Common

He kind of likes the Commons. It’s a strange place – so different from Salem where he grew up, but Lucien enjoys it. People don’t keep to themselves like they do in the Badlands or the Hills; here, it’s always little groupings of equines. And sure, some of them don’t look happy - honestly, Lucien has seen some pretty rude stallions push mares around. But not all of them are that way. A lot of the times, the conversations he comes across are gentle, hopeful for a future to build together. He’s not had that kind of luck yet. But…he feels alive here. Everything is so busy; constantly moving, constantly changing.

He loves it - and so he hasn’t really gone back to the Hills. Things are still weird at home, anyway, and being around Evrain is a lot harder than Lucien had expected it to be. Knowing that Evrain probably had something to do with the accident…it isn’t getting easier to handle, even though Lucien hasn’t visited his mother recently. So he lurks the edges of the Crossing isle, drifting between the Commons and the Meadow and sometimes making it near the edge of the Lagoon before he turns around.

That’s what he’s doing today when he sees the pretty mare standing alone - he’s on the tail end of his big, aimless loop and she’s leaning up against a tree, staring off into the distance. Lucien has enough half-sisters to know exactly what the expression on her face means. Maybe he should go up to her first, so that nobody else bothers her? That’s a good plan, he reassures himself. So he shifts his direction and goes over to her hesitantly, stopping a polite distance away.

Lucien makes sure to keep himself in her eyeline – he doesn’t want to make her feel like he snuck up on her and get his ass kicked for his troubles. “Hi,” he offers tentatively when he finally gets up the nerve. His voice only cracks a little, and Lucien tries not to flush in embarrassment. “Um - I’m Lucien. It’s nice to meet you?”