Ment = Red
Ekun = Black
Ment was at the shore line, rolling around in the sand. Normally he wouldn't do this because getting sand out of his fur was an endeavor that required far too much effort on his part. Unfortunately for Ment, rolling around in the sand was the only thing that could temper the itch he had on his back. He had tried trees and they didn't work. He had tried rock, and that didn't work. He had even tried to get his one friend to scratch at him and it just wasn't working. He hoped the sand would work, otherwise he wasn't sure what to do.
"Com'on!" Ment groaned, flopping around even more in the sand causing it to fly practically everywhere, "Itchy, itchy, itchy, itchy."
Ment was unaware of anyone who was around. His pride members had laughed at his antics once before, so he generally attempted to keep away from them when he decided to perform one of them. If they couldn't see him, they couldn't laugh at him.
Ekun had started feeling a bit of a...well, nagging sensation, really. Things had been strange since she had stepped up to the position of Kifuko. Small things, small bits of bad luck. She really hoped it passed. But it still made her uncomfortable, and so she made her way to her favorite thinking place, determined to take advantage of her small bit of free time. Imagine her surprise to find someone else there. Rolling around. Looking rather uncomfortable.
She knew who it was, though she'd never actually talked with him. He'd joined when Kamaria was the Kifuko, but the bit of information he'd brought in was a part of all the others decorating the cave walls and ensconced in her mind.
"Uhm...what are you doing, Peremende'ment?" The dark lioness tilted her head, curious and worried and the same time.
When the voice rang out clear in Ment's ears he all but froze mid wiggle. The overwhelming sense of humiliation slowly crept through his spine as a nervous albeit cheesy grin spread over his face when he raised his head to meet the gaze of the current Kifoku, Ekun. Boy was this one awkward situation he had placed himself in. Attempting to escape the scorn of his pride-mates while he indulged in his odd way of figuring things out and sneaking up on him came their leader. Awesome.
"H-Hello Kifoku. Didn't see you there... Uh... Lovely weather we're having isn't it?" Ment said, quickly attempting to pull words from his mind in order to distract her from what was going on.
Ment flipped over onto his belly, tan sprinkles of sand littering his pristine white pelt. He quickly got to his feet, and out of habit shook off the remaining sand, causing it to spray everywhere as if he was a Wild Dog. He was making great headway with his impression on this Kifoku, just like the last one... The irony would have killed him if he knew what irony was.
Ekun couldn't help but giggle. He acted rather like a cub caught trying to sneak a bite of dinner before the rest of the litter got there! It was rather funny. "It's nice weather indeed. And I'm sorry for sneaking up on you. I wasn't expecting anyone else to be here, and I was hoping to escape the other pride members for a bit myself." She smiled sheepishly, still more the curious, adventurous girl she was used to being rather than a 'srsbizness' Kifuko.
"Does your back itch? Or did a crab get under the fur? I might be able to help you with both."
"It's alright, no sweat. Really," Ment said, giving Ekun a big grin.
It was kinda funny to him how she'd simply admitt freely she was attempting to escape the rest of their pride members. He could kinda see why'd she want to, what with them bringing up every minute problem with her at their whim, but doesn't someone in power generally enjoy that type of thing? I mean, you don't generally become a leader if you don't like leading... Maybe he was confusing things again. Ah well.
"Yeah, actually," Ment said, his grin half-cocked at being reminded of the burning sensation along his back, "My back has been itchy and on fire since early this morning, and so far nothing's worked. I tried a tree, a rock, and now sand, and nothing will relieve it."
Ekun perked and smiled back. It was nice to have another pride member who didn't seem to be giving her odd looks. "Maybe you got some ants in your fur? They'd stick to you whether you wanted them to or not...if that's the case, usually dousing yourself in the ocean is a good fix. Ants apparently don't know how to swim."
"It kinda does feel like something's crawling on me," Ment said, that moment of 'dur hur' creeping onto his face as he came to the suddent realization that he might have very well napped near an ant hill that evening. He would never openly admitt that, however, and kept his lips sealed on that matter. Instead deciding to go with a more deluded approach for them both to find out he's covered in ants, aside from confessing to sleeping near them.
"Would you check for me? I can't exactly turn my head far enough to investigate myself, and I was be sure they're really ants before I go running into the ocean," He said, beckoning Ekun over to look for him. He couldn't very well check for himself. He was not that night-bird that was able to turn its head the whole way around like it was possessed or something, nor would he want to.
The dark lioness nodded and trotted over. "I can do that." She never minded helping other pride members out. They were family, after all. Maybe not by blood, but she still considered them all family. She moved to carefully look through Ment's fur, almost hoping ants WERE the problem. At least then the problem could be easily taken care of, and he could be spared embarrassment trying to figure it out.
Ment stood still as Ekun went to inspect his back for ants; in turn he inspected her back... side that was. Shamelessly, the white and red lion took a gander at the new ruler's assets and grinned for a moment before the horrible itch came back and he instinctively tried to scratch at it.
Crawling around Ment's pristine white fur were hundreds of little red ants; fire ants. Apparently Mr. Cheesy-nova had managed to fall asleep near a small colony of fire ants and his rolling body had caused the to surface out of their home and attempt to take vengeance out on the white earth-quake inducing lion.
Ekun felt a bit odd, moving a bit so she was less oggle-able, and sighing at the fire ants. "You have ants on you, all right." She pulled back before any of them could decide to chew on her. "A good swim should take care of them. And then see one of the Healers about something to soothe your back until the bites heal. They'll be itchy for some time." She knew, sadly, from experience as a juvenile. It was one she didn't feel like repeating, truth be told.
"Really? Ants?" Ment asked, heaving a sigh and a small chuckle.
It would happen to him, huh? Being infested with ants, little multi-legged insects scurrying across his body. It was no wonder he couldn't find relief no matter what he did. Now matter which way he itched it would have never killed them all at once, and he'd have to continue itching for a rather long time before he got them all to die. It would have no doubt ended in him scratching open his skin and doing more harm than good.
"I appreciate you looking for me," Ment said, turning and flashing her the most charming smile the cheesy-nova could muster, "If you hadn't looked I'd have probably kept scratching until I ripped open my own skin. Heh."
Ekun returned the smile, though not nearly as cheesy. More of the smile a friend gives to another. "It's not a problem. I've had a personal run-in with ants in the fur. They're testy things...all bluster and bites if you get even a tiny bit near their nest." She moved to nudge him towards the water. "Sooner you're in, sooner they're gone."
