Alili was excited to meet what she hoped would be a new friend. It was under odd circumstances that they had met. She appeared to be helping him through some sort of personality metamorphosis, or some anxiety therapy, but Alili obliged anyway. She had nothing else to do, and a new friendship and a good time ranked high on her pretty empty list of priorities.
Mbari was not feeling as positive of the female, in fact he felt a little sick. He thought of how well it had gone yesterday to calm himself. They had enjoyed the meal that Mbari had provided, but his mother had not been there. He supposed she was walking about the pride, snoozing in the sun, or catching up with an old friend, perhaps Mahiri. It was good for her to have friends at her age, especially ones that she had known almost all her life. They had been through the same kind of things and seen much of each others happiness and sadness. Kengee was here now though, and he was a kind young male. Seeing him had certainly brightened up her days.
Boldly, and as hard as it was to believe, Mbari had took a chance on inviting a stranger to eat with him in the family den as part of his exercise in abandoning social anxiety. Luckily the female had been very friendly indeed and was more than happy to help. He was upfront about his intentions, which may have defeated the point a little, but he needed to justify why he thought it was accepted to ask a random female back for dinner. His heart raced a little. Hindsight was making things a little harder? Was it a good idea?
Alili ran across the open plains like a black rhinoceros. After a few paces she slowed and kept a look out for Mbari's golden pelt. It was difficult to see in the long grasses as he was such a similar colour. Her blue eyes squinted in the sun. Perhaps she would be able to make him out from his rust coloured mane. She had to admit that their encounter was a strange one, but strangely enjoyable all the same. They had talked a little and shared some thoughts on current events. It was all rather civilised, especially for Alili. Even though Mbari was older than her, she felt like he was the same age as her mentally, or maybe even younger. It was clear that he had missed out on a lot of things and was trying to grow more and make up for everything. That being said he was not an immature lion.
It mustn't have been that bad an idea, because here he was on his way to meet the very same female. The dinner had gone down well, and they had spoke of several different things, but she had offered to show him some fun and help him out of his shell. A kind gesture but something that the male winced inwardly about. She was a lot more... open and confident and feisty than he was, and he thought he was probably drag her down with his different ideas of fun... Or start panicking again. Kamba had given him the usual pep-talk before the outing, and it had helped, a little. If only everyone was his family, he never had this anxiety with them. He thought fondly of Kiasi for a moment, he had seen her not too long ago, but really ought to make the effort. It was a little strained after their father had died, but he had found comfort in some of his siblings all the same. Being the only one in the first litter, he always felt a little different, a little unique. He didn't bond with his other siblings quite as well as they had bonded with each other. He secretly thought that him and his mother were the closest, though that was probably because unfortunately she had to somewhat baby him well into adulthood.
Aha! Suddenly she saw him, the rust coloured mane moving seemingly attached to nothing, but a harder look revealed a beautifully golden lion. She thought about trying to slink into the long grass for a moment, crouching and creeping up on him before a final pounce, but then she decided it was probably best not to creep up on a creature who was well known to panic. Alili drew herself up to her full size and trotted up casually to the male, although given her colour, she really didn't need to make herself look so obvious. “Hallo there!”
Mbari felt his stomach give a little twist. The ideas the female had listed when they met as her idea of fun were rather... active, and he didn't have a clue exactly what she had in store for him today. He hadn't yet decided if she was the kind of female to tell him what to do, or to ask. He thought it could probably go either way.
Alili was tactful, and though boisterous she was not bossy. She liked to take other peoples feelings into consideration when she did something, although it was not often that she had to think about more than just herself. “Right, well, I er 'ad a few ideas but I dunno wha' you wanna do. I know we don' all like the same thing sooo.” She gave him a rather serious look for a moment. “Buh you said you were tryin' to be bolder, an' I've made it my mission to help, so you should try summat new!” The female gave him a cheeky smile, flashing her teeth. “Whatcha think?” She leaned over to nudge his shoulder.
“E-erm.” Mbari could feel some of the panic setting in. As nice as this lioness was, all he wanted to do right now was run away and go home. It didn't help that she was a female. As boyish as she acted, she was still a female and Mbari had never been great with them. Losing Tsukiko had not helped as it had reduced his self esteem in the dating game to below zero, and it had been hard to regain it. Although he was not on a quest to woo now, he suddenly became increasingly aware of her gender and his stomach knotted. He couldn't spar a female surely? How ungentlemanly. He thought of what his father would say and smiled to himself for a moment. It would probably be something smooth. Smoothness was not something this lion possessed. He looked blinkingly at Alili, and then at the ground, and then back to her. “Okay, lets get ready, then you can teach me how to fight!” Mbari exclaimed. His voice hid his true feelings. He assumed the female would know how to fight, or at least how to spar, as she'd listed it under her favourite hobbies.
Alili let out something as close to a squeal as she could probably ever muster. Oh first Bryne and now Mbari! It was a good few weeks indeed, and maybe she could land a few solid sparring partners! She was excited that this male was making a genuine effort too and was hopeful that he would find what he wanted. It was quite impressive, he certainly seemed to have dedication.
“Right, we'll find a nice spot , maybe near some water, and then we can 'ave a little go! I kno' I'm a girl, buh ya don't have to go easy on me! It'll just be a little bit of fun, anyway!”
Mbari nodded shakily and walked alongside the female, who was looking bigger with each stride. There was something about her that made him put his confidence in her though, and he thought that perhaps her good nature was something to live by. There was a little fire in her too, a little passion. Maybe one day he could be like that too.
WC = 1327
