[PRP] Adult Lion+Cheetah Cub=Fun Times? [Lolani and Lusala]

[ShinyObsessed]

Lusala grunted as he dragged the carcass of an antelope under a shady tree. It was an obnoxiously hot day which made him glad of his light coat color and curse his dark mane. But despite the heat, he'd managed to catch the one oblivious antelope out of many at the watering hole and he was going to enjoy it under this nice, convenient shady tree.

He set about ripping into his meal with relish. He'd been in this area for a few days and not a single solitary meal had wondered into his path. Or at least not one that a lone lion could bring down, no matter how big and strong a lion he was. Lusala wasn't so into his meal however that he would miss anything intruding on his kill.  

[Mtorolite]

Lolani had slipped away from her mother again and gone climbing. It was something she did a lot; both the slipping away and climbng high up. Her mom thought it was a bit strange that a cheetah should spend so much time in the trees; she was, after all, a cheetah and not a leopard.

Lolani thought that the trees were much more convenient. There was less dirt, for one thing; for another grownups didn't always look up.

The grown up she was over now was not looking up. He had dragged the antelope he was eating under a tree, and Lolani was perched on a branch above him. He was the strangest looking cheetah she had ever seen. His legs were too short, his body was too bulky, and he had a ridiculous amount of hair all around his face.

After a few minutes, she got sick of just watching the strange cheetah and called down to him.

"You've got an awful lot of hair, mister."  

[ShinyObsessed]

Lusala looked up from his meal, and around to see where the voice came from. Seeing no one around he looked up up into the tree. A cheetah cub in a tree? That was strange. And apparently she thought he had a lot of hair. "And you have an awful amount to learn, young cheetah." He called up to her in an amused rumbly voice. "I'll have you know, that I have a very respectable mane."

He vaguely wondered where her mother was, a cub that young should either be hidden away for safety or at her mother's side; definitely not up in a tree talking to a full grown male lion. For all she knew he might try to eat her. "What are you doing up that tree and not with your mother little one?"  

[Mtorolite]

"What's a mane? And what does that have to do with your fur?" Lolani replied, quirking her head at him.
"I'm sitting in the tree because it's a nice place to sit, and I'm not with my mom cause I'm not a little baby. I'm almost three moons old. I don't need my mommy all the time."

She moved along the branch, pacing back and forth. "Did you have an accident or something? You're an awful weird looking cheetah."  

[ShinyObsessed]

Lusala licked a bit of blood off of his paws. This little cheetah thought he was a cheetah too? Goodness, that would make him a very strange looking cheetah. He chuckled at the image of a cheetah with his mane. "First, I am not a cheetah, I am a lion. And adult male lions, such as myself, have manes. A mane is this longer hair around my face and chest." He gave it a good shake to illustrate his point.

"Three moons, hmm? Oh yes, you're practically ancient. However you are correct, trees do make nice places to sit, as long as branches do not break." He ripped off another bite from his meal.  

[Mtorolite]

"What's a lion?" Lolani asked, confused. She had only ever seen other cheetahs - and once a leopard, but Lolani thought his name was Leopard and he was just a funny looking cheetah.
"My branches never break, I only pick out sturdy branches cause one time my sister tried to follow me but her branch broke and she fell on top of my mom. You have to bounce on them to make sure they aren't too small."  

[ShinyObsessed]

Lusala shook his mane a bit. "A lion is a different kind of cat then a cheetah is. We are not built for speed like you cheetahs are. I'm not a cheetah, I'm a lion. So, since I am a male and an adult, I have a mane."

He took a good bite of his meal. "Bouncing the tree limbs is a good way to gauge the strength of the branch. However, I'm much heavier then you, so I must be even more careful. And I'm glad you learned from your sister's mistake."  

[Mtorolite]

Lolani paused in her pacing.
"So you're like a really slow mutant cheetah with too much hair, and you're called Lion?" She sniffed at the antelope the Lion was eating. She had been out all day, and she was getting hungry.

"Hey, are you going to eat all of that?"  

[ShinyObsessed]

Lusala was certainly not inclined to share after being called a mutant. "You don't know what a lion is, but you know about mutants?" He placed a paw possessively on his kill. "And I am not a mutant. And it's very rude to call someone such. And I do not have too much hair!" Lusala's voice got more growly the more 'ands' he tacked on.

"As for my kill, which I certainly did not kill by being slow, I am not going to eat it all right now." He took another large bite. "I'll save some for later. I am certainly not inclined to feed little ignorant cheetah cubs. Unless they did some serious apologizing."  

[Mtorolite]

"I have a large vocabulary," Lolani sniffed at the mutant cheetah lion. "I talk to a lot of owls in the trees at night. They're very wise. But they never mentioned lions. They said there was another kind of cat that climbed in trees a lot, but they just call them tree cats so I guess that they're aren't lions or mutant cheetahs either. But I'm sorry I called you a mutant."

Lolani took the chance and jumped down by the lion.
"Can I please have some food, Mr. Lion?
 

[ShinyObsessed]

Lusala nodded in acceptance of her apology. "Thank you for apologizing, you're forgiven. My name is Lusala. And you may have some of my kill."

Lusala hadn't had a lot of chances to interact with a whole lot of cubs one on one. Their mothers were always about, hovering protectively. He rather liked cubs, now that he thought of it. They were refreshingly cute and innocent, and usually amusing. He'd like to have cubs one day. Now there's a frightening thought, he sure hoped he didn't have any cubbins running around without his knowledge already. There were a few females he could think of that would probably claw him upon return visits if he left them with cubs. He shook himself off that train of thought.

"So little cublet, what's your name?"  

[Mtorolite]

"Mernamzlo'enee,"she said around a mouth full of food. She had, of course, in the way of cubs, ripped off a chunk of food that was far too big for her, and created quite the image as she chewed and gnawed and tried to breathe around a piece of meat almost the size of her head.

Several long minutes later, once the rest of the meat had finally vanished down her gullet and she could breath properly again, she said, "My name is Lolani and it means that I am a bird even though I am not a bird."  

[ShinyObsessed]

"Bird is a fitting name for you Lolani. You like to be in trees like birds. I've never met a cheetah that liked climbing nearly as much as you." He smiled to himself. She was a cute little eager cub that was for sure. "Slow down, it's definitely not going to run away anymore. My name means 'whip' even though I am not one."  

[Mtorolite]

"What's a whip?" She might hang out with very wise owls, but Lolani was pretty naive. She took another (smaller) chunk of meat and ate it with gusto. She would have trouble getting up into the trees again if her stomach was full, and her mom would be upset if she didn't eat dinner, but she was hungry now and she was going to eat until the Lion said she couldn't have anymore.  

[ShinyObsessed]

"It's a..." something he didn't want cubs to know about really, now that he thought about it. "Nevermind, it's nothing really important." He watched her chow down on his kill for a few minutes. "Alright, you bottomless pit, that's enough." He placed his paw possessively on his kill again. He'd need some for later, and the cub didn't look like she'd stop any time soon.