Welcome to Gaia! ::

The white and sand lion sighed happily as he lounged on a sun-baked rock. This was the life. Warm sun, good weather, enough to hunt without depleting the victimized populations and, of course, the love of his life. Not that she was here right now. She was doing something unspecified with their den - probably the dreaded cleaning - and had told him in no uncertain terms to STAY AWAY until she was done and satisfied.

It wasn't often that Spina did such a thing and Bauble intended to take full advantage of it. Though it would certainly help if he brought home something to augment (or just plain be) dinner in the end. That could wait though. The lion shifted position on his rock, and sighed agian in contentment.

Sand-colored ears twitched as footsteps announced the presence of another creature. Bauble muttered to himself in complaint before opening his eyes to look for the source. Nothing there, nothing there, noth--ah! A lioness! She didn't seem to be looking at him directly, though she had to know he was there, and she wasn't exactly being quiet.

He could be quiet and antisocial the way she was, or he could be his usual outgoing self. Was there really any choice there?

"Welladay, stranger-lady," he called out by way of greeting. Antallian thought about saying more, but he decided it would be better to wait and see how she reacted. Gods all knew Spina could explode easily some days. It was only logical that other females had the same potential.

Oh good, no explosion. Not necessarily a friendly response, but not a bad one at all. Bauble was pleased with the outcome. Sure the stranger lioness might be blunt, but it was a fair question. There were many dangerous creatures in these lands and it never hurt to be cautious.

"Why, my name's Antallian," he introduced himself with a grin and inclined his head respectfully. Not as if she was some pride's Queen, but with the courtesy he believed all women should enjoy. "An' who might you be ma'am?" the lion queried politely.

It was interesting, that she had a white facial mask. Much like his Spina, in that way. He wondered if she'd be like his mate in more than just a marking. Regardless, Bauble was keen on finding out, if she let him.

Brown eyes blinked in surprise at the continuation of the direct and blunt questions from the stranger lioness - Bunikee. Nice enough name, if totally different from the ones he'd been exposed to in his time. But damn, she really didn't beat around the bush.

"It's nice ta meet'cha, Bunikee," the lion responded in his drawling manner. This time he actually stood up and proceeded to ooze down from his perch in a relaxed and fluid manner. Had he been hunting, Bauble would have moved much more slowly, but he'd found that fluidity was key in keeping others from detecting your movements easily.

"I s'pose some'd call me that," the male responded, amusement coloring his tone. "Mah mate's father did when we were young," Bauble confided with a wink.

"But I guess yer askin' if there's any pride as I belong to and as lays claim to this here spot. An' there's no pride here, not for days in any direction," he told her, choosing to actually answer her question before she did something unpleasantly drastic, such as sharpening her claws on him. Not that he had any intention of misleading her, but someone who asked such direct questions usually wanted direct answers. So he'd give them to her, but he'd do it in his own way. It was more fun.

Living with Inatarni as he did, Bauble didn't miss the subtle nuance that indicated his conversational partner was less than pleased with him. Aw shucks. Seemed he couldn't help meeting strong-willed women who were easily annoyed. But, he always did like a challenge.

However he wasn't quite sure what Bunikee was talking about, no prides being good or bad news. It just...didn't make sense.

"Well, I'm sure I don't know if it's good or bad news," the lion replied, confusion in his voice. "Prides...they have a lot o' rules you gotta obey. But in return, they'll protect you and yer family." Bauble paused, the continued with the converse. "But here, in the unclaimed land, you can do what you want, but you gotta be careful as there's lots o' unfriendly creatures an' you never know where, or who, they are."

He didn't know if that answered her question in the long or the short. He still wasn't sure what the question was.

Bauble watched the lioness. What on earth was she looking for him to tell her? How to live her life or soemthing? Even if he could, that was something he'd never do. It went entirely against his principles.

The lion's shoulders rolled in a feline shrugged. "Sorry I can't help you much with that," he told Bunikee. "But I'm sure if you keep wandrin' around, you'll find where yer supposed to be."

Of course what Antallian didn't say was that he meant not only physically but mentally and emotionally too. He had Spina, and while the two of them might rove around the rogue lands a fair bit in the end, they would remain together. That was where they were meant to be, regardless of where their bodies stood.

But that was far too personal an observation to share out loud with anyone, even Inatarni, much less a stranger lioness he'd just met and who operated on the ruder side of blunt.

Well, maybe he hadn't made a bad impression in the end, but he couldn't be sure it was a good one either. Actually, Bauble didn't even know if he had really made an impression on Bunikee.

"An' a good day t' you too," he replied genially. As the lioness went on her way, he glanced up at the sun. Still a good amount of time to hunt and get back to Inatarni he judged. So, that was what he'd do.

Maybe he'd see Bunikee again. But hopefully not today.