[PRP] A Little Light Den Cleaning (Kitwana x Syél)

[SilverLutz]

It was a fairly nice evening that was settling over the lands the Stormborn called home. The cloud coverage had been decent all day, leaving the lions cool and comfortable. Kitwana had decided to turn the day into a productive one by cleaning out his den and letting things air out a bit. He had always despised cleaning and organizing, but as a bachelor with no Thralls it had to be done. The way he saw it, if he didn't have a female, why would he keep Thralls? It was a bit lonely this way but Kit soldiered on, determined to keep to his own thought process and beliefs despite the way the pride had gone in recent years.

Pulling his prized lion pelt from the den, he gave it a fierce shake to rid it of any debris and dirt before settling it on a rock to let the breeze attack the mane and fluffier parts. He stood back to admire the centerpiece of his hoard before withdrawing into the den once more to pull out other trophies he had acquired over the years. Skulls, feathers, shiny things that he didn't have much use for other than to decorate the walls of his living space...it was a nice collection when all was said and done. He'd been a Reaver for quite some time and although he had no aspirations to be a Captain, he had seen more Vikings than quite a few of the younger lions claiming the title now. He was happy where he was within the pride rank wise, though. The only thing he was missing was someone to share it with.

Heaving a soft sigh as he exited the mouth of the den once more, he plopped down in the dirt to relax a bit. He'd been cleaning all day and now that the den was empty, he deserved a bit of a break.  

[mouselet]

The wing-marked lioness was wandering through the pride, humming tunelessly to herself. The year was moving ever closer towards the solstice and she could feel the change of the seasons in her fur. It was the sort of feeling Syél usually got just before she started looking to go on a Viking.

She hadn't been out of the pride many times, but each of them was special and enshrined in her memory as a trip to the outside world. Normally she was content to stay home and listen to stories, but sometimes she just had to see it for herself.

An odd series of noises echoed from nearby, and the lioness found herself meandering towards them out of curiosity. There she saw a strange array of items lying on the ground, and a pair of lions amidst them.

A strangled shriek escaped her mouth before Syél could stop it as she realized one of the lions was no more than a skin.  

[SilverLutz]

Kit had closed his eyes for just a moment before a shriek startled him, making him leap to his feet, eyes now wide and looking for the source of the sound. It took him a moment to notice the lioness not far from his den and she looked as if she'd seen a ghost. He glanced around quickly to ensure there was no danger before taking a deep breath to calm his racing heart.

"Are you all right?" he asked, moving towards her cautiously. Perhaps she had stepped on something painful and had a stone or thorn wedged in her toes. That wouldn't be good!

"Are you hurt?" Concern was etched on his face as drew closer, eyes looking her over to try to spot any injury.  

[mouselet]

"What? No, I'm fine," Syél answered the lion hurriedly. Calm down. Deep breaths. Don't freak out about the...thing. The lioness tried counting to ten before she attempted to communicate again.

"I...thought that was another lion, at first," the female admitted once she'd gotten her breath back, nodding at the pelt on the ground. The more she looked at it, the less it looked like a person, but...still. It was creepy. Why males had to keep such gruesome trophies was beyond her understanding.  

[SilverLutz]

Kit let out a slow breath of relief as the lioness assured him she was all right, but he waited curiously after that to find out the reason for her yelp. When she nodded towards the rock behind him Kit knew instantly what had startled her. A weak laugh left him as he glanced back at the fur, the splotchy pelt rippling in the breeze carried their way by the ocean.

"I guess it does look a bit strange propped up on the rock like that," he admitted. From a distance it did look rather grotesque, but normally it was bunched up with the other pelts and furs that lined the sleeping area of his den. He rarely saw it all stretched out like that.

"My apologizes for the scare," he added as he turned to look back at the female. "My den needed a bit of airing out, thus..." he trailed off as he motioned with his paw to the items strewn about the entrance of the little cave.  

[mouselet]

Airing out? Syél took another look at the pile of...stuff...outside of the den in question. Then at the lion. Amusement sparkled in her green eyes as she put two and two together.

"A bachelor, eh?," she asked. "It looks like your den needs a cleaning out, not just an airing out. I mean, how are you going to find a mate with all that junk?" Oh sure, every Reaver brought back souveniers from their Vikings. The ones people talked about were Thralls and treasure. But Syél had been known to find interesting leaves and rocks. The difference between her and this male, however, was that she eventually got rid of the rocks, and the leaves disintigrated after a while.  

[SilverLutz]

The look on her face turned Kit's weak smile into an embarrassed grimace. Ugh...he'd been spotted. He tried to keep his head up higher but she was right. He didn't need all this stuff, persay. He had it because it reminded him of victorious moments out in the rogue lands, of great adventures and battles, and occasionally of lucky finds and even a few losses. Had he someone to share his den with, though...well. There wouldn't be room for all of the skulls and things that he kept in there and he wouldn't need a pile of furs to stay warm on the colder nights.

"Well...I was hoping I'd find a mate and then get rid of some of it," he said, trying not to look too red-handed in his bachelor-ness. "I wouldn't have a need for half of the things in there if I did. Someone could wear these," he added as he pawed at a pile of shiny baubles and trinkets on the ground just beside him. He knew of Reavers who liked to decorate themselves with their finds, but he felt as though they would weigh him down or be a distraction. Let a pretty female decorate herself and he'd show off both her and his spoils.

"Bring home a Thrall to mind the den...but perhaps I've been going about it wrong. Perhaps it does start with an empty den." But then that would feel lonely and that wasn't something he enjoyed at all.  

[mouselet]

"Well, perhaps you don't need a mate or a Thrall to get started," the lioness observed, looking from the male to the junk and back. It truly was an impressive pile of crap that only a bachelor would think worth saving.

"What you really need, with all of this stuff, is a second opinion. Someone to help you sort the trash from the trophies," Syél continued. She pondered the stuff, and the male (older than her, but still strong, and somewhat attractive) before deciding on a course.

"I could help, if you wanted?"  

[SilverLutz]

Kit glanced over his things with a little frown. Didn't need one? How was he going to sort through all this alone? Each little bone and scrap had some sort of memory attached to it and he really didn't want to get rid of them if he wasn't going to make new, meaningful ones. He'd just bring more crap back from the rogue lands.

The offer to help came as a surprise and he glanced at the female with ears perked. From what he could tell from the tone of her voice and body language she was being genuine.

"Really? That...would be very appreciated, actually. Hoarding it all for so long makes it hard to separate the memory from the object. If you see anything you like and it's in the 'toss' pile you're more than welcome to keep it," he offered, not wanting her to have to help him for nothing in return.

"I'm Kitwana, by the way."  

[mouselet]

"My name's Syél," the lioness replied. She flicked her tail at his offer of whatever baubles and trinkets she wanted out of the trash. Honestly, that wasn't the way to get a girl! Offering her your discards...ah, but she wasn't going to crush his hopes that quickly. Kitwana seemed like a nice enough lion who didn't deserve such cruelty.

"I'm sure that together we can figure out what you should get rid of, and get you that much closer to finding a nice ladyfriend with a newly cleaned den," she told him instead. Who knew, perhaps...

No, she wasn't going to puruse that line of thought just yet. For now, there was an awful lot of stuff to sort through.  

[SilverLutz]

"Thank you, Syél," Kit said with a genuine tone of gratitude. He really was thankful that someone was willing to help him get his life on track. He'd done it his way for so long and it hadn't worked so having a fresh pair of eyes might get things kick started for him.

And it didn't hurt that his new cleaning buddy was easy to talk with and easy on the eyes. Deeeefinitely didn't hurt. Maybe she'd stick around if his den were clean, in fact! Time would tell, he supposed, and shoved those thoughts aside for the time being. It was time to clean!