The female had spent most of the day searching for food but had found nothing. Everytime she though she had gotten ahold of something she would think of the strage male she had meet. She finally gave up and just began searching for the male. She hadn't been thining on her father much which was odd. She started thinking about this male more and more. She then began to blus madly thinking about the nose touch then then snuggling then the...pretty thing.
Hadaya was in a great mood today! He didn’t know why, but he felt like it was going to be a good one. His dreams had been pleasant, and his sleep undisturbed. He couldn’t remember what images had been in his head, but he knew they must have been good ones. Humming to himself, he left his home and wandered in the direction he had been wandering most frequently these days, just a little north of the beaches.
Today he was happy to see his newest friend across the grasses, her coat sticking out a bit against the colors of the savannah. He tried not to look like a goober as he bounced toward her, doing his best to bounce in a manly way. There was no real way to accomplish this, however, so he slowed himself as he approached.
“Rana!” He called, grinning, “hey!”
She turned seeing him a bright smile came to her face as she bounded over to him. "Hey!!" she yelled out before she slipped and came crashing to meet him in a head butt. She growned and back away sitting on her hunches as her front paws came to rubb her now sore head. "Sorry." She growned.
Hadaya fell back, landing hard on his butt. He shook his head, blinking away some stars, then looked at her in surprise. They probably could have judged that a bit better but, really, it seemed like a good reunion to him. He grinned, shaking his head and hoisting himself back onto his feet.
“Did I hurt you? I’ve got a big thick head,” he said apologetically, moving to her and looking at her in concern, trying to see if he had left a bump or mark. He half expected to see a yellow-ish brown skid mark on her head, “well. Hello! Hahaha. I was half hoping to make a better first impression this time around, but I guess it didn’t work out.”
She giggled shaking her head. "No no its okay!" She said smiling happily before getting up shaking a little before smiling once more. "How are you?" She said as she moved closer to look at his forhead. She sat down infront of him once more before taking his head in her paws to get a better look. "Hmm... I don't see anything." She said smiling her face inches from his as he could feel her breath on his forhead.
Hadaya had never quite been held like the by any other creature before, so he didn’t really know what to do with himself. He remained very still, breathing slowly, crossing his eyes to look down his nose at her. He got dizzy and shook his head the moment he was free, though he remained close to her as his eyes readjusted to find her face still near by.
“I guess we’ll both survive! We need to find less traumatic ways to greet each other, I think. First with the me thinking you were drowning thing, and now this crash. One of us is going to end up hurt,” he grinned, tilting his head to the side, “or at least thoroughly embarrassed.”
Smiling, changing the tone, he looked her over, “how have you been? I mean, I know it hasn’t been that long but… you know. I mean. I’m curious.”
She giggled a little looking to him smiling. "I've been...really good." She said as she watched him before looking around. "Actaully I've been really good. I haven't thought of my father at all ready. But I'm still looking for him." She added quickly before smiling. "What about you?" She asked moving to start walking. "Come on we can walk and talk then maybe run a little see whoe fastest." She said teasing him happily.
“That’s good to hear! If thinking about him makes you sad, it’s good that you’re not thinking… about him. So you’re not sad,” Always clever and well spoken, Hadaya voiced another one of his profound insights. He sighed, shaking his head, then looked around as she did, not seeing anything as interesting as the lioness in front of him. Blinking, he looked back at her and smiled.
Oh, walking. He stood and hurried after her, stumbling over his big paws before falling into step beside her.
“Boy, I hope I’m fastest,” he said with a whistle, “I’m bigger than you are. But I’m probably not. I wouldn’t be surprised. But I’m good. Hungry, I think, but I’ll deal with that later.”
She giggled as she walked beside him before nudging him. "Hungry well maybe we can race to see who gets something first?" She said giggling. "But now lets just talk huh? I'm much more intrested in talking the eatting I need to perpair myself to eat like a lady and not just go all crazy and loose my manners as well as my sanity." She giggled a little looking to him.
“I have very few manners, “ Hadaya said flatly, looking thoughtful. He didn’t think he did, anyway. He had never learned any growing up and by the time Thili had adopted him he was a lost cause. That didn’t mean he was rude and wild, of course. He was as self conscious as they come, and that often dictated his actions more than any concept of manners could.
“Sure, I like talking. Er well. I do it a lot. Badly. But hey, if you want to I’m game for it,” He looked at her, then lapsed into silence. Chewing on his lower lip, he grew concerned, “what did you want to talk about?”
She giggled smiling to him before taking a deep breath looking up to the sky. "I just want to know more about you. I don't know why really..." She siad puasing a little taking a deep breath. "Its just annoying not knowing anything about you." She giggled some more before taking a deep breath.
"like I want to know what you dream about. I want to know what pleases's you." She said smiling before blushing madly. "I mean that in a tottaly innocent matter!" she yelled out a litlte trying to defend herself and her mind.
Hadaya blinked, looking surprised and all together lost. He didn’t know what she could have possibly meant by that, though his head was spinning when she tried to defend herself. He nodded slowly, trying to focus on her question rather than the innuendo that followed.
“More about me? There’s not much to know. My parents abandoned me when I was a cub. I had brothers and sisters, but they… were gone that day. I don’t know. Uh. I’ve lived alone since my youth and just a short while ago I found the Simbafutaji pride, and Thili and Senalta took me in. They had cubs together, and I’ve been living with them. It’s… loud.” He smiled, fondly, “and I’ve made a few friends within the pride. Like Jethro and Siti. But I’m not really great with… friends.”
He looked perplexed, not really knowing what else to say. “I like… food… and… uh… sleeping… and… not making a fool of myself? Well. What about you? Maybe if you tell me those things, the things that you like, then I’ll know how to answer.”
She giggled nodding smiling to the male. "Well lets see. I dont like my mother I love my father. I'm searching for him and then I meet you." She said giggling some more. "I like all things purple and gold and maroon." She said taking a deep breath before thinking. "Mmm what else." She thought before giving up. "I don't know oh I know what are you favrotie colors?"
Hadaya smiled, listening to her giggling. It was a bit infectious, and he just had to hope he didn’t giggle. It was not a very manly thing to do, after all, and he really didn’t want to embarrass himself by being feminine. That seemed like the worst thing he could do at this point, and he didn’t know why.
“Colors?” He frowned, finding this particularly difficult, “well. I like… uh… I don’t know. I guess I never picked one I really like above the others. Yellow is nice. It’s mellow and it reminds me of something, but I don’t know what. I always feel like less of loser when I see it, like it’s telling me there are bigger failures out there somewhere. That’s stupid. Uh.”
He looked away, trying to think, “what are your favorite smells? Tastes?”
She smiled taking a deep breath. "Well I really like the taste of gezelles. and I like the smell of hot sand. I also like the smells of flowers. I don't know why I guess its cause I never see them in the desert." She said smiling before bounding off a little faster. "What about you?"
“I like the taste of anything that isn’t grass, dirt, sand or fur,” he said, having had many experiences of mouthfuls of each of those things, sometimes a couple together. He grinned sheepishly, “and I think zebra is my favorite meat, but I can’t say I’ve had much diversity. Fish are nice, though sometimes the water makes them taste weird.”
He inhaled, thinking and using the breath as a time to gather his next sentence, then pressed on, “smells. Uh. I like the smell of… I don’t know. Have you ever smelled rain? Not like, the water itself but there’s just this scent in the air when the clouds are still low and the grasses are damp and drinking, the rains bringing life with them. That smell is nice.” His eyes got a bit distant as he spoke, a small, fond smile on his face.
Blinking, he looked back at her, “and you have a nice smell.” Whoops. He hadn’t meant for that to get out.
She blinked before looking to him. "You...you do?" She said softly completely intrested in knowing why he thought this. She then took a deep breath as she blushed. "I..like how you smell too. You smell like the beach and yet you smell earthy too." She said as she blushed a ltilte before leaning into him. "It a intresting combination and I...can't get enough of it." She said bodly moving to nuzzele him taking in his scent.
Hadaya froze. Was this wrong? She was younger than him, but it couldn’t be by much. He didn’t feel very old, anyway. She was so sweet, and he was almost comfortable, save for that edge he could never quite shake. And this nagging doubt, of course. He carefully lowered his head, sniffing at her but really just wanting to return the affectionate rub.
“I try to keep myself smelling good,” he said with a goofy grin, “I’m uh… I’ve been known to not smell so great. Like after those rains I love so much. The world smells great, but I smell like… something not… good. I don’t know. I didn’t have anything to compare it to, but you get the point. It’s just not a pretty picture. Heh.”
He babbled when he was nervous.
She giggled a little before taking a deep breath. "Thats what rivers are for." She sid smiling to him before taking off ahead of him jumping onto a rock as she looked around. "Hmmm Food food where will you be tonight?" She said smiling brightly.
Hadaya grinned. He had an idea.
“How about you stay right there, and I’ll bring you something back? It’ll be fun! I mean, for me. You’ll mostly be waiting, but then after I’ll come back and you’ll have fun. Here. So just sit on the rock! And I’ll be back. Stay right there!” He insisted over and over, backing up and nodding. Then he turned and bounced off, intent on his plan.
He would bring back something good.
