we built this city on broken glass

He had not truly anticipated that fear his equine form so suddenly seemed to bring her and yet perhaps he should have. Today, with the hunters in the forest, had been the first time she had ever truly seen him use his animal form in any manner of attack. The use of his affinities was one thing. She had seen him use them time and again and yet to see an animal, one often portrayed as docile, attack with nothing but teeth and hooves and tear a man apart with sheer strength alone was another thing. If anything had been gained from today Nadya, in the least, would forever hold a healthy respect for his fellow equines and yet a part of him near loathed that very fear he would see within his gaze and feel within her touch. He had hardly meant to frighten her in any sense. That assurance he would hardly bring her harm falling readily from his lips then along with that further practicality. Nadya was an intelligent woman. Her mind was sharp and her thoughts quick, she responded best when a matter was presented to her calmly and logically. Frost aiming to do just that in his insistence he would hardly bring her harm even despite what she had seen. Her apology met with a subtle shake of his snowy head, that mane falling readily into his violet gaze.

"You do not need to apologise, Naja. I understand what you feel and you cannot help it."

To belittle those feelings of fear would do no good for either of them. Frost, instead, far more determined to acknowledge them and meet them head on in some sense. The fear, hopefully, could simply be redirected toward a simple respect for the sheer amount of force he was capable of unleashing in that frame and yet he was assured that might well take time- so be it. Nadya was not the sort of woman to allow fear to dissuade her in any sense. The stallion haf inclined to wonder if Isabella would prove much the same. That hispanic blood ran hot, of that he was near assured. His own figure eased itself to the ground enough to allow her to swing one leg over his back and settle herself there. Frost had barely untucked his forelegs from beneath himself to raise himself upward when her fingers slipped from his mane. Nadya tumbling back to the ground in perhaps the most ungraceful action he had ever seen her perform. Her order that he was not to laugh promoting that vague lift of one eye as his head turned to face her. How fortunate it was that horses were hardly capable of that very laughter and yet his lip so managed to quirk all the same. His girlfriend was often the epitome of grace, even the way she walked was....alluring. This was another side to her entirely and yet, if anything, he near admired her sheer tenacity and determination. Perhaps he was not wrong to have agreed to allow her to accompany him back to Iceland. She would not fail him, of that he was certain.

Nadya returned readily to his back then, that leg thrown back over, her fingers entwined more firmly in that lengthy mane as Frost moved to rise once more. The war horse, this time, reaching his feet with Nadya still riding. That an achievement in itself. Frost allowing those words to reach her mind once more in some attempt to explain how best to sit, to hold her body and grip with her knees. The woman's complaint that he was far to big prompting that snort from him then as his head turned to angle back towards her, his good eye held upon her if only so that he could see the woman entirely.

"That, Naja, you can tell me any time."

That very innuendo pressed easily to her mind. Frost willing enough to engage in that near playful spar of words as Nadya made some effort to do as he had instructed, her knees gripping more firmly at his sides, her balance near instantly better overall as he stepped forward to begin walking around the ring and allowing her to get that feel for movement. Frost hardly anticipating that insistence he sounded like her ballet teacher, his tail lifting to flick at his sides at his eyes near rolled, unseen by his girlfriend upon his back. That good nature however, continued to remain as his mind found her own once more.

"I'd have liked to met your ballet teacher, we might have gotten on. As it is though I won't ever tell you to put your arms up while riding so that is one less instruction."

Lifting her arms while she rode was a near excellent way for her to fall right off. Frost suggesting that slight increase in speed even if only to allow her to feel that trot. That gait by far the most uncomfortable and difficult to ride too, especially without that saddle or bridle to assist in balance and yet she would need to feel those gaits all the same- become used to them, anticipate them and learn to stay on them. He hardly desired that she might become a champion rider in those few shorts weeks before they left. Frost simply hoping she might master getting on, getting off and staying on even if it was hardly 'pretty' while she did. They had a lifetime to learn proper riding technique, for now she simply needed to master those basics. Her insistence she was ready for that trot seeing his head lower slightly, his heavy form loping forward in that slow trot and yet he could feel Nadya bouncing about in near every direction.

"Try and sit down more firmly, hold with your knees."

Her sudden declaration she did not like that gait readily saw the stallion come to an abrupt halt. That sudden stop coupled with her already loose balance perhaps contributing to Nadya's slip to the ground once more. The heavy white stallion eyeing her with a look of concern in that moment even as she pulled herself back to her feet. He could see that frustration on her features. Frost so rarely inclined to push Nadya beyond those limits. The stallion very near content to suggest that perhaps this was enough for today only for nadya to demand they try again. Frost, this time, allowed merely his front end to bow down- enough to let Nadya scramble onto his shoulders and push herself back onto his back. Her balance instantly better than that first time, the woman finding her seat faster. Despite what he suspected she was inclined to believe, she was learning- faster then most at that.

"I will walk for half a lap, trot for one and then I'm going to start cantering. It is fast but it is by far the easiest gait to ride too. It won't throw you forward or off balance and it isn't bouncy. It's almost like riding a rocking horse."

He stepped easily forward once more, that walk offered to let her find her balance before he stepped back into that trot. Nadya's grip upon him significantly stronger this time, her body still to stiff and yet for now he simply let it be. The very notion she had trotted one lap of that ring a victory enough before his hind legs pushed more forcefully forward. Frost swinging effortlessly into that canter. That pace considerably faster then the trot and yet far, far smoother to ride too. Nadya's grip upon him was almost steel-like though whether from fear or determination he hardly knew. His thoughts pressed toward her once more, the stallion aiming to....distract her from any fear she might have felt.

"I think we should get the children a pony. I'd like to teach them to ride too. It's easier for children."

If she took her mind off that fear, if she relaxed, that rhythm would come far more naturally to her. What better way to distract a woman then to ask her off her children?

FrosT