[PRP] Harmless fun! [Mapatano & Jahina]

[wooga Paes]

It was a very uneventful day, at least as far as Mapatano knew. And since he wasn’t a seer, he only knew about as much as he had witnessed. Come to think of it, the past few months had been rather uneventful, perhaps even the past year. And he was glad for that, that the pride could be uneventful after all that had happened after the earthquake, and he couldn’t imagine going through that again. Or maybe he could, and that was a problem.

But today the dark lion was content with laying on a rock as his bonded pecked at a mouse beside him. Hisa usually didn’t go for rodents, but he hadn’t been kind enough to hunt today, and so mice were about as good as the kite could do. Sadly, kites were rather weak and couldn’t cut open or kill much as far as food went, and she relied on scavenging. Or mice. Soft little mice, if she could catch them. “Lazy.” She grumbled, while Mapatano just sighed, glancing idly at her.
 

[Kimaria]

Unfortunately for Mapatano, he had been spotted by a vulture with deep blue plumage. A vulture by the name of Ngeu who immediately went to find her bonded and inform her of a lonesome looking lion who looked to be in need of cheering up - or, probably could, anyway, since it was hard to tell from such a height in the air.

And, perhaps fifteen minutes later, a brown and white lioness was stalking towards him, wearing what appeared to be a 'costume' of some sort. Tall reeds had been draped across her back and wound around her forelegs and atop her head was a 'crown' of pond weed that flopped down to frame her face. Two, dead branches had been tied into position behind her ears; so dry that they were hollow and therefore lightweight. And, at last, jutting out from her mouth were a pair of sharpened sticks; stripped of bark to make them look like ferocious teeth.

This was what she had spent the whole day working on...

"You look fabulous, Jah-Jah! So scary! If I didn't know it was you under there, I'd have fallen right off of my perch!" The vulture exclaimed, not waiting for a response because Jahina couldn't speak without losing a 'tooth'.

"He's just beyond the hedgerow. I'll wing up to that tree and watch from there. If they see me with you it'll give the game away!" And, with a low chortle of amusement, she winged off towards the tree she had indicated to await the outcome of their latest trick.

Jahina, trying not to smile, lowered herself down and sought out a big enough gap in the hedgerow for her to pass through without ripping half off her disguise off. And then, low in her throat, she gave a strange howling noise and pressed forwards, clearing the hedgerow with very little difficulty.

"Raaaaawrrrr!"  

[wooga Paes]

Between the lion and the bird, there were two very distinct reactions. Immediately upon noticing the mess of a lioness heading their way, Hisa failed to recognize Jahina at all. Really, she looked like some insane monster. Perhaps the fact that she was a bird with very good eyesight made her mistake all the more embarrassing, but she shrieked and noisily flapped away, feathers ruffled up.

Mapatano, on the other hand, wasn't just surprised. He was quite good at immediately reacting with anger, and this situation was no different. He'd been at ease, lying on the rock, but in the blink of an eye was on his feet. He didn't even hesitate to head straight for Jahina, teeth bared and a loud snarl cutting through the air. He might have tackled her, but his brains caught up quickly enough.

"Jahina!" His snarl didn't fade as he spoke. Once he realized there was a lioness beneath that mess, he managed to put together who she was quickly. Mapatano had always been good with names, and made a point to know those of every pride member. She was no exception.

He set his paws down, but his fur was very much on end, and it took a few more moments for him to cover up his teeth. "What. Are you doing."  

[Kimaria]

Whoops...

Perhaps this had not been one of Ngeu's better ideas after all. Mapatano was certainly a lion who needed cheering up but she hadn't considered that he might move to face down the monster! (Though it was oh so brave!) She staggered back a step and tripped on some of the reeds hanging down from her back. And then she was caught in them and as she tried to tug her hind leg free she began to wonder if her tricks were going to be her undoing.

Thankfully, if they were, it wasn't going to be this day.

Mapatano recognised her a moment later, saving both her and him from a possibly rather messy situation. However, at his tone, she felt like a cub again; being chastised by her mother after playing some 'mean' trick on a sibling. Jahina never meant for her tricks to be mean. Just fun. Only ever fun. The 'teeth' fell from her mouth then and she offered him a wide, sheepish smile followed by an embarrassed laugh.

"Hey there 'Tano." A blink, followed by a brief moment of awkward silence. "I was...trying out my disguise?" She phrased it like a question, almost as if appealing to him. "Uh, do you...like it?"  

[wooga Paes]

Her sheepishness did little to improve hi mood, and he grimaced at the laugh. Mapatano was so not cut out for dealing with this kind of crap. His purple eyes flicked down to the fake teeth at her feet, briefly looking over the whole design of her 'disguise'. She even had horns. He had no idea how Jahina had managed to fit those on.

He didn't answer her question immediately, rather just stared at her for a while, as if he could make her shrink to the size of a little ant. Who knows, maybe Mapatano could, if he tried hard enough. "Do I look like I like it?" He snorted.

Just then Hisa came back, landing on Mapatano's shoulders. Even she didn't seem too pleased, but not quite as unhappy as Mapatano was. "Hah. Very funny." She ruffled her feathers out, then inched up along her bonded's neck to peer over his head. "Where's Ngeu? I need to pluck a few feathers."  

[Kimaria]

(sorry for the delay, hon.)

"Um..." How could she respond to that. To be fair, she would say that he didn't, but if she admitted that then she'd have no hope of cheering him up. He was like her friend, Chewy, then. Grumpy and not a lover of tricks. Well, she'd have to think of something else...

Thankfully, his bonded, Hisa, returned and she looked rather unhappy, too, though at least her face wasn't as 'frowny' as Mapatano's. "Oh, uh, Ngeu?" She cast a look about for the blue-feathered vulture and spied her on the branches of the tree she had signalled earlier. She gave a low chuff of calling and the vulture launched herself from her perch and began to wing her way slowly towards them.

Turning her head back, Jahina shuffled her paws awkwardly. "Well...even if you didn't find it funny...do you think the cubs might?" And, of course, she meant cubs in general - although the lands seemed to be lacking in youth right now. Not much calling for a nanny when there was no procreation going on. Her ears drooped.

Ngeu landed on the ground beside Jahina with a low croak and shook up her scruffy wings. Her eyes twinkled with mirth as she peered between Hisa and 'Tano. "So!" She declared. "She tricked you pretty good, right?"

She completely missed Jahina's warning looks.

"I helped design it, too, you know."  

[wooga Paes]

It was a good thing, for Jahina, that Mapatano was good at containing himself, even when extremely miffed. "If there were cubs, yes. I'm sure they'd just love it." Of course, there was no enthusiasm in his voice, and he just kept on glaring at the lioness. His eyes flickered briefly to the vulture as she landed. But Ngeu wasn't his t deal with.

And, sadly, Hisa was a much more passionate creature. "You!" The kite hissed, and immediately dove for the larger bird. She flared out her wings and kicked out her feet, but landed rather harmlessly before the other, wings spread and feathers all fluffed out. "You idiot! I lost a few feathers there!" Hisa was just a harmless kite, though. Even if she actually tried to peck Ngeu, she could hardly actually injure her.

She could just hope glares were enough to convey here extreme hate right now.

Amusingly enough, even Mapatano seemed to think that feathery display might be a bit much. He rolled his eyes. "Calm down, Hisa. I'm sure they won't do it again." He looked back at Jahina pointedly. Right?  

[Kimaria]

She seemed to brighten at that, not seeming to notice that there was no enthusiasm there. If he said it, it must be true. "Well then, Mapatano, if you ever have some cubs of your own, you'd best send them my way and then I can make them laugh instead!" She reasoned, sitting back and giving a small exclamation as the reeds slid straight off of her back to pool around her. With Now, all that remained of her disguise were her 'antlers', 'pond-weed hair' and her wrapped forelegs. Mostly...she was just Jahina.

She was just about to poke fun at him for not being able to teach his cubs a sense of humour when the kite flew at Ngeu. The lioness startled, her eyes wide. Poor Ngeu! She'd only helped a little...okay, no, she had helped a lot. But even still...it was only done in fun.

The vulture gave a surprised squawk and snapped opened her wings to balance herself as she leaned back away from the fierce little avian. "They'd grow back, Hisa! No harm done!" The vulture was trying to look apologetic but failing miserably. As far as she was concerned, the trick had worked perfectly: even if they were the only ones who had found it funny.

"Ngeu." Jahina warned. "Maybe...we should apologise." And the female was starting to look very sorry about it. She'd only wanted to cheer them up, not cause them stress and annoyance. "We're sorry Hisa. You're still very beautiful. No one could possibly tell."

And then her eyes dared to stray back to Mapatano and she hesitated a moment. She was sorry about it but that didn't necessarily mean she wasn't going to do it again. She wasn't a liar, either...

"Well..." She trailed. "I...can't promise that, 'Tano. What if I think of a better trick to play? One that would cheer you up? How could I possibly turn that aside! It's my job!"  

[wooga Paes]

He almost rolled his eyes, because Jahina clearly didn't get the concept of sarcasm. But now Mapatano was more preoccupied looking at Hisa, who, despite his words, still took a couple hops towards Ngeu, looking all unhappy. "Grow back, grow back! I'll give you something to grow back!"

She did cool down at Jahina's words though, and her wings folded. Not quite closed, but they weren't spread all out anymore, and her feathers didn't stand on end. The kite eyes Jahina, not quite knowing what to say to that. Yes, darn right Hisa was still beautiful. And though the avian might not like to admit it, she tended to coddle lions more than avians. Perhaps she felt they weren't as tough, or something, and couldn't handle mean retorts. So instead of speaking, she just fluffed out her feathers one last time, shaking her head, and hopped back towards her bonded. She was usually much kinder than the black lion. Except when she was riled up.

Now with that over, Mapatano had the opportunity to pay attention to Jahina once more. "I don't like tricks. And I don't need you to cheer me up." He answered flatly. He was a perfectly happy... er, he was a perfectly slightly happy lion. He needed his home to be safe, not someone to pester him and try to make him laugh.  

[Kimaria]

Jahina and Ngeu both seemed to release a held breath at the same moment, glad that it seemed Hisa had been put off of plucking some of the vulture's feathers. Even still, as this conversation went on, the pair both became more convinced that they had their work cut out here. Mapatano and Hisa needed cheering up more badly than they had first thought. They were even in denial about it! (Or Mapatano was, anyway).

"Don't like tricks? Even...playful ones?" She took a small step forwards so that she could bring attention back to her - still not quite convinced that Hisa wouldn't have second thoughts about teaching the vulture a lesson. "But...we like cheering people up and...well..." She hesitated, feeling suddenly uncertain about how he might react to what she wanted to say.

Briefly, she met glances with the vulture; who gave a sage nod. With that silent communication made, the patched female turned her hazel eyes back to the dark-pelted lion. "You...don't seem very happy. If tricks don't make you laugh, then...what does?" Maybe she needed to change tactics with this particular Aka'mleli resident.  

[wooga Paes]

He didn't deign to give the question a verbal answer, instead just slightly shook his head. No, Mapatano did not like tricks. "I'm not happy right now." He said pointedly. "And I am happy. I don't need tricks." He didn't offer anything that might make him laugh.

Hisa seemed a bit more receptive though. She even clucked, amused. "The idea of 'Tano laughing makes me laugh. Hah! See?" She fluffed her feathers, the distractedly preened a few on her chest. She earned a flick of the black lions tail, which she promptly ignored. Even though she was his bonded, the kite had honestly rarely seen the black lion laugh. Particularly honest laughter. Mapatano, particularly as an adolescent, had occasionally laughed sarcastically.  

[Kimaria]

Ngeu ruffled her feathers and with another low croak hopped closer to Jahina so that she came to settle between her front paws. Their eyes were both glistening with some hidden motive.

"That sounds to me like a challenge, Jah-Jah." The vulture sounded excited at the prospect and as she lifted her neck to peer up at her bonded's chin, she could not help from giving a short burst of laughter.

"I think so." The lioness replied smoothly. "You know, 'Tano. We can't have grumpy lions in the Aka'mleli any more. Not now that the future is bright. And, since it's our job to make sure everyone is happy." A self-appointed job, it had to be noted. "We can't just stand by and accept that answer." Her teeth glistened as she smiled. "So, you'd better watch out, because you've become our number one, top priority - whether you like it or not."

And she winked at him playfully.

"And we never fail!" The vulture added, making sure not to think about their failed attempts with their good, old friend, Chewy.  

[wooga Paes]

"Unless your real goal is to displease me, you're just setting yourself up for failure." He laid his ears back and made a face. Jahina would never achieve success, at least if her method was simply things like this. These sort of things did little to please or entertain Mapatano, they more or less just worsened his mood. The black male figured he couldn't really stop this lioness, but he might as well give her a fair warning.

Hisa eyed the pair suspiciously. She had best keep an eye out, then. She hardly wanted a repeat of today. The kite was more good-natured than Mapatano, but she disliked surprises like that. Mostly because of stupid things like flight response, ugh.  

[Kimaria]

D'aw, look at that. His grumpy face was so adorable. Jahina had to stop herself from reaching out to 'pinch' his cheeks. Even still, she offered him only a wide smile, accompanied with the smallest of chuckles.

Not taking her eyes off of him, she leaned down to rub her chin across the top of Ngeu's head. "Well, 'Tano! Well Hisa! We'll leave you in peace." For now, she added silently, with a grin. "But no doubt we'll see you again soon."

And with a low prrum of contentment, she turned and padded off, her tail swinging behind her as she went.

Ngeu, blinking her eyes rapidly, gave them a little bow and launched skyward, turning in a slow, heavy arc to follow after her bonded.

It seemed the pair of jesters weren't quite done yet...

/fin.