[PRP] Boredom (Njia and Jahina)

[Kimaria]

Normally Jahina found something to do. Someone to tease or chat with or play a trick on. Someone new to say hello to. Some cub to play with or teach whilst the parents were out hunting or guarding. Buuuut, unfortunately, there weren't too many cubs running about at the moment and with Tilifika's litter growing up too fast there wasn't much call for a nanny in the Aka'mleli lands.

"Ngeu." Jahina murmured, reaching out to poke the vulture in the side with a paw. "I'm bored. Why am I so bored? I don't like it. Let's do something."

The vulture tilted her head towards Jahina very slowly, her eye half-open as she resettled herself more comfortably on the ground. She looked sleepy despite the fact that she'd been dozing for the last two hours.

"What did you want to do?" The vulture replied, fluffing out her feathers and yawning.

"I don't know! Why don't you think of something?"

"Because...I don't have any ideas. You could just nap."

"No! I've watched you napping all afternoon. Come on, sleepy, let's go." The lioness pushed herself up onto her paws, shook herself vigorously and then gave the vulture a shove, laughing at the creature's startled croak.  

[Krysin]

Njia was always up to something, so much so that it was well believed that she did not stop and rest at all. Many were of the opinion that the young lioness needed to take a step back and enjoy her youth. Even as an adolescent, she had done nothing but work (which was much akin to play in her mind), so now that she was a young lady no one really expected her to flirt with the male lions in the pride or lounge about doing what young lionesses did. She was usually hunting, scouting about for herds of grazers and mentally drilling herself on which animal it would be okay to take.

The old and weak, the injured, if one was desperate babies were easy to take, but to cut a life so short was cruel. These words were playing through her head on a loop as she moved through the pridal lands. She had ate recently, but that didn't mean she wanted to lounge about for the rest of the day. Njia liked to be on the move, liked to be constantly active and ready for whatever life would throw her way.

However, she would never be ready for an encounter with Jahina. The lioness was not one that Njia would be seen hanging around with. She didn't mind Jahina, nor Ngeu. Rather, she had a personal fondness for vultures, since her mother's (Nadra) was one of the most loyal birds she had encountered. Still, Jahina and Ngeu made for a laid back pair, and Njia was anything but that. "You shouldn't torment your bird, Jahina," Njia spoke dryly as she came up on the pair. Her words weren't meant to antagonize, and while she had intended to be teasing that point didn't really come across in how she spoke.  

[Kimaria]

And work could not have been further from Jahina's mind.

The said female looked up at the unexpected voice and her face brightened instantly despite the tone the other used. She'd learned long ago to ignore that particular tone of voice. No good could come of pointing it out. "Njia! Wow, am I glad to see you! You have great timing." She paused, looking back at the vulture as if trying to decide whether to explain her actions. A moment later and she waved off the observation with a paw, laughing lightly. "She torments me just as much."

"That is untrue!" The vulture replied in good-humour, flapping her wings slowly as she turned her head to look at the lioness who had joined them. The dark purple and black lioness had markings so distinct that anyone who didn't know her personally would know which family she belonged to. "She gets a bit pushy when she's bored."

Jahina rolled her eyes. "Anyway, forget about that. What are you up to, Njia? Something fun? Can I come? I promise I won't be any trouble at all. Or, well, maybe I will, but it could be amusing!" She skipped across to the other lioness, her tail swinging. Automatically her eyes went to the sky; seeking out Njia's avian companion. There didn't seem to be anyone in sight so maybe Njia was out by herself? If that was the case then surely she would want some company.  

[Krysin]

Oh, for gods' sakes. She knew she should have never approached Jahina the moment the older lioness opened her mouth and began speaking. Njia could read the brightness in her eyes as eagerness, and while she knew that Jahina was far more sociable than herself, she didn't actually expect the lioness to socialize with her. The black and purple lioness considered that there were better things to do with her time than lay back with Jahina and chat the day away. She had a lot of work to do if she wanted to reach the position she desired in life.

"Well, maybe if you pick up another trade you wouldn't get so bored. There's hardly anything to do around here when it comes to watching cubs, since there really haven't been any since my siblings were young." There was a litter that was younger than her, but they were nearly full grown now too. At some point, it should probably be a concern that there weren't more cubs about. Perhaps courtship in the pride was a truly lengthy process. Her mother could have had more cubs, if she had decided to stay with her mate. It was a little scandalous, but in the end Njia would never blame Elea for doing what she thought was best for herself.

"I'm hunting... it's not exactly the fun you have envisioned," Njia answered critically. There was no way she was bringing Jahina along on a hunt with her. The lioness obviously could not stop talking, and she was a nanny with likely little skills in stalking and hunting down prey. She'd be ill-suited to a hunt, and Njia liked being successful too much to want to bring her along. "Hunting takes patience, and most of all, perfect silence, Jahina. I'm sure you've picked up too much rowdiness from all the cubs you hung out with."  

[Kimaria]

Jahina looked a little saddened at that - for just a moment - though she brightened again as if nothing had happened. "Well maybe there needs to be a bit more love in the Aka'mleli. Then I would have a job to do! Too many people spending their days working and not enough time spent socialising" She had a mischievous glint in her eye despite the fact that what she had said was mostly true. She thought of her close group of friends and realised that very few of them - save Tilifika - seemed to have no care for settling down.

The Aka'mleli really did love to work a lot.

"You're a pretty young thing, Njia." She hinted with a smile, folding back her ears and trying her best to look innocent. A moment later and the lioness caught the vulture's eye. A message seemed to pass between them and they both seemed to puff up with excitement at the same time.

"Well, I might not be good at the regular hunting." Jahina declared. "I'm not the best at staying quiet - as you say - so perhaps we can have a different sort of hunt?"

"That sounds like a good idea." Ngeu added in encouragement.

The brown and white female sidled closer to the darker lioness, her smile widening. "How about we hunt you a male instead of some boring old antelope? It'll be fuuuun! I promise!"  

[Krysin]

Njia was not stupid. That twinkle in Jahina's eyes, the way the lioness posed herself as innocently as possible... all of that clued Njia in to the fact that something was up. The black and purple lioness sat up straight, ears perked, brows knitted with concern for whatever was floating through Jahina's mind. She was already bracing herself for whatever was coming her way when Jahina finally did stat talking, and if she did not know Jahina, at first she would have thought the lioness was flirting with her. While she didn't have a problem with girls flirting with girls, she did have a problem with being hit on herself and --

Well, whatever, Jahina wasn't actually hitting on her. What she was doing was far, far worse.

What.

What in the gods names was this lioness thinking!?

Njia's expression turned from intense determination to intense horror at what Jahina was proposing. No, no way. Njia hunted things she could kill. She was not going on the prowl after the males in this pride! She grew up with half of them, and the other half she was related to! Jahina and her damned vulture were crazy if they both believed that Njia was even remotely inclined to go around eying males.

"From what I recall, you don't have a mate. So, how about I do the normal kind of hunting, and leave you to hunting down some males? Think of how easy it would be to be a nanny to your own children!" she suggested in near desperation. Jahina was going to have to do a fair bit of convincing to ever drag Njia into something that she was suggesting. For security, she took a few careful steps back and away from Jahina, as if removing herself from the situation.  

[Kimaria]

Poor Njia.

Jahina had very little tact when it came to romance and really had no idea in the workings of courting of finding a suitable partner. She was still very much single herself, as Njia had rightly observed, and would likely stay that way for some time. Even still, despite her zero experience, she clearly felt she was adequate for the job, bouncing excitedly as she waited for her friend to respond. Because, as far as she was concerned, Njia was a friend; now and forever.

The response, then, was met with a deeply disappointed face, her ears folding back against her head. "Awww, don't be like that. It could be fun! Where's your sense of adventure, Njia? Wouldn't it be great to do something out of the ordinary for a change? There's got to be a nice boy for you somewhere close by! Maybe if we got our--" She turned, suddenly realising that Njia was alone. No feathered companion anywhere in sight - not aloft nor perched on shoulder. "Our..." Blinking, she shifted her sentence without thinking. "Where's your bonded, Njia?"

Ngeu gave a harsh croak to stop her, but it was too late. The question was already out and the vulture shifted awkwardly. "Jah-Jah..."  

[Krysin]

"My sense of adventure is right where it should be - not chasing after boys. If you want to do that by yourself, that is fine. I have no desire to..." Her voice drifted off suddenly as Jahina asked where her bonded bird was. Silence reigned for a few long seconds as Njia contemplated how to answer the other lioness. If she wanted to, she could word her response more carefully, but as it was... she did not want to. Her bird had been gone for a long enough time that the emotional wound had sealed over, but she was currently frazzled by Jahina's attempts to get her to go 'lion hunting' with her.

"Dead," she answered, voice bland from the effort to keep emotion out of it. "She has been for a while now. I guess Hestia just hasn't guided another bird to my side yet." She paused again, eyes lowering down to the ground as she realized that it had probably been a bad decision to word herself like that. Releasing a soft breath, she shrugged her shoulders. "Don't worry about it. It really has been a while, so I'm not that bothered anymore by the... lack of her."

At least, she reflected internally, this had gotten them off the conversation of male lions. Like the gods she needed a mate! Not when she was still young, and had a lot of potential to fill.  

[Kimaria]

For a moment Jahina looked horrified, clapping a paw over her own mouth to keep herself from saying anything else. In her chest her heart gave a sickening twist and she imagined her life without Ngeu and how terrible it would be. No one to adventure with. No one to talk to. No one to share her secrets with. She had to restrain herself from reaching out and pulling the vulture into a hug right then and there - just to make certain she wasn't gone, too.

And then finally the words spilled forth. "Oh, Njia. I am so sorry. I didn't know. Honest, I didn't. I am so, so sorry for your loss." She seemed not to have heard the part where Njia was over her grieving. "I have a sister - an adopted sister - she lost her bonded, too and she--and she--" She trailed. The story of that particular female was not a good one and despite Jahina's best efforts, she'd never gotten her dark-pelted companion to smile and laugh. But at least Njia didn't seem dead inside because of the loss.

She must be stronger than Jahina could ever imagine being.

"Hestia will guide another to you. She or he will never be a replacement but another will come to you. I know it."

"Hestia knows what is best." Ngeu agreed carefully.

Perhaps, Jahina thought, finding a boy for Njia might not be such a bad idea after all. He would be a companion to her and keep her company and she would not so mourn the loss of her bonded. Or maybe, instead of finding a boy, she could help with finding her avian partner? Sometimes a bond did not just appear by fate. Sometimes one had to go looking and if this one did not hang around the hunting grounds where Njia spent so much time, they would never meet, would they?

So at last she said: "You don't need to worry, Njia. I'll help you."