06-06-2020, 03:24 PM
Funny. He’d asked the strange mare in Taiga if he should leave, too. This time it felt more awkward hearing it rather than saying it, and he understood the roan mare’s reaction a bit better now. He wanted to find the strength to say what she’d said - Should I want you to leave? To the jeweled horse, but he couldn’t find it within himself to be the confrontational type. Especially not when he’d intruded into this mare’s home and disturbed her peaceful solitude. The longer it took him to come to this conclusion, the more his silence sounded like unspoken affirmation and the leggy chestnut blew a gust of defeated air from his nostrils when he saw Amarine flutter and twist her dark legs as if to escape the ordeal.
Nice going, casanova. He thought to himself, turning his ears down. The wind crept up from the waves and blew the wetness against his skin, dampening Yanhua and dripping from the ends of his dull, golden hair. He was willing to let her go peacefully but at the last second his audience paused and spoke up.
She… comforted him.
That’s a first, he thought, seeing her blink and turn her head away as if he’d reached across the empty space between them and physically struck her. The expression tormented him - that he could’ve caused it! Then suddenly the realization struck him: he felt the reflection of his own embarrassment, just a snippet of the memory of his earlier stumble, but it was being mirrored back at him through Amarine. She was the vessel, and she’d known I was embarrassed, not irritated or otherwise, Yanhua pondered silently.
He closed his eyes. “Wait a moment, please.” He spoke up above the gentle noise of Nerine’s ocean, knowing exactly what he was asking of her but hoping that the result would be worth her discomfort. Yanhua breathed in the smell of salt and stone, letting the sounds and the scents wash over him as he searched for focus and a center of peace, and gradually (as he exhaled) he found it. Memories of hazy lovers who’d walked this path, visions of the ocean at its calmest - when it was like a gray sheet of unbroken glass. They came to him and left the young stallion wholly at one with happiness.
He opened his eyes again, illuminated by the fuzzy glow of his brightly gleaming mane and tail, and asked “Is this better?” in a rich, smooth tenor.
Her face, her reactions, her desire for solitude… he knew them well. Yanhua smiled as gently as he could and took in the sight of the strange, beautiful mare once more. He’d try harder to control himself now, for both their sake, but he most certainly did not want her to disappear just as he was beginning to suspect they might be so similar. “Thanks for the words of encouragement. Most of the time I’m the one doing the encouraging… that was unexpected.” He dropped his head briefly, nodding. “I’m Yanhua, from Taiga.” He told her.
Nice going, casanova. He thought to himself, turning his ears down. The wind crept up from the waves and blew the wetness against his skin, dampening Yanhua and dripping from the ends of his dull, golden hair. He was willing to let her go peacefully but at the last second his audience paused and spoke up.
She… comforted him.
That’s a first, he thought, seeing her blink and turn her head away as if he’d reached across the empty space between them and physically struck her. The expression tormented him - that he could’ve caused it! Then suddenly the realization struck him: he felt the reflection of his own embarrassment, just a snippet of the memory of his earlier stumble, but it was being mirrored back at him through Amarine. She was the vessel, and she’d known I was embarrassed, not irritated or otherwise, Yanhua pondered silently.
He closed his eyes. “Wait a moment, please.” He spoke up above the gentle noise of Nerine’s ocean, knowing exactly what he was asking of her but hoping that the result would be worth her discomfort. Yanhua breathed in the smell of salt and stone, letting the sounds and the scents wash over him as he searched for focus and a center of peace, and gradually (as he exhaled) he found it. Memories of hazy lovers who’d walked this path, visions of the ocean at its calmest - when it was like a gray sheet of unbroken glass. They came to him and left the young stallion wholly at one with happiness.
He opened his eyes again, illuminated by the fuzzy glow of his brightly gleaming mane and tail, and asked “Is this better?” in a rich, smooth tenor.
Her face, her reactions, her desire for solitude… he knew them well. Yanhua smiled as gently as he could and took in the sight of the strange, beautiful mare once more. He’d try harder to control himself now, for both their sake, but he most certainly did not want her to disappear just as he was beginning to suspect they might be so similar. “Thanks for the words of encouragement. Most of the time I’m the one doing the encouraging… that was unexpected.” He dropped his head briefly, nodding. “I’m Yanhua, from Taiga.” He told her.