over- they vanish like something spooky, I’ll tell you.”

The white lion simply chuckled and shook his head as the male continued. Either way- he couldn’t say he was against some company.