You're the only North Star I would follow this far...
"I can talk the talk"
And walk the walk
But I'm always in deep thought.

The sound of wings alerted him to the arrival of a fourth party and he saw out of his peripheral vision, the form of a dark grey pegasus mare land beside him. She appeared to know him. Her face was livid as she spat venom at him. Confusion stole over the stallion- he did not know this mare, why was she angry at him? What was she talking ab- oh. Moonlight, fireflies, heated scents, and pleasure echoed through his mind as though it came from a distant radio transmission. A memory long forgotten, and so insignificant to the stallion that he had buried it, passed it off as a dream the morning after. He had not seen her since then and did not even know her name.

Was her appearance here to mean that their mistake had come to fruition? Was that why she was so angry at him? That he had not appeared to be a father. He had no reason to do that, though. regardless of what she said or thought he should do, he was not going to abandon Artemis, nor would he attempt to pretend that he had ever felt anything other than a short burst of hormone-induced lust for the pegasus. Call him cold, but she had asked for the event to happen and he had provided. There was nothing more to it than that.

He did wonder, purely out of curiosity, where the foal was, if there was one, and what he or she was like. Maybe he would seek the foal out one of these days. He spared the nameless mare a venomous glance and made a snake-like motion of his head in an attempt to shove her shoulder. "If you want to help, get back and don't crowd the ice. It's already cracking and you're just makin' it worse." he snorted angrily at her, responding to her fury with a bit of his own, even though he tried to put a cap on it. Getting mad wouldn't help his beloved out of danger.

With the pegasus (hopefully) out of the way, he turned back to Artemis in time to hear her words. "I need you." He wondered if she meant that, or if she was just saying it because she was terrified. Either way, his heart swelled. She was depending on him, and he hoped he would not let her down. Taking a deep, icy breath, the stud let it out in a stream of mist and began to concentrate. "Missy, can ya perform a Courbette? It's when ya balance on your hind legs and kick yerself forwards with your hind legs... like this, see?"

With that, he turned to the side and half-reared back on his hind legs, balancing with his front legs in the air. He felt a burn in his stomach as it strained to support a portion of his front end off the ground. Then he kicked out hard with his back legs to sail through the air and land some three or four feet away from where he had been standing before. "The ice is solid where I was standin' see if you can jump ter that spot."

He looked at her, wondering if she could perform a stand-still jump the way he did. She was a warrior, he knew that much. Perhaps they utilized the same moves... In the meantime, he spared another glance at the pegasus mare. What she'd said earlier finally setting in. He snorted, and lowered his head as though ashamed, but if one got a look at his eye, one would know he was intensely annoyed.

"Look, ma'am. I don't know why yer so mad. We don' know each other. I don' even know yer name. One night a hormone-induced company isn't what i would consider a lastin relationship. I dun hate you, but I'm not gonna let ya be mad at me for no good reason. Whatever ya got to say, ya can say it in front a my mate." He didn't honestly think about it before he spoke. it was only after he stopped talking that he realized what he had let slip. He glanced quickly back at Artemis, wondering if she had caught it.

He had not meant to call her that, but if she had, would she hate him for making the assumption? Would she think he was rushing things, or that he was delusional in thinking that was where they were in their relationship? Were they close enough to allow him to use the term "mate" to describe her to his friends and acquaintances? Would she agree to it, or turn him away?

His stomach was in knots, but he showed none of this on the outside, or in his expression. His face remained a stoic mask of polite confusion. One other thing worried him, though. Would Artemis respond badly to the news that he had a son or daughter wandering around, if that was indeed what Storm wanted to say? He hoped not, but it was too late for him to change his mind- he had made the verdict- she would speak to him in front of Artemis and the strange stallion, or not at all.

All the while, he could feel his heart pounding against his ribs and he wondered why until his eyes fell once again upon Artemis. Whatever she thought of him, one thing remained true. Something that was simple in it's complexity. He didn't even fully understand it yet, but as he looked at her, his worry and strain slowly melted away, and just as her eyes had gazed at him with such trust, the words whispering from her lips which dared to move and deliver such a hard-fought truth, so too, did his eyes soften and he let out a breath. Whatever came, nothing would be the same was it was.

Because....

I need you, too.

985
@[Voodoo], played by Nevada
@[Artemis], played by Sei
@[Storm], played by Orinthia
Tharos is being such a sap. <3