I tried to sell my soul last night
Funny, he wouldn't even take a bite
As surprised as Tarian may be to find Ashhal still in Loess, Ashhal is far more so. It has been a very long time since Ashhal had bothered to stay anywhere that wasn’t meadow, forest, or river. But after coming to the conclusion that he could be a piss-poor excuse for an equine just as well here as anywhere, he had found it rather easy to make himself comfortable. At least, so long as they didn’t expect him to be any fucking use to them beyond kicking a few asses here and there.
In so many ways it’s easier because it is nothing like the Valley. There is nothing here to remind him of a time when he’d been something more than a useless lump. And nothing to remind him of a certain white mare who’d cracked open his soul and left the rot of it exposed for all the world to see. At least, so long as he avoided the shoreline and the caves.
Which he had been able to do, quite spectacularly. But then, he’s had a great deal of practice at avoiding shit he didn’t want to deal with. And horses he didn’t want to deal with.
Now however, it seemed the jig was up.
Tarian is entirely correct in his assumption of Ashhal’s current activities. With the sun returned, one of the very few activities he enjoyed had returned along with it: napping in the sun. In fact, Tarian had found him sprawled flat out in a small, secluded space boxed in by rocky structures, saguaros, and joshua trees. He had meticulously cleared the area of rib-biting stones, prickly pear, and brittlebush ages ago, leaving only sand and a few inoffensive succulents for him to sprawl on.
He isn’t asleep when Tarian calls out to him, but for a long moment, he considers pretending to be. Still, of all the equines that exist here, Tarian is not among his least favorite. A dubiously auspicious list consisting of approximately three horses (spoiler alert: the least favorite list contains everyone else).
Though he doesn’t open his eyes, he does slowly stretch his wings, groaning as he does so. Only after he’s stretched for an almost uncomfortable amount of time does he grunt a familiar reply to the other stallion, though the tone is far friendlier than it had been last time he used it. “Fuck off.”
@[Tarian]