Dysi was babysitting, again, wanting to give Sukanya a break from all of the cubs swarming her. To be fair, he didn't want to take all of the cubs, but taking one off her paws surely helped a little? Ishara was a bit of a handful sometimes, and he knew that Sukanya worried for the only girl in the litter. She'd get all boyish around the males, so needed a feminine influence, and so that's where Dysi came in.
"Flower chains are stupid," Ishara remarked but had a look of utter concentration on her face as she worked at threading the stems through one another. Dysi grinned to himself, making himself one as well while he waited for her to finish hers.
"Are they?" He asked, curious but amused. "Why's that?"
"They don't have a purpose," she pointed out. "They're just...there..."
"They do have a purpose," he corrected her lightly. "They're there to make you look even more dazzling and beautiful and attract some lucky boys attention."
The result was instantaneous. Ishara's noise crinkled up and a look of disgust came across her face. "Ew! Boys are gross!" Especially the wild boy who tried to maul her. He was a jerk. She knew that Dysi told her not to judge him, he had just been scared but Ishara could and would judge him. He was a jerk.
"You won't always think that," he warned but didn't continue to tease her, because something else had caught his eye. A figure in the distance, approaching them. He tensed, cautious, until the figure came into view. Oh, it was a wild dog. A purple wild dog - female it looked like.
Dysi smiled, and waiting, knowing the female would stumble upon them soon.
Sure enough, she almost walked straight over them, seemingly lost in her own world.
"Oh! I'm sorry," she gasped, stopping before she barelled into their crown making. "I didn't even see you there."
Ishara stared at her, with a look of interest on her face. She had never met a wild dog before. Interesting! Dysi, however, was nothing less than his usual charming self. He smiled warmly at her, and waved away her concern. "Not a worry at all, my dear! No harm done! You seemed awfully lost in your own world there."
The dog looked embaressed and nodded. "I shouldn't do it so often, I could hurt someone...or myself." She shook her head, and glanced at the pair. "I'm sorry to interrupt your time!"
"Again, not an issue!" Dysi again dismissed her concern. "Would you like to join us? Ishissioara won't say anything but she's never met a wild dog before, I'm sure she has lots of questions to ask." He motioned to the young leopon, who shot him a dirty look but looked embarrassed but eager at the female.
The wild dog hesitated, but smiled at the cub. "I suppose I can stay for a while," she agreed lightly. Dysi motioned for her to join them in them semi circle, and she did so.
"My name is Dysi and this is my...niece, Ishara," he explained, giving her the name of niece, because it was easier to explain. Sukanya was close to him, but not like a sister, as she had been his first love, but her cubs were family to Dysi.
"My name is Kaneika," the wild dog introduced herself, bobbing her head in a slight bow of respect. "What are you guys doing out here?" She asked, looking down at the mess of flowers all around them.
"Making flower crowns," Dysi explained but was cut off by Ishara's questions finally bursting forth.
"Don't you find it weird not having a dexterous tail?" She demanded and Kaneika looked rather stunned, and blinked. She hesitated for a moment, before responding.
"I don't really think about it too much. My tail is practical for what I need."
"Do you find it hard since you can't climb trees to find vantage points?" She asked again, without stopping for breath.
"I just find a rock." Kaneika looked at Dysi, who just smiled apologetically and shrugged slightly. Ishara was a cub on a mission, and that mission was to understand everything, the poor wild dog was just an unfortunate casualty.
"You get used to it," Dysi assured Kaneika lightly as Ishara continued to ramble, without the adults truly paying attention to it.
"Do you?" Kaneika looked a bit concerned. "Are all pups..cubs like this?"
"Some are like this," he agreed. "Some are quite different." Kaneika looked relieved at that comment, but she greened a little when Dysi continued. "Some are worse." Dysi laughed at her worried expression. "I am assuming that you don't have pups of your own?"
"No, I have not been so blessed," she admitted, and glanced at the rambling leopon cub. "I want a family though. I want it a lot."
"Families are magnificent things," Dysi encouraged lightly. "My family is quite...large." An understatement if ever there was one. "Which means its loud and complicated, but I wouldn't trade them for anything. It's different when they are your own, you'd forgive them anything."
"Do the questions get...less annoying?" She asked, cautiously as she didn't want to insult the male's niece.
He laughed loudly, startling Ishara and making her pout, realising that no one was paying attention to her now. "No," Dysi denied. "No, they are still annoying no matter if they're yours or not."
Ishara threw a flower at Dysi. "Hey, pay attention to me!" She huffed, and waited until the adults refocused on her.
"Now, as I was saying," she said, quite dramatically. "What is your opinion on water? Ok? Bad? Horrifying and messes up your fur?" She demanded of Kaneika.
"I suppose I'll just have to get used to it," Kaneika murmured to Dysi before refocusing on the sassy leopon who as scowling at her for not answering straight away. "Uh, water is ok. I like it, it's good fun for swimming in."
Ishara paused to contemplate the answer, and Kaneika shared a look with Dysi. Dysi's look was fond and a bit exasperated, where as Kaneika's was slightly panicked but seeking reassurance.
"Alright. This one is really important, so listen closely. What is your opinion on daisies?"
(wc: 1057)