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 Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2010 10:52 am
Dikeledi stretched comfortably. She was resting on a warm, flat rock, enjoying the end of the day. Truth be told, she was feeling a little bit lazy. Their journey for water, which had seemed so desperate in the beginning, was developing into quite a fun adventure. Although she would rather gnaw off her own foot than admit it, Dikeledi liked the company of the two males. She and her sister were of course completely self-sufficient (as well as the most beautiful and intelligent creatures ever to walk the savannah), but it was ... nice, having more hyenas around to talk to.
Well, so be it. Hyenas were supposed to be social, and female hyenas definitely need a male or two to boss around. And it was certainly amusing to have a lion to boss around as well. The pink-maned hyena glanced around idly. Where were the males, anyways? Bahari was off doing something, maybe with that scraggly wretch Bekeli. That left Sudaj. Dikeledi wouldn't admit it, but she would have been a tad annoyed if Sudaj had decided to go off with her sister.
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Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2010 11:03 am
Ahhh, sweet silence. Solitude. Bahari, Bekeli and Manyara had gone off to do .. who even cared what they went off to do. Sudaj found he could only take so much of Bekeli's whiny, nasally voice before Sudaj had to fight the urge to rip the other male's face off. And the way he panted after Bahari... Sudaj snorted to himself.
He had more important things to think about. Things like.. Dikeledi.
Oh, yes. With a mission in mind, he approached the other hyena. She was so becoming, so lovely. He had taken to daydreaming about the sassy hyena more often than not, but he wouldn't admit it openly. He couldn't tell how she felt about him and he didn't want to embarrass himself.
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Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2010 11:09 am
Hearing Sudaj's approach, Dikeledi turned her head to look at him. For the tiniest fraction of a second, Dikeledi felt indecisive. Should she stay stretched out, looking regal, or should she be up on her feet, alert and impressive? Feeling uncertain annoyed her, so she decided to do what she did best: be obnoxious.
Dikeledi rose to her feet, standing as tall as possible. "Sudaj," she said, a slight sneer on her face. Not enough to actually be offensive, but enough to let him know that she was clearly better than him and she knew it.
"Doing something useful, I suppose?" Of course, they were all taking a much-needed break, but she wasn't about to act soft just because of it.
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Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2010 11:15 am
He couldn't even remotely decide why he found her abrasiveness so enthralling. Sudaj wasn't usually such a docile male; most females he came around could be sweet-talked into doing what he wanted... which more often than not turned into a love 'em and leave 'em type situation. It was fine by Sudaj; he wasn't daddy or even mate material.
Dikeledi was different. Coarse, brash, sassy... things he usually found unattractive in females. But she was different. She did it and was still stunningly beautiful in her self-assurance.
"Merely taking a break, my Queen," he rumbled at her, a half-smile playing around his muzzle. He didn't want to press his luck; any one wrong move would end up badly.
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Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2010 11:25 am
Hmmmf. Well, she couldn't fault him for his politeness. Dikeledi studied him for a moment, pink eyes narrowed. He wasn't as scruffy or scraggly as Bekeli, so she couldn't snap at him to go clean himself up (maybe Bahari had taken Bekeli off to toss him in some crocodile-infested river to clean himself up? That would be a win either way).
So, nothing concrete to snap about. That left... small talk.
Dikeledi was pretty much at a loss as far as making small talk went. Nice weather? The weather was the same as it had been for days. Hot. Hot yesterday, hot today, hot tomorrow. Hmmm. Not knowing what to say was making Dikeledi irritable. She could always tell Sudaj to go away, of course, but she had been growing a little bit bored.
"You don't look entirely disreputable today," Dikeledi said finally, grudgingly.
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Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2010 11:29 am
"And you look entirely stunning," Sudaj dared to say. He hoped she wouldn't be angry at his statement, so he hurried to follow it up with a softer, "...my Queen." before falling silent once more. She didn't call him ugly, didn't tell him to leave, didn't tell him to go wash the filth from his fur... all of these things were weighing in his favor as far as he could tell.
He remained silent, waiting to see where the conversation might take them.
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Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2010 11:38 am
Of course she looked stunning. Dikeledi sniffed. Sudaj must be a very stupid hyena, to make such a dull and obvious observation. It was like saying that water was wet or snakebites were bad.
Even though it was a stupid statement, that didn't mean it wasn't nice to hear. Dikeledi's habitual grouchiness receded a fraction of a percent of an iota.
What else was there to say to him? It occurred to Dikeledi that she didn't know that much about Sudaj, never having asked. He was a male hyena and therefore automatically boring. His past would be boring as well, his dull little wimpy life meaningless before he hooked up with the two hyena sisters.
Well, she hadn't asked then and she wasn't about to ask now and have him (heavens forbid) think she cared.
"Why do you hate Bekeli?" Dikeledi asked abruptly. She didn't actually care about whatever foolish squabble the two males had, but it was something to ask about that might be slightly more interesting than the weather, or whatever tedious journey the brown hyena had been on before he met her.
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Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2010 11:43 am
Well, he wasn't expecting that train of thought to come up in their conversation. It made Sudaj frown the slightest. Really? Bekeli popping up in the midst of what Sudaj had hoped was a very private and sensual conversation? That stupid, stupid, worthless skinny scrawny piece of --
"He is stupid," Sudaj muttered rather bluntly. "Though he is loyal to the end, Bekeli is rather stupid." He didn't know what else to say, and he didn't really know how to get the conversation back on the track he wanted. Perhaps he'd been going about this the wrong way.
"I had a thought, Dikeledi. Is now a good time to share it?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2010 11:49 am
Because Bekeli was stupid, eh? Well, Dikeledi couldn't argue with that. She shrugged, already bored with the topic of conversation. She could have pointed out that Sudaj was stupid and she didn't hate him, but that would have felt uncomfortably sappy.
"What did you think, Sudaj?" The tone of voice was kind, almost too kind. It said she was going to take Sudaj's glittery macaroni picture of a thought and hang it up on the refrigerator with alphabet magnets, to be thrown away as soon as possible.
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Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2010 11:54 am
"Well, my Queen," his voice was almost a purr, though his attempts seemed to bounce off of her like rain on waxy leaves. "I have an idea for you to mull over in your mind. It might seem far-fetched now, but I think you will come to see the brilliance of it in the long run." He cleared his throat. This was a do-or-die moment, and he had to be very careful.
"I understand we are on the move to find a new home for ourselves, and others who might be likeminded." He paused, "It might not be the best time to confront an entire pride of well-fed and hungry lions. I suggest that we.. ah, take time to bolster our numbers." When he said it this way, it made sense. "Even going so far as to ...ah.. procreate with one another in order to raise pups to fight for our cause."
He hoped that would go over well.
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Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2010 12:02 pm
Dikeledi listened to Sudaj's words, considering. She supposed it wasn't such a terrible train of thought -- but wait, who exactly was going to be doing the procreating?
Was he coming on to her?
The pink-maned hyena narrowed her eyes. "What an excellent idea, Sudaj. Perhaps you could start by procreating with your little friend Bekeli."
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Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2010 12:07 pm
Sudaj frowned. Well, wonderful. That hadn't turned out the way he had hoped it would. In fact, it was kind of disheartening. He'd been trying so hard to make a good impression on the hyena female, and she'd basically just gone and spat in his face. It was humiliating. He didn't know what to do. What could he do?! It wasn't as if he could just bend her to his will. She'd rip him apart.
"Of course, my Queen. What was I thinking.. please forgive my insolence." He fell silent, fighting the urge to sniff indignantly. "I will take my leave now."
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Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2010 12:13 pm
Dikeledi's flare of annoyance subsided. Sudaj's meekness cooled her temper somewhat. Maybe he wasn't coming on to her. Maybe he was just ... well ... dumb. His idea wasn't that bad, actually. If they were going to start their own clan they needed babies, of course. Dikeledi would prefer it if Bahari took care of that messy stuff by herself, but she supposed she had responsibilities too.
"I will think about your idea," Dikeledi said, somewhat stiffly. "Perhaps it is not totally abysmal." She walked up to him, thinking to make some friendly gesture, but not sure of what that would be. Forget it, then. With a slight shake of her head, she turned and stalked off.
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Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2010 12:16 pm
That hadn't been so bad, really, Sudaj thought to himself as he watched her stalk away. He could have done better, though, of that he was certain. At least she said she'd think about it, and that was better than he could hope for after she'd told him to go 'procreate' with Bekeli.
After she'd left, he snorted at himself. "Losing your touch, old boy," he murmured, rising to his feet to find a bit of shade to rest in.
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