"And that, my friend, is how I feel every day," he said with a lopsided grin. He then looked in front of them and saw that they had made it to the stables. He went on ahead and pushed open the door for Lily to go through, dramatically sweeping a hand in front of him. "Milady."
She pressed a hand to her mouth, muffling quiet laughter as she curtsied. "Why thank you, m'lord." She said, before slipping into the stables. She beelined straight for Danzing's stall, at a slow enough pace not to scare him, looking over her shoulder at Rhydar. "I don't suppose you happen to speak horse, do you."
"I'm a Seer, not a zoolinguist," he said flatly as he trailed after her, though his lips twitched up in an attempt to smile. He headed for Kaspa, and the stallion was already poking his head out of his stall to greet Rhydar—with a few bits of straw poking out of his mouth. Rhydar barked a laugh at the sight, his grin slipping through. "You're such a weirdo," he said with a chuckle.[
"A Seer? Interesting." Lily mused to herself, her thoughtful look replaced by a smile as she greeted Danzing in the same tongue from yesterday. Her eyes flickered to Rhydar at the sound of his laugh, something warm blooming in her chest. She shook her head, turning back to the stallion nudging her hand in greeting.
"Our entire family is made up of Seers. It's supposedly a gift from the First King." He picked out the straw bits from Kaspa's mouth as he mused, "Honestly? I don't really see it as a gift some of the time. I mean, poor Cin can't touch anyone, skin-on-skin, unless she's really close to them, else she'll be thrown into their mind. My abilities aren't all that great or useful, and Wolf sometimes has to stop what he's doing because he's getting a random vision. Magnus has to use a bowl of water or some liquid in order to scry." He sighed and shook his head. "Mother said that our abilities are shaped around our personalities and innermost desires. I call bull."
She tilted her head as she listened to him talk, slipping into Danzing's stall and checking his hooves habitually. "That sounds on par with a gift to me." She said softly, leaning against Danzing's side. "Trouble wrapped up in a pretty package. What…what is your gift."
He also slipped into Kaspa's stall to groom the stallion, sighing. He was silent for a few beats until he finally answered her. "I can see someone's hidden or suppressed memories, sometimes dreams. It's easier when the person's sleeping, though that's when dreams get mixed with actual memories. It's like Cinthia's, though, in terms of activation. I have to be touching them in order to actually look. At least for mine, I call it instead of it just deciding to activate on its own every time I touch someone."
It took her a full three minutes to calm the panic that welled up in her chest, her breathing faltering for a split second, and only the mention of sleeping actually helped. He can't see them. Breathe. Her memories and secrets were so closely tied together that they had become one and the same. "Do you see specific things, or is it just…and onslaught of memories?"
He shrugged. "I'm usually looking for a specific thing, as per the request of the person. Like, a childhood memory that they really want to remember." He kept his gaze on Kaspa as he ran the brush over the stallion's hide. "I don't usually use it other than that—when someone asks me to resurface some sort of memory. Like I said, it's not really useful to me."
She hummed in response, acknowledging his words, but staying mostly quiet as she worked through her chaotic mess of feelings. It was comforting to hear that he didn't use it often, even if it left her feeling a bit wary still. She found herself twisting small braids into Danzing's mane, something the stallion seemed perfectly fine with as he ate.
He flicked his gaze over to Lily for a quick second before saying softly, "I'm not going to use it on you, I promise." He could guess that something had happened to her that she didn't want to talk about, and he didn't blame her. He didn't pry, either. He knew that she would talk to him if she wanted, and he respected that.
She blinked out of her thoughts, looking over at him. Something unreadable passed over her face, but she gave him a small smile. "I hoped so. Thank you." The assurance meant more to her than he'd probably ever know, but it showed a bit in her tone, and the gratefulness in her eyes.
He smiled softly over at her, noticing the gratefulness shining in her eyes. "It's nothing, really." He finished up with grooming Kaspa and walked out of the stall to gather the tack. The stallion nudged the stall door open with his muzzle and walked out on his own, heading over to Lily and Danzing.
Lily looked up from her idle braiding of Danzing's mane, shifting to lean against the stall door to greet Kaspa. "Hello there." She cooed, smiling at the horse as she brushed her hair back from her face.
Kaspa bobbed his head up and down, his form of a hello. Rhydar laughed slightly as he saw what the stallion was up to, then slung the saddle onto Kaspa's back. He started to buckle and tighten the straps. "Make sure that Danzing doesn't try to bite at Kaspa. He's older than Kaspa and might not like the youngster's habit to get in other's faces…"
"Duly noted. How old is Danzing?" Lily asked, tilting her head as she looked over at the stallion in question, who met her gaze. They both stayed like that for a few moments, before Danzing looked back to the hay he was eating, and Lily looked back at Rhydar.
Rhydar gently pushed Kaspa back so that he could put the bridle on, answering Lily as he worked. "Let's see, Kaspa is 5—just barely an adult—and I believe Danzing is around 4 years older than Kaspa. So I'm guessing around 9-ish?" Rhydar's slim fingers deftly worked the different straps of the bridle and had it snuggly, but still comfortably, around the stallion's head.
Lily nodded, once again leaning against Danzing as Rhydar talked. She watched his fingers move, head tilted. He's got pianist fingers. She was fiddling with the ring once more, her expression for once unguarded, leaving her comfort to show clearly on her face.
He patted Kaspa's neck and turned towards Lily, opening his mouth to ask her something, but pausing once he saw her unguarded expression. He had yet to see her so…open. He licked his lip ring and finally asked, "So…You think Danzing will let you ride him today or not?"
She blinked, shaking her head to clear her mind as she looked to Danzing. "Maybe. Let's start with seeing if he's alright with a saddle first." She suggested, tucking a loose tendril of hair behind her ear.
"Alright, you know how to put one on?" he asked as he went to grab the one that he knew was Danzing's. Each horse had its own tack, specially designed and fitted for their specific measurements and preferences. It was weird to think of a horse preferring different styles of tack, but Rhydar could see that some horses didn't like the way certain tack felt on them.
She scrunched up her nose, thinking for a moment. "I think so. I haven't had to saddle a horse in quite a while, so it's a bit up in the air." She admitted, scratching behind Danzing's ears before slipping back out of the stable to meet Rhydar halfway.
"Welp, I'll be over here if you need me to help," Rhydar said. He held out the saddle for Lily. "Here you go, milady. One saddle for a grumpy horse." He ducked his head as Kaspa flicked his tail at him, then shot the stallion a dirty look.
"He kind of reminds me of you." She mused, accepting the saddle and nudging the stall door open with her foot. Danzing snorted, but patiently stood as she settled the saddle over his back, scrunching up her nose as she attempted to fasten the buckles and straps.
"Who what now?" Rhydar asked with a bewildered look. He half watched Lily to make sure she got everything right, and half watched her just because he wanted to. Kaspa pressed his face against Rhydar, and he hugged the horse's head slightly, resting his own head against Kaspa.