Falls

A part of him is still reeling internally, trying to find his mental footing and steady himself against the oceanic waves of the past that continued to crash continuously against his soul. His heart still raced as he came down from the high, the pounding in his ears loud enough that he almost did not notice the pounding of hooves. His spotted ears flicked back slightly as he drug his mind back into the present, foolish of himself to allow such reverie in such a public place. It did not take long to identify the source of the sound, about the same time that source noticed him as well it seemed for there was no mistaking the polite greeting the large stallion called out as he shifted course. Bondurant kept his guard up as the other approached, though he seemed friendly the vagabond was used to not seeing eye-to-eye with others of his sex in more ways than one. Despite being ruled by his instincts once upon a time, he had been raised a gentleman and that did not align with how many saw the mares in their care. The golden near-white man who approached him however was more than his match in size and the mottled stallion made no move to hide his sizing up of the other as he approached.

His two-toned tail flicked around his feathered feet, his shaggy exterior not painting the prettiest of pictures, but it kept him alive on his own during these harsh conditions. The voice that greets him however is almost overly friendly, surprising the brute as his new acquaintance halts before him pawing at the snow. It causes his ears to turn forward in interest, uncommon to see someone who is nearly exuding excitement and good nature into he atmosphere around them. “ ‘Lo there.” His deep voice rumbles in return, the usual heaviness of his soul tempered a bit both from his recent run-in with the flaxen woman he had sheltered with from the recent storm and even more so from the air the other man carried with him.

Perhaps that is why the proposition the other lays out takes him entirely off guard. The way the younger stallion preens, the rolling of muscle visible beneath his glossy coat was not entirely unfamiliar to the vagabond. There was a time he had loved the fight, enjoyed the coursing of adrenaline and testosterone in his veins. It was something he had been reminded of in his brief encounter with Riviani, she had managed to reignite a fire in his soul and while it did not blaze brightly that ember still lingered as it glowed in the darkness of his soul. “Boy, I was puttin’ lads like you to shame before yer daddy was even a spindle-legged fool.” The gravelly quality of his voice had only strengthened with age, and while a part of him seriously considered just shooing the boy off, he couldn’t deny that his fleeting spat with the chocolate mare had not left him looking for an outlet of that pent up energy. Yet his piercing emerald eyes focused with sudden clarity on those of vivid blue. “But it just so happens I am in the mood for teachin’ today.” The ghost of what might have been a smile glanced across his features as he rolled his heavy shoulders as her arched his neck as if trying to shake off years of creaky joins, which is exactly what he was trying to do. Age had taken its toll on the man, but by his reckoning he wasn’t dead just yet.