Instead of denying him as he had expected, she offers a counter of her own and he is drawn to silence for a moment, head tilted slightly as he considers what she has asked. It feels like the sort of trick question where no matter what answer he gives, it will be wrong. As if she is looking for an excuse to tell him no.

He wants to find the answer, to be the good student, the teacher's pet, but such terms have never really fit the rough-and-tumble boy that learned how to survive out of pure determination and grit.

His tail flicks, his eyes still focused on her pretty face before he decides to answer her truthfully, not wanting to lie to her face about something that seemed - to him - to have only one answer. "Yes." He answered, confusion softening the finality of the word. "I want to take you home." Because to him, that was what belonging together meant, that he would bring her home, and she would belong to him and he would belong to her. He would take care of her, guard her, and cherish her because that was what belonging to him meant.

He did not know how to give her anything but himself.

And perhaps a baby, if she wanted one. But that, too, was a piece of himself.

"Only to the ones I like," he promised as she inquired as to whether it was an offer he made to all the girls. "And I like you a lot."

Her last statement again stumped him, so rather than dealing with it as she spoke it, he allowed a slow smirk to build across his lips, hopeful that his answering query would help her see why the outcome of today was obvious. She belonged with him, whether she realized it yet or not.

"Do you like me?" He asked, as if he didn't already know the answer.

young stallion - mutt - seal bay overo - 15.1h - rafe x velahrn