What Do Big Cats Dream About?


Whether it's a nice nap outside, or settling down for a peaceful slumber at night; sleep doesn’t necessarily mean the adventures, silliness, or
shenanigans have to take a break. This is especially true for our ever adventurous feline, Dexter.

It’s around noon and the sun is shining high in the sky when Dexter eases his small motorboat onto a gorgeous beach, returning from a morning out at
sea visiting various islands scattered about the coast. Eager to disembark and get back on land, the big cat quickly grabs his trusty beach towel and
drapes it over his shoulders before hopping off. But as soon as those feet-paws make contact with the beach, he shouts a loud yelp, bouncing around a
bit as he tries to adjust to the hot sands searing his paw pads. Thankfully, it doesn’t take long to settle down, gathering himself before walking about
thirty yards inland. Dexy doesn't waste any time throwing his turquoise towel to the sand, planting himself on top with his legs crisscrossed to face
the open ocean.

Dexter sits here for a few minutes, reflecting on his morning while staring out over the blue, crystal clear waters of the sea. For a second he smirks,
almost wanting to head back out there. But then lets out a relaxing exhale, more than satisfied with his long morning of island exploration, if only a bit
tired. Dexter leans his head back and closes his eyes, taking a deep breath that fills his nostrils with the distinct salty aroma of the sea. Not only does
this help him relax further, it begins to amplify a dash of sleepiness that’s slowly taking hold of the lion’s body. Reopening his eyes a short time later,
he's greeted by the sight of a feather-like cloud drifting lazily overhead. Dexy takes this as a hint from Mother Nature and decides that now would be a
good time to take a quick nap. With that, he hops up and strolls over to his car that's not too much further inland to retrieve an unnecessarily large
pillow. He returns less than a minute later and tosses the comfy pillow to the towel, then throws himself right on top with a thud. After a few careful
adjustments, he settles down again on his back and closes his heavy eyes, listening to the waves crashing against the shore. Thanks to the peaceful
atmosphere, it doesn't take long before the fluffy big cat drifts off to a nice snooze. Although Dexter only intends to take a quick catnap to refresh
himself, knowing he needs to get back home and count his yarn balls, he winds up falling into a rather deep sleep on this lovely beach.

With the zzz’s piling up, it doesn’t take long before Dexter finds himself paying another visit to dreamland, and it looks like this visit has him...uhm
...walking along the shoreline on a sunny day?! Come on now Dex, you’re already sleeping on the beach! Actually, it really shouldn’t come as a surprise
that even in sleep, Dexter still frequents the beach.

Anyway, everything seems to be progressing normally so far on his walk. Quite the oddity for a dream when you think about it...heh except for an
occasional giant fish floating through the blue skies. But Dexter pays them no mind, saying "I know a certain blue jay who'd love to take care of those
fishies *ahem* Chris!" Dexter giggles to himself while continuing his lazy paced walk. But after a good time passes, he spots something further down
the beach. A rather large object that’s...round? Definitely something that tickles him at first glance. "It couldn’t be," Dexter says to himself in a low
voice, staring at it for a moment as he can’t believe what he was seeing. But still, the round object did appear to him like something very familiar. A yarn
ball maybe? Or a massive yarn ball just sitting on the beach, unguarded no less. "No way anyone could leave something more valuable than gold just
lion around," Dexter says with a confused voice. Giving a quick rub to his eyes and squinting, he tries to get a better look at this object, beginning to
feel excitement grow rapidly inside of him.

The fuzzy big cat hugs himself and smiles, shivering as he’s barely able to contain the flood of joy rising within. He thinks out loud, “This is too good
to be true! Am I...am I going crazy? Need to get a grip! There’s no way....” Dexter grits his teeth and digs his toes in the sand, trying to hold back the
growing smile on his muzzle. “Erf...But I just can’t...can't,” Dexter grits his teeth tighter, starting to sweat. “Can’t resi...have too... erf...GIMME GIMME!”
Dexter now bears a wide toothy smile, his heart pounding with excitement! Digging all four paws into the sand, he shouts a loud ROAR to the skies
before launching himself into a sprint towards the ball of joy at unimaginable speeds, leaving a cloud of sand kicked up behind him. Getting closer he can
con’fur’m that this is indeed a massive yarn ball, s'purr'ing him to sprint faster as he opens his arms out wide.

Just a few meters away, he leaps into the air with a thunderous ROAR before slamming into the fluffy ball, clinging with all his might. His momentum
managing to tumble the ball of yarn, causing it to roll forward and right over Dex who’s still holding on. But he emerges from under the ball as it
continues to roll, slowing to a stop just a few feet away with the large lion pressed into its side, purring in delight. He’s so far lost in his ocean of
happiness that he didn’t even notice the massive ball rolling over him.

Dexter plays around with the humongous blue ball of yarn for a good while, joyfully digging his claws into it's fluff while rubbing his face against it.
Occasionally assuming a pouncing stance before ROARing at it, even batting and kicking at it for whatever reason. Every so often taking a few seconds to
look around and make absolutely sure that no one is coming to steal his new favorite toy. Especially a certain cunning folf or a mischievous dragon cat, or
even a crafty Durg *cough cough* Vashyron, Oka, Adrax! >=/ Eventually Dex gets a grip on himself, figuring it’d be best to get his treasure to a safe
spot where nobody else can find it. So he begins the arduous task of rolling the huge ball in search of a good hidey place, or a decent spot to bury the
darned thing...least until he wakes up.

Meanwhile, in the real world a sleeping Dex is shredding yet another innocent pillow. But to this day he swears it's not him destroying them.
Now for the real question. Who actually wants to sleep beside the lion? >.>

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Very much hope you enjoyed this quick read and that I got at least one smile out of ya. Y’all have a great one!

TL;DR: WAFFLES! >=3

Fun dream commission done by artist  mcnubbies Made the big cat look so cute in this one! Original artist post here: [Big Cat Dreams]
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Sleepy Dexter belongs to me  Dexterlion Accompanying writing too! also at [@DexChillViber]