Welcome to Gaia! ::

Wow… Harij honestly couldn’t believe that she had bothered to even get this far with him. He had been in these lands for a long, long time and not one conversation-if it could be called that- with someone outside of his herd had really lasted this long. “Don’t usually like it.” He wasn’t trying to be rude of scare her off, same as she was not seeking pity – but the truth was the truth no matter how pretty or ugly it was. She was passed by for being tiny – he hid himself so far away none could ever find him.

It took a lot of effort to not visibly jump when she became her regular size again. Jolting just slightly he blinked at her in almost-irritation. “You control that, or it you?” That sounded pretty caveman… All well, a flash of his usual hermit thoughts went through his mind of –if she didn’t like it, she could hit the road.- … Old habits died hard, and it was even more difficult to imagine changing anything from one conversation. This was just one conversation, right?

What was going on? Was this reality? Here he was, after years upon years of living in his hiding hole and ignoring Lovey’s attempts to socialize he was practically chatty Cathy. He kept his eyes on her and even attempted a smile. It felt a bit forced, because it was—but still—he was trying. “Klutzes? Met one before.” Volunteering the tidbit of information, Harij focused on her next question.

“Not foes.” He actually nearly managed to interrupt her before she finished speaking because the word foe made him think of great evil things, with clawed feet and razor fangs. “Agreement – groomed by two-leg soon” His voice was coming more freely. Harij had not always been silent but the past had not been kind.

He sincerely hoped that two-leggers were not around in mass amount. It had taken him long enough to be accepting of the girl, Aely, grooming him. She certainly had become awfully animated though when the humans were mentioned. “Uh. One’s close.” It would be cruel of him to tell her there were more since he honestly had almost no clue at all.

Continuing to watch, not really sure if he had anything of interest for her to be excited about. Harij felt the urge to fidget himself. Conversations were… a pain. Trying to say the right thing at the right time and interact nicely and… he just didn’t have a clue. “You… need one?” Maybe she just needed a human to do something for her, like him.

He thought of the teepee that while mostly secluded would be a far stretch of the imagination to be considered isolated and nodded slowly. There were other two-leggers around, he was sure of it. How often they were there and would they be there right now? He would be lieing if he said that. Aely, the two-leg, tended to have people all over the place.

What on earth was she doing? A minute ago he had been nodding his head and now she was fluttering all around him – way closer than he was used to having anybody around him. Feeling more than a bit like a fish out of water Harij nodded awkwardly, “Uh yes… This way.” He had dried almost completely in the daylight and his mane and tail looked worse than ever. It was time for him to get some grooming done and if Aely didn’t notice the flutter with him… well, then she was an idiot. He had seen several flutters on his jaunts home. Not that he had spoken to anybody. The pretty mare with him would be welcomed. “Help yourself, we’re close.” Look at him, a regular chatty-cathy.

Harij didn’t know he was ticklish.

In fact, it had probably been years since the stallion had even bothered to attempt laughing or anything similar to it. The feel of almost weightless movement going through and around his hair had him clenching his jaw slightly. The urge to actually laugh was building.

Just when Harij thought he was actually going to start laughing she seemed to settle down and he couldn’t help but give an audible sigh. For whatever reason laughing seemed like an incredibly intimate thing. Was she actually comfortable on his head?

So… why was she so excited about two-legs? …. Instead of that, Harij instead said, “Why?”

It was a pain for him to figure out how to make the best of his own limited conversation skills. Honestly, he was surprised she had bothered to be so nice to him for this long. So she was looking for someone in particular? He really wasn’t going to be helpful at all…. He was not exactly the bell of the ball. A jagged grin danced on Harij’s face and he probably would have looked like a lunatic. Especially with what she was talking about. Oh jeez, she was going to think he’s a jerk and Harij straighten up and quit his silly grin, “I’m sure she didn’t mean to. You’re too nice and lovely.” Oh jesus. Where had that come from? A harsh clearing of his throat was about all Harij could manage. He felt ridiculous now.

Harij really would have found some amusement in being described as kind. Most folks didn’t stick around long enough to get to know him, heck most people didn’t stick around long enough to deal with how foul he usually smelled and normally he would have said that he was ok with that. Here lately though… Shaking his head a little bit as if to chase thoughts away from his mind; Harij froze realizing that he may have just shaken the mare loose.

Uncomfortable? He could barely feel the mare in his hair. Having spent almost no time with flutters perhaps they all were as unassuming and worried about being polite as she seemed to be. If he were bigger on talking he would explain to the mare that it was unlikely that she could offend him; owing to the fact that his own manners were barely tolerable in polite company. Lovey always visited and nagged at him… Man, he lived a boring life when that was something that he thought of twice I the same day. Realizing that he had been frozen for a moment and hadn’t said anything in response to his question, Harij grunted and continued walking, “No, you’re good.”