Gennadios found himself sitting in his favorite tree, looking down at the world below with little interest. There were no females in the area, so he felt no need to go off looking to see if anyone needed help. It was only fun when he helped a lady, since they always seemed the more thankful afterwards. Gen was not the kind to help others without some kind of reward for his efforts. His time in the rogue lands had made it clear that females generally had a better method for thanking him than males. More than that, he just didn't like helping dudes- they were perfectly capable of helping themselves, unless they were little. He'd help the odd maned wolf if he needed to, he supposed. But lions and other leopards, even cheetahs and hyenas, were more than good at dealing with their own problems.
Huffing roughly, the lean leopard stretched in his free, lying down on one of the long, thick branches that aligned with his body just perfectly. It wasn't any wonder why this tree was his favorite- he was sure other leopards would leap at the chance to take it from him if they could. But he had marked and re-marked his territory, and was going to defend it whenever he needed to.
Not that it looked like he needed to. As far as he knew, he was alone. So that meant it was the perfect time for a little cat nap. With a large yawn, he closed his eyes, completely relaxed against the bark of the dying tree.
It didn't take long for him to fall to sleep.
"Hey," came a voice from below him, "hey, leopard! You in the tree- are you awake? I could use some help if you have a moment."
Blinking, the leopard opened his eyes, looking down at the creature below him. It was a large, scruff looking lion with a bunch of scars and a thick black mane. He looked like he could easily stretch up into the tree and pluck him right out with his powerful jaws if he had half a mind to. Luckily, the angry looking sort seemed more concerned with just yelling at him than using any kind of force. Lucky for him.
With a heavy, over played sigh, the leopard sat up slightly in the tree, looking down at the lion while his head tilted to one side.
"You look like you don't need my help- what could I possibly do for you?" He asked absently, clearly holding no interest in helping the lion out, "you're a big boy. Take care of yourself."
"If I thought I could, I wouldn't have asked you for help. Don't be so lazy, you miserable beast, or you might serve me by becoming my next meal," threatened Bomvu very seriously. Not showing any fear, Gen stretched his claws, standing on the branch and moving towards the trunk of the tree to make his way down. He didn't immediately join the other on the floor, however, as he wasn't that stupid. He wasn't going to go a greet someone who just threatened to eat him.
Come on.
"Fine fine," he said with another loud sigh, "no need to get your mane in a knot. What is it you want to request from me?" He watched the other keenly, observing his tight body language and hard expression. It seemed like this was not a lion to mess around with- even if he didn't like helping males, there seemed little room for him to escape it this time around. Refusing to help him probably meant dying, and when face with the two options, he would pick helping a dude over getting killed every time.
"I simply want to know where the pride lands are," he said lowly, "you spend all your time in the trees, don't you? Have you ever heard of such a place? Perhaps seen some lions heading that way at some point?"
"Is that all? How boring. If you're going to wake me up, at least make it something more interesting," moaned the leopard with annoyance. He looked around, pointing towards the east. "The pride lands are that way. I don't know how face, but I've seen their hunting parties come and go from that area." He smiled faintly.
"Thank you, leopard," Bomvu replied, turning to head the way he had been pointed. Gen frowned, leaping from the tree.
"Hey wait- what's my reward for helping you out? I don't do things for free, you know." The large lion looked back at him, letting out a low, threatening growl.
"Your continued life is your prize," he replied coldly, before turning back to move on with his mission. He left the leopard standing there looking pretty livid, but there was little he could do about that. After all, he had never claimed to be a kind lion, and after meeting Mito he was feeling a pent up urge to be mean to someone. Part of his past that he was going to have to work on before he got to the pride, he imagined. It didn't matter too much, though. Were there even leopards in the pride? he didn't like them- they were irritating at best, and food with fangs. Did that make him a speciest?
Oh well, he was okay with that.
Gen looked absolutely annoyed that the lion had just walked away without giving him a reward. His life? He already had that! That couldn't be claimed as a reward of any kind! Oh well. Maybe he just needed to have a nap and pretend it had all been part of some bad dream. So it was back up into the tree for the leopard, who stretched himself out on his favorite branch once more. Things ended up the way they had started, with the leopard falling to sleep. Maybe he hadn't gained anything for his effort, but he hadn't lost anything either.
He didn't doubt that he would have been killed if that lion had been in a darker mood.
WC: 1,013
