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"The cold does not bother me. Besides, I usually do my best to find the warmest sleeping spot."

It was true. There dozens of reasonably warm spots all over the place that she'd discovered and decided to call her own. Xana had happened to find her at one of them, but there were so many more. She wasn't worried about sharing just this one with him.

Siya had spent years mastering her cool and indifferent personality. It was, after all, necessary for her to seem aloof and detached in the face of her little games and the characters that she faced on a day-to-day basis. She was careful never to get too emotionally involved.

"You're right. It is none of your business."

She suspected that he would learn enough about her, during the time that they would spend together, to detect the many falsities in her tales. It didn't matter all that much to her. If she was lucky, she would be able to hold up a reasonably concrete facade long enough to get exactly what she wanted.

"I'm glad we're on the same page," Siya murmured and blinked innocently, sure that the supposed virgin in front of her had other things on his mind, "In exchange for letting you sleep beside me, I would like to be gifted specific items. Not just whatever is handy for you at the time. There are some things in this world that I can not always get on my own. I would like your help."

It was a lie. She was never pick and her only purpose she had for the various trinkets she'd collected was hoarding. Still, Siya was determined to be the dictator of their little game. He would have to meet her prices.

Siya was usually far too careful and too clever to take any kind of step in the wrong direction. Even she had to admit that nobody is perfect and, while Siya truly believed that she was as close to it as anybody could get, she knew that it was simply (and unfortunately) impossible. She could only be as perfect as she thought herself to be and, she was sure, that she could never live up to somebody else's expectations.

As it was, there really was no telling whether or not she'd slip up and tumble, head first, into the scheme Xana had designed for her. She was naturally suspicious. Therefore, it would take some time for her trust in him to develop before she'd relax enough to make a mistake. Until then, she wasn't about to take much (if any) of his bait.

If she knew that cubs were on his mind, she would have turned tail and ran as far away from him as she possibly could. Siya was not and, as far she was concerned, never would become the motherly type. Taking care of babies just wasn't her thing.

"That is what we are agreeing upon," she grinned and winked at him, "I'm proud of you for catching on so quickly. For now, I suppose that your little gem and that feather will do. Next time, I'd like you to deliver me a shell from the ocean beaches. Pink, preferably."

She watched him silently and waited until he was done talking and, of course, giving her things to smirk in delight. It looked like she'd won this round of their little game. Though, she couldn't even be entirely sure about the details of their little situation. In spite of herself and everything she'd forced herself to believe in, Siya wondered what he was thinking. She wanted to ask him what was on his mind, wanted to know how he honestly felt about her slightly ridiculous demands. The ocean was a fair ways away. He was sure willing to put up with a lot for a simple sleeping partner.

"Why are you being so kind to me?" she asked softly, eyes narrowed suspiciously down at the gem and the feather he'd promised her, "I find it impossible to believe that you merely want my companionship, or the warmth of my body while you snore. Why not go and find a warmer, much more willing female to be your buddy?"

Xana must have had some kind of ulterior motive for his incredibly bold actions. She could only assume, but didn't really like to think about it.

"Are you a very desperate virgin?"

If he tried to take advantage of her, she swore that she would kill him.

His answer wasn't quite what she'd hoped it would be. Siya realized with a bit of a jolt that she hadn't even know what she'd wanted to hear. It would have been easier if he wasn't just looking for companionship. If he'd wanted other things, she would have been able to turn him away right away, regardless of the pretty objects that he promised to bring her. As it was, though, his request appeared to be entirely innocent and the lure of all those future trinkets was impossible for her to resist without any real reason.

"That's the most pathetic thing I've ever heard," she laughed out loud, stood up and stretched every muscle in her back legs, all the while watching him carefully for a reaction. Xana was either the stupidest or the cleverest cheetah she had ever met. It was difficult to say.

If he was trying to impress her with silly chatter about his virginity, he was barking up the wrong tree. Siya didn't care much for honest, needy little boys. She liked men, who knew how to handle girls like her. Tough guys. Bad asses.

The others, like Xana, usually ended up as one of her little toys.

Eta? At the mention of the other girl's name, Siya's ears flickered upwards in interest, but she did her absolute best to seem otherwise uninterested. He didn't need to know that she knew the girl. Bits and pieces of the various conversations she'd had with the other female cheetah floated into her head.

Could Xana possibly be the male she'd mentioned? The one who'd hidden dozens of wonderful baubles all over the savanna?

It seemed more than probable. Siya made a mental note to ask Eta about him. The other cheetah might be able to provide her with some important insight concerning Xana's motives. Would Eta be able to prove, or disprove that he was lying to her?

"You were the one asking for my warmth and my company," she felt obligated to remind him of that simple, yet very crucial fact, and licked her lips once as she watched him and his trinkets, "and I believe that I've already said I'd love to share them with you."

With a resigned sigh, the pale blue cheetah moved to collect the feather and the gem.

It was strange. As Xana sidled up beside her and nuzzled, Siya was once again painfully reminded about her doubts concerning his virginity. He had said earlier that he enjoyed having the warmth of a female beside him as he slept. It seemed unlikely, to her at least, that he should know of the feeling and still be as inexperienced as he claimed. Unless, of course, he missed his so called sister.

What a joke.

Siya was like ice (stiff and unmoving) beside him, as she carefully positioned the feather and the gem under her belly for safe keeping. It wouldn't do to have him wander off in the night with them. It was, as far as she was concerned, bad enough that he'd be loping around with her scent clinging to his body.

What if some other, much more suitable male found him and figured her taken because of it?

Perhaps this hadn't been such a good idea.

The pale blue cheetah reconsidered for only a moment, before remembering the fact that she could probably lie well enough to convince any other potential suiters of her modesty.

This was a win-win situation, she was certain of it. She would get pretty things to add to her collection and he would get a sleeping partner. Nothing more- for now.

"Not all company is good company."

There he went with the touching again. All at once, she was certain of the fact that he was no desperate virgin. He had lied to her and, when she'd called him out on it, had lied again. She supposed that she should have been angry about the fact. Instead, Siya found herself entirely intrigued and undeniably attracted to him. His dishonesty made him dangerous and, while her various guards went up again, she felt a certain amount of respect and admiration for him that hadn't been there before.

She was relieved when he moved away from her, and relaxed visibly.

"Don't forget my pink seashell," Siya yawned in response, before laying her chin down on her own front paws and letting her eyelids flutter closed.