Common

Rather than picking up on any of her attempted flirtation, the man continued on, reading as if from a script. He lectured her about the two kinds of Common's-goers, assumed which she was, and then didn't wait for her answer before blandly offering his home.

He didn't even know her name.

She had the distinct and uncomfortable impression that it did not matter who she was, that he could have exchanged her for literally any other creature in these commons and he would have used both the same words and the same dead-eyed monotone to deliver them. It did not matter who or what she was, that she was beautiful, that she was trying to flirt with him. None of it mattered to him, and to that end, trying to elicit any kind of response from him was akin to trying to wring out a dry towel.

There was nothing there to give.

All at once, her desire to flirt and entertain him dissipated. Like water exposed to subzero temperatures, the warmth and passion she exuded went cold and crystallized over, her eyes growing flinty and her carriage haughty. Where he was cold and dead, she was cold and deadly. Not the sort of chill that came from a cold, quiet winter's night, but the sort that came from falling beneath the waves of a half-iced river. The kind that shocked you right to your core, as willing to wound as it was to do anything else. The girl's elegant neck rose and her fluted ears pressed back against her head as she stared at him, her tail dashing wildly about her hips. To face a challenge for affection was one thing, but Venom refused to be known for chasing after someone who held no appreciation for who she was.

"I was the latter until about five seconds ago. Now I find myself unwilling to entertain the idea." Her eyes narrowed and she glanced away from him toward the southern edge of the Peak. "Thank you for your offer, nameless stranger, but I think I'll be returning home now." With that, the overo pivoted and turned to leave the stallion behind, aiming for the Peak, rather than the Thicket, despite what she'd told him. Her mother's opinion of the Peak had been… wildly skewed, but it had always been portrayed as a safe haven for mares in need. Even if Venom had no intention of sticking around, she trusted that if she could make it inside their borders, she would be able to discourage this uninterested stallion, reset, and be able to try again on the morrow.