a questioning innocence; any

[roan]

“I’ve been away too long though,” she admits, as he tells her that she smells more like the Tundra than he does. There is a trace of regret in her voice, she knows she should never have left but curiosity had got the better of her and although blind, she had trusted her instincts and her sense of smell and went exploring anyway. Her head inclines towards his as he tells her she doesn’t have to worry, her smile genuine and sweet, “Thank you,” and she breathes it out on his skin more than she says it aloud, her lips pressed against what feels like his neck and they slide down to nibble at what feels like his shoulder, affectionate and happy.

It strikes her as a little odd that his company makes her so happy and she’s hardly been here long enough for that to be acceptable, but then she figures, what is truly acceptable beyond their own happinesses? He furthers his likability by telling her his backstory in as many words as he does and her heart goes out to him, making her suck in a breath at the thought of him being kicked out by those he was meant to have implicit trust in and she cannot help murmuring her own apologies for those cruel enough to do that to him, her lips still caught up in the growing shag of his fur where he may not be able to hear them. “I do want to,” she tells him, “It’s the only home I’ve ever known and nowhere else could ever feel like that for me.” Her admission is shocking, even to her - what mare in her right mind would willingly subject herself to the harsh unfriendly extremes of the Tundra or the attentions of the stallions that live there? But Roan was once a princess here, never mistreated or harmed, and she thinks that could still be the case - that she’ll not suffer here, or be ridiculed, and while not entirely welcomed, she might be allowed to live out her days here in the cold quiet peace of the land.

She can feel his nose in her mane, ruffling the hairs there, and she smiles, equally as content as he seems to be and that’s how they pass the time, in companionable quiet and short, nervous, but affectionate touches. Roan thinks she almost knows him as well as she knows the Tundra, however well that may be, and she is ever glad of his company.

ooc: just wrapping this thread up so we can start a new one in which bryn can see, roan and i just love him! <3