Grace Under Pressure! (Alexis)

[Hud]

Geoff could not imagine a more stress-free zone than he found himself in today. The stallion lay beside the Voldea's more tranquil tributary today, his chin almost touching the rock beside him and his tawny tail dipped ever so slightly in the water. His half-lidded eyes blinked often as he hummed to himself, trying (not very hard) to think of what he might do today. He hadn't met another equine in days, and here he was, a slouching sloth.

So? What else was he to do? He was enjoying himself! There was nothing worse than the work of searching for others... Geoff didn't mind interacting, but he hated looking. Not when there was plenty of perfectly good lounging to be done before the snow fell. Autumn was at its end and the stallion knew he had to start thinking about where he might go to wait out the snowy months. He hated the cold. He hated snow. There was simply nothing so great about winter. Summer, now there was a season worth waiting for. 

The stallion didn't dare move a muscle as he began to close his eyes. Should he nap? Why get up and waste such comfort? No, napping would just make winter come sooner... Geoff had to keep himself awake and ready to move at the drop of a single flake. The stallion's tail end drifted with the river's soft current as he jerked his tail back, sending a small trickle of water flying above him and hitting his rump on the way down. He flinched. Dumb. 

The stallion laid his head back down as he continued his quiet, hummed ditty. No, a nap would do just fine. 

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Something clicked in the young femmes mind and without pausing to consider anything she shifted her weight and spun on the spot. Deep black pools flicked uncertainly around her, hindquarters tight and ready. It was primal, so very primal the way she stood. Her forefront was light and she almost crouched down, back daggers dug deep into the soiled earth ready to push of if necessary. She knew already almost subconsciously the path she would take if need be, how long it would take to disappear amongst the scrub. She could estimate how far off her hoof falls could be heard splashing through the rivers edge, even how long till night fall. In essence she knew escape would be a matter of strength not stealth. Ironically Lex knew that her strength laid in stealth. Brute force would see her loose. She had often been shown how brute force alone could make one weak, complacent even. However this black mare had always thought a bit of strength in both areas would have been nice. With the softest of exhales, light so as to not give away her position Lex turned around, convinced for now that she was not being shadowed. She knew by the growing of her coat and the change in the wind that it had been near a year since her initial escape. Yet she couldn't shake the feeling that it had been too simple, none had escaped in living memory. Why had they simply let her go free? It was the one thing she dwelled on, thought on. It had fed her paranoia and with each closing day it seemed to only grew more. A monster of her own creation. So it was not unusual for her to react in such a way, especially not when she was not alone.  She had been watching a figure on the shoreline for some time now. The closer she drew the more she begun to suspect it was not an out of place boulder, but instead a creature. In an uncharacteristically curious moment Alexis chose to approach rather than turn tail and walk away. Then even after his scent was carried over and she knew him to be alive and of her kind, she continued to approach. Before she knew it she stood but paces away from him, his build was hard to read from his position on the floor. Yet his colour was one unlike any she had ever seen. Born into a land of blacks and browns this creature with his mottled coloured pelt created a rather confronting image.   Even one born on the outside would have picked up on her presence now, even though she stood behind him. Her steps had been too loud, her approach too clumsy and poorly planned. In essence she had just very well walked into a trap via her own free will. A will that she had not possessed till now. Instinctually she lowered herself down again, gaze narrowed on the unknown target before her, yet hawks alert and ready for an attack from behind. Little weight on her daggers allowed her to be ready to swing each or any way when he rose. If he rose. Like this she waited, waited for him to make the next move. ooc- Bleh, bouncy. Newish characters do this to me, sorry she needs breaking in

[Hud]

The sound of hooves caught his attention. The stallion did not get up immediately, but instead lifted his head and reached back until his head was completely upside down, his jaw open a bit. Pulling back and deciding that turning his head to look at her made a lot more sense, Geoff spotted the black mare behind him. She hadn't frightened him... In truth she was a sight for sore eyes. She had come as if on queue. He didn't have to go looking for her, she was right here. She seemed alert and almost ready to pounce. His always tired eyes didn't convey how happy he really was to see her. It was always best to not show mares how interested one was in them right away. One had to keep ladies on the tips of their hooves throughout conversation, the beginning being the most crucial time. His neck curled over his back so that he could easily face the mare from his lying position, Geoff gave her the slightest of smiles. "This your spot?"

The stallion couldn't help but look her over. He wasn't ashamed of it. He could admire a female if he wanted, and here she was. Her frame was to die for - lithe, but not too thin. Her tail was thick and her mane dark. White stockings interrupted her black coat as she stood behind him. Her eyes struck him more than any other feature, however. They were beautiful... but there still seemed more to them than had first met his glance. Geoff was a lazy stallion; he almost felt like he was disrespecting her. He probably was. Geoff had heard all about how elegant stallions treated a mare. He knew the etiquette for greeting a mare. 'Good morning, miss', 'Of course, ma'am', and all that. It wasn't his style. If he was going to get the girl, he was going to do it his way. They weren't all delicate butterflies. Some needed a little special handling. Geoff's brow heightened, his eyes still half-covered.

" 'Cause I can move..."

[Deleted]

She had been stripped early of otherwise natural things, a subconscious, dialogue, opinions, thoughts. Death was not taught, it simply happened. It was not a struggle between life and death, it was simply doing what needed to be done. Living through it was neither wonderful nor sad. It just was. Now that she had neither direction nor orders, she found that whilst void of any meaning life did not extinguish. The idea of not waking suddenly took on a meaning, one she did not yet fully understand. But with it came new weaknesses, ones she would have otherwise never have known. Like doubt and this current state of confusion. He did not startle at her approach nor did he even bother to stand. So weak and innocent she had become that one would not even stand for her. Instead he remained spread out on the ground like a king mingled amongst the rocks and sand. His skull flicked lazily around before settling along his side to gain a better view of her. His eyes rolled without hesitation over her entire form, coming to settle momentarily within her own gaze. She gave nothing in return, for there was nothing to show, no reason to straighten up and assume the danger had passed.  His words pierced the silence. They like his current state were relaxed, laced with a kind of confidence that was not so much pride as it was comfortable. She assumed his question to be rhetorical, an attempt to begin a conversation. So she allowed the silence to linger till he spoke once more, his words again slowly spoken with no level of importance. Unsure of how to respond, or even if a response was necessary Lex cocked her skull to the side. A ghost of a smile filtered across her delicate features when she realised he was playing with her. The words were not an order to be followed or questions designed to trick her. They were conversational, or at least she thought they were.  "Am I mistaken, or are you offering me the ground? Her vocals were smooth and softly spoke, yet they carried easily to the coloured brute below her.

[Hud]

The mare's reaction made Geoff smile. He could tell it took her a minute, but that she was in on his words. She seemed a very stately mare who was unaccustomed to plain talk. So many horses had such fancy language nowadays; Geoff tended to steer clear of those who were too wonderful for the likes of others. It was just obnoxious.

This girl had seen her fair share of those types of equines, Geoff could see. Her speech was effortless and proper at the same time. All the aspects he hated from prim horses' languages. However, he didn't hate her's. She seemed to enjoy his rather unconventional greeting. The stallion remained in his position, not especially poised to stand, either. Laziness was his passion and comfort, his mistress. Geoff's head still curved around to look at her, his smile did not leave. "What, is the ground beneath you?" Geoff laughed. Puns always made him a little colt-ish. He wasn't making fun of her, but others didn't always know that - especially when they didn't know him very well.

The stallion gestured his head toward the area beside him. "Come talk to me." Geoff's voice was softer and more flirtatious this time, with his smile small and seemingly meaningful.

OOC: SHORT, but I like it. <3

[Deleted]

This time it was a light peal of laughter that escaped her lips as he spoke. Her laughter was slightly jagged and unnatural, but it rang true all the same. His baritone was such unlike any she had encountered before and it was that more than the words he said that caused her to subconsciously lean in. His laughter much unlike hers was natural and rung lightly between them, well after his words had all but been carried away. She detected a slight change in his tone as he continued to speak, an offer this time, not a question as before.  She knew it to be a set up of sorts, a trap if you will. The invitation from one who lay undefended and vulnerable before her was too easy, too simple. A fool would fall for it. As pleasurable and confronting as she was finding this meeting she knew it time to leave. Time to do what she did best and hide, within the minute she could be across the field and into the inviting cover of the nearby scrub. Before he had even risen she would be a ghost, flitting in and out of the trees not stopping till she was somewhere else. But contrary to everything she should do and for reasons that had always made her the lesser sister, Lex moved not away, but towards him. Light calculated steps moved her slight agile frame around him, she paused momentarily her gaze angled down, black pools licked over his frame and pelt, committing to memory the peculiar markings and what little of his build she could see from here. Moments passed before she continued her slow move behind him, coming to a halt just paces from his head.  " Beneath me yes, but I not above it" She paused, black eyes narrowed down at him, a flicker of doubt hiding behind an otherwise blank expression. " Now that you have me where you desire, what is it that you seek?? It had not crossed her mind that this stranger was here by chance, that he was different by chance, nor was it chance that saw her do as he bid. All beings were predictable, in that predictability they became vulnerable. Lex was no exception, she was all to aware of how easily she could be fooled or lured in.  ooc - Oh lordy lord, I am about to kill her muse. She hates me.

[Hud]

Geoff could understand being cautious of a stallion she knew nothing of. His sex was dangerous. Unsuspecting mares were everywhere and so were their predators. Some could consider Geoff one of them - some wouldn't. When he was playing the villainous part, he was fully aware he was doing it. Most stallions simply acted on their loins. Geoff did too, but his brain kept him humble about it. Luckily for this mare, he wasn't planning on moving from his spot any time soon - she could let her hair down.

As she circled him to stand where he'd pointed, Geoff watched her every move, turning his head to watch her. His smile remained, kind and coy at the same time. At eye level stood a great pair of forelegs that he wasn't ashamed to admire. Geoff had half a mind to leap up and strike as so many stallions would... But, resistance was a virtue for lascivious stallions. His swarthy eyes danced up her form to her head, his tired eyes looking to her dark ones. Honestly he'd expected her to sink to the ground with him. This would work too, he supposed. It made sense. This way if he tried anything, she'd surely outrun him.

He smirked at her response - very philosophical. Geoff enjoyed a good interchange of thoughts when it came to what was not so obvious about life. He was a bored stallion, but not a simple one.

As she continued, Geoff's brow raised in surprise and confusion at her words. He could tell before that she was formal, but really? With a scoff, the stallion corrected her. "Where I 'desire' you? If you think that's where I 'desire' you, you haven't met many stallions," he laughed. Again, not a jab, just a joke. As he watched her face above him, he continued. "I just want to know you. I'm Geoff, for instance."

OOC: I'm surprised he hasn't cursed yet. xDD

[Deleted]

"Stallions I have met plenty. Those who chose the comfort of the ground and have time to indulge in aimless chit chat I see as more colts than men." Her voice was still soft and light a certain bounce within each word. Yet it like her gaze was void of any emotion, with a cold stale ring to it as if it was not used often.  The words that she had struggled to find just moments before flowed freely now. The block that had been created from years of holding her tongue had been shifted. As she continued to speak she took a step forward, her lean frame now stood above him, blocking what sun remained. " I have always found that little could be learnt from a name, even less could be achieved during meaningless conversations such as this."  Shifting her weight back as her muscled hindquarters tensed instinctually, Lex rested one jagged over grown dagger on its tip. With each new word, still laced with cold indifference she dug her toe into the soft wet grass a little further. "Learning a name is nothing, knowing ones movements, strikes, strengths and weaknesses is by far a greater knowledge to have. That is not something you can learn in conversation... So is it aimless conversation you seek instead?  Stilling her foot where it was Lex tilted her skull to the side, hawks pricked forward and back ever alert. Yet she watched him closer than she did her surroundings. She wanted to see his reaction, any subtle change in him if there were any would not go unnoticed.

[Hud]

Geoff smirked at her words from his position below her. So she was higher than. How could she not be? The way she spoke reeked of superiority - not only the tone but the words as well. Perhaps she was more of an adversary than something to woo, or, at least, for now. Her expression of opinion was admirable, though the opinion itself was clearly a jab, a well-played one, too. She called his attempt at making conversation the start of something "meaningless". Her words continued, showing her true nature. She was a product of a strange family. To have the preconception that battle was the basis for relationships... It was fascinating to Geoff. This mare had clearly been raised devoid of friends or a loving family or young flames or anything else that a young horse should be exposed to at such a vital age. The stallion stayed his ground, if not only to make a point. The awkwardness of their different levels with him laying and her standing still made him feel like he had the higher ground. This mare was very orthodox, so perhaps if he stayed where he was, she would be thrown off-guard.

"So you find that insulting my attempt at getting to know anything about you that doesn't relate to fuckin' battle tactics is a good idea? It's a wonder you've lasted this long in the Freelands. They're not as safe as their name suggests." His final words spoke very seriously and clearly of the many mares that came seeking refuge and safety in the independent territory, only to leave with child, realizing for the first time that the real safety is in being part of a herd. Geoff could see that in the hands of someone more randy than he was at that particular moment, this mare would bite her tongue. Geoff's bored expression was rid of the smile of before as he looked up to her. "What you're calling 'aimless' conversation is actually usually regarded as 'friendly' conversation by most horses." The stallion let his matted, ratty tail flick onto his haunch, scaring away a fly.

[Deleted]

His position amongst the weeds and rocks was unsettling. Lex could not deny that she was unsettled by the height difference. Regardless of the fact that it gave her the upper hand in almost everything, it was unusual. Often relying on the fact that they were creatures of habits Lex knew how to read a situation. It enabled her to always be two steps ahead of who ever was before her. This however was unscripted, she was blind. It was an unusual feeling, it kicked her instincts into over drive, the kind of natural instincts that she was born with, not the ones that were forged into her from the moment she was born. Hidden and dusty she found that those flee or flight responses where still there.  " I imagine my ability to remain unscathed in these lands, has little to do with luck. Unlike most who have become complacent I chose to remain prepared." Her tone despite its flatness held a child like ring to it. As if for a moment she was loosing composure. Never before had she argued with another, or spoken up for anything. Beyond the customary yes responses she was silenced. She knew herself to be spiralling, having long lost control of the situation she was now simply partaking in the same aimless pointless conversations she knew to avoid.  He seemed almost bored, his posture was relaxed yet his tone and expression had lost the playful edge that he had begun with.  " Is it then the majority that dictates what is considered acceptable? Are we not allowed to deviate from that path? " She paused for a moment, curiosity fluttered in her gaze. " However Geoff, if it is of such importance that I learn the skill. Then my name is Alexa."

[Hud]

This girl was snippy... He rather enjoyed their conversation.

"Uh-huh, and how do you prepare yourself for something like that? I've certainly never met a mare who could keep me off her if I wanted her badly enough. If you've found a way, I'm sure other girls would love to hear about it." Geoff's voice was gruff and condescending here, and he considered standing at this point. Then again, it would probably spook her even more than his words might, so he stayed low.

He listened to her last words; they seemed to contradict herself from moments before. Geoff's expression turned from frown to confusion as he listened, brows furrowing. From her words, he could tell she was unused to simply speaking to someone for the heck of it. Geoff had never spoken to another horse for any other reason. The two equines seemed polar opposites of each other, in sex, in personality, and even in how they had been brought up.

She introduced herself. Alexis. Pretty name. Fair amount of syllables. Good consonant-to-vowel ratio. Geoff's mind wandered. "I don't think you're much for deviation, Alexis," Geoff admitted. "You seem like a pretty traditional conformist to me." The stallion smiled, hoping to get the playfulness of before to reappear in their conversation, especially after his last remark.

[Deleted]

The realisation that she had entered into her first conversation and had neither grown bored or being killed due to it, was yet to fully hit Lex. Instead she threw herself head first into it, in a way that would have once cost her life. She relaxed her stance only slightly, enough to stand more comfortably. Strange as it was that once to be comfortable held no meaning, now it seemed almost of the utmost importance. She remained however still alert and ready for the coloured brute to make an sudden movement. Her attention on those unknown beings who may be yet to close in on her was lacking.  " There is danger beyond the rape and damage to ones flesh. The fact you don't seem to understand that makes you predictable. In your predictability you become vulnerable. In your vulnerability I become strong. Brute strength is but a small part of an otherwise large picture." She was not ignorant enough to believe she could always win in physical strength alone, but she believed her words, had seen them countless times before ring true.  Her name twisted slightly dripped from his lips, it sounded wrong coming from him. As if he had yet to earn the right to speak it. Regardless of what she had preached to him just moments before, a name meant a great deal from where she came. It was her sister who had been given the cults signature name. It was she who would continue to uphold and preach the life that came with being given such a name. To know ones true name, one held great power over the other. It was not magical, it was in the way they had been raised, how their name had been used and during what situations. It meant a final word, a serious conversation a life or death situation. When your name was called you listened. When spoken even this variation of her true name chilled her to her very bones, and she just barely held back a shiver that threatened to rack her bodice.  " And what if my tradition greatly differs from yours, what if my majority makes you a minority. Then are you suddenly made the fool? The one who knows no different, so in turn goes about life incorrectly? What if deviation from the path would get you killed? These lands as dangerous as you make them out to be are yet to be anything like the world I am used to."

[Hud]

If then wasn't the time, now was.

Geoff pulled his legs out from under him and pushed his frame up into a stand, his ears back and his brow prominent. Neither stood taller than the other; they were evenly matched in all ways, it seemed. The mare and stallion seemed to be able to argue forever, though Geoff couldn't stand not having the last word. At nine years of age, Geoff was convinced he knew what he was talking about against this young mare. He would not let himself be trounced by a mare.

"Of course there's more to it than rape! There are all sorts of dangers in this world! If you're so high and mighty, maybe you could share with me what the fuck you know of danger and what gives you the right to be so fuckin' confident!" Geoff's voice was louder and more pointed than before as he glared at her and glanced up and down as he barked. He could feel his muscles grow hot and constrict even as he stood still, his emotions taking hold of him.

He'd tried his best to keep the argument light-hearted, but he couldn't take it anymore. Geoff had to have his thoughts heard, and this mare seemed to think she had the upper-hand. Why, because he'd not stood until now? The nerve of mares killed him sometimes. How they could think of themselves as invulnerable heated him up to a boiling point.

No.

He wasn't that guy.

Geoff loved mares. Even the feisty ones. Especially the feisty ones. Was this not the perfect opportunity to get to know one of the more observant ones? Or had he just dashed any hope of being her friend? It was her fault! She'd started it!

How childish. The stallion was amazed at his temper. He had to control himself if he wanted her to stay. Geoff's eyes calmed at this point, the fire of moments ago gone. His brow relaxed and his muscles back to normal. The stallion had regained as much of his former composure as possible.

"I don't know where you're from, Alexis, but it's certainly not a place with the common morals of most homesteads around the homeland. Killing is not a common consequence for any action around here. It's really a shame you were exposed to such a harsh punishment." Geoff's voice was quieter now than before, his eyes half-lidded like always. His tone tried to be both reassuring and cautionary at the same time. He didn't know her well enough to know how one would affect her versus the other. He supposed he'd just have to see.

[Deleted]

She watched the reaction her most recent words had on him. It was a subtle twitch then he began to rise. Pride was nothing and not above seeming less than to get the upper hand Lex stepped backwards. Her stance was immediately lowered, her muscles tensed and ready, instinctually she opened her hearing up to the space behind her. Lowering herself to just below the brutes own height she noted there similarity. She was used to big broad brutes who greatly outweighed and sized her. Trumping her in muscle mass and skill, yet still she knew that alone only got you half way across a line. A kind of anger and spirit that had not shown itself till now rose within her. The kind that she knew the foolish to posses, the kind that allowed one to stand and fight when they really should have fled.  His emotions seemed to burn hotter with each word he spoke, she knew better than to let her opponents emotions to get the better of them. It was only useful when a physical conflict was unavoidable, then it made the clumsy and fool hardy. They were prone to making rash decisions. However in a situation like this any rash choices should be avoided. Could be avoided, if only she had remembered to not run her mouth and speak her thoughts. It was the first lesson she had learnt, one that till now she had never felt the need to disobey.  She watched him with cautious curiosity, not unlike she had been doing whilst he lay motionless below her. Now that he stood he seemed to move from one extremity to another, his emotions and anger flowing visibly across his features. She let him run his words, she knew them to be of little importance anymore, it was not what he said but how he said it. In turn she knew it played to her too, it was not the things she had spoken but the challenge she had provided in speaking at all. She knew now why speech was not something offered to those of the training. It was much easier to not argue the point when one could not vocalise it.  Just when she though the silence was permanent and he had finished his monologue he spoke again. This time he was calmer, more in control and without conscious thought, because of his tone alone Lex slinked back yet another step. She contemplated between the need to be positioned and ready to swing either left or right should he strike out, or to be standing slightly firmer ready to make the first strike if the situation called for it. Flee response winning the need to fight as always she shifted her weight back along tense and ready hindquarters, her front was dug in lightly ready to twist if need be. Her gaze was alert and primal in a way that she had not shown till now. She was waiting for nothing but for him to make a move.  Her voice was a low whisper now, too much attention was being paid to the now upright stud. He was too changeable, too easily provoked. Now that they stood on equal footing she couldn't allow herself to loose her focus again. "  You suggested that you could take me if you wanted, as you have others. That these lands are hostile at best, that my mannerisms and words are not common or accepted. Then you suggest these plains house more respectable beings than I am accustomed too and that it is I who is high and mighty." She paused, watching him carefully for another outburst. She rather it happen on her terms when she provoked it than an out of nowhere strike. " You can surely understand now why I find aimless chatting to be of no use at all. I have learnt a far greater deal more by your actions that I have your words."

[Hud]

Geoff was fed up. Normally he didn't tire of light-hearted conversations or arguments. They fueled him. They prodded him to go further and further until no one wanted to continue. This one hadn't turned out to be "light-hearted". He'd never met his match until now. He was annoyed out of his wits and he wasn't taking it anymore.

"I don't have to listen to this," he muttered, not really to her. Mostly he said it for himself as he turned his head and looked back toward the river he'd been beside this whole time. This mare had her own priorities, that much was certain. She had her own head on her shoulders and wouldn't hear of considering another's words. Alexis was certain she was right. Well, Geoff was out.

The stallion's front legs began to fold in front of him until his knees hit the ground right where they had been and his hind legs collapsed as well, putting the horse back into a lying position. He had no more to say to this girl and she might as well leave. Ordinarily Geoff was easy to get along with - kind, even. She'd tested his patience and he couldn't care less where she ended up. The stallion lowered his head but not quite to the ground as his tail flipped around to his haunch and then into the water beside him as he had been doing before the whole debacle. Maybe he could get back into that zen he'd been in before being interrupted. In truth, he'd been defeated and he didn't know how to act.

OOC: