[PRP] Child's Play (Lailah and Yavin)

[Kimaria]

He was brooding again, stretched out by the stream and whiling the time away as he starred into its scurrying depths. Occasionally, out of boredom, he'd slap the surface with a flick of a paw and watch the ripples spread and fade as if they had never been. And, frustrated, he'd hit the water harder until flecks hung from the tips of his whiskers and dotted his face with droplets that gleamed in the dappled sunshine. At this hour he was normally asleep but those pleasant naps were hard to come by nowadays. And that didn't help his mood much, either.

Frowning, he slapped the water one more time and then drew back his paw, using it as a prop for his chin.

No doubt she was working busily away, thinking herself so high and mighty because of it. Did she not understand that some in this world did not need to work? But if that was the case, why the emptiness inside of him? This was ridiculous. He needed to stop moping. And yet, somehow, he was finding it impossible.

 

[mouselet]

The lioness in question was enjoying a rare day off, a day that was completely and utterly hers to do with as she pleased. And it pleased her to go to to the stream this day, to see water that wasn't still, that was moving and active and exciting!

The white lioness stopped in her approach as she saw that there was already someone else here. A brown lion that had grown rather familiar in the past moon or so, though she'd thought him to be more a night owl than this. What was he doing awake? And here?

She was reluctant to alert him to her presence, remembering how much they had argued all the other times they'd met. But...she supposed she should give him a chance. That's what Stellaluna would tell her to do.

"Good afternoon, Yavin."  

[Kimaria]

Well, there was a turn out! The shaman apprentice had some time for herself? Still Yavin didn't know this and her appearance had him on edge instantly. Instead of responding to her greeting, he gave her an acknowledging grunt and got to his paws, shaking leaves from his fur. And with only a short glance in her direction he started away - choosing to paddle through the stream in an attempt to avoid her.

It was almost as if the Great Lion had sent her as some sort of test of his patience. And if that was the case, he was beginning to think that it was a test he was going to fail. It was like his thoughts were summoning her.

And he thought about her a lot.  

[mouselet]

Yellow eyes narrowed. Running away without even a word? That didn't seem like the Yavin she knew, though admittedly she didn't know him that well as of yet. The white lioness set her jaw and began to plow through the stream after the lion.

"Running away already?" she asked, trying not to sound like she was taunting him. "I thought you were made of stronger stuff than that!" Really, he was acting like a spoiled brat instead of a Prince!

"Are you afraid, Yavin? Do I scare you? I'm just a lioness!" Well, okay, she was hardly your average lioness. But still!  

[Kimaria]

The splashing sound betrayed her movements and he bristled with irritation. She was following him? Damn her. For the love of the Great Lion, why wouldn't she just leave him alone? And then her taunting...oh no. Oh no she didn't.

He whipped around to face her, splashing water everywhere with clumsy, angry paws. "No one is running away. I thought I'd do the kind thing today and leave before I caused you any more bother." The sarcasm was thick. "What do you want? Another argument?" He huffed, setting his weight evenly on all fours, the cool water rushing past his legs. "Because if you do, then fine. Let's argue,"

Still, he couldn't help but think she looked strangely attractive when she was yelling. It was her eyes, he reasoned. They seemed to blaze.  

[mouselet]

Wait...he was trying to save her an argument by leaving? If that was true, then it was actually a courteous thought, given their track record thus far. She stopped where she was, forepaws still in the stream though her back paws were still dry land before he'd turned and spoken.

"I never said I wanted another argument," the white lioness replied softly. She watched him, eyes narrowing once more.

"I never wanted another argument, but maybe I was thinking that we might be able to have a conversation without arguing at all? Maybe I was hoping that we could actually talk? Clearly, I was hoping for too much," she finished with a snort.  

[Kimaria]

Perhaps he was getting better without even realising it! That would certainly be an improvement, in any case.

"Talk?" He replied gruffly, sounding sceptical. And then he recalled - quite suddenly - their first conversation. How well it had begun before it had ended on that sour note. His boasting of seeing a scattering of shooting stars and working around his words because he hadn't known who she was. Hmphf. If she hadn't been such a workaholic, that conversation would have ended sweeter and who knew. Perhaps they might even have been friends. He looked at her now, jaw jutting moodily.

"And...what would we talk about, exactly?"  

[mouselet]

Oh great, now he was just throwing the bulk of this would-be conversation back on her now? How like a male. Lailah huffed and deliberately didn't say anything until she was certain she could speak without snapping at him.

"Anything," she told him at last. "It's not like we've sat and talked very much at all. There's a world of conversation topics we haven't even touched on...but if you insist on arguing, we could do that too." The sarcasm in her last statement was biting, but perhaps not unwarranted.  

[Kimaria]

"You are impossible!" The words burst out of him and, without thinking, he took another step towards her. "Fine. Let's talk about how wonderful your fur looks when it's soaked through by the stream." And, looking more determined than a lion of his age should when about to do something as childish as what he planned to do, he thrust out a paw, bringing a cascade of water spraying up through the air towards her.

Still, childish or not. It felt good.  

[mouselet]

Lailah's spine stiffened and she stood straighter as Yavin came towards her. She had no idea what he intended, didn't know what she would do if he attacked her...

...and suddenly she was dripping, thanks to the water he'd splashed all over her. The white lioness blinked and spluttered. She glared at the lion in front of her...but the effect was ruined by a huge grin splitting her face.

"Oh yeah? I think you need a bath!" she exclaimed, barreling into Yavin and knocking him over into the stream as she fell next to and on top of him. The water was flowing over and around them and Lailah couldn't stop giggling.

It was a long time before either of them were able to dry off.