milliways_bar | (no subject)

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."

"I hope you didn't have to KO a palace guard like I did."

No, Faith is not going to tell Alex she bopped his horse on the nose. Nor tell him exactly why she KOed that guard. Better that way, really.

He blinks.

"What?"

"He was trying to stop me."

Faith shifts slightly, uncomfortable.

"I didn't hit him too hard..."

"Just as long as you didn't permanently damage him, I suppose..."

He smiles, stroking Ghost's neck.

"Thank you."

The kick to the balls is far more likely to be permanently damaging than the punch to the jaw, really.

Faith, however, simply smiles and says "You're welcome."

He doesn't ask anything else about Tortall, because he knows how he's seen there, and he knows they must've dealt with Stefan at least.

"He'll probably be a handful the first time I take him out... Ghost isn't good with staying penned-up for long. They probably had him as a teaching mount, terrorising all the pages..."

"...that was mentioned, yes...that it didn't go well."

And Faith's expression darkens, remembering Stefan's exact words.

Yeah, it's a good thing Alanna held her back.

He notes the darkened expression, but doesn't say anything, petting Ghost's neck.

"He's not good for timid riders unless I'm there. I can just imagine the hell they had with him."

"You know? I think I can too."

And Faith smiles, and reaches out to pet Ghost.

"Good horse."

Alex laughs, and Ghost sniffs at Faith's hand.

"No biting, Ghost. She'll smack you if you do."

There is no biting.

"We did that already."

Beat.

"...did I just say that out loud?"

Alex looks amused.

"Yes, you did."

"...well, shit."

Faith blushes, ducking her head.

"Sorry. Like I said, he bit me. Reflex."

He chuckles.

"It's all right. He doesn't look hurt, and he does need to be dissuaded from biting the people I care about."

Faith blinks.

Rather a lot.

"...oh. Well. Thank you."

Beat.

"'S mutual, y'know."

He smiles.

"I know. Thanks."

For being there for Nick, is the unspoken continuation of the sentence. For being there for Alex. For helping get Nick back.

For everything.

"Anytime," she says, and leans in to kiss his cheek.

She's in love with Connor. 'Unspoken' is the only foreign language she understands with any fluency at all.