[private] oh, there's a river that winds on forever

[bolder]

His grin widens with her incredulous look, and Bolder’s slate eyes beam shamelessly at her. He’s enjoying himself immensely, and the young shapeshifter doesn’t bother to hide that in her presence. Perhaps this was the part of his soul that Gale had taken; the part of Bolder that had once been a quiet, contemplative child. There is nothing in his brash manner that suggests he had ever been the introverted triplet.

And Bolder doesn’t miss that more reserved nature at all when he is rewarded with the coquettish grin that flits across Lillibet’s lovely face. It only makes him more keen to see it again so the striped stallion tilts his head towards her again to say ”It doesn’t sound so bad coming from you, so I suppose I can accept it.”

Bolder tries to turn his expression into something more serious - shape it like he might turn himself into a wolf or a bird - but it is much harder to do than he realizes. At least in the presence of his opalescent companion, and so he abandons it for something more suiting of their rather audacious conversation.

Despite her flat tone, his playful smirk remains.

”You’re more than welcome to try,” the now-wingless horse nearly purrs to her. It’s a tease and a taunt; one that he watches from beneath an upright forelock. Watching Lillibet bat her lashes at him draws Bolder closer, and though he is tempted to bring his copper mouth to graze against the graceful arch of her neck, he refrains. The way she bites at her cheek only accentuates the lovely curve of it; it makes it hard for him to focus on the topic of Pangea and not the many other things they might do to pass the time.

”I think it has too many caves and ravines,” he mutters distractedly. ”It’s too hot during the day and freezing through the night.”

But, even as he looms close to the slender mare beside him, Bolder recalls the lessons that Mazikeen had given him. They hadn't all been shifting. Some had been about the importance of the Pack and understanding where it had begun. So he shares that information with Lillibet, hoping to bring her closer so he lowers his voice again, like this is another secret to be kept between them. "But Ghaul, once-leader of the East, gave its keeping to Sochi in Hyaline, who then gave it to Breach, who then passed onto my aunt, the current Alpha, Mazikeen."

"But why are you asking me about Pangea?" he counters darkly to her, "There are many other places we could be talking about."

Or perhaps they didn't need talk at all, he thought devilishly.

@Lillibet