[PRP] Falling for the first time [Mteremo & Maeve]

[wooga Paes]

He had decided this had been going on far too long. He had been home for some time now, and it was about time her just... came out and did something! It's a shame he was so socially awkward. He'd gotten a lot better lately, in being a more confident, mature and active member in his pride. And today he was feeling particularly daring, and he might as well act before he lost it completely.

So he went to seek her out today. It wasn't so unusual, they met and talked and joked about often enough! So that at least was normal enough. Somehow it felt scary this time, though. "Maaaeveee?" Mteremo called as he approached the area she usually hung out at, somehow managing to keep any nervous edge out of his voice. Everything should just start out normal! Yes, normal. If he got comfortable maybe this would be easier.

Or harder, if he got too comfortable. Um, maybe he should just stop thinking right now.  

[Nuxaz]

Maeve'Kiah loved life in the swamplands, it reminded her of her childhood and everyday she was reminded that she should be thankful for her chance encounter with the sandy lion. Meeting Mteremo had perhaps been one of the best things to happen to the confident trickster, he brought her to a place that made her happy. She was thankful.

Maybe that was why the social lioness spent much of her time around the male. It really couldn't be for any other reason right? She was just thankful...and comfortable around him. Being around him was easy, she didn't have to think or do anything except being herself. It was nice, and different.

When he called she turned her head, surprised by his sudden appearance. It didn't stop her from smiling, "Remo!" She chirped.  

[wooga Paes]

Oh, there she was! Mteremo smiled and scurried over, then suddenly felt terrified all over again once he was closer. He attempted to casually sit down and look relaxed, but just looked awkward half-draped over a tree trunk liked that.

"Hi, Maeve!" He greeted cheerfully, even though he had been the one that called her. "How are you today?"  

[Nuxaz]

Maeve tried not to laugh at his strange position over the log, she really did but in the end she couldn't help but giggle. "Oh Remo, what are you doing there?" She asked playfully, shaking her head. He always did the silliest things and it never ceased to make her laugh, or simply brighten her day.

"Oh," she said thinking about her day. "It's going well, did some hunting then spruced up my den. It got a little messy you see," she chuckled shaking her head. She never did like it when things were messy. "I cleaned up a little too, I love the swamps but I don't always love mud stuck between my toes," she admitted lifting a paw and wiggling her toes at him.

"What have you been up to?"  

[wooga Paes]

He gave her a sheepish grin, and tried to pull himself up into a better position. He would have sat down on the log, but it wasn't the most stable of logs and instead he just settled for standing up in front of it. "I just wanted to check up on you! Maybe talk for a bit, I guess." Funny how Mteremo said 'maybe' talk when that was precisely the reason he had come.

"Oh, that's good." Mteremo was quite used to the mud between his toes and slightly messy dens, but he could understand where she was coming from. "I've been fine! Ah, just doing my normal.... duties. and stuff." He didn't really have many duties, being a plain ol' hunter. But still.  

[Nuxaz]

She wrinkled his nose at him from his lack-luster explanation of his day. "Oh come on," she teased sliding closer to him just so she could tap his nose with one of her paws. "Tell me again with more detail, I haven't seen you in a few days," she paused, a thoughtful look crossing her features. "You wanted to talk right? Then tell me about your week," she urged, sinking down to a sitting position.

She cocked her head slightly, her bangs falling across her face as she looked at him intently. She genuinely wanted to know. "Did you make any knew friends? Do anything exciting. Did you meet anyone?" She wasn't sure what she meant by the last question.

What did she mean? And why did she feel like she truthfully didn't want to know?

"We should go hunting together sometime, I think it'd be nice," she offered.  

[wooga Paes]

Uh oh! She actually wanted details of his life, which was all good and fair, and he would happily give them. But Mteremo would be honest when he said nothing was going on. Really. Her paw tapped his nse and he wriggled it experimentally, then smiling. "You want me to bore you? Really? It is very boring." He said, then because she had even sat herself down, he figured he had no choice now.

"Okay, really. Nothing exciting happened at all! I've just been... surviving, I guess. I caught a frog this morning." Not at all something he'd normally bother to tell her. "Er, no, I didn't make friends. Or... well, I did meet someone, but that was a whiile ago." Quite a while ago! "H-have you met anyone?"

As for going hunting together. "That sounds like a good idea! When do you want to? Hunt, I mean."  

[Nuxaz]

"You caught a frog?" She pretended to be incredibly surprised by this information. Maybe it'd make him feel more excited about things. "Frogs are terribly tricky to catch," she feigned a frown complimented with a shake of her head. "You should be very proud. I've never caught one," she heaved a sigh. "Do you have any secrets you'd like to share with me about the art of frog catching?" She asked trying to keep a serious face, but it soon dissolved when she fell into a fit of laughter.

"I'm sorry," she managed in the middle of her laughing fit. "I just tried imagining myself chasing after a frog, it'd be a sight to see don't you think?" She shook her head, smiling brightly at him. "You did? Do you think I know them? Was it male or female?" She paused to consider her question. She had met a few people, none of particular interest except...except one.

"Oh! I did meet someone," she exclaimed, excited to the point she was on her feet again. "I'll have to introduce you sometime, I never thought I'd find him here. I mean it was quite the coincidence really, I knew him when I was little but then our families parted ways and truthfully I never thought I'd see him again," she admitted rambling on about this mystery lion.

"I mean running into my cousin of all lions, it's a miracle! He's got a family too, can you imagine that?"  

[wooga Paes]

He snorted, looking disgruntled for a moment. But of course he wasn't actually upset, and Mteremo wasn't a good actor so he could hardly keep the grin on his face from growing. "Hey, it brought me back to my childhood!" He said wistfully, with a dramatic tilt of his head. Ah yes, his cubhood in the swamps, chasing frogs all day long... hitting his head on a long, in an attempt to catch one, hurry back to mom crying.

But he was grown up now. No need to worry about that! "Nah, frog catching doesn't involve much chasing. Much more sneaking and pouncing." He had learned that late, of course. As a cub he had definitely done the chasing, and found it didn't work well.

"Uuh, yes, you know her." Oh boy, this was getting awkward. This was hardly the way he wanted to go about saying this! When she talked about meeting a male, Mteremo was briefly crestfallen. Of course he had been too slow! Maeve was too great a lioness to-- have a cousin?

"Your cousin, really? Here?" He said, almost overly excited. "That's so neat! What's his name? What does he look like?"  

[Nuxaz]

She laughed again, he was too much fun to tease. "I'll have to remember that next time I get the urge to catch a frog," she told him, nodding her head. Of course she'd never had the urge to catch a frog and likely wouldn't ever have the urge. Still, it was something to keep in mind.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, a little antsy knowing it was a female that he met. "I do? Who is she?" She crinkled her brow in thought as she tried to think about who she would know that he would have just met. She had a hard time with it, she'd never been the type of lioness to have many female friends. Often, she befriended males. It came more naturally to her.

"Yes! His name is...Skanwati now, of course that's not what I called him when we first ran into each other," she laughed again. "I was surprised he remembered me, it's been ages," she sighed. "I still can't believe he's mated and has a family. It's amazing really."  

[wooga Paes]

"I'm glad I could help with any possible future frog-hunting adventures." He said, nodding as if he had fulfilled some important duty he had. Teaching Maeve the proper way to catch a frog. Or at least telling her about it.

When the subject turned back to the female he had met, he shook his head. "You'll find out soon enough!" Because this really wans't the way he had intended to tell her about his feelings.

"Skanwati, huh? Haven't met him." He said, musing. Nope, couldn't bring up the face. But maybe he should meet this male someday, it could be nice. "Yeah... it sounds nice." Mteremo mumbled thoughtfully. Mate and family... He glanced at Maeve, for once his expression unreadable.

"Hey, I needed to talk to you about something."  

[Nuxaz]

When he wouldn't tell her who this mystery female was she pouted, her green eyes wide and big. She was effectively giving him the lion equivalent of the human's puppy-dog face. "Why's it gotta be a secret," she pouted. His refusal to tell her about this female made her antsy and a million thoughts ran through her head. Was this girl a potential love interest? Why did she have to be a secret? Did she not like her, or vice versa? Why wouldn't he tell her? And more importantly, why did she care so much?

"Probably not, he's not very social," she shook her head, clucking her tongue against the roof of her mouth. "It's a shame really. At the same time I wonder how we're from the same family. I'm a social butterfly!" She chirped. It was true, Maeve loved being around others, loved meeting others.

"Okay," she replied quietly, confusion decorating her face. "What's up?" This was serious, or sounded serious so she became serious.  

[wooga Paes]

Mteremo kind of envied Maeve's easy social abilities. Or, not really kind of, honestly did. Since he was in a very determined mood now, he determined he would be better at social life, too. Make more friends and stuff. to be honest, Maeve was his only real friend, though he could get along with his brothers and have fun with them well enough. But family counted as family, which was different than friend.

Once she turned serious, he realized how he must look right now, and offered her a small smile, as if to diffuse tension. Then it grew and he became sheepish, looking away briefly. The cream colored lion was just hopeless, he was too nervous!

"Er, well... I've known you for a while." He had intended for this to go smoothly. He could be all mature and say it right. But after that first part, Mteremo was speaking a bit faster, though one could tell he was trying to remain cool. "And I care about you very much. I think you're great and funny and caring and-- well, what I'm trying to say is-- we're friends, right? I was wondering if we could be, something else, I guess. Something great! I mean, I don't want to rush you or anything, and I guess I feel bad if I'm surprising you with this, but I guess I'm kind of in love with you. So I was wondering if we could try something new! I hope this doesn't freak you out or anything-- uh, maybe I should stop here."  

[Nuxaz]

She was quiet the entire time he was rambling on, he was talking rapidly and at times it was hard for the dark lioness to keep up with him. "Remo, slow down please," she tried to interject only to fall silent again when he went on to say that he wanted to go past the boundaries of friendship. Her entire body tensed up while her face remained serious.

Then he said it, the words she found herself dreading. I guess I'm kind of in love with you. She gasped, but it was not one of happiness or surprise but one more of dread.

No, no, no!

She opened her mouth to say something, anything but nothing came out. She wasn't good with relationship relationships. Just flirting and getting people to do what she wanted. She struggled with actually friendships and now the only person she had a friendship with or any sort of real relationship with was professing that he wished to take things further and that he loved her.

Love.

She was terrified of the word.

She did the only thing she could think of. "I'm sorry," she mumbled turning and running off. She couldn't deal with this, she didn't know how to deal with it. Did she love him? She didn't know but she didn't give herself a chance to think about it, because she was gone before he could say anything else.  

[wooga Paes]

Mteremo wasn't a total idiot. He could tell immediately that his words hadn't had the desired effect. "Maeve, I..." He frowned, just as she said I'm sorry. His ears laid back, and his brows furrowed slightly, making him look both thoughtful and sad. His posture changed, and for a few moments it seemed like the lion had actually shrunk. Of course, the lioness wouldn't know this, seeing as she had run off.

He had never expected such a reaction. It wasn't so much rejection that upset him, but the fact that it seemed he had hurt her. If she had just said 'No', he could deal with that. It would be awkward, and also disappointing, but manageable. This was something else entirely, and Mteremo just felt incredibly guilty. He didn't know where he had gone wrong, and just had this sinking feeling he had ruined any friendship he might have with this lion, or future relationship.

"Was it something I said?" He asked quietly, to no one in particular. Of course it had been something he said. Mteremo, you messed up. Big time.

He better go, he was closer to Maeve's den than his own. He should give her space. Head low, he turned and left.