[PRP] Such a tease - Mapatano x Ema

[wooga Paes]

It could be said that Maptano himself was a bit of a cripple. True enough, he had walked with a small limp ever since the fight with Machafuko, it had done quite some damage to his left shoulder. He wasn't comparable to Elea, however, for which he was glad, and the black lion could still enter a run and chase down... slow food. Really, he preferred intercepting.

Even though he wasn't going to hunt today, it amused him to see Ema lying around rather than doing anything more productive. Mapatano looked up to the sky, seeing a shape he assumed was the pale lioness' bonded. Or maybe his own, as Hisa herself was flying about up there, somewhere.

Mapatano approached form behind, though it wasn't really his intention to sneak up on her. "And what are you doing today, Ema?" He didn't bother to open with a greeting this time, and sounded a bit more light-hearted and teasing than he usually would.  

[wooga Paes]

"Vacation?" He quirked a brow and sat down, not quite the sort to lie about. "No, I don't want a vacation. I like working." It kept him busy. Not that he did much lately, aside from feed himself and occasionally meet with Umoja. "I thought you did too!" Mapatano smiled lightly, then raised his eyes as the eagle came down. "And there's Juu."

And soon after there was Hisa. Today she was particularly energetic, swooping around and doing all kinds of tricks. But she was willing to stop to figure out what Mapatano was doing, since he didn't often stop to chat with anyone. She came down a bit after Juu, and landed nearby. "What a happy little reunion this is!" She chirped, amused.  

[wooga Paes]

... Well, at least she had a good reason. Mapatano felt a little bad now, but forced the feeling away. He had enough things to feel bad about, thanks. "Alright." He couldn't argue with that logic.

At her question he almost smiled. Being part of the Council was a bit of a big deal for him. The son of a tyrant that just about everyone hated (including himself!), Mapatano had always feared being ousted from the pride. Being on the council meant he was trusted. "Yes. You know, keeping the pride afloat and all."

"Very fun. Maybe we should bug them." Hisa liked bothering Mapatano every now and then, though the feeling was far from mutual. Despite that, the suggestion wasn't entirely sincere. "Or we can let them laze about."  

[wooga Paes]

"Point there. But I think we'd handle a flood." He honestly hoped they were done with the natural disasters. He felt the pride was growing stronger, they didn't need anything coming in and making them weak again. "Of course, I'd be happy to give you a lift. Might be bumpy though." He raised his left paw. Even Hisa didn't like riding on his back too much anymore.

Mapatano did her the decency of mulling over the suggestion for a vacation. Before answering, "No." He shook his head. "What would I do on vacation, anyways?" Sounded boring to him! He glanced over at where the two birds had landed and tilted his head, briefly wondering what they were talking about, before looking back to Ema. "Too much down time and Hisa and I would be at each other's throats."

Hisa nodded. She supposed he had a point! It was nice seeing 'Tano not just snarking at people for once. Juu's question caught her a bit by surprise. Somehow, she hadn't thought about that. "I do!" She blinked, then glanced back to the two lions, then back to Juu.

"Oooohhh, I see. You think... Yeaaah." That might work! And it would be good. Hisa sometimes wondered if she would ever be jealous of whomever Mapatano settled down with, when she wasn't doubting it would ever happen, and usually concluded that no. She was happy if he was!  

[wooga Paes]

He snorted. "At least you have less fur." He didn't want to imagine getting his mane all wet. Mapatano never understood Ethiopia's like for playing in the water.

And then she said something way too weird for him. Mapatano wasn't dumb and he knew what flirting was, but it had never been directed at him. So his first reaction as to make a face, because that was weird and new to him. Then he let out a little huff of air, and smiled crookedly. "Oh, really?"

She nodded. "I think you're right!" She nodded. Mapatano was getting along well with Ema, and being more friendly then usual. Besides, this was much better a situation then when he had been in love with Nyonda. Hisa had always felt so bad for him.  

[wooga Paes]

This was a very unexpected turn of events! But Mapatano couldn't say it was a turn for the worse. "Hmm... Well, I guess I have nothing to do today. does that count?" Admittedly, it wasn't something he really thought about on his own. But the black lion had been prompted to, and now he was curious.

It wasn't particularly a funny situation, but Hisa felt like laughing. "Yes, I think so!" She couldn't keep some mirth out of her voice. "Maybe we should go?" She suggested, turning her back to the lions, but still looking back at them. She was surprised by how well Mapatano was dealing with this! It was like her little black cub was growing up, aww.  

[wooga Paes]

He chuckled, standing up. "I'll make sure to work extra hard for a couple weeks, then." Which would probably be a little difficult to do. The pride was quiet nowadays, and he actually liked it that way. It was a different sort of quiet than after the earthquake, this one was pleasant and safe. the other had just been sad.

"Where are we heading?"

Hisa pondered that. She wasn't much of a hunting bird, but did the equivalent of shrugging and nodded. "Sounds good to me!" She spread her wings out and beat them, lazily at first, then took off.