[PRP] Messy Mud (Vitha x Kina)

[mouselet]

Below the lioness' feet, the mud began to move, seemingly on its own, developing a distinct ripple. Then a dark head broke the surface, revealing the purple back of a snake who had been busy burrowing in the muck.

"Aha!" Kina sang out as she took a breath of air. Most of her body was still buried, and she scrunched herself up and relaxed just to feel the mud sliding over her scales. There was nothing better, she felt, than squirming around through the stuff.

Then she looked up, noticing the lioness for the first time.

"Oh!"  

[mouselet]

Kina wriggled around until she was mostly lying on her back, looking up at the lioness. It was much more comfortable this way than leaning back and trying to look up and up and up. The lioness was black and white, a nice contrast to Kina's own deep colors, the snake thought. And friendly, thus far. She didn't want to end up as a meal or something.

"I don't know," she chirped cheerfully after considering the question. "I do it, but I don't know anyone else who does. Why not try it?" Kina offered, lifting her tailtip to gesticulate.  

[mouselet]

Kina studied the lioness. She had a point, considering that the mammal was so very...big. She couldn't burrow under the mud's surface here, even though it wasmore than deep enough for the snake.

"Maybe not here," she replied at last, "but I've heard of really big mudholes! One day I'll go there myself," the snake declared. "And I like it because it feels good. All that goopy mud, sliding along my smooth scales..." the snake shuddered happily, squirming around in the mess.

"That's why everyone should try it!" she declared.  

[mouselet]

"Kina," the snake replied as she twisted around again to better watch the paw's progress through the thick, sucking mud. "I must've had family at some point - since snakes don't magically pop out of holes in the ground! - but I lost them a long time ago," she explained. She probably also had siblings somewhere, since it was a rare clutch with only one egg.

"I don't live anywhere but where I am!" Kina declared proudly. She made a habit of staying in a place as long as it entertained her, then looking for a more fun location. And wherever she was, it was home for the moment.

"Is it dull because your fur isn't shiny scales?" the snake asked in turn. She would hate to not be shiny, and couldn't imagine how mammals must bear it.  

[mouselet]

"If it's boring, why not leave?" Kina asked. She didn't understand why some people stayed in one place, called it home, and allowed themselves to rot until they were little more than sentient mud inside, no matter how nice their outsides looked. She was glad that Vitha said she'd helped make it more interesting, but the snake wasn't certain mud alone would be enough if this place was that deadly dull.

Hmm, maybe she wouldn't stay here as long as she'd thought, despite the nice mud.