[PRP] The meek will inherit the earth (Vere x Kavu)

[Kytora]

Vere made a face at herself in the water's reflection. Then she laughed. Then she made another face, even more gruesome, and wiggled her body in a kind of taunt towards the water. Even though it couldn't retaliate towards her, she was still in her little playful bubble.

She giggled.

The young red lioness shifted her weight onto her limbs and crouched forward to the water, so close that her nose almost touched the surface, to see what other faces she could make at herself. This was a fun game; it had been a while since she had been alone in order to play it. Vere had the feeling that if anyone else saw her, especially her siblings, they would make fun of her for a while.  

[Cajanic]

It had been a while since Kavu had gotten to explore on his own. He had to admit that he was a little bit excited. Normally one of his siblings would chase after him and spoil his time alone, but not today. He had snuck away at just the right moment, after he had eaten but while there was still food around to distract the others. That had given him a wide enough margin to slip out unnoticed.

Except by his father, of course, by Jeraha had done nothing to stop him. Kavu wasn’t sure his dear old dad found anything wrong with him sneaking out at all- he was not the kind of lion who liked excessive amounts of company. So Kavu, in turn, was not the kind to like company.

He wanted to be just like his dad.

Coming to a stop, he noticed a little female making faces at the water, Kavu tilting his head to once side. He was starting to get large like his father, and hoped he would be an above-average male like his old man. Moving forward, he tried not to make too much noise, watching a little longer before he finally started to chuckle.

“What are you doing?” he asked innocently enough, no traces of mockery in his tone.  

[Kytora]

Vere jumped up with a squeak, skittering in such a manner that she fell into the water herself. The sudden wetness made her freeze; her eyes were wide and unblinking, staring at the lion who had startled her.

"Uh..nothing," she replied, blushing furiously. She then proceeded to babble on, unexpectedly, in her nervousness. No boy had ever gone up to really talk to her like this; it was a first. An exciting first. "I just fell into the stream. I was going to go swimming later, honest. I never expected to go so sudd--oh my gosh that thing is HUGE." And she jumped out of the water, into the air, and landed back onto the dirt next to the water.

She tore her gaze away from the bug in question and gave a sheepish smile to the stranger. "I wasn't doing anything," she defended herself again. "What are you doing?"  

[Cajanic]

The male jumped when she did, though he had no water to collapse into. Instead, he watched her fall, smiling as she looked up on him with utter shock on her expression. So he had startled her, that was funny. And she was dripping wet. That was even better.

But was it really okay to laugh at someone?

Kavu was a little… confused. No one in his family talked quite so fast as this young lady, leaving him to struggle with keeping up. Her words didn’t seem all that connected, either, especially when something startled her out of the water again. Backing up a step, he straightened, very unsure of what to do now that he had made contact with her. Already it was clear that she was unlike anyone he had encountered before.

Which may not have been a bad thing, actually.

“I was just walking,” he replied when he had the chance, “I don’t get to explore very much… uh… I’m sorry I made you slip into the water. I didn’t mean to.” Even if it had been pretty hilarious.  

[Kytora]

Vere tried to calm herself down a bit; at least, as much as she could. It wasn't any use to act like a fool just because there was a new boy to meet (a cute one, at that). You could say she was a bit fickle, perhaps, or at least her hormones were so crazy that she crushed over every boy she met. Or almost, at least. She took a deep breath and tried to start over again, smiling back at him.

"It's okay!" she said to his apology. "I was really close to the water; bound to fall in anyway. Have you been exploring for very long today? What have you found so far?"

Vere liked to explore, too. Her family was so big that it wasn't too hard to slip away unnoticed. Especially if your mother kept forgetting your name and how many cubs she had in the first place. She was a patient one; she could wait for her turn to spend time with everyone. But since that time wasn't now, she wasn't about to waste the day away sleeping or lazing around in the den. Not when there were so many things out in the world.  

[Cajanic]

Kavu grinned. “I suppose that’s true,” he mused thoughtfully, “if you had been further away then it wouldn’t have been a problem, right? Oh well, I guess there’s no need to be sorry, but I still am.” He wiggled on his feet a little bit, excited to be around her even though she spoke really fast and he was still feeling a little confused. It was awesome to be able to speak to someone outside of the den.

And someone who seemed more or less his age, too.

“No, I haven’t been out very long. There’s not really very much to look at around here! I mean, you’re the most interesting thing I’ve found so far! There have been bugs… and a couple rabbits, but nothing that I haven’t seen before. Until I met you! What’s your name? I’m Kavu!” He introduced himself with a polite bow of his head, wanting to be respectful. His father had always taught him to be at least a little respectful around women.

He said it was a damned lion that treated any female creature poorly. Kavu didn’t understand why his father was so passionate about it, but he would never argue. Why would he ever want to hurt a girl anyway?

Who would?
 

[Kytora]

She laughed nervously. "Yeah, but silly me. I always seem to get too close sometimes."
Vere's blue eyes inspected this male a bit while she tried to dry herself off a bit and become somewhat-presentable. She wanted to ask about the snake on his back, and if it was real. It looked like it could--and would--wiggle right off his fur and slither away. Creepy.

"I'm Vere!" she replied gleefully. "Nice to meet you, Kavu. I'm sure I'm not the most interesting thing out there, but thank you." She giggled bashfully again. Vere and boys: what an odd mixture, to be sure. She would be shy one moment, flirty the next, then back to shy. Hormones were bad with this one.

She tried to think of something more interesting than she. "Um, for example...there are a bunch of really pretty and cool rocks in the rivers. Some are sparkly, some are really really smooth. Those are interesting."  

[Cajanic]

“Really?” Kavu said, tilting his head to one side. He lived next to a waterfall, but he wasn’t one for really going in the water part of it, spending his time in the den off to the side. His siblings were fond of the water, some of them, but he wasn’t a fan. Then again, if the water ended up being something his father liked, then he would just have to get used to it, but until then…

It was better for him to stay away.

Still, now he was curious. “I didn’t know there were pretty things in the water… but I still don’t think they’d be that interesting. Lions are more fun than rocks!” His brother would disagree- he loved to talk to rocks. “I still say you’re the most interesting thing around. That is, unless you can prove me wrong?”
 

[Kytora]

"Yeah," Vere nodded. "Sometimes you have to go underwater and dig really deep for them, but sometimes, they're right near the top of the surface and you can find 'em real easy. Hey, you wanna go look for some?"

She blushed again. "Well, I guess you could say I'm interesting. You're interesting, too! I've never seen a snake on someone's back like that. Is it real, or just a marking? It looks like it could come off your back at any time and wiggle away." That wouldn't be very nice at all.

If there was anything Vere didn't like in the whole world, it was snakes. The design on Kavu's back was fine, but if the snake was alive and headed towards her, slithering around with its tongue flicking in and out, then that was a no. She could not stand snakes.  

[Cajanic]

“Sure!” Kavu chuckled, “maybe I’ll find something nice enough to take back to show my dad.” Would Jeraha have any interest in shiny little rocks? Probably… not. But maybe if he could find a nice green one or something like that he’d at least take a look at it. Anything to get the large male to notice him.

Hanging out with this new little girl wasn’t a bad idea either.

Laughing at her worry, he shook his head. “No, don’t worry! This snake isn’t going anywhere. In all my life it’s never left my back. My father had a snake marking on his leg- that’s where mine comes from. Though I think mine is cooler. Don’t tell my dad that!” He would be annoyed.

“Anyway, do you want to look for rocks now? Show me how. Maybe I can make a bracelet with them or something.”  

[Kytora]

Oh, that was a good idea. "Yeah! I'll find one for my dad, too!" She would look for a red stone. Vere looked a lot like Kwa, from the bright reds in her coat to the humble personalities. And she knew he would like the gesture. After all, out of the big litter, she wanted to make sure that he noticed her. He always did, though. Dad was a good dad.

"I think yours is really cool too," she agreed with a giggle, even though she hadn't seen his father's leg marking with a similar snake.

With a nod, she leapt over and into the water with a big splash and another giggle. She rooted around in the water and wet dirt and mud on the bottom, feeling around. "Most of the time," Vere began to explain, "you wanna feel for the biggest rocks. That way you have a really pretty big one when you find it! But sometimes there are pretty small ones, so anything that feels good you can take out and put in a pile. That's what I do."  

[Cajanic]

Similarly, Kavu longed to be noticed by his father. Unfortunately, the size of the litter didn’t remotely matter to his old man- he didn’t seem to have any interest in any of them. Well, that wasn’t true, he obviously cared deeply about them. He just didn’t like to.. bond, really. And for Kavu that was simply unacceptable. The young lion would still do anything he could to get at least a little approval.

Something he would never grow out of.

Laughing, aware that she had never seen his father’s –Jeraha didn’t like hanging out with his own kids, he wouldn’t spend time with random ones- he let the matter slide. He was getting very focused in finding a nice rock for his bracelet. Green was, it seemed, a tricky color to find in a stone.

Pawing around at her instruction, he pulled up a rock in his paw. It was fairly large, though not enough so that he couldn’t let it rest on his pads. But it wasn’t green- it was a rather bright red color instead. “Hm…” he hummed ,looking it over, “this is pretty, isn’t it? I think it would be good for you,” he said, the rock a little deeper in color than the lioness he was presenting it too.
 

[Kytora]

Vere laughed and trotted over a step or two to see the stone he had found. True to his word, it was a rather pretty red that almost matched her fur.

"It is pretty!" she agreed, holding up a paw to compare the red shades. She beamed at him, and then put her paw back down in the water. When she did, she realized that she was standing on something. A rock. She picked it up and brushed off the dirt from the sides. It wasn't a green one, it was a blue one. Although it was such that it could pass for a green, just with a blue tint to it. She thought it was rather pretty, too, even though it wouldn't work for him. The little lioness put it off to the side anyway, though.
She'd find someone to give it to.

"Hm, I wonder where a green one is hiding..." she hunted down the water, low to the ground, her paws sifting through the mud and dirt on the bottom for the hidden treasures.  

[Cajanic]

Kavu grinned. It was a pretty rock, the one she had found. Though he was still eager to finds himself a greed stone to give to his father. After a little while of fruitless searching, the lion moved a bit deeper into the water, taking a deep breath and shoving his face under the surface. Opening his eyes under the water, he peered around, though soon found the water was a bit too unclean for him to see anything very clearly.

Pulling his head back up, the white lion shook the droplets from his growing mane, laughing lightly. “Refreshing, but not very helpful,” he hummed innocently, kicking at the rocks with his paws again.

Finally, after collecting a few rocks of various colors and setting them in his little pile, he managed to pull up a green rock. “Oh here!” he cheered merrily, “this is just what I’m looking for! I think my dad would like it!” And he still had enough rocks to make himself a little bracelet too.

So he would remember the day.
 

[Kytora]

She laughed and shied away from the water droplets heading her way when he shook his head dry.

"Refreshing? Really? Could you see much under there?" Vere hadn't really tried to see underwater before. The thought scared her too much for her to actually try it, so she wondered (naturally) how someone could do so. And what it was like.

"Oh, yay!" she cheered, hopping up and down when he finally found a green rock. "It's so pretty! I think he'll like it too." She had just added a few more pretty rocks to her own pile before he had declared triumph.

Then the cub realized that it was time to go. It was getting late, and though her family would not do a head count, the possibility of staying out after dark did not sit well with the cautious cub. "Well, Kavu, I have to go. It was fun playing with you! I'm glad you found a rock for your dad." She beamed at him with a silly grin. She didn't have to be careful around him. He was just a cub, like her. No big worries.

"See you later!" She gathered the rest of her rocks into a good, smaller pile, and heaped them onto a big leaf she scrounged nearby (she found one for him, too, of course) and put the rocks in the leaf. Then she wrapped it up, almost like a present, and put it in her mouth to carry off towards home. If her family was lucky, maybe she would share them. Maybe.