Aqua Equus

Taming the Wild

I stood there, one hand against his dark muzzle, looking at him. "So, when you said your family is weird-?"

He looked at me, and then down at the chaos on the beach.

"I see." I said, following his gaze. "Well, I suppose-" I stopped, thinking better of what I had planned to say. Too personal, too soon. "Never mind." I paused for a second. "Shall we go back to the farm, now you've made your point, or do you want to go rip someone to shreds for a while?" I asked.

Arrow moved, facing towards the farm, before kneeling on his front legs.
"O-kay." I muttered. "Promise not to drown me?"

He looked at me, nodding his head slightly.

"Okay." I said, hopping onto his back and hoping for the best. He stood up with ease, walking back towards the farm.
I wound my fingers into his mane, which was long, unlike his hair when he was a human.

Gradually, he sped up, me gripping his sides with my knees, until we were speeding through fields and over hedges, with me holding on as tightly as I could.
We clattered into the yard I knew so well, and I slipped off his back.
"You want to change back now, so we can talk this through?" I muttered, reaching up to move his forelock out of his eyes.

He used his head to nudge me towards the farmhouse, but I refused to move, my damp hair wild from the ride.
Arrow made a sound of disappointment, and walked purposefully towards one of the barns.
I walked with him, picking up a towel from over the rail and trying to dry him off with it. He nudged me away, stamping his foot slightly, before walking over to a pile of clothes.
"Ah." I muttered. "I'll face the wall."

I stood there, looking at the wall, feeling a blush creep over my cheeks.

"Sorry about that." Arrow's voice came from behind me. "It's safe now, by the way."

I turned round, watching him towel his hair dry. He'd pulled on pants and shorts, but his legs, feet and chest were bare, his dark skin shining with rainwater.

"Didn't click, sorry." I muttered. He looked up, obviously registering, but fortunately not mentioning, my blush.
I sat on the railing, and he lent against the wall of a stall.
"So, an Aqua Equus." I muttered.

"Yeah." He shrugged. "I have to admit, first time we met, I was going to drag you down, but something stopped me, and then you just rode off." He looked apologetic.

"Wish you had." I muttered.

"Why?" Arrow asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" I shrugged. "I don't care. I want to die, so I can shout at death for letting.. letting Luca..." I trailed off.

"Hey, it's okay." Arrow said, shifting slightly as if he had been going to move towards me but had thought better of it. "So, you think death's a person, hmm?" He asked. "What religion are you then?"

"I'm not. Not really. But death, the roman god, Mors, is-" I stopped. Fuck it. I continued, "My father."

"Don't worry, I won't ask." Arrow said. "But, one thing, does that make you a demigod?"

"I guess so." I said, after a pause.

"Okay, good, you'd taste horrible." Arrow smiled. "It's good I didn't kill you, then."

I shrugged. "So, why did you stick around, anyway?" I asked.

"Well, first you were intriguing, and you still are, but then I- yeah." He finished with a whisper.

"Are you gay?" I asked.

"Hell yeah." Arrow muttered. "And it's nowhere near unusual in Aqua Equus. Basically, you may have noticed, we're kind of- both- whilst in that form. It's only as humans that we conform to your separate.. genders."