Ugh, it was so HOT.

The sun was beating down hard on the savannah, and the little shade that was around provided minor relief due to the humidity. But Mzuka'hila was trying anyway, laying on her side in the shade of a large rock that she usually sunned herself on. Yeah, right. Like that was going to happen today. Her tongue lolled out of her mouth, panting in an attempt to cool herself down, legs splayed out. All in all, not too lady-like.

But since when had Mzu cared about that?

She was pretty happy at the moment, though. Sure, it was horrible hot and it was making her fur gross, but life was pretty good. She wasn't at war with Faiz's other Banu, and she did have to admit his children with Tuliua were growing up handsomely. It amused her, the competition between the two boys, and the girls...well, although she knew hers would be far better, they were really quite pretty. That Farrah, in particular - she was one to watch out for. She'd make a male one fine Beybanu.


To say that day was hot was a dire understatement.

The sun was burning as if to spite all who inhabited the earth, smothering each wandering creature with its untouchable arms, itching to explode them into flames. Yes, it was hot. But it was hotter for Tariq than anyone else in the pride.

His coat was black.

It was true that such a color was no at all helpful when one lived in such a climate as Africa, especially the warmer parts, but Tariq had lived with it all his life. When you live with such a burden, you learn about it. When you learn about it, you learn with how to cope--how to deal with it and make things easier on yourself. And that's what Tariq had done. Though it would be a lie to say he was never aggravated by the heat, he was able to sustain it better than one would think. He had his tricks with shade, water, earth, finding just the right spot where a breeze would waft by every now and again...

The problem today was finding such places.

Paws scraping noisily against the hard ground beneath him, Tariq looked all too foul-faced as he walked, pink eyes twitching left and right in an attempt to spot some relief from the heat that engulfed him. The den would be cooler, but boring. Perhaps that made Tariq stubborn, but he didn't care. He just needed the largest amount of shade he could find. Then it hit him; the rocks. Large rocks huddled in clusters here and there around the pride's lands, and if it was just the right time of day, the shade they provided would be heavenly.

With that goal in mind, Tariq switched directions and picked up his pace, careful to time his breathing as to not get even hotter. The rocks became visible and he clambered overtop of them, landing with a thump on the other side. As soon as he had landed, shade wrapped around him and he sighed, lying down. Buuuut then he smelled something. He turned his head. Faiz's fire-cracker of a beybanu was lying right beside him.

...How delightfully unexpected.


Mmm, this was getting quite nice, actually. A nice cool breeze began to blow through the rocks, the heat caught before it reached her, providing a constant, weak waft of cooler air. It was really refreshing, and Mzuka stopped her panting, her maw instead stretching open in a smile, a small purr running down her spine as she closed her eyes in content, rolling over onto her other side.

And then there was a loud thump right beside her, and she was instantly up, jumpng back away from the rocks into the horrible heat, a hiss instinctively rising in her throat. Usually she'd have caught it before it broke free, but noticing exactly who had dropped down beside her, she decided not to, instead letting it creep out from between her pointed teeth, hackles raising slightly. What the frick!? You didn't just go randomly plop yourself down beside another's Beybanu! The only male she wanted beside her was Faiz, and even then she wasn't particularly in the mood, with the heat. Cuddling anywhere but in the den would just be too hot, and too uncomfortable.

Letting her hiss for as long as she could without being rude, Mzu cut it off with a snort, tail flicking away flies with irritation.Ugh, and no he'd stolen her shade! She'd worked hard to find that! And now he'd just gone and stole it, and she had to look for somewhere else to lay! Ugh, maybe she'd go hunting - the cool environment of the hunting forests were just what she needed.


Tariq'ra'd laughed loudly, watching the female with obvious amusement. He clenched his teeth in a grin, pressing his paws against the earth to push himself back into the rock's face.

"It's only me, Bazooka." Tariq said, voice dripping with sickly-sweet friendliness that he was obviously faking. To top it off, he got her name wrong. Though whether that was on purpose or by accident was a complete mystery. "No need to get your hackles in a knot. Though I must apologize, because I really didn't know anyone was here. Your presence was utterly dead."

The rock was cool against his back and Tariq knew there was plenty of shade for two lions to lie in. It was the female's own funeral if she decided not to lie back down. He wasn't moving. He was above her in rank anyway...Not that he would hold that over her head, haha~. But really, it would be nice if she lied back down...And ohhh, if Faiz were to come...!

Tariq cast his eyes to the left away from the female, a quiet snickering creeping from his teeth.


Ugh, how dare he laugh! It was he who'd spooked her, he should be apologising! But oh no, she couldn't go tell him that or Faiz'd get all angry and upset. Ugh, she hated how this pride worked sometimes. Some of the males were such jerks. And Tariq took the crown.

"Mzuka," she hissed through gritted teeth, unable to stop herself from correcting him. Bazooka!? It wasn't that hard to get her name right, and he should remember it since she was a Beybanu. A growl lept up her throat but she held it back, swallowing the lump forming in her throat as she eyed the shade beside him. There was plenty of room for her - but no. Just no. No way. Nothing in Africa could make her lay down beside...him.

Not even this blasted heat.

Didn't know she was here? She snorted before she could stop herself, rolling her eyes. A likely story - but she didn't have the effort to get into an arguement. It was far too hot. "Whatever," she sneered, trying to be as rude as possible whilst at the same time not give him anything to call her out on, "Doesn't matter now, since you stole my spot. I'll have to go find another. Maybe I'll have a nice chat with O'tep..."

She did enjoy playing with the trickster. She'd seen his terrified Beybanu around, and was desperate to shake some sense into her. Maybe she'd go do just that. She was sure he wouldn't like that...not being in control. It was the female's turn to snicker.


"Ahh, Mzuka." Tariq echoed as if to etch the name into his mind. He cut her a glance, maybe dwelling on her name for a bit too long. The male shifted positions and rolled his tail out straight, bangs shaking out of his eyes. His eyes grew half-lidded and he frowned, looking unimpressed at her accusations of shade-theft.

Though he looked bored, inside he felt something akin to fire in his chest and stomach. Somehow the female didn't understand things--things that should be said, and things that shouldn't. Yes, she spoke of him stealing her spot...But it wasn't her spot. And it wasn't his spot, though it was more his than hers. But to even mention him stealing anything was not a good thing.

Pink eyes dug into green and Tariq once again wandered back to a mental snapshot of the blue female as his banu...And what would happen to her if she had said something like that to him. To accuse him of stealing anything, joking or not joking.

But the male quickly came out of his soul-sucking look and almost became giddy, eyes flashing and mouth smirking. "O'tep?" he echoed, tail coiling around his back paws. Ughh, the thought of O'tep and Mzuku AND Tariq all in one spot made the male positively giddy inside.

"Yes, why don't you call her over? We could all have a nice chat in the shade...together..." he said, voice trailing off into deviance.


Why had he repeated it again? Seriously, she did not get this guy, and it was..creepy. Scary, almost, except she wasn't scared by anything. Least of all some stupid male. Her own eyes narrowed, though for a different reason, grassy eyes never faltering as she watched him closely, wanting to make sure no sudden moves were made. That was the last thing she needed - she was tiny, and he was pretty big. Although she had a plenty loud voice - Faiz'd be there in seconds. So she was fairly sure he wouldn't dare do a thing.

...He was smirking.

Why the hell was he SMIRKING!?

There was no reason to be smirking! Ugh, she didn't even want to think of what was going through his sick mind, and a shudder travelled down her spine at his words. The three of them in the shade, together? She snorted, sneering her blunt reply, "No thanks."

She was being rude now, forgetting her place. She quickly found herself, cutting off from the rude things she'd been about to add, pursing her lips shut as she studied him, almost daring him to mention it. Her tail continued batting the flies away, and her posture made it clear that she was quickly becoming uncomfortable, due to the heat.


Well, damn.

Oh, well. No hair off his mane. He'd call O'tep out there later anyway. After Mzuka left. If she left.

Hmm, IF...that was a lovely idea...

"You're welcome," Tariq replied unusually at her 'no thanks'.

She was so rude and fiery. More like a recently-broken Kajira than a Beybanu. He wondered if Faiz thought that? Was it really Faiz who was the Pad, or was it this blue bundle of flames? Either thought was amusing. Because either way the female was still disgustingly rude, and disgustingly tempting to...Well, he wouldn't think too long about thoughts that could get him in trouble.

Tariq stretched and yawned, pulling his limbs closer to himself so there was even more room beside him, though he looked away as if not to notice. Then be looked back at the female. "You look pretty hot." Tariq said simply. Maybe literally, and maybe not... "Why don't you lie down? I won't bite." he smirked.


...She was too hot for this.

Too tired.

She couldn't be bothered with a snide reply to his weirdness, so merely rolled her eyes, shaking her head with a sigh. How had he even gotten into this pride? Surely Aali noticed how horrible, and weird he was? The Sultan wasn't stupid, she knew that - in fact, she quite liked Aali. He was quite pleasant, and whilst not as nice as Faiz, she'd had a few nice conversations with him. Polite, of course. She was always at her best around Aali - she didn't want Faiz dealing with that sort of conversation with his younger brother.

He was moving like that for one reason that she knew all too well - and there was no way she was laying down there. She narrowed her eyes further, practically glaring at him, making it clear she wasn't going to lay there. It was getting horrible hot, though. Oh, and look, he even had the decency to notice how hot she looked. Ugh. "No thank you. I'm going back to the den, where it's cooler."

There, if that wasn't polite enough she didn't know what was.

Well, she could add a sir. ...Yeah, right.


Her last reply of politeness might have made Tariq look at her differently, if it hadn't been for that eye-roll and sigh combo she'd done beforehand. With that, she had only succeeded in making herself even more of a rude girl in Tariq's eyes.

Losing his smirk only a little bit, his eyes stayed staring at the female's, and it wasn't clear whether the look was of likeness or extreme bitter hate.

"I hope that works for you, then." he said sincerely, eying her. "Say 'hi' to Faiz for me, will you? It's been a while since we've had a good chat. I'm sure he's missed our...conversations." he added, claws digging into the earth.

If Faiz really had been there, Tariq wondered, deeply wondered, what would've happened. There was no doubt that Tariq had had absolutely no physical contact with the beybanu, nor had he said anything cruel to her. And yet...What would Faiz have done? What look would he have given? Would he have glared at Tariq...Or his beybanu? The curiosity all but consumed the male, and he let it show on his face, flashing the female one last smirk.


He was staring at her. Why was he staring at her, like that!? Ugh, she didn't want to let him get to her, but she couldn't help it! He was just so weird and creepy! Shuddering softly, trying not to make it obvious, and flashed a rather mocking smile in his direction, despite his sincere tone. Yeah, right. The day he was sincere was the day the Africa melted into jelly. The mention of Faiz almost had her laughing, but once again she restrained herself, already turning and leaving.

"I'll be sure to," she replied in an off-handed way, not bothering with a farewell as she headed back towards the dens, eager for the shade. And grateful that it was a decent distance away from the crazy Vizier.