Oh right. She didn't like fire. It was all coming back to him now...

Sometimes it was difficult being Gaucho. It wasn't as though he was immune to feelings, or completely ignorant of them. He had simply been conditioned to deal with them in a different way than the majority of Helovian's had. Rarely did Gaucho feel the need to talk about the things that bothered him - and if he did, it was only to find an adequate solution. He had been told in the past that often when members of his herd voiced concerns to him, all they really wanted was a reassuring ear to hear them out. Rarely were they looking for solutions or commentary on their lives. They just needed to get things out, and move on. It was so backwards to the way he was raised, and it constantly made him appear immovable and oafish.

His dark eyes and expression remained neutral, even as Maren's voice rose and her body positioning became increasingly hostile. The Wildfire was not intimidated by the petite mare, but it was not merely a lack of physical concern that made him appear so calm. If Maren were to strike him, so be it. He doubted she could do much damage, at least not before he could restrain her. Besides, as the words bled from her lips, he wondered if it wasn't doing her some good. Obviously there was much on her mind, and while part of him would have been happier to spar with her and extinguish her anger that way, he was fine with yelling too.

Remaining silent until he was sure that she had finished, the dun regarded her for a moment, losing himself in the brilliance of her gaze and the quaintness of her appearance.

"Gaucho not lock Maren out." He began, his voice rich and melodic as the resonant tones spilled out of his dark lips. "Maren's mind lock Maren out." Gaucho was fine taking her yelling, but he would not take her blame. At least not when it wasn't his own to bear. That she had fears was one thing, that she expected him to be respectful of those fears was another. Perhaps she was right, and he should have offered the information to her during their previous conversation. But she was a new member of their herd, and he their Sultan. He owed nothing to her, not then. And now that she was an accomplished member of their family? His family? Had his obligations to her grown? The answer was yes, but not in this. Gaucho's only obligation to the tiger-mare was to forge the best Maren that he could, out of the self-doubting and rather loud creature before him. As he had told her - it was her own mind who deserved her angry words, not him.

"Gaucho not ask you to forget or adjust. Gaucho ask you to be strong." Gaucho's dark gaze tried to find Maren's, to show her without words that he was being sincere - he wasn't trying to diminish what she had said, or simply sweep it under the rug. "Gaucho think Maren's fear is real, but that not mean that it is okay. Maren come here from far away. Far away is where Maren's fear began, and you bring it with you across all these miles. You bring it with you to new family and new life. You hold it close and yell at Gaucho because of your fear. Maren can not let fear control her, cannot let fear into your soul."

For Gaucho who had been afraid of very little in his long life, such was a difficult conversation to have. Overcoming that which made him afraid had always come easily, and he had met it head on. That someone would shy away from something which made them so obviously weak was almost nonsensical to him, and yet he knew that Maren was no idiot. Still, he did think there was a good amount of self-deception going on. Maren was not facing her fears, and Gaucho thought that subconsciously she was telling herself that was alright. As if having a healthy fear of fire was nothing to be ashamed of. But couldn't she see just how irrational it was making her? That she thought somehow her worries - whose foundations she still hadn't told Gaucho about - should somehow trump the safety of his herd?

"Gaucho want Maren to be strong, but Gaucho know that that takes time. Gaucho not expect this to go away over night. Maren can want to make sure ho one is harmed because of fire, Maren can even fire-proof church, Gaucho not care. But Maren cannot let fear of fire control her. Besides-" Stepping forward, Gaucho stretched a wing over the magical bridge. His already burning wings suddenly blazed even brighter as magic took hold of his feathers. Waving it back and forth, he looked back to Maren impassively. "This fire not even hot. This fire gives Maren wings to fly. Is a gift from our God." Even if you are afraid of fire, you shouldn't be afraid of this fire, he wanted to say.