Sihiri:
Sihiri stood in the shallows of the river that fled the waterfall's pool, careful not to move too much as she fished. She was feeling well enough to at least try this form of hunting. She certainly couldn't chase down a deer, but she could dunk her head in the water or swat a fish onto land. Right?
Her gaze was intent on the water, her body still as a stone as she watched for the silver glint of fish.
Atticus:
He stepped out from his hollow den and he stretched out his legs to loosen the muscles that were tight underneath his pelt. He yawned, but as he blinked and shook himself clean of debris his eyes locked on to Sihiri.
Instinct had him approaching her before he even realized what was going on. When he got to the waterside though, he sat behind her a small smile on his features. Smiles were rare from him.
"I'll be surprised if you catch one." He said, his voice rather flat.
Sihiri:
"And why is that?" Sihiri asked quietly, moving only her mouth to speak. She didn't turn to say it to him, didn't jump when he suddenly spoke. Maybe she was getting used to him, but she didn't seem bothered by his sudden appearance anymore. It probably had something to do with the fact that now if she looked back, she would see him sitting there, in all his huge, masculine glory.
"I can fish, you know."
Atticus:
"Really? I haven't seen you catch one yet." Though truth be told he wasn't watching her the whole time this morning. He was deleriously tired that previous night and he had taken the option of sleep. Though he half dreaded waking up. What if she had been gone?
Sihiri:
"That's because I just started. You're one to talk, I haven't seen you catch a fish," Sihiri replied, finally glancing over her shoulder at him. Handsome, as usual. Could he really fish? Would he be better than her? Maybe she could use this opportunity to get to know him a bit better.
Atticus:
"Bah. You eat, right? I'm obvious doing something right." He didn't need to point out that rarely had those meals been of the fish variety because he simply didn't care about that little tidbit.
He hated getting his top pelt wet. It was a squishy feeling and it dried far slower than his own pelt. It required stretching it over the rocks and letting the sun take affect.
"How about showing me you can do it, don't worry about me." He said, though he only said it to keep himself out of the water.
Sihiri:
She gave him a little smirk.
"I bet you're just saying that so you don't have to admit you can't do it," Sihiri replied with a small shake of her head. Oh, she was just teasing him, of course. In retrospect, she hoped he could take a joke...
"How about we put a wager on it. For ever fish you catch, you can ask me any question. And I get to do the same, okay?" It was a longshot, but at this point she would do anything to get him to open up a bit more. Even if it risked him asking her questions she didn't really want to answer.
Atticus:
He got a serious look on his face, and looked away for a moment. After taking a deep breath, and shoving himself so far into his mind so that he could figure this out. Pros, he would get to be around her. Cons, if he lost he would have to tell her things he may not want her to know.
"I could agree, but if I do not feel like answering a question, I won't be pushed." He said, his words rather calm in his dry tone.
Sihiri:
She knew that would be coming. Her smile turned soft and she nodded with a look of understanding.
"I won't push," she replied, nodding slowly before turning back to the water. Quick as a snake-strike, her paw moved and a fish was thrown up onto the bank to flop uselessly, too far from the water.
"There, one for me. What's your favorite color?"
Atticus:
When she had agreed to the stipulation, he slowly entered into the water. It was cool to his paws, and he sighed. His steps were slow, cautious, but he was opening up by stepping into the water.
Before he had time to blink she was flinging a fish onto the bank. He cursed, but then her question.. It wasn't too bad.
"I have never really thought about it before. I suppose I like Blue, because of the sky." He shrugged, and his eyes went to the fish nibbling at his toes.
Sihiri:
"You know your eyes are blue," Sihiri replied without thinking. She had an almost wistful quality to her voice when she said it and immediately turned back to fishing, her cheeks heated. A fish passed by her paws, but she ignored it, not wanting to look too good, in case he couldn't back up his boasts. Or worse, she slip up and make a fool of herself.
Atticus:
He frowned at her statement and snorted. Of course he knew what color his eyes were. They were a lie, they had to be. They had never meant anything to anyone besides his survival.
The fish had almost stepped into his paw and he brought his jaws down quickly, raising up the flopping fish with a sickening crunch as he showed it off. Tossing it onto the bank it lay listeless, and he looked at Sihiri.
"Why are you so interested in my life?" He wasn't sure what to ask her, besides why she was so supportive of him, why she acted as if she liked him. He hadn't missed tha tblush to her cheeks.
Sihiri:
Sihiri had to think about that one and she focused on fish to do so. Her ears flicked back and she tilted her head.
"I can't really say. I've never met a lion like you, you intrigue me. And you saved me. I suppose I just want to understand you, to be your... friend, I guess." It was a patchy answer to a hard question. She knew a much better one, but she couldn't tell him that. What would he think of her if she said she was physically attracted to him even with the pelt and that she wanted to justify it with an emotional attraction as well?
Atticus:
He grunted in the water, not happy really with the answer. But he'd have given her an equally as evasive answer if it had been he who had been asked so he nodded.
"I think you need new hobbies. Ones that don't include monsters in the valley."
He responded with a gruff laugh. It was a quiet, decent chuckle. Not really a chuckle so much as a roar.
"Makes sense, I guess. If I believe you." He said, eyeing her but his eyes weren't cold.
Sihiri:
"I don't think you're a monster," Sihiri replied rather softly before swatting another fish to flop on the shore. She thought about what question she could ask.
"What was your cubhood like?" She had a feeling he would be vague, but she supposed she would be okay with that. She just hoped that wasn't where his issues with his appearance had come from.
For all she know, he might choose not to answer.
Atticus:
He stiffened, and stepped out of the water, shaking out the water from himself and grunting again.
"I was a normal cub. Happy, set in my ways. Not all of life can go on the way cubhood did." In truth he had a very good family, parents who loved him at one time. Though by now they were sure to think him dead.
"I'm tired of fishing." He sighed, flopping onto his belly.
Sihiri:
Sihiri frowned when he left the water, his answer seemed fine to her. Maybe she had hit a sore spot...
She followed him out of the water and brought the fish into a pile, stretching out next to him. She moved just close enough for her hip to touch his.
"Sounds like mine... Or, sort of. I was worried a lot when I was little, after I met my pa- father's father." She would never call him grandfather. That was a word for good creatures, for someone you cared about. At least, that's how she felt. And she would never care for that monster.
Atticus:
He couldn't help it, he was intrigued. He looked at her as she flopped next to him, and his skin burned hot where her hip touched his. She was such a beautiful creature. He wanted her more than anything else.
"Why worried?" He asked, arching an eyebrow that it was almost impossible to see beyond the other face that stared back at her.
Sihiri:
The smile had faded from her face as horrid green eyes flashed in her mind. She scratched the scales off one of the fish for a moment as she relived the experience so long ago.
"He wanted to kill me, and my mother and brothers and sisters, to make my father suffer. He said he would come soon. When I told me father about this, he decided to leave, to lead the male away from us and finish it out there." She paused there, in both her speaking and her scratching. She tried to remember how her father looked, sometimes it was difficult to do so.
"I wasn't little when my father left, but I wasn't grown, either. Mother was sad, but she understood. We don't know what happened. For all I've known, he's still out there, waiting to find us and..." She stopped there, closing her eyes and shaking her head. She missed her mother, was worried for her. But what could she do? She was still healing and part of her wanted to stay with Atticus.
Atticus:
The thought of someone trying to kill her made his blood start to surge angrily in his veins. If anyone touched her, or someone she cared about, Atticus would release his rage. He was no small lion, and he was quite able to throw his weight around.
"No one will touch you. Least of all anyone from your family.." He said his eyes serious. He didnt know what he was going to do without her.. She would just have to stay.
Sihiri:
Her paw stopped moving and she looked off for a minute before turning to her companion. Sihiri believed every word of what he said and yet she was terrified. He was a huge lion, one who could take care of himself, but she didn't trust her father's father. Something would happen, Atticus could get hurt or worse. It would tear her up inside if her hero was hurt because he got into a family feud.
She set her head down, angling it so that she set it down on his wet paws.
"I don't think I could take you getting hurt over me any more that I could take my family getting hurt..."
Atticus:
"I'm not sure why I would mean much, but you are far more important regardless." He nodded and looked away for a minute. He would hopefully be better at this whole social thing eventually. He could feel his heart thudding in his chest and it made him almost choke on his anxiety.
When her head touched his paws, he gulped but didn't move. He cleared his throat but wasn't demanding she move it. That was a plus.
Sihiri:
"Because you're... You've been good to me, you saved me, and I hate the idea of you getting hurt," Sihiri replied, leaving her head where it was. She could admit that she cared about him, at least to some degree. He could argue with her, but in her eyes he was a good soul. She hated the idea of him being hurt by the evil old lion.
"Why aren't you still with your family, Atticus? Did you just grow up and head out on your own, like my brothers and sisters?"
Atticus:
"I'd like to think not many would have let a lioness drown, but if you feel that I saved you, I'll accept that." He said with a gruff nod. Her head warmed his paws and he sighed.
And then she was back on the topic of family. He hated that.. He hated talking about them like they were part of his past. They were, and he had loved them, but.. now he hardly remembered them at all.
"I was part of the Swamplands. I left on my voyage to find my adult name, and -" He didn't feel like talking about Coeur. Not at all really..
"And I never made my way home, the end." He grumbled.
Sihiri:
"Swamplands... Where the ground is all mud and water? Huh, I can't imagine living somewhere like that. I guess I'm just a jungle girl," Sihiri replied with a bit of a laugh. She couldn't imagine living in a place where she couldn't climb well and didn't have solid ground to land on.
She noticed how uncomfortable he was on the family subject and sighed a bit.
"I'm sorry... I guess I just miss my mother a bit."
Atticus:
He felt fear thud into his chest when she mentione dmissing her mother. He didnt want to let her go, he couldnt.. not now.. but she missed her family, where he did not. It was cruel to keep her.
"I-Im sure shes fine." He almost stuttered, but he wanted to sit up and saunter off. Only to escape this scene he was in right now. He was so awkward. Too awkward.. and he didn't know what he would do when she decided to leave.
"You think she is looking for you?:
Sihiri:
She didn't like the tone in his voice when he asked about her mother. Her ears flicked back and she snuggled closer to him.
"She's very soft-hearted. By now, she's probably stopped looking... But... I don't know. I remember when my other siblings trickled away one by one. I'm all she had left," she replied, her voice sad. She wanted to go home, but she wanted Atticus to come with her. But he wouldn't like it. As secluded as they were in her home, he would still run into other creatures. And her mother wouldn't like it down here. If it was even possible to get back up to the jungle at all.
It was getting difficult to choose.
Atticus:
"Maybe it's good she stopped looking." He said, hoping that she had indeed stopped looking. Maybe then Sihiri would be okay to stay here with him. She cuddled into him, and he didnt move, though he didnt return the affection. If anything, he stiffened and gulped.
"I'm sure she would understand." He remarked, though his entire mind was reeling with the idea she could leave one day, and that would be that.
Sihiri:
"Uh-huh..." It was all she could say in response. She could feel that he didn't like the thought of her leaving any more than she did. At least, that's what she thought. He was hard to read sometimes, which made him such a mystery to her. The fish forgotten over the ache in her head, Sihiri turned her face to his paws and closed her eyes.
She knew the truth, her mother would be sick with worry, praying to any gods she knew that Sihiri hadn't fallen to the claws of Angusho. If only there was a way she could tell her mother she was safe, that would be something. Just to tell her everything was all right, that a good, strong lion like Papa had saved her, had taken care of her when she was hurt, that was all she would need. Right?
Atticus:
He was aware of the looming silence over them and he cleared his throat, tenderly moving his paw so that he wouldn't hurt her but showing he wanted to stand. After pulling away he cleared his throat again, and he was on his paws. He could feel the heat of the day sinking into his back and he needed tog et this pelt off before it started to smell. He hated to be dirty.
"I-I have to go, Sihiri. I need to clean up." He said, indicating the dirty paws.
Sihiri:
Sihiri sat up when he did, ears flicking back and head dipping in embarrassment.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have kept you with all my talking. Go on, I'll..." Her head lifted there, just enough for her to look up at him through her eyelashes and the tuft of fur on her head.
"I'll see you again soon, right?" She hoped so. She only wished she knew where he went, or even that he trusted her enough to leave his pelt and come back to see her. But she knew he wouldn't.
Atticus:
"Sure.. I will come back. Trouble with this pelt is if it gets wet, it dries horribly. I have to lay it out in the sun." He explained, and stretched out his body though it was clear he was still nervous.
"I'll expect you around when I return." He hinted, hoping that she knew that meant not to leave the valley.. It was possible, but he still didn't want her to. And with that, he turned and sauntered off in the direction of his den.
