YOU'RE ONLY AS SICK AS YOUR SECRETS
It isn't that Aela is intentionally cold or cruel; had Obscene known her as a filly, she could barely string together words without some emotion clattering the sounds together (so she refused to speak at all). But she had been a sensitive child and to protect herself - to make an armor of sorts - Aela had to grow into a perceptive woman.
And what she had sensed that day from Obscene in the Field was a familiar flickering. They want different things (nodody wants quite as much as Aela, who dreams of entire worlds and wonders about Magics not yet concieved) but the desire for more is always an interest to the striped girl.
What does Obscene want?
As the dark stallion moves towards her, the immediate answer seems obvious. Her coy smile deepens, revealing a dimple on one side. Aela knows she is lovely. That has been exclaimed and remarked upon since she has was young. (Aela is her mother's sin made flesh; her father's desire given shape. What else could she - the result of such a terrible union - be but devastatingly beautiful?) She doesn't see a monster when glances up at the Pampas leader; she sees a possibility (albeit a handsome one) and those are always worth exploring.
Oh, the things she finds. Aela peers up at him and wonders if @[Obscene] knows how easy he is to read, how his memories are shining so clearly on an onyx-and-green girl. The longing behind them leaves behind such a profound and exquisite ache that even she can feel it. It's a dangerous emotion: the jagged edges of loneliness can turn a heart ruthless.
She could use ruthless.
He reaches for her but he might be disappointed to learn that Aela has never been easily caught. She smiles at that thought and remains close enough that he might feel the warmth radiating from her gilded skin. Close enough that he might hear her murmur: "so what's missing?"
