[PRP] A Meeting of Chance (Kis'erela x Kuojo)

[RuIerr]

The sun was high in the sky, illuminating what seemed to be the entirety of the rogue lands with its brilliance; leaving behind great shadows behind every rock and tree. The sky was a bright blue, a particular shade of blue only able to be reached when there were no clouds polluting the skies. It was a beautiful scene, something straight out of a children's storybook, but what wasn't was what was happening under those crystalline skies.

Stay low. One carefully placed paw after another, Kis'erela stalked toward the now motionless gazelle. For some reason or another, it had strayed; a fact for which the crouching female thanked the gods for. Just a bit closer. She crept forward, ever-closer to the unexpecting animal of prey. A thin smile spread across Kis'erela's lips; already she felt she could taste the warm meat of the gazelle. One more step. And with that single last step, Kis'erela just happened to step upon a twig. Under her weight it cracked; not loudly, but enough so that the gazelle froze, then began to prance. "No!" Kis'erela cursed her stupidity, and attempted to chase after the creature, with a pounce that ended in a face-full of dirt.

The gray lioness stood up, her limbs aching from crouching for so long. She attempted to wipe off some of the dirt upon her face, but it was only in vain - the dirt seemed to smear, adding what she could only imagine as very difinitive, dark lines across her previously spotless face. Kis'erela glanced out across the tall-growing grasses only to see the prance of a distant gazelle. She scowled, shaking her head. It was only mid-day, and already she was hungry, dirty, and tired. Could anything else possibly go wrong?

 

[Sexy Cocaine]

The middle-aged male had arrived just in time to watch the struggle between predator and prey. He had been intending to use this as his hunting grounds for today, but all too quickly noticed that the integrity had been compromised by this lioness.

Without missing a beat, he slowly made his way over to a nearby rock, keeping an eye on the chase and doing his best not to disturb any of the other creatures. The second he sat was the second she ate dirt and, quite literally, lost her lunch. He did not snicker or call attention to himself. He was an observer, nothing more. Perhaps learning from her mistakes or pondering what he would've done differently.

Subconsciously, when she began attempting to groom herself, he fiddled with his mane and tried to sort through the tangled green mess. What would she do now? Dust herself off and try again? Walk away, brooding the loss of her meal? His dark eyes observed her intently.  

[RuIerr]

What was Kis'erela thinking? Of course something more could go wrong; possibly something even worse depending upon the embarassment factor. She found this possible when she turned her mud-splattered body around, after feeling that acute sense of someone spying on her. But what she found wasn't so much a spy as a viewer; one who seemed not to hide one bit the fact that he was watching her.

Now, Kis'erela would usually be very kind to another she stumbled upon, especially a handsome male such as he. But something reared up in her at that moment; perhaps avid embarassment at her horrid appearance in front of such another, perhaps anger at the escaped gazelle. Whatever it was, Kis'erela felt herself unable to control it somehow. "What're you looking at?" She spat, eyes squinting in the direction of the male; not to block out the sun, but to get the effect she seemed to be going for - pure hatred; something she'd never experienced before. But as she took in the lion's soft appearance and deep, kind eyes, she felt her anger ebb. Even before she allowed him a chance to respond, Kis'erela could feel herself calming and feeling regretful about being so rude. Hopefully, he wasn't too offended.

 

[Sexy Cocaine]

Kuojo's eyes narrowed at the response he'd most expected. That IS how most lions responded. Pissed off that their struggle was captured by the eyes of another predator. He wasn't offended. Perhaps, slightly agitated at that look in her eyes that screamed 'You're the scum of the earth and it's your fault this meal escaped me.' It was for that reason, he usually didn't stick around after he was confronted. Past experience told him that the philosophy of an angry predator was to attack if they were bigger and ask questions later... If they decided to ask questions. But as he was about to get up, he noticed her expression soften, if just a little bit.

"What do you think I'm looking at?" He didn't speak in a mocking tone, or as if it was some kind of retort. Though, answering a question with a question wasn't really what most creatures wanted to hear.  

[RuIerr]

Kis'erela couldn't help but to stare at the male for a moment, trying to figure him out. Usually, when one answered a question with a question, it was intended sarcastically, and typically made the speaker sound like a smart-a**. But this case was completely different. The male sounded completely sincere; as if unable to tell what he was glacing over with those chocolate-brown eyes of his. At first, Kis'erela didn't know how to respond. Taken as a serious question, it was one that could've taken a great bit of thought to answer. Instead of looking like an idiot, she decided upon an answer with too much hesitation.

"A complete mess, it seems," she said with a slight smile, figuring that was how he regarded her when looking her over. Flicking her tail with mild amusement, Kis'erela smiled a bit wider at the male. "I'm Kis'erela, by the way. Also a tad embarassed, but I'd rather you not call me by that." Now was her turn to observe the other; he had very natural coloring that reminded her much of a forest, save for his moss-green mane, tail, and toe-tips. Even though he had but few markings, each one was something to look at, especially those around his eyes. His brown eyes seemed to hold a certain thoughtfulness to them - and Kis'erela found it absolutely intriuging.

 

[Sexy Cocaine]

Ah, modesty. Now there was something he didn't see every day, especially in lions. That was what he'd been looking for.

"I am Kuojo." Was his simple response to her introduction. He noticed her observing him like he had been doing minutes before and couldn't help but crack a small smile. Kuojo stood and climbed off the rock with a slow approach towards her. His step was careful, but perhaps not what one would define as grace. More of caution than anything. "And I apologize if you were embarrassed by me."

Kuojo wasn't one to apologize for things like that, since he didn't feel as if he was in the wrong for simply being there... But with the honesty she'd offered him, he felt like he at least owed her that.

"To answer your question, I'm not looking at the first lioness who's ever fallen in the dirt while hunting." It was his way of saying 'Hey, don't feel so bad. Almost everybody does it.' He knew he had more than a couple of times.  

[RuIerr]

Listening to his name with peaked interest, Kis'erela quickly began wondering what his name meant. All lions seemed to have note-worthy names that, in one way or another, represented them some how. Her's, for example, meant something along the lines of "to adventure" - and it fit her perfectly. From her curious disposition to ever-moving paws, it represented her in a way that not much else was able, and she knew others' names were like that, too.

Blushing a bit further, Kis'erela nodded, smiling. "And I apologize for you having to witness that; even if it was something of an everyday occurence - I imagine it had to be just a bit painful to watch." She flicked her tail and stepped toward him, finding herself quite peaked in interest in this seemingly quiet and cautious male. His words seemed carefully calculated, as if every one held more meaning than one could even imagine. Something further fascinated Kis'erela, too; she couldn't quite place her paw on it, but this male was definitely different than the other's she'd met. And she knew she needed to figure him out.

 

[Sexy Cocaine]

While she was mulling over how interesting he was, Kuojo had to admit she was kinda interesting too...

"No need to apologize." He spoke as he walked, stopping just a few inches from her. "Think of it this way. If this unfortunate occurrence hadn't come to pass, there's a good chance we wouldn't be standing here talking to each other."

A smooth talker, when he bothered to open his mouth. It was strange. Kuojo wasn't exactly a ladies man. Most females were put off by him showing up at the worst times (to say this was the first would be a lie, plain and simple), and the fact that he didn't speak unless spoken to. But even after the somewhat rough greeting, she was smiling. He liked that and couldn't understand why...  

[RuIerr]

Something about Kuojo was absolutely captivating to Kis'erela. He didn't seem to be trying to hard, for one; usually when males were around her, and seemed to be flirting in any way, it was as if they felt the need to drop cave-sized "hints" about how appealing they found her. Koujo was different in this way; much smoother, and a tad more subtle. And secondly, he was quite... soft-spoken. It wasn't anything about the masculinity of his voice; he didn't sound anything like a female or anything, but it was more the fact that he seemed to speak only when spoken to, and even then chose his words carefully.

The male fascinated Kis'erela, and his words on made the smile on her face grow ever-so-slightly wider. "Oh, so true, Kuojo. All too true, really. But what ever were you doing about here in the first place?" Her mind had now left that of dwindling on her embarrassment and was now moving on, her interest in this make furthering, many questions quickly forming and re-shaping themselves in her mind. She had to find out more about him; for some reaso, she felt the need to get to know him better.

 

[Sexy Cocaine]

What was he doing here?

... What was he doing here?

His face morphed from surprise, to puzzlement, to deep contemplation. Well, that never happened before. This was probably Kuojo's first brain fart.

"Oh! I was going to try and catch a meal here today... I apologize for the long pause... I couldn't recall... for a second." His words seem to slow down the closer he got to the end of his statement. Kuojo couldn't help but notice how big her smile was.

Had he done that? Had he actually created a genuine smile on someone's face? That was new... But it wasn't a bad new experience.

"I don't interrupt if somebody beat me to it, though. You never know who's would-be territory you're treading on." He finally finished after a moment's pause.  

[RuIerr]

Kis'erela watched as Kuojo's face flashed across many different emotions, wondering about the pause that stretched between her question and his answer. She half-heartedly felt a tad bad when he mentioned his reason for appearing at the spot she'd been in, realizing that she probably chased away his only chance for a meal at the time, too. His explanation of his pause made her giggle; typically, neither of the party would address something like that. But he did - and it was certainly very different.

Nodding, Kis'erela replied; "I suppose you're right, but I, personally, wouldn't have minded you popping up and striking down the gazelle. Maybe then I wouldn't be so hungry." She flashed a smile, thinking wistfully of the lost meal, but her thoughts were all-too-soon consumed once again by the handsome male thats tood before her. Handsome. She didn't think she'd used that word to describe anyone before - but she liked it.

 

[Sexy Cocaine]

Slowly getting back to his usually logical self, his smile disappeared for a few moments. "I've learned not to interfere with other lions' hunting techniques. Not everyone is so open to reason." It sounded like he had learned from experience, and the way his smile disappeared, painful one's at that.

Wanting to move away from those thoughts, he stood and looked around. "I'm sure there's something else to be eaten around this area. And, if you'll humor me, we could probably take down something large with two lions instead of one."