He can see recognition on her face as he draws close, but Maziel waits for Fell’s warm breath around her face before she reaches to touch him. The skin of his cheek tingles under her lips, and he reaches to fiddle with a strand of her mane for a moment before she moves closer still.

He is still unaccustomed to engaging in such a gentle interaction, and at this point Fell thinks he will never get used to it. Even those of his herd who actually seem to like him tend to show their affection with playful violence, which, admittedly, is a very easy thing for Fell to receive and understand. Even Kohelet, who can be just as gentle as Maziel, sometimes plays roughly with him, so he feels he can be bolder when they interact. As though she won’t break if he touches her.

It’s not that Maziel is fragile, but it is hard for Fell to let go of their first few meetings. She had been injured on the beach when he found her, and then nearly spirited away by the golden beast after giving birth to Charmeine. It makes him feel protective of the blind mare, who has — as far as Fell is aware — never done a thing to harm anybody. He wants to shield her from the parts of the world that are not as gentle as she is.

Including, sometimes, himself.

But he can’t bring himself to pull away when she sidles next to him, pressing her barrel into him, so that the flat muscle of his shoulder can feel the stirring against it of the foal. He curls his neck to brush his whiskered muzzle against the coffee-and-cream fur, to breathe in Maziel’s sweet scent and the warmth from her body.

Her thanks takes him by surprise, but he does little more than bob his head up to look back at her for a moment before his chin sinks back down to rest on her spine. His curved ears twist forward to listen as, after a brief pause, she explains.

Even with the explanation, he does not quite understand, but he doesn’t feel he needs to, necessarily. He can at least understand that Maziel is feeling something, and it has to do with him, and it’s a good feeling; so he presses the flat pane of his face against her flank and rubs it gently up and down against her warm fur in a nod. Then he lifts his head briefly away, before resting his cheek on the top of her hindquarters like a pillow and letting out a contented sigh.

FELL

stallion. 16hh. black. marwari x. Rougaru x visurix.