[PRP] Good lord, -what- are you? (Auster x Phaedra)

[Kaitaia]

The great winged stallion didn't like to be bothered. Oh, that was an understatement. He just didn't like anything, really. He didn't like people, he didn't like horses, and he certainly didn't like foals. No one knew why, no one really got close enough to ask him why, and he probably wouldn't have said even if asked. He was also secretive like that. As a result, one could only imagine what he would do when faced with a foal.

He made his way along the river bank slowly. He was in no rush, and could take his leisurely time, which had him in almost a good mood. Well, good for him. It was still probably quite sour to anyone else who came across him, but for Auster, this was as good as it got.

He paused a little ways down the river and dipped his head to take a drink of the cool water, his long mane flowing past his face.  

[.Tortured. .Pumpkin.]

Tiny hooves splashed in the river. Oh, how wonderful it was to finally get away from her mother's strict rules and nagging. Phaedra finally got to explore the world for what it was, with no supervision, nobody telling her what she could or couldn't do. She was so busy playing in the water she didn't even notice the massive stallion drinking not far away.

Her wings grew heavy with liquid, and they drooped by her side, tips dragging in the soil as she left the water. Perhaps that wasn't the best of ideas. She tried to lift her wings, failing terribly. The muscles weren't quite strong enough yet.  

[Kaitaia]

At the sound of splashing, Auster lifted his head, eyes narrowing. He looked around for a moment and didn't see the offending creature. Auster hadn't been around many foals, so he had been looking for an adult. When he finally spotted the little blue filly with the shocking green mane and wings, his eyes widened.

Taking a step away from the river, he watched her with cold blue eyes. She seemed not to have noticed him so far, and he hoped that her parents had been wise enough to teach her proper manners and that she would not bother him. Though.. on further inspection, she was alone. And had been daft enough to soak her wings. The prospect did not look good.  

[.Tortured. .Pumpkin.]

The filly tried once more to lift her wings. She got them up enough so they'd stop dragging, but couldn't manage much more. Phae's eyes began to fill with tears, and she looked around in panic. When she noticed the stallion, she tried to compose herself, sniffling once before looking up at him with pleading eyes. "Excuse me, Sir... I don't want to be a bother, but my wings are really wet, and I can't pick them up. I mean, I guess I could wait for them to dry, but that would take forever. Um... Have you seen my mamma?"

She wasn't sure if there was anything he could do for her, and surely somebody who looked so old and wise wouldn't want anything to do with a pesky little foal, but she tried to keep her chin up. He had wings, so maybe he knew a way to get wings dry faster.  

[Kaitaia]

Of course no such luck. She had spotted him and had spoken to him. And asked for his help. Letting out a great sigh, he looked down his nose at her. It seemed like all he did these days was help silly mares out of trouble. He wasn't pleased with the opposite sex at the moment, not at all.

"Child, I do not know who your mother is and therefore have no idea if I have seen her or not." He narrowed his eyes, studying her with more distaste. "Why are you alone anyway? I was under the impression that foals should stay with their mothers." Not that he knew from experience. He had no children, mostly because he was too surly and hard to please, and he could not remember his childhood. Still, it seemed right, yes?  

[.Tortured. .Pumpkin.]

Phaedra frowned. "Well, she's black, and has hair kinda like mine, but without the white, and she's got green on her hooves, and green eyes, and this funny thing on her hip that looks like a bunch of open circles." It probably wouldn't help much, but maybe he did know her. Probably not.

"Well, she never lets me play. She says I'll get hurt or something all the time, so I snuck away to explore, and now I can't lift my wings up 'cause they got all wet. She's probably out looking for me, but maybe not. She has to take care of Ami and Dichali, too. But maybe she sent Dusty out to look for me!" The filly smiled at the thought of this, her mother coming to find her. She quickly frowned instead. If her mother found her, she'd get a big lecture on how she should have listened, and it would have been right. "Please don't let Mamma find me, Sir."  

[Kaitaia]

His eyes widened as she spoke. Were all foals like this? She was so.. innocent and unpretentious, and the way she went off on tangents.. Gods help him if he ever lost his mind and decided to reproduce. Especially if his offspring turned out in this manner.

Shaking his head, he looked down at her. "No, filly, I do not know your mother." His eyes widened even more as she asked him to hide her? Is that what she was asking? "Child, I cannot hide you from your mother." Yeah, that was the last thing he needed, a foal following him around and a angry mare hunting him.  

[.Tortured. .Pumpkin.]

"Well... Not forever. Just for a little while. Until my wings dry. I'd go home, but I can't carry them without hitting them on stuff... I just don't want Mamma to get mad for going and getting stuck somewhere all by myself." She really didn't want to make her mother more upset than she surely already was. "But... If you don't want to have to babysit a pesky foal, I understand." Phae frowned. It was bad enough that she'd bothered him, but asking him to stay with her was probably overdoing it.

Wings touching the ground, the tiny filly turned around. "Sorry to bug you, Sir. I suppose I should just be going home." She winced as she walked, wings bumping on rocks and unlevel pieces of earth. They'd surely be bloody by the time she reached her two-legger's teepee.  

[Kaitaia]

He sighed, watching her as she walked away. As much as he loathed the colour of her wings, blood red added would only make it worse. And she just looked so pitiful with her wings drooping and dragging. Gods help him, he was losing his mind after all.

"Child, come here. I will shake your wings out for you, but I do not know if that will rid them of enough water for you to fold them properly."  

[.Tortured. .Pumpkin.]

Phaedra smiled and looked back at him. "Really?" She ambled back toward the stallion. "I really am sorry to have bothered you. You don't seem the very friendly type that likes to talk to foals... No offense, Sir. I'm Phae." Looking down at her wings, which were still dripping with water, she asked, "Have you ever gotten your wings wet? I mean, when you were a foal? Surely if you got them wet now you'd be able to lift them up so they didn't drag on the ground like mine."  

[Kaitaia]

He looked down at her for a moment. Had he done that? If he had, surely his wings would have been much harder to lift than hers, they were larger and there were four of them. But honestly... he couldn't recall.

"I would like to believe that I was intelligent enough not to drench my wings," he murmured, more to himself than her. Stepping around her, he bent his head and took one of her wings in his mouth, being careful of his teeth, he didn't need her crying because he'd hurt her, and, extending it, shook it. Water fell from it and he moved on to the other.

"There." He looked down at her, tilting his head. "And I am called Auster, Phae."  

[.Tortured. .Pumpkin.]

"Hey!" It was more whining than anything else. "Just because I didn't know my wings would get heavy if I got them wet doesn't make me stupid. Mamma tells me that it's better to find things out on your own by exploring than having it handed to you. It's like that saying..." She couldn't remember it right off, and didn't know its exact meaning, but she had the general idea. "Everything in life comes with consequences. Auntie Dusty says that."

Phaedra nodded and folded her wings, finding that they were still a little heavy. Stretching them out, she gave them a good flap or two and folded them back in. "Auster, huh? I like it. It's easy to say and remember. Thanks, Auster."  

[Kaitaia]

"I did not say that I had everything handed to me," he replied, stepping back as she tested her wings. "And you're Aunt Dusty is very right. Next time it would be wise for you to be wary of your wings. They are a special gift, you know."

He nodded at her thanks. "You are welcome, Pheadra." Perhaps she wasn't so terrible after all.  

[.Tortured. .Pumpkin.]

"I know you didn't. Just saying what Mamma said." She nodded, and thought about her wings being special. They didn't seem special, especially if he had so many of them. "How's that? I mean, you've got..." She had to count aloud so she'd remember each number. "One, two, three... What comes after three? Oh, right! Four! And then you've got ones on your back hooves. That's like... Six wings. Do you use them all? I thought that we only needed two to fly. But I'll be able to fly, right?"

Her eyes widened when he said her full name. Probably just a lucky guess. "Auster? Does this make us... Uh..." She shied away a little. "Friends? I mean, if it doesn't, I guess that's okay. I've just never had a real friend before. There are two boys that Mamma's taking care of that I play with sometimes, but they usually just play tricks on me."  

[Kaitaia]

He studied her for a moment, his white tipped ear flicking. "I use the main four, yes. They allow me to fly higher than most winged Soquili." He nodded at her question. "Yes. Someday you will be able to fly. And that is why your wings are a special gift. They allow you to do things other cannot." Auster couldn't imagine not being able to fly. To soar in the sky, the wind rushing past, there was nothing quite like it. "I am sure you will enjoy it when you can."

Friends. His eyes widened at the word. That as something he hadn't thought of in a long time. Did this make them friends? A little flustered, he huffed. "If you would like to think so, I suppose that is well in your right."