Her answer made him smile, though just about anything she said might’ve made him grin. The lofty denial of being lost told him the sandy, dark mare was here to explore, and that was something Zevulun could appreciate. She wasn’t a frightened, lonesome thing washed ashore, confused and needing protection. Her eyes were bright, her desire for adventure strong, and Zevulun felt his heart warm immediately to her spirit.
They were joined soon by another stallion - unsurprising, given their location - and while Zevulun had never been the jealous sort, there was a certain energy shift he acknowledged with the approach of a contending male near the pretty mare. Keeping his testosterone in check, the pale stallion watched the approaching shadow before his pink lips stretched up into a familiar, happy smile. “Viđarr,” he greeted with an acknowledging nod. He quite liked his new neighbor in the Savanna and wasn’t the least bit upset to have him join their little conversation.
His attention was, of course, immediately enraptured by the mare when she spoke. The wonder in her voice at the aspect of them standing on an island made him want to chuckle. Instead he leaned toward her as if sharing a secret among the three of them and said, “There’s a whole bunch of them around here.” He winked and tucked his head back, hoping she would be just as excited about the prospect of other islands to see. Just wait until she learned how excitingly different they all were!
“They’re not terribly awful,” he said, “now that we’re in spring.” His blue eyes went to his neighbor and back to the little roan mare. He found himself full of laughter after the loud crack of thunder caused her to spook (and, admittedly he’d given his head a little toss and pranced a few high-kneed steps aside), shaking his head and nodding at Viđarr.
“But perhaps Viđarr is right. Let’s avoid open areas and high grounds, it wouldn’t do for any of us to get struck by lightning. That’d cut this meet-cute short in quite an awful way, wouldn’t it?” Another little grin at the mare. Zevulun was fascinated by her. He was trying his hardest to keep paying attention to both his neighbor, his friend, and this pretty new thing he’d discovered but he wasn’t doing an entirely good job. Every time his blue eyes made their way to her they stuck and refused to leave, studying her to learn second-by-second as much about her as he could.
“We can watch the storm and maybe even play in it-” He suggested and looked from the mare to the quickly darkening sky, smiled and brought his eyes back to her, then to the Savanna lead. “But stay near the shelter in case it gets worse. Plus, this way we can see more of the island while we get to know one another.”
The grin he flashed her was too telling, as was the way he lifted his elegant head and arched his neck, showing the definition of muscles to her. When he caught sight of Viđarr just out of the corner of his eyes he could only smile, having the decency to look a little sheepish at flirting so obviously in front of him.
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