It surprised Jasper when Khan admitted he’d never seen a river. While Jasper had been told countless times of the fact that each island was vastly different from the next, he’d never lived in a world without rivers and the concept was as intriguing as it was confusing to him. Still, he didn’t express the shock, because he noticed the way Khan looked briefly after saying so. Jasper grinned, “They can be pretty cool, this one is calm and shallow, but I think if you follow it into the Forest you might find some waterfalls, or even some rapids.” Of course, Jasper didn’t entirely speak from firsthand experience about that. He’d never trailed the rivers into other territories or left the Prairie, except with his older sister last season, when they’d come across a bear in the forest.
The pair of young colt’s walked to where Jasper directed them, his ear flicking and attention immediately on Khan (though it hadn’t ever really left the boy) when he spoke again. It was his name off Khan’s mouth that first stirred something inside him, something that made him want to swallow, or to twitch his coat like too many flies were landing on it and making him ticklish. Jasper do you… He didn’t realize he’d been holding his breath somewhat as he waited for Khan to finish but, when the colt did, he released a small sigh and his lungs felt relief. Do you have any sisters?
“Yeah,” he said, bobbing his head a bit, “I don’t know anything about my mother’s side-” he bit off almost immediately. Here Khan stood, mourning the loss of a mother he’d never have a chance to speak with again, and Jasper hated the thought that it might seem like he was making it about himself and his own maternal issues. He pushed on quickly, “But my father has a lot of children here in the Prairie, so I have a lot of sisters.” There were some younger than him and some older than him, too. Jasper huffed and rolled his eyes slightly. “Sometimes I can’t stand them,” though that was mainly about Miriella, as she liked to pick on him for how small he was and could sometimes be a little too mean. “But I guess that’s sisters for you.” He grinned and gave something like a shrug.
But Jasper wasn’t thinking about his sisters, he was too absorbed in Khan and his curiosity toward the lean golden boy. “Do you like your sister? The one back home?” He was sure he did, because he remembered how fond and protective Khan’s voice was when he’d mentioned her.
Back home. It was where Khan would be returning, when he decided it was time to leave. Jasper felt his heart sink like a stone dropped in a pond, but knew it was a selfish feeling. He had no claim, no right to Khan’s time; he wasn’t what had brought Khan here to begin with. But still, even having just met him, Jasper felt an aching want just at the thought of Khan’s future absence. He didn’t know what it meant, and he was almost afraid to place too much thought on it.
The soft babbling of the water pulled his mind, and Jasper smiled. “Hey! Here it is,” he said, gesturing to the freshwater just down the slight slope from them. Jasper’s blue eyes were immediately drawn to his companion, far too curious to see Khan’s reaction to the freshwater than anything else at all.
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