Rosha looked at the rather large amount of seashells arranged at her den entrance. Someone had been busy while she was off helping her friends do some major cleaning. It had taken a few days, but now they had a wonderful, clean den, and the bright female was returning home to her own den with pride. She had been a big help and that was something that was not always true. She had not really thought much of going off for a few days like she had and now she wondered if her shadow had missed her. If the shells were from him, she would say he had. She had been so busy that she had only been at her den to sleep, leaving before first light every day to go do her duties before going to clean until it was too dark to see. This was a nice surprise to come home to after all that work.
Rosha had to admit the shells were lovely and seemed to be flawless. The sand was leveled with care outside her den, which showed it had been a very labor intensive project from the start. She wondered just how long it took to get the sand that perfect and how many times she had left paw prints in his work over the last few days. Cam must have had a frustrating time trying to get such a smooth even surface for what he wanted to do. As if that was not enough work for one lion, he had gone and done everything else as well. All those shells and rocks had to be found and brought here, and then he had to arrange them all into this lovely display on his perfect sand. The whole thing was mindboggling if she thought of it too long.
Rosha could not count how many shells were out here. There were far too many for that. She would be wasting a lot of time if she decided to count them all, but that was not the truly amazing part. There was a star design of large shells worked into everything with a small army of medium to small to tiny shells all worked around them. It was truly a work of art like nothing she had ever seen before in her life. Stones outlined around the shells so that there was a clear path up to her den and keep anyone from stepping on the artwork. All those colors, all those sizes, and it was all just so beautifully done that it amazed the lioness to no end.
Rosha did not know how long she had been standing there gawking at the work of art that was now adorning her home, but at some point she became aware of the fact that she WAS gawking. She looked around sheepishly and saw only one lion around, her shadow. He was grinning like an idiot, so she did not feel so bad about having been gawking like one herself just now. She did not care what anyone thought on the matter, if he wanted to be her silent shadow and stalk her around, he could do so anytime he liked. Just this display outside her den had earned the male whatever he wished from Rosha in her opinion.
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Cam had worked for days gathering shells and stones and putting them in piles out of sight around Rosha’s den. He had worked out the idea some time before, but she was always home at times that she would have caught him at his decorating. When she went off to help friends clean their den, which had been a disaster after a storm, the lion had the opportunity he needed to work without being spied. Rosha was up before first light and back after dark, so it made for an easy task for the lion to level sand, arrange shells and stones and surprise her with the results. He had the supplies hidden around her home for some time and then he just had to move them over into place once the space was ready. He worked tirelessly on the project.
Cam managed to level all the sand within the first day and outline his work area with stones that same day. He kept note of where Rosha normally walked when she left her den or returned and that was where he turned into the path between the two sections of the design. He spend the whole of the second, third, and fourth days working at placing shells just so. Color and size became key to making the designs he wanted and when he was done, the result was stunning. He could not wait for the lioness to come home and see it.
Cam checked over his work several times during the fourth day, hoping that Rosha would manage to be home in time to see it. He was nervous about what she would think of the whole thing. Of course, never having spoken to her, it was hard for him to know for sure if she would like it. He THOUGHT she would, but one could never be sure until it was done really. Waiting for her reaction was nerve wracking for the lion. He really wanted her to be happy with what he had done, but if she was not happy, the male would be apologizing profusely, if he could find his voice, and cleaning up the ‘mess’ he had made.
Cam really needed to solve his no voice around the pretty female problem soon. This was getting rather ridiculous that he would do nice things for her and follow her around but not speak with her. The male’s face lit up when he saw Rosha. This was the moment of truth. He was not at all disappointed. The female stopped to look, dumbstruck for a moment and then her muzzle curled into a soft smile as she looked around. Cam stepped out of his hiding place just long enough for her to see him before he disappeared with a laugh. He had made her happy, that was enough for now!
