-

Cougar dozed in the warm sunshine. He wasn't fully asleep, but his eyes were closed and his breathing was slow. His chest slowly rose and fell subtlety, and his nostrils quivered with every breath. He was flopped on his side, and Marley had settled on his neck, 'pinning' the stallion down. Marley was quite obviously fully asleep, using Cougar as a pillow and snoring softly. Marley didn't snore like any person or horse did, his snores were... unique.

"Quakquakquakquakquakkkk," the duck snored every few seconds. Cougar must have drowned it out, or he would've been awake, and more than mildly annoyed.

Cougar was tired lately. He'd been contemplating a lot of things, suffering lectures from the Jays, and getting used to having social interactions again. He didn't know how long he'd been alone before running into Marble again, and he hadn't been around other horses much during that time.

-

Cougar felt tired from the moment he opened his eyes. Marley's warm mass lay curled in his neck, which Cougar found mildly annoying, but he chose to ignore the duck. Ever since the duck had become obsessed with him, Cougar and Marley had been frenemies. Cougar still wasn't super sure he appreciated his duck pal.

There was a lot going on in Cougar's mind, especially surrounding recent events. He still felt bad about himself deep inside, recalling all his prior scoldings from Cleo and Marble herself. He felt naive... And he didn't want others to see him that way. But despite what he tried, he couldn't seem to improve himself alone. Did that make him unlikeable? He didn't know. He wished he could read Marble's mind sometimes.

He could not. And he'd have to accept that. He was probably overthinking everything, battling with himself. Perhaps part of him hadn't shaken the fear of loosing the ones he loved.

He shook off his coat, pushing away his thoughts. Future Cougar could worry about that. He needed to start worrying about himself more than what others thought of him. Maybe it was time to start living with a different mindset.

-

Cougar took a step back. He was a little bit startled by her sudden approach, but tried to hide it. He tried to muster up some confidence and relax, worries beginning to cloud his head.

"I slept okay..." He said hesitantly, glancing at Marley who gave him a disapproving look. "How did you sleep?" He asked, shuffling his hind feet. "Get yourself together," he mumbled, flicking his tail in annoyance with himself. He'd meant his question for Marble, but as he had been looking at Marley, the duck seemed to think the question had been aimed at him, and started quacking.

Cougar sighed, turning his head towards Marble and rolling his eyes, Marley continuing to quack in the background. Wait... Had Marley distracted him? Maybe the annoying duck was a blessing after all, and not just a curse.

-

"Alright." Cougar snorted. He watched her walk away. Without Marble paying attention to him, Marley was now forced to bother Cougar. He started nipping at the stallion's legs, trying to bother the horse into giving him attention.

Cougar sighed, taking a step back. "You don't need attention all the time." He snorted to the duck. Marley walked closer to Cougar, sneaking closer to his legs once again. Marley was trying to act innocent, but Cougar could see his true intentions. Marley extended his neck, getting awfully close to his legs, before Cougar snorted "That's it!" And took off at a trot.

The duck chased after him, and to Cougar's dismay, was not giving up. "Ankle-biter!" Cougar snorted, cantering to get away. Cougar's attempts of escape only seemed to be rileing the duck up more.

Where had Marble gone? Surely she could protect him... He took off towards the stream, white duck still hot on his heels. He burst out of the woods by the stream, proceeding to almost crash into Marble, before ducking behind her. "Protect me!" He whinnied, as Marley came waddling out of the trees behind him.