Find a place to rest.
“Off! Off meeeee!” Angel whined under the soft and gentle paw of a much too large feline. The claws retracted and almost no weight pushing down, yet the padded foot was so heavy and the muscles holding it in place were overwhelmingly strong. Watching the thin spindly arms of a pink monkey trying to pull herself to freedom or shove the paw off her chest stomach was outright comical, if a bit impolite to laugh at.
“I gave you a ride all the way here, doesn’t that mean it’s your turn to carry me?” It was all Daniel could do to keep from snickering.
“That’s now how it works and you know it, OFF!”
“Does anyone else find the strange propensity in which our oversized friend is willing to manhandle the little guy appears to strongly conflict with our initial first impressions of the calm and restrained nature usually associated with intelligent monsters of ancient lore?”
“Fine, okay, getting off already. Just stop with the silly fish arguments or you’ll scare them all away.” Daniel retracted a paw from Angel and the girl sat up in a huff. Wiping off her now mussed up clothing and shaking a few dried leaves from her hair.
Looking over to Keth the towering Sphinx and the human woman both just stared as he lay there.
“Hello? You going to let me up too?” He offers a futile shove into the ground, the man looking as if he could barely manage a pushup on his own let alone trying to pit his meager strength against something that could toss a car around.
A slight pause.
“Yes.” Daniel turned up her nose, puffing the fuzzy lion chest out with pride while her other paw lifts up and the Sphinx steps back. “But only because you called it manhandling.”
“Well.” Keth staggered up to his own feet, adjusted his glasses, and strode towards the sandy edge of a lakeside beach. “I am a man after all.”
“That’s up for debate.” Angel popped without the slightest hesitation. “You fine with waiting here while we go fish Daniel? The entire reason we left early was to restock a bit of meat. Never fail to walk away with a fish after coming here.”
“Of course she’s fine with that.” Keth responds in her stead. “You’re asking a kittycat if she wants to eat a fish, all you need now is a swimming pool full of milk and an electric can opener.”
Daniel pouted at him. The massive eyes and catlike stare didn’t exactly help her case, nor did the fact she actually was a bit hungry and had no idea when she’d never have an opportunity to eat. Or for that matter what all her new body was even capable of handling.
“I’ll stay here, sure, or at least the general area. Maybe find a tree nearby to sit under and try to stay out of everyone’s way.” The Sphinx answers quietly.
“Cool.” Angel nods, once more making a rude face as she wipes at the sand clinging to her clothes and skin. “If need be we’ll meet up at the parking lot, and I guess you can fly around and make yourself really visible if you need to for any reason.”
“Speaking of visible.” Keth makes his point by pulling out the phone again and snapping another picture.
“Give me that!” Angel all but pounced on him, snatching the phone away. “You don’t need to take this anywhere near the water, the sand alone is enough to ruin the electronics and getting it wet ca- … daawwww!” It became suddenly clear that she was looking at the newest photo. “Daniel! Lean your head down, you have to see how cute you look with your big eyes like that.”
“No I’m fine not looking, my reflection in the water is bad enough.” The winged lioness frowns, holding up a paw and backing away.
“But you look so surprised and clueless! Its … its …”
“Adorable?” Keth finishes for her, snatching the phone back and holding it above his head.
“YES! Now you come back here …”
“Catch me if you can slowpoke!” Keth takes off running towards the lake and Angel is in fast pursuit, the slim and athletic woman easily overtaking the pasty white teenager only for him to turn and outmaneuver her. It was clear he wouldn’t hold up long in any actual physical competition between the two but he managed to hold onto his phone for a decent amount of time.
Daniel sided up next to a large tree off to the side of the park area, an intense glare at the pathway that anyone coming in would have to travel down, and made sure to seat herself somewhere far away from any actual walking trail. She could see the log building strait ahead through well maintained cover of trees. She could see the beach, in which Keth and Angel were the only two not outright terrified of a house sized lion wandering up. And she could see a bit of the parking lot through the leaves and twigs up ahead.
A planted seat, a curl of her tail, and once more she folds her wings back to keep them tucked safely.
Written by Arbon on 30 October 2016