[PRP] In the Dark of the Night (Kione & Afya)

[MangoMeow]

It had been almost a week since the search parties had found the two missing lions. The gossip over all of it was running on an all-time high, he was sure, but to be frank, Kione had hidden himself away during all that time and had managed to avoid hearing any of it. The silence was a blessing, really, though he was surprised that no one had come looking for him. Oh well, he preferred his solitude anyway.

The reason for his increased anti-social behavior was partially because he was waiting for everyone to forget about that whole getting-stuck-in-a-hole thing... but mostly, he was just done with everyone. Worst. Search party. EVER.

The only problem came in the form of activities that were sort of necessary for living. Like eating.

Kione would slink off in the middle of the night to grab some leftovers left by the hunters, but it was always with the cautious air of someone who didn't want to be seen, and he would immediately run for the safety of his den afterwards. It was only a matter of time before he ran out of luck.

And that luck would run out tonight, not that he knew that when he started tip-toeing out of his den.

Krysin

 

[Krysin]

It had taken her ages to get the mud and dirt out of her fur from the adventures of their search party. Afya could still remember the taste of mud, and was sure that she wouldn't forget it any time soon. Deep down she knew it was no one's fault but her own, but she would never admit that aloud.

The dark lioness had recovered quickly from the expedition. She was too strong-willed to let her embarrassment hold her back. It was late in the evening when she had gotten back from her latest hunt. She had been out later than she had intended, but it couldn't be helped. Afya loathed failing. It was easier for her to stay out later to make sure she snagged a kill than it was for her to give up and return home to her family's den.

She had always been a bit of a go-getter, always active, always up to something.

Between her jaws was a gazelle fawn, not fresh from the womb so it did have some meat to it. It would make someone's meal. She was on her way back to where the hunters deposited their extra stash when she noticed a ghost-like form slinking out of his den.

Great.

It was no surprise that he did not see her. Her pelt was very dark and indistinguishable under the night sky, and she was downwind of him now. Afya could have just passed him by, but she couldn't help but think of how she hadn't seen him lately. The lion was obviously off slacking somewhere and licking his wounds.

Lowering herself to the ground, she deposited her kill as quietly as possible. There was a chance she would be heard, but Afya would risk it on the opportunity to be a bit of a d**k to the pale male. Keeping low to the ground, she snuck up behind him, patient and methodical in her approach until she was just a few feet behind him.

"Kione." She whispered, her voice phantom-like.

MangoMeow

 

[MangoMeow]

She was right that he had most certainly not seen her, nor had he heard her dropping her kill or sneaking up to him. If he had, he would (secretly) be a bit envious of her dark pelt. His always seemed to glow if there was any sort of light whatsoever, and it made sneaking very difficult. Good thing he was good at walking quietly. Not so much talking quietly, but walking, sure.

Though clearly not as quietly as her. And that soft, haunting voice? Yeah, that shot his nerves to hell.

And just like back in that hole, he would later deny the slightly girlish yelp that he'd emitted.

Fur frizzed out and tail almost ramrod straight behind him, Kione spun around to face whatever demon had appeared beside him, only to trip over himself in the process and go tumbling down on his side. Chest heaving, he was almost wheezing in his panic.. before he realized just who was standing behind him.

Well, he thought to himself, he wasn't entirely wrong about there being a demon.

"What the hell, Afya?!" Being quiet went right out the window.

Krysin

 

[Krysin]

The lioness had expected to give him a jump scare, but she had not expected it to be so... effective. Blue eyes bore witness to a vision that would not leave the confines of her memories any time soon. The pale lion had not only jumped, but had managed to somehow trip over his own tail in the process of facing her. As he fell down, she tried to control the laughter that threatened to bubble from her lips.

She tried.

Her control only lasted a tenth of a second before she burst into loud, raucous laughter. She placed a paw against her chest as if to help calm herself down, but she couldn't. She just laughed until the tears came to her eyes, and any who had been attempting to rest would surely be woken by the commotion outside. Did she care? Not really, though she was sure someone would give her an earful later for it.

It took her some time to even be able to form words between her giggles, and she left Kione hanging for a few solid minutes before she managed to get herself back under control. "You!" she gasped between a laugh, "Oh my! The look on your -" another giggle "Face! What a klutz!" More laughter.

She was broken.

MangoMeow

 

[MangoMeow]

As she laughed, a scowl slowly wormed it's way across his face. His eyes narrowed crossly and his tail swished behind him in agitation. Of course she'd think it was so funny to scare him. Of all the lions he had to run into, why did it have to be Afya? For someone who was normally so 'dedicated' to their job, she sure did like toying around.

By the time she'd started speaking, his mood had dropped alongside his ears and he was ready to ream into her about her antics, regardless of the fact that she could probably beat him in a physical fight.

And then she finally spoke. It was a good thing he had fur, because his face would have gone red with embarrassment. As it was, he couldn't hide the stutter that came out as he retorted, "I-I was- Well if you hadn't come out of NOWHERE- like some sort of daisy-" He was struggling for words now.

Kione shook his head with an aggravated growl, trying to realign his thoughts again, and then shot a baleful look at her, "Like you can talk, miss I-fell-into-a-hole-AFTER-someone-else-did." Oh yeah, he was going there.

Krysin

 

[Krysin]

That he struggled so hard to come up with a rebuttal for her antics only made his response that more laughable. Afya hadn't intended to be cruel with her antics, but the way she continued to giggle could certainly seem that way. She lowered her head, trying to hide the mirth in her eyes. It was likely that this was the happiest anyone had ever seen Afya, and it was only because she enjoyed tormenting Kione so very much. It was payback for dragging her into that pit and for being a general layabout.

Finally her giggling became subdued enough where she could form words again, "A daisy?" that almost sent her right back into hysterics. "I wasn't even all that quiet! I had to drop a kill on the ground just to pull that off... you should be a little more appreciative." That s**t-eating grin said everything she was thinking. Normally she would be fired up and ready to get into a verbal argument, but Kione was just too hilarious for her to reach that point of frustration.

"You're the one who fell in first!" she countered. Desperately she tried to pull the grin back from her face. Obviously, she failed. "I can't help that I'm such a good samaritan that I put forward the effort of trying to rescue you. Some lions would have just left you in the hole.

We could have called you Lord Kione, Master of Holes, Slayer of Heights, Dweller of Dirt!"

MangoMeow

 

[MangoMeow]

How did he recover from this? He refused to admit that she had a point about falling in first. To be fair, he hadn't seen that hole coming, so he could feign ignorance on that front. Though, the complete and utter fail to get back out of the hole sort of ruined that.

Had he not been so focused on trying to save face, he probably would have been surprised at how well she was taking his quips. She didn't seem like the type to take criticism like that.

But he wasn't paying attention to that, and instead rolled his eyes in response, "Appreciative, she says." He gave her an accusatory look, "You tried to use me as a jumping board."

Kione sniffed then, head thrown up like the prideful lion he was, "Oh hardy, har har. If I'm the Master of Holes, then I guess that makes you the Mistress of Brilliant Escape Plans" The sarcasm was thick in his voice.

Krysin

 

[Krysin]

"If you hadn't been a cower and scrambled away, it would have worked really well!" she told him with a confident smirk. Of course, it hadn't been Afya's kindest plan, but at the time she felt Kione had deserved it for dragging her into the hole with him. Besides, if either of them deserved to make it out of the hole first, it was Afya. She was clearly the more productive member of the pride between the two of them. Kione spent most of his time holed up in his den... which made him falling into the hole all that more fitting.

She snorted at the thought.

"Ah, so you agree!" she perked up. For once, she seemed to ignore all of his attempts to insult her in favor of just picking fun at him. His insults didn't even breach her thick skin that evening. All she could find was amusement from his pitiful attempts to defend himself.

C'mon Kione, everyone knew you had little dignity left after your tumble.

"Well, Master of Holes," and she gave him a deep, mockingly respectful bow. "What brings you out of your hole tonight?"

MangoMeow

 

[MangoMeow]

He sent her a narrow-eyed look, debating the merits of going back to counter that "agreement", and then scoffed at the bow. Oh great, she was getting flamboyant about it now. Just what he needed.

With a grimace, Kione glanced in the direction of where the food was. Right, he was in the middle of sneaking to it.... moot point now, considering how everyone within the vicinity had to have heard them.

And of course, his stomach chose that moment to grumble loudly. Clearly, silence was out of the agenda for the day.

The pale white lion brushed a paw against his other leg in an attempt to seem nonchalant. "If you must know, Mistress of Plans, I'm getting food." There... really wasn't any other way to put it. He wanted food. "And before you so rudely startled me, I was on my way to get some."

Krysin

 

[Krysin]

There was no way he could hide the sound his stomach made, that rumble that made it evident he was hungry. For a moment, Afya almost felt bad for the male. His string of bad luck was never ending. Even in the dead of night, misfortune seemed to befell him (and Afya didn't even mind considering herself to be that misfortune).

"Well," she spoke up clearly, as if to make sure the entire world heard how generous she was about to be. "Lucky for you, I was on my way to bringing in a fresh kill. I wouldn't mind letting you have it..." The way her voice trailed off, the mischievous look in her eye said everything. There was a price that Kione would have to pay if he wanted to lay his paws on her hard-earned kill. Nothing was ever easy with Afya.

"For a price." There, she finally came out and said it. Honestly, Afya had no idea what she wanted from the male, just that she wanted something. "So, you can have this, but tomorrow morning I'm coming over first thing, and you will have to spend the day helping me with my duties." Either he cowered out of the deal and stumbled all the way to the regular stockpile of food, or he manned up and took a tempting deal.

MangoMeow

 

[MangoMeow]

She was offering him her kill? That was... suspiciously generous of her, he thought with a squint, and then she mentioned a price. Of course there was. She'd never help him freely.

Ugh, seriously? Afya's duties normally fell into the realm of "do not touch" in Kione's book. He hated being active.

But....

He surreptitiously glanced over at the food she'd dropped. A fresh kill this late at night was a rare treat, something he hadn't enjoyed since the feast. It truly was a big temptation for him. He considered just waiting until she'd dropped it off and left, but knowing her, she would take the food with her just to spite him.

He was visibly struggling with himself now, ears twitching in thought. Finally, he grudgingly conceded, "Fiiine." It was half muttered, like he was still trying to slide the words out of his mouth.

Tomorrow was going to suck.

Krysin

 

[Krysin]

"Excellent," Afya answered promptly, as if she had known that was going to be his answer all along. She did not expect Kione to turn down an easy meal, especially if she was vague about what tasks would be required of him the next day. Kione likely suspected it would not be easy, but then he truly had no idea what he had gotten himself into. Afya was a very driven lioness, and her days were always occupied by countless tasks, one after another.

It'd be nice to have a little help along this time, even if she suspected he would gripe and groan throughout their time together. For some reason, that thought didn't bother her too much. She'd reform him, one way or another, into a productive member of the pride.

"I will pick you up first thing in the morning - if you are not up by the time I arrive it'll be regrettable." As in, she would make him regret it. With a smug smirk, Afya stepped forward and passed Kione. The swift movement seemed to even push the air around her out of the way.

"See you tomorrow!" the black lioness purred smugly before disappearing back into the night.

MangoMeow

wrappin' it up! :>