milliways_bar | (no subject)

*Eyes shining, Alanna simply smiles and winks at Edmund. The apple looks good.*

He chuckles, and tosses Alanna the apple, as Alex seems... distracted, somehow.

"The door, Faith? From what you said, it was the stairs that caused the problem."

Faith snorts.

"Only 'cause he's so wide. I mean, have you ever tried to fit a horse through a door? Carrying his weight wasn't the problem, it was making him fit without hurting either of us."

Then she grins, pointing at Alex. "Worth it for that expression though."

Alex is still staring. And has a Ghost pushing at his shoulder, since it has been several months since he saw his master.

...Nick?

Blur...

And there's a Nick by his side, suddenly blinking at the utter lack of danger, darkness, or other things he'd expect from sush a shocked call.

"Ale--"

And then he's looking at the fine piece of horseflesh.

"Ghost, I presume?"

He's smiling.

*Chewing quietly on the apple Edmund so thoughtfully provided for her, Alanna lets her gaze run over Nick. She hasn't seen him since Faith explained what had happened, and she finds herself infuriated at his tormentors all over again. Swallowing with some difficulty, she smiles at both of them.*

Hello, Nick.

*Annoyed that she's not sharing, Mithros snorts in Alanna's ear.*

Shhh! So greedy. Here, have the rest. Faith, don't be so modest. You carried them down the stairs. That was much more impressive than squeezing them through the door. I swear the thieves at the Dove will never recover.

Faith blushes and looks down with a slight shrug.

"Doesn't weigh that much..."

She smiles, faintly, at Nick. "Hey, Nick...yes, this is Ghost, as I'm sure Alex will confirm when he, uhm, remembers to speak aloud?"

He blinks, shaking his head and looking at Faith.

"Uh? Um. Yes. It's... it's Ghost. My horse. How..."

He strokes Ghost's nose, receiving a pleased whicker in return.

Nick smiles at Alex and reaches his hand out slowly to stroke down his hair and neck before wrapping an arm around his shoulder and pressing a kiss to his cheek.

"Lovely steed. Reminds me of my own. So long ago."

Edmund steps back, having nodded a hello to Nick, and returns to Rachât's stall briefly, returning with another couple of apples, absently taking a bite of one of them himself.

"Alanna took me to Tortall," Faith says, smiling at Alex. "And after we were done terrorizing the dagger seller and the teeny-tiny knights-in-training, we took a little trip by the palace stables and hey! A horse, that was yours. And we figured, you own him, he should be with you. So...horse."

Faith and Alanna are in turn glomped by a happy knight who has decided they need to be hugged.

Nick watches and grins before leaning the door of Ghost's stable. Ghost takes this opportunity to nudge his shoulder, to which Nick turns. The two share a moment of silent communication before the horse watches Alex...and so does Nick.

Hm.

*Laughing happily, Alanna hugs him back, her eyes suspiciously bright. It means a lot to her to see that smile on his face again. Grinning, she retreats to stand by Edmund, absently snagging another apple and bumping her shoulder against his.*

*Chewing, she whispers to him.* That's my horse. Mithros.

Faith is quite taken aback by the Alex-hug, actually.

The last time he hugged her like this was the 'Sunlight for Nick yey' thing, after all.

She is not, however, too surprised to hug him back.

There are no tears in her eyes, but she is smiling, if a bit bewildered.

"...'s just a horse..."

Alex-hugs are rare when one is not Nick. Making Alex very happy earns them.

"Thank you. This... it means a lot."

He goes back to the stall, stroking Ghost's nose again.

Softly, "I've missed him. Missed riding."

"I've never ridden."

A beat, as Faith eyes Ghost.

"I'm...afraid of them. Since I was young. Very few exceptions."

He nods, still stroking Ghost's nose.

"Viola was afraid of horses for a long time. She was three, and one of Father's hunting horses got loose and bowled her over in the courtyard. She wasn't more than bruised, but they still scared her."

"I got bit. When I was seven." Faith shrugs slightly. "Susan's been trying to get me over it...and your friend here, I think we reached an accord, but for the most part..."

"Biting will do that, yeah. Ghost bit me a few times when we were just starting out, but we reached an agreement."