Th. Aiden X Alton - Tumblr Posts

the man was massive. it would make sense to blame him for scaring off the horse but suddenly walking up given his bulk and the grandness of his frame in general but, in truth, the horse was most likely reacting to the way alton tensed so quickly. in his own defense, though, he thought he'd been caught by someone seeing as he let himself onto the ranch without bothering to speak with anyone that worked there to make sure it was alright for him to mingle with the horses and other livestock they had. it didn't help that despite being new to town everyone seemed to be on edge and, well, the anxiousness was contagious.

huh. the man was massive but also seemed... timid; or maybe gentle was a better descriptor. "i don't know." he answered plainly as he looked down at the feed clutched in the other's hand. "did they not tell you where to go when they gave you that? seems irresponsible on their part." there was a pause of silence, almost enough to be awkward, as he looked up at the stranger somewhat towering over him. "...do you want me to try and call a horse over here for you?"

Since it was his day off and he could close his business for the day, Aiden made it an effort for himself to go out and explore the town a bit more than he was used to. He spent a majority of his life around the town center, but Aiden had never really gone to the more outskirts of the town. So today, he had made a bit of a trip out to the ranch to the do a tour of the grounds. The dragonblood had spoken to some of the ranch hands, and he was offered some feed to take out to the horses to offer as a snack.

As he made his way out into the fields, the large, lumbering man spotted a horse speaking to what he assumed was another ranch hand. Aiden made his way over, although given his size and unfamiliarity on the grounds, he wasn't exactly quiet or subtle with his approach. The baker watched in surprise as the horse huffed at him and trotted away, while the other man turned around with a rather annoyed expression on his face.

"O-Oh, sorry, they said I could feed the horses," he stammered out of surprise. "I didn't mean to sneak up on you, I just... I thought this was where I was supposed to go," the baker said quietly, holding out his hand to show that he had been offered some snacks to give to the horses. "Was there a different horse I was supposed to feed?"

asking where to go felt like it should have been common sense but he had no room to judge. between the two of them, only one actually had permission to be there; and it wasn't alton. "it's not your fault, they should have specified." he grumbled under his breath. rolling his shoulders, he took a deep breath and willed himself to calm down; to relax. talking to people wasn't that hard. in fact, a few years ago, he even considered himself to be good at it but then he- he die-- no, now wasn't the time to think about that; to think about him. just breathe. relax. what's the worst that could happen.

"it's not you, it's me. horses are smart, they can sense things most people can't. you might be big," he explained as, making no effort to hide the way he looked over the other's admittedly imposing figure, "but the horse, he-- he was reacting to me. i got tense. nervous. he picked up on it immediately and put some distance between us to be safe. you--" he mumbled, "you seem gentle, you don't look scary, and you have food, so i think it's safe to say it definitely wasn't you."

taking a step back, he offered a weak smile to the other before bringing his right hand up to his mouth. curling his index finger and thumb together, as if he were making the okay sign with his other three fingers fanned out, he pressed his index finger and thumb into his mouth; pushing his lips, and his tongue, back before letting out a huff of breath that rang out with a loud, sharp whistle.

the horse from before neighed in response and trotted back over to them; nudging it's nose against alton's shoulder and knocking him out of his stiff posturing. "okay, easy. i'm sorry." he muttered to the animal as he reached up to gently scratch the horses muzzle with his right hand-- though that only lasted for a second, or so, before the horse started moving forward; eying the food in the other's hand. "see, he's not scared of you." the elf spoke with a soft, breathy chuckle as his hand slide down the length of the horse to rest against it's shoulder as it turned all it's attention to the lumbering giant. "in fact i'm pretty sure he likes you more because you brought treats."

The dragonblood blinked in surprise at the other man's rather blunt and plain response. Aiden's cheeks turned a soft red flush out of embarrassment at his own realization that he should have asked the ranchers where he was supposed to go. It was probably an unfair thing to do, assuming he was supposed to go to the first horse he saw. "Oh... I-I didn't ask," he said carefully, before letting his words trail off into the vast emptiness of silence that drifted between them.

It wasn't until the other man spoke up again that the baker's expression lightened a bit. He nodded a bit too eagerly, shuffling his feet awkwardly. Perhaps it was too obvious how little time he spent out in the nature and away from the town center where his store was. "I don't think the horse likes me very much," Aiden murmured, already nursing his bruised ego at the horse huffing and trotting away at the sight of him. "Do you think I look scary to the horse?" he asked, a rather genuine and innocent intent in his tone.

"well i don't think you look scary, and neither does he," the elf spoke in defense of the horse with a soft smile, "and that's what's important, i think." he wasn't blind to how large and imposing the other was in his stature and build. alton honestly wasn't sure he'd ever met someone as tall as the other, in this world or back in the wild lands, but he also knew that appearances could be deceiving. "whoever said you looked scary to them must not have been paying much attention. you can't help that though," he offered in an attempt to comfort the larger man as he saw the way his features seemed to sadden at the admission. "some can't seem to help being wrong."

watching as the horse began to graze from the other's hand, the elf seemed to relax more and more. you could even argue that he was enjoying the conversation, though he wasn't likely to admit it.

"we had... horses," he pauses, his lips breaking into a smirk as he remembers the animals back home, "but most of what you would find in elhead forest was touched by magic, and part of the fae. things were different there. our horses make the ones in this world seem like child's play; we called it the wild lands for a reason-- but, yes, i grew up around them. my family was from a settlement that preferred being closer to the natural world that that of others and, well, i think it's safe to say i still hold onto that way of thought sometimes; most times."

as he explained more about himself, answering honestly and speaking more than he had in months, his demeanor continued to change and soften. he was genuinely smiling. "one year my-- my friend i made here in this world bought me a horse as an anniversary gift of the day we met. we couldn't keep it where we lived, but the ranch was only a twenty minute drive away. i don't know. there's something about these animals that i like the most. so many people think they are scary because of their size, and how powerful they are, but they are gentle beasts. kind and intelligent too. they make for some good company..."

Nodding carefully at the other's response, Aiden couldn't help but feel a bit guilty as to not knowing where he was supposed to be. Part of him wondered if there was something else he should have done or asked in order to prevent him from ending up at this point, but the dragonblood decided not to dwell too much on that point. It helped to hear the other man try and put his concerns at ease, knowing that it wasn't his fault for the animal getting spooked. The baker didn't know anything when it came to these creatures, figuring that his size was probably what many would consider a threat.

He nodded with more enthusiasm at the explanation. "I promise I'm gentle, although I know a couple people who have said I look scary," Aiden said with a rather saddened expression on his face. He didn't want to scare people off; in fact the dragonblood took great pride in being friendly and welcoming, a skill he had to learn with his store. In any case, it seemed like the stranger knew much more about animals than he did, so it was better to take his word for it than come up with an infinite number of reasons as to what Aiden did wrong.

Holding one hand up to his ears, the large man was a bit too late to block out the sharp, clear whistle. He winced at the sudden sound, only watching with child-like glee as the large creature returned with a gentle trot. Aiden watched in surprise as the horse's attention slowly towards him, in particular towards his hand containing the snacks. "H-Here buddy... it's all yours," Aiden murmured, holding his hand out carefully with his palms open so as to not startle the horse away again. "You know so much about horses; did you grow up with them? I've never really interacted with them before until today," he whispered, half-expecting the horse to kick him in the chest and dart away.

"it's almost funny. for awhile i-- i tired of life in the elhead forest. i was getting anxious, i wanted to see more of the world-- mine and this one-- but my people didn't have that same sense of curiosity. they were content to keep the lives the made for themselves without ever questioning anything." the fact he was here made it pretty clear that, in the end, alton decided that wasn't the way for him; that wasn't how he wanted to lead his life. though, in his grieving, he did often wonder if he would be better off if he had just stayed; if he had just been like the rest of them and ignored his aching curiosity. it would have hurt less.

"in retrospect, it was nice. if i remember correctly the humans have a saying that i think works perfectly here-- you don't know how much you'll miss something until it's gone." he continued on, that smile still managing to hang onto his features. "not that my home is gone but leaving it certainly allowed me to appreciate it again; appreciate it more."

"i'm sure, in time, you will have plenty of friends like that." the elf answered with a soft laugh. "though, when you do, i hope you aren't as dense as i was. i realized far too late for it to matter what he thought of me, and what i thought of him-- though the horse really should have been a hint." usually when he spoke of his past, especially christopher, alton was quick to recede back into himself and lock everyone out. he couldn't remember the last time he spoke about the man and laughed.

"well, like i said, horses are very intelligent. we have a mutual respect for each other, seeing as they can sense my intentions, so they listen but the important thing to remember is that i-- is that we-- need to listen as well; and the more time you spend around them, the more you'll be able to understand what they want as well. you need to give yourself more creidt, though," he added on as he nodded at the horse still eating from aiden's hand. "he's already more than comfortable with you; you're clearly a natural."

Aiden's cloudy expression brightened at the elf's words, clearly taking his words to heart. "Well, as long as you and the horse know I'm not scary then. That's good enough for me," he said cheerfully, happy to at least make a new acquaintance. It perhaps seemed a bit too premature to call the other a friend, since they had only just met. But it at least seemed like he wasn't making a bad first impression anymore. The dragonblood reached up to pat the horse on the head as the large animal continued to graze and eat up the snacks in his hand.

The large man listened attentively, perhaps a bit more interested in the elf and what he had to say now that the horse was preoccupied with munching at the food instead. "It sounds lovely, the elhead forest you spoke of. It must have been nice to be so close to the natural world. I've spent my whole life growing up in this town, so it's hard for me to imagine a different life." He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head out of shyness with his free hand. "I suppose it was me being curious to know more about you. I don't get many free days to be outside of my shop, so whenever I do, Iwant to hear more about what the world is like outside of here."

It wasn't like he was complaining; Aiden liked being here. But he was also intrigued about the stories from all the time travelers, or even people who weren't born in the town. It sounded like a fascinating world out there. "Well, they sound like a good friend then. I don't think I could buy someone a horse as a gift. But they must have known how much you enjoyed being in company with horses," Aiden hummed thoughtfully. "I hope I could have a good friend like that." The baker seemed a bit lost in thought for a moment, wondering what sort of things he would want a best friend to know about him. "I see that's why you came out here to work here with the horses then. The horses must be really comfortable with you if they listen to you."