Two Birds of a Feather...err, Fur [Mihai]

[Pauk]

He had forgotten that he had coloured in one of the eyes with the white paint. He knew it was originally going to be himself, but when Mihai appeared, why not pretend it was both of them? But Mihai noticed, and it annoyed Pauk. He strived to please anyone that took the time to talk to him, even if it happens to be another kelvic. Pauk noticed the weird mark on Mihai's chest, but he ignored it. The mark couldn't mean much, could it? No. He watched as Mihai made his way to his bed and sprawled out as if it were his own. This angered Pauk, but not as much as it would have if he were completely male. He walked over to the bed and sat next to Mihai, and poked his face. "My bed." It was said simply, meant to imply that this was his territory, his room, his house, his bed. Not Mihai's. He didn't want to fight for the 'territory', because he didn't want to hurt him. He didn't know how to fight other tigers, either. But he also didn't want someone walking into his house and claiming it for their own. That was unacceptable.

[Mihai]

Mihai snapped his blunted, omnivore teeth at the finger, but it was mostly playful. They were the both of them young tigers, and it was natural to test boundaries. Of course, Mihai had grown up with a Father who was Master, all the various Mothers, Kelvics all, and the gaggle of children, his brothers and sisters, and it was share and share alike. His eyes went wide, ears alert; they would have perked up were they mobile in this form. Mihai wondered if there would be a good-natured tussle over the bed, whether they would become friends and, if so, who would be the leader of their little pack. "You aren't using it," he protested with a child's logic. By human standards, certainly, they were children despite the apparent age of their bodies.

[Pauk]

He jerked his hand back, attempting to avoid his hand becoming a Mihai-snack, and pushed his face away. He never really had any friends. he hadn't even known there were other tiger kelvics around, as the only one he knew was a rat, whom he had almost wanted to have as a snack more than once. But he had never had any brothers or sisters or any other family, and he had lacked the babyhood experience of playing with siblings, or interaction with people his own age. He grew too fast to play with the Myrian children, so in reality he never played with anyone at all. His almost-two years had been devoid of any childish play or fun, which is almost essential to childhood. "I use it...now!" Pauk replied, while attempting to push the much larger Mihai off. When there was enough room for him to fit, he attempted to spread out and claim this territory as his. Really, Pauk was having fun. With someone his own age. A concept which was completely new to him, in every shape and form. Everything has to start somewhere, right? He hoped they could be friends. He wanted a friend.

[Mihai]

When Pauk pushed, Mihai, of course, pushed back, but this was more of a game than anything else. He was not yet an adult tiger, in which case his territoriality would be less for practice and more for keeps. He gave ground, pretending that it really mattered, until the both of them were on the bed, trying to take up as much space as humanly possible. He briefly considered a quick shift into his feline form as it could take up as much as was tigerishly possible, which was more. "Share!" he demanded, teeth gnashing happily, mock ferocious. Truth be told, he missed play too. Miharu was always busy with stupid Siiri, although stupid Siiri made appearances in his adolescent dreams sometimes. The little Myrians were not encouraged to play with him, and anyway, he was too big for them.

[Pauk]

Push push, snap snap -- fighting over territory. He enjoyed this feeling of 'fun' and enjoyed playing with someone, a lot. He gnashed his teeth right back at Mihai, with a stupid 'ferocious' look on his face. He knew quite well that Mihai could most likely push him off extremely easily, but Pauk didn't care. He growled with mock anger, just as a small dog would do to a wolf, as if it were larger. It was quite ridiculous, but he didn't care. "Never share!" he replied, partially rolling on top of Mihai. Not that he was crushing him, or anywhere near. Of course, this was all in an attempt to gain more 'territory' on the tiny bed. He, of course, automatically assumed any part of the bed under Mihai and Pauk at the same time was his own. Of course. In Pauk's little mind, he was crushing Mihai at the force of his weight. That was, of course, not what was actually happening.

[Mihai]

There was a flash of a grin on Mihai's face before he growled and yowled and began to wrestle in earnest. It was play, but animals often played more ferociously than humans, even when those animals were in human form. After some doing, he managed to come out on top, pinning Pauk's arms. The other Kelvic was stronger than he looked, but then, so was Mihai. It was just then, though, that the whiff of Pauk he caught in his nostrils was decidedly female, which made his eyes cloud over with confusion again, but still, no fear or anger. Mihai, at least, was puzzled by ambiguity. "It's okay to share sometimes," he said. "I'm sorry you don't have any brothers or sisters. I like to be alone a lot, but sometimes I do miss having them around. They were fun sometimes."

[Pauk]

Interaction with someone his own age was great. He wrestled and mewed and growled right along with Mihai, trying his best to be un-pinned by his arms. This was a lot of fun. He wanted Mihai to be his brother, then they could play games and have fun and do other tigery-things. Like hunting or swimming. "Maybe you can be my brother!" Pauk exclaimed, managing to roll out from underneath Mihai and onto the floor. Ouch. He landed on his arse, on the ground, but he had escaped Mihai. Standing up and dusting himself off, he realized how hungry he was. He hadn't eaten today! Stomach growling as a response, he sat back down on the bed. "Wanna go hunting? I'm hungry." His stomach again growled in agreement, reassuring Pauk that eating would be the right choice.

[Mihai]

Mihai had won. Pauk was on his (her?) arse on the floor. Bed claimed, he grinned and slipped out of it, standing over the fallen one and offering a generous hand up, but Pauk decided to sit on the bed, which made Mihai worry that he was going to lose his claim so he sat down too, close so he could keep an eye on the painter. "Not real--" but then his stomach began growling sympathetically. He paused quizzically, then laughed. "All right, I guess I am hungry again." He stood up, pulling Pauk with him so there would be no re-claiming of Mihai's bed. In Pauk's home. His invisible tail was all but lashing in anticipation. "Where are we going to go? Oh, I know. Come on. Take your clothes off... we've got to change."

[Pauk]

"My clothes?" He glanced down at himself. "Oh, yeah." He turned around, so that his back was facing Mihai, and began to take off his clothing. Pauk had never undressed or changed in front of anyone other than his mother, but it wasn't very awkward. He continued to speak while undressing. "I've never been hunting with anyone before. My momma wasn't a hunting animal. She ate plants 'n stuff. But plants are gross. Have you been hunting with someone before?" By this time, he was stark naked, so he turned around and sat on the bed. "Where do you usually go huntin'? I like to hunt by the Kandukta sometimes." His stomach growled again, possibly even louder this time. "We should go."

[Mihai]

Mihai didn't really care about his clothes, but he knew others did, and if Pauk had a master, he didn't want Pauk to get in trouble with his master -- her master? -- if clothes were ruined. Anyway, Mihai wasn't stupid. He understood clothes, he just had fur, which was better. But now that they had decided to hunt, his attention began to wander, so much so that he didn't notice Pauk's subterfuge, nor that he was missing his chance to verify sex. "Oh, all over." This was true, of course, but he also didn't want to give away hunting grounds he had claimed for himself. Too many competitors would ruin it. "Let's go there," he agreed, and then, in a flash of light, he was that oddly colored, adolescent tiger again.