Jungle, Jungle?

[Amaryllis]

Okaembjei was an interesting sort, to say the least. He was no more and no less than eighty-six years old, but he had seen enough in his lifetime to make him feel much older. Twenty years in Iceland and fifty in the Congo had far separated him from his native culture, both the culture of the English and the culture of the Euclides. Therefore, it was hard for him to guess the habits of the humans here, and harder still for him to properly hunt one.

Therefore, the handsome and eccentric male had taken to lurking near the massive Theatre. If he couldn't hunt, he might as well do something else, preferably something more enjoyable than sleeping in a dismal abandoned butcher shop that reeked of years-old meat. (Come to think of it, Mbjei might have smelled like years-old meat, as well, but he had groomed himself well before going out, so he doubted it.)

Though the city streets Mbjei had skirted on the way had been bustling with rushed, frantic humans, the wise male missed the more natural clamour and business of his homes in the past. It had been upwards of 20 years since he had returned to the shores of England, and yet he could remember the smell of the African air as though it had been only yesterday. The thought filled him with memories of the times he had hunted with the lions and watched the humans with their rituals and ceremonies that far surpassed any marriage or funeral that the simple-minded Englishman could invent. Mbjei knew their language almost better than he knew english, and he was unable to rid himself of the slight nordic accent he retained from his youth when he conversed in the latter.

Mbjei supposed that he would never fit in among his kind, considering the fact that, for the vast majority of his life, he had had absolutely no contact with any of them. However, he would do his best to 'socialize himself', as those with whom he regularly spoke with often suggested. That was much of what had brought him here - he was hoping that there would be those that would tolerate a misfit and foreigner. After gazing about, he sat down and curled up at the base of one of the many statues, his pale features scanning the world around him.

[Rei]

][ Shmex. <3 ][

Ibkaea, out for a stroll in the morning air, was at that moment passing in front of the massive theatre that Mbjei was lounging against. She stared longingly towards the large, imposing facade, wishing that she had something like that to call her home. In fact, she searched every day for a place that was larger and less run down than her current abode, but had had no luck so far. And when she tried to stay in a church, the Amuni kicked her out. They had no place for human-haters, they would say, and she would return to her theatre with a heavy heart.

Even when she tried to explain her situation to them, they would turn her away. Kae thought that Amuni were supposed to be generous and kind, the so-called protectors of the human race. She would even swear off human-killing, if she had to. For in reality, although she claimed that she was looking for a better theatre, in her heart she knew that it was a church that she desired. No, that was only scraping the surface -- her true, most aching desire was to be allowed into Heaven when she died. And that was not possible, as she had no soul.

However, the Amuni did. They served in churches, the middle ground between Heaven and Earth. If only they would accept her, she would have hope...

Kai rustled her miniature wings in aggravation. There was no way that would ever happen, though she would try every chance she could get. For now, all she could do was wait.

As she admired the facade of the large theatre, she noticed a pale yellow form reclining against an elaborate pillar. With a what-the-heck shrug, she started towards the strange Euclides. Eventually she was close enough to see that it was a male, and a feline like her. She rustled her wings once more and ran a paw over them to smooth them out, then stepped forward into the lion's line of sight.

"Hello." She said, her head tilted to the side. She was bored; a good conversation sounded nice right about now.

[Amaryllis]

(( ;; *snuggles kai* ... Jesus loves you? XD; *OFFER* ))

Mbjei glanced up in vague surprise at the new arrival. At first he wasn't quite sure what to say - with everyone else he knew, he could just walk up to them and start babbling. But he knew inside that this was not the proper way to interact with another of his kind; that was only behavior used when with friends or people that one already knew. Not with strangers.

The male paused before he spoke to inspect this lady more closely. She was quite lovely, with stunning whiteness and bandy red markings in the most flattering of places. Though Mbjei's mane was quite enough for him, he couldn't help but admire and envy this femme's dazzling, diamond wings. He could hardly believe that she would be capable of ochu - she seemed like she would fit in more with the pure Amuni he had heard so much of.

Deciding that it was impolite to stare, Mbjei rose and touched the earth with his large white forepaw in greeting. "My lady," he said, polite regardless of her rank. Perhaps this was not a custom here in England, but it had been the respectful thing to do in his old home, and it didn't feel offensive. He hoped that this lady would see it the same way. "How do you fare on this fine day?" Mbjei smiled with his teeth.

(( Ochu = murder. Yes, I like mixing in African words. ): ))

[Rei]

][ I just noticed something -- Mbjei is a lion, and Kae is probably a lioness. o.O; wierd... btw, can I have a link to his page? *curious* you can get to Kae's from here: www.geocities.com/tangent_reality/index.htm ][

Kae smiled slightly, noting his cultured speech. "I'm doing just fine, if slightly bored." She picked a clean spot on the theatre steps and sat down, daintily tucking her haunches in underneath her and wrapping her white, fluffy tail in tight around her body. She noticed him admiring her wings, so fanned them out slightly in what she hoped was a seducing (or, at least, attractive) manner before adding, "And I would hardly consider myself a lady. My name is Ibkaea, but some people call me Kae. Whichever you prefer."

As she spoke, she took time to take in the male's appearance. He was certainly an impressive specimen. A majestic white mane was his most eye-catching feature, but the pale canary-yellow body and thick, black bands were an attractive second. Around his front paw he had some sort of white wrap or bangle, and covering the lower parts of his hind legs were two white braces. He was sitting partially in shadow, so she couldn't make out whether or not his forepaws were gloved or naturally white. All in all, however, he was quite handsome.

She wondered idly if he belonged to a caste. She didn't, but she was looking to possibly join one. He seemed foreign, however, so he would probably be uncasted, as well. Maybe he didn't even have a theatre...she didn't want to invite him back to hers, though. He was such a powerful-looking Euclides, there was no doubt that he either owned or had gotten invited to theatres ten times richer than her own run-down dust heap. Maybe she wasn't good enough for him. She had no illusions as to her status; although she was a Puppeteer, there were many (many, many) Euclide who lived in better conditions that she. Ah, well. If he was interested in a friendship, but was turned away by her poor domicile, then he wasn't the kind of friend that she wanted, anyway.

[Amaryllis]

(( Mbjei: *prolongedcultureshock*
Huh, they are. *eyes them* Her name sounds sort of african, too. >_> Sort of.
crits.dracogrex.net/euclide/okaembjei.html ))

"I understand you," Mbjei nodded. "Perhaps that is why you are here, to find something to do?" That was certainly why Mbjei was here - his butcher shop was comfortable and quite enough for him, but it was nothing like sitting in the presence of this majestic theatre. He had thought that Falichesco was the greatest building he had ever seen until he climbed these marble steps. He might have moved in, had he known whether or not that was frowned upon. As it was, he visited every once in a while, content to sit and watch the faces of both humans and euclides.

At this next bit, Mbjei smiled and shook his head. "Any with a beauty like yours, Ibkaea, is certainly a lady," he said, not necessarily flirting as much as being polite by the standards of his beloved culture. "I am called Okaembjei by strangers, and Mbjei by friends. You may call me Mbjei, if you wish." He tilted his head slightly, then raised it again, out of respect for a gender that was, in his mind, to be revered and always put first.

Ibkaea thought that she lived in interesting conditions? When Okaembjei had first traveled to Iceland, having stowed away in the sneakiest of manners, he had lived in a crevice between two largeish rocks. That had only lasted a few weeks - until the rocks caved in - and so Mbjei began wandering from place to place, never really living anywhere in particular and only hunting what he needed to make it through the day. It had worked out, but had eventually gotten boring.

When he had arrived in mainland Europe, there was absolutely nowhere for him to live, as he was constantly on the move. Granted, he had found a few old shacks to stay in whilst living in Norway, but they were nothing to speak of. And in Africa - he had lived in an abandoned dirt cave for half the time there! The precarious structure had stayed together for as long as it possibly could have, but Mbjei was glad to move out of it and into the hut the Africans had erected to please their new local 'God.' These days, he lived in a small butcher shop that smelled like dead things.

So if Mbjei didn't understand awkward living conditions, no one did.

[Rei]

][ ...their ranks are the same. *diesbymassiveoddness* ...and I just realized something ^^ I can jump to any page on my website by just putting [critname].html at the end of the address. Yes, I just realized that. Don't laugh at me. :( ][

Ibkaea couldn't help but let out a small laugh -- more a chuckle, really, or simply a well-disguised 'heh.' "Yes, probably. I often come here when I need something to do...normally there are some interesting Euclide I can talk to." As she spoke the last part of her sentence, she gave him a look that could be interpreted as meaningful, if one was observing the right way. Her next sentence was meaningful, as well, but a bit more undisguised: "You seem interesting, Mbjei." Yep, no innuendo there at all. None. Really, none!

He was hot, though. ;>>

No! She slapped the thought from her mind. The only way she was breeding was if Rei approved it and Mem scheduled it, and it was performed according to that schedule. It was the closest she could get to marriage, and she was pretty sure that pre-marital sex was off-limits in Heaven's waiting room. Besides, she doubted he had any interest in her. Not that she had any more than minimal interest in him. He simply looked like the male version of her more mundane counterpart, lions. A small amount of attraction was natural. He was charming, that was all; she was sure that they could get to be pretty good friends.

As he spoke, his mane fell slightly to one side, and she noticed a bone-white mask covering half of his face. He was half-obscured by the shadow of a pillar; that's why she had missed it in her first appraisal. Two black markings on either side of his back also looked suspiciously like wings, and she kept mistaking them whenever she caught them out of the corner of her eye.

[Amaryllis]

(( OMG LONG LOST SIBLINGS ):
...XD Yeah. They better not be, 'cause they need to make hot bebbes.
*snork* 'Tis okay, we still lovu. ^.~ ))

Okaembjei, having lived in Africa for forty-nine years, was used to things being much more ... direct. If a woman was attracted to a man back 'home,' she would simply walk up to him and tell him. If he was, in turn, attracted to her, they would ... well, Mbjei had never really cared to discover what they did then. The whole business made him a bit awkward; it was the European buried deep inside him. Though he was open about the relations between men and women, and it didn't bother him much to think about it, it wasn't the sort of thing you ran around talking about, here in England. He had, in his twenty-odd years back, become accustomed to that again....

He caught himself wishing, once again, that England could be more like Africa. Everything was so much more simple back in the Congo, but the English felt the need to be more 'civilized;' in other words, more complicated. Mbjei didn't see what was so awful about being straightforward instead of courting or flirting. Ah, well, he was just going to have to accept that things were done differently here. If he wanted the lifestyle of the Congo, he would just have to go back to the Congo.

The point of that whole thing was that Mbjei didn't really pick up on innuendo very well. "I try to be interesting," he smiled. "It's not always easy, granted," he added, "but, if I'm not mistaken, we're both doing a good job of it thus far." Mbjei was very much enjoying the conversation; Kae seemed like a perfectly normal, intelligent person. He wasn't sure if she was the type that woulud sit about and discuss works of literature with him, but it was good to know different sorts of people. He couldn't spend all his time with Bindi and Kael, after all. That couldn't be healthy.

[Rei]

Kae smiled modestly. She always tried to be modest, as well as kind, selfless, compassionate, and all that jazz. Mostly she tried to abide by the Christian moral code, when she could; although she deviated from it in instances when she felt that the guidelines were not only not necessary, they were just plain stupid. But she still managed to live a life that was more-or-less devoid of major sin. It was her goal to get into Heaven, even though it was probably impossible for a Euclides. She would keep at it until she died, and then, well...she would find out. Hopefully, she would be happy with the result.

"I try, too." She said. The more she talked to him, the handsomer he got; however, she couldn't just out and blurt her feelings. Meeting somebody you didn't know, starting a conversation, and then, when they had hardly talked for more than a few minutes, 'Hey, I think you're hot!' Not a chance...Mbjei would think her a fool. He certainly seemed polite and well-civilized -- she felt hard-pressed to keep up with his simple elegance.

"So, what brought you to the theatre? Besides boredom, that is."

[Amaryllis]

(( >< Sorry I'm slow. *phail* And ... omfg System of a Down is on your icon =O *POINT* ))

Somewhat tired of flattery for the time being, Mbjei simply smiled at Kae and nodded. He hoped that, being English, she wouldn't take this the wrong way. He found that, whenever he smiled and nodded, somebody found connotations in such a simple movement that even he couldn't have thought of. It was irritating, sometimes, to be surrounded by such touchy sorts, but Mbjei, again, supposed that things were just different around here. In Africa, nodding and smiling meant that you were pleased or impressed, nothing more.

Mbjei considered Kae's query, and found that he wasn't entirely sure. He liked to watch his fellows, of course, to pick up on social standards (he still had trouble getting accustomed, sometimes) but he could do that anywhere. Perhaps he enjoyed being in a place so beloved by all of his kind; it made him feel a definite part of the Euclide race, to sit here and bask in the glory of the Theatre. But those were the only reasons for picking this particular place that he could think of, other than it got good sun.

"I cannot say that I have any reason for being here as opposed to elsewhere," he said finally, hoping that he hadn't been too thoroughly confusing with that sentence. "I'm sure you know much more about this place than I do. What sorts of things do others come here to accomplish, other than sun bathing and witty conversation?" He really was curious - he knew that many a Euclides spent time here, but he hadn't the faintest idea why, as he had not yet mustered up the courage to travel very far into the hidden passages of the Theatre.

[Rei]

Kae smiled back. And nodded. She wasn't all too involved in Euclide high society, either. Other Euclide tended to shun her when she was found to be more sympathetic to the Amuni race than to her own. She couldn't help it; it was her greatest desire of all to be let into Heaven when she died, and what more logical place to start than with the Amuni? Euclide didn't do much of anything when they died; occasionally they were reincarnated, or reborn, but usually they just...went away. She didn't want that fate, that was for sure. But the notion of Heaven...a place where one could live in eternal joy and glory...now, that appealed.

But back to the point, Kae wasn't one to be nitpicky about small, obscure social naunces. The only ones sophisticated enough to both give and recieve them didn't want much to do with her. As a result, she wasn't too well versed in hidden meaning; her only expertise in that field came from her natural feminine 'I-know-exactly-what-you're-thinking-right-now-and-you'd-better-not-go-any-further-than-that' abilities.

"I normally come here for the conversation. Meeting new people is a great way to spend a otherwise boring day, in my opinion." She gave him a knowing smile that suggested that, since meeting him, her day had definitely not been boring. "The inside of the theatre is quite amusing to explore, though. Or at least I've heard. My friend, Jareth, is the one who likes that type of thing."