Derrick and Julie sat quietly with Jeremy, Abbie, Hope, and PC as they continued to get to know each other. Their vacation had begun as a special offer that they had been given and it resulted in them and their parents turning into anthropomorphic lions, which on some level raised some curiosity on Derrick's part. As Julie she had wanted to do a paper on Lions for school, which would include their social behavior and how they were being protected in various countries in Africa. The fact that the hotel was right next Ghana's Mole National Park offered the perfect opportunity for that, though Derrick never imagined he'd be doing it as a lion cub himself.
"Well, a lot of things was a rather big surprise for Julie and me," Derrick commented, "but it has been fun, I must admit."
"Really?" Abbie asked with a playful smirk, "What has been fun?"
"Well... meeting you guys," Derrick commented and was interrupted again by another pleasure fill roar coming from the tree.
"I'd say it's that mom and dad let us go off on our own," Julie commented from where she was sitting, as Derrick "he" had been glad to get away from school and was dreading the make up work they'd have to do when they got back home, but strangely a lot of that wasn't even a concern on her mind for the moment, "I mean when were we left alone before?"
"Well..." Derrick commented to his sister, "there was the time mom and dad had that Halloween party last year."
Their parents did attend a Halloween part that John's company had sponsored and in reality Julie (now Derrick) and Derrick (now Julie) had been allowed to stay home to see to the trick or treaters.
"Derrick," Julie answered slowly, "You know that... that our neighbors looked after and took us trick or treating."
Derrick blinked and seemed to see a different past seem to seep into his mind.
"Don't you remember?" Julie asked.
"Yes," Derrick admitted, "It was fun though."
"So was the wrestling," Jeremy said to them.
"Thanks, bud," Derrick nodded, "Hopefully we'll get a shot to go tour the park. We can see all the normal animals. Wouldn't that be neat?"
"Like to pet a real lion?" PC asked curiously, "I'm not sure my dad would approve. He's actually... some kind of bird, don't know the species. My mom is a lion too..."
"A lion and a bird together?" Julie laughed.
"And very close to each other," PC nodded.
"Different totems, I suppose," Abbie shrugged, "Not everyone likes or is connected with the same animal."
"And since all of here aren't connected with the "great circle of life" we don't have worry about eating each other," Jeremy commented.
Julie nodded, she strangely found him to be rather cute for a boy, though the attraction didn't go beyond simple platonic friendship, and she actually found herself feeling closer to Abbie. Maybe it was because both of them had been male before coming to the hotel, but Julie didn't know for sure, and strangely, she couldn't bring herself to care. The other cubs were friendly and she hoped they could all be the best of friends.
"Not pet a lion..." Derrick spoke up, "though... that WOULD be cool... take pictures and see them do stuff... we'd get to be like Dr. Livingston exploring."
"The guy from the clinic back home is an explorer?" Julie asked.
"Must be," Derrick answered, "Dad always says "Dr. Livingston, I presume" whenever we have to go in for shots."
Julie shuddered. She hated getting shots, they had sharp points and despite what mommy and daddy said, they hurt. Hope placed a paw-like hand on her back, which comforted Julie a little bit.
"I don't like shots either, but that's all there to stop diseases and so forth," Hope told her.
"And mom and dad can take pictures of them," Derrick continued with the idea of going on Safari, though the terms he used were simpler.
"Did mom bring her camera?" Julie asked as she returned to the discussion.
"I dunno," Derrick answered, "Maybe we can check before dinner..."
"I though we were going out to dinner," Julie commented.
"It will be out to dinner," Abbie commented, "The hotel has it's own restaurant. They serve delicacies that are both local to this part of Ghana, other parts of Africa, and some general things that just about everyone eats."
"Isn't some things species specific?" Jeremy wondered.
"That can be," Abbie told him with a smile that Julie caught. It seemed as though Abbie saw Jeremy not as just a friend but almost like a sibling.
"So, we'll all sit together?" Derrick then asked to Abbie, with the tone of his voice that one would probably associate more with a younger kid looking for friends and companions to feel safe with.
Abbie gave Derrick a friendly smile as well, "Sure. We'll all be bestest friends."
Again a great roar was heard coming from inside the tree, making the cubs all jump a little in the grass.
"But mom and dad's wrestling match will have to end first," Julie commented, letting her tail fall limp.
"We can always have some more fun while we're waiting," PC commented.
"Like what?" Julie asked, curiosity peaked.
"The wrestling was fun," PC replied, once a tomboy always a tomboy.