Ava was the first to arrive, alongside a slender mahogany stallion whom Orhan was surprised to see - and even more surprised to realize that he knew. Meeting the other's sightless eyes with a barely-concealed expression of astonishment, his mind flew back to the tension-filled encounter of their first meeting. In truth, Orhan had not stopped to consider what had ever happened to the stallion, having been so caught up in the drama with his mother. Guilt made his belly feel cold.
"Yusuf?" he repeated, tasting the name on his tongue and attempting to recall if he had known his name before. "You're... back?"
It was the most useless thing he could have said, what with Ava having explained exactly why he was here, but Orhan had no more time to elaborate - in the next moment, El Halin arrived. Orhan watched with dumbfoundment as the grey mare rounded the group and then balked away from Yusuf after giving him a moment's scrutiny. Instantly he was reminded of his mother's similar (though admittedly more aggressive) reaction to the blind stallion, and his already-cold gut turned to ice. He frowned deliberately and twisted his ears back, eyeing El Halin pointedly until she had resumed her composure. Hopefully she is just surprised at there being another stallion here.
A fifth presence lingered in his peripheral vision, and the buckskin stallion quickly side-eyed the newest arrival. Carisa. Normally he would have offered her a kind smile and taken a moment to marvel at the fact that they had recently upgraded their relationship to more-than-just-friends, but for now he gave her only a fleeting glance before returning his attention to the group that had assembled - in particular, Yusuf.
"You do not intrude," he reassured the stallion, and took a moment to shut his eyes against the sudden pressure in his skull. This was an unforeseen complication to a situation that was already complicated, and it felt as if his thoughts were whirling a million miles an hour in his brain in their attempts to keep up with it all. When he opened his eyes again, he took a moment to study the face of each individual horse. How to go about this?
Finally, to Yusuf he said, "Please bear with me - I just need to discuss something with everyone. Then we may talk."
There is someone missing, his brain whispered, and the stallion lifted his chin to look past the group to where Vesti and Izzy had been lurking at the edge of the oasis. Now there was only empty sand where they had been. Resisting the urge to curse, Orhan briefly tucked his chin to his chest to gather his thoughts before addressing the group again.
"All right, everyone. I know you don't all know each other that well, if at all, but I am hoping that can change. There are children in the picture now, and there may be more coming in the future, and I just don't want them growing up in a herd full of strangers. So, I was hoping you could all introduce yourselves to those you don't already know, and afterwards, maybe try to spend more time with each other. And, maybe..." he trailed off conspiratorially, honey-brown eyes darting between the mares. "...maybe work out an agreement as to who should be lead mare. I could use some help."
He laughed dryly, apprehension thick in his voice, before remembering something. He shifted his weight toward Carisa, searching her face for a sign that she understood.
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