He was half-tempted to cross over to the hay bale and sink onto it beside Ben, suddenly weary and just wanting to be near him... maybe just at the weight of this conversation, at feeling the chilling consequences they had risked grazing so narrowly past them.
Ari finally let out a breath that contained all he’d been holding, shaking his head at the young man’s kindness - he was certain Mr. Holm did not understand quite how enormous the kindness he was doing them was. And that after all that, Mr. Holm could be grateful to have had his world reshaped in a heartbeat?
He smiled in spite of himself, that any small grain of good might have come out of this whirlwind of an evening. The winds had changed so fast and so wondrously: he couldn’t fathom how lucky they were.
He had no good answer to Mr. Holm, but he looked at him in earnest. “I hope we’ll see you again sometime,” Ari said lightly (though maybe with warning next time, to avoid such an awkward start). If the hunch he had was right, though, he wanted to be sure the young redhead did not leave with too much settled on his shoulders to bear alone. “If you ever need someone to talk to, or...” he trailed off, hardly certain whether that was overstepping, whether if when the boy and the horse left Ben’s stables that he would never acknowledge either of them again, in public or in private.
“Well, you know where to find us, I suppose.” Ari finished with another small smile. Or, knew where to find Ben, at least. (He and Ben might have to think carefully before they thought themselves alone in the stables again.)
Ari finally let out a breath that contained all he’d been holding, shaking his head at the young man’s kindness - he was certain Mr. Holm did not understand quite how enormous the kindness he was doing them was. And that after all that, Mr. Holm could be grateful to have had his world reshaped in a heartbeat?
He smiled in spite of himself, that any small grain of good might have come out of this whirlwind of an evening. The winds had changed so fast and so wondrously: he couldn’t fathom how lucky they were.
He had no good answer to Mr. Holm, but he looked at him in earnest. “I hope we’ll see you again sometime,” Ari said lightly (though maybe with warning next time, to avoid such an awkward start). If the hunch he had was right, though, he wanted to be sure the young redhead did not leave with too much settled on his shoulders to bear alone. “If you ever need someone to talk to, or...” he trailed off, hardly certain whether that was overstepping, whether if when the boy and the horse left Ben’s stables that he would never acknowledge either of them again, in public or in private.
“Well, you know where to find us, I suppose.” Ari finished with another small smile. Or, knew where to find Ben, at least. (He and Ben might have to think carefully before they thought themselves alone in the stables again.)
