Falls

He almost felt as though he could drift off to sleep under the feel of the waterfall's rhythmic rush across his back and the cool liquid shifting around his body. There was peace and calm here and he couldn’t imagine a better way to spend the afternoon. He would have nodded off, if not for the scent of another floating on the breeze. It was a feminine scent and while he remained relaxed, he turned his gaze toward the direction it flowed from. It took but a few moments for him to spy the red form among the bushes, standing out against the green like a beacon on a hill.

He did not move with hurried mostions, but rather shifted until he was facing the direction of the mare. He wasn’t one to find himself too eager to be in the company of others, though he did find a natural attraction to socializing. There had been such a need to talk to drown out the boredom of the day to day in his fathers herd. There had not been very many new faces in the past few years. Most were siblings or cousins and those wandering between herds. They only did so in the fall. It was as if the season to socialize was reserved for just before the cold of winter would diminish anyones desire to travel.

He tipped his head up, stretching the straight flat of his face toward the female, amber eyes regarding her as his nostrils twitched at the heady scent that was registering in his mind for safe-keeping. ”I had not expected company so soon.” His lips curled with a boyish grin as he arched his neck toward the water and lifted a thick limb to scrap at the water, sending ripples across the surface. He shook his neck and heck, relishing the feel of abandon for a moment more. He settled, decisive on the fact that he did not want to scare her off. After all, she was the first he had seen in these new lands.

”There is plenty of room here and you must admit that today is a very fine day for a swim.” He offered, the baritone of his voice filling the air. He had the luxury of having absolutely nowhere to be and no one expecting him home. In fact, he didn’t even have a home to return to. It left him with a strange feeling in his gut and he wasn’t exactly certain he liked the way it sounded. He wasn’t going to complain. No, it had been his decision and he would start the search tomorrow. That had been his decision earlier, no? Perhaps this stranger could even make suggestions, for he hoped she was more familiar with this new world than he.

He shifted a curious gaze up to her again, wondering just how long she’d been here. Whether he was curious of her presence at the falls or in this new world all together, even he could not decipher. He stilled in the water and found himself introducing himself rather late, since it came at the tail end of his commentary and invitation. Had that truly been an invitation? Hadn’t he discerned that he was introducing himself now? ”I am Xanthus. I pray you also have a name that you might grace me with.”