-

"Be a menace. That's what the duck did." Cougar snorted, eyeing Marley cautiously. If a duck could grin mischievously, that's exactly what Marley's gave looked like.

Safe from his terroriser, Cougar stepped into the stream, positioning himself to be able to drink, and observe Marley at once. Marley waddled towards the stream, and Cougar threw his head up, snorting a warning and stepping away from the duck.

Marley didn't approach Cougar further, content to swim in circles in the shallow parts near the bank. Cougar sighed in relief, relaxing a bit from the sound of the flowing water, and distance from the duck.

-

Cougar didn't reply, drinking water a little ways upstream from her. Marley was paddling even further upstream, and Cougar didnt seem to care.

He stood there, letting the water flow past his ankles and legs, head raised as he observed his surroundings. Water dribbled off of his whiskers, and he felt strangely tranquil, but still a little conflicted.

After a few moments, he noticed things flowign apast his legs down stream. They were little yellow flowers. He looked up, and saw Marley yanking them off the bank further upstream and letting the water transport them away. Cougar lowered his muzzle and grabbed a couple as they went past.

He formed a wet, droopy excuse for a bouquet, and walked over to Marble to present them to her. He seemed proud, despite his unique work, and smiled at her while he waited for her reaction.

-

Cougar wilted. I'm an idiot. He thought to himself, dropping them back in the water. He rinsed his muzzle off, and silently wandered upstream, head low. He approached Marley, and told the duck to stop, explaining what Marble had said about the flowers.

Marley obeyed, surprisingly, and flew up to Cougar's back. He settled on the stallion's withers, and rode along as Cougar hopped up onto the bank. He walked downstream along the ground, and nodded at Marble, saying "I'll be back in the clearing." With that, he dipped back into the woods.

Once again, he felt naive and like an idiot. Why could he not do anything right?

-

He was still angry at himself. He knew Marble was trying to make him feel better, but he was still lingering in his failure. "Its alright." He snuffed quickly, still looking ahead as he wandered through the trees.

Maybe it was time he had another conversation with the therapy bird herself. Cleo's yapping wouldn't cheer him up, but perhaps it would help him navigate his situation.

He tripped on a tree root, not paying attention to where he was putting his feet. He went down to his knees on his forelegs, but quickly rose again. It had happened quickly, and Marley was fluttering to the ground a few steps away, thrown from Cougar's withers.

He shook himself off, and took a few steps. "I'm alright." He said, before Marble could worry over him. He continued forward, shooting a glare at the tree that had tripped him. Marley looked up at Marble for a moment, as if trying to read her expression, and paused. The duck glanced between Cougar and Marble, shook out his feathers, quacked something inaudible, and started waddling after his friend.

-

Cougar flicked his ear, trying to get Cleo to stop pecking at it. "I don't know!" He snorted in an upset voice. "I just keep exacerbating my situation! Why is life so hard?"

After Marble left, he sunk to the ground, lying down and examining his knees. They were fine. Dirty, and they stung a bit, but they seemed fine.

He sighed and kept talking. "Why is everything so much harder than it used to be?"

Marley hopped up on Cougar's hindquarters, and quacked a few times. The duck normally talked on gibberish, but he seemed to produce a few "words". "Quack, cupple feraphy, quack."