[B-PRP] Termite mounds and alabaster. (Kutu x Nala)

[Pandorus Sphinx]

"Outlander." She whispered under stifling breath, golden eyes wandering along his features as she allowed him closer, so close now that he held her in place with a firm paw and single look. It was intense, like Medusa's gaze, the lioness felt frozen and weightless, suspended in time. All she could do was witness the dark lion, witness and admire him for what he truly was, flaws and all.

Up close she could see the yellows of his eyes and taste his breath with every word he spoke. Up close she felt naked to the world. All of her flaws laid out one by one.

"I don't see an Outlander." She followed up with a step closer, her nose just an inch from his own now, breathing steady, the space between them static. The was a calamity. This was fire.

"I only see you." In truth his heritage mattered very little to her. The stories of the Outlands had not fallen on deaf ears, she just choose to form an opinion based off of her own experiences. He was that for her- a new experience, a feeling that was so intense she could feel it in her toes. A taste so sweet she could close her eyes and picture it so vividly. This... this was unlike anything the lioness had ever felt before.

The electricity between them felt alive..

With another step closer her body inched out of the water until it was at her shoulders, her chin now moving to rest at his ear as she pulled herself to whisper to him, this time just softly enough for his ears to hear.

"You should stay with me tonight." As the moon settled in the sky the water grew increasingly cooler, though Nala would never notice. The lioness even forgot to ask for his name. It was strange... for the first time in her life she felt alive. Her anxiety washed away by the waters that covered her like a blanket. A sweet release from solitude. No regrets.  

[[Eskimo]]

He held her still after he spoke, watching the recognition cross her features. She saw him for what he was--where he came from. Contrary to what he'd expected, she didn't recoil. She didn't even look...disappointed. She moved closer. Kutu felt his heart skip, unused to the sensation. He allowed himself to feel glad that he had revealed the truth rather than put on a charade. That honesty now presented opportunity. If she understood that he was an Outlander, accepted it, and even embraced it, then maybe she really could be his... He had stopped feeling foolish for imagining that such an idea was even possible--that such a shining creature could choose to be with him.

Kutu breathed in the lioness's scent openly, relishing in the closeness of their faces, drinking in her words. She saw him. He didn't remember feeling this open since he was a cub. He wanted to laugh. He wanted to roar--to break something. He wanted to hide.

He wanted her.

The sounds of trickling river touched his ears, though part of him had forgotten completely where he was. He payed no mind to the water that fell onto his fur as the female positioned herself before him. He closed his eyes when her face brushed against his and she whispered into his ear. He felt like at any moment he'd split apart and go everywhere at once, but at the same time felt the most tranquility he'd ever known. She was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen, and the most broken. He wondered if he looked like that to her? It made him feel raw to imagine. There was something she saw in him like he saw in her--some kind of sameness. Somehow without words, he felt that they fit--that they each simply knew. They were for each other.

She wanted him, too.

"Mm..." came the wordless agreement. He couldn't move, couldn't speak. He was comfortably numb, but positively buzzing. Alive. He pressed his ear into her chin, letting his heart and his breath rise together at the feeling.

With a swift gentleness, Kutu pulled the moonlit lioness out of the river and embraced her.