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 Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 10:51 pm
 His day had started out wonderful and then, due to an encounter with his 'stick in the mud' brother, it had gone downhill. There were some things that he and Dodger just... Didn't see eye to eye on... Like everything.
He snorted as he thought of it, tossing his head as he trotted alongside the river. He wanted to put distance between himself and any chance of running into family. Family was something that, all in all, he didn't need right now. He needed fun. He needed excitement. He needed...
Something to brighten his day and he had absolutely no idea where to even begin looking for it.
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 3:46 pm
 So much for excitement!
Sighing in a somewhat overly dramatic fashion, Mardi came to a halt at a bend in the river. Her two-tone curls blowing in the wind as they were, it took the brightly colored mare a moment to get a clear enough look up and down the river to realize...that there was no one else about. Still. STILL!!!
Huffing, Mardi dropped rather abruptly to the ground, her forelegs dangling into the water of the river itself. Another day, another big load of NOTHING.
She shouldn't be surprised. That one interesting conversation with Nuka aside, she'd seen exactly...no one in all her wanderings. Each passing day made the usually perky mare more and more morose, more and more annoyed. She'd come to this part of the lands in search of socialization, or people; Nuka had even assured her that such existed, but had she met any?
Of course not. That made too much sense.
"I swear, it's like this whole landscape is DEAD!"
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 6:40 pm
The sound of a voice caught his attention, ears swiveling towards it. Was it familiar? No. Was it male? No... At least, he didn't think it was. Sweet heavens, the Spirits did exist!
He turned, trotting back towards the sound. A grin spread across his face as he caught sight of the brightly colored mare. "'Scuse me, miss. I don't think dead would be the way I'd refer to a land that was comin' t'life with the appearance of Spring. I'd definately say there was life everywhere." He nodded slowly, fiery colored tail flickering against his hindquarters. "Unless you're used t'somethin' alot brighter than flowers, I'd say this was one of the more livelier areas."
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 8:46 pm
A Soquili. A real, live, rather dramatically colored Soquili. And not her reflection, either, although that was both real and brightly colored also.
Mardi was astonished, and it showed in her wide two-tone eyes as she turned to look at the new arrival...but only for a moment. Then it was being replaced by a wide grin, and she was bouncing to her feet.
"You know, if all it took to get some life around here was commenting it was dead, I should have started talking to myself a long time ago! Tell me, if I repeated myself enough would we be standing in a herd, or are you a one-time only occurance?"
Either way, she'd be fine. A group was her goal, but in the meantime, isolation had gone a great way towards showing her that even one companion was good. Even if he WAS missing the point, as she noted with a grin.
"Oh, the landscape's life isn't in doubt, it's the deadness of the social scene I'm mourning. Seriously, what else do you call it when you can go for days without seeing another soul? Total dullsville."
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 8:57 pm
"I hope we wouldn't be standin' in a herd... Considerin' I came out here t'get away from one." He nickered softly, grinning down at the mare. His family could definately be considered a herd by now... There were just so damned many of them to think otherwise.
"There's only one o' me, miss and for that you might not be glad, but I'm sure everyone else that knows me is." His brother was glad of that, he knew... But he would rather not think of unpleasantries. Not when there was something so wonderfully bright and distracting right here before him. Just listening to her he couldn't help but smile.
"You've gone for days without seein' anyone? Please, miss, tell me where you've come from so I can go there." He laughed. Really, where had she been that she hadn't run into anyone? She couldn't have a family... There was never getting away from them.
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 9:03 pm
SO unfair.
"You've got a herd? They've got to be a terribly sneaky one if I managed to miss them, but considering my bad luck in FINDING anyone, I suppose I really shouldn't be surprised. And man, you make it sound like this place is FLOWING with Soqulis, which I know to not be the case. Hell, it's downright boring!"
To put it mildly. Talking to oneself was a terrible, terrible cop-out and ultimately doomed to dullness, no matter how great a conversationalist you were.
But she was being unkind. It wasn't this stallion's fault he was singular when she wanted a crowd. Crowds had to start somewhere, right?
Laughing, she tossed back her mane and gave the stallion a bright grin. "But now I'm being excessively negative. You might be one, but you've already doubled this herd, and that's something for me to be happy about. But don't call me Miss; I'm no miss, I'm Mardi. And unlike some, I've no problems with going by my name. What's your name, Greeny?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 9:11 pm
"It ain't my herd. I guess, if it was anyone's, it'd be my Da's since it's his fault we're all a part of it." He grinned, giving his head a light toss that sent fiery strands flickering against his neck. "There's... One... Two... At least seven o' us in it an' since my sister's expectin' it's about to get bigger."
He snorted at that, trying his hardest not to laugh. "You think this place is dull? Well, Miss Mardi, I definately think you're just hangin' 'round the wrong crowd... Or lack of crowd. I don't remember there ever bein' a dull moment since the day I was born." There hadn't been... That was, mostly, his fault too.
"Greeny?" His brow lofted. "Name's Wylie unless you're family an' then it just becomes Trouble Number Two." Or 'idiot' if he was being talked about by his brother... Which he wasn't so there was absolutely no need to worry.
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 9:17 pm
"Oh, a family herd, huh? Hey, that's got potential as well, albeit a bit more restrained. Never had one of those myself, but that's what I get for having such a remarkably uninteresting family, huh? I swear, it's a great thing that being sticks isn't hereditary, or I'd be in so much trouble!"
Well, there she'd answered her own question! He must have an uninspiring family. Pity, there. Or maybe he had different views on what was important than she herself did? He didn't sound like he liked the chaos. Or maybe...maybe...he had the wrong KIND of chaos?
How delightfully fun!
"No Miss, just Mardi, Wylie, or I'll start calling you Bugsy. And of course Greeny! I'm no psychic, bangles aside; gotta call you SOMETHING until you get the idea to introduce yourself, doncha think?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 9:26 pm
"Restrained?" This time he did laugh, shaking his head. "I can't even begin t'imagine what your family must'a been like if you think families 'round here are restrained. Mine certainly isn't..." He had grown up thinking that his family was 'normal', not really knowing any others. He couldn't really imagine anything other than what his was.
"There's always somethin' goin' on 'round here. It's just a matter of knowin' where t'look for it. I think you've finally started looking in the right place, Stripes." Yup. If she was going to call him 'Greeny' he was going to call her something else as well. Stripes worked for the moment.
"Sorry, Mardi. I was raised in the woods, guess I forgot my manners." He laughed once more knowing that his mother would've chastised him for not introducing himself properly... His father as well. "Guess I needed someone else t'put the idea in my head. Should I be thankin' you?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 9:33 pm
"Well, maybe the families around here are livlier than they were back where I'm from, but then, I'm not from around here! And if your family is that fun, you should introduce me to them; I've been living a nightmare of dullness for far longer than I'd care to dwell on."
Still, the grin she sported likely underscored at least some of the sentiment in her words; she couldn't help but smile when she was pleased, after all, and this was pleasant! Company after so long...it was like a drought after a storm!
Or something like that. Probably the other way around.
At his "nickname," she raised one brow slightly, then giggled, tossing back the mane that likely inspired the term. "Catchy, but I think that it lacks something quirky. And you don't have to tell ME I've bene in the wrong places; the silence said more than you ever could, Honey."
Like how foolish she was for listening to a local WITHOUT getting specific directions! But again, no sense dwelling.
Looking about for a brisk moment, she turned and fixed the stallion in her direct gaze. "So, Wylie; what's there to do around here to entertain a mare gone stir-crazy? Chit-chat is all well and good, but I've got so much ENERGY stored up, I was about to jump in the river!"
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 9:42 pm
"Mm... I'd consider it, possibly, if I wasn't tryin' t'avoid my family right now. There's only so much action and excitement a stallion can take before he finds the need to just take a step away from it all." He nickered soflty. "B'sides, if I took a mare home t'my family so soon after my older sister comes back with some stallion Da doesn't seem t'care for? I might not be able t'cause much excitement anymore. They might just try to bump me into the nearest ravine."
His own brow lofted as he looked her over, trying to find something else to comment on other than her hair. Her color, yes, but calling her 'yellow' just seemed stupid. "Bright Eyes?" There was laughter in his voice as failed his attempt to keep a straight face.
"Jumpin' in th'river's always good for a shock. I've done it once or twice m'self. Beyond that... I guess it's all a matter of what you find entertainin'."
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 9:49 pm
"Well, make a note of it for when you ARE in the mood for some family bonding and possibly feel like falling into a ravine, because it all sounds terribly interesting. And that's got potential..."
At his somewhat silly attempt to give her a nickname, she could quite resist twirling around him, the pent-up energy from days of mere wandering evident in her springy steps. "-But I think you could do better. What about Sparkle? Or Skipper? Or Glitterbug, if you want to get creative? I'm sorry, Wylie, but nicknaming is a serious business that you just don't seem up to par with."
Grinning, she twirled about again, her green left hooves neatly moving past the stallion before she righted herself. "A shock is something, but I want some ENTERTAINMENT, Wylie; something to remind me that life is exciting and interesting and NOT just me by myself contemplating adding a new color to my mane. You're from around here AND have a herd; so what do you think is fun?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 10:03 pm
"I've just recently got a taste of freedom. It might be some time before I'm in the mood for family bondin', Mardi." He nickered, eyes dancing with laughter. "I'll make sure t'keep you in mind for the moment I am though... Especially if I ever feel that overwhelming need to have an end brought to a life that's been far too short to have a need for that any time soon."
He paused to ponder the whole 'nickname' thing. "O'course, those would all work... But there's somethin' not 'right' about 'em, if y'know what I'm talkin' about. Serious business an' all, like you've said. Gotta find the perfect one for a mare like you and it just hasn't come t'mind yet."
Fun? What did he think was fun? Well, that was a loaded question if ever he'd been asked one. Every time he mentioned something that he thought was fun it had been shot down and deemed 'stupid' instead. That was one of the perks of having a stick-in-the-mud brother.
"Right now? It's been fun gettin' away from the herd. When I'm with them? Well, it all depends on who's in what mood. Runnin's always good... Racin' th'wind and things like that. Prancin' around t'music made by those native thingers ain't bad... More than anythin' I like chasin' after storms."
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 10:13 pm
Tsking yet again, Mardi put forth an admirable effort to look stern and disaproving. "I can't believe that you'd be so selfish as to put care for your own life ahead of the fleeting whim of a near-total stranger. I swear, you REALLY didn't have a good upbringing, did you? Lucky for you I'm the forgiving type."
That last bit, spoken with what Mardi hoped was a magnanamous tone, proved to be too much for the mare, causing her as a result to dissolve into giggles. "Then again, maybe we should just let that one be! Same with nicknames; they're fussy things and will NOT cooperate when provoked, so I move that we just let those topics stew in their own juices for a bit, get good and annoyed, then see if they cooperate when we get back to them. In the meantime...those all sound neat. Those music-maker things are delightful, aren't they? I swear, for all their complications those two-leggers sure know how to come up with neat things."
So said, she twirled about and cut a little caper, almost as if she were hearing the music now.
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Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 12:10 pm
This bright, spirited mare served to remind him of something that he had been certain was true for every mare but his mother: they were all crazy. He laught, making a mental note to pass those findings on to Sedi. He'd at least appreciate them even if Dodger didn't.
"I've never experienced any sort o' complications from 'em. They seem t'like havin' us around and Da says they're going to take good care of my sister now that she's expectin' foals." As far as he was concerned, two-leggers were good for lots of things. They had apples and other fruits that he hadn't been able to find on his own just yet... They had music and flames that danced to give off light at night.
"That music stuff is some of the best though. That an' those poundin' things that wind up soundin' like a thunderstorm." He watched her movements for a moment before stepping up beside her, trying to match her strange dance. "Y'ain't too bad at this..."
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