Rowena is so completely consumed by the heat of her embarrassment that she doesn't notice the gilded stallion's almost-retaliation. Perhaps she should be more vigilant, but she's developed a recklessness disregard for her own safety and well being. Rowena no longer has anything to prove. She has no sense of purpose or direction. Without another path to follow, she ventures ever nearer to her own grave.
After making an idiot of herself, and with an awareness of her own haggard, unwelcome appearance, Rowena expects the stallion to leave. She is almost startled when his rumbling chords ring in her ears again. She snorts into the water and wide eyes catch his approach. Before she can come up with an answer to such an unexpected question, he does something even more surprising.
The touch is brief. It's probably a gesture of habit or some sense of obligation, but it stets Rowena's heart aflutter. A thrill like electric shock sparks from the point of contact. Her throat tightens with raw, volatile emotion, and she immediately yearns for more. After so so much time alone with her own tragic thoughts, the smallest gesture of kindness from a stranger means the world to her.
Rowena turns her face to him, not holding back the smile this time. Her eyes shine with unshed tears. "Thanks.". She lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "I'm Rowena."
After just a moment's pause, Rowena produces an answer to Midas' earlier question. "I'm from the Peak, but yeah, I did spend this winter in Tinuvel." She says through an almost-laugh, What a mistake, right?"
A bird somewhere nearby trills in agreement, and Rowena's ears flicker in response to such a pleasant sound. Songbirds have been chatting all morning, but she couldn't hear them until now, their voices drowned out by the voices in her own head. Midas doesn't know it, but through the simplest of actions he pulled her out of her own personal hell, and showed her the world again, even if it's only for a minute.
As they stand still in the middle of the creek, swiftly-moving waters comb the mud from her feathers. The hint of a sleek black and white coat is revealed from the knees down. Whether interpreted physically or emotionally, Rowena is far from clean, but things are starting to look just a little bit better.
