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Hello! Please be respectful and don't post here unless you are Cloudier Echoes or Burning Rose Equine. Feel free to read along though! |
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Marble -
Marble woke slowly, the sunlight peeking in through the trees of their little home under the canopy, dappling her coat and the rest of the forest. She glanced over at Cougar and smiled, watching him sleep. The sunlight illuminated his coat too. Marble had admitted to Cougar that she did, in fact, like-like him, and Cougar kind of said the same thing, but things were still awkward... she guessed that Cougar just needed time, but she didn't really know... |
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Cougar - Cougar dozed in the warm sunshine. He wasn't fully asleep, but his eyes were closed and his breathing was slow. His chest slowly rose and fell subtlety, and his nostrils quivered with every breath. He was flopped on his side, and Marley had settled on his neck, 'pinning' the stallion down. Marley was quite obviously fully asleep, using Cougar as a pillow and snoring softly. Marley didn't snore like any person or horse did, his snores were... unique. "Quakquakquakquakquakkkk," the duck snored every few seconds. Cougar must have drowned it out, or he would've been awake, and more than mildly annoyed. Cougar was tired lately. He'd been contemplating a lot of things, suffering lectures from the Jays, and getting used to having social interactions again. He didn't know how long he'd been alone before running into Marble again, and he hadn't been around other horses much during that time. |
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Marble -
Marble just watched for a little bit before she grew restless. She gave the sleeping stallion and the sleeping duck a little smile and stood up. Marble walked out into the forest, stretching out her tired limbs and shaking the dirt and dust that had settled on her while she was sleeping. Of course, she did all this with great care, staying quiet so as to not wake Cougar or Marley. Marble grazed for a bit in the clearing outside of the canopy before Cleo fluttered over and landed on her neck. "Good morning." the little blue jay tweeted. "Hello," Marble greeted her quietly. "I haven't talked with Cougar in a bit, but-" Cleo started. "Cleo, I appreciate it, but please, just leave him alone for a bit. I can tell he's a bit stressed by everything... maybe we just need to give him a little time." Marble told Cleo. |
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Cougar - Cougar felt tired from the moment he opened his eyes. Marley's warm mass lay curled in his neck, which Cougar found mildly annoying, but he chose to ignore the duck. Ever since the duck had become obsessed with him, Cougar and Marley had been frenemies. Cougar still wasn't super sure he appreciated his duck pal. There was a lot going on in Cougar's mind, especially surrounding recent events. He still felt bad about himself deep inside, recalling all his prior scoldings from Cleo and Marble herself. He felt naive... And he didn't want others to see him that way. But despite what he tried, he couldn't seem to improve himself alone. Did that make him unlikeable? He didn't know. He wished he could read Marble's mind sometimes. He could not. And he'd have to accept that. He was probably overthinking everything, battling with himself. Perhaps part of him hadn't shaken the fear of loosing the ones he loved. He shook off his coat, pushing away his thoughts. Future Cougar could worry about that. He needed to start worrying about himself more than what others thought of him. Maybe it was time to start living with a different mindset. |
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Marble -
"But-" Cleo protested. "Cleo, no. Do not bother him again. I care about him, I don't like seeing him so stressed." Marble scolded the jay. "Fine..." Cleo grumbled, fluffing out her feathers angrily. Marble grazed for a little more before she was startled by Cougar shaking out his coat. She popped her head up, looking over at the sound of the noise, frightened until she realized it was just Cougar. "Good morning. How'd you sleep?" she greeted him, trotting up to him with a smile. |
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Cougar - Cougar took a step back. He was a little bit startled by her sudden approach, but tried to hide it. He tried to muster up some confidence and relax, worries beginning to cloud his head. "I slept okay..." He said hesitantly, glancing at Marley who gave him a disapproving look. "How did you sleep?" He asked, shuffling his hind feet. "Get yourself together," he mumbled, flicking his tail in annoyance with himself. He'd meant his question for Marble, but as he had been looking at Marley, the duck seemed to think the question had been aimed at him, and started quacking. Cougar sighed, turning his head towards Marble and rolling his eyes, Marley continuing to quack in the background. Wait... Had Marley distracted him? Maybe the annoying duck was a blessing after all, and not just a curse. |
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Marble -
Marble smiled sweetly. "Thats good," she replied. "I slept pretty well," she said brightly, although she was concerned about his muttering. Marble wasn't able to hear him, but she knew she was stressing him out. Marble giggled as Marley started quacking. She had a very high tolerance for random chatter, but the duck was quite funny. "Um, I'm just gonna go down to the stream for a drink. I'll be back in a couple minutes," she said, walking away towards the stream. Marble could tell Cougar was stressing under her presence, so maybe she just had to give him a little space today. |
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Cougar - "Alright." Cougar snorted. He watched her walk away. Without Marble paying attention to him, Marley was now forced to bother Cougar. He started nipping at the stallion's legs, trying to bother the horse into giving him attention. Cougar sighed, taking a step back. "You don't need attention all the time." He snorted to the duck. Marley walked closer to Cougar, sneaking closer to his legs once again. Marley was trying to act innocent, but Cougar could see his true intentions. Marley extended his neck, getting awfully close to his legs, before Cougar snorted "That's it!" And took off at a trot. The duck chased after him, and to Cougar's dismay, was not giving up. "Ankle-biter!" Cougar snorted, cantering to get away. Cougar's attempts of escape only seemed to be rileing the duck up more. Where had Marble gone? Surely she could protect him... He took off towards the stream, white duck still hot on his heels. He burst out of the woods by the stream, proceeding to almost crash into Marble, before ducking behind her. "Protect me!" He whinnied, as Marley came waddling out of the trees behind him. |
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Marble -
Marble had made it all the way to the stream before Cougar can trotting down, screaming. "What?!" she asked worried, popping her head up from the stream. Marble watched for a moment, figuring out the situation, and giggled. "I don't know how your so afraid of a little duck" she teased lightly, trotting over to Marley and putting her muzzle in front of his chest so he couldn't waddle after Cougar. Once the little duck settled down, Marble giggled again. "What'd this poor little innocent duck do to you this time?" |
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Snow and Sleet Mix, Clearing at Night
