((pre-meta/orp))
"You....what?"
Laughter erupted from the lioness. They were resting near a scraggly tree, under the little shade it offered from the sun that cast its rays on the savanna around them. There were a few scraps of zebra nearby, after sharing a bit of the hunt that Umutsuz had participated in. She had nearly dragged him out here, keeping him away from some of the other lionesses. She had been constantly interrupting him and taking his time, but Giruvegan was starting to appreciate it. She thought that he was absolutely hilarious, and though she loved to endlessly tease him, she never seemed to want to use him for...that. For cubs. And he deeply appreciated it. With the wind rustling his multi-coloured mane around him, he was flushed with embarrassment while she roared with laughter.
"You're telling me that you're honestly not all that interested in mating with any of the females here?" Umutsuz had found herself in a situation that...she never thought would exist. She was starting to find this strange male as a friend, one that she was willingly wanting to spend time with, over and over. He was a riot, and always got embarrassed so easily.
"Not...not like transactions, no!" His mind was still tied to that of a merchant, and Umutsuz huffed as she rolled her eyes. "Its just...I'm not an idiot, but I never thought I would find myself in this sort of situation. Ever. Its not like I blended in all that well in my homeland. Cerobi and I still stuck out with our markings. So I never let anything like the idea of romance or relationships cross my mind. But to find a place like this, where relationships are build solely on the creation of cubs, and protecting...its just different."
"Hmmm...." Umutsuz grabbed a bit of bone to chew on while she thought about what he had said. He was weird looking, but the more time she spent with him, the less out of place he looked. "To be honest, as soon as some cubs you sire are born, you won't look so out of place here. There will be little mini versions of you, and suddenly you and Cerobi won't look so strange. Perhaps you should give it a whirl."
Giruvegan snorted. "A whirl, she says. Sure, no problem. I'll just lay myself out in the middle of the females and see what happens." He was rewarded with more laughter, but the male still wasn't sure he thought it was all that funny. "I get that its something I have to work through, but...its hard when I've lived a different way of life."
"Then why stick around? If your sister seems happy, you could just leave. Or let some other sucker beat you in a challenge. I hate to admit that I would miss you. You're just too ******** hilarious with your idealized way of life in your head." This pride was all that Umutsuz could remember, so for her this way of life made sense. She could pick from whatever male that she deemed worthy enough...not that anyone could catch anywhere close to her father figure, the great Umkhombo. If a male that seemed better than him came around, then perhaps....but the bar was set very high, and she was quite content to remain cubless for the foreseeable future.
"I do have some pride, y'know," he said, rolling around a bone as he thought about the bits of herself she shared with him. "But....I suppose you are right. The culture here is different, and I am expected to offer myself to it. Not chain my own past to force a change that is not possible. Besides, I'm sure the Umholi wouldn't think for a moment before chasing me and perhaps even Cerobi out if I let my head get that bloated."
Umutsuz grinned, the bit of bone sticking out from between her teeth. "Exactly. I'm sure the first time its done, it will get easier from there." She watched him carefully...and realized that he was flushing. Again. "Dude! You got to get a better mask to hide your emotions or some of these ladies are going to eat you alive. Who the hell have you been grinding on the side, hmmm?" Her expression turned into a sly, foxy grin, and she was trying to figure out what lioness to guess from. A few of them certainly did seem to hang around him, and he was too much a doormat to really refuse if they outright demanded something from him.
Giruvegan pushed the bone towards Umutsuz, brows furrowed in shocked embarrassment. "I shouldn't have to tell you!"
Umutsuz's expression didn't change. "You shouldn't...but you know I'll pull it out of you at some point. Or...should I start to guess? I may be a bit of a rude a*****e, but I know most of the members of the pride well enough to know who may be asking for some weird half-bird-wannabe cubs..." With a shriek of laughter, she launched herself onto her paws to avoid a slap of frustration from the male. Giruvegan wasn't foolish enough to chase her, but by the clouds above he was going to figure out some dirt on her to keep her from blabbing around to everyone.
"I swear to the sky, Umutsuz, if you go around bragging about s**t..." He flexed his claws into the ground, his eyes closed in agony. Oh, he knew that Cerobi would be teasing him enough about s**t, but he didn't need the source of that information to be a mouthy sandy-coated lioness, it should be coming directly from him.
"Well, with how much time we spend together, you know that a lot of others are probably assuming we're spending all our time screwing around." Her reward for that little jab was another groan, and the lioness couldn't help but laugh more. She walked herself back over to the defeated looking male, patting him gently on the back of his head. "Well, look on the brightside. The more time we spend together, the less you'll have to deal with some of the more obnoxious females of the pride, correct?"
Giruvegan just groaned. Was he ever going to get used to this s**t?
(1,039 words)