Nyata’mtu found herself watched Ning’tu interact with Aynashi from a distance – for once having a moment to herself and letting the male deal with the playful and childish cheetah. It was interesting to watch. While foolishly obedient, and stupidly kind, Ning was good with Aynashi. He smiled as she spoke, nodding as if fascinated by whatever silly thing she was babbling about. It was…kind of nice to see. Nyata had never thought of finding her own kind…mostly because she had a cheetah as a ward. What right-minded hyena would want to be around a cheetah? Apparently Ning and Nyata would. She smiled softly, taking herself by surprise. They were an odd bunch, she decided fondly. “You liiiiiiiike him,” a sing-song voice giggled from beside her, and she physically startled. She cussed herself, calling herself foolish for letting her guard down before looking at the giggling leopard who had taken a seat beside her in the shade.
“What nonsense are you jabbering about, Eva?” Nyata huffed. She still wasn’t sure when Eva had officially joined them or how she had suddenly found herself babysitting a cheetah and a leopard… she blamed L’aiime, always taking in strays…
“You like Ning, don’t deny it,” Eva giggled. The young leopard had a fondness in her heart from the grumpy hyena, and the childish cheetah, and the wise avian, and the sweet hyena…she liked her weird group. What else could you want in life?
“You’re crazy, are you sure you weren’t dropped on your head as a cub?” The words were mean but her tone was not cruel, just grumpy. Nyata wouldn’t want to hurt the young leopard, but she was crazy.
“You can’t deny it, Nyata, it’s all over your face,” she grinned as she spoke, and rolled her eyes at the dead-pan look she got in response. “You hate other hyenas.”
“Because they try to harm L’aiime and Aynashi.”
“And he doesn’t.”
“He doesn’t have the backbone to attack anyone,” Nyata pointed out, quite rightly as well. No one had really learnt Ning’s backstory, but he was terribly obedient. Almost obsessively so. Nyata shook her head, it would be the death of him some day.
“He likes you, you know,” Eva interrupted Nyata’s thoughts.
She huffed. “You’re being ridiculous,” Nyata snapped. “Stop trying to impose your own fairy-tale dreams on other people just because you haven’t found your prince charming!”
Woops. That was probably a bit too harsh.
Eva reeled back, her eyes wide but she remained silent.
“Eva…” Nyata started to apologise but the leopard cut over her.
“Don’t. If you don’t believe me, believe him,” she said, her voice a bit colder than normal but her eyes were a bit hurt. “Ning!” She called out, abruptly raising her voice loud enough.
Aynashi and Ning, chatting in the distance, both turned at the noise. “Yes Eva?” Ning called back obediently, moving towards them. Aynashi followed, nosy as ever.
“Don’t,” Nyata warned swiftly, realising what Eva intended to do.
“Ning, do you like Nyata?” Eva cut over Nyata again, her voice loud enough to drown out the hyenas protest. Aynashi gasped, scandalised by the drama unfolding infront of her but eager to see how it played out. Oooh, it was like her own little soap opera! She giggled, but quietened it as she waited eagerly for the response.
Ning looked stunned into silence for a moment, blinking at Eva for a moment. “Well…I…”
“You don’t have to answer that Ning,” Nyata forced in. “Eva is just being silly.”
“Let him answer, Nyata!” Eva protested, stamping her foot childishly. “Just because you’re scared of the answer!”
“I’m not scar-“ she started to say but cut herself off as Ning spoke, softly.
“I do like Nyata…very much so.”
Aynashi squealed loudly, covering her mouth with her paw and unable to stop the giggle that followed. “Oh my gosh, you guys are adorable!” She squealed happily at the pair. Her guardian and her guardian angel! It had to be true love!
Nyata stared at Ning in surprise. “Ah…you do?” she wasn’t expecting that. “You better not be lying to soothe your own stupid obedience! You are not required to answer in any way, shape or form other than the truth!” It was worrying sometimes, what Ning would do simply because you told him to. What if Eva had told him to say this, and he didn’t actually mean it? What if it was all a lie? She didn’t know if she could handle that… Not that she liked him or anything.
“Oh Nyata,” Eva groaned.
“No one told me to say that,” Ning said, his cheeks looking warm beneath his fur as he stared at his paws. “You have been good to me, Nyata. You are kind. You are smart… What am I not supposed to like?”
“I’m not kind,” Nyata protested. “I am rude, and grumpy, and sometimes mean.” She glanced at Eva, who looked away, probably trying to ignore the mean thing that Nyata had just spouted off to her. “You should find nothing to like about me.”
“You’re you, Nyata, and I like you,” he tried to explain, but glanced back down at his paws again. He looked self-conscious and awkward, and Nyata found herself feeling protective… why had Eva put him on the spot like this? It was mean. She glanced at the cheetah and leopard who were watching, fascinated.
“Can we have some privacy, girls?” Nyata asked, her tone firm and really giving no option to say ‘no’. Aynashi opened her mouth to protest, but Eva bumped her and shook her head.
“Sure, we can do that,” Eva agreed readily, but had to practically drag Aynashi away from the drama forming in front of her.
“But I wanna know what happens next!” Aynashi wailed in protest as she was moved away. Nyata rolled her eyes, and Ning smiled slightly, amused at the childish female.
“The day that cheetah grows up, I may just have a heart attack,” Nyata mused, shaking her head. She refocused on Ning though, who was looking slightly worriedly at her. “Were you serious?”
“Always,” Ning said, and cracked a small smile. “Well, almost always. But I was serious then. I…like you, Nyata. You’re a good person.”
“I don’t believe that,” she disagreed, shaking her head. Now it was her turn to look at her paws, avoiding eye contact. “You…I mean… You’re not…that bad.” Well, that didn’t come out quite as nicely as she had intended. She winced.
Ning laughed, a gentle sound that caught her attention quickly. “Thank you,” he said softly. “That means a lot.” He smiled at her, warmly. “What do we do now?”
Nyata was silent for a moment, hearing Eva and Aynashi giggling somewhere off in the distance. She gave a half smile. “I guess…we keep doing what we’re doing now?” She suggested. “I mean, we’re already raising two kids together.” There was no doubt who she meant by that. Ning grinned.
“That sounds good,” he agreed readily, happy to step outside the awkwardness for a while. “What do we tell them?”
Nyata grinned deviously, a spark in her eyes worrying Ning slightly. “Nothing. Let them suffer.”
-Fin-