I don't own any of the animals except for Majana (Swahili for 'child').
Alex watched Vitani carefully as they made their way back to the enclosure, and though the limp made it difficult to judge he gait, she definitely seemed to be slouching, lacklustre. He wondered what was bothering her, as she'd been perfectly happy to describe the Pridelands, but had stopped and left when the conversation had drifted towards family.
Vitani hardly took any notice of her surroundings, as she made her way back to the enclosure. She hadn't expected the memory of Majana to trigger so much emotion, and it made her realise just how much she missed her old life in the Pridelands.
Alex watched as Vitani jumped down into the enclosure, stumbling the landing with her bad leg, and then, instead of heading for the heat lamp as he'd expected her to do, saw her head for the most distant corner, and lie down. He followed her slowly, and when he got near, was surprised to see her shaking. "You okay," he asked. When she didn't answer, he nudged her, and asked, "you o-"
Alex only just managed to snatch his paw away, as Vitani's head whipped around, and she bit at air. "Leave me alone," she hissed, her eyes blazing.
"Okay," Alex said, backing off, "I just wanted to make sure you were okay." Despite her fierce appearance now, he could see that she'd been crying only moments before.
"I've got a nearly useless leg, a lot of painful scrapes, and I'm missing my family," Vitani snapped, "how did you think I'd be?"
"I just wanted to make sure you were okay," Alex repeated. After a few moments he asked, "you sleeping with me tonight?"
A range of emotions passed over Vitani's face, anger, disdain, hope, despair, even gratefulness, before she replied, "I'll think about it."
Alex nodded, and said, "you do that," then, with nothing else to do, turned and walked over to the heat lamp. He curled up under it, but facing Vitani, so he could keep an eye on her.
As soon as Alex was gone, Vitani turned back, and, paws over her muzzle so the tears wouldn't show, began to cry again. Eventually, despite the cold and her own despair, she fell asleep.
Alex waited a while, then cracked his eyes open, and looked over at Vitani. As she didn't seem to be moving, he quietly rose, and made his way over to her. As he approached, he heard her making a small, burbling noise, and she was shaking slightly, was she crying?
Alex, unsure of what else to do, cleared his throat, and within moments, found himself pinned under Vitani, not unlike the first time they'd met. "I told you to stay away from me," she hissed between clenched teeth.
"I was just worried about y-" Alex began.
"Don't be," Vitani growled, "and go away."
"Okay," Alex said, "I will as soon as you let me up."
Vitani let Alex up, and as he was leaving, called, "and stay away next time."
"Don't worry," Alex replied, "I will."
Vitani had been crying, Alex realised, as he settled down under the heat lamp again, her cheeks had had tear streaks on them. That hinted that she had a softer side, though, as she'd just proven, she obviously wasn't comfortable showing it.
It was the cold that got through to Vitani eventually, waking her much earlier than she'd normally awake, despite her usual ability to sleep through anything. Where was everybody, she though muzzily, and why was it so cold, even without them it shouldn't be...oh, that's right, she wasn't at Pride Rock anymore, she was in that damnable place, what did they call it, Central Park Zoo?
It took her a further moment to realise there was someone nearby, she was so alert she was quivering, and there was an odd sound, someone tapping claws on stone. Clenching her jaw, she heard the sound stop, and then she realised, she was alone, or at least she was alone in being awake, the sound had been her own teeth, and she was quivering with cold, not alertness.
Vitani's momentary panic had wakened her quickly, and now she was calm again, she looked around, and spotted Alex under the heat lamp. It only took her a moment to decide to join him, and so she rose, hissing in pain as she remembered all-too-late her bad leg, and made her way over.
Vitani wasn't sure what to expect when she reached Alex, but it wasn't what she saw. He was curled up, which was something she'd never seen before, though might be a good way to keep a bit warmer in a place this cold. What drew her gaze more, though, was the fact that he, a lion almost as big as Simba, was sucking on half a fore-paw.
Vitani paused for a moment, then roughly shoved Alex's shoulder with a paw, and said, "wake up."
Alex seemed to continue sleeping for a few moments, then snorted, and cracked his eyes open a fraction. "Wha'..." he murmured, "who's'at?"
"Me, Vitani," the lioness replied, "now move over, you're hogging the heat."
"V'tani," Alex murmured, then blinked, "why're you here?"
"Because it was damned frozen out there," Vitani replied, "now, move over."
Alex shuffled over a little, and Vitani lay down. "Geez, you are frozen aren't you," he said.
"I did tell you I was," Vitani replied.
They were silent for a few moments, then Alex asked, "would you mind telling me..." he yawned then continued, "...why the heck you chose now to come over here and wake me up, as opposed to say hours ago?"
"I had some stuff to sort out," Vitani replied.
"Get it done," Alex asked.
Vitani was silent for a moment, then replied, "no."
Alex sighed, then said, "well, could you get it sorted out before tomorrow night then, 'cause all these late nights are upsetting my performance." Vitani didn't reply.
Alex put a fore-leg Vitani's shoulder, but she growled, so he quickly removed it. "You don't like that," he asked.
"Not particularly," she replied, "it makes me think you're feeling sorry for me."
"You don't like that," Alex asked.
"No I don't," Vitani replied, "in fact, I hate it."
"Okay," Alex said, then muttered, "that won't be too hard."
"What was that," Vitani asked.
"Oh, nothing," Alex replied.
"What did you just say," Vitani asked, more pointedly this time.
Alex sighed, then replied, "okay, I just said, that won't be too hard."
They were silent for a moment, then Vitani asked, "Are you saying I'm nasty?"
"Well, given the way you've been with me so far," Alex replied, "I wouldn't exactly say you're not."
Alex was half-expected Vitani to do something nasty to him, so when she didn't, he decided to risk a glance, which, unfortunately, she caught, "what?"
"I was, just, expecting, a reaction actually," Alex replied, slightly nervously, "after all, I did kind of say..."
"I heard," Vitani replied, then smiled, "just lucky for you, I agree, eh?"
"Yeah," Alex said uncertainly.
Vitani turned away, and said, "well, good night."
"Yeah, night," Alex replied.