Aslan and Petra grow closer

 

Aslan watched Bess as she walked away.  He noticed she had a rolling gate to her walk, rather like that of the brown and polar bears.  Petra watched Bess too, smiling to herself for she liked the shaggy dog.

     “I’m glad I went with you Aslan,”  Petra purred, the toes of her right forepaw enveloping Aslan’s left, “I know I shouldn’t say this, but I’m glad you killed Stifftail, he was causing Ahanu a lot of trouble, and the poor cub doesn’t need that.  Stifftail was dreadful!”

     “It’s like bad pennies though,” Aslan mewed, “they always seem to turn up.”  Petra looked into her mate’s face.

     “You’re pessimistic,” she mewed.

     “No Petra love, not pessimistic, realistic my dear.  Stifftail wasn’t the first to cause us trouble, and he won’t be the last.  The only thing we can hope for is that the next trouble for us doesn’t come for a long time yet.”

      “I forgot you had to face Tembo,” Petra mewed, you had trouble from the word go.”

    “We both did,” Aslan replied, “so let’s, while acknowledging trouble is out there, try and have as much fun as we can.”  He looked at Petra, taking her in from her nose to her toes.  Petra, seeing she was being appraised, rolled onto her side and waved a fat forepaw at Aslan.

     “Would you rub me down?”  She asked.  Aslan reached over and touched the toes of Petra’s left forepaw with those of his right, feeling her instant reaction in the way her toes curled round his, gripping them tightly.

     “Here is my body, and, and, my paws too!”  Petra mewed, “stroke me Aslan, stroke me from my nose to my toes, and tickle my belly and paws!  I want so much for you to do this! Please!”  Aslan kissed her nose.

     “Nice and gentle,” he mewed, gently freeing his paw from Petra’s and using it to stroke her nose.  The toes on all four of Petra’s paws curled involuntarily as her desire for this lion shot through her, electrifying every inch of Petra from her nose to the ends of her toes and the end of her tail, which tingled gently.

     “I’m yours Aslan!”  Petra exclaimed.  Aslan took her in his paws, embracing her tenderly, Petra snuggling hard into his hug.  Aslan and Petra lay together for a long time, then got to their paws and left for the pool complex.  Reaching it, Aslan and Petra waded into the whirlpool, letting their paws be carried away from beneath them.  Petra thrashed about, mewing like a cub, then, As Aslan turned to help her, she ducked him!  Aslan and Petra pawed at each other beneath the water until they had to come up for air.  When they did, they were laughing helplessly.  Wading to the side of the pool, the two cats scrambled out onto dry land, their paw pads as wrinkled as prunes.

 

Padding back along the passage, Petra and Aslan walked over and beside the vents which blew air from beneath the floor and from both sides as well as from above, their paws and bodies getting dried as they stood laughing helplessly as the air tickled their paw pads.  Leaving the drying place, the two big cats made their way to the house and to Aslan’s sleeping place.  Petra followed her mate, taking in everything about him, from the way he held his head, to the way he walked, his toes slightly scuffing the carpet as he hardly lifted his paws from the floor.

      “I love you so much Aslan!”  Petra mewed, running to him and rolling him over before playfully tickling his belly and paws.  Aslan laughed helplessly, though knew the paw tickling would be over soon as his paws became desensitised to it, and it was no longer pleasurable.  Paw massage though, that was another matter.  Petra seemed to sense when his paws became desensitised to her tickling and began to stroke his pads tenderly, Aslan loving every minute.  He watched her as best he could as she worked her paws all over him from his nose to the toes of all four paws.  Now Petra was taking him to places she’d been taken by him only an hour previously, and he loved her for it.  Once Petra had rubbed Aslan down from nose to tail, she lay down beside him, taking his left forepaw in both her own.

      “What now?”  She asked.  Aslan smiled at her and kissed her nose.

      “I suggest we go for a walk in the wood,” Aslan mewed, “it will be a warm night tonight.”  Petra smiled.

      “I love the feel of the forest floor beneath my paws,” she said, “it’s almost as addictive to me as paw massage is to Brunetta.”  Aslan smiled.

      “Let’s go into the wood and indulge your addiction then,” he said.  Petra got slowly to her paws, making sure Aslan saw her every move.  Aslan followed Petra out of the house, down the garden and through the gate to where the woodland path ran past the house.  Petra and Aslan padded along the path, knowing patrols were out in the wood making sure all was well.  Petra smiled with pleasure as she felt the forest floor beneath her pads and toes.  Bouncing slightly on her toes, Petra looked about her, Aslan smiling as he watched her.

     “I love her so much!”  He thought of Petra as she walked off down the path, waving a forepaw for him to follow her and catch her.  Aslan ran after his mate, and when he caught her up, she rolled on the track, inviting him to stroke her belly and paws.

      “You silly thing!”  Aslan laughed, stroking, and then tickling Petra’s belly and paws.  Petra laughed and wriggled with joy beneath his paws as he tickled her.  Then suddenly Petra freed her left forepaw from both of his and hugged him to her in a fierce embrace, Aslan shocked at how strong she was.

     “While we can’t have cubs,” Petra asked desperately, “We can still have fun can’t we?”  Aslan kissed her nose.

      “This is more than fun,” he said, “I’m having the time of my life!”  Petra smiled at her mate and touched his nose with her paw.

     “I love you so much Aslan,” Petra mewed.  Petra released Aslan, both of them getting to their paws and padding along the path.  The two big cats watched each other as they walked along the path.

      “Hey Petra! Aslan!”  Someone yelled from somewhere in the trees above their heads.

     “Who’s that?”  Aslan demanded angrily, assuming the rude individual could see what he and his mate were doing and didn’t have the courtesy to leave them alone.

      “It’s Whitie, over here!”  The voice replied, and then Petra saw a fat white paw waving at them from a nearby tree.  Sighing with exasperation, Aslan snarled at Whitie.

       “You didn’t even check to see whether we wanted to be spoken to!”  He yelled, “Petra and I were having a bit of quality time together, and you ruined it!”

      “I’m sorry,” Whitie mewed.

      “I’d stay up there too!”  Aslan yelled, “I might attack you if you reach ground level.  Aslan felt Petra’s paw on his, and she was squeezing it hard.

      “What now!”  Aslan snapped.

      “Don’t go after her,” Petra whispered, “it’s not the end of the world Aslan.”

       “For me it is!”  Aslan snarled, trying and failing to shake his paw free of Petra’s, “that bloody snow leopard has no respect!  Let go of my paw Petra!  For eohippus sake!”  Petra shot Aslan a look which stopped him cold.

      “I’m sorry,” he mewed, staring down at the ground.

      “Eohippus is worthy of some respect I think,” Petra said.  Aslan tried once more to free his paw, the soles of all four of his paws now hot and uncomfortable.

       “I’ve got to go,” Aslan said, turning and running away.

      “I’ll let him think things over for a while,” Petra thought.  Padding back to the house, Petra ran herself a deep bath and clambered in, adding some herbal and menthol stuff fleur kept in the bathroom.  When the atmosphere inside the bathroom was as steamy as she could get it, Petra settled back to await developments.  She knew Aslan would come looking for her before long.  Petra lay on her back in the bath inspecting the soles of her forepaws, examining her pads and toes, picking a thorn or two from between her toes and flicking it into a bin set beside the bath for that very purpose.  Petra twitched an ear as she heard someone coming into the bathroom.  Looking over the rim of the tub, she saw Pepper padding into the bathroom.  When the cross bred cat saw her, she nearly turned and fled!

      Petra!”  She exclaimed, her paws skidding on the tiles as she turned to run, “I’m so sorry!”  Petra waved a languid paw at her.

     “Come,” Petra said, “join me here.”  Pepper padded over to the bathtub and dipped a paw into the water.

     “Come,” Petra mewed.  Pepper clambered into the tub, then submitted happily to Petra’s rub down.  Petra had wanted to return Pepper’s massage ever since the cross bred cat had massaged her from nose to tail in the bath pool.  Indeed, Pepper played the same games with Petra in the bathtub that Petra had with her in the pool, curling her toes, frustrating Petra’s attempt at paw massage until the white lioness tickled Pepper’s pads, just as Pepper had to do when Petra’s toes held hers.  Pepper laughed merrily as the games continued.

 

Aslan watched through the bathroom window, angry it was pepper, and not him playing with Petra in the large bathtub.  He knew Pepper’s and his play would be entirely different from each other when playing with the white lioness, but he still felt anger.  He knew his anger was at himself, impotent fury that he, Aslan, who should know Petra best of all, made a stupid comment to Petra about Eohippus.  Even though Petra didn’t flaunt her beliefs, she held them strongest of all among the animals, for she was Eohippus, sort of.  Aslan had made a blasphemous comment, an unthinking comment which he wouldn’t usually have made and now he was paying for it.  His paws gripping the sill, Aslan stared through the window, though he couldn’t see much, just enough to tell that his mate and pepper were playing, there was no detail to what was taking place.  Aslan leapt down from his place and padded round to the back door, opening it, he padded in, slamming the door hard behind him.  Furious with himself, he stamped along the passage, right past the door to the bathroom where Petra and pepper played.  In a sudden rage, Aslan yanked down the handle on the bathroom door and kicked it open with such force it smashed back against the protective spring which kept the door from damaging the tiles and came fast back at him.  Cursing, Aslan exploded into the bathroom all anger and hatred for himself, which he projected onto Pepper!

     “Get out!  Get out!  Pepper, leave here now before I do you damage!”  Aslan yelled, frightening the cross bred cat into immobility.  Aslan surged over the tiles like a whirlwind, anger and fury driving him on, Aslan lifting Pepper from the bathtub in his paws as if she weighed no more than a newborn cub before dumping her on the hard floor!  Suddenly Aslan felt himself falling, crashing to the floor!  Something was on top of him, something large, fat, and which had a scent he knew well.  Petra sat on Aslan, making sure he could breathe but not harm her or Pepper, who lay completely stunned, as if lifeless a few feet away, paws in the air.

      “How dare you!”  Petra growled, the lioness in her now aroused, “how dare you treat my friends like that!”  Petra yelled, not using Aslan’s name, but addressing everything to him.  Aslan knew he was stupid and wrong to do what he did, but it was done, and that was unchangeable now.  Petra smacked Aslan across his nose with her paw, the paw which had been so gentle hours before now hard and unyielding.  Aslan roared with pain, but it wasn’t pain from the blow from Petra’s paw which was hurting most.

      “I’m so sorry!”  Aslan mewed, almost begging for mercy, “I didn’t know what I was doing, I’m sorry!  I saw you and Pepper playing, and thought it should be me playing with you, but I’d made a stupid and uncaring comment, and now you’re playing with Pepper!”

      “I got into the bath while waiting for you to return,” Petra mewed, “Pepper padded in and we got playing, that’s all!  Now this has happened!”  Aslan felt more stupid than ever, and he knew Petra could feel it. “You have been more than stupid!”  Someone yelled, and then fleur ran in!

     “Oh, fleur! I’m so sorry!”  Aslan mewed.  Pepper struggled to her paws and crawled away, not wanting to be present when her mum’s temper exploded.  Fleur looked at Petra.

     “Let me have a word,” fleur said quietly, her tone chilling Petra to her marrow.  Levering herself off of Aslan, Petra watched as Fleur kicked Aslan to his feet, and then tripped him, throwing him into the bathtub!  Aslan screamed and landed in the water with a heavy splash.

     “You do not touch my cub!”  Fleur yelled.  Aslan, bruised and frightened, watched fleur and pepper walk away.  Grateful Fleur hadn’t leapt in on top of him, Aslan scrambled from the water, his fur waterlogged and spirits as low as they’d ever been.

     “I’m sorry Petra!”  Aslan sobbed.  Petra watched her mate with disinterest.

      “You foolish cub,” Petra said, “You didn’t think did you!  Stupid, thoughtless cub.”  With that she walked away.  Aslan knew he’d put his paw in it with Petra and wished he’d never made that throw away comment which started the whole sorry episode.

 

Aslan followed Petra’s paw dragging progress to her place.  He knew she was very upset by the whole business, and desperately wanted to make amends.

      Petra, please, let me talk to you, explain, do something to fix this stupid situation!”  Aslan pleaded.  Petra turned slightly, one forepaw raised from the carpet, as if she was intent on continuing her progress to her place after the briefest of pauses.

      “What is there to talk about?”  Petra asked, “You insult me, then you attack my friend, what is there to discuss?”  Aslan looked at his mate, and Petra could see he loved her, and was truly sorry for everything, though he didn’t have the words to articulate how sorry he was.

      “I can’t put what I feel into words,” Aslan mewed pitifully, “I’m sorry for that too Petra.  I won’t say or do anything like this ever again!”  Fleur watched Aslan, and he could feel her eyes on him, as well as those of his mate.

      “No, you won’t do anything like throw my cub out of the bathtub ever again,”  fleur said quietly, “if you do, Nice gentle fleur, with her soft warm paws will become furious violent fleur with sharp teeth and claws!”  Aslan whimpered in misery.

     “I’m listening and I’m sorry,” he mewed.

     “Right, let’s end this now,” Pepper mewed, “Aslan knows he’s done wrong, and has been punished enough for what he did.  Now we need to move on.”  Aslan looked at the cross bred cat.

      “I hurt you, and you’re saying all this?”  He asked.

      “I, Like Petra, can tell you are confused and remorseful from your nose, right down to your toes,” pepper replied.

      “I was stupid, and my actions and comments were uncalled for, wrong and disgraceful,” Aslan said, “if I could turn the clock back I would do so right now.”  Petra walked up to him and kissed his nose.

      “I hate it when we fight,” she mewed, “It tears me apart Aslan, and I don’t want that!”

      “I’m sorry Petra love,” Aslan mewed, making his own private peace with his mate.

       “Let it go now,” Petra mewed, “come on, let’s go and walk in the wood, just like we wanted to.”  Aslan let Petra take his paw in hers and lead him out into the garden and through the gate to where she’d danced on her toes for joy what seemed to him a lifetime ago.

     “Now let’s walk,” Petra mewed.  Aslan felt heavy pawed as he walked, wishing he could see Petra’s unbounded joy as he’d seen it when they’d been in this spot earlier that day.

     “Catch my tail!”  Petra yelled suddenly, running away.  Aslan found himself chasing her, and then catching her as she slowed, deliberately so it seemed to him, so he caught her tail.  Then they rolled on the track, playfully pawing at each other with fore and hind paws.  Petra hugged Aslan tightly her desire for him renewed.

      “Now for me to chase your tail, and maybe get hold of a paw or two, or three, or maybe all four!”  Petra mewed, rolling Aslan over and tickling his paws until he was weak from laughing.

     “I love you from your nose,” Petra said, touching his nose with the toes of her left forepaw, “to your paw pads,” she added, tracing round the pads of Aslan’s left forepaw.  Aslan smiled and hugged her.

     “Can I trace round your paw pads please?”  Aslan asked.  Petra smiled and gave him her paw.

     “Trace round them, love them,” she said.  Aslan kissed the pads of her left forepaw, Petra laughing merrily.  Petra knew Aslan loved everything about her, and he felt safe with her, which was the best thing of all.  Petra and Aslan made their way slowly back to the house where they entered the pool complex and waved to Snowy Half-Tail in her control room as they passed one of the numerous cameras mounted high on the walls.  Snowy, seeing them, smiled to herself and followed them on several cameras, testing the camera’s new zoom and image capture functions.  Pressing buttons and moving a joystick, snowy managed to see the whites of Petra’s eyes as she looked directly into the camera lens.  Zooming in, Snowy watched as Petra’s face filled the screen in front of her, and she knew Petra herself was at least fifty feet from the camera watching her.  snowy had watched many things on camera, from love play between adults, to paw tickling games among cubs, and adults who wished they were cubs again, to full blown fur ripping arguments between Yi jie and Liang, who got rather too physically involved during mundane discussions about this and that, ending up in blazing arguments over the silliest things, such as the last episode of big brother, and who should have been evicted last week.  This one always ended in a real rumble, snowy could never work out how the two pandas got so worked up about such a thing as big brother, it really nauseated her, big brother, not the lively discussions, though they came a close second when things got violent, though no blood was drawn.  After the frequent scraps, Yi Jie and Liang would look at each other, both of them drenched in sweat from noses to paw pads, and ask each other why they did it.  Why fight over something as stupid as big brother?  Even though they questioned their behaviour, snowy had seen the same thing over and over again, it seemed to be a ritual between the two pandas, rather like drinking to excess on a Saturday night is for some humans, watch big brother, discuss it, fight about it, then make up and wonder why they came to blows, then do the same thing a week later.  The apposing view points held by the two pandas were obviously strong enough to come to blows over, and snowy noticed something else, Shuang and Shen never saw them scrapping, snowy thought they didn’t’ allow their cub and her mate to see.  Snowy eased back on the joystick, bringing the whole room into focus, watching over Aslan and Petra as they played in the water of the bath pool.  Snowy watched the lioness and her mate playing, working her cameras to find out how much detail she could catch.  She managed to see the pads of Petra’s left forepaw as the lioness raised it to touch Aslan’s.  Snowy smiled as the two cats batted at each other’s paws and whiskers.

     “What a lovely sight,” Snowy thought as she watched.

 

 

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