His violet gaze lifted briefly away from the child and the water he was attempting to, gently, soak the boy within in some efforts to assist in their idea of cleaning even if he hardly felt confident in those measures. Nadya's voice drew the stallions attention and yet her query was merely met with a momentary silence, as if Frost needed those few seconds to contemplate her suggestion that with so many children to his name he surely held some experience in idle tasks such as these. That man considering just how- or better yet- how much of those memories that existed within the past to offer her. There was little about his time within his home country he cared to share, less still about those children he had fathered and yet had surely never seen beyond mere glances. What they looked like know, their ages, even their equine forms were unknown to him and yet in some sense he had come to relish that...anonymity. It was far easier to forget unknown faces and lon-forgotten voices then it was to picture the face of a child he knew well or held any care for. No time with those children prevented any attachment to them. Attachment one of those things so frowned upon within that world if only for how less likely it made one to defend their rider over their own child or mate. Those very attachment issues, perhaps, having remained with the man long past those frosted gates and yet he rarely afforded it consideration. His words chosen with care as that smooth, deep voice slipped between his lips.
"I saw most of them when they were born, just for a few minutes, and that was it. Women with children did not live in the same area as others. I never had the chance to assist in any of....this"
It was a simple way of explaining that segregation, the man gesturing briefly to that tub, Frost so rarely allowing those softer sides of himself to be afforded place upon his features and yet, perhaps, for the barest of moments the mans features softened slightly at the sight of the girl playing with her duck. His attention returned hurriedly to Nadya as she made some effort to demonstrate the task to him. Frost feeling almost...clumsy by comparison, even if it was far from the truth. His features holding that rare look of concentration upon the task before the suddenly splashed water saw the man lunge backwards in an effort to escape its range. One he had not quite managed. His features shifting into that more commonly seen scowl as he glanced down at his sodden shirt. He hardly feared water in any sense, more so, he simply desired to keep a dry shirt for his walk home. The man sighing softly a moment later all the same, resigned to the idea that it was perhaps ruined now and yet, when in the company of the woman and her children he was, perhaps, a decidedly...softer creature then he might have otherwise been. Those sharp edges and metaphorical points seeming far more dulled in the company of those children especially. Children, after all, were entirely free of judgement and it was within there simply...innocence, perhaps, that the stallion found himself inclined to relax. Those giggles earning a softened roll of his eyes, Nadya content to assure him it looked good upon him even despite the stallions belief it did not. The man returning to his position as the boy tilted back his head obediently to have the shampoo washed from it. Hmmm. It was trained. "I simply do not wish to.....upset them."
They had experienced enough crying for this evening, Frost was sure, the man hardly content to have the children sobbing his presence all the same. Especially not when he sought to appeal to their mother. The stallion hardly a fool in any sense of the word. The man understanding the value of appealing to her children and indeed he found himself...fond of them in turn. They were pleasant to be around. Even if he hardly cared to admit it. It was the sudden awareness of another mind that saw the stallion frown suddenly. Even Nadya was momentarily forgotten at the realisation that those words came from the child himself. His hand reached automatically forward to incase the small one of the boys own if only to increase the sudden connection, the faintest touch of a simper tugging at his lips, the pair momentarily lost to that internal conversation. Nadya's inquiry seeing his gaze flick upward to peer beneath that forelock of snowy hair.
"Secret men's business, Naja."
The tease within his voice was evidently clear, one eye lifting upward before that soft chuckle hummed within his throat. The man returning to his task, affording her little knowledge of the truth of that conversation he held with the boy. Those words, in truth, terribly simple. The stallion merely inquiring as to whether the boy was happy. Did anything else matter to a child? That towel he was handed was taken readily, Frost proceeding to copy Nadya and wrap the boy in it before lifting him from the tub to place upon the rug- stepping back as if to examine his work. The man still unsure about the entire process. This idea of a spare shirt seeing an almost dubious look touch his features.
"it is not a woman's shirt is it? Perhaps I shall have to wear no shirt at all...."
Those teasing lyrics slipped so subtly into those words once more, his gaze glancing briefly to the children if only to make sure neither understood his reference. This a decidedly new concern before his gaze turned more readily onto Isabella. Such a curious child.
"Your daughter- she takes strongly after her father. Their thoughts are not similar exactly but they move in the same way. Quickly."
It was an idle observation and yet one he offered all the same.
f r o s t we built this city on broken glass
|