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For all of her pride in her manners and polish, Anelisse really wasn't that good at dissembling. Anger, irritation, pleasure, sorrow...the slightest change of emotion, any sort of intense feeling, and she was broadcasting it to everyone in viewing distance. Had she known that fact she likely would have been exceedingly irate; after all, she was supposed to be collected and regal, not transparent and childish!

It had to make it easier for those around her, however, like now.

The brown stallion's intelligence had not been the clarification she hoped for. Instead, her brow creased and her mouth curled in pronounced confusion, confusion and frustration. So Fenghuang hadn't been seen by his family for upwards of six months? That had to be nearly as long as it had been since she'd last seen him, only since then she'd seen him what, three days ago? And furthermore, he had smelled and made comments about not being able to bathe because the water was frozen...hadn't he said that he was in the wastes before? So he'd up and gone to the wastes and then come right back to harass her before even touching base with his family?

Her frown deepened and took on a more thoughtful tilt as she mulled, trying to sort out the confusing behavior of the red stallion at the expense of the brown one she was currently talking to. A pity, too, because the brown stallion was being so very nice and talkative and mannerly and admiring, he really deserved more attention than she was giving him now. Not that she was thinking about anything like that at the moment, though, being too preoccupied with other thoughts.

Still, it was almost too frustrating. It was a beautiful romantic picture, the devoted swain going on a perilous journey to parts unknown and inhospitable and then charging back to the gorgeous mare who had captured his heart and haunted his dreams, laying his admiration and profusions of loyalty and unworthiness at her beautifully manicured hoof. THAT picture was beautiful and the way things SHOULD be, but it made no sense why anyone would hurry anywhere just to be a grouch. An angry grouch, even, who yelled and sulked and pulled hair.

No light, merely more confusion. Sighing, Anelisse shook her head again, then huffed with no real notice of the brown stallion. "Not at all reasonable or logical, and he said I had issues!." Harrumph indeed!

The look that Biscuit was awarded for all his trouble was one of simple aggravation. The very idea, him being amused at her. Even more, the very idea that she was 'interested' in anything, ESPECIALLY Fenghuang. She was not interested in anyone, just wanting information to try and decipher strange and convoluted behavior was NOT the same as having an interest of even the most casual sense. She only had interest in things that were worthy of being interested in, thank you kindly!

So it was with a very profound tone of self-mortification and 'you should know better than that' that she corrected the brown stallion. "I am NOT interested in anything, I simply wanted to know. And yes, I do know him as a matter of fact, if you can count two short, muddy, and unkind encounters as a basis for 'knowing' someone. But I can assure you, that is the extreme end of ANYTHING, though if he had any sort of decency he would make another appearance and try to explain his crazy behavior." By the end of her speech, it was obvious that her words weren't so much meant for Biscuit as his absent cousin, the narrowed eyes and absent expression an indication of her opinions in that regard. But after a moment, she straightened up as though brushing that topic off entirely.

"However, I am not going to be one of those mares that holds other people responsible for the actions of someone that happens to be their friend or relative; rest assured that just because your cousin doesn't know how to treat a mare I am going to give YOU a kick meant for him." That ought to set his mind at ease; to be sure, he hadn't shown any indication that his mind was unsettled on that score; she was just setting the record straight in advance, something that he HAD to appreciate. "Whether or not you see him, there is no reason to indulge any whims on his account."

A fine bit of reasoning, but one that would have held a lot more water if she'd never seen Fenghuang again after their first meeting. She was quite sure that she'd been more than adamant THAT time that she didn't want to deal with him, but he'd had to go and show up again, be all maddening and rude and unreasonable again, raise some actual QUESTIONS...and then he decides to be all mannerly and respect her wishes from the last time? Insufferable stallion.

Not that she was going to share that bit of intelligence with the brown one, to be sure. She had no reason to share her dirty laundry with the general public, especially general public who were related to and attempting to justify irrational behaviors in a MOST unhelpful way, especially because he was being amused. He might be a pleasant enough stallion on his own, but that hardly gave him the right to be amused by this unfortunate situation or by her in general.

On top of that, she didn't DO legwork. Gentleman always did the legwork, and even though he was no gentleman he at least had the anatomy to attempt it, dash it all!

And she did NOT give off any airs, thank you much, especially of the smiting sort. "I'm sure you mean well with your explanations, but I really don't think that it matters anyway. I'm sure that he has flittered off to new parts unknown, undoubtedly to harrass the next mare on his list."

"No regards, no messages, no nothing. If he wishes to take accountability, then it had better be his own choice, not because of any suggestions on the part of you or anyone else." However, after almost snapping out that response Anelisse rethought herself, then offered majestically, "But thank you for the offer, as misguided as it is. You really are a very nice stallion." High words of praise indeed, considering that Fenghuang's adjective of choice was 'insufferable'.

Still, this cousin was also at least a hair insufferable in his own right, him and his suspiciously smug and knowing smiles. In spite of her denials, she had the distinct impression that he didn't believe her and that he suspected her of things that were DEFINITELY not true, thanks much. Humph.

"I assure you, I am NOT wound up. I haven't been well lately, as you can no doubt see," That much was definitely the truth, though her period of 'unwellness' was less from a standard illness than from self-mutilation of the mental sort...but unwell was unwell. "And I've only recently started to get my strength back. I assure you, being wound up is not even on the horizon, and if I were to get wound up it would be on a reasonable subject. If your cousin happened to be a common topic for us, that hardly suggests more than a means of conversation, nothing more."

There, that was very convincing.

Well, that was a bit of a challenge. Having thrown down the proverbial gauntlet in the form of a plausible subject change, Anelisse now found herself having to scramble for a topic; always a much harder task than one would first suspect. However, she had always prided herself (among other things) on her flexibility, therefore after only a few moments' worth of struggle she was able to say with extreme dignity, "I don't believe that you've introduced yourself, actually. I know that I haven't either, but good etiquette leaves the first introduction to the stallion and I'm quite sure you go by something more charming than 'brown stallion'." Perhaps less informative, but hey, she was making conversation!

And soon to be getting another aid, in the form of the ever loyal Raccoon. Since she had first observed Biscuit, Raccoon had been filling the role of silent observer, giving Mistress time to chat and cheer. By now, though, she was of the opinion that Anelisse had been suitably cheered and was now ready to share their new guest, whose curly hair was something of fascination for the hair obsessed familiar. She had learned her lesson, though; rather than pull off some of Biscuit's hair, she had merely slithered up to him and given it a light tug by way of getting his attention. "Chirrup!"

Biscuit? Well, it certainly was no 'brown stallion', but it was handy to have a name to latch onto, whether for sentiment, convenience, or vengeance. Making a mental note of the name, Anelisse nodded her thanks for his offer, though she was quick to dismiss it. "In my family, we use proper names. You might be the only brown stallion about now, but it's very possible that another will appear and make things confusing. My name is Anelisse, by the way."

Having exhausted that topic of conversation a great deal faster than she'd thought possible, Raccoon's appearance was extremely fortuitous and she gave her a smile as Biscuit's attention was drawn that way. "You can drop the 'Miss', too much formality makes her uncomfortable."

And indeed, at the greeting Raccoon had first blinked, then laughed gaily while shaking her head and making dismissive motions with her paws. 'Raccoon' was good enough for her, seeing as how it was her name and all! But at his kind question, she was quick to grin, pointing at his long curly tail with an impish smile.

Normally, Anelisse would be extremely affronted to be ignored or sidelined, even for as noble a purpose as someone humoring Raccoon. At the moment though, Raccoon's appearance was a godsend; this Biscuit was far too suspicious a character to be healthy and he couldn't be good for her nerves. That made it easier than normal to accept the affront; with the majestic air of one acting completely of her own will (and therefore NOT one that had been marginalized by a miming Raccoon), she announced, "Since you don't seem to be as dense as the rest of the world when it comes to conversing with her, I'll just leave you two to your chatting then. If you'll excuse me."

Without waiting for a response or an acknowledgment (or to see for a fact that she was being ignored, she turned and swept away, making her way down the riverbank to a place nicely out of sight where she could have a soak and a swim in what passed for private in these parts. That ought to relax her.

Raccoon was satisfied with this turn of affairs, for her own part. It was always nice to 'talk' to Soquilis that actually made an effort to understand her, and those were few and far between as a rule. Still, experience had taught her that just because she THOUGHT someone understood her didn't mean that they had. That in mind, she was very deliberate and overly cautious in both her gestures and her slower-than-normal chittering as she pointed to Biscuit's tail again, then his mane, then to the bands of hair that decorated her wrists and waist and neck. Having done that much, she cocked her head at him and offered a querying chirp; had he understood her?