we built this city on broken glass

He could hardly help that amusement of sorts he found in Malia's efforts to climb up and onto his back- even when offered the porch as a veritable step ladder. Still, he supposed, Malia was hardly strikingly tall and his own equine frame had only continued to grow over the past year. His human figure had long since reached its full adult height and yet his equine body, it seemed, was far slower to breech that maturity. The war horse having reached eighteen hands high in the past two months alone. Frost nothing short of towering now. Malia seeming to struggle to negotiate that height even with the aid of the verandah as her fingers curled within the depths of that thick, snowy mane- her other hand pressing against his back. Her weight near feather-light even despite the effort she was surely placing within that gesture as if testing to see whether or not he might decide to bolt. Frost merely allowing those violet eyes to roll somewhere beneath that thickened white forelock. His heavy figure meaning distinctly still in some effort to reassure the woman a mad gallop was hardly his desire here and now. Malia's insistence this was far easier said than done prompting that rumbling, chuckling sound from within the stallion, the girl throwing herself forward a moment later to land with an 'oomph' across his back.

"You are not the most dignified to have ever done it, I will give you that."

How....different her efforts were to Alexander's often effortless and easy vault upwards. The Macedonian rather....tiny by height standards for any man and yet he seemed to manage that climb far easier than any other being Frost had ever known. Perhaps Malia might be forgiven- this undoubtedly her first time. The woman weighing next to nothing as it was and hardly causing him any measure of discomfort as she attempted to...scramble upward, pulling herself over his withers before managing to throw her leg down his other side and push herself upright at last with that clear sense of achievement and a heavy breath. That tension in her frame near palpable all the same and yet- the woman was bold enough to try when most others would not. In that he was willing to give her credit. Malia's boldness by far one of her most valuable qualities.

"Well done."

It was simple praise. Short, effective and the type the war horse was the most inclined to give. Frost rarely offering praise in any sense unless it was truly deserved and yet in managing to climb onto the back of a war horse he was willing to afford her some measure of congratulations, it seemed, for the very effort. His first step forward prompting a sudden gasp from his subordinate that near made him hesitate in turn. Her thoughts, easier to read then ever before with her figure touching his own, readily assuring him it was surprise rather than fear that prompted that sound. Malia simply not used to feeling each one of those near rippling muscles beneath her and without so much as a saddle to buffer that sensation. Another soft sound of amusement rising from within him then. Frost, for now, keeping to that steady, even walk to afford her every chance to become accustomed to that feeling. Frost hardly opposed to allowing those individuals of his choosing to reside upon his back.

That simple instruction to grip with her knees and sit taller were followed with near immediate precision. Malia perhaps the most attentive student he had ever attempted to offer those riding lessons too. The young woman's balance near instantly improving the moment she seemed to feel more stable. Her fingers gripping his mane with a renewed tightness and the promise she was hardly letting go unless her fingers fell off first

"You are better at this then Nadya was her first time, do not tell her I said that though. Nadya fell off."

Those easily offered words were, perhaps, some effort to inspire Malia's confidence all the more, if nothing else. His insistence they were ready to go faster prompting the return of that nervousness once more. The Coyote pleading to skip that bouncing, trotting phase as Frosts limbs extended further, the stallion treading no more then a stride or so of trot before shifting effortlessly into that sweeping, slow canter.

"More like a rocking chair, or the baby, just find the rhythm and go with it."

His ears turned readily backward to listen to Malia more readily then, Frost distinctly aware of each movement of her own body in turn. The war horse holding little desire for her to tumble off. That tension, so at last, beginning to leave her body with every stride. Malia was very near a natural. Frost disiticntly surprised with how readily seh seemed to find that motion and yet perhaps he should hardly have been. Malia having aleadry shown a distinctly skill for certain tasks, for connecting with the environment and those within it. Horse riding, it seemed, a hidden talent of the woman. Frost distinctly aware of that smile that had found her lips and that laughter that bubbled from them. How....unusual it was, to have someone enjoy their time with him. Frost careful to keep that pace even and smooth. That wind rushing past them both, his stride easily eating away at that ground to cover it far more efficiently then Malia might have surely done alone until they reached that park. The scent that found Malia blown easily toward him in nearly the same moment as Frost begun to ease his pace downward once more. The stallion carefully to stop as smoothly as possible to prevent jarring his companion as he halted within those trees. His ears turning backward to listen to Malia before pricking forward once more in search of those distant sounds.

"I do. This way."

Frost stepped forward once more then. His heavy frame slowed to that easy walk, his hooves little more than a dull thud on the damp, soft ground as he moved wider around the perimeter in the park. The stallion making every effort not to walk beneath those lower hanging trees and take Malia out upon one of them. That scent was getting....closer. That faint rustling was distant and yet growing louder with each slow, cautious stride forward. Frost paused every now and then to listen once more and assure they were not being followed in turn before at last pausing upon the tree line and within the shadows of the trees himself. That tiny clearing so lingering before them. A Hunter swung effortlessly out of one of those trees ahead of them then. His back turned away from them as he began to dismantle that bow within his hands.

"I think, Malia, we have found our man."

FrosT