The spotted stallion seemed to stall for a moment, his thoughts somewhere she couldn't follow as he weighed the options she had provided. She would not blame him if he decided to try and figure it out for himself, although she wouldn't personally recommend it. These islands were old, and had history that surged beneath the surface everywhere you looked.
Her lips lift in a small smile as he mentions wanting to hear more about the isles and she bobbed her head, fully intending to launch into a description of each when his compliment stopped her. Her amber gaze flicked back to him in surprise and heat rose to her chestnut cheeks as she watched him wordlessly. In truth, she wasn't sure exactly what to make of his attention, but she was determined not to shrink beneath it. Osiris had weathered her fair share of admirers over the years, although their interest had often waned as her boredom - and tongue - had grown sharper. She had learned the hard way that sometimes tough love was simply necessary and it did not always land well on those around her.
Still, none of their flattery had ever made butterflies flutter to life in her stomach.
"Well," she hedges, hastily trying to gather the thoughts he'd so casually scattered. "This is the Crossing island," she begins, gratefully tearing her gaze away from the loudly painted man to point northward with her muzzle. "The Peak is to the north and is a respite for mares. The Lagoon," she pointed to the south, "is for stallions." And their trinkets and captives, of course. But such minutiae was not really worth his time unless he decided to become a bachelor and - though she suspected she was quickly growing biased - he did not strike her as a Lagoonie.
"The Commons are where most go to find a home, but the Meadow, Falls and Ruins are all neutral territory." She was suddenly struck by a strange yearning to not be in the Falls at all, but in the Commons instead. Where this speckled stranger might have offered her a home rather than asked for a lecture. She pushed the thought away and turned her gaze back to him. "The main herd islands are Tinuvel, which is cold and snowy. Luthien and it's temperate forests. Salem, the desert, and Atlantis, the jungle. All of which are all split into different lands."
She'd only been to Atlantis and Luthien so far, although she had always meant to go to Tinuvel... eventually. Right now though, she kind of wanted to do anything but go find more of her birth family.
"Oh," she stumbled at his final request, kicking herself for the sudden onset of nerves that left her feeling much like a fresh young filly. She hadn't ever felt this off-kilter but was that really such a terrible thing? She'd been doing the same thing all of her life, what if she did something different? What if he was the something different she needed to take a risk on?
"If you want, sure," she said, feigning nonchalance, though her heart hammered wildly in her breast. "What is it you're here looking for then? What do you want to see?"
Osiris - Mutt - Adult - 15.3h - Red Dun Tobiano - Rehoboam x Celestine
we all eat lies when our hearts are hungry.