Eck, she's very much a diplomat on this visit. Poised and proper and all that - he's gonna have to try harder to crack her, he thinks as she stows away her laughter and offers him a rather normal greeting.
He lets himself be distracted by Alcinder, very purposefully delaying the inevitable. "Hey kid, don't worry about it. It's nothing to do with you." he reaches out to ruffle the colt's forelock if he gets the chance; if not, he'll retreat just as easily with a small bump to the young man's head. "Feel free to explore." he offers the young male - certainly he wouldn't actually want to watch the adults talk. "Just don't fall into the cracks. You might get cooked alive." he adds casually - it should be enough to pique his curiosity at least temporarily, unless Oceane had forbid him to leave her side beforehand. Just so, then.
The ice-covered male then turns his chocolate eyes back on Oceane, taking a more blue hint until they're icy blue once more during the first sentence she speaks. For the sake of their personal friendship, he hears her out completely, not interrupting before she finishes. "It definitely needs restoring." he starts with, looking at the mare who'd transformed from his friend to a diplomat representing her country - while he could not blame her for it, it wouldn't mean he had to go easy on her for the sake of their personal friendship. "I take it the trip to Nerine wasn't as fruitful as she hoped it to be. Northerners can be quite the stubborn sort." He says it with a shrug, as if it doesn't mean anything personally, though it is a warning for what else is to come. Neither Eurwen, Lilliana, or Neverwhere even, would have left him in the dark about an alliance between the two kingdoms if there was one - at least that he knows for sure; there's no way he'll fall for the implication that they are on good terms now and this is merely a formality.
Musing over her offerings, he chuckles once when he picks up Alcinder's comment, though his eyes don't leave the mother. "I'm so tempted to accept that offer." his eyes never leave the blue-and-purple opalescent mare's face as he carefully lays out each next word before her. "But it would take longer than a day or even a month, and Noah didn't seem all too eager to join us on our trip back to the Isle when we visited. In fact, she didn't even mention any sort of ability when we asked." For this to work, the poor mare would have to work day and night for probably a year or so. He very much doubts that that is what Oceane meant to offer; they'd lose a leader for too long a time. "Besides, where would your offer leave me, Oceane? In Lepis' debt? She didn't order Castile's attack, so I doubt she'll take any responsibility for it." He shakes his head. He's studied her actions long enough now. That she'd always worked in the shadows before, didn't mean she had changed upon gaining the crown for herself.
His lets his icy gaze go from Oceane to their surroundings, to Alcinder, then to the southern sea, as if mulling it over aloud. "So what could Loess offer, that we can't already take for ourselves?" And have taken? The world is at their feet - ripe for the taking. The only thing they lack besides the food they secretly and openly take? New blood and with it, family ties. So what does he want instead? "I want security. The oldest sort of alliance - blood ties. Wards and in due time, perhaps it'll lead to marriages." He deliberately doesn't look at her son - that would imply he intends to keep him here right now; but if he wants to come it must be a decision both him and his mother would make together, not right here on the spot. They're also free to send someone else.
"So keep your quick-fixes and settle for long-term. Here's my counter-offer. One yearling or two-year old each year, to stay the year. I'll see to their training personally. They decide where they want to live afterwards. In return, you get your alliance - and a bunch of well-trained Loessians, over time." A truce, in fact, he will want with each kingdom if he can establish it. But it's Loess that is the more desperate - they can set the example.
Probably not the kind of answer nor offer that she wanted, he knows. But he really has no need for eating out of Loess' hand, and even that temporarily.
He lets himself be distracted by Alcinder, very purposefully delaying the inevitable. "Hey kid, don't worry about it. It's nothing to do with you." he reaches out to ruffle the colt's forelock if he gets the chance; if not, he'll retreat just as easily with a small bump to the young man's head. "Feel free to explore." he offers the young male - certainly he wouldn't actually want to watch the adults talk. "Just don't fall into the cracks. You might get cooked alive." he adds casually - it should be enough to pique his curiosity at least temporarily, unless Oceane had forbid him to leave her side beforehand. Just so, then.
The ice-covered male then turns his chocolate eyes back on Oceane, taking a more blue hint until they're icy blue once more during the first sentence she speaks. For the sake of their personal friendship, he hears her out completely, not interrupting before she finishes. "It definitely needs restoring." he starts with, looking at the mare who'd transformed from his friend to a diplomat representing her country - while he could not blame her for it, it wouldn't mean he had to go easy on her for the sake of their personal friendship. "I take it the trip to Nerine wasn't as fruitful as she hoped it to be. Northerners can be quite the stubborn sort." He says it with a shrug, as if it doesn't mean anything personally, though it is a warning for what else is to come. Neither Eurwen, Lilliana, or Neverwhere even, would have left him in the dark about an alliance between the two kingdoms if there was one - at least that he knows for sure; there's no way he'll fall for the implication that they are on good terms now and this is merely a formality.
Musing over her offerings, he chuckles once when he picks up Alcinder's comment, though his eyes don't leave the mother. "I'm so tempted to accept that offer." his eyes never leave the blue-and-purple opalescent mare's face as he carefully lays out each next word before her. "But it would take longer than a day or even a month, and Noah didn't seem all too eager to join us on our trip back to the Isle when we visited. In fact, she didn't even mention any sort of ability when we asked." For this to work, the poor mare would have to work day and night for probably a year or so. He very much doubts that that is what Oceane meant to offer; they'd lose a leader for too long a time. "Besides, where would your offer leave me, Oceane? In Lepis' debt? She didn't order Castile's attack, so I doubt she'll take any responsibility for it." He shakes his head. He's studied her actions long enough now. That she'd always worked in the shadows before, didn't mean she had changed upon gaining the crown for herself.
His lets his icy gaze go from Oceane to their surroundings, to Alcinder, then to the southern sea, as if mulling it over aloud. "So what could Loess offer, that we can't already take for ourselves?" And have taken? The world is at their feet - ripe for the taking. The only thing they lack besides the food they secretly and openly take? New blood and with it, family ties. So what does he want instead? "I want security. The oldest sort of alliance - blood ties. Wards and in due time, perhaps it'll lead to marriages." He deliberately doesn't look at her son - that would imply he intends to keep him here right now; but if he wants to come it must be a decision both him and his mother would make together, not right here on the spot. They're also free to send someone else.
"So keep your quick-fixes and settle for long-term. Here's my counter-offer. One yearling or two-year old each year, to stay the year. I'll see to their training personally. They decide where they want to live afterwards. In return, you get your alliance - and a bunch of well-trained Loessians, over time." A truce, in fact, he will want with each kingdom if he can establish it. But it's Loess that is the more desperate - they can set the example.
Probably not the kind of answer nor offer that she wanted, he knows. But he really has no need for eating out of Loess' hand, and even that temporarily.
nothing burns like the cold
Leilan
@[Oceane]
Two things I know I can make: pretty kids, and people mad.
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