He had long since dried.
Patient was not exactly something anyone would ever consider him. But he was today. Endlessly patient. He waited so goddamn long. As long as it took. Until the girl was alone, her parents gone or her wandering ways removing her from them. He'd watched for a while, a long while, and analyzed where was the best place to be. Away from the chance of a run-in with her parents, either of them, but near enough to catch her attention eventually.
However long it took.
He'd grown tired of standing, and besides, he was a little frightful to look at. Not at all the beautiful colt he once was, so smooth and sleek and filled out. Muscled, even. Now skin and bones shielded by larger bones, filling him back out in a solid uniform of armor plates. And bloody, usually. It no longer hurt when they shifted, when they grew and pushed further out of his scrawny body, but it still bled like hell.
His black gaze scanned his body idly, observing if he was indeed bleeding currently. Eh, maybe a little. Not as bad as it sometimes gets. Though maybe lowering his bulk to the ground like this would be at least a little less like a giant nightmare. Who knew. It was nice to rest for a bit though. These bones weren't exactly weightless.
And then he just watched with sleepless, bloodshot eyes, and waited.
Patiently.
we're slaves to any semblance of touch
Lord, we should quit but we love it too much