[PRP] The Truth Hurts [ Ulimi'Siri & Zeitun ]

[Depawsit]

Ulimi growled loudly as he passed the same tree for the fiftieth time that day. He'd padded along this trail for so long, his paws had dug trenches into the sand. All for nothing too. He had not a single clue on how to woo the females of this pride into becoming interested in him. And he had little charm to interest one outside of the pride.

This was so annoying! Why couldn't one of these female's just fall for him already?! Gaining anger by the second, the male kicked a cloud of dust up at his feet, and plopped down onto the ground he'd so impatiently tread upon. Snorting the dust from his eyes, he sighed again, and sat in silence. Brooding over his own insecurities.

 

[wooga Paes]

Zeitun just so happened to be nearby, doing the sort of thing Zeitun usually did, which was chase things. When none of his siblings wanted to play, he had to find something to do by himself! Today it was chasing a coconut around, pawing it through the sand. The best thing about playing with coconuts is they weren't too heavy, but they were pretty hard, and lasted a while!

Eventually the cub crossed the blue lion's path, though at first he didn't notice it. First his coconut hit the tree, and as Zeitun maneuvered it to continue his game... Well, he realized there was a lion just right there. A bit to close to simply ignore. "Hi." He said lamely, glancing up at the lion. One day Zeitun would master the art of awkwardly nodding and moving along, but not today. He still only knew the awkward greeting and stare for a bit.  

[Depawsit]

Ulimi hardly noticed the coconut as it rolled past his vision, and thumped lightly against the tree. In fact, he wouldn't have noticed it at all if it hadn't caused a bit more sand to stir up around his nose. The dust rose quickly up his nose causing him to let loose a wild sneeze. Possibly frightening the cub, that he had no idea was standing beside him. That was, until he caught him in the corner of his eye and heard his awkward introduction. Changing his angle to get a better look, he could see the cub meant him no harm by his intrusion. But that didn't mean the male was open to his company anyway.

"Hey." He grunted, hoping that would be enough.

But the cub seemed to be just staring at him. Kinda creepy... "Is that your coconut?" He grumbled, tossing his blue mane in the direction of the tree and it's new friend.

 

[wooga Paes]

His ears folded back at the sneeze, and he winced, surprised, but otherwise Zeitun didn't seem bothered by it. He was mostly just feeling a little silly by having stumbled upon this lion, somehow not having noticed him. This big blue guy didn't even look very nice or friendly. Why did it have to be a pad? He could have stumbled upon a Banu instead, because she would have to be more-or-less nice to him, or something.

At the question, the dark cub glanced at the coconut, then back at the lion. "Um... yeah, I was playing with it." He hadn't yet connected that the lion's sneeze was a consequence of his coconut rolling by.  

[Depawsit]

"You should be more careful." Ulimi grunted, forcing himself to his feet to tower over the cub. "Next time you could hurt somebody." He was stern, though not really as though he were trying to be mean, just trying to prove a point. He could see the cub felt a bit awkward, and in turn that made him feel weird. "Wait - what are you playing with a coconut for? Don't you have siblings - or something like that?" Ulimi lowered his head slightly to take in the cub's coloration a bit. The colors seemed slightly familiar, but then again he couldn't be one to judge, he hadn't been here very long himself.

 

[wooga Paes]

Zeitun gaped up at the lion lamely, and intended to back up, but found himself against the tree. He was nervous for a few more seconds, then, out of the blue, relaxed. Sometimes things with him were simple like that, he had just decided he wouldn't be nervous. He'd be calm, and cool, and stuff. The brown cub highly doubted he could hurt someone with a coconut, at least not the way he was playing. Maybe he could hurt a bug, but not anyone that mattered.

Still, he knew better than to talk back. Instead, he just sat down and curled his tail around his paws. "I have siblings, but they don't want to play right now. So I'm playing with the coconut instead. It doesn't really have a choice." It's not like the coconut could really keep him from playing with it.

And because he had been asked, it was fair enough to ask right back! "How 'bout you? Don't you have siblings?" Being a cub, Zeitun didn't realize this wasn't really the sort of question you asked adults much.  

[Depawsit]

The male broke into a fit of giggles at the young cub's question. He was an interesting one that's for sure! "D--Didn't anyone ever teach you your manners? You're quite a feisty little fireball for someone your age." He grinned and, realizing his intimidating stance, plopped back onto his haunches. "To answer your question, No. I don't have siblings. Which is better all the same, i'm not a people person." He smiled lightly and then continued. "I would think you'd be quite the interesting cub to hang out with. Such a shame your siblings didn't want to play. You should be sure to tell them Ol' Ulimi said that." Looking behind him, Ulimi swatted at the coconut with his tail, forcing it to roll in front of the two. "What kind of games do you play with this? It's just a coconut! You're either quite imaginative or really boring. He paused for a moment. "The latter would explain your siblings I suppose..."

 

[wooga Paes]

Zeitun frowned slightly at the question about his manners, trying to understand where he had supposedly gone wrong. He hadn't said anything rude, had he? He brightened up a bit when the lion said it was a shame his siblings didn't want to play. "I'll tell them." Because he agreed! It's not like Zeitun would pass on a message he didn't agree with.

... Hey, was this lion calling him boring? "I'm not boring." He said a bit defensively, ears lowering once again. Granted, he couldn't actually think of how his game of kicking a coconut around was very imaginative. He just sort of... did it. Zeitun was entertained by it, wasn't that all that mattered? So instead he focused on his siblings. "They were just tired." A bit of a lie, because at least one of them had flat out not wanted to play.  

[Depawsit]

"Of course you aren't." He giggled slightly, watching the cub's facial expressions change as his attitude did. "But just to be sure, why don't you explain your game to me. I never really played much as a cub, maybe you could help me change that." Again, he listened as the cub protected his siblings - he seemed mighty dedicated to them. Always a good quality, but also an incredibly weak one. Though he wasn't quite sure the cub would understand what he meant by weakness at his age. "You know what - I don't think you've told me your name yet! I think that's an important thing to know if you're going to be teaching me something."

 

[wooga Paes]

Oh, great. He'd have to think of some cool explanation for his game. He tried to think of something quickly. Perhaps he kicked the coconut and gained points. Or he could pretend the coconut was several different kinds of prey, or something. It was hard to think of very creative games that were meant to be played alone.

So instead, Zeitun decided to buy time. "Well, I'm the cub. And my parents tell me not to give my name away to strangers, so you should tell me your name first." He said with an innocent grin. He wasn't so sure this was ever a rule his parents had stressed, or if they had mentioned it, or what. But it was logical enough, and it might buy him a few more seconds to come up with a cool game.  

[Depawsit]

"Fair enough I suppose. Good on you for listening to your parents! Most cubs wouldn't listen to them at all." Ulimi rambled on for a minute, not really sure exactly why he was avoiding the direct question. "I am Ulimi'Siri, but most lions I run into prefer Ulimi. You my new found teacher, can call me whatever you'd like." He nodded solemnly to the cub before continuing. "You seem awful wise for your age, are you sure you aren't really an adult?" Looking both ways slyly, he leaned near the cub's ear and whispered one final thing. "It's cool if you are, I won't tell anyone."

 

[wooga Paes]

The rambling did give him a bit more time to think, but Zeitun didn't really come up with much. Darn, he was liking getting all this praise! Hopefully the lion wouldn't think him too uncreative or something. "How did you know?" He acted surprised,, as if Ulimi had stumbled upon his secret adulthood. It was amusing, at least. "My name is Zeitun, nice to meet'cha."

Okay, now he didn't really have many more excuses to stall on explaining his game. "Okay, well, the coconut game has two parts! Or functions." He wasn't so sure which term fit better, but, deciding not to dwell on it, Zeitun moved on.

"It has the part that is exclusively about fun! You toss it around and try to do tricks, and get points. But points are mostly just for when you play with other people." If Umlili had been watching the dark cub earlier, he might have noticed Zeitun didn't actually attempt to do any tricks. He just chased it around.

"And then it's about safety! Because we live in a desert and sometimes there are snakes hidden in the sand. So if the coconut goes first, it'll startle any snake out of the sand, and I will be safe!" That was a lame excuse, but Zeitun managed to say it with convincing confidence.  

[Depawsit]

Ulimi winked in the cubs direction and nodded silently. "Now THAT is my little secret." He laughed his gruff laugh, and straightened up, giving the cub the attention he seemed to be lacking. Cubs weren't all that bad, well at least this one wasn't. He was actually sort of .. cool? Not something he'd repeat to anyone, but eh, whats the harm in thinking it?

As he listened to the rules of the game, it was obvious the cub was making them up as he went. But, he was still determined to make himself look non boring. Another admirable trait. He smiled to himself, thinking that one day this cub could grow up to have quite a bit of potential.

"Alright, I think i've got it! Have fun first, and rely on your coconut for safety!" Ulimi jumped to his feet and caused a dust cloud to rise in the air. "Well, if that's all there is to it, let's get this game going Zeitun!" Ulimi nudged the coconut towards its original owner and smiled in anticipation.

Looks like he'd finally found himself a bud. And he cared little to nothing about exactly how old his bud was.