Shani was having an unusually quiet afternoon. She'd gone for a walk around with Wahabu but he'd gone off to .. well, do something else and she'd circled back around here in case she was needed at any point through the afternoon while the kids wandered and played as they generally did now. Nobody was left lazing around the den so she was happy to occupy that job for the afternoon, laying out in the sunshine and dozing peacefully. She didn't expect it to last very long but that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy it while she had it.
Dashing madly, Barafu came into view rather quickly-- he was in the midst of a game with some of the other cubs around and he was intent on not getting caught so he had run this way. As soon as he spotted Shani, he knew he was in luck! This would be the perfect hiding spot, whether or not she knew it or wanted to play with them. She'd help it, that was what grandmothers did! He barely made it to a stop before bumping into Shani's side.
"Hi, gram!" he squeaked, looking back over his shoulder and then scrambling over Shani's back to duck down by her other side.
Hearing the sound of Barafu's pawsteps long before he bumped into her, she was awake, alert and watching him when he scrambled over her. Shaking her head, she looked off in the direction he had come from. Nothing- or no one- was coming for him. And he wasn't upset so much as he was excited. Clearly she was being put in the middle of a game. She sighed and turned her head to look down at the pale boy.
"Good afternoon, Barafu," she said with a laugh, "What are you up to?"
"Up to?" he repeated, glancing about shiftily and then pushing himself upward to peek over Shani before flopping back onto the ground and smiling up at her, making an effort to catch his breath, "Nothing! I just wanted to come hang out with my most favoritest grandma!" He nodded very seriously. He wasn't supposed to admit it but she was his favorite grandma, he had another one but she was a lot older and he loved her but she wasn't as much fun. That may have been in part because grandma Shani also had a bunch of cubs his age and because he and his family lived a bit closer to them but.. anyway!
"What are you up to?"
Shani stifled another laugh, he was clearly up to something and whatever it was she was expected to play it cool- or play along- depending on what happened next. She knew, too, he shouldn't be saying who his favorites were but it didn't mean she didn't like to hear it. She wasn't exactly competitive but everybody liked feeling appreciated. Shaking her head, she watched him settle in by her side and turn the question back on her.
"I'm certainly not up to anything," she said, though more honestly than Barafu could, "I'm just enjoying the sun all by myself, but I'm glad I have you for company now."
"Good!" he said brightly, beaming up at her and snuggling up closer to her. He might normally have asked where everybody was but he knew where several of them were- they were back where he had come from- so he really didn't need to know. And he wasn't a very good liar so he knew better than to fake it and ask anyway. He was glad to snuggle up with her until he really had to worry about the game he was playing with the others. Maybe nobody saw him come this way and then they wouldn't find him. Then he would win! And Barafu liked winning.
"Are you sure you wouldn't rather be playing with everybody else?" Shani asked, raising a brow at him. She knew what was going on, she was just teasing him about it. She took the moment to look around them, spotting a nearing small pale figure and looking back to Barafu, wondering if she should tell him someone was coming for him or not now, "Do you know where they've all gone to? I haven't seen them since this morning."
"Nope!" he responded quickly and cheerily, completely missing the change in her expression when she looked around and again when she looked back to him. He smiled up at her and then started to make himself comfortable, feeling more and more confident the more time he was able to lay by her side undetected. Nobody saw him coming this way and so nobody would be able to find him. He would wait until the sun was a little lower before he'd go declare victory on them.
"Nope," he repeated, though his voice rose a bit at the lie.
She shook her head at his response, not expecting anything else but knowing he was about to get caught.
"If you say so, de-" Shani cut herself off, turning her head back to the opposite direction just in time for the approaching pale figure to be unmistakably present.
It had been Fyulisi's turn to seek when Barafu had run away like he did and hide this far away. It hadn't taken very long to find everybody else because everybody else was playing by the rules and stayed in the little area they had been playing in. If Tamu hadn't seen Barafu run off in this direction, Lisi wouldn't have known where exactly to go-- and she would go because he wasn't allowed to cheat like that! Even if they hadn't really stated the rules, it was kind of obvious you didn't run away.
"Grandma Shani!" she cried, stumbling to a halt a couple feet away, "Have you seen Barafu?"
Barafu froze when suddenly Shani stopped and a familiar, irritated voice cut in. He gasped and ducked down against the ground, putting his paws over his eyes as if that would help him stay out of sight. His tail refused to cooperate at first and he had to scramble to get it under a foot so it would stop swishing around through the dirt. If he wasn't in the right spot, the blue tuft would give him away easily.
"I'm not here!" he muttered to Shani, hoping she would keep his secret.
Shani's ears flicked back to Barafu despite Lisi being right in front of her talking to her. She couldn't keep a straight face, she was a worse liar than Barafu was-- and he was definitely louder in muttering than he thought he was. If Lisi didn't know he was there, it would be surprising.
"Barafu?" she repeated, smiling, "What makes you think he'd be here, Lisi, dear?"
Lisi narrowed her eyes and scowled at Shani when she evaded directly answering the question. She could hear Barafu hiding behind her, even if she wouldn't say it. It was hard to stay mad with Shani smiling at her like that though, she wasn't really mad at Shani- she hadn't said he wasn't here, just wasn't taking sides.
"Tamu said she saw him coming this way," she said, then raised her voice to make sure Barafu knew she was really talking to him, "But you're not allowed to come this far away, that's cheating!"
Wincing when Lisi raised her voice to accuse him of cheating, he curled up tighter and hoped that his grandmother wouldn't say anything incriminating. He did catch that she wasn't really hiding that he was there but he could still hope that she wasn't about to hand him over to his angry cousin. He kept his mouth shut this time, though. If he didn't make another peep, it'd be easier to argue that he wasn't there at all. This wasn't cheating, it was strategy. A good one.
"Tamu said, did she?" Shani said, repeating Lisi again in an increasingly see-through tactic, "You guys were playing hide and seek, then? Tamu does have pretty good eyes." She couldn't help herself and glanced down without moving her head, a clear indication to Lisi that he was in fact hiding behind her. She was rather impressed with how still and quiet he managed to be now. And now she was picking a side against him but this would get him back into the game. And he'd forgive her.
Lisi nodded, almost frowning again-- until she followed Shani's gaze. So! Barafu was hiding here after all! She put on a grin and couldn't hide the excited change in her voice when she inched closer and closer, getting ready to catch him. He was the last one to be caught but that didn't mean he would be the winner, especially since he had cheated to last this long.
"Ahuh," she answered, narrowing her eyes and inching closer and closer to Shani, wiggling as she readied to hop over her and catch Barafu, "And Barafu is the only one left to find."
Ducked down and trying his best to pretend he wasn't here and wasn't going to get caught, he realized late that Lisi's voice and shuffling paws were getting closer and closer. She was trying to sneak around and get him that way! Well, he wasn't about to let that happen. A little louder than he intended, he started to push himself backward. He would sneak around to the other side at the same time Lisi made it around here to get him.
Shani had to actively stop herself from turning her head to look at where Barafu was scurrying off to now, and she wasn't able to do it without giving him away. The jig was up now, all that was left was for Lisi to catch him. She glanced back to Lisi with a smile, nodding for her to get him while he was trying to get away.
"I see," she murmured.
Lisi was nodding but she didn't say anything else or look back to Shani again after she knew exactly where to go to get Barafu. She stopped, leaned back on her back legs and wiggled before leaping forward and over Shani's back to get the troublesome blue boy.
"Gotcha, cheaterface!" she cried, stubby little claws out and ready to cling on for what would no doubt be quite the struggle.
"ARGH!" Barafu yelled, bracing himself as soon as he heard Lisi call out to him and barely managed to begin an evasive scramble before she had caught him. Her claws weren't sharp but she wasn't much smaller than him and he didn't want to be caught so he put up a good fight and tried to get away.
"I didn't cheat!" he exclaimed, attempting to roll over and gain the advantage, "Grandma! You were supposed to say I wasn't here!"
Shani rolled herself over so she was facing the pair, and to get out of their way as they caused a fair commotion. She shook her head at them, smiling down at Barafu as he looked up at her accusing her of not playing her part properly, exactly as she had expected that to play out.
"I'm sorry, Lisi's just too smart to fall for that," she laughed.
"Yeah!" Lisi exclaimed, unfortunately trying to stand just as Barafu tried to roll her off and getting tossed into Shani's side. She wasted no time hopping back up and putting a triumphant paw down on Barafu's tail, which had come out from beneath his paw in their struggling for dominance. She had won, he was caught!
"I got you now, Barafu! You lose!"
"Grandma!" he whined, not immediately reacting when Lisi tumbled off of him and not getting a chance to move his tail before she got a paw on it. Scowling at her, he scrambled to his feet, pulling his tail out from beneath her paw. He hopped backward and stuck his tongue out.
"No you haven't! You gotta actually catch me," he said, then leaped back over Shani- amazing himself when he didn't actually trip- and taking off back for where the game had taken place.
Shani shook her head as Barafu leaped over her middle and then ran off again, looking down to Lisi- who looked like she was ready to cry or yell.
"You better not let him get away with that," she said encouragingly, pushing herself up so she she wouldn't be in the way and nudging at the little pale girl.
Lisi didn't react right away, watching furiously as Barafu made his get away and only snapping back out of it when Shani nudged at her. She nodded and then scrambled to follow after him. She would catch him again, and unfortunately for him, she had everybody else on her side now, too.
Shani watched them go off to finish their game and decided they just might be needing a referee if they couldn't agree on what counted as cheating or if Barafu didn't back down. Chances were slim but she was probably best off going. So she got up and, at a much more leisurely pace, walked along after them.
Fin.
