It had been a nice day, all told, though now it was getting darker. Rekhet was not tired, not yet, but he was already wondering if he would see Yai again once they parted ways. He was not going to bring it up: he had no real experience with friends and he was not sure what the proper protocol for ending the day together was, nor did he know how to ask for them to meet up again another day. He did not want to upset her or make her think he was trying to flirt with her. In truth, he had his heart fluttering elsewhere, but he did want to spend more time with her, as a friend.
Yai, for her part, was feeling about as confused. The sun was low in the sky, the grounds bathed in a purple light. It was a pretty time of day, but it was getting too late for them to be playing in the water, or to go hunting. They could retire somewhere else, but Yai was not much of a night owl and did not know anything fun to do at evening time. She was more than happy to just go home to her den and sleep for a few extra hours. Before she had to get up early the next morning to exercise and hunt.
"I guess we should be heading back to our homes, hm?" Rekhet said at length, watching her bashfully. He shuffled his paws a bit, and she nodded her head at him slowly. She was loathe to really admit it, though, since she wanted to get to know him a bit more. They had spent most of their time goofing off and playing around, but she wanted to talk to him, and get to know him a little more. Maye they could just go and find somewhere to hang out for a bit.
"Do you want to find a little place to sit first? It's not so dark yet, and it's still light enough for us to be able to talk. Anyway, the day doesn't have to end just because the sun has gone down. We don't have to play in the water any more, it might be too cold, but we can hang out a bit anyway." She smiled and nodded for him to follow her, which he did. He padded behind her at a short distance, letting her lead though she hardly knew of a better spot. Away from the water, maybe, so it was not as cold. Not that it was particularly chilly that evening, but still.
Instincts said to stay away from water at night.
Rekhet sat down atop a flat rock she had picked out for them, large enough to accommodate them both without them having to sit on top of one another. Which was for the best, really. Neither felt like they would make very good pillows, and really, they were not good enough friends yet to warrant that kind of closeness. This was just fine. Yai sighed, laying down gracefully, head held up, paws crossed in front of her. She watched him regally, and he sat upright, tense, a guard ever at duty.
"You can relax a bit," Yai pointed out, "we are safe here. Were you always so on edge in your old home? Was it a place where fights were common or something? Or danger from invaders?" She watched him. They had their own troubled, of course, from neighbors, outcasts, and invaders but thy were not under constant threat. Yai felt safe here, like she could live here untroubled, for the most part, and when bad things did insist on happening, she could handle them each in turn. It was nice, and she would never complain about it.
Rekhet shook his head slowly.
"No, it was not that bad. I think this is just more... part of my personality than my upbringing. I've been told I'm... serious." He sighed. He did not feel very serious. Sure, he was not great with jokes and he was not the most fun, playful lion around, but he did like going with the flow. And when things were fun, he could enjoy them. It was not like he went out of his way to be serious and down cast or anything like that. He just happened to be a fairly quiet and withdrawn lion, so others got the wrong impression of him more often than not, and he was not the type to speak out of turn to correct them. Serious, maybe, in that he wanted to do a good job and always be the best he could be, but when others said it he did not think that was what they were referring to.
Yai smiled and seemed to understand, stretching her legs lazily in front of her and yawning. She put her head down on her paws, watching him from under heavy eyelids. Maybe she was more tired than she had previously imagined. She was not going to make it back to her den tonight, as comfortable as she was, but she did not think it really mattered. The only difference between there and this rock was one animal pelt, and really, she was perfectly content right here anyway. So if she fell to sleep, she would not mind it too much. That settled in her head, she closed her eyes and sighed heavily.
"I don't think you're so serious," she said with a smile on her muzzle. She yawned and he watched her, nodding his head seriously. He was glad she did not glance up to see it, though, because he felt it was a counter point to what she was trying to tell him. He settled down a bit more, deciding he might as well go to sleep here, too, since she was. He closed his eyes and sighed into the dust, kicking up a small cloud, which he did not really notice save when some of it got into his nose. He managed not to sneeze, settling into a comfortable position for sleeping.
"I appreciate that. And... I'd be glad if we could be friends."
"We're already friends."
( Word Count: 1,032 in Word )
