Adina strolled down the dirt path, checking that Posey had her equipment placed comfortably on her back. When James pulled her aside earlier talking about getting back his horse, she got excited at seeing some more animals.
Not that she didn't have Ursuku with her as well. The cowboy hadn't exactly told her not to bring the cat with them, so she deemed his silence as approval. Besides, Uri had ran all around her when she was packing up to go. Who could leave such a cute little animal behind?
She sure couldn't. And she knew a part of James couldn't either.
For a few moments, the only sounds came from their boots crunching on fallen leaves, and the soft breaths of Posey. She pet the horse happily, brushing her hair out in spikes.
"Hey," she said, catching his attention. "Do you think we could find some animals in this different town?"
James raised his eyebrows and looked over at her, eyes jumping from the horse to the cat. "You mean domesticated ones? Or just any animals."
Adina opened her mouth to say "anyone," but she thought for a second.She would hope the animals would be friendly. "I mean, as long as they're nice, does it really matter?" Her words ran through her head. Maybe she spoke a little hastily, judging by James' even more exaggerated expression, but still, all animals were mostly good.
"Okay," she muttered. "But, like think about a super friendly little panther! What if they wanted to join our cheery band of people?" Adina grinned widely at James, willing him to say no to her.
James squinted at her and pursed his lips. With a sigh, he started to quicken the pace. "There's only so much you can do to train wild animals, and at the end of the day, it's just not the same as... well... a house cat. But if you're really looking forward to seeing some animals, there will be plenty of other horses at the stables."
"That's fair, I suppose." She hummed, leading Posey away from some rocks on the path. "I'll be happy seeing more horses! I'm sure we can find some treats to feed them somewhere around here." Adina looked up to see James far ahead of her.
Maybe she talked too much about animals. "Don't leave me behind," Adina called out, laughter leaking into her voice even as she urged Posey faster. "I don't really know where we're going Mr. Cowboy!"
James looked back at her, his eyes wide with mild surprise. "Mr. Cowboy?" A smile tugged at his lips. "Gods, I thought that nickname died."
Adina giggled, nearly tripping over a branch at his smile. She didn't think that could happen! "I'm never gonna let that name go." She drew close enough to poke at his arm. "Cowboys are cool, and so are you."
James grinned, though it looked like he was trying to fight it down. "Well. You're the coolest not-cowboy I know, so that makes two of us," he said, giving her a little nudge in the arm with his elbow.
She brightened even more at that. James thought she was cool! "Thank you kindly sir," Adina said through a super wide smile. "I'm honored to be given this title."
"You're very welcome," he said.
James pursed his lips as his grin grew, and he looked up ahead at the passing buildings. They'd made their way to the edges of the town, passing through homes and shops until the previously crowded arrangement of buildings began to thin out. They made their way onto a small dirt trail that made its way up a grassy hill, and she could see the stables up ahead. It was a long, L-shaped building, painted a pale yellow that had been bleached by the salt and the sun. A white fence made another L-shape that opposed the buildings, closing it off and creating an area for some horses to wander and graze. She could see a few of them as little dots of black and white and brown from afar.
Adina looked around the last few buildings, wondering if any had hats for James later. She had a few coins left over from her lastest excursion with Rose. Adina could barely contain herself in wanting to see more horses, with her hands shaking even while holding onto the string connecting her to Posey.
All animals were awesome, but horses did hold a special part of her heart, as well as Uri who decided to poke her head out of one of the pockets on Posey's side. Adina stroked the cat's head, keeping an eye on the colorful decorations nearly littering the streets. She squinted her eyes at a sign laying half-collapsed on the side.
It read something like "Looking For Headwear?" Something dinged in her brain. She would have to try to find that store later for James. Hopefully he'd appreciate a hat, if not to fully complete his cowboy-persona. That would be for after meeting the horses though.
Adina started to skip, peeking at James' back in case he saw. She may have already shown him the more crazy side of her animal-loving self, but she didn't him to think she was obsessed. Maybe he hadn't noticed the couple of bunnies she snuck a couple of vegetables earlier? She could only hope.
"Do you know many people here?" The question popped into her head - she was curious. For him to leave his horse here, James had to trust someone, in some way.
James glanced over. "Just one. We have a mutual aquaintence."
Adina rocked on her heels. "Oh, okay! That's cool." She kept glancing at their surrondings. They were trekking slowly to the stables. "How many horses do you think we'll see?" She held back her question about whether or not they could take a few with them. Maybe she could accidentally spring a few free.
He looked up at the stables that were getting closer. He gave a little shrug. "We'll see."
--<>--
By the time they reached their destination, Adina still hadn't lost her excitement-fueled energy. She lightly jogged, (more like sprinted as fast as she could without wanting to scare the horses) through the gates. There were countless animals all around her. Amusedly enough, not one but two ponies made their way to a slightly startled James.
Adina hid her giggles in the soft hair of a cute dark brown-haired horse. They had approached Posey right after entering the pasture. She was happy enough to pet as many horses as she could. A few rabbits slipped under the white fence and ran through a few horses' legs.
From the corner of her eye she could see a woman approaching them through the field. Her greying black hair was tied back into a low ponytail, but that was the only indication of her age. She wore simple clothes, a little dirtied on the knees of her pants, like she'd been kneeling in the grass or something. Her eyes were alight with recognition as she approached, looking at James and giving him a wave before she came within reasonable talking distance.
"I didn't think I'd see you here any time soon," she said with a smile, looking over at Adina. "A friend of yours?"
James nodded. "This is Adina."
"I can see you like horses," the woman said with a smile. She stepped up to the mare Adina was stroking. "Her name's Thistle. And my name's Hannah."
"It's nice to meet you, ma'am." Adina waved a hand a little awkwardly. She could feel a blush forming on her face, judging by a rush of heat. "I really do love horses. You're super lucky to take care of so many of them!"
Hannah chuckled. "It helps to have a few stablehands as well. Managing them all by myself might be more than I can handle."
"Oh, I bet!" Adina shook her head enthusiastically. "That would probably be pretty tough." She drew closer to Hannah, to say something else quietly. "Does James ever help you?"
Hannah leaned in, and pulled away with a small grin. She looked over at James, who was far enough away that he couldn't overhear. "No, but that's a good idea. I should make him work for me sometime. To pay me back for all the trouble he is," she whispered with a teasing smile.
James cleared his throat.
Hannah gave Adina a pat on the shoulder. "Well, I suppose you'll be wanting to see Elliot, then?" she looked down at Adina. "I think you'd quite like him. He's a beautiful horse. Has a bit of an attitude sometimes, though."
Adina felt a grin stretching across her face. "A bit like his master, then, hm?" She gasped out before breaking down in laughter. She really didn't think she would laugh this much in a single day, but she supposed anything could happen with such an interesting person that James was.
Hannah hid a laugh behind her hand, and James only looked at the two of them with a slow blink.
"Where is he?" he asked.
Hannah put a hand to her chest and composed herself. "He should be further out in the pasture," she said, gesturing out into the field. "I can bring you to him if you'd like," she said, to which James nodded. "And Adina, you're free to wander the stables! Just be mindful of the creatures. Some of them are more shy than others and need some more space with strangers."
Adina nodded, her curly hair whipping all around. "I'll be careful, don't worry ma'am. I get being a little shy." She gave a small smile. "Good luck in retrieving Elliot!" She waved goodbye to the two amused adults, (at least more adult than her) and set off to take in her surroundings.
There had been that sign talking about hats right at the edge of the town. She could start there. Maybe Hannah could use a hat too. She hummed a little under her breath as she patted Thistle and Posey once more before shutting the gate behind her.
A few minutes saw her standing right by that original advertisement. Adina turned down the street, to see a few buildings that had a few items outside their doors. One did hold a hat rack. She happily moved closer to that store, taking a look at the selection.
An old, brown faux leather hat seemed to call out to her, so she picked it up, running a hand along the purple stitching. Perfect for a certain cowboy fellow. Adina strolled into the actual store, looking for an important-looking person.
A few people stood by, in quiet conversation, but none of them moved closer to her. She assumed that they weren't a worker. Adina figured she could take a peek around just in case and wait out someone showing up.
Inadvertently, she caught a part of the discussion between the three strangers. One was speaking quickly, the middle maintained a calm expression, while the third stayed fairly quiet.
"There's this place," one of them said, "that's for those special folk."
"D'ya know where?" Another fiddled with one of his knives.
"No one knows." The first speaker shrugged. "I've only heard the rumors."
"Rumors?"
The final person spoke then. "Yes. For the gifted."
The gifted? What could they mean by that? Adina turned back to the random items the store held, trying to think about their words. The only time she had heard that term was on a flyer talking about magic users. She paused. Could they really be talking about magic?
A small bubble of hope grew within her. Could a safe place for people like her really exist? For a second, she wanted to approach the men and ask them more, but that would be too dangerous. Especially after the sudden shifts in moods of friendly people their crew had met on their travels.
A rueful smile formed. She couldn't really trust anyone, besides her friends.
Someone knocked on the door, causing her to jump with surprise. They ended up being an actual worker, so Adina went over to purchase the hat she had been clutching. Another hat caught her eye as well, this one a tan color, that matched at least one of the horses Hannah had.
Adina only had a few coins, but thankfully, the hats didn't cost too much, so she was able to leave with two nice gifts for two nice people. She felt somewhat reluctant leaving that conversation behind, but there wasn't much she could do then reveal herself to be a magic user. Who knew what kind of attention that would draw.
With that, she walked the path back to where the lovely horses were. Adina stroked Posey before putting James' hat on Thistle for a second. She didn't mind waiting a few extra minutes for James and Hannah if it meant she could play for longer. Footsteps and two voices drew her attention to the opening that the pair had left through.
Sure enough, they were walking back, with a rather beautiful horse accompanying them. Elliot really was quite pretty, with a proud long, white mane and an almost gold-colored coat. The closer they got, the more Adina saw of the horse. He even had a cute stripe along his nose.
She honestly just wanted to pet him now. That probably could wait until they were all getting ready to leave though.
When James saw her he gave her a wave. Hannah said something to him in hushed tones and the two exchanged a few words before Hannah broke away and headed back to the stables and out of the pasture. She turned back to give Adina what looked like a wave goodbye.
Adina called out "Wait!" to Hannah. She jogged over to the woman to hand over a hat. "I don't know if you like wearing hats, but here's one I thought you might like." Adina smiled widely. "Thank you so much for letting me meet all your horses."
Hannah raised her brows and took the hat with a smile. "Oh my goodness, dear, you're too kind," she said with a thankful bow if her head as she slipped the hat on her head. "I could always use a nice hat. Horses like to nibble at 'em." She winked. "I keep telling them they're not goats, but I think they just like to mess with me."
"Surely a sign of their love." Adina laughed.
"Of course," she said with a tip of her new hat. "Now you two stay safe," she continued, sending a look James's way. "Keep an eye on that one for me."
Adina nodded. "I'll try my best ma'am." She grinned one last time before waving goodbye, and walked over to where James stood.
She looked up at the cowboy, then down at her decidedly empty hands. His hat! Where did she put it? Adina searched the ground first, then froze at the sight of his gift still on top of Thistle's head. She tried to sneak over to the mare and gently pull the hat off before he noticed.
Then, she moved over to him once more, barely containing her giggles and plopped the hat onto James' head.
"Now you're a true cowboy!"
James's brows lifted up and together, and he grinned down at her. He reached out and ruffled the hair atop her head for the briefest of moments before passing her with Elliot in tow.
"Guess there's no denying the nickname now."
"Maybe it was my plan all along." Adina grinned. She was looking forward to how the others would react to seeing the hat on his head.
"Well, at the very least, Rose will have something new to complain about."
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