[PRP] Literally? (Adalansia and Sunset Sasparilla)

[Cajmera]

 

[Cajmera]

Tentatively confident.

Adalansia rolled the words around in her head, testing them. Words had never been her strong suit, but she liked the way those two sounded. She even knew what they meant! Tentative meant sort of unsure, or cautious; confident, on the other hand, meant...well, confident!

Though as Ada reflected with a small sigh, confidence was not something she'd had in abundance lately. She'd never been aggressively self-confident; that just wasn't her way. But she'd always been content with herself, and how she interacted with the world. Or she had been, until she slowly started to realize that something about her was...different. And the worst part of being different was having no idea how or why!

It had taken a long time for her to figure out there was something off in her relationships with other Soquili. Though she wasn't sure in this case if 'relationships' was the right word; that seemed to suggest they'd actually spent time together, getting to know each other. But almost universally, Adalansia's attempts at conversations and being friendly were utter failures. She had no idea why; at first, she'd thought it was just a coincidence, that every time she met and started talking to someone, they would remember somewhere they had to be, or something they had made a commitment to do. Without fail, those remembrances would happen within the first few minutes of the conversation, and then that would be the end of it.

So, it was logical to guess that she just had bad timing, at least at first. Obviously Soquili in this part of the lands were very busy, and had many time commitments! But as more time passed and the pattern continued, Adalansia began to feel troubled about the whole thing. Especially because sometimes there wasn't another commitment; the other Soquili would just...leave. Sometimes they'd say something that made no sense, sometimes they wouldn't even say that. And sometimes, it would just be 'I have to go' and that would be the end of it.

As Adalansia made her way through the Kawani lands and observed other people talking and laughing, she began to wonder why she was never capable of the same thing. Why did her best attempts to be friendly always fail? Why didn't anyone want to talk to her? With those thoughts had come depression; before long, she didn't even want to try.

But then she had gotten a break: she'd made a friend, a real friend! His name was Sounansha, and he was...he was a Nixie, she remembered. That meant he was a smaller-than-a-Soquili stallion with fins, like a fish. And he had been nice and polite and friendly, and they had gone on a long walk and talk together, and it had been so wonderful! It might not seem like much to some, but to Adalansia, it was a groundbreaking moment. She'd made a friend!

And as she surveyed the surrounding grassland, she felt a small touch of...tentative confidence. If it had happened once, surely it could happen again?

Uta

 

[Uta]

Cajmera

Sunny was still roaming the lands. He had managed to find himself far from the ocean, which was still a bit unusual for him. To not have the taste of salt on the wind, or the comfort in the constant rolling waves still unnerved him; he had adjusted well over the years, but sometimes the silence of the land made him yearn for home. Unfortunately, Sunny couldn’t go back, even if he wanted to. Not only had he vowed not to return until he had found himself – which he still wasn’t entirely clear on when that might be or what he was looking for – but he was genuinely so lost and turned around in these huge lands that he couldn’t even begin to say where home might be! Sometimes it was near the ocean, other times near the foothills. But he had fast discovered there were many mountains in the world, and just as many ocean beaches. Right now, he was roaming through the flat lands that had no hills in sight! Just grasses and the occasional flower.

Thankfully, Sunny didn’t mind. The flowers were nice, even if they were drying up fast; and the grasses were still soft, evne if they were also brown and drying. He could understand the grounds thirst; he too was thirsty, and that was exactly why he was out roaming. A bit of water would do his parched mouth some good, but finding it was awfully tricky. Everything just smelled dry . . . There wasn’t a pond or lake or river in sight, and there hadn’t been for a good while. Perhaps others might be worried, but not Sunny – he was very certain he’d stumble upon something to drink sooner than later.

So it was, the large stallion continued on his merry way. He was feeling a bit lonely on his travels, but that was to be expected. Loneliness, it seemed, came hoof-in-hoof with being an adult, and he was quite sure had something to do with this finding himself business. But it wasn’t exactly fun or pleasant, and Sunny really wished that he could hurry up and find some help in finding himself. He hadn’t even realized part of him had been missing until both his sister and brother had left. They had all gone on journeys of self-discovery, and after a while, Sunny himself had decided to go, too. Unlike Hazel or Zuzu, whom were very bright and terribly clever, and had maps, he was sure, Sunny had left with no real clue.

What was self-discovery, anyway? He still felt the same, just lonelier. He wasn’t any wiser or smarter. He didn’t feel any grander. Clearly, this meant he was in no way, shape, or form ready to return home. So, he would continue to roam and wait to see what the day would bring. No water, unfortunately, but he did see a very vibrant coated mare. Without hesitating, the stallion made a bee-line straight toward Adalansia. “Hello!” He called out cheerfully, hoping that his size wouldn’t scare the stranger away. One thing he had found so peculiar was the sight of his horns, and his monstrous size, seemed to cause apprehension and concern in others. Which was why, when he approached the mare, he did so slowly, and tried to look as small as possible. Which. Wasn’t all the easy to do. “S’fine day today, don’t you think?”
 

[Cajmera]

She had seen the stallion before he spoke to her; strangers were still a rare enough commodity that she was super alert whenever another Soquili so much as passed on the horizon. But time and experience had made her nervous; even with her recent friendly success, there were too many recent fails to make her ready to jump out in the path of a newcomer with a ready smile. But he had made the situation clear to her; not only had the stallion come straight toward her, he had been smiling and given every indication that he actually was seeking her out! Amazing, and encouraging to boot!

Perhaps if she’d been more worldly, she would have had a stronger opinion on the stallions more remarkable physical features. But sad as it was to admit, she didn't know enough about her fellow Soquili to see anything unusual in Sunny’s size, or even in the presence of his horns. After all, she’d just made friends with a Nixie stallion; with her extremely logical mind, it was only reasonable to assume that horns and massive size were normal traits for…whatever type of Soquili he was! Not that it mattered; the important thing is that he was here, and he was talking to her!

Smiling her best, most confident smile, Adalansia tilted her head to look up at the big stallion. This was funny, him being so large; she was on the short side to begin with, and he was so tall that she felt…well, she felt like how the little stallion she’d last met must have felt, to be honest. It was challenging, tilting your head up like that! So rather than keep up the act, she took a couple of steps backward and looked at him from a more level field. “Hello to you as well! If you mean the weather, I do definitely agree it’s a nice day. I don’t even have to think about it, though it’s nice of you to make the offer,” she said agreeably. “I've always like sunny days better than rainy ones, but I think that’s because it’s so uncomfortable to be wet,” she said in her frank way. “Do you also think it’s uncomfortable to be wet?”

One thing she’d learned so far in her encounters, as terrible and short as they tended to be: there needed to be give and take in order for the conversation to keep going. He’d done the hardest part, gotten the conversation started; now it was up to her to help it along! And from what she’d been able to determine previously, the weather and weather-related topics had always been safe. Who could find anything objectionable in a subject so safe?

Uta

 

[Uta]

Cajmera

Sunny didn’t find anything unusual about the way the bright red mare backed up some to look at him, even if he had to wonder if maybe that meant he was standing too close. Perhaps he should also back up a step, just to make her extra comfortable? Would that make her feel better? He didn't want her to be uncomfortable! The stallion did so, just a touch, wanting to let her know that he respected her wishes to keep some good space between them, and that he wasn’t at all a threat. Honestly, the stallion was just glad to have met someone! It got lonely when your only company was your shadow and Sunset Sarsaparilla really was overdue some socialization! The spirits were being kind by allowing him to meet such an amicable, if not very vibrantly colored, mare! He wasn’t going to spoil this opportunity, nope, nope, nope!

So it was, the pale coated, blue eyed stallion gave another smile as the mare began talking about the weather. Part of the stallion tried to figure if he had actually asked her to think about the weather, but she continued talking, and he found himself preferring to focus on what she said as opposed to what he might or might not have said. Given he had mentioned the congenial temperature and their surroundings, he had at least inquired about something. Mostly the nice day. “Oh, I was indeed talking about the weather, Miss,” he confirmed with a firm nod of his head. “Though don’t you reckon if we’re talking about the weather, we’re thinking about it? Even a little bit?” That’s what he thought they were doing. Perhaps they weren’t hunched over, pondering, deliberating, agonizing over it but . . . if they were talking about it, that had to mean they were thinking about it. Right?

“Still, I’m glad you don’t need to think much of the niceness of it. Either do I! It’s a very fine day, and I’m happier still to meet some new company while enjoying it.” Giving a happy swish of his braided tail, the cream stallion puffed out his chest a bit, his bright smile never fading. “The name’s Sunny, and. . . well. I don’t mind being wet, when I choose to be it. I like to swim, you see. I grew up next to the ocean, so water doesn’t bother me much. . . . but, wouldn’t you know it, I don’t really like to be caught out in the rain? It is ever inconvenient.” Life sure was funny, or so the stallion could figure. How odd he could like one but dislike the other and yet the results were ultimately the same? Go figure. Maybe he was just peculiar, but that was the way of it.  

[Cajmera]

What a clever Soquili she'd met, Adalansia couldn't help but marvel. Here she'd thought she was being rational, but in less than two minutes the stallion had pointed out the very true, very real fact that they couldn't talk about something without thinking about it. Amazing! With total seriousness, Ada nodded her agreement. "You're right! I mean, we may not be intentionally pondering the subject with conversation in mind, but we're certainly considering the subject on a subconscious level. I guess brains are just funny in how they can do things without our instruction. Though really," she said with further consideration, cocking her head slightly to the side, "Since the brain controls the body, I suppose it's not our decision to...well, to try to influence IT."

Feeling proud of herself for having come to that conclusion, she was able to look up at the stallion with an even greater degree of confidence. "I'm happy to have company, too! It's nice to have someone to talk to, no matter what kind of weather is happening. Though sometimes conversation can be mean or boring, I don't really have any experience with that sort. My conversations don't usually last long," she added frankly. "But I like it when they do. My last long conversation was with a Nixie; he lives in the ocean, too. Have you seen a Nixie before? I never had before I met Suon. But I also never lived in the ocean," she mused. "Or near the ocean. I don't think I've ever even seen the ocean." She knew what the ocean was, of course; she was a very attentive listener (one might even say eavesdropper), and the subject had come up even before she made friends with Suon. But her travels hadn't brought her far enough in that direction to visit the ocean herself.

Truth be told, she didn't even know in which direction it lay!

Uta

 

[Uta]

Cajmera

“If we’re not in control of ourselves, does that mean we’re mind-controlled?” Now there was a thought! Or was it just his brain’s response to being the sudden object of attention? Was this him talking or his brain? It was scary enough to think about not being in control of one's body, but the way the red mare put it . . well. . it made him wonder if he'd ever been in control at all! “Does this just mean we’re two brains that want to talk and the rest of us is just the random package we were given by the spirits?” It was all beginning to get a little confusing for the blue eyed stallion, though he was trying to keep up. His brain was his own, but ultimately, as the brain controlled what he did, and said, and thought, and pondered, did that mean he was mostly just . . . a brain? Thankfully, the incredibly bright mare continued to talk.

Sunny listened to her, trying to keep up with everything she was saying. For not having many conversations, she certainly seemed to like to talk! Thankfully, though, Sunset didn’t mind. Some in his family were notoriously grim and broody, so it was a refreshing change to meet such an amiable mare. Additionally, the stallion had been on his own for such a long while he was grateful for the new opportunity. The world, he had discovered, was a great mass of things . . . and so very few were soquili, much less the kind that came up to strangers to talk. Clearly, the spirits had been in want of him to have a spot of cheerful company. Better yet, one who knew a little bit about the ocean! His smile broadened, and his tail gave a few happy swishes. “Oh! I’ve never met a Nixie but I lived every spring and summer and autumn on the ocean beaches. I grew up near the big waters, as did my Mother. We’d leave during the winter months because it got too cold and dangerous, but you’re talking to a born and bred beach soq!” He puffed his chest out proudly, his pleasure clear. Sunny wasn't a proud stallion, but he absolutely had loved his ocean-side home. He often found himself missing the salty winds, the sand against his hooves, the bickering of gulls, and the hypnotic rhythm of the waves pounding against the shores. The plains and woodlands of the inland lands was surprisingly quiet; it was a quiet that Sunny wasn't entirely comfortable with even after all this time. “I . . . Don’t know where it is, and haven’t been home in years, but . . It does indeed exist. If you ever get the chance to go, I’d certainly encourage it! Just not in the winter months. It gets too cold, and the waters are known to get mean.”
 

[Cajmera]

Mind-controlled...what an interesting way to describe them! Her eyes once again rounded with awe and admiration, Adalansia looked up at the large stallion as she nodded her agreement. "What a sensible way to describe it, Sunny; mind-controlled is exactly what we are, since our brain is really the thing that decides everything about what we do!" Pleased as she was to be having this conversation with a learned stallion who thought about things so cleverly, she was even more excited to be able to use his name in conversation. Aside of Suon, it had been ages since any other Soquili had given her their name...or given her a chance to give her own! Realizing that this was a golden opportunity, she puffed up importantly before adding, "My name is Adalansia, but you may also call me Ada. I don't mind at all!"

As Sunny went on to tell her about the ocean and the seasons and the various things he and his mother did to account for those seasons, she listened intently, beaming all the while. Just think, she'd already found another friend, one who was so nice and learned and generous that he was sharing all sorts of interesting personal stories with her! Though her countenance chanced rather abruptly to shock when he admitted that he didn't know how to get to the ocean and hadn't been home in years. "Oh no, what happened? Did you fall and hit your head on a rock and lose your memories? I've heard that that can happen, that must be so sad for you. Or did you get lost? I got lost on my way to the Kawani lands," she admitted easily, "But since I don't want to go back where I was before, I don't think it really matters much for me. I'd like to see the ocean, though! Maybe I'll find it for you, some day!"

That was a nice thought; it would be something she could actually DO for her new friend! Nevermind that she was not a good traveler, a good explorer, and the chances of finding Sunny again if and when she actually found the ocean were slim themselves...the important thing was the idea!

Uta