"Where do keep all of those tears?" I am filled with relief to see him begin to calm down. Now I can do the same.

Watching him stand I ready myself for in case he loses his balance again. Timothy's days of having no one to lean on ended whenever he cast his spell on me. I cannot go without knowing more about him and though the thought surprises me I realize that I want this strange stallion to know more about me.

I think that I see the same hope I have for a friendship reflected in his eyes and it draws me towards him. I start to step forward but this time he is more forward than what I am. Maybe there is hope for you after all Timothy. I do not expect him to go as far as what he does though. I am so surprised by his embrace that I tense up. "What are you--" "I'm sorry... I'm a fool Faeanne. Forgive my cowardly ways." He is already forgiven but I will not let him know that yet. At least not with words. I won't be a complete push over.

He sound so normal in his apology that I throw myself into his embrace. I am overwhelmed by the hope I feel for him. For myself. For our friendship. I push myself as close to him as I can get. I do not remember anyone, besides Momma Eva, ever embracing me like this. And an adoptive mother hardly counts whenever it comes to showing affection, for them it is required.

Timothy's whiskers brush against a ticklish spot and a laugh squeezes itself into the little space between us. I watch as it tangles itself in his mane. But my eyes widen and shoot up looking at nothing in particular whenever I think that I feel his lips change into a smile against my skin. My eyes stare blindly at the scenery behind us jealous over having missed out on the smile my neck had so enjoyed feeling. The sensation was entirely different than that of what I felt whenever he had dropped a tear into my mane.

Timothy starts to but I am not ready for him to pull away yet so I nip onto his mane and I tug him closer for one more moment that goes by all too fast. I drink in his smell and I imprint the memory. Timothy is ever changing. I do not know if a moment like this will be shared between him and I again. I do not even know if we will meet again after tonight. That thought puts a sorrowful look in my eyes and with a sigh I release him and he steps back.

Now that I can see more of him than what I could while I was buried into his neck I memorize the sight of him. I know that he looks for an answer to his apology and I cannot resist the hopeful look in his eyes. "I forgive you." I twist and contort my wistful expression into a smile for his sake.

"I was going to fly back to the Dragon's Throat tonight," I was hoping to slip in unnoticed. I dread returning to the clutches of the beast and I do not want to have to go through the hassle of a welcoming committee. "But I.. I.." I want to hold onto this moment "I don't feel like flying." I look away from him to wrestle against the fear of rejection on my own. "Would-you-stay-here-with-me-tonight?" I ask the question in one breath too nervous to ask it normally. Once the question has had time to settle I peek at him from the corner of my eye before turning back to him entirely.

@Timothy