Albrecht

As far as the stallion is concerned, even a speculative confirmation that shedding will be easier - and less obnoxious - in the future is a relief. Itchy is a type of uncomfortable, he concedes silently, and the snakes emotions flare with a proud I-told-you-so zeal, quickly followed by a renewed admiration for the water horse as she denounces the merit of dragons, his personal rivals, in her very next breath. The little python looks to his bonded again, reading the old stallions reaction.

In all honesty, the old black had never put much thought into the logistics of dragon keeping, only into the pleasant idea of having a personal, incorruptible body guard with its very own armory of offensive weapons. He blinks at the snake, reading thought and emotion from their bond rather than from his face or body posture, neither of which give anything away about his internal workings except in the most fervent of cases. He notes the companions quiet, impassive gaze and cocks an ear appreciatively, remembering now just how annoying some of the other Basin companions can be, the incessant squawking and squealing of the Weavers griffin coming immediately to mind. The white faced stallions dragons hadn't seemed so loud or distruptive as that, but the snobbishness of the gold one had hinted at a certain level of maintenance, and surely more than the occasional shed or weekly hunt.

"Hm." He acknowledges mildly, but the snake can hear his inner workings and takes this as a full blown admission of equality, lifting his little head to stare silent and unblinking in the mares direction, his expressionless face beaming an invisible, undying gratitude. 'Friend.' He declares inaudibly, and the stallion grins. "I guess you can count yourself among the illustrious ranks of snake besties now."

As far as sneaky goes, it's never occurred to him to use the snake to spy before, a laughable oversight considering his position in the herd, though less laughable when his aggressive avoidance of duties is taken into account. He does occasionally rely on the snakes scent and thermal mapping, his companions senses much sharper than his own, but that's always been in conjunction with his own senses, the two traveling together and overlaying their two versions of the world to make one image with more detail than either alone would yield, but to use him as an earpiece would involve their separation, something neither has pushed for yet. The python makes his home atop the stallions head and despite all his complaining, the stallion has grown accustomed to him being there. An unwelcome and embarrassing prick of anxiety intrudes on his thoughts as he imagines leaving the young companion somewhere, hidden among the branches of a tree or curled in a shallow den, to watch some private happenstance and report back to his bonded. The snakes interest peaks, eager to prove his worth by almost any means necessary, but the stallion temporizes as all parents do in the face of uncomfortable questions and unstoppable realities; Maybe when you're older.



"Alby talks" 'Strom talks'
Ooc // @Syrena