Welcome to Gaia! ::

Blossomforth was in a rare--all right, not so rare--good mood. Sure, the weather was getting colder, but she didn't mind. The sun still shone and that meant there were ways to warm up. The leaves and grass had all gotten a little sweeter, which made mealtimes more fun, and she didn't object all that much to cold water unless she got pushed in. So there was no reason not to be happy.

And no reason not to enjoy her walk until she rounded a bend in the path and very nearly ran into a stallion wearing a -- well. Cape? A blanket, at the least, but this one looked different. And oh my. "How do you walk with that stick tied to your side? I'd be so afraid I'd bang myself in the leg, I couldn't move."

"Oh, goodness. I didn't introduce myself. Just started talking." She tipped her ears back, wryly. "I'm sorry. I'm Blossomforth. It's nice to meet you, Flik. That's an interesting name. Short. Like a flick." She flicked her tail, demonstrating.

She tilted her head to consider the sword again. "A sword," she repeated. "What do you do with a thing like that?"

Oh. Well now. That made more sense. "So it's just another bit of decoration? It's very nice," she told him, with no sense of teasing. "By that, I mean to say, it suits you, with your ...cloak! That was the word. Your cloak and all.

She smiled and nodded. "I live just over there." She turned her head toward the way she'd come, then looked at him again. "By the edge of the trees. Do you live somewhere close by?"

"I'll just bet it is," she agreed. "I suppose that's one good thing that comes from having a herd. They're good for leaning up against if it gets too cold." She smiled, then perked an ear. "Not from around here? Well, welcome to our lands, then! Are you visiting friends? Maybe family? Goodness, how far did you come to get here?"

"Oh no," she promised. "I've got nothing but time and nothing to do with it." She smiled, then realized he might be looking for an excuse to wander on. A traveler would do that. "But if you've got somewhere you need to be, well, it was nice to meet you, and maybe you'll stop by again, sometime. Might not be as good as family, but seeing a friendly face once in a while can't hurt, can it?"

"I'd be glad to," she piped, then shook her mane a bit. Well, let's see..." She looked back and forth across the pasture, took a breath and picked a direction, heading toward another break between the trees. "There's a lake over this way. Plenty clean enough for drinking, and deep enough to swim in, though the water's turned cold. That's better in the summertime, but some like it all the same."

"It is one of my favorite places," she answered, surprised. "How did you know?" She looked out across the water and heaved a happy sigh. "I like to come out here, even if I'm just standing, because a breeze across the water when it's warm can be nice. And everyone's so friendly when they're out here enjoying the sun and the grass and the water. They're happy, and there's nothing I like more than the sound of playing and laughing."

She tipped her head toward him. "You should definitely come back and see the place then."

She let him drink in silence. She was a little thirsty herself, but she didn't want to crowd or copy him. That could be alarming, especially since they'd just met. She was trying to get better about that.

Of course, the result was that she was daydreaming a little when he spoke again, so she made a little hiccup of sound, then smiled. "Oh! It does, you're right again. 'course, you have to be careful not to get too close when that's happening. It gets kinda hard to see the shore and you wouldn't want to fall in!"