Don't Stop Me Now [Hikaru // Open]

[cael]

»Duma»

Duma was bored. Not just sorta-kinda-maybe-I'll-run-in-circles-till-I'm-tired bored, but really bored. The kind of bored where the cheetah boy thought he might actually lose what little was left of his sanity to the heat and the stillness of the grassland. He sprawled listlessly across the top of a large boulder conveniently shaded by a scrawny acacia tree, watching the leaf-cutter ants scurry through the dust below him. Duma counted them out loud as they darted past, mumbling the numbers under his breath.
"...six...seven...eigh--wait. Did I already count that one? ...Damn. Better start again."
Sad as it may seem, the teenage cheetah had been doing this for over an hour, never getting past ten ants before losing count. He blamed it on the rapid movement of their six scuttle-y little legs, but in the back of his mind he knew there was a more rational explanation for his distracted state, and it had nothing to do with ants. Duma just didn't want to have to acknowledge it yet. But as he lost count of how many ants had passed by for what felt like (and probably was) the thousandth time, he heaved a great sigh and rolled over onto his back to stare up through the branches of the acacia tree. The way the light filtered through the branches made it look like the sun itself had gotten snagged up in the twisted leafy canopy of the tree. Duma tried to smile at the thought, but found he didn't have the energy today.
He didn't have much energy to do anything since his coalition had kicked him out of their little group of bachelors.
At first Duma had pretended it hadn't bothered him in the slightest. So what if the other guys thought he was too spastic and energetic and weird? Girls dig a guy who knows how to have fun, right? Of course they did! He'd catch himself a girl in no time! ...But the longer he spent out on his own, wandering aimlessly through the grasslands because no coalition would accept him into their brotherhood, Duma began to realize that he was, in fact, too odd for his fellow cheetahs. His personality seemed to rub everyone the wrong way. Including his own brothers.
Duma was pretty sure that was the blow that stung the worst: that his brothers hadn't even voted to keep him around. In fact, they were at the forefront of the group urging the coalition leader to kick Duma out for good. They said they were tired of his antics, his practical jokes and his boundless energy and the dozens upon dozens of mishaps that happened every time the teen cheetah got distracted yet again. Duma had begged and pleaded, had promised he'd stop being such a pest and that he'd try to contain himself somehow, but the brotherhood of bachelors were done listening to his excuses. He'd been alone ever since.
The young cheetah sniffed and swiped at his eyes irritably with the back of his right paw. He refused to let himself cry. Not over those jerks who'd kicked him aside like a picked-over carcass. What did he care if they didn't want him around, anyway? He'd just make new friends! Yeah, that's it! He'd find an awesome new best buddy who he'd do everything with and then he'd never be lonely or bored agai---
Duma heaved another great sigh and folded his paws to his chest, frowning up into the branch-snagged sunlight.
"Aw who'm I kidding?" he mumbled miserably to himself, "There's no one on Earth that could stand to live with me..."

«--That's why they call me "Mister Fahrenheit" -- I'm trav'ling at the speed of light--«

[tyra]

The teen was a happy kind of guy. Nothing really affected him much and he, unlike his brother, didn't feel the pressures which were coming down on the pride. All he wanted to do was play and mess about and, as the others were being boring and the cubs were nowhere to be found that could only mean one thing- scaring the prey! Therefore, he had made his way down the mountain and, happily, was close to the bottom.
Red eyes scanned the grasslands as he tried to decide which herd to scare today. His tongue scraped over his mug as he picked out a herd of antelope, started stalking towards them and then, shocked, he stopped, a frown settling upon his features. It was rare for these creatures to come near the mountain, but he had seen them before. What were they called again.... Cheetah? So why was one that looked no older than himself on the grasslands.
Ah, who cared? This guy looked like he could be fun. At least from what he knew of cheetah the didn't like to sit around doing nothing all day and being boring! Therefore, Hikaru decided he was no longer going to scare the prey, he was gonna meet the new guy instead!
He walked up slowly to begin with but his pace got quicker and quicker as excitement came in and, when he stopped, his grin made him look half-crazed. "Hey there," he greeted. "I'm Hikaru, what's your name?" his speech was fast and words seemed to slur into each other. If Kaoru was around he'd tell him to slow down but he wasn't and Hikaru was just so, so excited!

[cael]

»Duma»

The last thing Duma had expected was company of any sort. He barely had time to think to himself 'Huh. I think I smell a lion...' before there was a pair of large glowing red eyes staring down at him. Duma yelped and tumbled off his boulder, landing in the dust at the feet of a young male lion roughly his own age. His natural instincts immediately started screaming 'Run, you idiot, run!'...But rather than growling at him, the teenage lion with the fluffy red scruff was grinning and running his mouth faster than a cheetah. Well. Any cheetah other than Duma. The point was: he seemed more friendly than anyone the lonesome cheetah had met in a very long time. His woes forgotten, Duma found himself rolling onto his feet and grinning back.
"I'm Duma," he chirped happily, "Good t'meetcha Hikaru!"
Even as he spoke, Duma had the vaguest inkling in the back of his mind that befriending a lion (no matter how great and not-boring said lion seems) was probably one of his eldest brother's "Things Which Duma Shall Not Do If He Wants To Live." But that thought was shoved quickly aside before his sadness and better judgement could catch up with it. Duma didn't have to play by his big brother's stupid rules anymore. And what did he know, anyway? Maybe having a lion for a best friend would be totally awesome!
"How come you don't wanna eat me or something? If my brother Enzi were here he'd probably tell me to run away from you but that seems pretty stupid because you're all right, right?"
Duma smiled widely through his rambling rhetorical question, tail twitching and whiskers practically vibrating off his face with glee. He had a feeling that this was going to be an awesome day after all.

«--That's why they call me "Mister Fahrenheit" -- I'm trav'ling at the speed of light--«

[tyra]

The brown lion flicked red-brown hair from his face and grinned playfully at the cheetah who really didn't seem like a bad guy. When he introduced himself he even spoke faster than him! This sent a spike of joy through him as finally there was someone who would not scold him for speaking as fast as he did. He couldn't, fater all, he spoke even faster.

"Good t'meet'cha too Duma!" he said happily, spying the plains again then looking at his newfound 'friend'. After all, Hikaru classed everyone as a friend once he knew their name. Why hate when their was enough love to go around, right? His tassel flicked in excited way as he blinked, eyes bright.

"I think ya brother's been hanging around near t'wrong type of lions, Duma. Not all of us are monsters, in fact here in t'mountain pride we accept everyone. We has leopards and meerkats among our ranks." he told him. "Plus, cheetah's aren't prey... that's t'job of antelopes tha' is."

Hikaru took a few bounds up the mountain, looking across the grasslands with a smile. "They is our prey." he told the cheetah. "All tha' so we need no prey on cheetah." He looked to Duma. "So, where ya come from, Duma?"

[cael]

»Duma»

Duma's bright smile faltered for a millisecond. But the loss of that cheerful glow from his face was much more noticeable than he would have liked. "Oh, I'm from...y'know...around," Duma replied vaguely, waving one of his paws in the air in a dismissive 'does it really matter?' sort of way. The last thing he wanted to talk about right now was his banishment. Duma knew enough about tact to realize that opening up that can of worms with someone he'd just met was definitely one of Enzi's "Things Duma Shall Not Do If He Wants To Live." Duma's grin blossomed again as he thought of a way to redirect the conversation. "But seriously man, where are you from? Does everyone around here talk weird like you do?" Duma's eyes glittered with playful mischief as he laughed. He tried to sprint up the hillside after Hikaru but found himself moving slower than he'd like because of the incline. The cheetah frowned for a moment; he wasn't used to being slow. Maybe this whole living on a mountain thing would take some getting used to. "Hey Hikaru," Duma called ahead to the brown lion, "you said you have leopards and meerkats living with you, yeah?" He hesitated a moment, then tried leaping up the mountainside like Hikaru did, grinning as he discovered that he could jump a much more decent distance than he could sprint. After a few joyous bounds, he reached the lion's side, breathless and grinning. "What about cheetahs?" He blurted, then looked away awkwardly, realizing that maybe he'd been a bit too forward, "Err, I mean...D'you think your pride would..." He nudged a loose rock with his forepaw, rolling it to the left then batting it over to Hikaru on his right with a shaky smile. "N-nevermind," he mumbled. Another idea occurred to him and he brightened up almost immediately. "Hey, what kind of games do you play around here? We should totally play one!"

«--That's why they call me "Mister Fahrenheit" -- I'm trav'ling at the speed of light--«