10-25-2019, 09:12 AM
Aquaria looks pleased, if perhaps a little flustered, and Pteron grins. Perhaps it is unkind of him, to so enjoy the sensation of keeping the nereid off-balance, but she never seems terribly upset with him. Pteron is only practicing, after all, it does not occur to him that not everyone flirts as readily as they breathe. For the moment part, his frequent mention of his other friends (particularly the women, for some reason) keeps his companions at a healthy emotional distance, and the tobiano pegasus has never had to have an awkward conversation about unrequited feelings.
That he has not brought up his other friends to Aquaria (or to Aegean, or to the girl with the soft eyes), he ignores for now. So perhaps he flirts a little more, tries a little harder with them. Aquaria does not seem to mind, after all.
Their trip to the bottom of the sea – however that might happen – appears to be delayed, and Pteron lifts his shoulders in a shrug, careful to keep their feathered canopy as still as he can.
“Another time,” he agrees with a smile. This is not the best day for a trip to a tropical paradise, they both acknowledge, but as Pteron’s olive gaze slips across Aquaria’s scaled cheek and the seastars below her ears, he still appreciates the island’s beautiful views. Her mention of visiting him startles him out of his contemplation.
“Oh,” he stammers, “Oh, oh yes. You could visit.” It is a rather abrupt change of tone from the young stallion, struggling as he is to think of a place to show her. He’d been vague before, speaking only of his home on the mainland. With his mother intent on matchmaking, he daren’t show her Taiga. Reia would burn her alive if they set foot in Loess, and the idea of Aegean seeing them together in Hyaline – and vice versa – brings an uncomfortable tightness to his chest.
To distract her – and perhaps to give himself more time, he reaches out to gently touch her pink stars. “These are from the sea?” He asks as he pulls away. “I saw one once, dried up on the shore of Taiga.” He’s named a home, he realizes, and reaches again to touch the second star, his breath ghosting across her cheek. “These look much better on you. Perhaps we can find more after the rain?”
@[Aquaria]
-- pteron --