Pride of Exiles

[Ravvij]

Rav Smiled at her. It was cute of her to force herself under him. He licked her ears. She seemed to like that from earlier and, Why fix what's not broken? He also huddled himself over her more.
"Would it help if I did this?" he playfully answered her, wrapping his tail around hers. Then a thought struck him, How can I be so friendly with someone I just met? How is it that I'm so comfortable around her? Isn't she afraid of me? For all she knows I could be one of the lions she would want to run away from. His thought were depleted howerever when he caught a glimps of her eyes from where he was. She felt so small, yet he could feel the powerful muscles that hid below her soft looking exterior.

[TheWhistlerify]

Laini's smile only grew bigger when Rav started to lick her ears and a loud purr began to rumble in her throat when he huddled himself over her more. His bigger body easily helped her ignore the chilly night's wind. "Definitely..." she said with a sigh of content, allowing him to wrap his tail around hers. Her eyes locked with his and she once again felt herself drowning in them as her cheeks heated up because of the position the two of them were in, having not realized just how close they were up until that point. Feeling his larger, muscular body over hers like that was a completely new feeling and, even though they'd met not so long ago, she liked it.

[Ravvij]

Rav felt he should be able to do more for her. He wanted to be closer to her than he currently was, But how? He wondered.
He pushed the side of his face along the side of Laini's head and his own purring rumbled from his throat into her ear and, from his chest wall, mixed with her's between their bodies.
The breeze from the night air didn't seem to bother them. They were back in their own little world and almost nothing could take them from it.

[TheWhistlerify]

Laini didn't budge an inch. She was enjoying herself too much to even consider it. As they continued to lay there and bask in each other's warmth and presence, however, a thought occurred to to the young lioness. Where was this going? She knew she had feelings for this lion and that they were going stronger with every passing second, but what was going to come out of it? As comfortable and warm as she was with the way they were huddled up together, she slightly moved her head away so that she could look at him.

Getting lost in his eyes once more, she gave the male an affectionate lick across his muzzle. "Rav, I..." she said softly, not wanting to interrupt their peaceful moment too much by speaking loudly. "I can't help but wonder as to, um, you know, where this is going..." She fell silent for a short moment. "I mean... I've never felt that way with anyone before... I dunno, I just... I feel like I belong here, with you..." It was a little weird and awkward for her to put her emotions into words, but she wanted to hear what Rav would say.

[Ravvij]

"I can't give you a perfect answer to ease your mind. So I'll just say this. This is going to go as far as we're willing to take it. I'll be here with you for as long as you want. I'll only leave if you're unhappy with me, though I'd rather not because I'm very happy with you." he said softly, gently, into her ear. He licked her muzzle lightly, still looking into her eyes in their awkward position.
There wasn't much more for him to say that need to be said. He thought it was obvious how he felt towards her and he hoped she could sense that. He could feel her attraction to him, but something in his mind was still making him doubt. He had no reason to doubt her affections so, inwardly, he snuffed out those negative feelings and thoughts so he could concentrate fully on her.

[TheWhistlerify]

Even though Rav said that he couldn't give her a perfect answer, in a way, Laini felt like he couldn't have possibly given her a better one. It's not that her mind wasn't at ease; on the contrary, but she still found a lot of comfort in his words. She'd always thought finding out that a male had such feelings for her would deter her and make her hesitant because she knew what that meant, she knew what such feelings could and would lead to, but it actually had the exact opposite. In fact, he couldn't have made her happier.

"Oh, Rav..." she said with a happy smile, her voice melting as she licked him across his muzzle once more before placing her head beneath his chin, purring happily. "I don't think either one of us is going away any time soon, then..."

[Ravvij]

Rav pushed his jaw onto her head softly. He could feel the shape of her head under his quite acutely. His smaller mane meant that he could not only feel more around his head, but was subject to temperatures more frequently. He felt her every touch with amazing precision. His purring grew slightly louder in response to everything they were going. Nuzzling, cuddling, licking, touching, feeling, holding, and every little hair both soft and hard alike moved between them like thin brushes, petting them.

[TheWhistlerify]

Laini could still remember that, as a cub, she'd found it weird (and gross) how adults would simply lie there for hours and just go all googly eyes over each other. She'd never imagined she'd end up doing the same thing as well one day. Actually, like all young ones, she would always defy the statements of the adults saying that one day she'd fall in love and understand what it felt like. Yet there she was, in love and as happy as she's ever been in her entire life. Thinking back about her cubhood obviously reminded her of her pride and her family, but at the same time she took comfort in Rav's presence and managed to ignore all the negative thoughts going through her head.

[Ravvij]

Rav gently started to kneed Laini with his paws and claws. He was carful not to scratch her, but once every so often he'd feel himself poke her with a claw or two. She didn't seem to mind though.
Above, something caught Rav's eye. He looked up and the falling stars had come this night. His mother had always told him that they had both good and bad meaning. They were beautiful in his eyes and although he knew they had another meaning, he felt their good intent was being spent on him and Laini this night.

[TheWhistlerify]

Laini just continued to lie there with Rav, feeling completely safe and relaxed by his side. She felt like never moving ever again and, if it were up to her, she'd actually do just that. The young lioness closed her eyes at some point as the tiredness her body had built up throughout the course of the day caught up to her once more. As she slowly drifted into a peaceful sleep she couldn't help but wonder what awaited all of them in the future. She couldn't wait to find a permanent home and to finally settle back down... It was her goal - to belong to a pride again. If she would be able to do that, especially with Rav by her side, she would be the happiest lioness in the world.