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Dubwana’dubu felt old. His first litter of cubs had grown to adulthood, most taking off on their own adventures, and his second was well on their way. He felt overrun by females, out of ten children only two had been male, and only one of the two acted like a male the other might as well be a female. He shook his head laughing softly, at least the kids kept him and his mate on his toes. Thinking about Gouta brought a smile to his muzzle, he loved the other male and had loved raising cubs with him- even if Bwana was the one that got stuck doing most of the grunt work. He didn’t exactly mind, both lions knew the black and white male was the more masculine of the two.
As he walked he felt his back leg getting sore and he sighed, it was going to rain soon. His scarred leg always felt sore before it rained, he wasn’t sure why. He hadn’t run into a healer and so had been unable to ask about it. In a way he didn’t mind, at least he knew when to search for cover. His golden eyes glanced around and he noticed he had wandered into what seemed to be a very flat section of the Savannah, the tall grasses swaying in the breeze. It took him a moment but he caught sight of a large acacia tree some distance away. That will do for shelter. The big lion nodded to himself and headed in that direction.
Bwana was too far away to realize that another already occupied the shelter of the acacia tree. A red and black leopardess with eerily similar markings to his was curled up, partially hidden by the tall grass. Her golden eyes were open and staring at nothing, the leopardess was lost in her thoughts. Noidee’a didn’t have many friends, this thought made her a bit sad. She didn’t get out much and when she did she didn’t run into many others. She pondered what it’d be like to have a large group of friends, and maybe even a family one day. She wondered what it’d be like to raise cubs, she had no idea how one was supposed to properly raise cubs but she thought she could probably figure it out. The only thing that worried her was maybe forgetting about her cubs one day. She tended to forget about a lot thing.
Sighing she rolled on to her side. For all she was forgetful she was certain that she could remember something as important as her cubs. She wondered what they could look like. Like her of course, and their father would have to be handsome, she’d like to have nice looking cubs. She chuckled to herself, how was she even going to have cubs? She didn’t know any males, and didn’t know the first thing about seducing one so that she could become pregnant.
Her laughter faded away until only silence remained. Noi became lost in her thoughts again until a large drop of water managed to make its way through the branches and leaves of the acacia tree to land on her muzzle. Blinking she sat up quickly and shook her head. That was unexpected. It was then that she thought to look up and around and the leopardess realized that it was raining, fairly hard it seemed. She sighed, seems like I’ll be stuck here all night she backed up towards the trunk of the tree where the cover was thickest but was stopped by something warm and slightly damp. Golden eyes wide she whipped around and stared at the large male lion, golden gaze matched by his golden gaze. ”Uhm…sorry” She blundered about with her words unsure of how to act, she had heard of lions that would run leopards out of their territory and she wasn’t sure if this was one of them.
Bwana looked down at the leopardess an amused smile on his muzzle. He hadn’t realized when he first reached the acacia tree that someone else had already taken shelter under it. When he did realize he had decided to go and see if they would mind sharing the dry spot with him. He hadn’t expected to quite run into them though. The lion didn’t speak yet, looking the leopardess over. She had the same markings as he did, only in a different colour, and the same eyes. The similarity made him feel at ease, though he wasn’t sure why.
”It’s alright, there’s no need to apologize. I shouldn’t have snuck up on you like I did.” He shrugged slightly and then gave himself a shake, he wasn’t wet enough to spray water all over but his mane felt heavy with soaked up raindrops. ”I was just coming to ask if you wouldn’t mind sharing your shelter with me until the rain stops, I don’t particularly enjoy traveling in bad weather.” He smiled again trying to be polite and hoping she would accept.
Noi stared up at the lion, almost confused. He seemed very kind which surprised her. She was also surprised by how similar they looked, same markings but in a different colour and the same golden eyes. Her mind wandered to what their cubs would look like, very much like her which made her happy, and he seemed strong and healthy which was always a good thing no matter what the occasion. She was so lost in thought she nearly forgot to respond to him. Nearly. ”Oh, well…I suppose it’s alright, I don’t like the rain either.” She smiled and then looked away. Maybe she could make this work in her favour.
The leopardess moved closer to him, pressing her side against his. ”You don’t mind staying close do you? We’d probably stay warmer that way.” She smiled, glancing sidelong at him, her heavy tail skimming the grass. While she was inexperienced it seemed her instincts had kicked in, the leopardess didn’t even realize she was in heat her biological clock telling her it was time to reproduce.
Bwana blinked at their sudden closeness and he opened his maw to disappoint her and explain he had a mate, but then he caught her scent and he paused breathing deeply. It was familiar yet different. He remembered smelling the same type of scent once before, only with a lioness. It was when his second litter was brought into existence. He felt his mind getting hazy and he growled low in his throat, running his muzzle through her fur. He couldn’t help himself, the smell was triggering something primal inside him. ”What’s your name?” His voice was gruff, and his tail was twitching. The voice that answered his question was soft. ”Noidee’a, but most call me Noi.” He mulled over that for only a second before continuing. ”Yes, Noi, I’ll stay close.” He made a noise that was between a growl and a purr and pressed against her. He’d do more than stay close. [FIN]
