Maktaba: Maktaba was sitting out in the middle of a field, wondering where his companion had gotten to. She was healing well, and he had asked her to show him her skills now that they had some time to do that. He frowned and looked around, thinking it might have been a bad idea.
She was certainly quiet...
The male lion breathed a sigh and waited, flicking his tail, anticipating that she would jump on him from some angle. From the back or sides, clearly, as there was no way she would be able to get him from the front without him noticing her. He was trying to remain calm and prepared, but he hadn't trained in some time.
There was something else, too. Knowing he was doing all this with her again. He had missed it. Dearly, as it were. He felt a strange stirring inside him, an excitement he couldn't quite place in the scheme of the moment. It was something more, something he was trying not to think about too much. In case she wasn't feeling the same thing.
Dearbhail:
His anticipation of her lunging at him meant he hadn't forgotten her tactics. Which was a good thing, because she needed some new material. She knew she still had the capacity to learn, and she wasn't ready to just keep to her old tricks.
Leaping from her stalking position behind him, she tried to be as silent as she could. She was ready to hit him, ready to take him down.. She could only hope he didn't remember her every move!
She had been feeling a bit different with him lately. Things werent like they used to be and she was positive even he felt it. There was some hidden feeling there that she couldn't quite put her paw on.
Maktaba: Maktaba sat and waited, swishing his tail impatiently and a little nervously. He took a slow breath and closed his eyes, trying to picture the savannah around him and estimate her best position for an attack. He flicked his ears but didn't hear her. Even if she was still, he should have been able to hear something. She must have gotten much better since the last time he had trained with her, clearly.
He heard it before she slammed into him but it was too late then,
"Ah hah!" He yelped, flailing and trying to turn on her, trying to pin her. He rolled with her as they struggled, but he ended up on the floor despite himself. Or maybe because of his flailing and thrashing. More often than not he was better in thought than application, theory than practice. He grunted, looking up at her and smiling softly after his annoyance passed.
"Ah... good show. I see you've gotten lighter on your feet. Though you're still quite heavy everywhere else," he groaned feebly, mostly faking it.
Dearbhail
She hit him harder than she had expected to, and it was a pretty solid tackle. They rolled for awhile and he flailed a bit more than was needed. But she just smiled, and finally got him pinned.
"Come on, you are just a bit rusty. Admit it." She prompted. Grinning, she pushed herself off of him and stuck out her tongue.
"I am not heavy. I'm light as a feather. Feathery me." She wove a paw in the air as if it was a falling feather in the breeze.
Maktaba:
Maktaba grunted and got back to his feet, though he sat down soon after he was righted. He looked at her and smiled, shaking his head slowly. He was very proud of her, in any case.
"You've come a long way, Dear," he said, nodding his head. "you're quite skillful. I imagine you're proud of yourself? You should be, though not in an egocentric way of course. Still. I... ah..." he lost himself for a moment, fumbling for words. He almost said something he wasn't supposed to.
"I.. I'm very glad to have been a part of seeing you flourish."
That was close, but it wasn't right. He was just glad to have been given a place in her life, and to have it again. He could see that she hadn't needed him, that she was strong enough on her own, with out him, but he still felt like he had some place here. He wasn't sure what. But he felt that pull, and knew there was no where else he was supposed to be.
Dearbhail
"Of course I'm proud of myself. I'm totally thrilled." She said, and tried to push him over. Her shove was rather gentle compared to what she usually did. She didn't want to hurt him. She lowered her chest to the earth, and wagged her butt in the air playfully as she batted at him.
"You should have heard me coming you know. You are losing your touch." She flicked her tail, and stood back up, chuckling. She finally felt sure of where she was supposed to be. She was just happy to know that she had him back. She'd be damned before she'd let him go again.
Maktaba
"I did hear you coming," he huffed after she pushed him, though he shifted to regain his footing. He looked at her and laughed, grinning at her. He was lying, of course, but only slightly, He had heard her coming, it just hadn't been that long before she was on top of him. not useful at all, really. He wasn't going to tell her that though.
He smiled and lowered himself a bit, bouncing at her like a lion much younger than he was.
"I suppose I do need a bit of training. Re-training. You have surpassed me, it seems. You'll just have to put up with bring the trainer now." He chuckled and shook his head then bounced closer to her again. He bumped his head against hers and stopped, staying there or a moment longer than he should have. He sighed softly.
"It's very nice to be with you again," he said. "I missed you more than I know how to say."
Dearbhail
She laughed and shook her head. There was no way she had surpassed him. He was strong, and brave. He had taught her all she knew, and still he kne wmore.
"I could not put up with training you, and Im not going to try." She grinned, and when he bumped his head into hers she held it there, closing her eyes.
"You don't have to say.. I already know.." She whispered.
MaktabaMaktaba pulled back after a moment, looking at her and taking a breath.
It was now or never, it seemed.
"Ever since seeing you again... things have felt differently to... I mean. To anything I've ever felt, really. I think... I think it's more than just missing you... I ah... it's difficult for me to put into words, really." He shook his head, clearing his throat and looking at her pitifully. He gave her a feeble smile, but pressed on.
"I think my feelings for you are... different... to what they were before. And I do not want to... to upset anything by giving in to these impulses to be near you, to spend time with you... if that's not what you want from me. I do miss being your guide. But..." He wasn't sure how to finish that sentence. He watched her, fearing he had, once again, over spoken.
DearbhailShe smiled, and nodded. She knew how that felt. She was feeling it now. She wasn't sure what it had been, but she was feeling it. She didn't think he had overspoken, she likely never would have realized what that pang in her heart was when she was around him. She was not exactly the most observant.
"I know how that feels.. I think that I'm feeling it too." She said, and stepped closer putting a paw to his cheek.
"I think that I love you." She finally voiced for the both of them. The word made her toes curl and she feared maybe she had guessed wrong. But it felt good to finally decide how she felt.
Maktaba: He looked at her as she touched his cheek with her paw, blushing under his fur though she would never see it. The tips of his ears felt hot and he watched her as passively as a lion on the edge of a panic attack could be. all at once a thousand terrible reactions to his confession flew through his mind and right back out, his head falling into a blank silence just because her touch calmed him in one way just to alight new anxieties elsewhere.
He took a shuddering breath.
Her words rang home and the feeling in his gut seemed to respond to it, like a trilling bell. He nodded his head slowly, wondering how he could be dumb to fail to recognize such a simple, vastly complicated emotion for what it was. He smiled at her gently. "I think I love you, too."
