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 Posted: Fri Mar 24, 2006 11:04 pm
Alright. X3;; Sadly for the moment I can't hope to put these in order, but, here's a collection of RP's between Ary/Adanna and Tahja/Nukta (Me). This is for our own record/purposes.
------------------------------------------------- Recent: March
A cool breeze rippled through the pridelands, causing the grasses to shift much like the waves of the sea. The sun had swung high over head to show mid-day, countering the wind with the pressured heat it normally applied at this time.
Out among the swaying stalks of yellow-green lay a young lioness upon her back. Ada's feet were curled neatly against her chest and near her tail as her head was laid back upon the ground. It seemed she had yet to awaken from when she had fallen asleep the pervious night-for Ada could sleep through almost anything. She showed no signs of stiring soon, for the seemed quite comfortable with the sun warming her belly and the soft soil beneather her.
Nukta was not that surprised to wake before his golden-hued friend. He'd been sleeping less, and opted to let her sleep for a while longer though, wandering off to distract himself lest she wake up and find him staring. Things had gone from confusing to weird when Nukta realized that his crush on Adanna had returned. Not only that, but it seemed like it was worse. He kept having urges to be close to her, to show her how he felt. There were many new strange sensations but thankfully he could understand them as they came along this time around.
He returned now, a young warthog carried in his jaws. He'd brought breakfast for her. Seeing her in the SAME spot that he left her in he growled softly, really more of a deep echoing rumble in his chest.
Adanna was apparently enjoying whatever dream she was having, for even the smell of food did not arose her interest. She just continued to lay there, smiling softly as her tail swished from side to side. Boy, if there was one thing she could do it was sleep! No wonder she always insisted on going to bed late in the night-she slept through half of the day.
Nukta frowned, looking down. Augh! She was even lazier than he was! Oh well.
He dropped the warthog off to one side, eyes going to her figure stretched out in the grasses again. Man...
~I wonder what she's dreaming about...~
Nukta's dark furred head leaned in close, words half whispered from his mouth. "Ada... Come back to the realm of the concious, Ada..."
Ada's ear twitched and she rolled over with a grumble, very difficult to make out, "Mm...msphlemph...Nuk...ta....grmmmesl...." Well, it didn't seem like that was going to wake her up. She slept like a rock, which should have been something Nukta was used to by now. Waking her up was always a chore, unless she woke up by herself.
Oh, but he wasn't aiming to wake her, he was aiming to get some idea of what she was going on about. When he didn't seem to be able to make any sense of what she muttered he smirked and grabbed her ear in his mouth, tugging. "WAYKUPF!!"
Her features rippled in her sleep, showing mild, mixed annoyance, through her smile failed to fade into a complete frown, "Mm....going to have to...mmrrmm....get off....grrmph...don't let.....go....tftfmph...." Her words were a jumple and could be mixed into many different meanings if they were thought upon. Anyone else would have been amazed at her will to stay asleep through all his tugging and yelling.
Nukta's frown deepened. Sure, he knew it would be tough to wake her up, but this was normal for him to, to get a little stumped after the second attempt. Now... what did he do to get her up last time?
>}
Ada, asleep as she was, had no idea how much trouble she might be getting into due to her slumbering. And she certainly couldn't see that michivious look Nukta held at the moment. Perhaps it would have been better for her to be a light sleeper. Ah well.
Nukta took a deep breath, leaning in closer and raising a paw to tickle her muzzle towards her nose with one of his claws lightly.
"WAKE UP ADANNA!! THERE'S A SNAKE CRAWLING UP YOUR NOSE!!!!"
Ada sneezed, batted his paw away, and rolled over. Apparently she wasn't afraid of snakes...or she was just too involved in her sleep to care. It was a dang good thing it hadn't been a real snake...she probably would have gotten bitten sharply on the face.
D< OKAY THATS IT!!!
Nukta's jaws traveled to her other end, grabbing her tail and yanking on it. Had it always been THIS HARD to wake her up?!
Ada's nose wrinkled in irratation and she kicked out with her back legs at his face. However, neither action was done out of waking up-both happened completely in her sleep. How did Nukta wake her up on other days? It seemed like there was no answer to that strange question.
"ACK!! Hey!!"
Nukta growled, rubbing at his nose with a paw.
~Dammit!! That's the last straw!!~
----------------------------------
A few moments passed while Nukta found a suitable launching pad, and after climbing up the barely stable rock he had a bird's eye view of his sleeping companion. His smirk was much more frazzled now, as he'd been trying everything he could think of until this point, and if THIS didn't work he'd give up and leave breakfast with her.
POUNCE!!!!
Adanna, at that moment, had her eyes slide open as she rolled over onto her belly. She yawned and got to her feet, taking two sluggish steps away. Both the roll and getting up had brought her completely out of harms way, which means that Nukta missed completely. She didn't even notice him until he hit the ground, in which case she turned her head slightly to give him a questioning look, "What were you...doing...?"
O O;;;;;;;;;;;; s**t!! That meant he was going to belly flop right into the ground!!!
CRASH!! >.O;;
Can't.... answer.... too much... pain.... >__<
"....you know the lake is like...no where near here, right?" Ada asked flatly, her teasing nature dulled out a bit from being so groggy. That didn't mean she wasn't confused by his belly flop onto the ground. Ouch.
Nukta just offered some form of a rough grunt, slowly pulling himself onto his side and into himself to favor his stomach. The warthog carcass was still fresh and beginning to attract flies.
"...." Ada's mind wasn't up and running enough to try and figure out his strange habits. Instead she turned her head in the directon of the warthog and slid over to it. She wasted no time in filling her belly, though she did care to glance backwards and Nukta once and a while to see if he was...um...feeling better.
It was a few minutes, and slowly Nukta got his wind back, eyes having watered a bit from the pain. He blinked his eyes dry and slowly rose to his paws enough to sit up straight. Nose aching, stomach bruising, patience waning...
Next time he was letting her sleep. =0=
Ada sat back on her haunces, ears perked as she licked her mouth clean. She looked at him with bright auburn eyes, "Better?" She still didn't understand his sky diving wish or whatever, but the warthog was good so she didn't much care anymore. ^.^
T__T Brood.
"Ahhh, come on. It's a nice day, why are you pouting?" Ada scolded him with a grin. Apparently she was in a good mood today.
=_________________= "Nevermind it."
XD Nukta was at a loss. He'd done what he'd come to do in getting her breakfast, his mood wasn't totally shot, but he was too grumpy to suggest anything now.
Ada looked at him skeptically and loped around behind him. She rose up to drape her front paws over his shoulders and leaned on him as she nipped at his ear, "Stop being so...grumpy. It's become your middle name." Well, Nukta was the master at being angsty, now wasn't he?
///////////////////////////////////////////////
"......"
Well THAT was a good way to stop his brooding and shut him up!! It also, incidentally, left him kind of frozen to the spot.
"Uh! You're impossible!" Ada huffed in annoyance as she got off, giving him a good push in the process. Why did he always have to shoot her down when she wanted to play? -.- Mrrrrrrr.
Nukta staggered forward a step from where he sat, front paws forced out to support his weight. In the end he slid down to almost touch the ground again, feeling dazed. Damn this new found maturity!!
"N-no, it's not that!" He blurted out before he realized it but quickly shut himself up at the end. His last word was cut off abruptly as he clamped his jaws shut and got up, facing her and backing away. His chest hurt. It felt tight and constricted like he really couldn't breathe.
"....." Ada gave him a dull look. Her ear twitched slightly. What was his problem. He kept acting funny at strange moments and she didn't get it! D:
Seeing as he was almost gasping or something Ada blinked and looked at him critically, "Did you hurt yourself when you...fell or whatever?"
"N-- I'm fine!"
He couldn't tell her no, then she'd ask why he was acting weird. He couldn't tell her yes, then she'd worry. He just needed to get AWAY from her for a while before he did or said something stupid that he might regret and she might not forgive.
She wasn't going to be happy with him about this, in one way or another, but Nukta got to his paws and hurried past her. "I'm going hunting."
"Wha?! You just went hunting!" Ada called after him in indignation. When he was gone she glared at where he had disappeared into the grass. Damn that boy! What was his problem. "Uuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr darn weirdo!" Adanna yelled in frustration as she kicked at the grass. With that she went to take her frustration out on something else...like...rocks...and poor helpless bushes.
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Posted: Fri Mar 24, 2006 11:05 pm
------------------------------------------------- Pre-Pridelands: A race at the border
The sun was high in the sky at mid-day. The air was warm without a cooling breeze among the tall grasses to sway them. Hunters took shelter in the shade when they had no need to be up and other animals found releif at the watering hole.
Ada moved along the dry ground at an easy, energetic lope, her paws stirring the dust beneath her. It had been only a few nights ago she had conforted Nukta's fears. They were still moving about the lands. Ada, despite her own doubts of that night, was acting as though it hadn't happened at all, for she was still sure her search would turn something up eventually.
Nukta definitely had a noticeable change in him from when first meeting Adanna. Where as before he was gruff, and pushed her away constantly, even lashing out at first, now he seemed much more... Relaxed. She knew what he'd done, and she still wanted them to stay together. That was something that Nukta would never take for granted. He didn't really understand how she could be so forgiving after all the grief he gave her but, he was glad.
So, he followed along, growing paws showing early signs of adulthood as they were nearly frying pan size by now. Pitchy black toes and strong hunters legs led up where markings showed off signs of Nukta's uknown heritage. The Mbingu'decendent continued on his path watching the figure before him for signs of direction. She needed to lead more today, if only because Nukta was feeling more like himself, which was slightly more laid back than the tense youngster she'd come to know as a cub.
Adanna felt herself growing bored with the aimless walking. There had to be something more interesting to do while they were searching, right? She wrinkled her nose, her ears flickering back for a moment. It almost looked like she had a migrane or something.
Her pace slowed as she thought and her features relaxed slightly as she grinned micheviously. Loping backward to Nukta to trotted around him, "Nukta...lets...have a race!"
Nukta slowed to a pause, features tensing lightly as he raised a brow to his travel-mate's behavior. It just got more suspicious when she turned, and loped towards him. His ears shifted to ease back slowly into his thick, growing in mane, but then flattened when being circled. "Race? You're kidding, right?" In his happy little mind Nukta already knew she'd loose, nevermind that might not be the case.
Adanna scruntched up her face in frustration, which was actually rather adorable, "No! Uh, you're not fun!" She lashed her tail in irration as she stuck her tongue out at him. What a spoil sport. She turned and began to stalk off in the direction they had been headed.
"Hey! I didn't say that was a no! I just don't want you to get mad at me when you loose." He grinned, siddling up next to her again after bounding a few steps to catch up.
Adanna grinned to herself. There we go. When he came up beside her she smiled, "Alright!" Her ears perked forwar and she glanced ahead of them, "Hm...the finish line is..." She caught sight of one dried tree far off inthe distance. "That tree way over there!"
"Alright." He smirked, easing into a starting point next to her. "Want to make it interesting?"
Adanna looked at him skeptically, "What do you have in mind?" Her body had tensed in ready for the sudden sprint they'd soon do.
"If I win, you have to hunt for me for the next three days." He smirked.
Adanna wrinkeld her nose in thought, her ears twitching. Looking at him slyly she grinned smugly, "And if I win...I get one day, any day, that you do whatever I say!" She gave him a look that just dared him to back down from that.
Nukta looked horror struck, absolutely HORROR-struck. "What?! NO W-- Rrrrr!" T.x How could he accept that?! How could he back down?! She had him in a tough spot! "Alright." He smirked. "Fine. You're on. Just don't go getting huffy when you loose!" He teased.
Adanna grinned strutting a little in front of him, endlessly amused by his horror and hesatation. At his comment she meerly said simply, "I won't...promise me no crying if you loose." This was going to be fun.
Nukta was being typically overconfident at that moment, so sure that he'd win. He was bigger, his legs had longer reach even if it wasn't much. (I figure they're probably close in age, just that Ada is smaller only because... she is? Or cause she's female? *shrug* XD)
He snorted at the confident saunter she held, and came even with her once again, flicking his tail against her back haunch.
"Right." He sarcastically shot back with a roll of his eyes, a grin still on his dark maw. He got situated and stared ahead at the tree, guaging the distance. "Whose calling it?"
Ada was conident as well, in her own way. She could run pretty fast when she wanted to. It didn't matter who had the bigger or longer legs. She just knew she was going to kick his butt.
"I am, of course," she answered to his question, as though it was the obvious answer. He'd probably call it wrong or something, the silly boy.
Adanna waited a long moment, staring at the tree in silence. She stood with her muscles tensed and her body ready to spring into action. Finally she yelled out, with little warning, "Go!" She sprung forward and raced off toward the tree. Dang, her short little legs sure could move.
Nukta wasn't much aware of anything else, because he was tensely waiting for the signal. When it came he also leapt from their starting point at a fast sprint, only daring to see where Adanna was. What he saw nearly made him trip and fall on his face. SHE WAS PULLING AHEADWTF!!
Adanna continued to race forward, moving her small legs very quickly. Since they weren't very long, she didn't have to wait as long between bounds before pushing off the ground again. In long distance running that probably would have worn her out, but since this was short...she turned out to be quite the quick little devil. She moved ahead of Nukta slightly as they were about half way.
Nukta sure hadn't thought of this that way, and was regretting it now. He WAS at a disadvantage! Despite this being a lighthearted little challege, he was just a tad nervous at the idea of being at Adanna's mercy for a day, and any day she wanted at that. He'd been an idiot! D:
His legs pushed as hard as they could go, but the way she managed to push off gave her more length in her bounds, and Nukta was doing good to keep up as he was, not to mention he was heavier set than her. Females were made naturally to hunt where as the males of their species primarily fed from those kills. Damn.
Adanna bounded across the finish line, scattering dust in all directions as she slowed herself down to a trot. Panting, she loped around in a circle to meet him, a wide grin upon her maw. Ha! She knew she could beat him. She could not hide her pleasure in any way, for it simply wasn't her style.
Nukta growled and skidded to a hault, rearing back on his haunches and sliding just past the tree. He gave a rough shake of his half grown mane and averted his eyes in indignant embarassment. Teeth clenched tight, he just waited for her to catch her breath and start laying it on. His own chest rose and fell heavily, but every now and again he'd cast a glance to the female as she circled.
Whatever!
And boy was she ready to lay it on him! Humility was not Ada's strong point, and probably never would be. "Ohhh, Nukta, who's huffy now?" She teased, strutting about. "You just thought that because I was smaller you could-" she began again, but was cut off as her paw caught on something and she fell forward with a shriek of surprise. A cloud of dust rose within an instant as she hit the ground with a great thud and vanished from view until the small cloud could clear.
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Posted: Fri Mar 24, 2006 11:52 pm
------------------------------------------------- Recent: Pre-pridelands; Adanna falls ill
The sun was starting to sink in the sky, bringing about the gradual fall of evening. However, much of the fading star's light was blocked out by the towering canopies and lush green leaves overhead. The chitter of insects, monkies, and birds was endless and unstopable. This strange land was far different from the grasslands that had become to familiar and loved.
Ada loped along, scrambling over brambles and bushes. The past day had been filled with slight awe at her surroundings, for she had been lured her by mistake a few days ago and she had never seen such a place before. She climbed upon a small rock, peeking over her shoulder at her companion who should have been following behind.
Nukta was a bit more irritable in his awestruck state, being characteristically quiet and somewhat moody. He'd twice felt the bite of the brambles now, hence his slightly sour mood, but it seemed all too rare these days to see Adanna in such an aimable state so he kept his complaints to himself and simply followed along, ocassionally shaking his mane loose of debris.
They'd been walking on forever and a day it seemed, nothing was familiar anymore. "Where in the heck are we?" He finally asked, an ear flickering in annoyance at his lack of knowledge.
"Don't know...I've never been here before," Ada said with a small wrinkle of her nose as she looked around. Her tail twitched, but not as energetically as it had in previous days. When he caught up she didn't sprint off ahead again. Perhaps she was getting a little tired from the slow trecking through the jungle.
"Well,"
Nukta had a look around, not spotting any signs of other life on the first glance.
"wherever we are, it's dead as a doorknob..... besides the damn bugs and birds."
He came to a pause alongside the female, eyes flickering everywhere. Something did feel strange, but he couldn't decide if it was simple unease or intuition.
Ada gave a small nod, "I guess..." She rolled over on the rock on which she sat. It seemed odd for her to give such a simple answer and one without much emotional ties. After all, Ada lived her life through her emotions which, more often then not, caused her trouble. Somehow she seemed a little out of it.
"..." Nukta certainly noticed, lifting an eyebrow at her behavior before leaping down from the rock and turning to face it and her. "What's with you?" He asked bluntly, circling the small bolder.
"Nothing," she said with a snort, giving him an odd look. "Why you asking?" she shot back, but it was still a little too dull to be convincing. Something was up, that was for sure.
Nukta was not impressed or dettered this time, simply giving her a level look. "Because you're acting odd." He retorted logically.
"What am I supposed to act like?" Ada said with a small suspicious wrinkle of her nose. Ok, so that was slightly more normal, but there was still something that seemed off. She should have put more energy into it, right?
"You. Come on, you've been moving like a snail all day. Just yesterday I could barely keep up with you, now you're lazing around like.... like... ME!" He snorted at that, maybe now she'd realize what he meant.
Ada looked at him with a small frown, her ears twitching thoughtfully before she rolled over. "I dunno...maybe I'm just tired..." She let out a breath through her nose, resting the side of her head on the cold surface of the rock.
"Something else is bothering you." He stated, moving to bring his paws up atop the rock so he could stand partly on his hind legs and look at her.
"I just...feel kinda tired..." Ada muttered breathlessly, her ears pulling back slightly. It was odd, but she couldn't remember feeling this KIND of tired before...
Nukta frowned, concern etching onto his expression. "Ada, do you feel sick? How long has this been going on??"
He was just about to panic. He didn't know what he could do for her! What if she was sick with a plague??
Ada looked at him with a small frown, not understanding his panic, "Just today...I guess..." She shivered slightly, either from being unnerved by his reaction or something else.
"What did you eat while I was gone??" He leapt off the rock, staring at her hard and definitely getting more worked up. He did another frantic sweep of the area. Why wasn't anyone around?!
"Nothing! Though I got really hungry..." The last bit trailed off into a grumble again. She didn't get why he was being so dramtic...and his loud speech was making her head hurt.
"When was the last time that you ate?" He asked just a bit dubious. Maybe food! Maybe food would help!
"The last time you brought me something..." Ada grumbled, pulling her paws onto her head. Ugg, it was starting to throb...why wasn't the jungle more quiet? It didn't seem like she was in awe over it anymore.
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Posted: Sat Mar 25, 2006 12:08 pm
------------------------------------------------- Recent: Within Pridelands
Not at all to Nukta's surprise the Pridelands turned out to be just as relaxed as the rumors said it to be. Not only that but the weather was tame and very in between the colder air he was used to and the hotter temperature of the dessert. It was just... perfect. Well, except for Nukta's new found insecurity. If it wasn't one thing it was always another with him, really.
The dark pridelander was settled out over one of the rocks in the Southern part of the great landmark known as priderock. It was an excellent place for sunbathing, especially with the cooling cross breeze.
Adanna had found herself perfectly content with the new home they had settled in. She missed the constant change of scenery a little, but otherwise she enjoyed it here. She didn't share Nukta's shift in insecurities, but then they always had feared different things and lived differently, so it wasn't surprising.
She loped along through the yellow-green grasses, her white tail swishing along behind her energetically. She caught sight of Nukta on a rock, having gone to look for him in the first place. She moved her paws upon onto the rock and rested her head beside them on a slant as she grinned at him, "Heeeeeey, Roguish Prince...whachya doing?"
Nukta didn't move to acknowledge it, but he'd heard her approach. It was "Roguish Prince" that caught his ear and made him show signs of life. That cub called him that their first day, and Nukta still hadn't figured out if it was in sarcasm or if the boy was just weird, but he didn't much care. He was growing steadily uneasy. Why? He'd been the one to suggest settling down right? Why couldn't he shake this feeling now, more when Adanna was around than when she wasn't?
"Sunbathing." He replied unenergetically, lazy as usual. The lioness beside him was growing well, you would hardly believe she was once a tomboyish little cubling when they met. She was.... Well, he'd thought it before, she was beautiful... He could never tell her that now though!
Adanna stuck out her tongue at him, "Phhhh, boooring." She applied pressure to her paws and lept gracefully up onto the free space beside him on the rock. He was right about her growing and she also seemed to be beomcing a tad less clumsy then normal. Just a tad. Growth couldn't completely change a person, after all.
"Since when do you need so much sun?" She asked, teasing his lazy behavior.
Nukta shrugged, stretching out on his stomach so that both paws splayed out before him with his chin resting on the warm rock under his massive black form.
"Dunno. Just do."
"Mm....lazy," She accused shamelessly as she rolled her eyes. She sat back on her haunches, her tail swishing back and forth idley. "Lets doooo something," Ada whinned, moving to place her two paws upon his back as she nipped at his ear.
Nukta's eyes slitted shut, and he almost purred. Almost.
She could drive him crazy without even intending to. That felt really good with the sun leaving him relaxed all over.
"Like what?" He yawned hugely.
"Something fun, obviously," Ada murmured as she released his ear and pushed down on his back. It was supposed to be an action to prompt him to get up. Little did she know she might be making him want to lay there even more.
This time he DID purr, kicking his back legs out and shifting onto his side, swiping up with his paw and pulling her down next to him.
"Eeeeeep!" Ada squeeked in surprise as she was yanked down beside him. She blinked a few times and then wrinkled her nose, "Heey...what was that for?" Despite her skeptisism she didn't try to get up or move away. If he hadn't pulled her down she probably would have teased him about his purring right away as well.
"This'll keep you from disturbing my nap." He replied gruffly, smirking, eyes shut.
Ada frowned and then began to wriggle a little. Not enough to get up or anything, but similar to the movements she did when she tried to get to sleep, "I don't sit still though. You sure you want me having to stay here, hmmmm?" Her tail flicked about, its white tuft dragging along the stone surface of the rock.
Nukta was immediately humbled by the answer his mind gave, but gave no indication of it. He simply withdrew his paw and pulled it up under his chin instead for a pillow. If she wanted him to get up she'd have to knock him off this rock first. ((>D *Lmao @ the image that creates*))
"If I ain't used to your kicking by now I'll never be. Right?"
"Uuuuuurrrrrrrr," Ada grumbled in frustration. Why did he have to be so boring today? She got to her feet and glowered at him and then pounced, grabbing a hold of his ear again. Damn, she liked that ear, didn't she? "Get uuuuupppppp!"
"What's in it for me?" He grumbled, pulling his ear. Dammit! That was going to drive him crazy! Had it always felt that nice or was it just lately?
"I get off and don't yank your ear from your head?" Ada offered teasingly. Honestly, she thought her sitting on him was annoying. She was heavy, wasn't she? Her mindset of the situation hadn't evovled from what a cub would see. She had no idea Nukta's view could be different.
"Hmmm, I dunno, I barely even feel it." He grinned, actually, smirked was more the word for it.
"Whhhaaaa?" Ada cried in frustration, biting down harder on his ear and pressing herself down on top of him with as much weight as possible as if it would prove him wrong.
The weight might not have hurt, but the biting did! Nukta knew his bragging had gone too far now. "ACK! OKAYOKAY!!"
That was all the motivation Nukta needed. He pushed down on his paws and up with his legs, lifting Adanna up ON his back.
"Eeeeee, wait don't do that!" Ada cried in surprise as he stood off. Not wanting to fall off, possibly tumble completely off the rock, she clung to his back, her tail bristling, "Let me doooooowwwwwwnnnnnnnn!"
"Oh no. You wanted up there, now you're, staying!"
Grinning, bearing the weight as he was surprised to find that his growing legs could, Nukta moved to slide down the non-steep side of the rock and onto solid ground, pivoting around. He wasn't going to get far with someone nearly his size clinging to his back like that but for now, it served her fair for asking for trouble! XD Besides, he wouldn't do something that would get her hurt, or just out of spite. She wanted him to stop being lazy right?
"I just wanted you up! I didn't want to be up myself!" Adanna cried as she clung harder, not wanting to fall off. And the sudden decline in elevation, however slight, only made her feel like she was falling even more. How Nukta could walk with her clinging like that was hard to understand. Sure, she wasn't a huge female for her age, but she wasn't tiny either.
Nukta didn't bother trying to walk further than that, wincing now that her hold was getting tighter. "Uh... Ada, you canletgonow!" Wince.
"You have to let me down before I let go!" Ada demanded stubbornly. There was no way she was going to let him just DROP her
Nukta groaned softly and slowly settled down onto the ground, tail thumping the ground almost impatiently. He'd been asking for it just as much as she had, in the end, it seemed.
Ada released him once they reached the ground and rolled off into the grass. She landed on her back as she let out a breath of relief. Ok, she'd think twice about doing that again...maybe.
Her counterpart rumbled and rubbed at his other leg with the opposite paw, looking at her with olive green eyes with a tease. "Geez, Ada, maybe you aught to lay off the antelope for a while."
Ada sent him a rather dirty look, "Are you calling me fat?!" >O Oh no he did not! You do not mention a woman's weight, tomboyish or not. It was like...the common curtisy rule of the universe!
O_O;; "Uh,"
"YOU ARE! YOU a** HOLE!" Ada yelled at him, pushing her two paws in his face and pushing him away before jumping and bounding off in the opposite direction, her fur bristling. Why she cared she wasn't sure, but since she wasn't one to think about things she just let herself be angry.
Nukta was floored, even before her paws hit his face and shoved him away. One word.
WHA?!
"Augh!" He scrubbed a paw over his eyes and scrambled to all fours, starting after her. "Hey! Adanna!! It was just a joke!!"
Ada didn't look back, her ears flat against her head. Urrggg, she couldn't believe him! Her weight didn't matter to her, nor did her appearance but...why would he attack her like that? And yet...even that wasn't the reason why she was angry. She didn't understand it, but it just...hurt. Ah, s**t. Stupid Nukta
Nukta didn't understand it either, but after a few moments his pawfalls slowed, and he tried calling after her again. He was confused and frustrated, he knew he was a morron but, what did he miss? Since when was Adanna sensitive about her apperance, that she couldn't take a little tease? It hurt to see her walking away from him, ignoring his calls, much more than he'd imagined it would. If she didn't stop... he'd track her down and make her listen, but...
"Adanna, WAIT!!"
"WHAT?" Ada snapped, glaring back at him. What could he possibly say to make her...loose this sense of frustration and...pain? Maybe it was stupid but...damn, she wished she had just let him sunbath.
Nukta saw his chance, and he took it, closing the gap between them. He'd wished he'd just kept his mouth shut, just let her do what she wanted or even just cooperated from the get go. Why did things have to feel so different between them now?
Once he had caught up with her he came around to face her, blocking her path though she could just as easily go around him. But in his eyes there was no room for frustration or his usual gruff-idiocy. He didn't need to know HOW, he just knew that he had upset her, and needed to apologize for it. That's why he used a soft, but firm emphasis on his words, and made eye contact with her.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it."
He didn't mean it. And he was sorry. Her anger faded to a dull ache and sense of shame. Her outburst had been stupid, she knew...even if she didn't understand why she had been upset. But she wouldn't dwell of that now. What was done was done.
She swallowed andn odded, "O-ok..." she paused before adding an almost inaudable, "Sorry...."
The hairs on the back of Nukta's neck settled down and the big male relaxed. It did little to quell the butterflies he got afterwards though, but he moved forward and lightly bumped his head against her neck with a rough rumbling purr. "Don't worry about it. I'm an idiot sometimes." He admitted sheepishly, and kept moving forward so she wouldn't see the sheepish look on his face. "So... you've got me up now. What do you want to do? I'm sure there's plenty in a place like this."
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Posted: Sat Mar 25, 2006 12:11 pm
------------------------------------------------- Pridelands: A Restless night & An explosive morning
While wandering in the rogue lands Adanna had become quite spoiled, weather wise. She was used to warm days and warm nights. And when she had been young the desert nights had never been cold, for she had slept in the middle of the large pile consisting of her family. Out in the pridelands, however, she found the nights to be "cold".
Alright, so they weren't really cold or unbearable, but they were certainly not what she was used to. Ada shifted in her sleep and edged closer to Nukta in a feeble attempt to get a little warmer. When the action failed she awoke sluggishly and blinked about in the dark. She slowly looked over at her companion only to find him sleeping like a baby.
Nukta grumbled softly, words coming out in the form of a low and soft exhale as the adolescent male began to shift in his sleep. He slowly turned to pull his closest paw in under his chest and shifted more so onto his stomach a little, tucking that paw underneath him comfortably. He was indeed unaware of Adanna's predicament, and though his dreams weren't as happy as others, he was still managing to sleep better than she was for the moment.
Ada sighed, wrinkling her nose in drowzy frustration. She lay back down and scooted next to Nukta so that her shoulder was touching his and then she rested her head on her paws and tried to sleep again, without much success.
Huh.... weird, but, suddenly he felt a lot better! Something warm was touching his shoulder, he didn't want it getting away either. Was that Adanna?
Nukta reached out his free paw, draping it over the back of her shoulders and curling it in to draw her in against him more.
Adanna relaxed slightly, letting her body be pulled closer to his. Mm....that was warmer. She tucked her paws under her stomach and rested her head on the dirt of the den. After a few moments, however, she found it left her nose rather cold-not a comfortable feeling. So, sleepily, she burried her face in Nukta's fur.
Nukta's face twitched, just his nose and whiskers really, but that was enough. He began to purr deep in his chest, turning his head downward enough to nuzzle at her face a bit with his nose.
==================================
Some hours later found Nukta's body just a little too content.
~How long did I sleep, is it past noon?~
Augh! But the male couldn't be bothered to open his eyes and look, not yet! Stupid sunlight always managed to nail him right in the eyes when he did anyway. It was much, much easier to have a listen for sounds of life, and Nukta wasn't hearing them.
There was a stillness that was actually audible at that moment. What time of day WAS it? Or-- had something happened while they slept, rainfall, maybe? It became painfully obvious that the only way to be sure was to open his eyes and see for hi-- ............
Wait.
That lump of warmth buried in his neck fur-- leaving him fully awake now --was definitely NOT there when he'd laid down the night before.
He was a little scared to do so, but none the less, that's what Second did. When he saw Adanna lying there he couldn't even breathe, but somehow found it in him to choke down a sharp inhale of air, tensing-- he almost panicked. ALMOST! But Adanna was a heavy sleeper, she wasn't about to wake up just from that!
((Poor boy XD doesn't realize the folly of his ways.))
Foolish.
He pulled away, his body crying out in protest of being seperated from the she-lion. The den air felt cold in contrast to the body heat they'd been sharing. The very thought of it made Nukta's body flush with all kinds of shades of embarassment, so why-- in spite of all that --could he still not tear his eyes away from her? He needed to get out of there. She was going to be pissed if she woke up and found him gone but at that moment it beat the alternative.
He tried to step over her to slip outside, making it as far as the entrance where he was hit square in the face by a fat raindrop. Nukta yelped and shook his head quickly in surprise, pawing at the spot and ducking back into the safety of their little cave.
He hadn't noticed the rolling thunder just seconds before, in his mindset. The downpour had just begun, and now a loud THUNDERCLAP(!!!) tore across the pridelands to signify the start of the rain. It was impossible to really tell the hour with the dark clouds over head and the still quiet the rain drowned out.
Ada shifted in her sleep as he moved away and the chill began to sink through her coat to start goosebumps on her skin. She didn't away, but a small, slightly distressed frown formed on her maw. She didn't awake at the thunderclap, but shivered as a cold air draft swept into the small space in which they slept. It was bitter, sharp, chilled, and slightly wet from the wet. She curled in closer on herself, trying to stay asleep, not wanting to wake up yet.
Nukta heard it, and Nukta was further startled by it. Unaware that Adanna had shifted positions he took a few steps back, completely blind to the tail that lay in his path until he felt his paw coming down atop of it.
Ada felt a small sting in her tail and shuttered again, her nose wrinkled in irratation. She trashed it to the side slightly, trying to free it and wrap it around her freezing paws.
EEK!!
Okay, so that wasn't the noise he actually made, but with his nerves shot and his mind coiled tense like a spring as it was, Nukta was completely unprepared for that. His paw lost it's grounding-- just a small slip really! It was enough to cause him to try to compensate for the sudden shift in his weight-distribution. Still unaware of Adanna's change in position, this caused for some complications. It was with a loud yelp that one of his other paws moved to a spot he thought she hadn't been occupying, but D: AH CRAP!! Nope!!
>.< Nukta had no where else to go but down! He'd stepped on her twice now and finally gotten his back legs so tangled up from the unexpected delay that he crashed on top of Adanna with the full force of his body weight, biting down on his own tongue and cursing loudly-- "Dammit!!"
Ada felt the air suddenly forced from her lungs as her eyes snapped open. She grunted, her ears falling backward as pressure and small amounts of pain spread through her body. Ah, what was going on? Her mind was fuzzy, so she didn't try to figure out what had happened until she had caught her breath after several moments of gasping.
Tangled. Tangled. TANGLED! Nukta growled in annoyance and situated his front paws enough to find some grounding finally, momentarily forgetting that Adanna had just braced his fall, in favor of clearing his senses of the pain in his mouth. Ah, the stars dancing in front of his eyes finally began to clear, finally!
Only to find his nose all but buried in his best friend's fur. Nice.
Nukta's ears immediately shot back against his skull, body going ridgid. He should probably get off of her, but, but, their proximity, this-- sitation! Nukta's brain has just gone on vacation. .___.
Adanna finally shifted her head slightly so she could slide her auburn eyes up to look at him. They were still a little fuzzy and out of focus, but she could see he was on top of her. How did that happen? The last thing she really remembered was falling asleep next to him...had it been the middle of the day she probably would have pushed him off without any second thought, teasing him about being way too heavy for piggybackrides or something along those lines...but she was still too groggy to react "normally".
It hurt to breathe. His chest felt tight, again, just like a few days ago, just like everyday for the last few weeks. His heart was pounding inside of his chest and it showed by the way it heaved a little bit, his breathing coming deep and very much present through his nostrils. Brain didn't think. Body just reacted.
He buried his face in her neck and brushed his head against her with some harmless, but definite and certain amount of force. The motion was almost, almost posessive, just a bit rough, but not painful.
Adanna blinked a few times, her eyes narrowing slightly in confusion. What in the world? She felt a small tinging swimming around in her stomach as he rubbed against her. What was going on? Finally she seemed awake enough to find her voice and asked rather blunting, "Nukta...wha...what are you doing?" Did he have fleas or something? O.o Somehow that didn't seem logical enough...it didn't explain the funny feeling she had.
At first, Nukta barely paused, but he did and remained still for several tense moments before snatching his head back and pulling away from her, heart stopped. Wha... what WAS he doing? He should never have gotten that close to her, her being half asleep, his instincts, or not!
He quickly scrambled away, backing closer towards the cave exit and looking horribly frustrated, or embarassed... or some odd mix of the two. He couldn't look Adanna in the eye for more than na brief moment.
"I... nothing. I... tripped. Go back to sleep."
Adanna rolled over onto her paws, sitting up on her haunces. She looked at him critically, not tearing her gaze away from his face. Uh, oh. It was one of those looks of hers-one saying she wasn't just going to just ignore the problem.
"...If just a fall why are you acting funny?" She demanded bluntly. Perhaps a little sharply too. She was sick of his strange behavior. It was tiring, putting up with it all the time. She hated it.
Not this, not now! It was raining out, and Nukta really didn't feel like catching a cold to avoid this, and truth be told he was tired of running from it too-- at least part of him was. It might not be such a grand idea for him to stick around.
And then at the same time, Nukta already knew he was busted by that tone and that look he could hear and feel. Adanna knew him too well, too damn well to let him get away with something like that.
He kept his eyes averted all the same, his pupils nervously darting across the floor as if following some invisible mouse that only he could see. Silence was his answer for the moment.
Adanna waited stiffly for an answer for a moment and got none. She tried to tolerate it, to understand that he might not want to talk about it, but she just couldn't take it anymore-this whole thing made her angry! It made her angry because it hurt and she didn't quite understand why.
"What, nothing to say to me now?" She snapped bitterly at him, "What is wrong with you lately? All you want to do is run away...damn it Nukta! Am I f****** doing something wrong or what?" The last bit was strained, angry, and almost hoarse.
Hearing Adanna so frustrated did nothing if not jar his brain into action. HE knew she had no reason to blame herself but, when he stopped to consider how this must've looked from her side it made perfect sense to jump to such a conclusion. He sounded almost desperately pleading as he gave a rushed response at last.
"No! You haven't done anything wrong! I just--"
And just like that his broodiness was back. He hated sounding weak, like a little kid. He didn't expect for Adanna to get it even if he did somehow manage to say it though. Hell, he was like a brother to her, her best friend, right? Why would she think any differently about such a thing?
((D: Bleh, it's not a complicated concept, but you know how angst works.))
"--you wouldn't understand!" He growled, frustrated, scowling up his face with the noise.
There wasn't really any other way for Ada to see it, unless he meant the whole "It's not you it's mean" thing and didn't want to be around her anymore. Either way, it added up to the same thing in her mind. This was why Ada didn't brood over things-she never seemed to be able to draw the right conclusions. When he said she wouldn't understand she only felt worse. It felt like he was just saying that so he wouldn't have to "hurt her feelings".
She stared at him, her jaw set tightly as her eyes swirled with intense emotions. "Try me," she said to him in a hard, solid, intese tone of voice that hid her slow inner risings of uncertainties and confusion.
~Dammit, why is she always so stubborn?!~
But by the strength of her voice that situation could only go one of two ways, if he chose to play stubborn. She would either keep pushing him, or... this time might really be the last. Well ****.
"... So maybe it is you...!"
But, despite the argumentive and contradictory tone of his words, Nukta's eyes remained cast aside, a stern and frustrated glower ever present.
Ad felt her ears flicker back as she swallowed a lump in her throat. So her musings were true then, were they? Figures. She looked away, her body stiff and ridgid. Suddenly the rain outside seemed deftening.
"Well you should have just said so," She murmured in a shakey voice. It was impossible to tell if she was holding back screams or tears. With that she walked passed him, making her way out into the rain. It didn't seem like this was her home anymore, was it?
Nukta hated to think he'd caused such an upset, he really did, but he'd needed that pause to gather the courage to say what he was about to say next.
Before she could actually make it out of the den, Nukta moved to block the entrance, standing in her path.
"No, Ada... you don't understand..." He said in a softer tone than before, all of the frustration gone from his features, replaced by understanding and a hint of fear or uncertainty. "I don't mean it that way. I love you... and... it feels different than it did before... I don't want you to go. I want to be closer to you, not farther away."
"You're lying!" She screetched unexpectedly, pushing at him recklessly in her blurr of anger and pain, so much energy being put into the angry tears filling her eyes that it was more like she was bumping into him, trying to get out into the cold rain so he couldn't see her crying. If she was going to cry because it hurt so bad, but was going to scream while doing it. As always she hid behind her anger childishly, trying to prevent the pain from sinking in any farther, "How do you get closer to someone by pushing them away?! That's f****** bullshit!"
Nukta had expected screaming, but not denial. It was really odd to anyone else in this situation, but Nukta could deal with Ada screaming, lashing out with anger. He knew what it meant when she did that just as she knew what was really going on when he claimed nothing was wrong, when he was brooding.
His eyes narrowed a bit, how could he convince her now? Calm her down? Had he pushed her too far for reason maybe? No...
"I just didn't know what you'd think-- or how you'd take it!!" He argued back. "It's not that simple, Adanna, I-- you-- Grrrr!!"
... Okay, maybe he didn't have it as together as he thought.
Nukta shook his head firmly and frowned, still refusing to be moved. "I left because if I didn't, I'd do things to you that you might kick my a** for later!!"
"How is it not simple?!" She screamed at him, butting her head hopelessly against him as if it would somehow make him move. "What's closer than best friends?!" She cried at him hopelessly, making it quite obvious as it hadn't been before that she had no idea what he was talking about. She was completely ignorant and at a loss for what his words meant and what point he was trying to get across. It was twisting at her heart as she wrythed inwardly in confusion and distress. She didn't know why she was angry, why she was hurting, or why she was feeling this way. She was utterly lost.
~.....~
Well, it was safe to say that Nukta hadn't been expecting for her to still be lost after that, but for once something inside of him knew exactly how to show her what he meant.
It started like a purr, but it was also something of a growl, a purely instinctive noise both of comfort and confidence, dominance. Nukta drew in closer, aiming to back her into the den and towards one of the walls of the cave, and once he had her safely away from the chill of the rainstorm, leant in, ducked his head, and ran his rough tongue smoothly across her muzzle-- not very far from where he placed the very, very scarce licks he'd given in their childhood, but closer to the front of her face. He didn't stop at that either, he trailed "kisses" towards her jaw, nipped at her neck and buffeted his head against her shoulder in a purely posessive manner. Behind him his tail thrashed, expressing his pent up wants, his body's slowly pacified instincts. He circled her, round to her other side, pushed his nose in to the other side of her jaw and placed another loving and lust-filled wash to her ear while finally coming at such an angle that he could look her in the eye. He'd also never stopped purring, the sound smoothing out to that of a rough rumble in his chest. In those few moments Nukta showed Adanna more affection than he thought he had within himself.
Never had Ada been more intimidated, more afraid then she was in that moment. She felt as if the world had been flipped upsidedown and all her defenses were torn away, leaving the raw pulsing of her heart to fill the room. It certainly filled her ears. For ever step forward she took a shakey step backward, until she felt the thud of her behind on the wall of the den. She was exposed and frozen to the spot as she heard the throb of his purr under the pounding of her blood racing through her head. Her tears had long since stopped leaving her auburn eyes wide and open as any book.
As he began to kiss her, a trail of affection far beyond anything she had ever imagined existed, she felt shutters run down her spine. Her heart quickened and she felt short of breath as if she had suddenly been running for miles, though she had moved no where. She felt a warm sensation swelling in her gut and in her chest, so intense she almost felt like her insides were going to burn. And yet no matter how many times she shivered, or how strongly she felt her legs were going to give way, she didn't want it to stop. As he paused to look at her a breath escaped her maw, one she didn't realize she had been holding, and her feelings shone brightly, obviously within her golden-orange orbs.
That was what Nukta had been waiting to see-- a sign of understanding, or at least one lacking confusion. He felt much more in control of everything now, his feelings, the situation itself...
"Now do you understand...?" He breathed softly.
Ada was at a complete loss for words, as if her voice had been stolen away from her by his kisses. All she was able to offer was a feeble nod, for her body was still a mass of jitters, warmth, and adrenaline.
Nukta smiled nervously, reaching out and nuzzling her again. "So...?"
Ada slowly but surely regained her composure...or well, what little composure was normal for the firey tempered female. As his face rubbed against her fur, she nipped at his ear in a tender fashion far different from her normal tugs, "This is...called....what?"
Nukta rumbled again from his chest, eyes shutting with contentment as Adanna preened his ear, and he returned the favor again to her neck and shoulder.
"Mates... or, lifemates, my parents used to call one other lovers."
Ada couldn't stop the warmth that seemed to be rushing in her blood and through her swollen heart, but slowly she grew attatched to the feeling. "So thats...what it is...mm...." Ada breathed in his ear, holding back her own purrs that threatened to rumble through her body. She had honestly never thought about parents and about what they were in the grand sceme of things. Maybe that was why she had never asked before, if there was anything else but devoted friendship.
"Yeah," Nukta smiled, taking her ear into his jaws and giving it an affectionate tug.
"Well..." Ada growled in a lone, silky tone as she pushed a paw on his face affectionately to make him let go, "I think...I like it." She didn't really quite understand all of it...but...what did it matter when it felt so good?
He was sucessfully driven back, a smirk on his face after shaking his head as if to loosen the daze. He moved around to back her away from the wall again, fully intent on circling her, but not doing so yet.
"So... the two of us? Together, like, together together now?"
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Posted: Sat Mar 25, 2006 12:48 pm
------------------------------------------------- Juvinalhood: Fearful Confessions
The cool air of the night hung over the dark landscape, the dark blue sky stretching over head as far as the eye could see. It was littered with speckles of the blinking white of the stars. Normally the young, fire-hearted lionness would be far into sleep, but for some reason that was not the case tonight.
Adanna lay in the grass, her head resting on her paws. She had her eyes closed for a bit as she tried to sleep, but was unable to. Shifting, she sat up into a sitting position. Not far off Nukta was sound asleep. She tried to wait it out, being awake alone, but it didn't seem to work. Being alone left her only with heavy thoughts...she needed him awake.
She moved over quietly to his side and hovered over him for a moment, as though thinking if she really should wake him or not. Deciding, she stood right over him, face near his so she wouldn't have to speak too lound, "Nukta!"
Dreams were something that Nukta was not in short supply of. He kept his distance from others for reasons yet unknown to anyone but him, but no dark secrets could stay that way for long without having dark consequences on the holder to match. His brother's pained cries haunted him for hours after the horrific incident occured, but soon faded to echos in his dreams. Now it seemed like the further they traveled the worse the dreams became, until he was so consumed by it that he didn't even need to be asleep to hear them anymore. He became unsettled, angry. He wanted to go back and find the one responsible for his brother's murder and put an end to his insessent nightmares once and for all, he wanted someone to pass the blame off to but couldn't find it in himself to let it go. When Ada woke him from his slumber it could almost be considered a favor, as it was.
Giving a great physical start, Nukta blinked blearily at the young lioness before him, and startled again to find her face so close to his. When did she--?!
The growing male, coming into adolescence and early, early adulthood, tried masking his surprise again and did so behind a look of bothered confusion. "It's still dark out. You're either really thrown off your instinct, or the sun is really lazy today."
Adanna knew he didn't sleep very long, but she had never known why. She knew nothing of his nightmares, but then, maybe that was because she was a little too busy with her own. When she got him to respond she let herself fall back onto her haunches so that she was sitting and had pulled away from him.
She glanced up at the sky. Oh, no the sun was long in coming. "I couldn't sleep," She murmured absently. Had she been a cub she probably would have sounded sad, but for now she just seemed a little off, and that was it.
Nukta groaned softly and draped a paw over his eyes as his jaws opened wide, seeming to split his head in two down the center for a large yawn.
"Do you think it had anything to do with sleeping in all morning and half of the afternoon today?" Came the tease, though he didn't really sound as adept at joking as someone more extroverted. He sounded far more serious, and therefore it had a lighter sarcasm to it. He did roll onto his side though, and then his back, stretching his hind legs out far behind him and tugging his forelegs in close to work the muscles. "Bad dreams?"
"No, I always sleep like that," Adanna replied gruffly, her tail swishing around restlessly. It was true, she slept in every day and had never really...well...NOT slept before. It was very strange. She shifted in irratation at his last question. Not wanting to admit it was something along those lines she murmured, "No, of course not."
"What, you don't ever have bad dreams?"
His head shifted to lie against the ground, looking over at her in a lazy, almost disbelieving expression.
"No!" Adanna lied outright and then made an attempt to recover her "composure", not that there really was such a thing for her. "...I...what would I have that's bad to dream about?" She let out a breath through her nose and looked out across the grasses, avoiding his gaze.
His question had slipped out before he even had a chance to hold his tongue. That was more along the lines of what he'd been thinking about himself, rather than Adanna. After her outburst came a few moments of silence, while Nukta just lay there in the grass letting her words of denial sink in. He knew that he had no place getting huffy with her when he had secrets he'd yet to tell her about, but by now he was more terrified of being alone again if she found out, of what she would think of him.
Silently he rolled to and rose to his growing paws, sitting on his haunches and facing in the direction of the mountains that lay beyond. Frustration started to build up, but uncertainty as well. He wanted to help her, wanted to talk to her if she was upset, but he didn't know how to start!
"... I don't know. Your family."
Adanna was silent for a while. She didn't want to tell him...she didn't want to tell him she was scared. Not after the last time she had broken down into tears. She didn't want to do that again, because it didn't DO anything but make her feel...well...worse.
"Why should that make me sad?" She asked, more to herself then to him, "I'll see them again...I mean....I'm looking. They're looking too...th-they are...right?"
He wanted to say "It's okay to be scared.", he wanted to tell her that they couldn't always have the answers, but couldn't find it in him to be that bold just yet. He looked for the next best answer instead with a pained and bitter inward-directed thought, though none of it reflected in his voice and she couldn't see his face.
"Of course. Family doesn't give up on family like that. I'm sure that they're looking just as hard as you are,"
Adanna, for some reason, wasn't conforted by those words. Perhaps it was his hesatation or...maybe it was because she knew that it was entirely possible she had been left on purpose and that it hadn't been an accident. Family didn't give up on family? How could that be true when...well...she remembered the stories her father had told her? About her great-grandmother leaving HER family? She just...felt over run with doubts that she could sooth. She said none of what she felt, however, "Yeah...I guess..."
"Ada...? There's something I should tell you."
It was coming up again. Word vomit. He couldn't stop himself, and should he? She deserved to know what danger she was in should his own past come after him with darker intentions.
Adanna looked back at him, her eyes narrowing. She felt her heart quicken. What could he possibly want to tell her with that tone? Fear filled her as it rarely did. What would he say...what would he...
Out of paranoia an idea came into her mind. He was going to leave her. Yes, that must be it. He was going to say he didn't want to go with her anymore...and he'd leave her all alone. Just like her family.
Her ears flattened, "You don't have to say it....I...I get it."
Had the nature of his secret been any different, then yes, he would have misunderstood her panic for genuine understanding, but--
His eyes narrowed again in bitter self resentment, ears twitching and his tail thumping the ground once before curling tightly around his paws out of his shame and anger. "No, you don't. I haven't told you the whole truth. The real truth of the matter is, I ran away from home because I--"
Because I was a coward.
"... because I... I was afraid."
"Wha?" Adanna burst out, looking absolutely baffled. "What are you on about? I thought...I thought...." She looked a little said and confused and releived all at once, "I thought...you were going to say you were going away..." She supposed that asumption had been silly but...she really had thought that was what it was...and she had been so scared.
"No..." He sighed and shut his eyes, relaxing a hair. He was relieved himself that she didn't immediately jump on his case for running away after all the gruff he'd given her. If not for his dark fur and the fact that lions couldn't actually blush-- well, he still looked embarassed, sheepish at the very least. "I wouldn't leave. You're the first real friend I've ever had."
"...Oh..." Adanna felt extremely stupid now. She shifted and tried to cover her embaressment with a snippy reply, "Well...whatever, I'm tired so I guess I'm just not thinking straight..." After another pause she finally went back to what he had said...and not her stupid way of jumping to conclusions, "So...uh....ran away...?" It wasn't an acussing question just a....well...question.
"Yeah, I ran away." He sulked, sinking where he sat.
Adanna shifted, wrinkling her nose slightly. Her ears flickered in a tad bit of confusion. She paused and then asked, "So...? Why's that so bad? Everyone does it sometime or another...running I mean." It was true, wasn't it? Everyone ran from...well...something. Even if it was pysical running.
Nukta already wished he'd kept quiet now. She thought it was so simple, but it was far from it! She'd find out sooner or later, he supposed, but the idea made him cringe.
"Someone got hurt because of it." Answered the lion, truthfully.
Perhaps Adanna thought it was too simple...but it was also possible he thought it was too complicated. She peered over her shoulder at him, her auburn eyes looking at him sharply. Again, it wasn't an accusation, but perhaps motivation for the truth to continue, "Did you hurt someone?" She was skeptical. She didn't believe that was the case at all...but she asked anyway.
Nukta kept his back to her, even now when he felt so low for doing it. He couldn't help but feel so horribly guilt ridden, and angry.
"My brother, and my parents."
"So you were the one to slash them, bite them, or whatever?" Adanna continued, watching his back without blinking. This didn't seem like the Nukta she knew, so she was still uncertain, but firm in her questions.
There was a pause after her last question. He wasn't trying to sound dramatic, but as far as he was concerned he might as well have been the one to do what was done, because he practically watched, and let it happen. He couldn't get himself to say this though, and just shook his head no in mute answer.
There! Thought so. Adanna gave him a critical look, "Then why in the world are you blaming yourself?" After a pause she let out a breath and shook her head, "Nukta...even if you didn't...well, stop what happened or whatever it is you think you did, you cannot control the actions of those who hurt them...it was there choice to do it, not yours."
Nukta growled and got up, eyes darting angrily and desperately from side to side, even as she was finishing the last words of her reasoning. ~It's so easy for her to say that!~
But he wanted so much to believe that, that she really understood, that he wouldn't be completely shunned by those around him for his dark little secret.
"It doesn't matter! I could've tried, but instead I just stood there like, an idiot!"
The intensity was lost from Adanna's gaze and had been replaced by softness. This was strange, for she was normally the one loosing her temper. Why was she so calm...? It didn't make sense.
"It's ok, to be afraid. Everyone gets afraid, Nukta," Her voice was low and smooth, like syrap or honey. Right now, there was not a word she spoke that she didn't mean.
It was the fact that Adanna spoke in such a tone that sounded wise beyond her years, soothing and gentle, like that of his mother that he could recall as a fuzzy memory as a newborn, it snapped him out of it with a bit of a warm shock. His upper body and head pivoted to look at her over at her, speechless. His eyes were confused, sad... but hopeful...
Adanna smiled a little. She rose smoothly onto her four paws and walked over to his side. She nipped at his ear and then began to lick at his fur with her sand-paper tongue. "Now no more of this, mkay? We should sleep...my fault, I suppose. I woke us up." She grinned sheepishly.
Nukta was floored. He'd never expected she would take this like that.
(D: She sure shocked ME.)
... He almost didn't know what to say...
"....." Finally, Nukta just offered up a sad smile, grateful, and not sure how to express it. He was supposed to be cheering her up, but here she was taking care of him instead.
He reached up a paw to paw at her shoulder in a bit of shy affection, then nodded quietly and headed back to where they'd been sleeping so that they could get comfortable. For a moment though, Nukta remained standing and looked to her softly, waiting for Ada to settle down first.
Adanna shook her head, loosening up her fur before she loped over and flopped down upon the grass without care. She rolled over onto her back, her paws curled up near her belly. She looked up at him, seeing him upsidedown from where she was positioned and tilted her head slightly, as if waiting for him to settle down as well.
After she settled in the grass, so Nukta did as well. He lay directly beside her this time, and shifted to roll onto his side so that he could watch her for a bit, though he didn't want to be caught doing so. For now his eyes went to the stars instead, and he marveled that someone like him could find such a vivacious, loyal and compassionate friend in Ada, that she, or anyone, could accept him even after he had done such a cowardly act.
Adanna, who was normally fast asleep by now, was quick to drift off. She didn't find what she had done to be amazing. Actually, to her it had been rather normal. But then, normal might be different way from her desert home
Everything felt at ease right then, watching her drift off to sleep casually from the corner of his eye. Once Nukta was sure that she was resting peacefully, he smiled and allowed himself to start to wander into slumber as well. "Goodnight, Adanna."
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