{ORP}Pucker Games! (Ends 8/4!)

[Talencia]

To be honest, the second fruit was a bit of a let down! In fact, the sweetness of the fruit rolled across Jala's tongue with just a tinge of sour to make it seem all the sweeter. He blinked his eyes and savored it. Mmm, not bad at all! He actually kinda liked that one. Strange idea.

So he was more eager when he popped the next fruit in his mouth, chewing determinedly and giving it a moment to sink in. Meanwhile, he eyed the others with him. Another cheetah and two lions. Was that all? He was surprised more weren't jumping in, but then eating sour fruit probably didn't sound fun to everyone.  

[Skeleghetti]

Kahawia popped the next fruit in his mouth, savoring it. Huh, not too bad, actually.

 

[Annchen]

Paean screwed his face up as he tasted the third fruit. Oh! He started to sense a theme here... So far each fruit had been a bit worse than the one before, and he wasn't very good at keeping his face straight. After swallowing he had to groom his forelegs for a moment to get the taste out of his mouth. Whew!

He had stopped boasting between the fruits, and instead he watched Kahawia as he plowed through the fruits without too much twitching. Wow...

"You're good at this," he said, "Where are you from?"

But there was no delaying this any longer. He took a deep breath and worked himself up to tackle fruit number four. He attacked it with a ferocious roar. Reeeallly sour... He tried his hardest to keep his face straight.  

[Skeleghetti]

Kahawia looked at Paean, and said "Im from the jungle. As a cub, I used to take walks there, and eat fruits in the jungle, that were worse then this! I haven't eaten this sour of fruits in a long time, but it comes back to you, I guess!"

[that was my last fruit!]  

[Annchen]

Was he getting used to the taste or did he just get better at resisting the impulse to screw his face up? That last one had been really sour, but Paean managed to keep his face fairly neutral with just some twitching. Phew!

"A jungle cat, huh?" he asked, "I hope you like it here in Sikukuu. The Midsummer celebration will start soon if you want to stick around. Ugh... I'm not sure I want to get used to this."

But he couldn't stop with only one fruit remaining so he took a deep breath and popped it into his mouth. Guaaah! This was the worst one yet. Must. Not. Twitch.  

[magnadearel]

Darnell'Aiolos

He had to wait for his mouth to stop puckering at the sour taste. What had he gotten himself into? The others seemed to be fairing better with their fruits. Perhaps he'd been given five of the final fruits. Darnell licked his lips in an attempt not to pucker at the thought of the third fruit. Was he really going to make it out of this without his face freezing like that? It wouldn't be good for the pride's reputation if he did. With an effort he controled his betraying tongue and licked up his third fruit.

Oh dear! He just wanted his mouth to fall off. The green cheetah shook his head dramatically as he managed to swallow. "Ack!"  

[Talencia]

Jala squeezed his eyes shut as they watered. That last fruit was much more sour! His whiskers spread almost painfully wide, and for a moment he wondered if his lips were managing to suck inside his teeth. After a few moments, it began to ease up. He opened his eyes to see that weirdly masked leopardess peering at him avidly. "AH!" he yowled, jumping back in startlement, then broke into a laugh. "Guess that face was a pretty funny one, eh?" he asked the leopardess before turning back to the remaining fruits. Two more!

He took a deep breath, rolling his tongue to try and cleanse the sourness of the last fruit from his tongue and mouth. Whew, this stuff was potent! But time to forge onwards! Bravely he took the fourth fruit in his teeth and sank them into the juicy flesh. Ooooooooh, the sour!  

[Annchen]

Whoah... That had been really intense... Paean's face had puckered really badly when he ate the last fruit, but it was so sour he couldn't help it! But he had survived and he was done now. A bit queasy, but happy to be done. He settled in a more comfortable position and watched the others try to finish their fruit.

"They get worse as you go," he informed helpfully, with a very innocent grin.  

[Siire]

Well, he was there, he was in the pride called "Sikukuu". He had heard about this place now and then and decided to try it out for himself, since he was actually interested. As we walked around, he noticed some others eating sour fruits and chuckles. "I'll join in this game!" He called out and immediately they popped a sour fruit in his mouth. Boy was it sour, but that doesn't mean he was going to quit. It tried to pucker him but he sat there, smiling, not going to let some sour fruit ruin his smile, smirk, or grin.

 

[Talencia]

Kekkel had been watching the red cheetah, waiting with hopeful anticipation for his face to go all crooked and twisted. She had leaned in close, bright eyes wide behind her mask, but was disappointed when all he did was just tighten up. Then his eyes had popped open to stare straight at her, and she had nearly jumped when he yowled in surprise. As it was, her tail had fluffed just a wee bit! Embarrassed to be both caught peering and to have been so easily startled, she retreated a handful of steps, ducking her head. "Kekkel only watches, yes. Watches and imagines."

To her delight, though, the teen cheetah promptly broke into laughter directed not at her, but at himself. Her body uncoiled, relaxing back into an upright position. A smile grew across her face and her ears perked up. "Funny faces, oh yes, all the faces that are funny. Good masks they make!" Happy once more, she purred and curled her tail about her paws, leaning forward once more, though not quite so close to the eaters this time. In fact, there was a green wild dog joining them now! What would a canine look like making such faces?!  

[Talencia]

This time it was more than watery eyes, though that happened too. His ears went back, his eyes squeezed shut, and his mouth gaped open of its own accord, tongue curling from the sheer sourness. Ugh, where in the world had this leopardess found these things?! This one was utterly abominable! Even his tail made a few twisty motions, though it seemed like the involuntary reactions were fading faster this time. Was he simply getting used to the sour sensations? In some ways he hoped not. He paused with the alarmed thought hat this might flavor the taste of his meat for a time... oh surely not! The idea of sour, lip-puckering meat was very unappealing!

But now he only had one more to go. With a shrug, he decided that he'd come this far, one more fruit wasn't going to make the taste linger any longer on his tongue than the past four had. He took a shuddering breath to prepare, then popped the last in his mouth and chewed hard, braced for the worst sourness of all to explode on his tongue.  

[magnadearel]

Darnell'Aiolos

It took a few deep breaths and some seriously funny faces to completely swallow the third fruit. Darnell sat still for a moment to be sure he could still move his face freely. He had to be super sensitive to sour; something to note and stay away from in the future. A green lion spoke up about how it only got worse, and the green cheetah made a different face at him.

"Thanks oh so much for the helpful encouragement," Darnell teased. Even though all this his spirits weren't dampened. He glanced around and spotted a wild dog coming to join them. Well good! There really didn't seem to be enough here enjoying the event he felt. Unable to put off his next fruit any longer, the male took a steadying breath before taking the fourth fruit into his mouth.

He felt like he couldn't breathe! His mouth hung open with no sound coming out. Eyes bulging as his mouth and brain protested the sourness he'd just subjegated them to.  

[Talencia]

Kekkel danced in place as the red cheetah made the most amazing face, even involving his tail! It gave her ideas on incorperating a tail onto some of her masks, perhaps one that twirled and twisted just like that! Yes, this was just what she'd come for! Now what could she use for that sort of thing? There were some interesting seed pods that could do that, but they were small... still, a mask lined with those would give similarly wild twists for the eyes to follow when blown by the wind. She cackled more and moved down the line, leaving the red adolescent in peace for the time being. She paused before another cheetah, this one a member of the pride. She chirped a wordless greeting before stopping in front of a brown lion with a green mane.

"Ah, done are you?" she inquired with disappointment. "Try again, you want to, perhaps?" She leaned forward hopefully, but without much real expectancy that he'd take her up on it. After all, who would be crazy enough to do this twice?! She left him to his victory, pacing back down the line, stopping in front of the wild dog this time, who still had most of the fruits to work through. "Eat up, pretty dog!" she encouraged him with a wide, creepy grin beneath her mask.  

[Annchen]

His tongue was still tingling a little, and he was very glad to be done. The masked leopard, what was her name again? Kek something... She apparently enjoyed watching this very much. And he had to agree that the puckering faces looked fun. He wondered how he had looked during the worst of it.

"Good work," he called to the young cheetah, "I'm both happy and not very happy I ate them all..."

Darnell the crier still had one fruit left in front of him, and a green wild dog he had never seen before had four fruits in front of him still. He wondered if they'd get any more late joiners or if it had been too discouraging to see them all squirm.  

[magnadearel]

Darnell'Aiolos

Oh! Oh! OH! He felt his cheeks sucking in against his teeth and his tongue refused to move from the roof of his mouth. A tear escaped from the corner of his eye. This fruit was utterly sour! Darnell fought for breath as his toes curled on all four paws.

Try as he might no words would pass his throat when a leopardess chirpped to him. He gave an awkward nod in return. His mouth protested mightily as he tried to swallow. The green cheetah screwed his eyes shut and forced down the sour fruit. There was no way he'd manage the fifth and final fruit. No way, how could he? He slitted an eye to observe his remaining fruit. It looked encrusted with something. More sour?

When his jaws would relax he didn't stop to think. He snapped up the last fruit as though it was a delicacy. The expected sour didn't come. In fact it was sweet. He straightened up with a smile. Then a tingle of sour touched his tongue. Nothing as bad as the fourth fruit. Perhaps he'd killed all his tastebuds by now.