So, his first run in with a female had not been successful but that wasnot his fault in the slightest. She had a mate, had cubs running around. Even if he wanted to try and steal her away from her mate, which he remained confident he could do, he couldn't have accomplished his goal. No, he needed to find an unattached lioness. Figuring his odds might be better away from a pride, he had changed his direction after nearly running into the Pridelands and gone off walking randomly, ever attentive for the presence of others. There was still plenty of time, his brothers weren't as handsome or charming as he was so he had the advantage. Still, some part of him felt the desire to rush. The sooner he could return home with a girl, the more impressed everybody would be with him. So he only stopped to sleep and, when necessary, hunt and eat. Neither tired nor hungry now, he wandered with his full attention on finding a lioness to talk to.
While Jino was off on his own doing.. whatever it was that Jino did, Kinagiri had gone off for a walk on her own. She had no idea what she would find when she was on her own, her own future was the only thing that she couldn't manage to get sight of in her visions. Still, that didn't stop her from wandering. She didn't feel any need to be paranoid. Though sometimes she wondered if she had wandered too far for Jino to be able to know where she was again but she never did seem to be able to pull it off so she didn't worry about it. She had no particular goal in mind as she walked, simply stretching her legs and taking a look around. Perhaps she could pick the next direction they would go in, it was boring to stay in one place for a long time.
Then she spotted Makini in the distance. He looked vaguely familiar but she couldn't quite place it.
Just when Kinagiri spotted him, Makini had spotted her. He stood still, looking off toward her very thoughtfully. It was certainly not a male for it lacked a mane and it was too big to be a youth. So it was the perfect opportunity to try his luck- no, his skill and charm- once again. Grinning confidently, his head held high and his chest puffed out impressively, he strode over to greet the lioness. He immediately took note of how attractive she was, something he was glad for. He might be desperate, in a sense, but he wouldn't just take any lioness. And her colors were a fine compliment to his own and those in his family. They only thing he couldn't tell from appearances was whether or not she had a mate. And, he supposed, if she had any cubs.
"Good afternoon, miss," he greeted her cheerily, the remaining questions still in mind.
As Makini came closer and closer, Kinagiri stayed still and watched carefully. He certainly didn't look like he was about to attack her, he looked more like he was trying to impress her. It wasn't until she got a clear view of the markings on his legs and shoulder that she realized who she had run into. She could have burst into laughter right there but she knew that wouldn't be a smart way to begin an interaction. Still, she couldn't help but smile and shake her head. Especially at the way he was walking towards her.
"Hello there, you handsome devil," she responded brightly, though with a slight mocking tone she didn't doubt would be lost on his thick head. She knew what he was thinking, why he walked the way he did. She didn't need to be a seer to know that, being female and smarter than a rock was all it took.
So far, so good. Her reaction made him puff up ever-so-slightly more and the sarcasm was completely lost on him. To him, the comment had established mutual attraction on some level and that meant his job was pretty much done. Which made him come on that much stronger. He circled Kinagiri, not hiding his thoughts or intentions as he looked her over, stopping in front of her and beaming.
"What's a pretty lady like you doing all the way out here by yourself?" he asked, always smiling. He didn't think he was near any prides, he'd specifically tried to avoid it. Either way, he was trying to strike up a conversation. Hopefully she would indicate if she was alone or not- and if not, if it was a mate (or children, ugh) that were with her.
It took a lot of self control to keep a smile on her face and a laugh from taking over as he continued. He was so lacking in subtley it was amazing he could ever convince anybody- and she knew he would succeed in charming a lioness eventually. It just wasn't a surprise it was one who was desperate to have cubs with her mate. Who looked remarkably like this lion here. She almost felt bad knowing what was going to happen, but really, she had known before. He just seemed that much more obnoxious in person.
"A girl doesn't need a reason to be out," she remarked, smirking at him, "What's a guy like you doing out here?"
She bit her tongue before adding anything about being obnoxiously creepy while approaching lone strangers.
Taking 'a guy like you' as a good thing, Makini only grinned wider. He had to consider how to proceed carefully, even though things seemed hopeful. Ladies could be unpredictable, even when all signs pointed to a warm welcome. And besides, his aim was much more direct than the usual courting process. He had motivation to speed things up a bit, and it showed. Which was why he was so pleased with her reactions so far.
"I'm out seeing the world before I decide if I ought to head back home," he responded, a lie, mostly, but he figured a good one, "You are the most interesting thing I've seen yet, are you taken?"
This time, Kina couldn't help but laugh at his directness. Still smiling, she shook her head at him in response. There was no way she would admit to being single when she knew what exactly was on his mind-- and she knew his motivation, she had no desire to attempt to stand in the way of the future she had seen for him, and for Mbinti.
"I'm afraid so," she said, taking her turn to circle around him as he had her, "But I know what you're looking for, Makini."
His ears turned back when she said she was taken, but he wasn't entirely put off just yet. As she seemed regretful and circled around him, he put on his most charming smile.
"That's too bad, could I change your mind about that?" he asked, keeping his eyes on her as she went around and stopped before him again. He looked curious, though still carefully smiling, when she said she knew what he was looking for. Funny, he didn't remember introducing himself, either.
"And what's that?"
"A queen," she said with a mysterious smile, ignoring his question about changing her mind about her actually non-existent mate. She stood still, looking directly into his eyes as she attempted to see into his past, his future. It took a moment of silence and she seemed to look right through him, her expression becoming more serious as she did. But once she snapped out of it, she was smiling again. She had more details of the fight, the exchange with Mbinti, the trouble to come, his sister's appearance with news of the brother who'd won..
Makini had no experience with seers and knew something weird was going on as soon as Kinagiri answered correctly. His charming smile went away, his posture relaxed and he wrinkled his nose. She knew he was looking for a queen? It was too perfect of word choice to be a coincidence, for her to be using a fancy word for mate or lover or whatever it might mean to any other lion. He immediately searched his mind for anybody he'd known who looked like her but he could only conclude she wasn't from his pride, ever. He hadn't been blabbing to anybody about his little mission, either, so he had no idea what to think. And he had no idea what to say.
"Don't worry," she said, smirking at him and deciding to go with mysterious this time, "You'll get what you're looking for, don't you worry about that." She circled around him again thoughtfully, shaking her head as she went. This time she did not stop back in front of him to look directly at him, instead stopping by his side, where they were parallel- now barely more than a foot away, as opposed to the good, comfortable distance she had stayed away before.
"A green lioness- not me," she said, "You'll know her when you see her."
She chose to give him little information. After all, this was free! And it would be more fun that way. She certainly couldn't say for absolute certain he would know when he found Mbinti but it was a fun little addition to mess with his head. If he didn't find Mbinti fast enough, it would certainly get to him.
"What?" he blinked, not looking nearly as charming now that she'd managed to confuse him so completely. He watched her suspiciously as she came closer and circled around him, stopping by his side. One eye narrowed, he stared as she continued. A green lioness and he would know her when he saw her. What the hell did that mean?
"How do you know?" he asked doubtfully.
"Trust me," she said brightly, winking at him and then walking past him back in the direction she had been coming from before. It was time to go if she didn't want to put up with more questions, hopefully he would be too dumbfounded to follow after her and demand an explanation or more answers. He didn't seem vicious so much as.. obnoxious. Once she was some distance away and no longer heard any rustling after her, she smiled widely. She couldn't laugh just yet but boy, would Jino enjoy hearing about this.
Makini only stared dumbly at Kina when she winked at him and then started to walk away. He blinked, then took a couple steps to follow after her.
"Wait a minute!" he said, a slight growl in his voice. But she didn't stop and he didn't go after her. He only stared and watched her go, trying to make sense of what had just happened.
Fin!
