"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
She glides through the undergrowth at a long, lilted gait, gray mane with its odd rusty streaks bouncing about on the curvature of her neck. While she's not too far from Hyaline, that's where her thoughts lie. Is she making the right decision? Will she truly be a valuable member of a herd? She thought she wanted to go somewhere to think, but deep in her bones she feels as though she already knows where home is, or at least where she wants it to be. Why would she want to be anywhere else but in the land where the solemn mountains tower above her, where the rivers serve as her guide? The truth is, she doesn't want to be anywhere else.
Her mind snaps back to the present, just in time for her to see a short tree stump directly in her path - but not in time to maneuver around it. She sort of bolts to the side at the last second, but the tip of her right hoof doesn't clear the object, and she falls halfway forward, halfway to the right, landing with a dull thud, her rear legs folded to the left and her front legs in a kneeling position. Thalassa shakes herself and slowly gets up, straightening one foreleg at a time, and lurching the rest of the way up from her hindquarters. She bends her right leg slowly; no serious damage has been done, just bruising on her right knee.
As she walks slowly, slightly favoring her right foreleg, her ears swivel towards the sound of rushing water. She follows it to the river. She's never been here before, but of course, she has to explore. Thal reaches the water's edge and tentatively places her foot in, up to the pastern, testing the temperature. Seeing as it's summer, the water is cool but not overly frigid, a perfect way to ease some tension from her bruised knee, and cool off in the summer heat. She wades in, being careful of the footing; the last thing she needs is to lose traction and get caught in the current. The water is a bit above her knees now, and she nickers softly at the relaxation yielded by the river. Savoring the feel of the summer sunshine on her steel gray coat, she closes her eyes, content. @Leilan
Thalassa
MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL, I ALWAYS GET UP AFTER I FALL
Your beauty is beyond compare - oh, if I could hear but one song from you
I shall hail thee Queen of Birds...
It’s not every day one can make a crashing appearance, and to the roan, it’s quite new that someone else is doing it instead of him. He looks up at the sounds of something pretty large crashing into bushes or, something of the like, but sees nothing. After some flaring of nostrils and hearing nothing else, it seems that it wasn’t a predator.
Besides, it had been on the other side of the river. No big deal. The gold-streaked bay roan continues his wandering walk, nearing the gurgling sound of the water. It’s summer, which means the river’s surroundings would be the best place to reside, instead of the already-hot tropical forest of Ischia. The trees provide shade and shelter, and near a water source it always feels a little cooler, but now it is nearing the heat of the day, and so he had decided to go towards the water and enter it perhaps.
When he clears the treeline, he spots a white-spotted mare walking a little awkwardly, and doing just what he was about to - enter the water. While on the other riverbank he has a great view of her, it’s kind of awkward to just go in and not talk, so he nickers at her to get her attention first. ”Hey there, angel. Was that you who just came crashing down from heaven?” he smirks a bit, stepping into the water on his side slowly. He’d have to swim a bit to reach her, so he hopes she doesn’t see him as a threat.
Standing still once in the water, he cocks his head at her. ”Seriously though, that must have hurt. Are you okay?” he wants to know.
"dear crow, your voice is right enough; but where are your wits?"
there's something here that doesn't make sense
let's go and poke it with a stick
@[Thalassa]
Two things I know I can make: pretty kids, and people mad.
Thal is grateful for the cool environment near the river, providing some solace from pesky flies and gnats. She paces in small circles in the water, thick mane and tail floating along behind her. She curls her slender neck, dipping her muzzle into the water, and takes a long drink. Before she pulls her head back up, she blows into the water, sending an army of bubbles up from the water. She giggles at herself, feeling like a filly again, but she just had to do it once. She may be 'too old' for it, but it was fun, nonetheless.
Thal's nostrils flare as she inhales the scent of a newcomer, turning her head towards the smell, and spotting movement at the treeline she watches as a bay roan stallion emerges from the leafy canopy. She doesn't stare, as he approaches the bank opposite of the one she is closest to, but she turns her head to get a better look at him when he speaks. He is handsome, flashy gold streaks in his mane and tail, striking roan markings, similar to hers. He nickers softly as he enters the water. But of course, he had to open his mouth. She snorts. "Where'd you get your pick up lines? If I were you, I'd return them." But the smile that graced her lips and her gleaming eyes gave away the fact that she was amused. She swims towards him until they are only a few feet apart. Thal's smile widens at his expressed concern. "You saw that? Lovely." Sarcasm tinges her voice. "I'm fine. It's just a bruise." She shivers a bit as a breeze chills her dampened coat. "I'm Thalassa, by the way. Most call me Thal." @Leilan
Thalassa
MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL, I ALWAYS GET UP AFTER I FALL
Your beauty is beyond compare - oh, if I could hear but one song from you
I shall hail thee Queen of Birds...
The drafty stallion grins at her rebuke. Good - not such a cheesy girl. Worth talking to then. ”Who says I’m picking up anything?” he counters nonchalantly. He chuckles though, seeing her look. Still flattered anyway, so he can continue that road easily. ”Aside from your pretty looks of course.” he winks.
By now she’s swimming against the current, and makes it to his side. While the river isn’t at it’s highest point any longer, it can still be tricky, but she pulls it off. Impressive.
At his comment about her being hurt he shakes his head. ”No, but it sounded like you took half a tree with you.” He moves a little closer and bends his neck to inspect her right knee and side. Seems she was badly bruised, but nothing other than that. ”Guess you’re in luck. I can help you with cooling it down without drowning yourself though, if you like.” he offers, seeing her shiver. Sure, it would require standing just a few more inches closer, but her coat is now damp all over her back from swimming and it seems she doesn’t like that much.
She offers her name - he smiles sheepishly. ”Leilan. Pleasure to meet you, Princess.” Not that he thinks she is an actual princess, but every girl wants to be one at some point, and - well it was an idea he’d picked up that was inspired by a friend of his. Margaux might be a little... out of the ordinary, but making up nicknames on the go was pretty funny. Maybe Thal would rather stick with just the one nickname, but hey, as long as it was enjoyable on both sides, it was good.
Come to think of it, that counted for about everything he did. Or, most things, anyway.
"dear crow, your voice is right enough; but where are your wits?"
there's something here that doesn't make sense
let's go and poke it with a stick
@[Thalassa]
Two things I know I can make: pretty kids, and people mad.
Now that she is closer to him, she can't help but notice his towering figure. She is short, slender and dainty, a tribute to her pureblooded Arabian heritage. While he isn't necessarily massive, he is big, muscular and tall. His athletic build and quick-witted tongue are attractive, and she must concede that she's enjoying their playful banter.
She replies to his deep chuckle with a bouncy, musical giggle of her own as he winks; she thinks he looks stupid doing it, but perhaps that is the point, and he's fishing for laughter. He continues his flattery, before making a remark about how she crashed through the forest on her way to the river. "Nope, just a stump." She smirks. She feels a bit self-consious as he peers at her injuries, but her features do not change.
Thal raises her head and her espresso-hued eyes find his, as he offers help with her leg. "And exactly how would you do that?" Her expression is inquisitive.
He gives his name, along with another cheesy nickname for her. She lets out a singular, scoffing chuckle. "Well, Leilan, I think I like 'angel' better." Her countenance sparkles with mirth.
She wonders where the bay roan stallion comes from, where he calls home, and if he's a member in a herd. She doesn't think he's from Hyaline, or she would have seen him there...he isn't the type of equine she'd forget. Perhaps he was herdless, or from a different herd. Thal didn't know how many herds or territories there even were.
She turned her attention back to Leilan as she waited for his response; since lack of paying attention is what got her injured in the first place. She was simply a dreamer by nature. @Leilan
Thalassa
MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL, I ALWAYS GET UP AFTER I FALL
Your beauty is beyond compare - oh, if I could hear but one song from you
I shall hail thee Queen of Birds...
He shakes her head when she says it’s just a stump. ”That makes me partly right.” he deduces, with a confident nonchalance to his voice. He’s more interested in her sleek form than in the tree, but, it’s possible he is interested in everything, everyone female that moves around and is mostly healthy.
He question puts his attention back where it belongs - for now - and he smirks right back at her. ”Well, don’t tell, but I got a neat little trick when I got the gold.” He figures she stands close enough to feel it anyway (or he stands close enough, boldy), so with a conscious thought, he starts to emit an aura of frosty air, as if he’d the source of winter. He’s not touching her now, and is also prety sure she won’t touch him, for it is strong enough to call a small frostbite. Although in summer that’s probably less bad than in winter (is it? Maybe it would get sunburned easily), he still would not recommend it. But she seems smart enough not to. At least, smart enough to not take down trees, just treestumps.
She scoffs at the princessy nickname, and he shrugs. ”Fine, angel Thal it is.” he shrugs a little, looking at her smaller frame before him. ”Do you have a home, little angel? One where you can rest from your affair with the tree stump?”
"dear crow, your voice is right enough; but where are your wits?"
there's something here that doesn't make sense
let's go and poke it with a stick
@[Thalassa]
Two things I know I can make: pretty kids, and people mad.
Thalassa feigns a frown at his words. "Well, I guess I'll allow 'partly right'. I wouldn't want to inflate your ego any more than its already massive size," she retorts playfully. She notices his eyes on her petite frame, so she returns the attention, shamelessly staring at him, his rippling muscles, thick mane and most of all, the golden hues throughout his hair, as though he'd been kissed by the sun. Her ears perk towards him as he refers to his 'neat little trick'.
She snorts with surprise as icy air radiates from his body. Her features contort with wonderment, as she's never felt anything like it before. "Interesting. I didn't know there was magic here." Her words come out light and breathy, barely heard over the summer birdsong and the river's chatter. Well, he can certainly put a spell on me, in more ways than one, she thinks wryly.
When he asks her about her home, she thinks of Hyaline. She isn't exactly a member yet, but she knows what she wants, and she won't allow anything to stand in the way of that. "Hyaline is my home, or at least I plan for it to be. I visited it with one of the leaders, and I guess it was just love at first sight, as corny as that may be." A genuine, bright smile creased her muzzle. "Oh, I wouldn't call it an affair exactly. It's more of an abusive relationship," she retorts with mock seriousness. "Alright, lover boy, what do you do for fun around here? Besides shamelessly flirting." She realizes, somewhat surprised, that she's flirting back. Whatever, she's not above hypocrisy. @Leilan
Thalassa
MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL, I ALWAYS GET UP AFTER I FALL
Your beauty is beyond compare - oh, if I could hear but one song from you
I shall hail thee Queen of Birds...
For one not wanting to inflate his ego, she does a pretty good job at checking him out; and doing just about that. But he knows where to stop gloating if he ever wants to get half a chance with her, so he doesn’t retort. In fact, he lowers his head and reaches out for her ear, emitting a playful snort that is bound to set her forelock dancing and tickle her near or in that very same ear. He retreats with a challenging grin on his face, though it is more of a warm smile when she says she doesn’t know about magic. ”Magic? Well, no, I really only do this stuff, nothing else I promise. You haven’t met a lot of other horses here then?” he concludes. To be honest, that might be better for him, she wouldn’t have liked him as much if she knew all his history, no doubt. But he’s never one to lay down an opportunity to get a lady to like him, because those distractoins are all he lives for at the moment.
But he hasn’t do much but be physically attractive and add a bit of humourous charm. She’s already knocked off her feet it seems. One side of him wants to exploit that, explore her body, he’s never seen a full blood Arabian mare - up close, like this - but common sense says that she is injured and he should not be taking advantage. She’s a damsel in distress, or something.
He remembers the other distressed damsels, Briseis being one, with their unintended but lovely daughter. Roseen being another, her lack of a certain self-image that had bene the main reason perhaps to draw him in. Can he help her feel better? Can she help him in return? That’s the deal they made that day, one promise he intends to keep.
Angel has an answer for him he doesn’t particularly like at first thought - Hyaline is where Briseis lives with the baby girl who is obviously his daughter - but sthen she mentions that she intends it to be, and since she is clearly not all down-to-earth any more and doesn’t mention meeting Briseis or Chryseis, he’ll take it. Whatever that may mean.
He grins when she returns the mockery. A match then, a thin one, but okay. This might work out in the end. Or not - this might end the very same way as every other fling or relationship (ahum, want to call it that?) he’s ever had with anyone. But so far so good, nothing to worry, give it time to grow.
He realizes she asked a question then, and thinks back on what she had been telling his subconscious rather than his consciousness. ”Hmm. A tough one....” he sticks out his tongue before continuing. ”Some sparring with my brothers, but mostly I’d say swimming. And checking out the girls from below when I do.” he jokes. See what she makes of that.
"dear crow, your voice is right enough; but where are your wits?"
there's something here that doesn't make sense
let's go and poke it with a stick
@[Thalassa]
Two things I know I can make: pretty kids, and people mad.
Her long eyelashes flutter in surprise when rather than flashing her a wink and one of his usual quick-witted remarks, that muscular neck reaches towards her face and he snorts, a short burst of air flicking her wispy forelocks into her eyes, his breath nuzzling her ear.
For just a second, she is still, breathless, fighting a shiver that threatens to betray her. For just a second, she fails and lets her guard down. Fortunately, it is re-erected just as quickly as it left; caution usually cloaks her like a caterpillar's cocoon. Perhaps not with Leilan, though, not all the time. Maybe it's because he's the first stallion she's met in Beqanna. Maybe it's because she hasn't had someone to flirt with in a long time. Or maybe, keeping the iron shield up simply becomes too draining.
She smiles at him before her stunned silence can become deafening. "Not many at all. Only one before you, and she was very kind, but not nearly as charming." She studies him, his expression. Behind the carefree winsomeness, there is hidden damage. "You know, Leilan, I think you're not just a pretty face with a flirtatious grin. There's more to you than that, and I want to find out what." Her expression displays her trademark lopsided smirk, but her chocolate eyes are quietly determined. She needed a new challenge, maybe 'loverboy' was it.
Thal scoffs at his response. "Wow, and I thought you had more game than a hormone-riddled adolescent." She nudges his shoulder with hers playfully. @Leilan
Thalassa
MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL, I ALWAYS GET UP AFTER I FALL
Your beauty is beyond compare - oh, if I could hear but one song from you
I shall hail thee Queen of Birds...
The bay roan chuckles inwardly at the sight of her - lost, so lost. He's doing a very good job at his flirting, but to be honest, he's practised with many, many other mares before her, so she's not to blame for falling for it.
When she speaks she tells of meeting one mare, apparently a recruiter for Hyaline then. His ears perked forward at the notion that she wasn't as charming, he can't help but add to that. "Well, what can I say, it comes natural to me." His tone is self-mocking, and for a moment she looks him in the eye up close. Apparently she saw enough of the things not-as-hidden-as-he'd-thought; she starts about there being more to him, that he must have debts and seriousness hidden away, and he simply grins at her. "Sure. Keep telling yourself that."
His previous answer got him a scoff, and he shrugs at her, but smiles because she is on to him. "I've tried the serious adulting-thing, but it bores me, so I quit it." He shoves her back with a grin, then lifts his right hoof suddenly and splashes it down in the water hard, just to shower her face. "Gotcha!"
"dear crow, your voice is right enough; but where are your wits?"
there's something here that doesn't make sense
let's go and poke it with a stick
@[Thalassa]
Two things I know I can make: pretty kids, and people mad.
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