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 Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2011 4:58 pm
Well somebody had to be the fountain of knowledge within the group. Eremerus was certainly a clever little cub, but his tendency to investigate many things at once did make him seem a touch scatterbrained. Every now and again, he needed someone to pop in and fill in the gaps while he was momentarily distracted by something or someone of interest. Now was one of those times - Bauble had given the cub permission to investigate and as such, all social graces had gone out the window.
"More a few near misses than a wealth of knowledge," the Klipspringer replied with relative ease. He regarded the lion pointedly, a moment in which to remind him that Xer hadn't forgotten he was a predator. There would always bee a tiny amount of underlying suspicion there, it was programmed into the tinier preybeast. "Gotta keep in mind which are more likely to catch you - I can now comfortably say that leopard cubs are more dangerous as babies than the rest of 'em," he announced with an emphatic nod.
"My name is Xeranthemum and...tiny tot is called Eremerus," he introduced both himself and the leopard cub. "He's special," he confirmed with a curt nod, indicating that 'special' was open to interpretation.
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Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 5:41 pm
Antallian had to laugh out loud at that, the cub was indeed special. But it was a good thing, that made an impression on people. The lion knew he'd never forget the little leopard even if they never met again.
"Ain't that the truth!" he agreed. "So yer here to keep the Li'l Investigater out o' trouble, eh? Must be an' interestin' occupation," Bauble commented, a twinkle in his eyes. He ignored the subtle physical cues that any sensible herbivore would show in the presence of a predator. He couldn't help being a carnivore, and while he had no problems with that, he knew Xeranthemum would never overlook the fact. He, in turn, would probably choose to avoid hunting any klipspringers with coloration similar to this one's.
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Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 12:26 pm
"Someone has to do it," Xer remarked in a wistful manner and rolled his shoulders in a loose shrug. "If they didn't, he'd probably end up swallowed whole by a crocodile because he wanted to count its teeth," the Klipspringer confessed. By the tone of his voice it appeared that he was being genuine in his concern - admittedly it was unlikely that Eremerus would be that ridiculous but one could never be certain when it came to the curious nature of a studious cub. It was better to be safe than sorry and if Xer had to be the spokesperson on occasion then so be it.
"Not that I'm not curious about how many teeth a crocodile has but -"
"The one I met had 61, but he said he'd lost some in a fight," Eremerus pointed out, jumping down from Bauble's back to join the conversation. He remained completely oblivious to the incredulous expression on his companion's face and smiled at Bauble. "You're all squidgey round your tummy," he observed. "So only your paws must be made of stone," he concluded.
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 5:56 pm
Bauble really couldn't help being amused by the pair. He could see that this was one of those bondings that would last them all their lives - and profit both. The klipspringer's reality checks to offset Eremerus' focus on very limited aspects of the world.
"Well, I'm certain sure that you don' wanna be messin' with crocs, givin' the choice," Antallian replied slowly after a bit of staring and blinking.
Thankfully the cub himself provided a bit of a distraction from that odd subject. "Is that right?" he asked the young leopard. "Well, right glad I am that you figured that out for me! What will you do next?" the lion asked half in continued amusement, half in trepidation.
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Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 2:02 pm
"Well if the croc was going to eat me then I wouldn't go near it, obviously!" Eremerus announced, peering searchingly at the lion before shaking his head. It was in these moments that he seemed to adopt a facial expression that implied he found Bauble's remarks to be very silly. Suffice to say that it was one of the few expressions that a child could pull off so beautifully without causing offence to the general populace - if he'd been a grown leopard, it was highly likely he would have caused a number of issues for himself!
"That would be silly, I need my head and my tail," he pointed out. At this point, he took a seat and examined Bauble's paws for a little longer - a moment of silence and then he rolled his shoulders. He seemed satisfied with his investigation of the large feline, from both his stone paws to squidgey interior. He'd even concluded that said squidgyness probably made for a good pillow.
"What will I do next?" he paused again and then frowned, turning his gaze towards Xer. "What do we do next?" he queried, suddenly at a loss for inspiration.
"Maybe put a flower veil on his head?" the Klipspringer offered dubiously, without a shadow of humour in his eyes.
"Why would I do that?" Eremerus puzzled, blinking rapidly as he did so.
"No idea, it just seemed random enough to compliment your tastes," he pointed out wistfully.
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Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2011 6:50 pm
Antallian mentally shook his head at the two. They really were quite a pair. But, it was getting later in the day and he should be getting back.
"That may be, or may'nt, but it's time and past I was headed home," the lion announced. "An' probably time fer you young'ns ta be doin' the same," he pointed out.
"'t's been nice ta meet'cha, an' I do hope you'll continue yer investigations inta how the world works," he told Eremurus, only half jokingly. The kid really was interesting, and Bauble had a feeling that if he put his mind to it, he could go far.
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Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2011 1:26 pm
It was one of those remarks that only an individual in a parental role could possibly make, whether Bauble knew it or not, he was fully prepared to be a father! Amusingly it had much the same reaction as he could probably anticipate from his own offspring whereby Eremerus wrinkled his nose in mild distaste. For a time it seemed as though the cub might consider arguing with the lion, but a single glance at the dubious expression on his Klipspringer's face and he knew that he was going to get absolutely no support, in fact, he would have hazarded a guess that Xer might have backed Bauble up!
It was with this in mind that the leopard cub heaved a huge sigh, slumped his shoulders and then conceded defeat. A momentary pause and then he began to shuffle his way back down the boulder, landing with a muffled 'thump' as his tiny paws hit the ground. Once he was stood beside his companion, he tilted her head up towards Bauble and puffed out his cheeks - well, if the big rock-pawed lion needed to leave then he needed to leave, not much Ere could do about that!
"Mmkay then," he replied and flicked his gaze back towards Xer. "...Can you remember the way home?" he asked finally, receiving an exasperated sigh in reply.
"Yes, yes I can," the Klipspringer murmured and with a little wiggle of his dainty tail, began to trot back in the direction they had come from. "A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Bauble - try not to eat any of my siblings," he said in farewell and with that, shuffled off into the long grasses. Having provided a small wave of his paw, Eremerus soon followed, aware that if he lost sight of his companion he would probably get lost 'forever'.
...And that would be very bad indeed!
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