Ben and Tyree were happy to see many of the friends they'd had before participating in the project to bring back the Thylacine, if only as an Animalian, as well as the friends they'd made after becoming Thylacine Animalians. Some things, such as the aboriginal people that had seemed revere them was a bit of a surprise and certain aspects of it were uneasy, but they had agreed to work with it. It was something that would make certain things that Animalia wanted a bit more possible.
Things like "colonies" was the biggest tipping point. Animalia had made many assurances that these colonies weren't to be secessionist from the countries they were in. In this, laws and rules at Vilcabamba, Mieni, New Zerzura, or Maelewano might have local laws that allowed for certain things that differed from the countries they were in, but they would also still abide by the national laws in those countries and would also pay the appropriate taxes in those countries. It was figured that with some of the tourist attractions to these colonies, there would then be elements that would bring money in to the point where the colony could sustain itself through other businesses and actions that wouldn't be dependent on the tourist industry.
And in general, this was acceptable to many of the countries Animalia had worked with. Mieni, New Zerzura, Maelewano, Heiya Island, and Skull Island were all built on islands that had no local population or were in areas where there was no direct ownership of the land by anyone. That made Horizon buying the land easier in order to help Animalia get its colonies. Others like the proposed European colonies in the UK and Spain had nobles who owned land or property in the area become Animalians themselves, and thus providing some measure of legal acceptance for the colony in that the owner was part of the colony.
But other areas had some snags. Japan was willing to cooperate for a "colony building" in Tokyo, but because of limited land area, they couldn't build a new building without dismantling an old one or massively renovating it, and either would require massive moving efforts for residents and it would take time to get all that planned, even if the new building would be big enough to house both those presently living there and the expected additional Animalians that would move in. Dino City in Texas and the hopes for an Australia colony had run into the fact that there were private citizens LIVING in the areas where the colonies were hoped to be established and had little to no intention of either moving or converting. Dino City had ultimately been accepted on the condition that none of the Humans that lived there would be evicted or would lose their jobs to Animalians. Ben and Tyree had run into the same problem in Australia, and it was only with some of the support and help from the aboriginal people's support for them that the Australian government was able to come to terms on allowing for the buying of land for a colony city and often had the same condition that Dino City had, that no Animalian would take a Human's job or home.
That was the real thing that Ben and Tyree had to celebrate that some of those issues and hurdles were over. Construction might take awhile, but the legal hurdles that blocked that were handled. The marriage and the wedding were just extras in the bigger picture of things, though both Thylacine Animalians were happy to have everything legally completed between them. The friends and even family that had come the wedding made things even better.
"So where do ya plan on goin' for your honeymoon, you two?" Melbourne asked them as they nibbled on the steaks that they had with them, "I figure you've traveled around enough tryin' to chase me down that ya've seen everything."
"There's actually a pretty good camping spot not to far away," Ben commented to his uncle, "we have a tent and some gear... and figured that might just be a good place for some peace and quiet. No calls running interference for Horizon with the government over colony locations. Nothing hectic with the zoo..."
"And Eva and Carson have been settling into some of their roles there quite well," Tyree gave a smile.
"How is she doing?" Melbourne wondered, "I heard a while back that she'd laid an egg after being uplifted."
"Eva and her puggle are doing fine, and Carson has been an attentive father," Tyree answered, "I think their daughter's fur has started coming in... but not her spines. A lot of it seems to be at the same aging rate as humans but from the same starting point of development as what a normal Echidna would start at."
Melbourne nodded, as Echidnas as monotremes didn't develop in the same way most mammals did. Most mammals on Earth were placental, which meant that while they would still need protecting and raising by their mother, father, or family unit, they would be physically formed enough that they wouldn't need physical attachment to the mother to live. Australia's monotremes and marsupials would have different requirements. Echidnas laid eggs and the young wouldn't be as fully developed when they hatched, rather like some bird species. Marsupials, like the Thylacine, would give birth fairly quickly after conception and the under-developed young would crawl to the mother's pouch and develop there while attached to nipple like structures in the pouch. From some things, it was suggested that Marsupial Animalians still would have that sort of development process, which might ultimately give Ben and Tyree some things to think about, but Melbourne wasn't going to mess with that on their wedding day.
"Good to hear," Melbourne answered with a smile, "and hope you have fun with your camping trip."
"And you with the Animalia Ambassadoria group that came out," Ben commented, "Make sure they don't run into any Salties."
"Don't worry," Melbourne laughed, "if we get onto any water, there WILL be a boat to ride."
That earned a laugh in return as things returned to normal, though the evening was also starting to wind down. A few of the guests had already wished Ben and Tyree their "congratulations" and made their way out, and it wasn't too long before the cleanup began and even Ben and Tyree did their part in that.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
The cleanup wasn't too bad and arguably it was more the changing of clothes and driving to the campsite that took the most time, but as they arrived there, they found calm, quiet, and relaxed. A perfect place to relax and get away many of their other problems. It was a bit late, particularly as the wedding feast had been plentiful, but Ben let their SUV's engine idle while having the lights essentially aimed at the area where they would set up the tent.
"Things are pretty quiet," Tyree noted as Ben began assembling the tent.
Ben twisted one ear around and picked up only a few sounds in the grass and area around the campsite. Some of it might have just been the breeze and the rest might have been insects. Otherwise things were calm and there was nothing there of note. He even smiled as he finished getting the poles threaded through the fibers of the tent.
"Which will be a good thing," Ben answered, "where we can be away from all the noise of cars, phones, and machinery. Not have to wrestle with schedules, governments, and pushy people... Just two Thylacines, in love, and with pristine nature around them."
Tyree returned the smile and handed a modest sized hammer and one of the stakes to hold the tent to the ground. Ben took it and then proceeded to hammer the stakes in, with only the loud pings of the hammer hitting the stake breaking the otherwise quietness of the night and she even managed to marvel at him in her own way. Ben was never ugly or weak or any sort of negative description one would use when he was Human, but he was never the adventuring archeologist that his uncle Melbourne was. In that, Tyree figured there had to be some interesting story that got Melbourne interested in not only dealing with archeological digs but also with dealing with potentially dangerous animals. An archeologist could come to a place that might have dangerous animals, but he generally wouldn't have training or major knowledge to deal with those animals. An animal behaviorist and control agent could deal with wild and dangerous animals, but might not know much about archeology. Melbourne seemed to know both. And it had ultimately lead to Melbourne having a build and confidence that Ben didn't have when he was Human.
But now as an Animalian, Ben had developed a lot of that, and Tyree wasn't going to complain. He was strong, fast, and very well endowed. It had served on a few occasions to get Tyree fantasizing on some ideas and now on her wedding night, watching Ben move around to hammer the tent stakes in, she had some new ideas. Eventually Ben did finish and stood up erect for a moment to wipe his brow. He moved to look over to see Tyree turn the key to turn the SUV's engine off and then turn off its lights. The area dimmed, but not too much and he was able to make his way forward.
"Tyree..." Ben called to her.
"Hush... lets go back to the tent... it's up now," Tyree answered as she shut the door to the SUV and turned to him.
"Yes, it's up..." Ben began, "but our clothes the food..."
"The food is safe in the SUV and we can get our clothes later," Tyree smiled as she came closer and Ben could pick a slight scent of arousal on her, "After you're little workout there... I have something else you can hammer into..."
"You seem a mite interested," Ben commented, though also feeling his pants getting a bit tight as Tyree pressed herself against him.
Tyree only gave a playful smile, "Well... it is my wedding night..."