Falls

The stallion was too wrapped up in his own embarrassment, and his attempt to flee, then to notice the mare didn’t laugh at him. That it was silence filling his snow tipped ears until she finally did respond. S’all right. It wasn’t spoken to perfection either, although not with the same sort of trouble Espen had. The accent that curbed each of her words making it almost as twisted as his own. But the fact that she told him it was okay, that she gave him an excuse to his own blunder, rather than to continue and berate him was enough to give the tri-colored stallion pause. Even if her tone wasn't kind, it wasn't filled with venom either, which seemed like a kindness in itself to Espen.


When she troubled him with a question, Espen stood frozen. Only his ears tilted back towards her to show he had heard as he continued to stare ahead. She wanted him to talk again? Was she just trying to double check that he was indeed stupid? The stallion’s head lowered some involuntarily, his thoughts darker and harsher than any criticizing she might come up with to give him. Letting out a heavy breath that clouded in front of his pink muzzle on the cold air, Espen closed his blue eyes, trying to find what shred of confidence he might still have. The courage that allowed him to escape the very place that had made him this way.


When Espen opened his eyes again, he turned his head to look back at the pony mare. She had done nothing he had thought she would, so he supposed he could try again. If only just this once. “Tttttth-ought….” He tried, having to pause as he ground his teeth in frustration. His eyes narrowing as he glared at the snow gathering on the ground. “Cl….Cly-re….” There. He had managed to get it out, as rough as it was to do so. He had thought she was Clyre, and clearly she was not. Even if she was, could he have really attacked her? As angry as he had felt, he had never lashed out like that before, and was sure that her sharp tongue could have wounded him far greater than he could have physically done the mare. As she had done countless times while he had been growing up.