[LOG] When it rains... (Odijo x. Bari)

[KasaiLoki]

The sun rising over the horizon wasn't the first thing to wake up Bari. Nor was it the small, quiet chirping of the birds. And it certainly wasn't the small breeze brushing by, rustling the leaves and trees surrounding them.

No, what woke her up was the rain.

First it started as a slight drizzle, which she didn't mind so much. But then it got harder, and it suddenly woke her up with a start. Why was she all wet? Bari blinked and glanced up and around, then giggled. Of course it would start raining while they were asleep. Oh, that's right. Odijo was here. She looked at him with a soft smile and a special twinkle in her eye, and nosed him. "Wake up, wet sleepy-head," she teased. "We're getting rained on."


The rain hadn’t phased him much when it was just drizzling, but as the water became heavier in drops, he peeked an eye open, being nudged by Bari just a second later. He looked towards the sky; that gray sky that was the bearer of the falling liquid. Squinting his eyes, he turned back to face the darker female. “Is it morning already?” He murmured tiredly. Obviously, Odijo was not a morning person today.

But as the rain drops got harder, he grimaced. “Hey…We are getting rained on aren’t we?” He took this opportunity to stand in stretch. He pressed his forehead against hers. “We…probably should get out of the rain now, huh?” His blue eyes gazed directly into her golden ones.  

[KasaiLoki]

"If it's morning, then it sure is a bit darker outside than it should be," she replied, looking up again and making a face at the awful grey clouds rolling above them. "Silly rain clouds."

She purred happily and nuzzled him back, staring back into his gaze as he met hers. "Well, I suppose so," she allowed. Bari turned and started to trot over towards the rocky end of the pool, where there was just enough shelter available to (hopefully) fit them both. It seemed as if they should probably begin to build on that other half of shelter/den they had talked about. Then, when things like this happened, they wouldn't have much to worry about.



When she trotted off, he followed in pursuit. The one thing he missed when traveling, as when it rained in the jungles. There always seemed to be the large tree leaves that when you picked them from the plant, they were big enough to protect one from a bit of rain. Here in the swamps, it was different. The leaves were much smaller, but there was always the moss they could use for a netting to put leaves on.

“Well, we can’t let the rain stop us,” he chuckled, heading towards the area in which had the rocks on. “We want a ‘rain free, sun-bathing’ den right? What better way to do that then in the actual (dare I say it) rare rain that we see!”  

[KasaiLoki]

She laughed, shaking her head at his silliness. Yet, it did make sense. "At least that way we can check and see if it all works while it's raining now!" She scrunched herself to the side and as far back as she could in the small shelter to make more room for his bigger form. This den they were going to make was going to have to be very well-built and a good, large size for both of them.

"Alright. What should we use to build it, then?"  

[KasaiLoki]

“That’s true…well…that is if it is still raining by the time we are done.”

Looking around, he noticed the rocks. Well, that was the obvious. Rocks would be used for the walls. To keep the rocks together, they probably could use the mud at the bottom of the pool. Odijo knew that when mud dries, it sometimes made things either stick together or harden in general. “Well…those rocks we can use as the walls,” he pointed to the bigger ones, “and we can move them to the sides to make an area of the floor?”


Bari nodded at where he pointed, beginning to feel and to imagine what the den would look like as they began to put it together. "Okay, we can do that." And she took a step back into the rain and started to push at one rock, hoping that the water would make the ground a bit damp and mushy and therefore easier to slide something as heavy as a rock on.

"Like this?" She laughed at her attempts.


“Looks good!” Odijo called out, following in pursuit. It would take a while, but when it would be done, it would be nice. Once the rocks were in place, all they would have left to do would be collecting the moss and leaves for the roof. On to work!

[time skip – a few weeks later]

Coming out from the forest, Odijo dragged a large clump of moss. The den was near complete; the walls were up. All that was left was the roof to let in the sun, and keep out the rain. If he were a dog, his tail would be wagging a mile a minutes. This was a great moment! Finally, after days of the sun rising and falling, and the moon taking it’s place, were they finally able to share a place together.

“Well,” Odijo started. “I think it’s bigger than yours and my den.”

Bari laughed and trotted out from inside the den, where she had been touching up the mud that caked the walls together and helped to create a more insulated den. Which would be great for colder and warmer days. "I think it's bigger than the two combined." A few weeks ago, she would never have imagined the feeling that she was experiencing right now. Such an accomplishment this was! And they had made such a beautiful, amazing thing together.

"Where did you find that moss? I don't know if that one big clump will be enough. It's a big roof to cover."


He peered up at the sky. There were no gray clouds in sight, but that didn’t mean a storm wouldn’t be here in the near future. He spread the moss out, as to make a sheet (a very small sheet that was). He frowned, turning his blue eyes to gaze into her gold ones. “Just off the path we use to get here. It’s growing on one side of a tree.” He took his paw to poke at the little sheet. “We can get more a bit later I think.” It was a perfectly sunny day after all, and both of them were working everyday getting the walls up. Taking /one/ day off wouldn’t hurt anything…would it?

He moved over to Bari, giving her a small nuzzle. “I like it.”  

[KasaiLoki]

"Me too."

All in all, it was a pretty impressive structure. The weather recently had been nice to work in. Not too hot, but not too ridiculous outside so that they couldn't continue to work on it. Why, just a week or two ago, they had decided for a little break and had enjoyed a good little swim in the pool right next to their new den. That had been fun.

"I'm thinking of other things to decorate it with." There she was, always wanting to make things look pretty even if they didn't really need it. "I know the flowers will always come. Oh! What if we try and plant some flowers here? Just like you have at your den. So we'll always have some nearby. It would be so pretty."

“We can decorate it with what you want,” Odijo smiled. He wanted to make Bari happy, and if that meant going to pick all the bright purple flowers at his small den, then that’s what it took. After all, the flowers would grow back one day. “And we can get some of the flowers you were picking not to long ago when I caught you on the path.” That would spruce up the den, and to have the growing here also meant that they could have a multiple of patches where they could father from.

“…and we can also gather some kind of soft grass or moss to lie on too.” Since this was the swamps, he didn’t no exactly where he’d find something like that, but it was always something to keep an eye out when traveling.


She beamed at him. "Thank you. I don't want to pick the earth clean, of course, and I'll be patient if we manage to get some seeds instead and plant those. I'm good at waiting," Bari promised with a grin. It was how she got her name, after all.

The only problem with the moss and grass was the possibility of not having to plant it, but to just pick it up and move it. And, therefore, having to replace it (possibly) daily, as they easily dry out and wear out quickly.

"That sounds good. But for now, I think a break is in order. We've been working pretty hard lately."

“A break sounds good!” Odijo said excitedly. Although they had took a little break not too long ago for a nice swim, a nice…cat nap sounded good too. “I think we should test out the sun roof,” at this, he stretched and muffled a small yawn.  

[KasaiLoki]

She giggled at his eagerness. "For someone who wants to finish this, you sure are excited on taking a break," Bari teased him a little bit. She nudged his shoulder with her paw and trotted off into the den. The sunlight traced a good-sized patch of lightened area in the open den, and she stood there for a minute before sitting down and smiling over at him.

"Pick a good spot." This calls for a comfy nap.


Odijo looked around. Hmm… Where would be a good place? There was a particular spot right where a sunbeam was shining through the trees ahead. “Right here,” he said as he trotted over to the spot, hitting a paw lightly to the ground to motion Bari over. “Right in the sun.” Whatever the fascination of sunbeams and cats was a mystery.

When Bari had laid down, he gave her a small lick. “Good job, I always love the new den smell,” he joked, purring, laying his head down on the ground.  

[KasaiLoki]

She scooted over to the spot he patted with his paw and waited for him to get situated before she did anything else. Bari rolled her eyes and tugged on his ear gently. "Yes, it does smell good. It smells clean." Hopefully it would last a bit longer, although with two lions now in this den instead of the one she was used to, it would only be a matter of time to see if her hope would play out or not.

"So," she began, laying her head down on top of his neck and flicking her tail from side to side, "what have you been thinking about while we've been working on the den? Besides the den itself, of course."


What had he been thinking of when building the den? He thought for a moment. There were multiple things he was thinking of. One was his new name. There hadn’t been something that caught his mind except the word ‘busy’. After all, he was busy within that time period. He wouldn’t go with the name yet. Instead, he awaited until something else would tug at him, telling him ‘Hey, this is who you are.’ “My name...”

Another thought in his mind would be the sheer size of the den. He hadn’t stayed in one quite so…big. After all, his was just the right size for him and only him. He didn’t know if he would be able to get use to the feeling of this much space. “…and what else we are going to put in here. There is so much room…” They could always bring it flowers, but that just didn’t fill the space as it could.

What if… nah, he couldn’t think of that. He liked Bari, and was pretty sure she liked him back, however to say something like /like/ he just couldn’t. He smiled at Bari, walking over to her and giving her a small nuzzle. He would let the actions speak for them-self.