It’s odd, Selenium thinks, at how taken a stallion can be with a foal. She had understood Ernesto’s awe at Silicon, his first foal, despite her issues. She doesn’t know how many children he’s had since, or how many of them he’s met, but there’s a spark here that she hadn’t entirely expected.

Father and son do look remarkably alike, though Santiago has his patterns from her and the soot on his rump and shoulders is more obvious that that on Ernesto’s darkened legs. His father’s voice seems to stir Santiago from his daze, and he smiles crookedly at the obvious tone of approval.

Selenium still doesn’t know any of the language that the stallion slips into, though he uses the words in places where she can usually identify their meaning. Their son, however, seems even more blown away by the foreign words than the man behind them. His little frame actually shakes with the effort of holding still as he stares up at Ernesto.

”I’ve never heard those words before! That’s so cool, what do they mean?” He whips himself around so fast that for a moment the mare is worried that he’d pulled something. But Santiago continues in almost the same breath, ”How come you’ve never said weird things, Ma?”

Out of the corner of her eye, Selenium sees Silicon take a couple of shuffling steps closer. From the slope of her neck, it appears Silicon’s face is almost ground level, but her ears are forward, as if she’s listening to their conversation. Selenium wants to check to see if her daughter’s eyes are as focused, but she needs to address a certain impatient little boy first.

Her blue eyes trail back to her colorful son and she smiles fondly at him. ”Your father’s the only one I know who can work that magic, Santi,” she tells him, not wanting to overcomplicate things by trying to explain the difference in languages when he’s barely grasped this one.

Her gaze flickers to Ernesto. ”This is him,” she says, her unspoken agreement that their son has behaved for her. She’s glad that Santiago hasn’t felt the need to change his behavior around his father. ”Perhaps he’ll have another sounding board now and give my ears a rest.” Her words are in jest but she hopes their meaning is clear. She wants the boys to strengthen the bond that seems to have effortlessly formed between them.