[open] I don't wanna talk about the way that it was

[Malik]

This time when she lowers her head to the water to splash him, Malik is ready. He steps to the left, feeling the cool droplets on his right shoulder and shivering slightly. The bed of the stream below his hooves is armored in rocks, and for a moment he almost loses his balance. A few stumbling steps help him regain it, and in that time the spotted mare has come much closer.

The pressure on his neck is unexpected, and though he turns his head quickly to meet Paj Mia’s gaze, he doesn’t flinch away. This is part of the game; that is clear from the giddiness behind her light brown eyes. Malik trots after her, and after only a few steps he reverts to the type of chasing game that he’s most familiar with.

Though Malik’s shifting has always been more limited than his family’s, the dark stallion has no difficulty at all becoming a sleek feathered kingfisher. With a few quick flaps of his wings, he’s overtaken Paj Mia. He swoops in front of her, displaying impressive aerobatic skills, then moves closer and brushes a feathered wing against her in flight. The chittering sound of the kingfisher is nothing like Malik’s voice, but it is unmistakable as anything but laughter as he darts away again. He glides over the water downstream, then perches on an overhanging branch that is just out of reach to wait for her to catch up.