Common

Her cheeks burn with embarrassment and she averts her gaze from him, not wanting him to see the depths of her anxiety. It is only the warmth of his quiet laughter that brings her gaze back to him, and then his self-deprecating comment that earns a smile back to her lips. In truth, she hadn't really realized his age until he pointed it out, but once he did, it was evident to her that he was many times older than herself. Not that it took much. Two years was hardly anything out here, she had slowly learned. Enough to be an adult, but not enough to really know anything.

Shamwari asks what it is that she wants in a home, and in truth, she wasn't really sure. Somewhere she could make friends was high on her list. But so was easy to access food. And you couldn't have food without water. Somewhere she could talk to other horses her age would be killer, and if she was going to ask for things that she wanted rather than needed, she wouldn't turn down a pretty pond with frogs in it or a mountain she could climb so she could see the birds.

Thankfully, he responds again before she needs to answer and her gaze refocuses on his red figure. Her lips curl upward in anticipation of good news when he says that he might be able to help. His apology was a curveball that causes her brow to furrow in confusion but she shakes her head to nudge his concern away. Being alone this long had taught her that she had done it to herself by leaving home when she did, and by not coming to the commons right away, and by not asking Bjorn when she had met him. In truth, he was the only herd stallion she'd come across by herself thus far, and she had been far too taken by Liir to really give him the time of day. "Thank you, but it's okay. I kinda think it's my fault anyways."

As he names his home and asks if she knew of it, she nodded. Living here for so long had given her a grasp of the very basic outline of the islands and their territories, but she had never heard of the Prarie described in such beautiful detail. Sure, a lot of the same qualities could be found in the crossing. There was even a waterfall here, but there was a potential for safety in the Prarie that the Crossing sorely lacked. A potential to belong somewhere that Ivanna craved.

A smile blooms across her lips once more and she nods shyly, hope written clearly across her face. Like a cloud crossing before the sun, however, doubt creeps back in and her brow creases again. "It sounds wonderful, but are you sure? Like..." she trails off, unsure of how to put her thoughts into words. "I'm not like those other girls."

Despite the verbiage used, her tone is not that of an entitled teenager that believes themselves different and therefore somehow better than others. No, it had far more to do with the fact that standing beside another mare left Ivanna feeling somehow lesser. She didn't know how to flirt, and didn't really want to have a baby of her own just yet. She wasn't overwhelmingly pretty or any good at fighting. She was just here, for better or worse. And that was discounting the very real possibility that she was cursed to be forever abandoned. The last thing she wanted to do was give the handsome chestnut stallion a reason to leave the Prairie.

"But.. if you still mean it," she says with a small flick of her tail. "I would be happy to see the Prairie."

Ivanna