Long quiet weeks have passed since his arrival, and he has spoken to none of the valkyries directly apart from Ashteroth. Even taking care of little Antoinette was an anomaly, considering that most of the other children were less eager to part from their mother's side. Without much to occupy his time, Gecersiz had devoted the majority of his days to meandering the lower paths of the territory, memorizing where herbs grew and mountain springs sprung. He did not venture to the mountains themselves, apart from the lowest of foothills, as the elevation still made his stomach queasy. He'd grown up among the rolling sand dunes of Salem and it still boggled his mind sometimes that the ground itself could pierce the sky with stone.

Still, he was not wholly unhappy. Captivity, while unproductive, was at least freeing in a sense. He no longer had to look over his shoulder at night, or search for a new spot to lay his head. Stasis was okay, although he missed the sense of purpose that came from doing something useful.

The sound of hoofbeats approaching broke him from his thoughts and from the little girl that held them, and he looked up to meet the impassive roan's gaze. A flicker of nervousness still speared through him, a lingering regret that she had ever considered him as a threat to her freedom, and he bobbed his head to hide it. She was a pretty mare and he was certain she'd had to thwart more than her fair share of interested would-be suitors and claimants.

"I suppose I am alright with them," he conceded, the shyest smile of pride curling his lips before disappearing. He had planned to elaborate, offering some sort of generic response about talking to them as adults (as appropriate) rather than babies or to share of his days with Shenzi and her boys, but her second question made him choke out a strangled, uncomfortable laugh.

"Um, no." He swallowed, his whole face hot beneath the dark fur. "A traveling healer doesn't exactly scream father material to most." Gecko explained a moment later, although it wasn't as though he had ever tried to convince anyone otherwise either. The thought of raising a child of his own still made him queasy with anxiety on the rare chance such a thought snuck into his mind. What sort of father could he even be? He held no land or title, no rank or reputation of note. Even as a healer he was happened upon rather than sought out, unlike his own mother.

Certainly not the sort of stallion that a mare of caliber - like Ashteroth - would seek out.

"I don't have a home or the experience to protect them," he elaborated, making the equivalent of a shrug. "Yourself?" Gecko prompted, eager to take the focus from himself. "Do you have any children of your own?"