She had to admit, Crater sure was beautiful. So this was how her newly budding acquaintance lived? “And you said you live with a pride?” Natyerii asked curiously.
May, who had not yet developed into her monstrous genes, nodded as she balanced of paws she hadn’t grown in to while she showed her around. “Yeah. It’s called Pyrrhic Passion. Nice bunch of people. Eccentric, but nice,” May said fondly. Having already toured the small pond rimmed in cherryblossom trees, and the stone-like shelters near it, she led the much smaller demoness through the main thicket in the heart of the territory.
May knew that, not only were the pride members not the “YOU ON MAH TERRITORY, YOU DIE!” type, but with herself as an escort, there was little conflict to be had. She could take confidence in their leader, Champagne, to welcome newcomers with open arms. Well, with her recommendation, that is.
Not too far a distance away, under a natural stone awning in the base of a shallow crater, said leader was absolutely livid. She’d recently found the love of her life, and he’d reciprocated her infatuation, and they had announced their intent to be mate-bound before the pride with many congratulations. So why was she so upset?
In a word: Kozuka.
“I’m just saying,” The brutish lion continued haughtily, “He’s such a pussyfooter! I’ve had bowel movements with more leadership skills than that guy!”
Champ’s eye twitched with fury, rubbing her pulsating temple with the blunt end of her claw. “Kozuka… I swear, if you don’t shut up…” she growled under her breath.
Oh, but then that wouldn’t be Kozuka. “This pride needs a leader with a backbone! And you picked the invertebrate. What do you see in the guy?”
“Kozuka,” Champagne interrupted.
He didn’t seem to notice. “I mean, sure, if you’ve got a hankering for the effeminate shy-guy. But as a leader?” His paw gestured about animatedly to make his point. Somehow, his tone of voice still came across as passive-aggressive.
“Kozuka!”
“Don’t get me wrong, he’s pretty nice for a twat…”
“UGH, You are such an ass, do you know that?” Champ let out a guttural sound of frustration deep in her throat. She shot to her paws, her white fur half-lit in her rage.
“Hey, whoa, there’s no need for name calling…” Kozuka managed to stare back dryly, even as her fiery eyes flared under the shadow of her mane. Her irate scoff brought him back on his line of thinking. “What I mean, is, Champ, you can do better.” His dark violet eyes flashed with a glimmer of mischief under the hood of his lids. “A lot better.”
Champ leveled him with an incredulous glower. Her tail had its own furious swordplay behind her, flicking like the flames she wished would shoot from the earth and boil his eyeballs from the inside. “Kozuka,” she barked. Bring on the rage. “I'd sooner pleasure myself with an elephant tusk than even consider you a suitor!”
Kozuka’s mane was blown back by the force of her holler, and his ears were wafer-thin against his neck as he watched Champ storm off. Her movements were tight, mechanical, and her lips were drawn in a grim line.
Akari, a close friend of Kozuka’s, could only stop and watch as her leader rolled right by like a hurricane across the coast. Best not to intervene, the decidedly intelligent lioness thought. She glanced towards the awning that Champ had left, and found a grumpy-looking Kozuka beneath it.
“Hey. So… what was that about?” she asked conversationally. She always knew how to approach him, how to not set off his oh-so-sensitive belligerent button.
Oh, hell. Of course, Akari decides to show up now of all times. He had only a few options. He could ignore her until she went away, which likely wouldn’t happen because she’d just extract it —whether orally or rectally—from him. So that was out. Leaving only the option of the truth or… maybe an idealized view of it.
Meh, fuck it. He’s still stewing, and feeling temerarious as usual. “I have no idea,” Kozuka lamented, looking all the victim. “I wouldn’t mess with her today. She must be in heat, or something.” He visibly shuddered.
Somehow, Akari wasn’t completely buying it. Champagne had been nothing but nice to her, if not maybe a little intense at moments. “Uh-huh… so what happened?” she prompted.
“I don’t know,” he repeated, “I was just laying here, minding my own business, and then here comes Champ telling me about some crazy kinky shit that she’s into. Needless to say, I was perturbed.”
Akari’s eye twitched. “Crazy… kinky shit…?” she echoed.
“Yeah, like, masochistic. You want to know what she told me?” He didn’t notice as her baby-blue gaze shifted from him to directly through him. “She told me about how she pleasures herself with an elephant tusk.”
Akari’s lack of response made a silence hang heavy in the air. Suddenly, and seemingly without provocation, she burst into laughter. “What?” he asked. She only shook her head, bracing her ribs against the force of her mirth. It proved too much, and her airy giggling won the knock-down as she collapsed to the ground, rolling from side to side. Oh, Kovu! It was just too funny! It hurts! It hurts!
Kozuka quirked a brow down at her. Sure, it was funny, chuckle-worthy even. And then he felt it. A twinge, a sense, a pinch, a twitch, call it what you will; He felt it. Champagne stood behind him, her eyes boring an inferno into the back of his head. Her glare was so strong, it could shift the Earth’s axis a few degrees. Metaphorical flames shot out of her spikey fur, ominous clouds gathering over her head and shooting lightning bolts down about her.
He swallowed. “She’s right behind me, isn’t she?” he asked. Akari nodded, her laughter reaching a crescendo.
Kozuka’s eyes turned, followed timidly by his head, to catch only a meager glimpse of her ire. In the same moment that his gut was turned to magma mush, he felt her paw immediately on top of his head, ramming his face down into the dirt. His muzzle smooshed like a pug, Kozuka let out a low moan of pain. He probably couldn’t get up if he tried, which was a testament to just how utterly pissed off Champ was given his size. She’s strong when she’s angry!
“Hello, Akari,” she said pleasantly, sweetly, even. “My, you look lovely today. More so than usual. How are you?” Champagne was nothing short of saccharine, her fangs glimmering in the bits of sunlight let through the shade structure.
“I’m good, thanks…” Akari had just sat back up, having finally gotten her laughter under control. In light of Champagne’s sweetness, even with her taut muscles forcing the lion’s face deeper and deeper into the dirt, Akari didn’t know whether to be afraid or, well, afraid. “How’re you…?” She ventured, with no small amount of trepidation.
“Oh, me? I’m doing just fine,” Champ answered conversationally. Her eyes turned down towards her subdued quarry, and Akari watched as they flared to life with her wrath. “Except for the vexing presence of a certain asshat.”
He could only let out a muffled “mmmph.” It only served to get dirt in his nostrils.
Akari gave in to her mild amusement of Kozuka’s very submissive—and painful looking—position, and let the grin twitching at her lips crack. She opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the sound of laughter. Kozuka’s exposed eye slid up to the top of the hill, finding what it was Champ and Akari’s attentions had snapped to: May, up at the crest, with a non-hostile looking feline at her side, chuckling to themselves.
“I’m so in!” She heard Natyerii say enthusiastically, marred by giggles.
Ah, good, Champ thought smugly, more people to see his embarrassment. Her look of superiority didn't last long, as she heard May reply.
“Welcome to Pyrrhic Passion,” she sniggered. “Where the leader tusks herself regularly.”
Champagne’s face flushed so hard, that her red cheek stripes faded away.