Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ah hah. He had a sense of humor hidden in there somewhere, and Xaivary counted that a good thing. People with no sense of humor didn't tend to mesh with the quirky mare... and usually they were the ones with the problem. Maybe the day was off to a better start than the bird chatter had led her to assume.

"Heh. Not really a bad choice. I just do that for laughs sometimes." The formerly thought of humorless people were particularly fun to irritate in that manner. "I'd say wandering around on my own for so long led me to do some odd things to amuse myself, but I'm pretty sure it's just because I'm weird."

They were getting fairly close to the more open spaces where the trees thinned out at the edge of the plains. She recognized the sorts of changes, if not this particular area. The thought of open space gave her an urge to go for a run. After breakfast, maybe? Another plus also crossed her mind. "Hmm. Less trees, less noisy birds."

There were a great many unusual things most loners probably found themselves doing... though sleeping less and enhanced alertness were just a pair of many things that were done for the sake of survival, and really not all that unusual when you thought about it. Xaivary's quirky behavior, however, was definitely of the odd bent... and she minded not at all. Nor did she mind putting on a brief burst of speed and good-naturedly trying to swat at Deidren with her tail. "I came to the startling realization pretty early on, I'm afraid. I pride myself on my observational skills in fact! For instance, have you noticed that grass is green? Except for when it's brown, anyway." Yes, she was being completely silly at this point.

She came up a bit behind and to the side of him as he slowed, drawing level at a good range for conversation and nibbling at the grass appreciatively for a moment. "Less people is good. It's always so fun to stumble into the middle of a herd..." Not that all herds were so bad, now that she'd traveled farther she'd found a couple she didn't mind. But usually most of the group would glare at you for not being someone they'd known forever... and the others chattered as though you gave a damn about their hair-day just because you were there. Blah. She chomped on a bit more grass for a moment to clear the sour mental taste from her mouth. Mmm. "Mice aren't bad. They tickle though."

Xaivary gave a non-committal grunt in initial reply to his question and shrugged after a moment. "I've run into a few. Grew up around one. They never have seemed to want anything to do with strays like me." She snorted and shook her head. "I never got why they expected me to be grateful for them tolerating my living in the same general area they were in when they never actually did anything for me. I mean, I know I'm weird and all so maybe I just never got it, but that doesn't make much sense to me."

There was several moments of silence as she ate some more after nodding to his comments about the mice. Then she paused just before taking another bite, tilted her head, and snickered. "Though... speaking of snotty herds and mice, there was one herd I ran into full of complete jerks, and I bribed some mice with one of those sweet sticks. Got 'em to tie a bunch of the group's tails together while they were sleeping one night. That was interesting to watch the next morning." Another brief pause. "That was a while ago though. I mostly try to avoid big groups down here in the lowlands any more."

Xaivary was actually slightly startled by the praise. That wasn't something she usually got when she mentioned little adventures like that. Or, at all. Barring a couple of long time friends the best she usually got for those was a frown. It was... refreshing? And for just a moment she felt a bit warm and fuzzy inside. "Glad you approve," she said, grinning slightly.

The moment passed pleasantly before her attention and thoughts turned back to the herds wandering the lowlands. "Not everyone's as bad, but the ones I've met that aren't don't seem to be from around here. It's like all the morons got concentrated in one spot."

She finished eating and gave a good long look across the empty plain. It was still early enough that many were still asleep, and the ones that were wouldn't likely be wandering far enough to bother them for a while yet. "...Wanna go for a run?"

Xaivary canted her head at Deidren at his comment on her gender, taking a moment to mull it over thoughtfully. "You're probably right. Most of 'em seem to think mares are always weak-willed and silly." It certainly explained why they all got such a burr in their tails over her having such differing opinions on pretty much everything. It was also true that they were easier to avoid, knowing generally where they would be. She was usually more concerned about the ones that wandered in odd places; they were either worth talking to or worth avoiding, and it wasn't always easy to tell which before you were stuck.

Deidren certainly seemed to be enjoying his moment of reverie, and she just almost felt bad about breaking him out of it. Better her than someone else showing up or something though, right? She ambled closer to him, giving him a playful and almost absent minded seeming thwap with her tail. "We could race, if you want? That tree over there, maybe?" She motioned with her head. Running for the sake of running was her thing, but she wasn't opposed to a race. Especially if having a goal at the end of the run would help her unexpected companion feel less awkward about it.

It was just one of those things about most guys that Xaivary had picked up on at one point or another; they liked competition most of the time, though whether it was a lean toward physical or mental competition sometimes varied. Fortunately that seemed to have been the case here as well, and thinking of it as such seemed to brighten his opinion about the run.

And races were fun anyway. She prepared herself in her way as he did in his, and as soon as he reached three she was off like a shot. The air rushed by, the earth seemed to pound back as her hooves impacted. It was exhilarating; as the tree drew closer she almost regretted the end of the moment. At least until the dark stallion began to pass her.

Much of Xaivary's free time was spent running, and there was certainly no one that could claim she was slow. She hadn't really had the opportunity to race much, and when she did she rarely lost. By the time they reached the tree she'd fallen more than the length of another Soquili behind Deidren and she was genuinely impressed. Gently slowing her pace and turning around to face him properly she grinned at him. "Not bad! Not bad at all. I don't get beaten at a race very often."

Xaivary felt as though her whole body was twitching. The urge to keep running for the sheer joy of it was singing in the back of her head but she wasn't going to just take off. With some people she might have, but she was genuinely starting to warm up to Deidren, so she wouldn't.

"I'd say so, but you'd probably have to prove it to anyone else." She canted her head at him, still grinning. "Though that's more fun, I think." The thought of further racing was planted firmly in mind after that statement and she peered around again, trying to pick another target for a race. Or just about anything to give her an excuse to run some more without simply darting off on him. "Wanna go again?"