Keir had settled behind some brush as he observed the pink birds before him. They were rather interesting creatures, several thing stick out to him like how their offspring were white but they themselves were a blush hue or how they seemed to enjoy standing on one leg. It was something he had seen smaller birds do, but the flamingos seemed to really prefer it more than the other species out there. Blue gaze would flicker from bird to bird, watching as they either bathed or dunk their beaks and heads into the water to hunt. It was rather amusing sometimes, especially with the weird honks they would release when another seemed to get too close or if they were flapping their wings at another. Front legs would be stretched out before him, one crossing the other, his tail flicking from side to side every now and again. It was nice to just relax away from the Cove and have his mind distracted by what all had been happening lately in Amaryllis. He felt like he needed the distraction, especially after the ego wounding fail of his haphazard pride challenge. @Vitala

by cloudynight

YOU LEFT ME LIVING WITH A LINGERING SOUL

Fresh snow parted to her strides with ease as she strolled across the fields. Her pace was casual, no true destination in mind. Her duties for the day were finished and the starry-cheeked girl had quite a lot on her mind. The events of Amaryllis seemed to be hitting a fever pitch and it was harder to get away from it all.

Distant squawks and squabbles perked her ears up, shifting her course to investigate. She hadn't been to the flamingo hotspot in some time and she was curious to see how it changed in the winter. Her shoulders rolled smoothly under her fur, pausing a ways from the pond as she watched the birds go about their business for a moment. Winter air gently coiled from her parted jaws before quickly dissipating. A shiver pulled her out of her observational trance. She snaked up to the edge to settle lower to the ground and lap at the freezing water. Her presence spooked a portion of the birds to move away from her. Though, eventually they settled and went back to their mulling about water.

@Keir

The sudden flapping and squawking from the flamingos would instantly pull Keir's direction to where it was coming from, eyes darting to try and see if he could spot what or who had caused for them to become spooked. Tail tip would twitch and his muscles would begin to tense slightly, the lion ready to leap and either defend or attack if he needed to. But in the close distance would he spot a familiar gray figure that seemed to be observing the flock of birds, too. A soft smile would begin to curl his lips, watching @Vitala for a brief moment before deciding to make himself known. Rising slowly onto all fours, the Cove lion would give his mane a quick shake before he started to move in her direction. A soft chuff of greeting would be released, causing for the flamingos to be spooked once more. His ears would pin back slightly at the noises they released, his shoulders rolling and his attention shifting between them and the lioness. "Fancy seeing you here," he would comment once he were close enough, letting a soft chuckle follow after his words. "Trying to catch one?"

by cloudynight

YOU LEFT ME LIVING WITH A LINGERING SOUL

She picked her head up from where she was drinking at the approach of a dark form in her peripheral. Initially, her movements where swift, almost startled and alert. However, when see recognized the face that came with the lion she softened and perked her ears up. "Hey, @Keir," she grinned, rising from her crouch at the waterline to sit up more. Her eyes flickered to the birds, raising a paw to point towards them. "Those?" She confirmed with her gesture, shaking her head at him. "Goodness, no. There's no way!" Vitala answered with a brief chuckle at the thought of trying to chase after one of these bright birds. "I'm sure you've caught one before, though, huh?"

"I have, as a matter of fact." Mind went back to when the Cove had done a hunt and their end result was a flamingo. It wasn't nearly enough to feed a lion never mind a whole pride, but it was enough for a cub or two as well as being rather fun and humorous to chase and take down on the pink feathery creatures. "They are a bit tricky to catch, though. And it helps to have several lions to help." If @Vitala was feeling her oats they could attempt to catch one by themselves, but Keir wasn't going to suggest it. No, he would see if she wanted to and if she did he would take the helm. A brief silence would wash over them as they both surveyed the flock, the male moving a little bit closer to the woman and positioning himself so that he stood shoulder to shoulder with her. His right one would brush against her left one subtly, almost a touch he didn't even realize he initiated. But once he realized would he shift so that there was just enough room between the two of them without touching, clearing out his throat and trying to act normal. "Have you been here before?"

by cloudynight

YOU LEFT ME LIVING WITH A LINGERING SOUL

She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but when he said he had actually caught one her eyes widened. "You're kidding!" Vitala imagined what a hunt with these birds could possibly look like. Having more than one or two lions would certainly be the better route to go. The thought of what @Keir would look like leaping after a flamingo caused a soft chuckle to rise from her.

In her daydreaming of flamingo chasing, she cast a side glance as the black lion adjusted his position to stand closer to her. Their shoulders brushing warmed her starry cheeks, flicking her ears back in a subtle flash of shyness. She wouldn't draw attention to it now, swaying her tail a couple times in a slow rhythm. But she wouldn't forget it either.

"I've been close and seen it from a distance," she answered him, look up at him and then back to the birds. "What do you think about the two of us?" Vitala asked after a moment of silence, but she corrected herself and added more clarification. "Catching one of those, I mean."

To say he was a little confused by what he were feeling would be a bit of an understatement. The only girl he really felt as though he were crushing on had been Sweetpea, but with her disappearing and reappearing only to vanish once more was more hurt than any other feeling he could really remember. But the way his nerves jumbled and his body felt whilst being near @Vitala was something quite new - and exciting. "No, no, it's true. I think it would've been a whole lot funnier if the lot of us didn't catch them." The image of a group of adult lions chasing down flamingos only to come out empty pawed would have been a sight to see. The lioness's query would first take him by surprise, head snapping in the direction of her with slightly widened eyes. His mind was trying to fumble around to find words but when she corrected herself it was like a small wave of relief came over him. Keir and feelings just didn't seem to be clicking today, especially all these new ones he had been getting as of late, and only when his mind thought of her. "We can try," he would respond after a moment, pondering on how well they would do - or rather, how well they would fail. "Although we may want to prepare ourselves for failure now." Words would be spoken in a joking manner, a grin being shot in her direction.

by cloudynight

YOU LEFT ME LIVING WITH A LINGERING SOUL

Vitala laughed and looked between Keir and the birds. Set up for failure? Already done. She perked herself right up alongside her dark companion, a pulse of excitement wiggling in her toes. "Okay, let's see.." she started, her tone a hair above a whisper as she pursed her lips in thought; going over the possible ways they could go about this. @Keir was the one with the experience, however, Vitala wanted to try and put her best foot forward.

Perhaps also born out of attempts to impress.

"Stay here," she instructed, "I can creep to the other side of the pond. You scare them and I could try and catch one as they flee." There was a questioning inflection laced in her voice, but she would feign confidence for this. Vitala left no room for argument to her plan, whether it was a poor one or not, and slinked away from the lion to give the pond a wide birth and stop behind a rock on the other side. She poised her body in a crouch at the ready to make her leap.

@Vitala would leave him no time in between her speaking and then prowling away from him for the lion to give any sort of comment or protest. It was a bit refreshing to watch another take the lead on a hunt, and how she had instructed him kind of made him feel... He wasn't really sure. But all he knew was that he wanted to watch her in action, so once she had positioned herself would Keir begin with his duties. Blue gaze would watch the flamingos for a brief moment before he charged out from behind the brush an toward them, splashing water and releasing a roar to further spook them in her direction. He could only hope they were heading her way, unable to see real well due to the sudden influx of pink wings flapping that was accompanied by the shocked and scared squalls they released. He could only imagine how this image looked, wishing for a moment he could see himself from another's eyes.

by cloudynight

YOU LEFT ME LIVING WITH A LINGERING SOUL

Peering out from behind the boulder, she watched @Keir intently. Amidst the pink plumage, spying him through the forest of spindly legs, his dark form was stark and deliberate as he moved to start their hunt. His roar echoed through the muffled quiet of the winter day, shattering the silence. Well.. as much silence as one could get next to a cluster of squabbling birds.

They all took off airborne in different directions and Vitala sprung into action. Erupting from behind her cover, the star-kissed girl took a few long-stretched bounds towards them. Her eyes darted among them to pick a target until she locked onto the fleeing fowl that seemed like her best bet. She navigated herself towards a rock on the shoreline, using that as a rebound to get herself more air. Pushing off her hind legs, she outstretched her forelimbs towards the flamingo and seemingly hugged it to her chest.

It beat against her chest and she came back down earthward with her prize, the pink thing almost slipping from her grasp before she recalibrated her grip and pinned it underneath her. Pushing her weight down on its frail neck, Vitala ended the suffering. "Holy crap," she whispered to herself, chuckling. Almost immediately her beaming gaze danced to her companion, "I did it?!" she called over to him, her tone almost questioning that she even managed that.