[PRP] Spend Some Time

[Asparegus]

It was early morning when the sun just barely touches the sky. "Reborn" he believed Muroki called the rising of the sun. He had never thought about the sun so he guessed that made good enough sense to him. So he accepted the idea. But setting out early morning meant the air was cooler and it kept him a bit more relaxed.

In an attempt to cleanse his emotions and in a sense try to both live up to what he was taught in the past but also to forget the lions in it, he went hunting. He still wasn't the best but he had been taught well enough over the last month to take something down, an antelope. He dragged it back to the resting group but not far enough to reach them before he tired.  

[Lisirra]

Safiya opened her eyes to the soft early dawn light and a strange shuffling sound in the distance. She had been drifting in and out of dreams for a while now, but the combination of those two things told her it was time to get up for good.

Climbing to her feet, Safiya ambled over in the direction where she heard the sound. It had been soft, and non-threatening, so she didn't feel any sort of danger going alone. Besides, who could feel threatened in such a peaceful, beautiful time of the morning? Safiya loved it liked this; the few moments in the morning when the world was just starting to awaken - the few moments when the world was cool, quiet and peaceful. It was a fleeting thing, the tranquility of the morning, but Safiya savored the moments when she could.

The sunrise was beautiful, not yet glaring or scorching, but gentle - and by its light, Safiya found her way, following the scent of a fresh kill. Her new friend Moyenda was not among the resting group around her, and so she assumed that he had risen early and gone hunting.

It was not long before she came upon him. Strangely subdued by the ambiance of the half-awake day, she blinked at him with sleepy eyes and spoke quietly. "Good morning, my friend. Did you wake early to greet the sunrise?"
 

[Asparegus]

He looked up at the sound of someone approaching. It was the lioness who had been the catalyst to getting him on this journey. He smiled a friendly smile up at her. "Good morning," he said. "Yes, indeed, the sunrise is something to enjoy and it's been a while since I've felt the spirit to do so." He looked down at his food. "This is way too much for me. I'd be glad to share if you'd like."  

[Lisirra]

Safiya had known he had killed something, but hadn't really paid too much attention to it yet. Normally she was interested in living things, not dead. But when he offered to share, she looked as though she had forgotten all about the kill. Now that she saw the antelope, she was impressed. "Wow, you were successful, weren't you?" She smiled at him sweetly. "That's so nice of you to offer...I am a bit hungry and I'm not quite woken up enough to hunt yet..."  

[Asparegus]

He nodded. "Thanks." She had made a compliment right? "Hunting's never been my strong suit." As he was sitting in front of it and thus taking up the bulk of the space not to mention blocking the best meat from her, he flushed a bit at the realization although there was no need/reason to. He slid over towards the rump to give her good access to the chest and belly.

He tried to think of something conversational to say but was drawling a blank.  

[Lisirra]

"I don't believe you," Safiya said teasingly as she ate. "Your hunting ability seems much better than my own. Can you believe that for the first few years of my life, I lived on bugs alone? My ability to hunt hasn't improved much - it's a wonder I'm still alive." She laughed at herself.

Safiya loved to talk and had a natural curiosity about those around her; these two things combined resulted in her asking a lot of questions. "Where did you grow up?" she asked, to start with. This seemed a good time to learn more about her new friend.  

[Asparegus]

"This?" he exclaimed with a laugh. "This? I call this luck. And I can certainly believe that. I admit, I never thought much about bugs. I ended up scavenging or eating grass like a prey-beast." he made a face as if to illustrate how bad grass tasted.

"I came from way up north in a country called Somalia. It's kind of near the ocean but the area we lived in was slightly marshy. But uh... the plague got us. I don't think it's the same kind everyone talks about here. It was more of a wasting sickness. You could have it for weeks before it ravaged your body. My mother died of it ...and my siblings abandoned me." He said it not to get sympathy but stated it as a fact. "What about you?"  

[Lisirra]

"Well, your luck must be better than mine, then," Safiya returned. "You're just being modest. But that's alright. I'll choose to believe you," she said, half teasing. "You ate grass? I never thought of that. I tried scavenging... but I was so small, vultures always chased me away and hoarded everything for themselves."

It's funny...Safiya had only just recalled that fact. Almost her entire childhood was lost in a fog, and she had never tried to peer into that nothingness until now.

"Somalia?" Safiya tried out that word, but it was unfamiliar. The more she listened, the more sympathy was expressed in her face. "I'm sorry about your mother, and that's terrible of your siblings to do such a thing. I don't think I knew anyone affected by the plague - I've heard such horrid things. Perhaps that is what took my parents." She shrugged. "But I can't remember."

"So did you not have a father, or anyone to take care of you at all? What about your pride, did they help?" Her heart went out to him, the more she learned. She had not met many lions with a past similar to hers.

"Oh...me?" she asked, as though she had never considered it. "Well...um..." Try as she might, no images of her life before the graveyard surfaced in her mind. "...I'm not sure."

 

[Asparegus]

His eyes lit up at the comment of vultures about the make the connection but... she said she didn't remember. So maybe not...

"Well, according to my niece, Laini, my sister went off because my brother told her that he would take care of me. My brother... well, we were young and he's a bit brash. Well my mother and father were actually the king and queen of the pride. My father was one of the first to go..." Mo looked down at the mention of his father. He couldn't even remember what he looked like anymore. And my mother made us leave the pride in the hopes that we could survive.

"But don't worry about me. I might not have been here today had I not gone through all that. I plan on making our destination my new home. I'm certainly happy about the people I'm sharing it with." He smiled warmly as he spoke the compliment.  

[Lisirra]

Safiya expressed her sympathy with her eyes. "I'm sorry that you had to go through that. It must have been awful to have a family, and then lose them. I didn't have a family to begin with, so it wasn't hard to live without one."

And then her eyes widened. "Your father was a king...? Then you are a prince?" Suddenly she was uncertain how to act around him.

"I'm so glad you feel that way. I can't wait to see what it looks like...I've never had a home, so I'm not sure what to expect. But I know I'll love it." She blushed and looked away, smiling. "The people are the best part."  

[Asparegus]

He shook his head. "I don't consider myself a prince and you shouldn't either. This place we're going to, it probably won't be too lovely at first with all the vultures but I promise you it will be a home you will love and enjoy." It was out of his mouth before he could stop himself. And a promise was a promise so he wouldn't take it back. But he wondered if he was tying her to him without her knowledge.  

[Lisirra]

Safiya wasn't quite sure what to make of his...royal-yet-non-royalty. She eyed him curiously for a moment, but then realized that if he didn't care about it, she shouldn't either. "I met a king once...well, a former king. He was old and sad. I thought I could make him happy again...and I thought I would be able to have a new life there, but..." she trailed off, not wanting to remember how terribly that little adventure had gone wrong.

"Oh, yes, the vultures." She shuddered. "I had nearly forgotten them. But hopefully they will be gone quite soon."

"I know I'll love it, no matter what. It will be a home, and that's something I've wanted since I was a little cub. I've never had a home except for this horrible graveyard full of old bones...and that wasn't really a home at all. Anything will be better than that, I just know it."

Her curiosity was still not abated - she found herself wanting to know everything about Moyenda. Breakfast forgotten, her entire interest now was in this tan male. "Did you travel much? Did you enjoy it? I did a little bit of traveling, but never saw anything remarkable or met anyone that I liked...well, until now, that is."  

[Asparegus]

"Yea, I travelled a lot but I ...well... it wasn't all that fun. But it does remind you how important family and a home are. And it's good things are looking up for you," he said with a smile. He flushed a bit as if it had been a comment at him.

"Ah." he flushes again. "I seem to be talking an aweful lot about myself. I'm sorry. Thanks for sitting and talking with me though. I really appreciate it."

((kind of want him to make a move but i know he's too afraid to. ah the dilemna D; ))  

[Lisirra]

"But aren't things looking up for you, too?" And then she was sorry she said it. Just because she was happy her life was going in a good direction, didn't mean his life was instantly better. That just because he had met her, he should be happy. That was wrong to think.

"No, you should talk more," she insisted, then looked abashed. "I would...like to know more about you."  

[Asparegus]

"Oh no, things are looking up for me," he said. But they didn't usually stay that way he added silently to all those times that his happiness had been ruined.

"oh? More about me?" an almost sly grin spread across his face as he prepared himself to be a tease. "Well, I like long walks past midnight, little presents of course, oh and meals at dawn with someone special."

He flashed her an innocent batting of his eyelashes. "Oh! Looks like we've already got one covered."

((i lied? xD )