The shark-like stallion smiled in silent amusement, serrated teeth glinting in the bright sun shining down from above as the mare before him cycled through a range of emotions from fear to shock and...was that excitement or curiosity? Whether that fear was in reaction to his freakish being one of predator and prey rolled into one or fear for his life that had looked to be in danger from drowning mere moments before he wasn’t completely sure. But judging from the fact her expression rapidly turned to one of wonder, it was fair to say it had been the latter of the two. He was used to seeing others recoil in horror, so it made a nice change to the routine of being an outcast.

Regardless, even after his laidback greeting, he still half-expected her to scream. Or just straight up run away in fear. But she didn’t. Instead this beach-going mare laughed. She laughed. It was a gentle sound, like the flow of water through a stream and a sound that Rude had very rarely heard from another equine and even then only from a distance and never involving him. The Rift was not a happy place and laughter of any kind was rare. Most of it was the cackles of the mad or the sadistic. So it was an unfamiliar feeling to be the cause of another’s mirth. 'What a difference a day makes...’ the stallion thought sarcastically, with an internal smirk.

Suddenly, the mare begins to blurt out a sentence and in her confusion fumbles over her words as she tried to make sense of the last few minutes. “...I was drowning?” he grinned, as he finished her sentence for her. He followed her gaze as she observed him in curiosity, presumably trying to figure out if he was actually an equine at all. She confirmed this with her next sentence as she gave him an apologetic grin. “No need for apologies.” Rude shook his head. “I’m sure my appearance was quite surprising after all.” She needn’t have worried about offending him, he was used to stares and she didn’t seem to harbour any ill-will towards him anyway. “A pleasure, Miss Tiamat. I am Rude.” Rude introduced himself with a bow of the head, playing up to her curtsy with a grin. “And don’t worry about me, I’m fine.” He said, giving a swish of the strange, finned tail to show her everything was as it should be.

Rude watched with amusement as Tiamat’s eyes glistened with wonder as she asked him the long-awaited question of whether or not he could breathe under the ocean. He couldn’t help but laugh slightly, this mare was like a child with all her questions. “Yes, I can stay under the water for as long as I want thanks to these.” He turned his head to the side to let her see the gills on the side of his neck, “Just like a fish!” he exclaimed, looking at Tiamat with a sideways glance of his almost luminescent eyes. For his first real meeting with a native of this so-called land of Helovia, this was going much better than expected.

Comments: Sorry this took so long! D:

Upon the surface,
it seems quiet and calm...