[SRP] Don't hold yourself like that

[Lethrossen]

The morning had grown long, the sun lazily sat high in the sky and beamed down almost relentlessly. Lusala had spent several hours lounging under a shady tree, but the novelty of napping had long since worn off. He shifted and stretched, a large yawn cracking his jaw as he pulled himself to his paws and shook out his mane. His gaze rolled to his much smaller companion, sitting like a stone. He snorted, he’d been like that for almost the whole day… Lu was almost certain Atram hadn’t moved even an inch. ”I’m bored.” He quipped, grinning cheekily as only Atram’s left ear flicked, no response.


He cleared his throat, moving closer. ”I’m. Bored.” He stated again, this time louder. His tail flicked and when Atram continued to ignore him he brought his big paw up and gave the small wild dog a shove in his head, chuckling at the offended look that came immediately to the wild dog's face.  

[Lethrossen]

If you sat still long enough you could often catch the merest hint of a breeze. At least, you could imagine one… if your memory was good enough. Atram’s breath fell evenly, his ears perked as he watched the land before him. The big lump of his friend started to shift again, this time with more purpose than the last several times. He figured the napping was done and over with. His eyes flickered toward the sky, tracking the sun. It was past it’s highest point, but the heat was still unrelenting. Maybe they would head to a watering hole, or find some sort of mud pit to roll around in so they could cool off. As Lu spoke up he ignored the oaf, until he was stumbling forward and gave an affronted woof before scrambling to all four paws.

He huffed and narrowed his eyes as he gave Lu the stink eye. ”So impatient.” He breathed out, rolling his eyes before stretching out his stiff muscles. ”I thought you were going to sleep all day.” He stated dryly before starting to talk, Lu would follow or he wouldn’t, that was how it worked.  

[Lethrossen]

"I'm not impatient, I'm just bored!" He chuckled. He lumbered forward and considered Atram's words with a shrug. He probably would have slept all day, if it were yesterday. "I did that the day before, and the day before that... it's time to do something else, don't you think?" He smirked, because he knew Atram was just as bored as he... the wild dog was just better at hiding it.

"We should head to the watering hole today, see if we can stir up any lady friends." Ah, now that was an idea! Probably the best he'd had in a while! Now the only issue would be actually finding some lady friends... but it'd been relatively hot out, rains had been alright... which meant the watering hole would probably be busy. "Sounds good, right?"  

[Lethrossen]

Some days Atram wondered if he should just pick up the pace and take off... it wouldn't be so bad on his own, right? Of course it would mean he'd have to forsake the added protection he got from having Lu around. "You're always bored. Because you lack patience." Atram could have done nothing every day for months, if that was what it came to. The thought of it seemed... appealing, even. He sighed a little, deciding to relent. "But yes, I suppose it was about time we did something else. It's not good to stay in the same area all of the time, after all."

He could honestly care less about finding females though. "With your charm?
You'll be beating them back in droves." The cheer in his voice was enough to tell even a stranger that he was being sarcastic.  

[Lethrossen]

"Ha, ha! Laugh it up all you want, but don't come crying to me when I have all the ladies and you're left out in the dust... all by your lonesome!" He did not appreciate Atram's snorting laughter, he obviously was not taking this serious at all. "Hmph, maybe you should find your own cave to sleep in." Lusala mumbled, huffing.

And so they fell into a tense silence, or maybe it was only tense on his side of things because he could have swore Atram's steps had become looser, more easy going. Which was just annoying, honestly. He did this often, made him feel like an idiot and then went waltzing off into the sun like there was nothing wrong in the world. "If you don't want to go find girls then what do you want to do, bozo?"  

[Lethrossen]

Atram found himself laughing a lot when he was around Lu, though often his laughter was painted with just a tiny bit of cruelty, as though he couldn't really believe what Lu was saying more than half of the time. "I think I will live, Lu." Not everyone was so hell bent on finding themselves a warm body to snuggle up to at night... Atram glanced to Lu and squinted, then started to laugh when he realized that Lu was his warm body that he found. Oh gods above, maybe he did need to find himself a lady friend. He thought about this as he looked ahead, spotting signs of the waterhole in the distance.

"Currently I wouldn't mind a dip, if the watering hole is full enough." He admitted easily, letting his thoughts roll back and forth through his mind. He certainly did not carry any romantic feelings for Lu... but was there a reason he never cared for these weird girl hunting excursions Lu brought him on? He had never really considered what his future would look like beyond the next couple of days.  

[Lethrossen]

Lu gave his wild dog friend the side eye as he burst out laughing, wondering what could be so funny but knowing that Atram would never actually tell him. He huffed, feeling a little left out. "Whatever." He mumbled.

His tail flicked and he groaned, wondering how much longer they had to walk.
He thought maybe he'd like to take a nice nap at the watering hole.... maybe removing himself from his lazy slumber had been a mistake after all. He squinted as he watched the horizon. "Think that's it, up ahead?" He asked.  

[Lethrossen]

The wild dog snuffed and shook his head, then sneezed. He glanced to Lu, "How bad is your eyesight?" He questioned, then smirked and nodded. "Yes, that's it ahead." He was even starting to see a few speckled shapes here and there, no doubt visitors with ... well something of the same idea in mind. He was sure they were more on his mind wave, which was to go to a watering hole to actually get water... and not thinking like Lu.

Though to be fair he guessed it was a good place to meet a perspective mate.
"Not much longer now... god, you need to behave yourself when we're there though." His eyebrows lowered when all he received back was a laugh.  

[Lethrossen]

Lu rolled his eyes and chuckled, offering up an impish smile. "I'm always very well behaved, Atram." The skeptical look he received back from the wild dog would seem to tell a different tale.

He hummed as he picked up his pace lightly, "I bet there are some real beauties there today." He stated, his tone was hopeful. He didn't understand why Atram wasn't as excited for the prospect of lady friends as he... well, it didn't matter! It wasn't like the wild dog would be competition either way, so that was good. "Anyways... you can do your stupid swimming thing and I can do my amazing wooing thing."  

[Lethrossen]

Atram just couldn't believe how good of an opinion Lu had of himself... though he supposed that wasn't a bad thing either. It wasn't like Lu's own self worth was hurting anyone else... maybe today he'd give the lumbering oaf a break.

"Well, that sounds like a plan..." He gave the lion a devilish grin, his muscles tensing. "Anyways, race you the rest of the way!" He needed to burn off his excess energy anyways... without waiting for his companion he jetted off, paws hitting the ground swiftly and a laugh echoing in his wake as he heard Lu shouting that it wasn't fair, though he knew the lion wouldn't run if his life depended on it.