Burying the Past [PRIVATE: AC & The Whistlerify]

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina soon found herself purring at the contact between her and Juhudi, "I can't wait either." she said, actually out of an instinct. "That way I don't have to sleep next to Dakari. Or my dad." She wasn't really close to either her mom or dad, they were always too busy to even pay attention to her. "I bet you'll be better looking than both of them too." she didn't notice that she had actually said that, and after another moment she fell silent again. She was a little tired, but it wasn't enough to make her fall asleep, she just hoped that the storm wouldn't last too long.

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The type of answer Marini expected was about what was going to happen next, but she found herself blushing again when Tanga again said that he liked her, and that he really meant it. It was then when she finally said it herself, "Well... I really like you... too..." She was soon distracted when they arrived at the small den, and she could see a small light coming from where the water was streaming, allowing her to see better than in the tunnel. The first thing she did was walk over to the small river and check it out, "This is beautiful!" she said, forgetting what she said a moment earlier.

[AustralianChaos]

Juhudi smiled as Lina spoke on, and actually chuckled at the comment about him being good-looking with a mane, thinking she was just being her usual, teasing self. "What? with this fur?" he replied, pointing to his pale pelt, that in his current, cubbish state, often caused other members of the pride to mistake him for a lioness at a distance. "Not a chance," he added, frowning at his pale fur...it was the one niggling issue he had with his image. Juhudi was far from vain, but the fact that he looked like a lioness for the most part was a huge source of irritation, especially since he was teased fairly often for it. It was why he hung out with Lina and Dakari, really...they didn't care about it.

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Tanga's jaw dropped, and he actually stopped, Marini wandering ahead of him as he stared after her, scarcely believing what he had heard. he was so focused on the whirlwind of emotions running through him that he never saw the little piece of paradise Marini had stumbled across, just out of his view. Nor did he hear her exclamation as she took the sight in, this thoughts simply too focused inwardly. She liked him, too? But what did that mean for them? Shy uncertainty gripped Tanga once more as he continued to stand where he had stopped, still lost in his thoughts and not noticing that he had stopped just short of an amazing hideout.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina then raised her head to look at Juhudi, "Sure." She had never teased him over the fact that he had creamy fur, in fact she really liked that color. She wondered what will Juhudi look like once his mane really was fully grown but soon snapped out of that thought as Juhudi spoke up again, this time saying that he wasn't really believing her. "Well, I like it." she said, even if those words would probably have no effect in changing his mind. "Besides it doesn't matter what others think about how you look."

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Marini continued to stare at the small river for a few more moments, before turning her attention to the rest of the small den she and Tanga had just found. She walked around the den several times, examining every crack in the wall she saw, before finally noticing that Tanga wasn't there with her. When she approached the tunnel again, she giggled slightly as she saw the stunned look on his face, and soon realised that he was more than shocked because of what she had just said. The sight was too cute for her to amputate, so she just sat there infront of him and waited for him to snap out of it himself.

[AustralianChaos]

Juhudi smiled at Lina's insistence that she didn't mind how he looked, and that it shouldn't matter what others thought about his appearance. "Thanks," he muttered softly, turning to her so she could see could see the appreciative smile, before resting his head against his paws once more, unconsciously shuffling a small bit closer to Lina, completely missing Kijamii glancing in their direction, a soft smile on her muzzle as she watched the two cubs.

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Tanga's shock, and whirlwind of thoughts, lasted until he registered Marini's presence nearby, having not even noticed that she had left his side. With what felt like a huge effort, he ripped his awareness back to the tunnel around, noticing Marini sitting in front of him, looking at him with a small smile on her muzzle. Pushing the thoughts of how cute she looked that way to the back of his mind, he managed to return her gaze, blushing slightly.

"Sorry," he mutterred, "I just...got distracted for a bit," he said lamely, not sure what else to say. At this point, he noticed the end of the tunnel behind Marini, but couldn't really get a clear look into the utopian opening beyond. "So...did you see what's over there?" he said, in a desperate attempt to shift the conversation away from potentially embarassing territory, like why he had gotten so distracted that he had missed what Marini had seen.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina also smiled, but then a yawn escaped her muzzle, "Sure... no problem..." she said, before placing her head down as well. She was usually the teasing type of cub, but she always knew when to stop before it got too far. For example, she would tease Juhudi whenever he lost to her in a wrestle, but she never mentioned his lioness-like appearance because she knew how sensitive he was about that subject.

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Marini waited for what seemed like a really long time before Tanga even noticed she was right in-front of him. She found herself laughing slightly when the shy male said that he got distracted and figured out the reason by herself. It was his shyness with came along with the shaky tone and worried expression that made him so cute in her eyes. However his desperate attempt at changing the subject did it's trick, and Marini turned around, "Yeah, it's amazing!" she said as she walked back inside, waiting for him to see for himself

[AustralianChaos]

Juhudi smiled once more as Lina replied and settled down by his side, obviously on the verge of falling asleep. Yawning widely himself, he soon settled down, and within a few minutes found himself driftng off to sleep...not realising how the way he was literally snuggled up to Lina could be interpreted once Dakari woke up. Kijamii, still watching them, thought it was simply adorable, and so said nothing as she, too, settled back more comfortably, letting herself begin to drift off next to Dakari's warmth as well.

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Tanga caught the small, stifled laugh Marini couldn't hide, and was terrified she was going to catch on to the reason he had been distracted...though why he was terrified, he had no clue. But his rapid subject change was successful, and Marini exclaimed that this little place was amazing, prompting Tanga to finally move, coming up beside her to see what was so amazing about a cave.

When he finally laid eyes on the sight, he froze again, his jaw dropping in sheer wonder as he took in the sight. He was amazed that, despite the place being covered in nothing but rock, the small river, and the moss growing on the rocks near said stream, gave a flash of colour to the place, and left shimmerring reflections everywhere. To Tanga, amazing didn't even begin to cover it. "I...wow!" was all he managed to get out of his muzzle as he stood there beside Marini.

[TheWhistlerify]

Marini sat down and didn't say anything so that Tanga could take his time and study the details of the cave. "I know. And to think I've lived her for like half a year and never noticed." she said, eying the cave but not moving so that Tanga could have his space. She was really happy about finding this place with Tanga, it sure felt nicer than what it would have probably felt if she found the place on her own. She sighed, out of the nervousness caused by what she was about to do, before getting up, slowly walking over to his side and sitting right next to him to him, "I'm glad that we found it together." she said, looking at him and putting on the most genuine smile she could.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga smiled slightly at her comment about living here all this time and not noticing it, although the smile never reached his eyes. "At least you have a constant home," he said wistfully, remembering all his time spent growing up with his parents and his sister, wishing they could have lived in a pride of their own, rather than being forced to roam from place to place as rogues. It hadn't been the easiest life...some days they have gone without food when they had to traverse particularly sparse terrain. But now he had a pride, and lost his parents...he knew it was a price he would rather have not paid, even if there was nothing he could do about it now.

But when Marini added the comment about finding it together, Tanga gave her another stunned. This only confirmed to him that her earlier comment was not a fluke, she genuinely liked him...how much she liked him, Tanga wasn't sure, and he definitely was not going to pry and ask her about it. When she smiled at him, he snapped out of his thoughts, and managed a full, genuine smile back. "Yeah, I'm glad we did, too...this place is amazing, but it's really not that special unless you have someone to share it with...otherwise it's just another cave..."

[TheWhistlerify]

At some part of Tanga's talking, Marini literally lost track of what he was saying. At some point she heard it was silent and spoke up, "You talk too much." she said, putting on another smile. However it didn't seem like Tanga was ever going to catch on to what she implied. She turned her back on him and looked at the hole from which the river was flowing through and listened to the distant sounds the storm was still causing. Since Tanga wasn't getting it, she had to somehow get him to figure it out. "I think act of god is a pretty lame excuse for a lousy date." she made sure that Tanga heard the word 'date', before looking around at him nervously as if the word slipped out of her mouth by accident.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga continued observing the little cave quietly, only for his head to whip back to face Marini at her apparant slip-up, his half-grown mane falling in front of his eyes as he did so. Pushing it away, he stared at Marini, barely able to grasp what she was saying. "Date?" he repeated, before his brain finally caught up with his ears, and he realised what Marini was trying to subtly imply to him. "Oh...I-I...uhh..." he stammered, now completely lost with what to do.

Marini seemed to be suggesting that this was meant to be a date, but Tanga had no clue what to do if that was the case. And besides, from her comment, he seemed to have completely screwed it up, anyway. "You...you thought this was a...?" his mouth refused to obey his demands, and he found himself unable to finish the question, his head hanging in silent guilt at so royally screwing things up, his nervousness at persuing this discussion with Marini showing in the way one forepaw instinctively rubbed his other foreleg. He just hoped Marini wasn't too angry at him for his cluelessness. "I'm sorry, Marini...I didn't...I just..." he once more tried to apologise, but again, his nervousness rendered him unable to properly control his muzzle, and he could feel his cheeks flushing in shamed embarrassment as his apology died half-finished. Why can't I get a proper sentence out?! he silently fumed to himself.