[PRP] - Stuck in second Gear [End!]

[Daffupanda]

-- AIM Rp beetween Kioo and Ntombi ((Ume & DFA))

Knee-deep in muck, knee-deep in trouble. Kioo muttered angrily to himself. They were lost. Lost in what looked like a swamp. Green and brown and sticks that might have once been trees. He backed up onto the dry land Ntombi waited on and scowled unpleasantly. "Looks like we need to turn around," he said, matter-of-fact with a slight growl layered just beneath his voice. "This is not where we were supposed to be headed," he growled lowly to himself.

Kioo was in a mood, a miserable mood. It had been days, days of what he thought were success just to end up here, in this stink-and-sink hole of a place. None would want to live here. None. While it fit the description of hard to get to, it did not suit "liveable". At least not to him. No. Not at all. The white wings of a bird flashed in his peripheral vision. Turning to look, he watched it sail down and land on a log. The log seemed to jerk with the weight. He could see the hollow middle. And then it snapped, the bird disappearing into that middle. It hadn't been a log. It had been a crocidile. Alarmed, he jerked his head back.

"Minor setback," he declared and turned around to lead them back northwards out of this mess and hopefully back on track. Not my fault, he wanted to say. He held himself back but really, it was on the tip of his tongue.

She'd grown used to his company after a few days; the snark, the comments, and the attitude. When she didn't rubuke him with words, and an attitude of her own, she ignored him or coped with him, and when she did neither of the previous two... she played right on along with him, amusingly enough. As it was, however, the swamps were a huge turn off, "I hate swamps," she murmured yet again as she waited on the shore, lowering her head briefly to sniff at the sticky, viscous liquid before her. No sooner had she lowered her head, that she miscalculated and got mud on her nose, forcing her to sneeze, "No it's not; I don't know of any swamps near our lands... and I don't wish to die in one either; lord knows what might be swimming in there," she shuddered and back away from the horrible place.

As the crocodile snapped, she squeaked mildly and took yet another step back, "Doesn't look very minor from here," thank god we didn't go into it. Turning around, she followed right on after him, never berating him for his choice of directions, though she knew he felt miserable over and she just KNEW what was on the tip of his tongue; she said it for him, "It's not your fault."

He smirked. "You and me both." A brighter, more cheerful person who tried to make light of a situation might have stopped to wipe the mud off of her nose. But he was busy brooding about how he had got them into the mess. "It's minor." He repeated more to comfort himself than to argue with her. But what could one expect from one like him. He was the type of person who'd all too easily abandon their job because it was "too hard" and move on to do other things. Only there were a couple of setbacks in regards to that decision. Kioo was days into this venture, he actually needed a good deed to add to his record (he hadn't been doing those in abundance lately), and his pride was on the line. When two proud, stubborn people, they always fight for who comes out on top. Whereas she might have given up or put it on the backburner, it was very clearly in his mind whenever he asked himself why he was doing this.

And it was also very clear that he was used to getting his way. Kioo wasn't used to things not going his way. It had a positive. It had given him the attitude that he could do anything. However, it wasn't realistic and had only been building up to a letdown such as this. "No, I don't suppose you would live near a swamp. I'd rather be stuck in the burning inferno that is the desert before forced to live in this muck. Not at all." In a sense, it revealed a bit of closed-mindedness about him that others might not appreciate. Especially since there were those that did live in swampy or marshy areas.

He was a vast pit of complaint today and had a lot ready. His snarky attitude itself was ready to ignite, to spring into action. All it needed was a flame to gravitate towards and get it started. He searched for something to say. Lashing out made him feel more comfortable when he was feeling just the opposite.

"You wager?" she murmured back with a hint of amusement as they pulled away from the soggy earth, shuddering once again; any place where she couldn't see potential danger was frightening. As such, the swamp, with it's mucky, muddy waters, provided the lioness with one of very few places she didn't particularly care for. She moved her paw to whipe her own nose, making a face as the substance clung to her finger tips; there was no use to whiping them anyhow, for the earth they padded on was humid... soggy in places, and was clinging to their pelt. She'd tidy up later; that was the only thought that allowed her to forget about the mud that clung to them; she'd always hated getting dirty... from cub-hood, however, she'd gotten better as of late. Being forced to live outside the pride, and relying on someone else was teaching her things she'd never been taught, even though she didn't particularly care to admit as much.

She'd not given up hope on finding her way back home, and was relentless in trying however, the further they advanced every day, she was begining to notice, that for the male, it was becoming more a matter of pride than otherwise. Ntombi had to keep herself from rolling her eyes at the notion; males, she thought to herself, but padded onward, following him and his pride to where ever it may lead them next.

"There's places for all tastes; I don't quite like deserts either. Too bloody hot. And it doesn't do well for the pelt. Plus, I've heard of prides one'd do best to avoid, inside the Desert," she studied him as they walked; he looked tense, like a spring about to lash out, and thus, she decided that she'd help him out. Just this once.

Although.... help wasn't the indicated word for what she next did. Her tail, which she'd dragged across the mud, flicked suddenly, aiming an abudant amount of mud and muck straight for the male's face, "Oops," she said dryly, however, if anything, it was meant to be an escapede for his anger, though he didn't have to know THAT, "Clumbsy of me," she arched a brow and waited for a reaction; she wasn't sure if he'd lash out physicaly or verbaly, but either was bound to be better than watching him coil like a spring in tension.

He scoffed at her warning about the desert. "Perhaps they are only violent because they don't want you to know how good they've got it. A home, a community. And just don't want to lose that." More a reflection upon himself and it didn't make him feel better so sure, why not use a cover-up that would make him feel better too. "Either that," he laughed, "or they know they've got the raw end of the stick and don't want you comin' in to tell them how bad they've got it." It wasn't too hard of a thing to think. People often didn't want to be told the way they had been living their life was the wrong way, that they had deluded themselves to think it a sort of paradise when really, there were brighter fields out there. It had been much the same for him when he was cursed. As though someone had told him "no you can't live your life the way you want to because it's not the right way." Well screw the right way. Look what it had done to him!

Mud. To the face. Cyan nose. Gone. Covered. His mouth formed a large indignant "O", his brows quickly covering his tracks into a scowl, an insulted look of anger. His right eye seemed to twitch a fraction. "Oh you little... Bet you think you're pretty cute, huh?" He uncerimoniously picked up mud with his paw and flung it at her face. He didn't care if it hit. All that mattered was that he threw some back. "Oh... umm... I guess it just slipped. So~ sorreh," he said in a cutesy voice, a hint of a lisp thrown in. "Let me help you." Reaching out with his paws, rather than help wipe it off, he pushed the dirt back across her cheeks so that more of her body was exposed to the mud. "Oh, I didn't know that would happen." Hmmm... except it really didn't burn out the dark ember that was ablaze. It only seemed to coddle it. "Too bad this isn't some sort of festival but right now, you look just. like. the Ufiti." The Ufiti were creatures straight out of African myth. The creatures were described as being between 4 and 5 feet tall, black with long hair, a colorless posterior, a baboon-like face, having no tail and a broad chest. Walking on for legs, maybe she hd it down-packed. But assuming that she knew what he was talking about, he was pretty darn satisfied.  

[Daffupanda]

Her thriumphant smirk soon vanished as she took a step back, her brows raising to hide inside the tuff of hair that fell over her face; well, mission acomplished! Except... now she had to deal with the repercusions of her actions, "Don't you DARE!" she warned him as she took yet another step back, however, there was a flash of amusement ringing in her eyes, and perhaps her voice too; oh she knew he'd dare, well enough, and tell truth, whatever he'd do would be worth it.... it only for the oportunity to see how his eyes widened and his mouth formed that 'O'.

"I don't THINK I'm pretty cute. I KNOW I'm pretty cute!" she squeaked as the mud hit her face, and the first thing she did was grimace, her tongue sticking out mildly, "Erg.... gross...." she then turned to face him, pointing an unsheated claw his way, "Not like you can THINK anyhow. One needs a brain for that!" as he pushed back against her, she jumped on her hind legs and shoved back at him, "No, I don't think I NEED much more of your help, you've done quite enough," and her paws, like his, left traces of mud on his pelt; sadly, it was more visible on her body, due to the fact it was grey... and his was darker, "I think you need to learn manners, and to groom, because, OH what's this?" she picked up another bal of mud and aimed to splatter it across his mane, "I think you just got dirty!"

She snorted at his bait, "No bloody clue what an Ufiti is, but you're going to look worse than that!" and this said, she pounced at him, rying to send them both rolling in the mud with a sharp 'rawr' like sound, which more than threatening.... must've sounded rather hilarious to him.

He laughed gleely on the inside but wasn't about to let her see it that easily. His pelt was covered and the mud on his nose was already drying and crusting over. He paused to go crosseyed in observation and wrinkle his nose with such a look on his face that suggested he didn't know what to do with it, as though he didn't even know he could lift a paw to wipe it off. "You think you're cute, eh? Well maybe you should take a look in the mirror, sister!" he exclaimed, as she dragged him to the ground. He tried to use his weight to roll her towards the murky water himself so that she could "see" her own reflection. But realizing her intent, he tried to wiggle out of the graps and away from the mud. His elegant coral mane was turning an ugly brown at the tips and did sort of make him look monsterously unkept. Despite his struggling, he tried to appear unalarmed. "Oh hunny, with my genetic make-up nothing could make me look as horrible."

He huffed but his attempt to get away only did him in. The swinging motion he attempted to use to throw him away from her and the mud had an opposite effect as he swung so hard and lost control sending them tumbling right into the mud, him in the thick of it. The mud splashed up over his face and caused him to first blink and then sputter. His shock from both the temperature of the mud and the fact that he was in it was written over every inch of his face. His grip was completely limp and he seemed more concerned with his state than revenge. Amazing what a little bit of mud could do to someone like him. While she reached her share of the splashing mud, he was still drenched and looking mighty horrible. He blinked his face into a scowl, "oh you'll pay for that, princess. And when you least expect it." He tried to give it a threatening truthful ring but his mind was a bit uncertain about anything at the moment ...except that he now hated mud.

"I /KNOW/ I'm cute," she corrected him a second time as if such a thing were such an obvious fact. She pressed a paw to her chest dutifuly, "A bit of mud can not posibly overwhelm my fine features, or even distort them!" came the proclaim, which was, in fact, only a half joke, as she tackled him down using little force. Though size was not in her favour, the slippery terrain was, and though she knew she was getting just as helplessly dirty, it didn't seem to matter quite as much at the time; getting him back was the primary point in her mind. Needless to say she'd forgoten why she'd even started in the first place, however, she was having (dear oh lord how the mighty have fallen) fun and had lost track of herself. Not that she'd SAY so outloud, but at least it was evident in her eyes, "Keep on dreaming," she retorded as she reached over his form, using one finger to draw a curly simbol under his eye, "Muuuuuch better!" and then... they fell. Into the mud. A LOT of it

The mud around them clung to her body, though of course, the fact she looked just as bad as he did (if not worse) wasn't the priority. She sat up,still by his side, to shake herself off, then chuckled mildly; she wasn't entirely sure of the whole riot had caused more harm than good, but at least, he was no longer focused on the fact he'd 'failed', per say, "So, feeling better?" a brow arched as he looked him up and down, "Mud aside of course," she stepped out of the puddle and did her best to take most of it off her form, then turned her head towards him, looking over her shoulder, "Come on; there was a water hole near by."

As far as Kioo was concerned, he was more dirty than she was. Of course, he couldn't see and testify for himself but he was still sure he had to be. He rubbed the part under his eye that she had drawn on in rebellion, smudging it out of recognition. His defiant look on his face said it all. "Yea, maybe," he said in a sarcastic tone although this time he made no effort to hide the fact that it had made him feel better as it was presented on his face.

Because, of course, he felt loads better. The activity had been a good thing for his stress and axnxiety. Sure, he hadn't been able to make the amount of snide comments he was used to and other such letdowns but the exercise had done just as well. But he wasn't done just yet.

Many a male might see a female inviting them over her shoulder to come to a water hole as a blessing and dutiful trail after like her personal lapdog. Others might see it as a lure for a female to do wonerful things to the male only for them to wake up and find her really a monster who only wants to eat him. Kioo had neither such notion. Rather, Kioo pulled himself out of the mud, flopping safely on to dry land and then pretended as though he were too heavy to lift himself and not enough energy to drag himself. "Uhhg am I exhausted. You know, I don't know if I can lead us out of the swamp all by myself. Carry me?" he fluttered hs eyelids like no lion probably had before. Then just to heighten the mood, he rolled over onto his back and fanned himself with a paw. "You know I deserve it."

A brief smile was his answer as she shook herself off further, to no avail; the mud clung to her form rather harshly, making it imposible to rid herself of it. Then she sat down and looked at her paws, wiggling her fingers when she noticed that... none of her white mits were showing through the mud, "Ah well... they say mud is therapeutic for the skin," she shrugged it off, however, had swiftly decided that it didn't matter how therapeutic mud was; it was coming off the moment she reached the water hole. Thus she padded off in it's general direction, shaking her feet like a wet cat would have as she walked, here and there.

She stopped as he flopped down on the floor and rolled her eyes, "How do you expect lil ol' me to carry....... big ol' you out?" she arched a brow, though it was clear she was amused, "Unless you want to be dragged around like prey, which might be hilarious to an on-looker, but not quite as practical for us. And if yah throw yourself over me, you'll squash me," she sat herself down again, tilting her head at him.

Something told her that he wasn¡t moving less the compromise something or other, and tell truth, getting the mud OFF of her was the most important of tasks at the moment. For which she needed him to lead her out. Since... well, tell truth, she'd not been paying much attention to where they were going, rather, letting him lead, "Oh for the love of God," she murmured as he rolled on his back and fanned himself. Ntombi couldn't help it, she walked over to him and peered down at him, standing partly over his form, "I refuse to carry you out; you can carry yourself; I'll groom you though, when we get the mud off instead?" please just let me GET to the water, she thought to herself.  

[Daffupanda]

Clearly she wasn't using her imagination. "Oh you'll find a way," he sang. "Really, you'll be surprised how light I am. Light as an angel~!" Really, for someone who thought they knew him well, but really didn't, might actually be a little weirded out by it, as though he were on drugs. Of course, it was all part of his tease so still very much in-character. "Like you could make me a litter of leaves and pull me, for instance. Or... you could pray /VERY/ hard for the ground to move me. Maybe if you're sincere enough, they'll listen." He certainly thought himself rather funny. "Or maybe we'll just be stuck here forever..." he offered with a shrug.

"Oh really? There's a god named God and he loves you? Amazing~! What exactly is he the god of...?" He was just yanking her chain. In all seriousness though, he had to wonder who God was. Like he knew the gods with more creative names actually walked among the chosen race - lions- but who was God? This wasn't exactly the first time he had heard the guy mentioned. Well, not wasting his time on that - since gods had never done him any good - he dutifully rolled to his feet.

"Fine, let's go to water. Although this weather really does a number to the knees~!" He let his knees wobble for the show of things and pretend to almost fall down before catching himself. "You sure you can't carry me?" He batted his eyelashes before straightening out his face and acting in a more serious manner. "But hypothetically, should I be able to make it there on my own two feet, no baths! Who knows where you tongue has been." He made a worried look as though it really were an issue that she should attend to. In truth, the only grooming he had gotten had come from baths in the private waterhole used only for such purposes and then using his paws to influence his fur to go the right way. So getting a real grooming was not something he comfortably looked forward to.

Again she rolled her eyes, "I don't think the swamp god is with us today," oh, she knew he was yanking her chain, and something told her that he was not quite near done yet, so thus, she sat herself down, looking down at him, seated behind his head, "My pride believes in the goddess of Shadows, if you must know, and the God of Darkness, Her father. So when I mention God, it's him I refer to," it was drawled, however, it was mild information for him to take. Had she not spent several days with him she'd have probably kicked him and walked off on her own.

However, experience in doing just that had taught her that not only did it amuse him further, but... well, if she walked off on her own, she was bound to get lost; even more so than she already was, and really, that didn't quite go with the program, "I hardly think you're going to stay there for ever. However, if you LIKE looking like you're a natural brown-pelted... and you enjoy the feel of the cracking mud on your fur, whom am I to judge?" she flopped down on the floor, crossing her front paws, one over the other. This could take a while, and she wasn't going anywhere; if he was strong-headed, so was she. It was hard to tell which was more stubburn, though Ntombi had the inkling of a notion it was him.

As he lifted himself off the ground, Ntombi thanked the Goddess silently and followed suit, offering him a dry look, "I'm pretty sure; I'm particularly sure you could carry me much better," she batted her own lashes in return before stretching herself out, "In my mouth," she chuckled, arching a brow at him, "No one's ever groomed you?" as they padded onward however, she seemed to decide that perhaps... that hadn't been the most intelligent of all questions.

He sucked in breath a bit nervously. "Sorry. I thought you meant ....that other guy." Him and me. I bet we'd get along quite well, he joked in his head. It was much too inappropriate for him to say outloud. ...which sounded largely hypocritical. The way she corrected him, the tone, had a ring to it that suggested it was a no-go zone. He didn't have respect for gods but he did for ...other people. It was too hypocritical for him to adequately explain to himself without using the dumbfounded phrase "well~ you know..." as if it were a phrase that could summon up the picture in the others head so that they did indeed understand.

"Hey, hey, hey!" he said holding up a paw indignantly. "I'm going now aren't I? Brown most certainly isn't my color when I look more dashing in coral and cyan." He winked as though to say "yea I am all that and a bag of chips."

He chose to answer her question before respond to her statement. Not that he had a choice as his face quite clearly twitched at her question. "I never said no one's ever groomed me. I questioned the travels of your tongue."

Moving right along as he so easily did, he arched a brow, a sly smile spreading across his face. "I can~? Really? You're that light?" Because they both knew he wasn't really exhausted he had no trouble doing what he did next. He rushed forward and quickly slung her onto his back, barely giving her enough time to adjust - which was only barely enough time if she had quick enough reflexes or thus otherwise too fast- and broke into a run towards the waterhole.

She didn't seem all too bothered by his words; in fact, despite the fact Ntombi had grown up to believe in said gods, she herself wasn't entirely aware of their actual exhistance. She'd never SEEN a god, and had no idea they 'exhisted' outside a religious or mythological claim. Thus so, she shrugged it off rather lightly, "My pride believes the Goddess keeps the lands hidden from others. That's why it's hard to find. Or so they claim."

She chuckled as they padded long, "No, brown is most certainly not a becoming color for you; covers up the pretty blue," it wasn't a flirt, but a fact; Ntombi rather liked blue. It showed in the fact she'd picked that color for her tattos, "And I responded it's been rather securely in my mouth, you
big beast," there was no hurt in her voice, but rather, a tone of blanant 'd'uh' that made it obvious she thought that was a poor excuse. Despite the fact, she made no attempt to push the matter further; she'd seen the twitch, and wasn't all too sure if it signaled that he'd in fact NEVER actualy been .... cared for that way, or if he was just annoyed by the idea of having it happen. Either way, a sad idea.

So submerged in her own thoughts was she that truly... she never saw him coming; his words snapped her out of it in time for her to open her maw into a large 'O', reminiscent of his own when she'd flung mud at him. Then she found herself slung over his shoulder, at which point she squeaked and
growled, "Hey HEY!" there was no time for further protests as she found herself clinging to him as best as she could for dear life, "Are you INSANE?!" the words were yowled for all... or anyone to hear as he made a mad dash for the water hole. Despite it all, she couldn't help but laugh, or rather, choak. She was, after all, too busy clinging to him.

Kioo had actually not recalled that she had said her tongue was in her mouth. He had been so focused on that grooming question that he had skipped right over it. Not that it exactly mattered. He was running and running too hard and fast to remark on it now that he was in motion. Soon the land was truly dry and a little more savannah-like. Then the water hole came into view. Rather than pause or slow his pace, he eyed the water and braced himself, running right into it. Finding the water all the way up to his side, he pushed his legs out from under him and took in a deep breath, submersing himself. He swam out from under her and popped up in front of her, squirting a spiral of water into her face.

Content that he had successfully plagued her, he set about working the mud out of his fur, combing his mane against the grain into his face and working his paws at the roots. Sadly, this pretty much blinded him from seeing around him and made him vulnerable to attack.  

[Daffupanda]

Well that answered HER question! OF COURSE he was insane! Had she ever doubted that? Ntombi found herself mentaly kicking herself for so much as thinking he might be rational in some way as he dashed onward, "Oi, OI!" it was all that came out of her maw as she noticed the fact he was.... dashing straight for the watering hole, without so much as an intention to slow down. Her eyes widened slightly even as she laughed; it was the sort of laughter that came out only when one was nervous, and afraid, and somehow, regardless of it all.... having fun doing so. That probably made her insane, too, really, but then again, so be it.

It was over as soon as it'd started and she found herself swimming in the deeper end of of the pool, shaking her head in order to get her muddied bangs out from her eyes. Only... to be on the recieving end of a squirt of water, "Hey!" she lifted a paw and splashed back at him as she whinced away from his attack then took a deep breath. Several, in fact, "Well, if the mud flinging didn't do you good, I'm sure THAT did," thus said, she padded slightly towards the shore till her feet hit the floor beneath her. Once content she could stand in the water, rather than swim, she proceeded to work on her fur, which proved to be hard to clean.

Ntombi felt it was beneath her to attack him while he was blinded. Really, she did. It was beneath her in every way she could think of, however, after two full seconds of internal battle, she could help herself no longer and pounced right at him, clinging herself around his neck to bring him down under water with her. If successful, she'd let go, if not... well, she had a whine ready at her maw; she wasn't sure if her weight was enough to get him under, or if she'd make a complete fool of herself.

Being blind only suited him so well especially when it caused his open mouth to be flooded with water. He was so shocked that she managed to successfully push him under water. Choking on water, he desperately pushed back, using the pool's floor as a launching pad. His face breached the surface and he gasped and choked at the exposure to air. But his muscles burned and half-forgetting his situation, he let them have their way and sunk back down again. He almost even dozed under water before his lungs began to burn. Yet again, he surfaced and padded slowly until his feet touched solid ground in shallow water tha he could easily and comfortably sit down in.

His actions even made him feel just a bit pathetic. Like many an angsting child, he sighed and slipped into a not so happy mood. "Sorry," he said and continued to rub his fur and clean it. "Let me just finish up and we can go." Boy had he killed that mood, the spoiled sport.

Truthfully, she hadn't expected him to sink down; she must've caught him off guard for soon enough, they were both underwater and though the female let go of him, she watched him breach the surface... and sink down yet again.

That was not the reaction she'd have figure she'd get at all and was jsut as caught of guard as he was. Silently, she shook her head o rid herself of the few traces of mud that still clung to her bangs. Now more concerned over him than over the mud that barely remain on her pelt (splashing and jumping in the water did wonders to disolve it), the lioness climbed out of the pool. Rather than near him, she sat to the side, giving him space, frowning mildly in concern, "It's fine... are you quite alright though? I never figured... I'm sorry," it wasn't his fault he'd sunk. Still frowning, she remain there, afraid to go nearer, and idly wondering what she even cared in the first place.

"I was just being stupid," he muttered. He didn't know what made him almost just... give up. Was it the fact that he had to do so many good deeds which he could probably never hope to accomplish. Sure, he had managed to do somewhere near 20 but that was in the time frame of a year. It wasn't much of an accomplishment. Or was it because he was just tired of fighting? Or did he just want attention? Not even he was truly sure which since each was just as likely. "No need to apologize. Could have gone differently if I'd tried." Truth was he had pushed himself quite hard today and had been doing a better job exhausting himself than need be, than would have been likely if he had skipped the whole goofing off.

Another thing was he was spending so much time with her that it was troubling her. Spending time with someone you didn't exactly NOT get along with usually led to attachment and he wasn't looking for any sort of attachment to anyone. He didn't want anyone thinking that he liked them and he certainly didn't want to end up that way. This was the most he had bothered to be around any one. And of course, it was his fault. Because he couldn't find the right way. Look at how he had cursed himself. Oh how ironic.

So did he tell her what had been plaguing him, the curse that was laid on him? No, he'd wait until the end. That way she wouldn't have time with him to get over it. It'd be BANG truth and then he'd disappear. Because then she'd yell at him probably out of anger or ....something and then he could use that to channel it into hate and never think about it again ...or if he did, only think about it with disgust. He could go back to living life how he was used to ....with the curse, though, of course.

He shook his fur out and gave it a once-over. Satisfied, he turned to her. "You ready?"

She didn't quite think he was being stupid; having a spot of fun was hardly 'stupid', but something told her it was best to keep her thoughts to herself. Something was wrong; oh, she'd noticed that a while back.... something plague him, however, it wasn't something he wished to talk about, or he would have by now.

Tell truth; Ntombi knew very little of him, if anything at all. It hadn't bothered her till now. Something was wrong with him, and she wanted to know WHAT, goddamnit! Of course, she kept her thoughts to herself still and merely frowned and tilted her head as she processed the notions in her mind.

She paused briefly as he spoke and though it was obvious she wished to say something ... else, when Ntombi opened her maw, the words rolled out, "I am; what about you?" something in the tone of her voice seemed to indicate she wasn't particularly refering about leaving, but she let it go. For now. Whom was she to intrude in his life? This said, she stood, shaking off the excess ater, then looking over at him, waiting. For something, anything.  

[Daffupanda]

He paused for a minute to collect himself and rose to his feet, shaking his fur one last time as if the physical action could brush off the mental ones too. "Yea, I'm good." He looked up to the sky. "Looks like we'll have a good few hours of sun, a nice amount of time to warm up as we walk, don't you think?" She so clearly wanted him to say something other than that but he wasn't going to give it up so easily. She'd have to press it from him to at least get anywhere close to knowing what was going on with him.

He tried to only pay attention to the horizon he sought to follow after, trying to ignore everything. One step and then another, farther away from the swamp he went and good ridiance to it. "Today was fun, though." He decided to comment. If she was worried about him, he wanted to alleviate those thoughts. Better to not let her pry to the point where he spilled it all out before the perfect climactic moment.

Despite the fact she indeed wished to press the issue forward, she shook her head mildly, almost as if to remind herself it really wasn't her bussiness to be wondering OR asking in the first place, "Yes, let's."

It was clearly not what she'd wanted to say, but it'd do for now. She concentrated herself on the scenery as the walked, but found her gaze glued back onto him when he spoke again, and try as she might, she couldn't help the small smile, "It was," she agreed, though it was only whispered, mostly to the wind, not to him. She hadn't failed to notice the past tense to the sentace, "Fun is good," and she left it at that.

For now.