"So. So. So. So hey babe, what you in for? Tattoos? Yeeeaaaah that was my plan. Just gonna be totally covered in 'em. But then I realized my life is waaaay too intense and full to show with tattoos. I mean, I'd be solid markings from nose to tail, y'feel? I'm just here to get my feather." The pale tan lion sprawled, flexing and wriggling his toes in the long grass as he grinned up at the lioness. She already had her feather. He wondered if it had hurt...nah. Anything she could handle he could handle. He was Ohitekah, after all. "I'm Ohitekah. Of the Shadow Clan, of course!"
Ugh. This male was exhausting. She could already tell. Stupid loud non-stop talker. Amuxiahd managed a half-grimace, half-smile for the chatty male. Normally she'd have done her best to be polite but concise and then left, but just now she was literally trapped. Her clan was resting near another of the clans they'd bumped into, and now seemed as good a time as any to get her tattoos added to. She'd been told to sit still, so still she must sit. Alas, apparently Ohitekah had decided to be friendly. "...Amuxiahd. Of Earth Clan."
Before she'd even finished her introduction he was off again, jabbering like a jay in a tree. "Earth Clan huh? I hear good things about your clan. I mean, well, I hear good things about all the clans. Especially Shadow, but, I mean, obviously." He grinned, not at all aware that perhaps not everyone agreed with his stance on his clan being 'clearly' the best. "Hey, you should check out the tats you're getting man! They look reaaaaally good!" He leaned closer, earning dual grumbles from the lioness and the artist working to permanently dye her fur. "Uh, well, I mean, once you're done, of course."
She rolled her eyes. This would be a trial for certain. She took a deep breath to clear her head and blinked down her nose at the male. "I've not heard much about the other clans. My family seems content to focus on our own clanmates for the moment. It is nice to meet and remeet some faces though. I don't recall meeting you before." Oh no, she'd remember that for sure. "Then again, the clans don't seem to...join...frequently." Of course they had to some times. Many marriages were cross-clan, and even if the clans didn't camp near each other, it wasn't too much work to visit each other or to cross paths when hunting afield.
"Man, I know, right? It's great! I love the festival days, it's like EVERYONE'S part of my clan!" The male roused from his sprawled position as another artisan wandered over, a beaded feather in his mouth. "Looks like it's my turn, huh? Nice." He leaned to the side, grinning even as the artisan took his ear in his mouth. "So anyways, Amuxi...uhm. Amuxiahd? Was that it? Right. You joined up too, right? I mean, if you were born here you'd have way more tattoos. Or maybe you've had a dull life, hmm? I joined too, aaaages ago. I wasn't in a pride before that though. You?" His grin didn't even falter as the artisan chomped down to make the required piercing.
Amu didn't bother to watch the male as he had his earring attached. He really was friendly, if a bit...overbearing. It was mildly annoying, but the more he jabbered on the more harmless she thought he was. Just...energetic. "I came from my pride with my mate when the pride collapsed. We wandered a long time to find another place worth calling home." She shrugged, earning a subtle grumble from the one dying her fur. "The Ela'Wadiyi has been gracious to us. It's home now. I think I'm ready for a slightly duller life. I wouldn't like to have to go wandering again." It was the truth. She'd had enough roaming for now.
The now be-earring'd lion nodded understandingly. Some people just couldn't hack the rogue life. Then again, he liked the Ela too, and if he ever had to leave he'd be pretty upset about it. So he could sort of understand where she was coming from. "Isn't it great? I mean, they're very welcoming. We are, I mean, I guess. It's nice to be 'us' now, not 'them' yeah?" His grin was genuine as he rose to his paws. He was feeling really good now, and the feather flutering in the corner of his eye was worth the dull throb of his ear. He wanted to race back to his clan to show off the trinket! "Hey, I'm done, and it looks like you're done too!"
She sighed and stood as at last the artist stepped away. She lifted a leg to gaze at it. Strange to think the marks painted there would stay forever. Some of them reminded her of the mountains she'd come from, and that made her smile. The artist must have been listening to her story, short and unembellished as it was. "It looks like it. And you're right. 'Us' sounds good." Despite her misgivings, it hadn't been too unbearable to be social with the pumped up lion for so little a time. He was certainly a paw full, and would likely be exasperating at a long term sort of kind of exposure...but he was right. It was 'us' now, not 'them'. And it was good.
"How's this look? Awesome right?" He shook his head, making the earring flopand flutter about. "I knew it would. Yours looks good too! Anyways, it was nice to meet you! You're pretty cool, for an Earth Clan lion. And hey, Earth Clan is still Ela!" He swished his tail, ready to bound away and show off his feather. "Next time there's a festival, look me up, huh? Introduce your mate to me!" And with a spring he was off, already hollering at the top of his lungs to someone he must know, urging them to come 'check out his cool new feather'.
That...wasn't a bad idea. Ohitekah was vastly different from Kuhesh...but maybe that'd be a good thing. Ohi was clearly very social, and maybe he could help bring Ku out of his shell. She bobbed her head as the male went running off, then just sighed and shook her head. Maybe not. Ku wasn't very open to really energetic folks. Ah well. Maybe. "Thanks again for the markings. I've been meaning to get them a while. It's good to finally have them settled," She paused to give a nod of the head to the artist that had dyed her tattoos before continuing back to her clan's half of the range, equally eager to show off her new aquizition, but only for one lion, not everyone.