Adventure is out there!

Arc seemed to thoroughly enjoy riding along in his mane, he didn’t miss the envious looks as the boy had looked at his own mane. Part of him hoped deeply that the boy would indeed grow into an impressive mane, he might not have been his but sharing those qualities soothed a bit of the ache in his heart. Indy liked the feeling of tiny paws in his mane, and the familiar and forbidden thought of what if continued to creep in. What if they had been his? He really couldn’t allow the thought to fester, it was far too painful to think about how different his life would be if he could have his heart’s desires.

The boy went on an adorable tangent about his first hunt, how Aslatiel had taken him out to kill a fawn all on his own. He sounded so incredibly proud of himself. He whisked Indigo’s sorrows away and the man grinned as he gave him a bonus story about a hawk and a hare. Watching other predators was always an interesting experience. ”Well, I still think it’s impressive. I’ll tell you a secret, I’m terrible at hunting.” He whispered the last part. He was never any good at hunting nor had he ever truly held an interest. Now he was too big and slow moving, much like a male lion he looked like, to truly be effective in it.

He could feel the boy’s tail wagging over his shoulders, it was good to know he was having fun. Indy didn’t have a lot of experience with young children. He had mostly avoided his younger siblings when they were born, but he’d been younger and in a much less stable position than he was now. Arcturus answered his question happily, speaking of his young puppy days. Training with Aslatiel and… Naiche. His sister as well, who demanded baths before snuggles. ”Baths are awful.” He agreed with the boy, who would likely grow up to avoid water much like Indigo did. Drying this thick mane took a day and a half.

”You think you can fight me?” He questioned with a sudden stop to disrupt the boy’s balance as he bit into his ear. He added a slight shake after, nothing to make him fall but hopefully might get him giggling. He already mentioned he wasn’t any good at hunting, Hopefully Arc would settle with a little baby spar.

"Speech"