[PRP] COOTIES! (Utapala / Tarafa )

[Feral Mule]

Everyone knew it. Girls had cooties.

Everyone except Utapala, anyway. He was just informed by his twin that they couldn't play with their sisters anymore because they were girls and girls had cooties. He believed his twin. Why shouldn't he? He'd never lied to Utapala before. The twins were inseparable since birth and he hoped they remained that way.

So, Utapala was trying to walk through the pride and avoid all the girls, old and young. They were all infested with them.

"What do cooties do?" He had asked his twin. Lochlan had explained to him that it made girls go all stupid and mushy brained and wanting to go on 'dates' with boys. It grossed him out to the point the little juve wanted to gag. He had tried to put up a wall around him and his sisters one day, but his dad put a stop to that. Dad said he was being weird and that girls didn't have cooties. But he believed Lochlan over anyone.  

[mouselet]

It was a lovely day as far as Tarafa was concerned, and she smiled to see one of the many juveniles of the pride out and about. There were so many youngsters lately, it gave her hope for the pride.

"Good afternoon!" she called out to the boy as she came up to him. Perhaps he would have an interesting tale to add to her collection of the day. Today had been fairly quiet so far.  

[Feral Mule]

He hadn't been paying too much attention on avoiding girls, apparently. One suddenly appeared right in his vision. Yelping, the brown stripped boy backed up a few paces and then narrowed his orange eyes at her.

She was pretty, he'd give her that, but she was still a girl. "Stay back! I don't want your cooties!" His voice was still very childish, almost girlish in a way. "Lochlan says all girls, even big ones have cooties! I don't wanna get stupid!"  

[mouselet]

Tarafa blinked in surprise at the boy's unexpected reaction. What in the world were cooties? She remembered something, a long time ago, when she was his age. Cooties were...a kid's expression of the other sex being "icky." That was it.

"Lochlan's just pulling your leg," she replied. "Cooties aren't real, and so they can't do anything to you...unless, of course, you want them to." The old lioness winked at the boy.  

[Feral Mule]

"He's not! He'd never lie to me. Girls are crafty and liars!" He heard that from his other brother. Yes, his brothers were very opinionated and he was easily influenced by them. Her next line confused the poor boy and he looked at her like she'd just grown a second head or something.

Why would anyone want a girl to do anything to them? That was weird! "Why would I want a girl to do somethin' to me? I don't want 'em near me! I mean. They're just weird. Is something wrong with your eye?" Clearly, he didn't get out much.  

[mouselet]

Oh Goddess, had she ever been that naive? She didn't think so, but then again, not many cubs grew up connected to the politics that took place at the highest level of the pride. Tarafa didn't want to destroy the bond between brothers, but this boy seemed a bit too dependent on his, so perhaps it was time he learned how to stand on his own.

"Why would a girl want to lie to you?" she asked simply. It seemed that the core of this cootie problem was distrust, and if she could shake that loose and replace it with trust, well, perhaps it would fix itself.  

[Feral Mule]

"Cause girls are icky!" He squealed out, watching this girl closely. He started to circle her, eyes narrowing. Why would his brother lie to him? What purpose did that serve? Snorting, the brown male started to jump left and right, as if trying to throw her off balance. But that wasn't the case. The case was, he was a cub and he wanted to play and she was the only one round right now.

"..... BUT. I guess," he said, sounding playfully exhasperated, "we can play together. But my brother can't know!" He didn't want to get ridiculed by his brother and called names. "So.... .... Who are you anyway? I wanna know! I'm Utapala."  

[mouselet]

Cub logic. It never failed to amaze and confuse Tarafa. She was certain she hadn't been so bizarre in her thoughts as a child. The lioness kept an eye on the cub as he circled her. What on earth did he want from her? To play? To jeer? To occupy his little mind until he fell asleep?

The adult shook her head with a smile and put aside her maunderings. "I am Tarafa," she told the boy. "What do you want to play?"

It was always good to see a cub with as much exuberance and energy as this one. Hopefully he would retain that as he grew. The Goddess knew, the pride needed it.  

[Feral Mule]

The brown cub laughed when she agreed to play with him. "Tarafa. That's... Can I call you Tara? I won't remember all of it, ever," he grinned sheepishly at her before smirking and then pouncing her, aiming to bite at her tail. "We should play tag! You're it!" Without much warning, the whine maned male bounded away with a great burst of energy, Utapala giggled too. He was a boy, but he wasn't very old so he could get away with giggling without feeling like a girly girl.

He made zigzag patterns as he ran, so she wouldn't be able to catch up with him. Or at least that's what Utapala was hoping that's what would happen.  

[mouselet]

The lioness laughed for a few moments before calming. "No, I'm afraid you can't call me Tara. Just Tarafa, please." Distracted as the adult was, she almost didn't move her tail out of the way of Utapala's teeth, leaving a few hairs behind in the boy's teeth.

Then he was up again and running around. The Bard shook her head and began moving along in a steady pace, aiming not to overtake him or fall behind, merely to keep up. "Tag, eh? And what am I supposed to do as it?" she asked him.  

[Feral Mule]

Why couldn't he call her Tara? her name was hard to remember and pronounce if it was the full thing! Oh, well. He'd just call her cootie carrier, then. Utapala laughed a little bit more and then blinked, turning around and staring at her like she was from another planet.

"..... Are you serious? You've never played tag? I mean... seriously?" What was it with this girl? Snorting, he thought a moment on how to explain it. "Well, when you're 'it' in tag.. you chase the others and tag them. Then they're it and they have to tag others, too. Get it?"  

[mouselet]

Oh good, no special rules in Utapala's tag. That was what she'd been most worried about. She smiled at the cub. "Oh, I've played it before, but it's been a very long time," the lioness replied with a chuckle.

"So...I'm it...and I have to chase you, eh?" The lioness paused and then struck at the boy, targeting his own tail in a slight bit of revenge. "I think I've got it!" she told him, amused.  

[Feral Mule]

Utapala noded at her confirmation and pulled his tail away when she tried to tag him. Of course, this caused the cub to yelp, jump up and glare at her. "No fair! You can't do that while we're discussing rules! That's cheating." He nodded sagely, as if he knew everything he was talking about. Honestly, there was no rule against it. Talking usually wasn't part of tag, but giggling was.

Taking off suddenly, he used all the speed his legs had to get away from her, grinning and laughing as he started to zig and zag. "Come on, Cootie Carrier!"  

[mouselet]

Tarafa watched the boy tell her that she was cheating with one eyebrow raised. She supposed it was...but she didn't recall any rule against it. Just the...rules of combat, as it were.

So she wasn't entirely surprised when Utapala learned from her example and took off with barely a backward glance. "If I'm a Cootie Carrier," she replied, as she also began to jog, "what does that make you?" She wasn't trying to run him down yet, but the blue lioness was doing a good job of keeping pace with the cub.  

[Feral Mule]

Shifting to turn his head toward her, Utapala snorted and laughed, using a rock that was in front of him to turn. He put all four paws on it and jumped to the side. Hopefully, that put more distance between them. He knew he had no chance once this female started getting serious. Who ever heard of a cub out running an adult? No one! But he could dream, couldn't he? It wouldn't hurt anything. Besides, maybe he could use something and slide under her to throw her off later.

"It makes me... Uhm... It makes me Cootie Immune!" he laughed out, shaking his head. He didn't know! Pala was making it up as he went, just like the rules of tag!