Common

Whatever emotions consumed the red stallion before him, they seemed at odds with each other. A desire to claim stumbling over a desire to talk, a wish for companionship at odds with an acceptance of possible force. I wasn't quite sure what to make of him, but I'm not really certain he knew what to make of himself either.

I've come in search of another. He'd said, leaving the question open-ended and vague. Another friend, minion, enemy? A lost lover? A new beginning. My lips pressed together at the answer as it left nothing but more questions in its wake.

"Dogma." I answer finally, weighing my options. Whatever he wanted, I was not so certain I would be it. I had accepted a certain loss of autonomy in coming to the Commons, but I hadn't imagined my would-be claimor to be so apathetic about the whole process. The silence that followed my answer was loud and awkward, something I shouldn't necessarily allow considering it wasn't entirely intentional. Awkwardness could be a useful tool when applied correctly, but this particular bout stemmed out of my own lack of decision about what to do next.

"And why me, then? Stallions are not often claimed by non-Lagoon, no?" I tilt my head again, eyes narrowed contemplatively. "What are you?" He didn't quite strike me as a Lagoon man, nor quite as a herd stallion. Rather he was an enigma not easily sussed out by observation alone.