Her reply to his attempt at humor is met with an even and humorless response. Yet even with the dryness in her words, the beast cannot help but to chuckle lowly at the reply. A smile tugs at the corners of his ashen lips as he makes a show to toy with the idea she paints. ”Hmm…. Touche I suppose….” he replies, pausing for a moment to tilt his head back towards the direction the black beast had disappeared. ”Maybe he was one of them. You should thank me, really. Who knows, maybe I just saved her life then.” it is a tease, a taunt hoping to draw a reaction to her feminine features. Clearly, he would have his work cut out with this one if he meant to draw her from her shell.
Her daughter however is much easier to please. The wink he offered her is enough to reassure her. She peels herself away from the mare’s shoulder, the brightness in her young eyes no longer guarded and wary. Promise she calls herself and then names the mare Hymn. Out of habit, the sterling stallion glances up at the mare in confirmation. Hymn.
‘Nubis…’ she calls him and the beast cannot help the widening smile that graces his lips. That was a new one. Holo had only ever called him abba or da as a child, as the other foals he sired (the ones he had been allowed to spend a remote amount of time with anyway). A warmth seeps into his heart that has long grown dormant and silent in the last few years. Nubis.. he liked it, which shows in the glimmer of affection that flashes behind his golden eyes. He snorts softly in acknowledgment, his gaze drawn back to the filly as she bumps her muzzle gently against her dam’s leg and asks the same question he too wonders, they would be joining him. Not that he intended to give the mare much choice at this point, he is invested, perhaps even more so now.
His smile broadens at the painted mare’s words and he dips his head in reply before fixing the girl within his bright eyes once more, ”Home, Promise….” he purrs, daring to stretch his muzzle forward to whuff a single hot breath against her forehead. ”Paradise is where I was borne myself. I hoped you and your mother would enjoy living there with me…” he continues, pausing to let his words linger between them. A coy grin slides across his whiskered lips as once more his multifaceted gaze turns up towards Hymn with amusement, ”But you left before I got the chance to come say hello….” he finishes, flicking his long dark tail once.
With a jerk of his head, the beast pivots on his heels, his dark hooves dancing beneath his sterling body, ”Come on, I’ll race you both to the ocean” he quips, jerking his head in the direction of the well-worn game trail that led down to the pale, sandy beach beyond the treeline. ”Maybe along the way home, your mother might regale us with the tale of how she came to live in Paradise herself.” he inquires, a single brow arching as he slowly begins this first attempt at drawing the mare out of the protective shell she has built around herself.