-- AIM Rp between Ntombi and Kioo ((DFA & Ume))
A few days had passed; time had come and gone and though long back Ntombi had always regarded it as idle, it was anything but that as of of late. Not only was there new life squirming within the depths of the pride (to the point there were times the princess felt they were being invaded by midgets and GODS what had she done to deserve this?) but she herself had lots to thinking about.
Some of it involved Kioo, and some involved utterly random thoughts and notions she'd yet not really gone through; she'd found out that dwelling in her mind too long had really odd concequences she was not yet prepared for. So thus she tended to stray away from er... the unknown territory in hermind that dealt with... well, Kioo, for one.
Or at least she tried to stray from it.
Fact was, it was extremely hard to do so when they lived and managed to sleep in the same den (after all, the whole pride slept in that large den; from her parents, to the center, to her father's cousin and her new mate). It was growing extremely hard to both ignore specific thoughts and impulses; thus was how dawn found the grey lioness padding out of the main den, pausing only to look back briefly before scurrying off. She needed air. She needed to walk and oh god, she needed out. She'd known she CARED... but how was this posible?
It had been a long time since Kioo had been in a pride. Pride life was new to him in its own way. It had rules and regulations, culture and traditions. Things that Kioo had to get used to. He had once been in a pride that might have been quite similar but he had never bothered to put down to memory its rules and regulations, its festivals and ceremonies. As a spoiled prince, he had always found himself above the law and thus never gained an appreciation for it. But now, he not only had to learn them but learn how to interact with others.
The large den everyone shared was warm but it also meant everyone pretty much knew everyone. Kioo shyed away from such interactions. In the great wide yonder, he didn't do well with strangers. One approaching him to talk would often get shunned or verbally abused. Making acceptable conversation was not his forte. And with all these youngins running around from a couple months old to squirming, fresh, loud ones, it made him nervous. He could very easily step on one or become angry and say something inappropriate. And to top it all off, Ntombi wasn't helping any.
Having Ntombi avoid him, to change directions the moment she realized she was coming upon him, just made everything worse. Who was he supposed to talk to? Who was going to help him not feel like an outcast. A bee may gladly come to honey but an African will kill a European honey bee. So which bee was he? Was he right to be worried? Well, he certainly felt like he had no one to comfort him, although he thought himself above that effeminant need. What it really seemed to be was this nagging feeling - emotion - that he had dismissed as something else. But that reasoning had fallen through and he only had one reasonable answer left but he didn't want to admit it. And how would he anway, the way she was avoiding him like the plague except for when she couldn't. Some guys felt useless around babies. But he wasn't a baby and she hadn't avoided him before, even when she disliked him. So was this some sort of premonition? Was she hiding some sort of horrible truth from him? Well, probably not. She seemed more like the person to taunt him with a horrible truth rather than hide it from him. She was rather like him in that sense. So why the hell was she avoiding him?
He watched her leave the den. A dark clouded look in his eyes, he picked himself up and followed at a distance, relatively silently. What could she be hiding?
Things were changing; that was the only thing that Ntombi had been able to figure out in the few days that had passed. And, oh, she liked those changes. She liked them quite a lot; but that didn't make them any less awkward. It was amusing, entertain even, but awkward nonetheless; Ntombi knew that well enough, and she'd done her best to help Kioo fit in. The first problem had been the fact he was naturaly antisocial, and thus sharing the den brough up some particular problems; they'd solved that by taking a snug corner together, away from prying eyes. However, this brought forth problem number two; or at least what Ntombi thought was problem number two.
As she slept, she'd found herself getting naturaly comfortable, to the point she'd clung to the male's form, almost as if he were a large fluffy teddy bear, rather than the lion he was. He'd never complained; heck she wasn't even sure he KNEW she cuddled up to him in her sleep. It was probably the 'not knowing' that made the lioness awkwardly nervous.
She realised she HAD to talk to Kioo about it; she realised that maybe, just MAYBE the male had no idea what was fueling her actions... that maybe he didn't know any of what she felt. Then again, she didn't quite know either, which made for a rather frustrated female and the way she was currently pacing, left and right, back and forth outside in the morning air. The sun wasn't even entirely up, the cold and humidity of the air still leaving traces of the night she'd just endured. Oooooh she wasn't going to be able to endure many more nights without bursting; she'd woken up enterwined with him, her form against his. Restless, she'd left him whilst she thought he still slept. What made it worse (at least in her mind) was that she'd been enjoying this, to the point she was sure one of these days she was going to pounce him and blurt out the most ridiculous things at him. Had she not turned to leave time and time again when she'd seen him coming up, she was certain she'd have done more than just pounce on ocassions.
Raising her head she whined in frustration at the dimly lit sky, reminiscent of the day they'd met out in the roguelands, "Why do you TAUNT me so?!" she demanded of the sky and few stars that still managed to blink down at her, "What have I ever done to you?!" grumping to herself, she sat down sprawled in a very unladylike fashion, completely unware of the fact she had an audience.
Slowly Kioo had indeed become aware of Ntombi's sleeping habit when it came to him. He wasn't the lightest sleeper so sometimes he would wake at the end of one of his many confusing short dreams and find her practically intertwined. At first it had shocked him so greatly he had tried to pull away. But a tender side got the best of him and he stopped. He couldn't logically pull away safely without waking her. And although when he became confused or dwelled on a much larger picture he referred to that moment as evidence against his thoughts, he became used to it. But perhaps used to it wasn't the right phrase. He sort of enjoyed it, although he never echoed that thought aloud or in his head.
The sleeping embrace juxtaposed to the avoiding him. It was a prime thing that dwelled on his mind. She was sending very confusing messages which didn't help him sort out his own at all. And that was why he followed her. He needed answers. And if she could lead him to them, all the better. There was a four-letter word he was struggling with, a four letter word with such a strong connotation behind it. He was hoping that by following her, he'd find out if he was ever going to use this four-letter word in his lifetime, one he'd never used but sarcastically.
Her words echoed in his ears. Had he been pushed to anger, his own words might have been her echo. But he was rather calm with his favorite flavor of grumpy. "The sky shall always taunt the earth. Until those of the earth might grow wings. Perhaps they wish to outshine you and stoop to new lows. The stars have always been known to be the jealous type. It ran some wildebeests right into a gorge once. Quite sad really. And all they did was win the favor of the moon." Kioo said off-handedly as if everyone knew the tale he just made up. He walked around to the front of her and sat down, looking upon her and her misery. What WAS she upset about? It couldn't be him - it shouldn't be him. At least he hoped and wanted to suspect not.
Of course, poor Ntombi was having just as much trouble as he was; in diferent ways. She knew she practicaly cuddled up to him in sleep.... but confronting him about it was highly frigtening for some reason; what if he DIDN'T want her to? What if he snapped at her and left, disgusted?
On the other hand, what if he DIDN'T. What if he wanted it too?
The notions were so wide and so diverse, they had her running for the hills, squealing each time she saw him. She wasn't ready to admit her feelings to herself, and much less to HIM of all people, though of course, needless to say her parents had arched a brow at her behavoir as of late. They were probably having a bloody blast watching her; the princess was in THAT much of an emotional mess.
She was almost to a breaking point; it was evident in the way she gasped and stiffened comicaly when he approached. Hadn't he been asleep? Turning around swiftly, the princess' eyes widened; it was perhaps amusing to note that she heard NONE of what he said. Or rather, she heard him, but his words did not click in her mind; instead all what she could hear was his voice and she found herself thinking she really didn't want to wake up to a day where she wouldn't be able to hear it taunting her, or murmuring at her in that conspiratory tone they used when mocking others from a distance.
The notion, needless to say, scared her, and her mouth opened and closed, gapping like a fish. For a moment the thought of squeaking and running away crossed her mind; it was evident in the way her muscles twitched, just a tad, but then she paused and sat down, her gaze fixed on the ground. There was a long moment of silence as the female twitched and moved restlessly, then she griped her courage and looked up, "I like you!" it was blurted out, seemingly out of nowhere, and at this point, she fought with herself, "Like.... not like, I mean I really like.... you," another pause, and a few whispered words that echoed that four letter word he'd been thinking about just moments ago. Though of course, it was whispered, and hard to hear.
