i'll use you as a makeshift gauge

[Ivar]

I V A R i'll use you as a makeshift gauge of how much to give and how much to take A bit of movement at the corner of his eye draws the piebald’s attention away from the lavender pegasus, and Ivar turns his head to see another stranger coming down the beach. At first he think it is Circinae with the bright green hair, but it seems that Ischia is populated by doppelgängers, and the mare that approaches the two stallions is entirely unfamiliar. His expression doesn’t change at her arrival (the half-interested smile remains on his pale mouth), but when she greets the purple stallion beside him with bold dislike, he does become self more visibly interested. Klaudius, she calls him, and Ivar remembers an older colt from his childhood in Sylva. Karaugh’s son, the kelpie remembers, and he scrutinized the stallion to find some resemblance to the mare he knows. Perhaps there is something of the bay mare in this winged stallion (there is certainly a pride in the way they hold themselves), but Ivar doesn’t have time to ponder especially long. His ears flick forward curiously as the purple stallion calls her ‘sister’. The flap of emerald wings brings Ivar’s gaze back to the mare, but it doesn’t remain there long. Instead he finds that Kylin is coming up behind her, a warm smile on her familiar purple face. As she reaches up to tug at his mane, Ivar presses a soft touch to the base of her throat, and he slides his muzzle down to her shoulder as she pulls away, resting it briefly - perhaps possessively - across her piebald withers. Kylin covers the introductions, and this when Ivar’s brown gaze meets Krone’s, it is with far more interest. “Circinae didn’t stay long, then.” He says aloud, his voice alluring despite the perfect neutrality of his tone. Ivar cannot help what he is; charm and charisma are as ingrained into him as the scales across his body. “She chose you to rule after her then, Krone?” Despite the linguistic similarities in their names (Ivar knows of the Covelings and their odd habits), the kelpie suspects that this winged mare is not someone that Kylin considers family. She has said that her family left the island - that everyone had left the island. Circinae’s arrival here had been unexpected, and it seems her time in the tropical land had been short-lived as well. Klaudius takes his leave then, and Ivar turns his handsome face back to the lavender stallion. He says he trusts they’re safe but that he will not be far. Ivar suspects that Krone might be less than pleased by his remaining near, but he makes no comment on it. Nor does he comment that Klaudius’ proximity has no bearing on the safety of the mares. He could remain standing directly beside them and still would be unable to stop Ivar if he wished them harm. It’s fortunate, then, that Ivar’s intention are (mostly) harmless. king of loess minimal smoky grullo tobiano | equus kelpus