His usual step wasn't in his paws. Tlaloc was actually rather morose for the moment. Ulimwengu, who refused to go back to her old name after Muhali's influence had left the Kizingo'zaa lands, still rebuffed his attempts at showing her affection. So he'd gone for a long, long walk out in the roguelands. Now and then, he'd pluck a flower, hoping to impress Uli with any one of them. They settled in his mane, waving as he walked. The gold lion hardly noticed as he passed by a pride's lands. "All around me are familiar faces, worn out places, worn out faces... Bright and early for the daily races, going nowhere, going nowhere..."
She was near the border again, not many days after her encounter with the cursed god. Taya paused, finding a particularly lovely yet pungent flower growing in the shade of an acacia tree. Ever so gently, the mostly-black lioness slid her paw under it, lifting it to observe it better. The bright petals contrasted wonderfully with her dark paw, better showing off the coloration. She leaned closer, smelling it and closing her fiery gold eyes. After a moment, a sound reached her ears and she turned, standing back up. Passing by in the distance was a lion she'd never seen before. He didn't have the same aura as the god, though... Who was this, and was he SINGING...?
The male's nose twitched as he smelled a flower. It wasn't one of the ones he wore, but something else. Green eyes raised before turning and looking around, before he spotted the dark lioness. It was only then that he realized he was walking along a border, near a pride's lands. He considered his options for a moment, before turning to collect this new flower. "Their tears are filling up their glasses, no expression, no expression... Hide my head I wanna drown my sorrow, no tomorrow, no tomorrow..." As he drew closer, he could see the lioness was showing interest. Maybe she didn't happen upon too many singing rogues... Then again, he himself didn't happen upon too many singing rogues.
Tan ears twitched a bit, as the lioness licked her lips a bit. It sounded so nice... She started to open her mouth, only to close it again. She couldn't sing... She sounded absolutely TERRIBLE. She always had, and she always would. But as the rogue drew closer, Taya listened to the lyrics, and couldn't help herself. "And I find it kind of funny... I find it kind of sad... The dreams in which I'm dying, are the best I've ever had..." It was such a morose song... Lonely, and plaintive. "I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take... When lions run in circles, it's a very very..."
"Mad world..." He drew close, pausing and looking at the flower. It WAS quite lovely, wasn't it...? But the question was, would he leave it with her, or take it for himself? "Children waiting for the day they feel good, happy birthday, happy birthday..." He placed a paw next to the flower. "And I feel the way that every child should, sit and listen... Sit and listen..." He started to grab the flower, only to find a dark paw on his own. An eyebrow went up. "Went to school and I was very nervous, no one knew me, no one knew me..."
Taya leaned closer, causing the male to lean back. "Hello, teacher, tell me what's my lesson? Look right through me, look right through me..." She pushed his paw away, intent on keeping the flower for herself. "And I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad... The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had..." For all she knew, this flower was some key to finding a cure for the Kitwana's illness. She wasn't letting it go that easily, especially not to some smooth-tongued rogue. Who knew what he'd do with it?
She was being infurriatingly calm... Why was it getting under his skin so much? And all this over a flower... "I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take... When lions run in circles, it's a very very..." He put his paw directly on the stem of the flower. "Mad world..." How could she even stay so calm? And why did SHE want the flower? What purpose could it possibly serve her, anyway? All he wanted was to impress Uli with it! As he looked over her, he suddenly noticed that her coat was rather dull. There was no shine to it, and it was scruffy in a couple spots. It was also the first time he noticed the markings on her face, like part of her skin and flesh had been ripped away to reveal a jaw bone. Now THAT was a creepy marking...
Taya, in the mean time, wasn't as impressed with this male's markings. She'd seen far more impressive marks amid the Kitwana lions. Which seemed ironic to her... None of them seemed destined to live long enough to pass them. As she pressed down on his paw with her own, pricking with her claws, she finally opened her mouth to not sing. "What do you want with this flower? Because I need to see if it's going to actually HELP my pride." If anything, she was going to be blunt and to the point if she had to be.
The question made him recoil in surprise. "What do I want with it? What do YOU want with it?!" He pointed to the flowers in his mane. "You think I'm collecting these just for nothing? I have a girl back home who won't give me the time of DAY.. These are to impress her! And THAT would be the pinnacle of the collection!"
Taya glared at the male. "I NEED it to help my pride!" She motioned with a single dark paw behind her. "These are the Kitwana'antara lands! We spend all day, every day, praying Pestilence will come remove the curse she put on our pride, cure us of the sickness that plagues us all! And THIS flower may help us!" She stared him in the eyes, face hard. "If you're leaving with a flower, you'll leave with a DIFFERENT flower, and not THIS one."
Tlaloc's eyebrow went up suddenly, face calming. "A different flower, eh...?" He thought a moment, then leaned over, whispering something in her ear. When he stepped back, she had a surprised look on her face. "Well...? A good bargain?"
Taya was quiet a moment, before nodding. "Okay. Just no grooming... You'll get sick. And no blood... Got it?"
"Got it." He'd be gone in no time, off on his search for more flowers to bring back to Uli. Just not THIS pungent little flower growing under an acacia tree. He'd leave THAT one for the ill pride to try and derive a cure from.
