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.

Tharos watched her back up, his expression stoic even though his eyes reflected sadness. He understood, though. They were not yet close enough for physical contact. He would respect that. He straightened up and looked away, his mind wandering for a bit until he felt her horn prod him in the chest. It was a mark of the trust he had in her that he did not balk away. The memory of being gored was fresh in his mind. He glanced down at the curved weapon making a depression in his muscle, yet not breaking the skin and had to repress a shudder. He did not want to insult her.

Her next words however, stung him and he allowed this to show in his expression. He glanced at her. Honestly, he had thought the nickname was endearing. Were they not close enough for even that allowance? His ears took on a lopsided appearance as he pointed one towards the unicorn in front of him, and the other was trained on the foal. He gave the filly only a fraction of his attention as he currently had eyes only for the snowy draft in front of him. He found it easier to relax when she took the horn away from his chest. "Artemis, I know ya gots a name, but the word "Artemis" is a bit hard fer me ter pronounce. So I thought of givin' ya'll a simple nickname. ArteMIS, Missy, get it?"

His nicker was hopeful as he looked at her, almost asking her for permission to continue using the nickname. He was distracted by the presence of the bear and his head jerked around to see it. He'd seen the bear before, but in passing, from far away- it had been in the invasion of the foothills. He did not know who it belonged to, if it belonged to anyone, but he doubted that it was the companion of this foal- she had not been alive during the invasion, he was sure of that. He did note the relationship between them, though- her wing affectionately shoved the bear and he let it happen instead of mauling her to death, so they must have been close some how.

Then the filly was talking again and he tilted his head, embarrassed, as she spoke of how handsome he was and how it was a shame that Artemis didn't love him. He glanced away from both females and flicked his ears as though he did not know what do say or do under the unexpected compliment, especially since it came from one so young. Was she even old enough to have interest in the opposite sex?

Then did the stallion glance at Artemis, wondering yet again, if his verbal denial was honest or not. Something had dragged him here, whether it was love or not, he did not know. He had worried for her, cared enough to stare danger in the face for her. He knew he was not welcome here and yet, he could not keep himself away- her pull was too great. His hooves had brought him to this place almost subconsciously, and it brought him a joy he could not quite restrain to see her, even if she was telling him to leave.

"Mama is busy running a herd."

Ice pumped through his veins as his world came crashing to the floor in shards. Mama... there was only one mare who ran the foothills now. Ktulu. He had not met her, personally, but he had a fearsome reputation, and he knew that, should she find out about Artemis meeting him in private, she would not like it- they were in danger. He did not even need to hear the rest of what the filly said before he was making up his mind. He gave Artemis an apologetic glance, wanting to say something to her but not knowing if he could get away with it now.

Instead, he made to toss his head towards her in a gesture of farewell and turned to leave, only to be stopped again as the filly introduced herself. She wanted to play a game. He looked over at Artemis, bewildered. Wasn't the filly going to run back to her mother and tell her everything? For a split second, he dared to hope that she would understand the seriousness of the situation and would say nothing. He turned back around, deciding that it was best to keep the young one happy so that she would not do just that and get Artemis in trouble.

He reflected briefly on what he would do if Artemis did get in trouble... what would they do to her? Would he be able to rescue her? He wondered if she would even allow him to spirit her away from this place, rather than endure her punishment, whatever it could be. Then his mind wandered farther to the thought of starting a herd with this heavyset beauty standing closest to him, closest to his heart. He felt his heart skip a beat and he shook the thoughts away. Only if she brought it up first would he think of such things. That was the gentleman's way. Right?

"I suppose I can stay for a bit longer... what kind of game did you have in mind?"

885
@[Artemis], played Sei
@[Ranjiri], played by Ali
Sorry for lateness! ;3;