A Horse Drawn Carriage

[Mira Nightingale]

Verdan started talking; ranting, really, and Mira didn’t follow him at all. Something about ignorance, it not mattering eventually, and knowledge. Smiling hesitantly, she just shook her head slightly and completely brushed aside the rather confusing turn the conversation had taken. She would find out… eventually. Eventually would be too late, though, even though she didn’t realize that yet. Everything would come in time.

Verdan said that he had seen an appropriate horse, and she nodded, eyes brightening considerably. “Thank you,” she said, accepting the hand he offered, “I haven’t been able to find one yet, and my mother won’t be too happy if I come home with only two of the three, or if my father finds the other horse.”

[Verdan]

Taking a gentle hold of Mira's hand, Verdan took a stride towards the beforementioned mare. Several blissful -from Verdan's point of view- moments later, they had arrived at the paddock. Verdan reached out with his free hand and stroked the horse's head. "Isn't she a beauty?" he asked, continuing stroking the horse affectionately. "And she always listens if you need to talk about something..." he said with a smirk. "So.. what do you think?"

[Mira Nightingale]

Verdan led her to the mare he had mentioned, and as soon as Mira saw her she smiled. She was perfect, Verdan was right. She would look great alongside the gelding, with the fiery mare in the lead. Her happiness only lasted a moment, however, as who she would be seeing after she left the carriage dawned on her. Suppressing a grimace, although the pained expression made it’s way onto her face, she turned back to Verdan. “You’re right, she is perfect.” she said, voicing her thoughts. “But… what do you mean by she listens?”

[Verdan]

Verdan was not ignorant, or stupid. He saw the pained look upon Mira's face as he made a guess to what it could possibly mean. She didn't like the horse? No, she just said that the mare was perfect. Probably something about the marriage... An expression mirroring Mira's flashed across Verdan's face as the though crossed his mind.

Mira inquired as to what Verdan meant by the horse listening. "Well, if I need someone to talk to," he began, turning a slight shade of red, "I oftentimes come here. The horses listen to me, they don't laugh at me or judge me. They just listen. Most commonly, I talk to this one..." he says, gesturing at the white mare, who nuzzled his hand, asking for a treat. Reaching into his bag, Verdan pulled out a piece of sugar offering it to the horse. He smiled as the animal ate the sweet.

[Mira Nightingale]

“You know,” Mira replied after a moment, “That sounds like a good idea.” Even though at first it seemed a little weird, it would be an instant stress reliever. An animal couldn’t go and tell her secrets, or her worries and fears, to anyone else. The mare’s mouth was shut and she would never tell Mira’s secrets, literally.

She leaned forward a bit just as Verdan gave the horse some sugar, and scratched the mare’s nose. “She’s cute.” she replied after a silent moment, before turning and gazing at Verdan. “What do you talk to her about?” If he didn’t talk to people because of laughing or judging, then he could talk to her too, couldn’t he? She didn’t laugh or judge.

[Verdan]

Verdan involuntarily reeled back several inches in surprise. A split second later, he was exploding with things to say, beginning with ".........Eh?" And ending with just an expression of plain shock. Deciding on something not as extreme as the above-mentioned things, he spoke calmly, only allowing a faint hint of surprise make its way into his voice, like the brilliant rays of sun breaking through a thick patch of white fog at the break of dawn. He raised an eyebrow as he spoke. "You really think it's a good idea?" he asked, giving her a shy smirk. He had expected something other than Mira seeing eye-to-eye with him.

Verdan grinned as Mira mentioned her opinion of the horse. "She's cute." Indeed. As Mira spoke her next words, Verdan twitched slightly. What does he talk to the horse about?.. Deciding that vagueness was his best way out, he replied, "I talk to her about my worries, my concerns, about things I can't talk to a person about."

[Mira Nightingale]

“Well, she won’t tell your secrets.” Mira replied as if she had never noticed Verdan’s shock. Then, as if to emphasize her point, she leaned closer to the horse and whispered something softly into her ear, glancing at Verdan in the process. Smiling softly she leaned back away and smiled at Verdan. “See? She’ll never tell another soul what I just said.”

“Things you can’t talk to a person about?” Mira echoed, eyeing Verdan for a moment. “You can talk to me, can’t you?” Folding her hands neatly in her lap, she waited for Verdan to either give her an excuse or to tell her what he spoke about. She expected him to not tell her thought, and although disappointing, it was what she expected.

[Verdan]

Verdan observed closely as Mira whispered something to the horse. Had he really wanted to, he could have deciphered what she had said, but decided against it. Maybe it was something that Mira did not want Verdan to know, maybe it was just a random jumble of words, an action done to reinforce he point. Maybe it was something Verdan needed to know, but did not. Killing the curiosity welling up inside him, Verdan pushed the matter aside.

"I talk to her about... my emotions..." he said after a pause, carefully adding detail to his original explanation so as not to tell Mira exactly what he talked about. "And about people..." he added after a second of though. "And of course I can talk to you... just not about the topics of conversation between myself and this mare." he finished with a hesitant, doubtful smile.

[Mira Nightingale]

Her whisper seemed to have worked, Mira noted with a bit of smug satisfaction. Verdan’s thoughts played across his face, and they were as easy to read as a book. Deciding that since he was already seemingly curious enough, she didn’t need to taunt him any more. All she had whispered to the horse was Verdan’s name, along with a simple “blah, blah, blah.” He didn’t need to know that though.

“Well, then, why can’t you?” Mira repeated, still just as curious as Verdan was about her random whisper. “I’m a good listener. I know lots of people too. As for emotions,” she continued with a small pause as she searched for the right words, “Those aren’t too difficult either.”

[Verdan]

Finally beating his curiosity into submission, Verdan realized once more, his expression calm and indifferent once more. However, his eyes remained as dreamy and slightly clouded as ever. Replying half-heartedly to Mira's inquiry, he even further elaborated on what he talked about with this mare. She was a curious one and would not let up until she got what she wanted: knowledge. Verdan hoped she did not need every detail of it. "Ok, fine. My emotions related to certain people. And those certain people, I don't think, would wish to know about those certain emotions. Thus, I am here, conversing with horses. Enough?"

[Mira Nightingale]

Mira couldn’t help but to sigh softly as she realized Verdan wasn’t going to elaborate much and answer her question. She might as well be happy with the answer she got, because she knew that she wasn’t going to be getting much more of anything from her stubborn friend. “Fine,” she agreed, standing up and dusting off her skirts in case of any dirt or hay, “That’s enough. I’ll just have to pretend I know what you’re talking about.”

Mira gazed back at the horse for a moment, a look of thought upon her face, but then she turned around as footsteps could be heard coming down the aisle. The footsteps were heavy, obviously from someone who was tall and had boots on. It was, more specifically, her dark-haired father that was walking toward her. Glancing quickly at Verdan she couldn’t help but to wonder how this was going to play out. Either the famous knight was going to pretend Verdan didn’t exist, or he wasn’t going to stop bothering and questioning her friend until he got every kind of answer he was looking for.

[Verdan]

Verdan blinked several times as Mira did not question him any further. He had made too soon of an assumption about her. Ah well. No matter. It was all for the better, for Verdan would not have told her anything more in any case. I'll just have to pretend to know what you're talking about." Wow. She was really bad at putting two and two together. Or Verdan was just an amazingly good actor. Probably the latter.

With those thoughts in his head, Verdan saw, or more like heard, a large man approaching the two of them. Probably her father by the way this man was dressed: clearly a noble. In that case, it may be a smart idea to be polite. "G'day, sir." Verdan spoke with a strange intonation: his voice was clear and sounded somehow highly educated. The mage bowed slightly. "How may I be of service, sir?"

[Mira Nightingale]

Her gaze practically pleading for him to leave as her father approached, Verdan either didn’t notice or didn’t care. The point was that he didn’t walk away, but instead turned toward the approaching noble with the jeweled sword scabbard hanging from his belt, and attempted to make some sort of conversation. Oh gosh.

Her father ignored Verdan for the moment, and instead turned toward his daughter. “Find any horses your mother would like?” he asked her, his beady eyes trailing over the nearby ones and straying a moment on both the white mare and Verdan. “Was this stable boy helping you?” he asked again, eyes swiveling toward Verdan who didn’t look much like a stable boy to begin with. If that was the game he was going to play, though, then Mira would just humor him.

“Yes,” she answered his first question, deciding to leave the second to Verdan if he chose to answer at all, “this white mare here would look nice with a gelding I found back a few paddocks. Mother insisted on white, after all.”

[Verdan]

Verdan sneezed from the indignity welling up inside him. Stable boy? Stable boy?!! He'll show that stupid, stuck-up, rich idiot with a shiny stick at his hip how much of a stable boy he was!! Shaking with anger, Verdan decided to play along for the moment, though he did not know how long he could last. Meanwhile, Mira continued persisting with her "go away you idiot" looks, so Verdan decided to play along for both of them. For now. Turning slowly around, bowing once more to the noble beforehand, Verdan strode in the direction of the gelding that Mira's father mentioned.

Several minutes later, he returned, leading the abovementioned horse towards the father and his daughter. "Might this be the gelding you spoke of?" Verdan spoke with respect. "And by the way, I'm no stable boy" he added casually.

[Mira Nightingale]

Glancing at Verdan as he sneezed and then stormed away, Mira shifted her weight from one foot to the other nervously. She just wanted to go home right now, either that or have her father go home without her. The tension in the air was so thick she could have cut it with a knife if she brought one. Eyeing her father’s sword for a moment she could easily envision him slicing through the air or through something else more practical.

“As for the lead horse,” she continued, pointing toward a few paddocks down on the right, “I was thinking of that mare there. She has a nice build, and the power and temper that makes a good lead. Although she isn’t white, I must admit that she is my favorite.”

Her father walked down toward the horse and gazed at the mare for a moment just as she reared and snorted loudly. Chuckling softly to himself, she walked back toward his daughter and clasped her on the shoulder briefly. “Excellent decision. Whether or not your mother likes her, she’s the best you’ll find here.”

He was going to say something else, but then the soft clomp of an approaching horse sounded throughout the air. Turning around, Mira saw Verdan leading the gelding she mentioned toward them. “Yes, it is the one.” Mira answered cautiously, not understanding what game Verdan was playing. “Don’t you think they’ll look great together?” she continued, beaming at her father.

Her father, in turn, walked toward the horse and examined him for a moment before nodding his agreement. Turning his gaze back to the shorter Verdan, he eyed him once again. “If you’re not a stable hand then, boy, why were you speaking to my daughter?” His tone wasn’t accusing, just merely curious. Mira could only hope that Verdan wasn't going to do something stupid.