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Post by espeon101 on Dec 8, 2008 5:55:04 GMT -5
Laini listened as if Jiang were reading poetry. She amazed even herself at how eager she was to hear his voice, and would have been disappointed when he finished speaking if not for the words he said last. "Oh, it was no trouble at all." she answered shyly, tracing circles on the rock with a paw.
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Post by Jiang on Dec 8, 2008 18:17:19 GMT -5
"Still, I'm very happy you're here." The tiger said, not once taking his eyes of Laini. Jiang struggled to find a topic of conversation for a few moments, before selecting one that would, at the least, give him a chance to hear her speak again. "It sounds very quiet around Pride Rock tonight. Is it always like this, or are we just high up enough to not hear anything?"
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Post by espeon101 on Dec 9, 2008 5:31:49 GMT -5
Laini smiled. The lionesses hadn't brought anything back from the hunt that afternoon, so they had gone to try again. She simply said, "Not always." and looked hesitantly at Jiang. She would have liked to gaze at him longer, but she didn't want it to seem like she was staring, so she looked down again.
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Post by Jiang on Dec 9, 2008 11:30:14 GMT -5
Jiang nodded, then glanced out at the savannah for a moment, enjoying the setting sun. When he returned his gaze to Laini, she looked down, away from him. "Hey, is something wrong, Lai?" He asked, reaching out with his forepaw and gently tilting her chin up, so that she was looking at him once again. He had assumed that her looking away from him was a sign of something being wrong, when he was simply her trying not to stare at him.
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Post by espeon101 on Dec 9, 2008 18:35:27 GMT -5
Laini blushed. Again. 'Stop it!' she snapped at herself, and the pink in her cheeks did go away. But then she started to purr. Softly and barely audible, her eyes went straight to Jiang's as if magnetic. She suddenly wanted to be closer to him and to feel his fur brushing against her own. But the only thing holding her back was how shy she was. That was her biggest problem.
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Post by Kiara on Dec 9, 2008 21:14:33 GMT -5
Epesi sighed with wonder.
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Post by Jiang on Dec 9, 2008 23:54:30 GMT -5
Jiang's keen ears quickly detected the soft purr coming from Lai. When he locked gazes with the beautiful lioness, he was almost instantly overcome with the urge to drape his foreleg around her, and hold her close, to feel the warmth of her furry body snuggled up against his own. Unlike Laini, though, Jiang was not very shy, and he soon stretched out his foreleg and did exactly what he had desired to do. He scooted over closer to Lai as he wrapped his foreleg around the middle of her back, placing his paw under her shoulder, on her far flank, and gently hugging her up against him. "Hope this is okay." He said quietly, a soft smile on his lips as he gazed into Laini's eyes, losing himself within them.
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Post by espeon101 on Dec 10, 2008 4:14:59 GMT -5
Laini involuntarily started to purr louder. "It's more than okay." she said quietly, closing her eyes and gently leaning on Jiang, simply to be closer to him.
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Post by Jiang on Dec 10, 2008 11:21:51 GMT -5
The tiger's purring grew louder as he got his wish. The sensation of Lai's warm form leaning upon his own was indescribably wonderful for the tiger, who had not been shown very much affection over the past few months. "Comfy?" He asked softly, lightly rubbing her flank with his forepaw as he spoke.
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Post by espeon101 on Dec 10, 2008 18:23:28 GMT -5
"Mmm-hmmmm..." Laini responded. She opened her eyes to look at the fading sunset. After a few moments of silence, she hesitantly asked, "Why were you so sad when I found you? You don't have to answer."
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Post by Jiang on Dec 11, 2008 0:19:57 GMT -5
Jiang, who had been watching the sunset as well, turned his gaze down to Lai once again when she asked him her question. "No no, it's fine, you have every right to know, I suppose. I met a lioness who reminded me quite a bit of my deceased mate. To be honest, she reminded me so much of my fallen mate, Mei Xing, that I actually allowed some of the feelings that I had for Mei resurface. That's in the past now, and I sincerely hope it stays in the past." He said, wanting to both tell her everything, but also feeling embaressed because of the foolishness involved in allowing his love for Mei to resurface again as a major crush on Anara. But it was in the past, and if it was in the past, then it couldn't hurt him... Right?
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Post by espeon101 on Dec 11, 2008 4:51:53 GMT -5
"As long as you're alright now..." Laini purred, daring to look into his eyes. She wanted so much to have a closer and more personal relationship with Jiang. But she doubted very much it would ever happen.
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Post by Jiang on Dec 11, 2008 23:52:13 GMT -5
Jiang's eyes locked with Laini's when she looked at him. "You have the most beautiful eyes..." He said softly, his thoughts turning into words and escaping his muzzle. The tiger found his muzzle slowly drawing closer to Lai's, as if compelled by some invisible force to bring his lips ever-closer to hers. The slow movement of his muzzle would give her plenty of time to pull away from the kiss or nuzzle he was seemingly intent on giving her, if she did not desire to receive such a sign of affection.
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Post by espeon101 on Dec 12, 2008 3:15:41 GMT -5
Laini couldn't believe her luck. Her heart started to beat faster and she closed her eyes again as their lips met. She was prepared to hold the moment for as long as possible when a voice made her break away. -*-*-*-*-*- Anara had been thinking. Thinking that maybe she was a little too blunt with Jiang. She had followed his scent around Pride Rock, just to apologize. But what did she see? That tiger kissing Laini. "Well what do we have here?" she said brusquely. She noticed the other lioness shy away, as if she had been caught doing something she shouldn't have. And rightly so.
Jiang had given the impression of not being able to bounce back quickly. Apparently that wasn't true.
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Post by Jiang on Dec 12, 2008 19:54:05 GMT -5
Jiang had only just closed his eyes and pressed his lips to Laini's, when a very familiar voice rang out. Anara. The tiger slowly opened his eyes and let out a soft sight when Lai pulled away, a small, seemingly apologetic smile on his muzzle as he looked at Lai for a moment.
The tiger turned his head to face Anara, curious as to why she was even there. It was possible that she wanted to apologize for something, but in Jiang's mind, she had nothing to apologize for. Well, except interrupting his and Lai's kiss. "I was kissing Laini." He replied honestly. The tiger then fell silent, waiting for Anara to speak in response.
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Post by espeon101 on Dec 12, 2008 20:42:25 GMT -5
"Well I was going to apologize for my attitude towards you earlier, but clearly you've gotten over it!" Anara snapped. She had missed the evening hunt for THIS? At least Laini looked ashamed. To her, Jiang was trying to maintain his image in front of the lioness.
Laini was looking at the ground, afraid of where this conversation was going. She wanted to feel comfort in snuggling into Jiang's fur. But she didn't dare in front of the obviously angry Anara.
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Post by Jiang on Dec 15, 2008 10:24:52 GMT -5
"I do not understand, what are you angry about? There was never anything between you and I." The tiger asked, utterly baffled by Anara. Gods, I miss the tigresses from home... I could actually understand them. Most of the time, anyways. These lionesses, with Lai as the exception, are so bloody difficult to figure out! He thought, frowning slightly.
"Look, I am sorry if I put a pothole in you and Torano's little highway of love, or if I did something to offend you, but do not expect me to sit around alone any longer than I absolutely have to. I haven't had someone to care about for the last eight [tiger] years of my life, and when I see a chance to end that lonely streak, I'm going to jump at it." Jiang said softly.
He was sincerely sorry if he had done something to hurt Anara and Torano's relationship, but he never stood a chance at getting Anara, and just a few hours ago, both her and Torano had hated his guts. [Or so it seemed to him]
Oh, the poor tiger was so confused!
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Post by espeon101 on Dec 15, 2008 19:42:53 GMT -5
Anara froze for a second, shocked that Jiang has this side to him. When she spoke, she had returned to being angry and frustrated. "Fine." she growled, then turned and stalked off.
Laini looked up when she was gone. She knew a few things about Anara, even though Anara did not know her. She had gotten used to watching and learning. Anyways, one thing was that Anara simply NEEDED to know everything going on or she would fly into this process of asking everyone on Pride Rock what was happening. Not knowing Jiang or herself were together must have raised questions in her mind that she had no answers to. Which was probably why she pretty much shot flames out of her eyes at the tiger.
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Post by Jiang on Dec 16, 2008 18:24:48 GMT -5
Jiang sighed and shook his head as Anara walked off. "That went... Well." The tiger muttered, gazing down at his paws for a few moments.
The striped cat shook his head again, as if dispelling any thoughts that may have resulted from Anara's untimely interruption, then turned his gaze upwards to Laini. His expression slowly melted into a small but warm smile as he simply looked into the lioness's eyes, the simple act of gazing into her orbs boosting his spirits considerably.
He opened his muzzle to speak, then shut it. Instead of talking, he simply smiled at her, and waited to see if she had anything to say.
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Post by espeon101 on Dec 16, 2008 19:44:28 GMT -5
Laini didn't feel comfortable anymore. Anara had made her feel small again, ready to slip back into hiding. So after a few seconds of looking at her paws, she looked up and quietly said, "I have to go... Bye.". She got up and turned to go to her den, slightly dragging her paws.
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