This is interesting— Kendry had never really thought about the relationship between Gnome and his mother, but when the painted male explains it confirms for Kendry what he had always supposed as a boy. That dynamic —affection without romance— fascinates him, and he tucks it away for future consideration as Gnome catches him up, man to man, on the goings-on of his life since they were last together.
He has so many questions to ask of the older stallion. “Hardly a sob story,” he reassures Gnome. “I’m surprised that you haven’t been to the Prairie. Maybe those you seek won’t be there, but wouldn’t it be better to know whether or not they are instead of... of wondering, and avoiding? I’m not happy I haven’t found Marlena, but it does put me at ease knowing I haven’t wasted time away from her. What if she had been at the Ridge, and I hesitated to even look?” He shakes his head and snorts, calming his passion. “You should go to the Prairie,” he says with a frank look. Kendry doesn’t understand the hesitance he sometimes sees in others. He’s understood for his entire life that the world will continue to turn and function regardless of devastation and joy. Why linger in one as if to protect the other?
He watches the rain ease from its downpour to rhythmic, intermittent drumming and flares his nostrils, drawing in the rich fragrances awoken by the damp. “Tell me of Tinuvel, and of your woman,” he says, and can’t help the grin creeping over his face as he glances at Gnome and teases, “She must be quite the lady, to lure you all the way back to these Islands when you balk at venturing into a territory you used to call home.” |