Imperia chuckled. "Hmm. I suppose so." They snorted. "I tried to show off at one point by fighting you, and that certainly did me loads of good." They flicked an ear, eyes narrowed. "I never did much of showing off after that, at least not explicitly. I fought her, multiple times. I trained her. She's a wonderful fighter, much as she tries to hide it."

They listened silently as Kin-kin spoke. They grunted at one point. "The hunt is nice, sure." They didn't say anything else for a moment. "You've never really seemed like someone who would kill. Too much blood. It would ruin your pretty golden fur," they half-heartedly joked. "I've always wanted everyone to fear me. That hasn't changed. I've got at least one who does fear me, ha. Looked absolutely terrified to see me again. Would have been nice to see Aaliyah kill her, but...she let her escape. No matter; she's still terrified of me. She can continue to live in fear of me."

They hummed lightly for a moment. "No, I don't really want to fight at the moment. It's been too soon since our last one, I've hardly had time to train or anything. Plus, we've never even had a civil conversation like this. It's kind of nice, I guess. I've done enough fighting for the time being. Maybe some other time."

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts looks like this."

tags: @Kin-kin
notes: EDIT: So a friend of mine drew some art for this so here you go

"Heh, ain't that the truth..." Kin-Kin grinned at the memory of their first battle, her plumed tail swishing. "I must admit... since our first... encounter, most of my battles have been showing off... Not that I'd admit it to anyone else." Kin-Kin's ears twitched in curiosity as she listened to them, once more, talk about Aaliyah and their training. She let out a soft grunt.

The gilded maiden chuckled herself as they spoke of hunting, and how she didn't seem like the type to kill. "Hah, funny," she said, brows raised in their direction. "Believe it or not, though, I gotta eat too. So, if ya gotta do something, ya might as well enjoy it. Make it into something more'n just a chore. Besides, gotta have something to keep the blood pumpin'. As we both know, others can be a drag." Kin-Kin's ears perked, her head tilting slightly to one side. "I dunno. If ya want them to fear you, I'd leave 'em be. Just killing em seems a waste of effort, y'know?" It felt like she could be walking on thin ice, but for some reason Kin-Kin herself wasn't afraid of this cat. Not in the slightest. "Alive, they can spread your name. More will be afraid seeing what you've done to them. But bodies rot, and can't warn anyone. We walk over bones every day in the caves. I feel like they were afraid once. But we'd never know who killed them."

She grinned at them, happy that a truce had been formed. "Ah, same. It's nice to not have to puff out my chest and breathe hot air in your ears for once..." Kin-Kin winked at the caracal again, poking out the tip of her pink tongue. "'Cause you know exactly what I can do. Don'tcha?"


" speech "

@Imperia

Imperia chuckled. "Oh, really? Showing off? What a surprise." They snorted. "Isn't that all you ever do? That's practically your whole life! When are you not showing off? With your...stupid fancy sword and that stupid cape. Where'd you even get that thing anyway? I've never seen you without it!"

They listened as Kin-kin spoke. "Yes, that is true. Others can most certainly be a drag. And I have always enjoyed hunting. It may be a lesser gembound, but it's still a kill. Not one that'd necessarily count towards anything, as anyone could kill it, but a kill all the same." As Kin-kin spoke again, they narrowed their eyes and didn't say anything for a moment, thinking it over. "Yes," they murmured slowly, "those who are alive can help spread fear. I suppose that is true. Still is nice to kill, though. But maybe I should stick to gravely injuring some, like I did to that one cat. Tore her eye right out!"

Imperia grunted. "Oh, what you can do? Let's see, what can you do?" they paused, acting as if they were thinking. "Oh, I know, you can pointlessly wave your ass in my face. That's what you can do!" They rolled their eyes, exasperated.

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts looks like this."

tags: @Kin-kin
notes: here

Kin-Kin snickered softly. "Well... I gotta lot to show. You can vouch for that too, can't ya? ...Besides, gotta make my name known somehow. Ain't I allowed?" She paused at Imperia's mention of her cape, a wry smile showing on her face. What a different side of her that showed, eh? But truth was, the wolf couldn't get it off if she tried. "Eh, heh... Ya wouldn't believe me if I told you," Kin-Kin said vaguely, winking mysteriously at them in an effort to get them pondering. "But ya won't see me without it anytime soon, not least because it's stuck. Literally. Couldn't remove it if I tried." Kin-Kin pawed at her gem, lifting a bit of the cape to reveal a sliver of the gem hook that pierced the fabric by her collarbone.

She spoke the truth but at this point it was a fashion statement more than anything. "But I like it. Suits me, don'tcha think?" The tattered, moth-eaten edges of the fabric allowed for a more battle-worn, experienced look. Here and there, there were scratches and burns given by Imperia themself.

"Mmmm-hmmm. I swear, I woulda' gone crazy when the caves went quiet if it weren't for being able to take all that... frustration... out on the cave deer." Kin-Kin agreed, curious as to where this conversation was going. To Kin-Kin, almost everything was a game... Perhaps it went so far as to making her seem careless rather than carefree, and anger-inducingly self-centred. But Kin-Kin didn't care about any of that; not anymore. "...Heh. Maybe you should!" Kin-Kin encouraged, if only to keep her own ass safe.

Kin-Kin snorted with laughter at their apparent distaste. "Aw, c'mon. I bet you love it really. You're just too embarrassed to admit it. I, for one, certainly wouldn't be opposed to seeing yours again..." Kin-Kin's brows quirked as she semi-sarcastically reminded them that she hadn't been the only one to stoop that low.

" speech "

@Imperia

Imperia grunted. "Yeah, sure. Whatever. Spread your name." At her next words, they raised an eyebrow. Wouldn't believe her? It'd have to be pretty far-fetched for them to not believe her. They glanced at the cape and her gem, and flicked an ear. So it was stuck...Well, that would definitely explain why they never saw her without it.

"Yeah," they admitted reluctantly, "it does suit you." Scanning over it, they could see that it was rather worn. And they felt a flash of pride upon seeing burns and scratches they themselves had inflicted upon it.

They nodded. "Yeah. Those were tough times, hardly anyone around to fight. Well, anyone aside from Aaliyah. I fought her plenty. She probably didn't like it, but there wasn't really anyone else around. Everyone seemed to have just...disappeared." They flicked an ear. Gravely injuring others did seem like a better idea than to just kill them. Kin-kin was right, the more alive, the more your name will spread. The more others will fear them.

They narrowed their eyes. Ha, as if they wanted to see her ass again! As she continued speaking, an eyebrow raised. "Oh really? Is that so? Well. You're out of luck, because there is no way i am stooping down that low again," they snorted, tail flicking.

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts looks like this."

tags: @Kin-kin
notes: here

Kin-Kin grinned at their words, catching the hint dropped by their raised eyebrow. Kin-Kin winked once again, fully intending to leave the caracal hanging. She wasn't about to reveal the trauma of her childhood days anytime soon, especially not to Imperia, who seemed to love extorting any kind of weakness she could get. Kin-Kin was wiser than that... or perhaps it was just out of pride. "Well, that's good, 'cause I've been doing a lotta that as of late," Kin-Kin said with a smirk. "I'm sure that every gemling in the cave knows me by now."

Kin-Kin's grin broadened even further as Imperia was forced to admit that the cape suited her. Kin-Kin's plumed tail flicked from side to side beneath it, betraying the hint of a wag.

"Lucky. All I did was eat, sleep, and poop. Now I know what a cave deer feels like... Occasionally I looked for a scent or two, but that never went anywhere." Kin-Kin snorted, her smile fading slightly, although her glistening teeth were still bared.

Kin-Kin let out a small bark of laughter as they expressed their distaste through their words and expression. "Aw, you disappoint me!" she cried melodramatically, as though in no end of pain. "...But alas, I will go on! There's still time, whether you're aware of it or not." Kin-Kin's grin returned full-force, almost splitting her face in two. This time, her tail was wagging, as Kin-Kin resisted the urge to buckle down in fits of laughter.

" speech "

@Imperia

Imperia flicked their tiny tail. "Every gemling? That is an awful lot. Surely there must be some you've missed." They rolled their eyes. They hadn't had much chance to do anything after Aaliyah left. After this, they planned to continue their reign of terror. Now that Aaliyah was gone, nothing would stop them. Their eyes narrowed at seeing Kin-kin's grin broaden.

"It got boring after a while. I beat Aaliyah every single time. There isn't a single battle against me that she's won. Even that last one, I beat her. But she still left," they grunted. "Still, I know all that fighting helped. She's become an excellent fighter, even if she can't beat me. Such a shame she left."

Imperia rolled their eyes again. Kin-kin, ever the dramatic. "Good luck ever seeing it. I sure won't show it to you." Their tail was tiny, and really only barely covered it. Still, there was no way they would blatantly show it to her again. Kin-kin's tail, on the other paw, was long. At least, longer than theirs. They noticed that her tail was actually wagging. Imperia could wag their own tail, although it wouldn't really look like anything. Just a tiny little tail waving back and forth quickly.

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts looks like this."

tags: @Kin-kin
notes: here