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 Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 9:17 pm
Lady_Ourania He backed away to allow her room to rise, some small, aimless thought wishing she might have remained where she was. His considerable weight was transferred from leg to leg, giving each a feel for standing while bemusement flooded him at her almost-question. No, he wasn't, couldn't possibly be with all of the indecent urges, the faulty yearnings borne of dejection. His jaw tensed, the lines showing very faintly around his snout, but he merely nodded to spare them both a tangled exploration. All he had to know was how sick with unhappiness he felt, that it was affecting him in bizarre, unsettling ways. There was nothing more to agonize over, and he had to believe it himself for her to believe in turn. It may not have matched up perfectly, but it would work to seal the fault lines until something stable waltzed in and landlocked the whole of his disquiet. "And you... you are well?" There was still plant juice on her mouth, a dab of green on her tongue that he spied when she went to speak. It might have been her, a birthmark of some kind, or residue from the nectar she'd carried in her mouth for him. He had not asked what she was doing, wandering the beach late at night and all but stumbling over him, but he could think of no reason for an interrogation more strenuous than the one he was already performing.
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Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 9:18 pm
Tsunake He'd hesitated too long for her to feel truly comfortable with the nod, wondering perhaps if some pain--physical or mental--was still linger. It had to be. But she would accept it with the smallest flick of her tail, her blank features again melting with surprise as she was questioned in turn. "Yes, of course. I'm fine." A small smile to reassure him, though it faded as she watched him still, as though waiting for a crack, a statement, anything else he might want or need to say. She was patient. And if there was nothing, she would accept it with good grace and let him be, no matter how it troubled her.
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Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 9:19 pm
Lady_Ourania He accepted her remark at face value, a more prompt nod following, though he stopped when he sensed he was overusing the action. It remained easier than speaking, neither of them suited for any kind of lengthy discussion, even with his blood modestly dotting her skin. Leaving it there was worse than the touching required to swipe it away, the male judged finally, and yet he could not bring himself to step nearer, to potentially use his broad neck to rub it off since his horn would cause further complications. If only she could stop looking at him just so, blue stare expectant on his scratched-up visage, making him scour the bottom reaches for words. "Do you swim?" He asked suddenly, the idle murmur popping out of him from the building pressure. Water might wash away the brown-drying witnesses on her throat, rendering a wretched chance at connection moot. There was no greater plot behind the scheme; it was just that straightforward, anything past it out of his reach.
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Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 9:20 pm
Tsunake Her expression of surprise was appearing so often that she might have donned it permanently to save herself the trouble, his question throwing her for a loop and making her consider for a moment. "I've never tried. I do not know." She admitted quietly, appraising his heavy body with a newfound sort of respect "...Do you?" If he could manipulate the waters despite the contrasting elements, that would truly be a spectacle to behold.
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Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 9:21 pm
Lady_Ourania Listening was less complicated than trying to interpret her ever-changing features, hearing her out while the bristles along his flank reached up in a full stretch. "Not well." He replied without a trace of embarrassment, though he had been the one to bring it up. He tried to picture them both out in the open water: her tree bobbing haplessly as it weathered the foreign element, wood-wrapped foot always trying to drift to the surface while he walked a solid pace along the bottom. It was ridiculous enough to coax a slight smile onto his face, waxing it away when he felt the self-conscious bite it exacted from his cut up muzzle. "I do not know why I mentioned it..." Any honesty that went above that would change the dynamic too quickly, even if it would be smarter to chase her off, or at least sprint away by choice.
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Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 9:22 pm
Tsunake His sudden display of emotion made her lips twitch for a moment, finding the gesture sweet despite herself. "I do not think I'd be able to swim well, either." Especially not in these salty ocean waves, not with the plant roots clinging so desperately to her for nourishment. She'd never put them through such torment. She caught the smile even as it faded, hesitated, then decided to take her chances with being bold "...Would you like to walk int he surf with me?" She asked softly, not moving in case he chose to decline.
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Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 9:32 pm
Lady_Ourania Her reply was deemed acceptable, especially with the vaguely comical imagery still dominating the spotlight of his brain's focus. A tree and a stone, a precious stone, but a rock was a rock in the water, no matter its pedigree. Still, there was no sense of being foiled, merely an understanding that he would need to suggest something slightly more reasonable, taking into consideration both of their handicaps with the surrounding environment. He almost missed her bid for an alternative, taken aback when it rapped against his mental grip, metallic gaze looking searchingly into hers. "Yes." He consented too quickly in his opinion, perhaps a little too slowly by normal standards. It was all for the sake of covering his tracks, scattering the mess until it would not be available for anyone to see and piece together. The mantra of self-possession soothed him, and he took a step nearer to prove, if only to himself, that he was capable of restraint when it came to touch. He was waiting on her to lead.
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Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 9:33 pm
Tsunake His reply delighted her in a way it shouldn't, noting his step forward before she slowly began to turn as though to take up the role thrust upon her. A fleeting, shy sort of smile would be offered over her shoulder before the mare delicately stepped towards the water, feeling the cold wash over her hooves and lick at her fur. Odd,, but somehow thrilling, she paused to peer after her strange companion, the feel of damp sand somehow more satisfiying than the dry.
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Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 9:34 pm
Lady_Ourania He trailed after her, maintaining a slight lag to her head start, the smile she'd directed at him making the doubts congregate into a suspicious circle. Some of them dissipated when he felt the squelch of wet sand beneath his hooves, lifting them up to a sucking sound that made his ears dance with intrigue. It was surprisingly unlike trudging through mud, the ocean sending up sprays that left dew in her hair and leaves, furthering her ethereal disposition when the moon hit them and they played white spheres to their brethren greens. The water was a little less artistic with him, the brine slapping his spiked mane flat, prying up his scales and trying to rust the living armor. But that did not prevent him from continuing to step, to follow the misplaced elemental like walking the line through two dissimilar dreams at once.
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Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 9:35 pm
Tsunake Her eyes were bright even as she waited for him, almost childishly delighted with prancing through the salty foam like a young filly. Still, she reeled herself in before her bubbling emotions could make her look like a fool, eventually slowing enough that she could be by his side, walk with him rather than lead him. "...Do you have any family, Chimalsi?" She wanted to know, the subject light enough that she didn't feel like it could offend.
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Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 9:36 pm
Lady_Ourania By the time he took up a place at her side, he was firmly embedded in a good-humored mindset, dragging his feet to build up little bubble-forts of sand before the waves smoothed them out again in his wake. He hadn't expected the conversation to turn toward something personal, and he watched her from the edges of his tawny stare, tail flinging an arc of cold water out onto the dry sand before he even mulled over an answer. Did his beloved count? It felt wrong to mention her while he strolled abreast of Laurelin, as if it would summon her - pearl teeth, gem eyes, spearhead fingers and all - to where they were. But the word family felt more cohesive than he could boast; a unit rather than a duo. Surely he could pick a definition if she had not set out to be clear. "A sister, once." Another pause before he added on. "Parents..." Where he'd intended to say more, he found that there wasn't much else to tap into, his childhood an empty barrel with its sides scraped clean. At one time, it would have caused him greater panic to discuss, but the atmosphere filled it with chill and damp, diluted it to the point where it was inconsequential. The company, too, might have played a part in his ease, but the stallion smartly avoided any musings concerned with that. "Do you?"
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Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 9:37 pm
Tsunake She absorbed his words even as she chuckled over how he played with the greedy sand, flinching and scurrying a bit as if to avoid being splashed with the curving jet of water he'd unexpectedly launchded. His answers were somehow vague, and she immediately regretted picking this topic--her own fond memories made her apt to forget that not everyone was so lucky. "...My brother, mostly. I followed him here, to this place, but it has been a while since I've seen him last." She was distant again, pausing for a moment to stare out at the shimmering ocean, watching the moon play against its dark, sleek surface. Her brother would have loved the sight, and though she was a creature of the dawn, she could not help but admire its beauty.
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Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 9:39 pm
Lady_Ourania The way she scuttled back made him pause, the ocean lapping in lazuli bursts around his ankles, mistaking the cause of her evasion until he felt his tail being pulled by the tide. "Followed from where?" The stallion countered even as he submerged the slender appendage again, dousing it like a painter's brush before tossing it experimentally in her direction. He didn't know what he was doing, what disreputable concept he was flirting in the face of when he should have been mourning, or at least occupied with ways of rectifying the situation. Instead, he was engaged in the twinkle-eyed beginnings of a one-sided water fight, prancing with a banner of carelessness fluttering from his mouth. This was not normal Chimalsi-behavior, but he could be anything for an hour, so long as no one he knew was observing to point out the inconsistencies. Perhaps he would pay later, but the coltish impulse squiggling through his veins was so fascinatingly novel that he was reluctant to set it down all at once and step away. If he stopped and thought for too long, he would end up back in the sand that already bore an imprint of his stomach and limbs, lowing like a downed beast to no one.
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Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 9:40 pm
Tsunake She certainly didn't mind answering these sorts of questions, drawing breath while her mind took her back to those times. "A land far, far away from here-" She realized what he was doing only too late, a surprised squeal bursting from her even as the chill of the water soaked against her sides. The sound was quickly swallowed by laughter, and she'd scurried away from him again, deliberately putting more force than was necessary into each step in hopes of maybe splashing him in retaliation. Her eyes were bright and glinting merrily even as she spun to face him, arching her neck in a way that was supposed to be menacing and completely missed its mark. She'd rear only slightly onto her hind legs before she drove her front ones back into the surf, delighted with the bigger wave she managed to create and send towards him.
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Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 9:41 pm
Lady_Ourania He heard the patter of pseudo-rain through her leafy upper-structure, the giggling that broke over him in a warm swell and washed away the urge to ask how far away this land was located. Besides, it seemed unlikely that everyone who hailed from there would be as enchanting as she, and so it bore no greater importance than the here and now. Her quick retreat splashed across him, but only because he pursued her without waiting for the droplets to rejoin their mother ocean, intent on catching the lithe mare before she opened up too great a distance between them. It was when he was nearly upon her that she stomped and sent a minor tsunami to drown him, gold-adorned shoulders drawing back to meet the onslaught. The horse-powered thing slapped against him, meeting his resistance by running up, bridging his neck and sprinkling his face. He winced, horn cutting through the air as he shook the offenders off with a full-bodied buck, the wounds still there and pulsing from the salt. His tongue flicked out, silvered by the moonlight, to lick at the remaining tributaries, shying from her momentarily while he tried to work a swift remedy.
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