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 Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 7:01 pm
Kaihdin couldn't help the smile that twitched at her lips when she thought of the lion she had met the other day. Raruo was kind, but gruff, most likely because of his old age and his veteran status in the pride he came from. Or perhaps that's just who he truly was. Either way, she was looking forward to meeting him again today.
He had almost called it a 'date' but had caught himself, yesterday. She laughed. It wasn't really a date, to be honest. Perhaps. There was a first time for everything.
She walked on her previously-twisted paw with ease; it had healed well overnight and her continued walking, then resting it helped the aches to go away quicker. Along with a good amount of water and a soothing plant she had found.
Hers was the only scent Kaihdin could detect, so for a moment, she let her eyes close as the sun warmed her fur and the small breeze whispered by.
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 4:13 pm
 Raruo was nervous? No. Not nervous. He was a veteran warrior: nervous was not something he knew how to experience any more. At least, not in the battlefield. But this wasn't a battle at all, and thus it should warrant anxiety even less. Rumpled, the conflicted lion lifted his head from staring at his reflection in a small pool of water near his den, drawing a deep breath.
Not a date. Just a meeting. He was going to see if her paw had healed. It hadn't really been injured, but maybe she was masking it from him. There was nothing wrong in worrying about her. No, not worry. He didn't worry! He just wanted to make sure he wasn't leaving a wounded female alone in the rogue lands.
Nodding, steeling himself with the action, he padded towards the borders, to the place where he had met her just beyond their marked lands. He was not expecting to see her there, for one reason or another, so when he spotted the dark and purple coat he froze midstep. He hadn't planned on her being there, the image in his mind being him walking up, looking around, and then going back home. Even the image had been disappointing, but at least he had prepared for it.
Not smiling, unable to will his muscles to work in a socially proper way, he moved toward her.
"Ah, hello," he said, clearing his throat at the same time and almost masking his greeting all together, "you're here. How... uh... how is your paw?"
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Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 3:30 pm
Kaihdin's smile grew and she opened one eye to glance at Raruo, who had showed up after all. She knew she didn't need to get entirely too happy or excited about this result, but then again, it was hard not to. It was the first exciting and joyous thing that she had encountered in a long time, so letting herself go a bit wasn't as bas as she thought.
"And you are here as well." Her smile turned into an almost-teasing grin. "I'm better, thank you. It healed nicely and cleanly, see?" She lifted her paw for inspection, twisting it this way and that and not feeling a pang of pain in any direction she pointed it.
"What about yourself? How are you today?"
To start a casual conversation was not a bad choice, especially since she was trying to be safe. There was only so much that she could do, however, but she hoped that whatever happened would keep his interest. She liked talking to him.
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Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 2:18 pm
He nodded, trying not to look nervous and thus succeeding in looking just that. He scuffed his claws against the earth subconsciously, watching her in awkward silence for a moment before realizing it was his turn to talk again. If only he spoke to more people more often, and without all the sarcasm he was so used to: he might know a bit more about nice conversation that would help him here.
"Yes, it is healed," he said stupidly, looking at her paw and taking extra care to note how she moved it, his attention a bit too devoted to this check up than was probably needed. After all, it hadn't been much of an injury to begin with. Feeling flustered, the older lion pulled his head back, nodding as if she had passed a test.
"I'm, uh, I'm glad. About the paw," he shook his head, looking back over his shoulder, "I was just doing my rounds. The pride seems unsettled, and there's some rumblings within that are making lions and, apparently, the spirits edgy. But other than that, things seem the same as ever. Maybe everyone is just restless."
He smiled at her then, which seemed a bit out of place with the conversation, but he was suddenly feeling more relaxed. It was easy to talk about his pride and, a bit egocentrically, himself than anything else. Still, he knew he had to try.
"How about you? Have you..." wait, he had started a question without knowing how to finish it. "... hunted today?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 1:29 pm
She put her paw back down on the ground and shifted her weight a little. As happy as she was to see him, Kaihdin knew that talking to her was, no doubt, a trying task. Why, she wasn't sure. Perhaps it was because she was a rogue? A stranger that he had met by accident, and hadn't taken back to his pride (yet)? Would he? Did she want him too?
Or perhaps that it was because she was a female. Or so much younger than him. Or that he was a war-toughened veteran, who didn't know or remember how to have a simple conversation with a friend.
She didn't know, but she didn't mind, either.
Kaihdin frowned at the news. "Unsettled rumblings? About possible bad news coming your way?" She didn't know much about the spirits he spoke of, but from what he had said before, they helped rule their life as much as the gods did. If not more.
But she smiled in response to his, and said without thinking: "You should smile more. You look so relaxed when you do." She also wanted to add that he didn't need to be on guard and on edge all the time with her, or all the time anyway, but she didn't.
"I have not hunted today, yet," she giggled. "I'm not starving yet, but I'm getting there. Are you hungry?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 1:41 pm
He looked at her for a long moment. A really long moment. He was lost in thought, but her image was what was doing it. It wasn't the most polite thing to do, stare without saying anything, particularly because she was speaking. His red eyes were fixed, though, and for that moment he literally had no control over himself until his mind told him he was done examining her.
He still thought her coat was pretty. It seemed different, maybe softer?, than the fur he was used to seeing within the pride. Particularly when he compared it to his own. Yes, their colors were similar, but that wasn't what he was taking the time to notice then. It just looked less coarse, and, obviously, without as much gray. He sighed at the implications of that, and it was enough to bring him back to reality.
Just in time to catch her comment about him smiling.
"Oh. Er. Well. I don't know why I'd look more relaxed that way, since it takes some effort to get my face to do it," he said, joking but in a sarcastic way, rather than the pleasant tone he had been trying to affect. Still, he smiled for her anyway, "I was just wondering if you'd been able to hunt, though your paw is fine and I should really stop harping on it."
He shook his big head, "I'm not hungry, no, I was just... going to offer... uh. Nevermind," he was still subconsciously digging his feet at the earth, a nervous habit he had never known himself to possess, "so, do you know if you're going to be staying around here?"
Don't sound too hopeful, Raruo, he warned himself in irritation.
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Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 8:26 pm
Was he alright? She cocked her head slightly to the side while he was staring at her after she finished speaking. There wasn't something in her teeth, was there? How embarrassing! Kaihdin quickly closed her mouth and rubbed her tongue along the outer parts of her teeth, trying to feel and therefore sweep any offending tidbits back into her mouth.
She grinned back. "Oh, well you know good things often come out of trying times, so even if it does take more effort for you to smile, the outcome is worth it."
Then she thought for a moment, and her smile flickered from a smirk to a slightly innocent one.
"Actually, since I am a little hungry, would you mind terribly if we got something real fast? Just a rabbit would do, really. And you're welcome to have as much of it as you'd like as well."
Kaihdin could have sworn that he had been about to offer to catch her something. She was helping him out by asking him first. Poor thing. He was sweet. "I'm here for as long as I want to be, or as long as I need to be. Do you need to go back to your pride soon?" If he did, or if he was needed there so much that he couldn't keep coming here to see her, then she knew it wouldn't do much good to wait here. Then again, she would be sorely disappointed if she left and then it turned out that he could come back sooner than they both would have thought.
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Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 11:47 am
Raruo was glad for his dark fur, thinking if he had any spot of white on him it might be a bit red under the direct sun now. He tried not to show it, folding his ears back subconsciously because he could feel the tips of them burning. He nodded at her request though, glad he didn't have to bumble his way through a response for her comment about him smiling.
That would have just ended badly.
"I'd be honored to catch you something," he heard himself saying. He nodded to follow it up, confirming that his mouth wasn't just letting words tumble out without his consent. At least not right now. He flicked his tail, scanning the area with his keen red eyes. Though not as familiar as his pride hunting grounds, he was not too worried about finding and catching something out here. He was a warrior, not a hunter, but he often helped herd the prey for the huntleaders these days, and had been keeping his footwork and other hunting requirements sharp.
"Oh, no, I'm not needed too soon. I meant, ah, in... broader terms..." if he had to explain in depth what he was trying to ask about he might creep her out. They had only just met, after all, and he was wondering if she was going to be living around here just because he liked talking to her? That was weird. And not just because he had somehow found himself making a friend, even without trying, but because he had no place to ask her to stay in lands she had no attachment to.
He wasn't much for thinking outside of himself. He knew what he felt and liked, but he wasn't about to presume she thought him anything more than a stranger.
"Over there... looks like a good spot for rabbits to live," he said indicating with his paw toward a brier patch.
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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 5:52 pm
Her smile twitched as he replied, saying he would be 'honored' to catch her something. Well, she would be just as honored to receive the prey and feast on it as well.
"Well thank you," Kaihdin beamed at him. She didn't offer to help because she didn't wish to insult his pride. It had already been difficult for him to ask, so she helped him with her request. If she asked if she could help, than that negative connotation would simply cross out the helpful one she had just made. And then she wouldn't have been nice for anything at all, which was completely the opposite of what she wanted.
"Meaning that because of the rumblings in your pride, as well, you're needed just on the border, perhaps? You being a lookout or something would make sense. Since you're wise and knowledgeable in the field of battle, you'd know where a good hiding place was, and how to eavesdrop on passing lions without getting caught." Her imagination flowed and she could only guess at what a scout truly did for a warring pride. "I'm probably wrong either way," she added with an embarrassed chuckle.
She eyed the briar patch and moved to sit a few feet away from it, giving him plenty of room to do his thing. "Just don't get stuck," she warned. "Though I would like to return the favor of healing you, thorns are tricky." Kaihdin made a face.
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Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2009 9:02 pm
The older, gruffer lion nodded his big, meaty head at her thank you. He felt something weird in his chest, but tried not to raise any more attention to it inside his head than that one spark of vague recognition. If he thought about it too much it wouldn’t go away, and then he would be forced to admit in his mind that it was an emotion, and not a bit of heart burn or some other fleeting ailment.
He was a male, battle hardened, proud Veteran. He didn’t do emotions very well.
He listened to her access his position in the pride. It seemed accurate enough to him, though he liked hearing things like ‘knowledgeable’ and ‘wise’, particularly when coupled with the idea of battle. He shrugged his shoulders.
“I’m not much for spying or scouting, but I will be the first defense of the pride if something comes from outside these borders. I mean, if we need to fight, I’d be more than eager to lead that charge. It’s my job to keep an eye out, and to lead the warriors with my fellow Veteran if another war should come to us.”
He was speaking as he was approaching the patch, apparently not concerned about the noise he was making. He was silent in footsteps, and when he got close enough he moved with speed fitting a lion who had earned the rank he had. He stepped on the briar patch as he caught the rabbit effortlessly, though he turned back to his new friend without making a show of if he had noticed the thorns.
Awkwardly he stood with the rabbit in his mouth, offering it to her but not knowing exactly how to do that.
She was oblivious to the small storm of uncertainty raging within him. If she had been privy to such a problem of ‘emotions’ then it wasn’t sure what she would have ended up doing. Maybe she would have realized that she had the same kind of feeling as well, though if she were to chalk that up to heart burn, it wouldn’t be true. Of course. She was quite familiar with this kind of feeling.
But the last time she had shared that emotion with someone, revealing that she had felt that way about him, he had ran away. So Kaihdin wasn’t too keen on sharing it so quickly. Especially with this older lion. She had no clue how to read him properly—yes—to chance what his reaction would be. Plus, she had no clue how he felt about it either.
“I’m sure your pride would count on you to lead the charge anyway,” she added, although silently thinking that while she would worry about him and the whole battle itself, she would be proud for him to be the one leading the fight. Why, she wasn’t sure, but it definitely seemed like something he would want. Something the pride would feel.
It seemed like she just blinked and when she opened her eyes, Raruo had caught a rabbit for her. Kaihdin smiled and went up to him, gently taking a side of the rabbit into her mouth while it was still hanging from his. She accidentally bumped her nose on his, blushed at the contact, and gently began to pull the rabbit away to lay on the ground.
Raruo stood still when she moved to take the rabbit, not really thinking about it until she was pretty close. Then he started to get nervous again, a feeling he was getting increasingly accustomed to and, with that, annoyed by. He tried not to move but now he was way too aware of it and when he felt her whisker on his muzzle he turned his head a bit, only contributing to the bump of noses. He released the rabbit and let her take it, clearing his throat and taking a step back as if to give her some room to eat, but really to ease his sudden surge of bumbling awkwardness.
He stepped down with his paw and winced, lifting it to find a few clinging, thorny branches from the bush linging to his fur. Frowning at it, he tried to shake them off, but then thought it would be embarrassed if she saw him expressing the way it smarted in such an obvious way.
He put his paw back down, not doing anything to help the thorns that were already sticking in his pad, and cleared his throat.
“I hope that’s, ah, good enough. I thought there might be a family, but it seemed this was the only one…” he didn’t really know why he was talking, and opted to stop before he said something less obvious and more incriminating. His nose felt warm and he found his chest was feeling funny again, in that same way as before.
And that he liked it.
Kaihdin placed the rabbit on the ground and nosed through and around it, cleanly splitting it about halfway down the body and scooted a portion over closer to her friend. She calmly laid down on the ground before him, bringing her half into her front paws, and began to munch on the snack. She didn’t notice the briars in his paw at the moment.
“No, it’s fine. I was just hungry for a snack anyway; this is perfect.” She smiled reassuringly at him. As she bent down to take another bite of her rabbit, and that was when she noticed his wounded paw.
“Did you just do that?” she frowned, pointing a paw to his, the ones where she saw the prickly things sticking out and on, especially the pad of his foot. That looked like it hurt, really. “Can I take a look at it?” Now she could finally repay him for his attentions to her hurt paw from before.
Raruo cleared his throat.
“No,” he said quickly, then shook his head and feigned confusion a bit too late for it to be effective, “what? There’s nothing to look at. This rabbit looks good.”
He crouched carefully down to take the half she had left him, focusing on it pretty heavily. He tried to use his paws normally, while at the same time hide, in as subtle a way as he could manage, the briar branches that remained. He made himself smile up at her in what was supposed to be a mood and topic changing effort, but it didn’t really work.
Chewing on the rabbit, he looked back down. Now he was feeling bad for lying.
“I just stepped on the bush and some of it is stick it me,” he said with a sigh, his mouth half full of chewed up rabbit. He swallowed, licking his chops and holding out his paw to her, not wincing now that he wasn’t surprised by the pain. It wasn’t that much, and he had experienced far worse in his day. Still, it wasn’t something he enjoyed.
Her skeptical gaze while he was trying to hide the injury saw right through those little lies of his. Right. ‘Nothing to look at,’ he said. And then he tried to change the subject on her. Hadn’t Roho taught her to catch someone lying, or dodging the question at hand? That was probably one of the most useful things her mother had taught her in preparing the young Kaihdin for her very own throne.
“More like threw yourself into the bush,” she commented, leaning forward a bit to inspect the outstretched paw. “Looks painful.” Gently, almost reverently because it involved touching him even more, Kaihdin took her teeth and slowly closed them over one of the thorns, careful to not get her lips stuck in the brambles as well. That would also be very difficult to get out, and she didn’t feel like adding to the predicament again.
She pulled the briar out as quick as she could and dropped it off to the side, in clear view so they would hopefully both be able to avoid it, but far enough away so that they would hopefully be able to avoid it anyway
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Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 11:01 am
He frowned. He hadn’t thrown himself into the patch. Damn it.
Looking embarrassed, but trying not to, he shook his head and then shrugged. Now he had a chance to be impressive, at least, because he could show off how not-painful the little poking wounds were. He held his paw out languidly, waiting patiently for her to inspect it and move on. He wasn’t expecting any kind of treatment.
So he winced when she pulled the thorn out, looking at her in surprise. His mouth was hanging slightly open, and he shook his head in wonder. Then he shut his trap and furrowed his eyebrows.
“You don’t have to…” but she was, so he couldn’t really stop her. Besides, he’d have a hell of a time doing it himself.
“Thanks… I appreciate that… a lot.”
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Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 9:58 pm
She didn't look up as she carefully extracted each of the prickles from the paw and tossing them over to the first, making a neat little pile. Kaihdin smiled a little bit at his semi-insistent comment, but she continued anyway.
"It's fine," she replied, finishing up the last thorn and then looking at the wounded paw. It was pink and a bit raw from all the attention, but it didn't look like there would be any lasting scars or troubles with anything.
"You were a great patient," Kaihdin told him, scooting herself backward to sit at a more appropriate distance. "I don't mind at all." Her smile only grew.
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Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2009 1:16 pm
Raruo couldn't say he was glad to have her scooting back. He thought he would be, considering how awkward it had been with her so close, but when she did draw back he found himself hoping for one last stray thorn in his paw to bring her forward again. He looked down at his big pad, wiggling his toes and nodding. It didn't hurt now, or not enough for him to call it pain, and he put it down onto the ground without another thought.
Looking up at her, he offered a small, but honest smile. It was almost easy, save for the lingering air of inexperience that drifted around him. He was not used to friendliness, much less whatever these feelings were, as he kept reminding himself. Even so, he found they were not unwelcomed, and he was increasingly inclined to just go with the flow.
"I'm not much for being a patient at all, if I can avoid it," he heard himself saying. He wasn't really listening, though, just watching her passively, "getting hurt isn't something a lion like me likes to do, in that it hurts my own pride more than anything else. Strength isn't measured in what injuries you do get and what you avoid, of course. Still... I sometimes let myself think it is. If I can do something, fight, without wounding myself... that has to mean something."
He blinked. Why was he talking so much? And why wasn't he saying anything?
"You're a very good nurse, though," he said, feeling his smile broaden without having to put any effort into making it happen, "I might almost be compelled to go step in it again, to... uh..." he seemed to finally realize words were just spilling from his mouth, and he stammered as he tried to catch them, "...nevermind."
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Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2009 8:16 pm
"If that's not strength, at least the physical kind you tend to use so well, then I'm not sure what is," she replied with a slightly puzzled look on her face. There were the two kinds of strength, of course: physical and emotional/mental/spiritual. Physical strength meant that one had the ability to outsmart and take down any and every opponent that one faced. Emotional strength meant that when a situation was at its worst, one could still triumph without any physical task to accomplish.
She was pretty sure that she had, indeed, done the latter, but not so much the physical aspect of it. Though she admired those who had. Like Raruo.
Kaihdin did laugh at that, though, and shook her head at his silliness. Just for that, she'd give him silly back, twofold. "It doesn't take you being hurt in some way for me to give you attention, you know," she teased lightly, and scooted closer as well. "All you need to do is say please."
And for a warrior, that shouldn't be too hard. Hopefully.
At least, that's what she hoped he meant, being closer to her and having her give him more attention. Because that's what she had done with removing the thorns from his paw. What else could he glean as a desire from that short interaction?
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Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2009 12:41 pm
Raruo looked up at her in surprise. Not negative surprise, or the kind that made him want to shirk away. It was just an air of honest unexpectedness about him, because he hadn't thought she would be as responsive to his little comments as she was.
Though he had definitely been hoping.
He moved a bit closer, drawing himself up and looking down at her, his thick, regally graying mane a bit rumpled but not distracting from his appearance. He tilted his head, toward her, looking thoughtful in a vaguely playful way. As playful as he remembered how to be, anyway.
"It's that easy, is it? Or so you say. Easy for you, maybe, but I get the feeling that you're an innately friendly person. I'm... not, to be blunt. But... I would very much like to spend more time with you. Uh. Please."
He didn't know if it was what she wanted to hear, but it was what he wanted to say, and he couldn't keep the words in now that he found his opening.
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