She spoke of the Throat, and it only made his happiness linger on. She did not speak of it in a cruel way, not like Ricochet or many of the other outsiders would. She thought of it's benefits, and that was enough to give him some hope. Maybe some day she really would want to leave the colds of the North and the companionship of Mauja, for him. "Frostfall is certainly much easier there. I don't know how you manage to survive so far North. This is the longest cold season I've seen." He spoke, forcing his face to be void of the turmoil it almost held at mention of her distant home. She was happy now, and he would not let himself spoil it.

Unfortunately, mention of the foals seemed to shock Faelene. The smile fell from her face, and again he had to fight from frowning, though the look of concern in his gold eyes was unmistakable. He had clearly said adopted, so she could not worry that he had been unfaithful to her, could she? He wondered if she would worry about his faithfulness at all, though she had reacted quite venomously when he'd told her of Melissa in the Arch. When she asked of the number he'd taken in, he let a small chuckle pass his throat. His voice was still not as exuberant as it was before, not while the garnet locked dove looked so stricken. "Only two, Faelene. I found them in the Threshold on my patrol, their parents had disappeared, and the children seem to think they were killed somehow. The filly, Nefertari, asked me to take her and her brother in as my own." His chords hung in the air as he looked out across the snow covered meadow, wistfully. "I didn't have the heart to tell her no. They are both safe in the Throat now. And I've been doing my best to learn how to be a father to them. He let his gaze rise back to Faelene's dark eyes, a soft smile on his maw, waiting to see what she'd say to all of this. He did not expect her to be mad, for he believed that she would have done the same thing. He was sure she had a strong maternal streak, even if it had never had the chance to be used. She was no weak mare, not with everything she'd been through in her life, or what little he knew of it. In the midst of his thoughts, he looked at her with an admiring expression. Out of all the mares in the world, it was her he wanted to be with. He'd given in to the realization that fate had decided it, and he'd either be chasing her around for the rest of his life, or standing by her side, if she would ever will it. "The foals are old enough to care for themselves pretty well. There is certainly no need for you to worry about them. I just wanted to tell you about them." He tried to reassure her, and paused before continuing. "Do you like foals, Faelene?" White tendrils of air left his mouth in a quiet sigh. There is so much that I don't know about you."



[ooc: I had to try out the lovely new table/manip imi made me <3]