Zèklè's mind was in a million, billion places, streaming with a thousand thoughts and a hundred ideas and a zillion questions, of which at least 99.9% directly involved the whale.

The WHALE! He hadn't appreciated how bit it was, not really, but once he'd had a moment to catch his breath the boy's eyes filled with the behemoth of the deep, filled and filled and just kept filling until the creature was spilling out of them and into every recess of his brain, and still it was so very big, and strange, and beautiful. It was like the desert, in a way, though totally and completely different; it was like nothing he had ever seen; it was like everything he had ever wanted, and then more. He tried to find all of it, but so much (how much?) still lurked, hidden, beneath the water- and for all he knew it went on forever, and he would never see it all.

Indeed, it took him a moment to determine exactly where its head was in relation to anything else, but he quickly found an enormous eye and latched onto it, staring intently into its depths. The voice echoed through his head again; he started, glancing around uncertainly, wing fluttering and hooves shuffling to bring him closer to the comfort of the girl's side. It wasn't that he was frightened, exactly, it was just so strange- but he grinned as the whale spoke, quickly relaxing, giggling at the massive wink. "I bet we're the first horses you met, huh?" he questioned, full of a youthful arrogance and pride- certainly nobody else had ever been clever enough to get this close to a whale, and he and his friend would go down in history for their tremendous achievement, the bridging (literally!) of whale and equine worlds.

A part of his mind was taken aback - shocked, even - when a tremendous and unprecedented outflow of words came sputtering from his friend's lips. So far she had been so careful, so eloquent, so much better-spoken than the talkative child- he turned to her, both amused and concerned, his face a mask of I hope you're okay but that was really funny. Zèklè grinned (and really, had he ever stopped grinning?) nodding profusely: "Yeah, isn' her bridge great?" Praise of the girl came easy to his lips: he had meant it, sincerely, when he said she was the best (besides Ma). It only made sense that the whale should know it, too.

There was no anxiety or trepidation left in Zero's mind, only a trembling, brilliant excitement and a naive, unquenchable joy. "Well you're real tall, so you shouldn't have any trouble," the boy shot back, laughter in his voice. His gaze kept flickering between the girl and the whale. Not only was the creature as awesome more awesome than Zero had ever expected, but he was funny, too! He bumped his shoulder against the bloodstained girl, a little part of him concerned that she wasn't having as good a time as he, that she wasn't happy because that would be awful. He wanted her to enjoy everything the same way he did; he wanted to hear her laugh again, to see her pretty smile.

But he could not stay quiet for long. It simply wasn't in his nature. He turned back the whale, more questions ripe and bursting on his tongue, sunbeam eyes violent with a desire to learn. "How d'whales get their names, anyway? My ma gave me mine but my friend's lookin' for hers herself. Did you do that too? Hey!- What's your name, anyway?!" Such an obvious question, but maybe the one he wanted answered most of all. What was his name? Did whales have names? Would it be totally different from anything Zero had ever heard, or would it be just like theirs?

So many questions! He wished he could ask them all at once, or just know the answers.... though what, he supposed, would be the fun of that?

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OOC;; WHAAAAALES
TAG;; @[Isopia]