There was a strong instinct to shake his wings, rid them of as much of the water as he could, but he would surely drench the mare sharing the cave with him and that didn’t really seem fair to her at all. She was sheltering from the rain! And here he went, thinking about bringing it in with him. Instead he settled for a part shake, a quick downwards shrug to eliminate some of the dampness and weight that had settled in with the water.

Besides, there was always the chance that she wasn’t particularly fond of the idea of the company of a stranger. In that case, he’d probably head right back out into the rain (where he’d get soaked again anyway) or deeper into the caves (where he’d be free to stretch those wings and give them a good shake).

For now, though, it would seem that his company was going to be accepted for the time being, and he was even graced with a small smile. Silver eyes watched her as she repeated his name and he caught the sound of her accent as it tested the syllables. If it had not been obvious from her exotic looks, her voice gave her away as someone that was not native to this area. Most weren’t, in the end, he supposed. Had she come from somewhere where everyone had small wings behind their ears? Where they were marked as tigers? Questions that were too impolite to ask right away or that he was too shy to bring up outloud bounced around his mind in the moment of silence between when she spoke his name and when her strange accent filled the cave once more. Her next words, however, silenced the questions and distracted him completely.

His horned head tilted to the side as she spoke of the Throat, seeming to have some familiarity with his name though he had never met her before. It seemed he would have to wait a little longer to learn her name too, but she had not lacked for a topic to bring up. “Is that so...” Rumours? Mesec couldn’t even feign surprise but there were other emotions vying for attention in him. He looked away from her then, shifting uncomfortably at the thought. He had been worried about such things since making the decision to make his home in the Gaucho’s herd. He feared the mistrust of his new herd mates and had pledged to work as hard as he could to show that he was trustworthy - that he was not his birth mother.

When details were not immediately forthcoming from the nameless stranger, his eyes found her again and he tried to sound as nonchalant as he could when he asked “And what have you heard?” It was easy to speculate, there really was only one thing Mesec thought would be worthy of gossip - as much as he disliked the idea of being a topic for others to discuss. Still, depending on what this striped mare had heard he might be able to judge the mood of the Throat towards him.

@[Maren]


I’m trying to find my direction home, ______________
A question of space, a matter of time, _______
I follow the stars until the first light.