†
The other stallion is clearly on edge, and swift to explain why: Rehoboam, as he names himself, has come to collect that which has been taken from him. He can be referring to none other than Celestine and her foal. So. Here is the gardener himself, come to claim his purloined fruit. Even as Temblor's ears tip back, he appreciates that the other male gets straight to the point. Hoofbeats behind him —one set— draws his attention slightly as he angles his head to see who approaches. It is too heavy a tread for Sonoroe (and he is glad, in this moment, that she has not followed him out to the beach), and he is hardly surprised when the jungle releases Celestine to the beach. She joins them, casually, neither seeking to increase the tension between the two stallions nor dispel it.
His ears twitch forward as she addresses Rehoboam, hearing in her nickname for the gray-washed stallion an echo of how Shiloh fondly refers to him. Temblor also can't help but notice the white swath which mottles Rehoboam's throat looks very similar to Celestine's own marking. They are all three the same shades, their colors simply dispersed in varying intensities and shapes: Rehoboam with the large patches of white to balance his gray, Temblor's torso dappled, and Celestine's dark frame sporting a mix of both. There's a certain visual poetry to it that Temblor finds hard to appreciate in this moment, challenged as he is on his own doorstep by the single stallion most justified in doing so.
"I didn't fight you for her," he points out without malice, the comment made more to give himself time to think than to gibe the other male. He measures the other stallion with his eyes. Despite Rehoboam's obvious anxiety, Temblor does not doubt he will throw everything he has into a fight in order to ensure Celestine and the foal are returned to his direct and immediate care. Temblor is, in fact, impressed at Rehoboam's restraint, as well as his willingness to negotiate before throwing kicks.
"As you can see, Celestine is in good health," he continues. "So. I'm curious what you feel you can offer me to convince me to part with her." Temblor shifts, then, to make room for Celestine to join their discussion. His expression is deliberately kept blank as he adds, "If, of course, Celestine even desires to return to you. If she does not, then there is little point in you and I continuing this conversation."
TEMBLOR
& swallows you whole
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