Farli slinked through the tall grasses, keeping herself away from her small family group for the moment. It was odd, how sometimes the cheetah instinct to seek solitude rose up in her and demanded she get away from it all. Still, Farli knew it was part of her species make up and because of that she didn't try to ignore it. She was sociable to everyone she passed by most of the time…. In fact it was starting to wear off. She’d been alone all of today and part of last night.
Her ear twitched from an insect landing on it. She paused for a moment, shaking her head to get rid of the blasted thing. Mhmph. It was hot and there were bugs and she was lonely. Time to find the nearest waterhole.
*
Zari was bored. Her father was off with his new girlfriend, leaving Zari to fend for herself for the day. She didn't mind, but when he left her with nothing to do, each passing minute felt like an eternity.
Today was no exception, and the heat only made it worse. She panted under the shade of a tree, the heat making her legs feel heavy under her. Slowly she stood and made her way to the small waterhole.
*
Farli waded straight into the water. It was too small for crocodiles but big enough to be cool relief from the heat. She lowered her head to drink and lapped up her fill before looking up at the other creatures who were here. Looking for someone who looked friendly enough for a chat.
She felt like a chat. Harmless, fun little chat. Ho hum.
*
When Zari saw the water, she ran, closing the space between the two. She leaned her head down, and quickly lapped up the cool water, having to stop and take a breath from the stinging cold water. she laughed lightly, and bounded into the water, splashing around.
*
“Hey!” Farli was brought back out of looking around to the present as water splashed her way. She blinked in surprise and then laughed. The other cheetah seemed to be having a goodtime. And hell, she was easily the most interesting creature here. She was selected for that chat within a nano second.
Except instead of starting a longwinded introduction, Farli just splashed her back and offered a smile.
*
Zari hadn't been paying attention until water was splashed back to her. She blinked and looked over to see the culprit of the splash. Still acting like a child, she crouched her front paws down into the water, her rump still high in the air, and growled lightly before an onset of laughter took its place.
She jumped around, splashing water on both of them, causing most of the other parties at the oasis to flee.
*
Two could most definitely play this game. Farli gave and good as she got, splashing water and laughing, playing as a cub plays – without worry of being judged and with merry abandon. She pretended to snarl and pounched and sent up waves of water droplets with her paws. It was all very fun.
Soaked, cooler and tireder, she eventually flopped on a bank with a giggle. “Okay, you win!”
*
Zari laughed and flopped onto the edge of the bank, her body still half in the water. She didn't care for it much, but on these days, she couldn't help but love it.
She laughed and looked over to the other, "I haven't had that much fun in a while." She smiled.
*
“I don’t think I’ve had a waterfight like that in seasons. Not my usual reason for being at a waterhole anyway.” Farli commented amused, and licked absently as her paw a moment, smoothing the damp fur.
“Pleased to meet you, after all that. I’m called Farli”
*
"I'm Zari." She said as she stood and shook herself off, sending water in all directions. She then started to do the same, and licked her paw, trying to get the water off of her ears.
"It's nice to meet you too." She smiled, "Not every day I get to meet new people."
*
“Oh you should try to. Meeting new people is always so fun, don’t you think?” The golden cheetah likewise set about dealing with her wet fur, flicking her ears dry and giving her forepaws and shoulders the odd lick. That done she turned to the other female.
“Especially by way of water fight.” She grinned.
*
She smiled, "Yeah, and water fights are the best." She said as she gave up cleaning all her fur, and enjoyed the cool feeling against her fur.
She looked around, trying to find her father, "Sure." She smiled as she looked back to Farli. "Sure, I don't think my dad is going to be back for a while."
*
“Excellent…its been a while since I had a good girl chat…”
END
