Maziel’s ears twitched as she caught the stallion’s voice and smiled. As Zevulun was relaxed in his company and the stallion himself gave friendly vibes, Maziel was able to let go of the wariness which had first held to her when she’d been invited to join them. Zevulun offered her a smile, pleased as they all settled in together and hoped (just briefly) Mariael was going to push all her worked up energy out on her swim to Crossing Isle. By the time she returned, Zevulun would be sure to speak to her before she caught sight of Paradiso (if he was still here) so he’d have a chance to act as a buffer. His hot-headed sister might react quickly if she was still on guard, thinking Maziel was about to be stolen away.
Settling back into the current conversation and away from his plans as to what he may or may not do to ensure Paradiso didn’t receive a rude greeting from Mariael, he blinked and refocused on the stallion. “Lots of things,” he said with a grin, “exploring, mostly. Sometimes we play games in the forest, although we haven’t played in a while.” Zevulun glanced sidelong at his sister. “Maziel is the best seeker when you play hide and seek. I swear she cheats.”
“I do not,” Maziel laughed gently, reaching between she and Zevulun to playfully bump his shoulder.
“Come on,” Zevulun said, looking back to Paradiso, “We’ll show you around.” He stepped aside so the three of them could head deeper into the forest of the Bay, more than happy to get to exploring with his new buddy and completely and absolutely oblivious to Paradiso’s reaction to Maziel. He let them fall in step beside one another while he fell in place on Paradiso’s other side.
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