|
“Hm.”
He says nothing else at first, one ear turning away as he processes what he’s heard. Another refugee? Another soul with something lost. The mud-colored stallion begins to wonder if everyone here is displaced or incomplete in some way, glancing briefly at his crippled leg in self-affirmation. Is Novus just some type of universal drain-catch for the deserters and exiles of other worlds?
A near-foreign expression of pensiveness begins to take over his usually jovial features, drawing his brows together until the peachy colored creature asks an unexpected question, catching him off guard and returning the humor to his outward demeanor.
"Last I checked!” He grins, unfolding his front legs and hauling himself to all fours with a grunt, careful to keep his weight on the three good legs until he’s standing square. “But you know…" His tone softens, trying to convey gentleness and encouragement without coming across as overly personal. "There’s more than one way to communicate. Maybe the animals can’t understand your words, and that scares them, but you could speak to them in other ways.”
He tries to gauge the creatures reaction as best he can, shifting a little uncomfortably as he speaks and only making intermittent eye contact as a way to afford an 'out' to the conversation, should the other want it.
"I knew a guy that kept a pair of crows as pets once. He couldn’t speak to them like you and I, but he showed them through kindness and patience that he wasn’t a threat. Most animals are pretty smart and they seem to enjoy companionship as much as we do. After a few years they would even land on his back and he could tell the difference between their ‘happy’ caws and ‘danger’ caws and so on. They were pretty useful for patrols, actually.”
Memory sweeps over him in the wake of retelling, teasing his senses with the smell of dew and early morning air, the rhythmic sound of hoof beats and synchronized breathing that seemed to mark time better than any clock. "So-" He falters, trying to will the episode away and anchor himself to the present. "Maybe you don't have to be so sad."
"speech"
@Rigel
|
