Areli had promised to help Dnay clean out the sand in his fur after tackling him on the first day they'd met in more than passing. She hadn't realized at the time that it would become an unfortunate almost-nightly ritual. Dnay had...frankly the thickest fur she'd ever seen. How he didn't roast alive under it all was beyond her, but she'd had to (grouchily) admit it was a little impressive. He was a tough guy, for being such a delicate flower about some things.
Like it or not, so much time spent helping him out (and letting her ear be bent when he needed to whine about the sand or the salt on everything) had shown her just how alike they were. He was from somewhere entirely different from the Bahari, and she'd been captivated more than once as she picked over his fur by the stories he'd told about the mountains he was born in, and wandering in the rogue lands after.
Tonight was much the same—she had the big male draped over a stone, her snout pressed into his flank. She pulled back, sucked a breath, and spat a maw of gritty sand to the side. "So you really haven't seen your parents since then? Don't you worry about them at all?"
Dnay had to admit, it had been a little refreshing to have someone so keen to hear him just ramble about whatever was on his mind at the time. It had started that first grooming session with the sand, and when Areli had realized just why he complained about it, it had moved into an explanation. The mountains had been his home until there was no pride left to sustain him, and soon after he'd watched them all scatter.
Sure, he'd remained with his closest sister for a time, but when he'd chosen to join the Bahari, well... She hadn't exactly fancied a life by the ocean. And he couldn't exactly blame her, given how high maintenance it was for him to just get by.
One ear flicked back towards Areli as she pulled her muzzle away from his flank, and he paused in the midst of wetting his paw in preparation to groom his face. There was a deep breath as he thought over how to answer her question. "I haven't seen them... But they got a hawk to carry a message to me a while back. They're happily settled in another pride, now. Mom's even pregnant again!" He frowned, then corrected. "Well, she's probably had the cubs by now. That was a while ago, after all..."
That was true, she supposed. Birds were so useful, maybe she should...but almost all of her family still lived nearby, so there was no real need to get one of her own. "So you're a brother all over again! That's good. Maybe this time they can put down roots, and your neices and nephews will end up living there too, and their cubs as well." She spat another mouth full of sand. She didn't mind the grit, but she wasn't going to chew it all, not when she could just hack it back out.
"Do you want to meet them? I mean, I'm sure you had your reasons for picking the Bahari, but...isn't it strange? Having family somewhere else, and none of your own here?" More grooming, her tongue tugging firmly at his way-too-long fur. Seriously. He needed shaved or something, some way to get all that thick undercoat out! "I guess you could make a family here. Or find a gypsy bride, I know some folks who've done that. Put down your own roots, if you're not going to go back to your parents."
A lot of her own friends had already settled down too. She'd always been too busy with her job to think about it, but maybe...hmm. Well. Maybe if he went to the Kizi to look for a love fortune, she'd tag along! Yeah...
"It's definitely possible. I guess this pride has a really long history, so I doubt anything's gonna happen to it." Of course, that was assuming some sort of horrific natural disaster didn't happen. He'd heard stories of the great tsunami that have ravaged the Bahari many years ago, washing away many of its members. Supposedly half of the pride had been presumed dead - but he was certain that had to be an exaggeration.
"Maybe someday. But for now, I think I'd rather get my life here settled. Maybe figure out some kind of solution for living with all this fur so you aren't stuck helping me groom it every night." His tone was teasing, a flippant remark to hide the fact that maybe he didn't want her to stop helping him. He liked spending his nights with her like this.
His consideration of her warmed her more than the setting sun, but she passed it off with a scoff. "Someone has to! Can't have our delicate flower sleeping in sandy fur! And really, I'm amazed that you've lasted this long with all this. It's ridiculous." Compliments threaded with friendly barbs had become the norm between them, it seemed. And really, he never asked her to groom him, and she didn't feel put out about it. It had become habit, like putting on comfortable pants after a long work day, or a cup of tea before bed. Not that they knew of such things, but that's what it was.
"Well, I suppose if anything did happen, they could come here with us." Us the pride, or us the two of them? She frowned and pulled back, pensive for a moment, trying to sift the still-buried thoughts and feelings that had been poking at her for the last half-moon. Nothing came of it though, and she shrugged before resuming her efforts. "And really, where are you gonna find someone as good at this as I am? We could always shave some fur off, yeah?" She winked, then for some reason scolded herself mentally. This was getting more and more confusing!
"I'm never going to get rid of that nickname, am I?" Dnay groaned, scowling and moving to smack Areli's face with the poof of his tail tuft. (Which he'd thankfully already groomed, so she wouldn't be getting a face full of sand from the assault.) He snickered softly as he finished grooming his face, twisting around to start cleaning the sand out of his shoulder.
He made a noncommittal hum at her suggestion, pausing for a moment to join her in pondering just which us she meant. He glanced at her briefly, carefully avoiding her gaze right up until she opened her big mouth to make her next suggestion. His nose wrinkled in distaste and he shook his head. "Shave some fur off? Do you have any idea how ridiculous that would look? Who ever heard of a bald lion!"
She was all laughter after his tail connected with her face. Six weeks ago she probably would have skulked off, fuming, but they knew each other better now. She sagged against, him, laughing wildly at the mental image of him shorn down to just his mane. "Y-y-you'd l-lo-loohahahah! You'd look redi-hihihi!-culous!" A few other pride-mates nearby paused what they were doing to raise a brow at the noise, and she tried to muffle herself with a paw, though her sides still spammed with the contained chuckles.
"Oh, oh, I'm sorry, that just was too funny to think about! You know I'd never actually try to talk you into that, right?? Amazing..." It was some time before she'd settled enough to resume her task. He was nearly clean anyways, big baby flower. A little left in his fur wouldn't hurt. "I guess being 'delicate flower' is better than 'baldy', huh?"
Dnay was almost certain the force of his eye roll would surely cause his eyes to pop right out of their sockets. Thankfully they didn't, and he instead used Areli's fit of laughter as an excuse to shove a paw into her face. He continued pushing his foot into her cheek until she finally quieted down, only then shifting to remove it from her face.
"Knowing you? If you thought it'd be funny enough, you'd absolutely try to talk me into it." He scoffed, shaking his head and finishing up with the patch of fur he'd been grooming on his shoulder. He was pretty sure he'd finally gotten all the sand out of it for tonight, but that just meant they got to repeat this whole thing tomorrow.
She shoved him back when his paw got in her face, still occasionally chortling, and bapped him back with one of her own. "Oh yeah, because I really wanna be seen with the bald guy, huh? You've got it rough enough even with fur anyways." Without even thinking, before she could realize what she was doing, she'd leaned in, licking his cheek. No doubt a friendly move, nothing denoting any level of fondness above that, but still she froze for just a beat before forcing another laugh and leaning back.
"Good thing your mom had more cubs. Maybe one'll look just like you, but, y'know...cute!" There. She totally wasn't into him. Really. 100%.
This...could be a problem.
There was a moment of silent after the abruptly affectionate gesture, where Dnay had no clue how to respond. He fumbled before finally shaking it off, huffing softly at Areli's reply. "I wouldn't be thinking about hitting on my siblings just yet. You haven't even met them. For all you know, they could have terrible personalities."
He shook his head, getting up and stretching before flopping back down in the bed he'd made himself. He most certainly wasn't going to admit he had a crush on Areli. Absolutely not. She'd have to break first...
