His closeness and the noise he made had the opposite effect he’d anticipated, and Peyote’s frown dug in harder as the whites of her eyes rolled and flashed. The fear in her gaze was what he’d been trying to earn the entire day, yet he was unhappy to see it there still. Why shouldn’t he want to keep her fearful of him? To show softness would suggest a weakness to exploit, but these were not things Peyote had a full concept of. Romance and affection had been such a foreign concept to his sire that Psychedelic never shared lessons of it with his son. To Peyote’s father and to his father’s father, affection was accepted as a sort of poison; an undoing.

Peyote lowered his face a little closer to hers, though that would likely inspire more fright. His ears, pointed forward on her, caught her trembling, weak voice as she spoke and he sighed another soft breath against her tear-streak cheek and finally offered her reprieve by taking his face from hers. His hooves did not move, keeping his body standing by hers, but he looked up over her and then back around them again.

It seemed odd to him that she would ask, but there were many ways he could answer. I’m supposed to. That was the first thought that struck, but none of those words came out of his mouth. Instead, his lips stayed shut and he continued to look off into the distance rather than down at her, not meaning to give her the relief of not bearing his stare, but naturally doing so. To have her here with him felt like so much more than just the destiny he’d been raised for; Peyote did not want her to think that was why she was here.

Finally, his blue eyes drew themselves back down to her. His head tilted somewhat, dry dark hair tumbling off his neck and waving softly in the air over her. “Mine.” He proclaimed, and though his voice was quiet, it was not tainted by anger or rage he might’ve wanted to frighten her with before. Instead, it was factual. A word not to be argued; one she shouldn’t even want to argue. Whatever her life was before today no longer mattered, because this was where she was meant to be.