February 4th, 1890 — Sterling Stables
Late Evening — Ari Fisk Bragi Holm

The air bit at his nose as he walked up to the stables. A late shift had resulted in him sending a message ahead to the stables that he could finish up the night's work. All that was needed was to feed and water the horses. While he paid the few employees he had enjoyed the pay for physical labor, it was a simple task of making the hay cart wheel throughout the hall and levitate the bales as he went. A simple aguamenti charm filled the buckets of water to ensure they got enough hydration throughout the night. As his riding boots clicked through the stalls, Ben observed the great beasts in their stalls - some were asleep, but most had peeked out of their stalls to see him approach. Plus, he came with food; it wasn't a wonder as to why their ears pricked forward in anticipation.

"I know how you feel," he responded to a large Clydesdale as the great beast snorted and pawed at the ground. In the case of the Clydesdale, it was his food at the end of the day. In Ben's case... the answer posed itself in the form of a rap on the barn door. Ben whirled around, knowing who it'd be. These beasts didn't know anything about anticipation. "Everyone's gone home." he provided, his eyes drinking in the sight of the figure at the end of the hallway.

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Would it sound good to have a few posts between Ben & Ari and then Bragi jumps in, Willow? <3

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   Benevolence Crouch, Bragi Holm

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Although he’d been here plenty of times before, and had excuses enough to stop by whoever he encountered at the stables, Ari nevertheless felt a beat of hesitation between knocking on the already ajar barn door and stepping through.

But the only man in sight was the one person he had come to see. And everyone else was already gone, then; Ari let out a breath and all the tension he had carried with it, the walls built up around him able to tumble down in an instant. He grinned, feeling the difference as he always did when they were alone: able to abandon all pretences, unfurling a different dimension of himself, relaxing into the person he really was. There was nothing on earth that felt as good as this.

Well. There were a great many ways to enjoy being in Ben’s presence, even if they had to sneak around somewhere out of the way to find a little privacy. No matter how much they saw each other, too, amongst all the other obligations of their lives, it never felt like nearly often enough.

Although the figure Ben cut in those riding boots made up for it somewhat, Ari supposed, returning Ben’s gaze without shame. He always looked so delightfully dishevelled after being with the horses.

“Good,” Ari said emphatically, stopping only to scratch the neck of one of the more curious horses who’d poked his head out of the stall beside him before striding the rest of the way towards Ben, his smile broadened into a smirk. “And the horses?” He asked, meaning are they done, as he put a hand on Ben’s chest to start steering him backwards to the tack room.

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   Benevolence Crouch

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It seemed that he was meant to be tortured tonight. Even watching Ari start at the end of the hallway, he couldn't get to him fast enough even if he'd apparated from point A to point B. The fact that he paused to give some attention to a horse (which from the logical part of Ben's brain was perfectly reasonable, that horse had been recently sick and so should get more attention than others) was maddening and only making the tension in Ben's shoulders tighter.

Then, as if he had a magical healing touch, Ari's hand on his chest made all the tension go away. Immediately he wanted to engulf his best friend into his arms. His shoulders relaxed and a grin spread across his features as he realized what Ari was steering him towards. How funny that before Ari and him, Ben knew there were a few places on his property that had served more purposes for his employees than mere storage. He'd always just let it slide as long his employees saw to their duties. Now that he could see the appeal of a stolen moment at the end of the night, he was mildly amused at the thought that the boss was also guilty to more than his fair share of those moments.

"They're all finished for the night," he said audibly, backing towards the tack room. He knew this dance by heart and his hand found the doorknob easily."Unlike you and I," he added, his voice low and husky as he backed against the door, reaching for Ari to pull him closer. They'd only just seen each other the other day, but there was a song that Ari's soul seemed to be singing and Ben would never rest until he'd heard it over and over again.

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   Benevolence Crouch

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He’d never be tired of seeing Ben grin, not until the end of the world. And while this situation was nothing new, upon occasion Ari still couldn’t believe his luck, that here they were and that gleam in Ben’s eyes was for him alone.

And there was no one who could make his insides flip quite so easily - or quite so pleasurably - but Ben could do it in just a few words... or possibly even that husky tone of voice. Something to test, perhaps. “Oh no,” Ari said teasingly, shaking his head in a little test of his own, as if it were a real shame the horses were all stabled for the night, as if Ben had gotten the utterly wrong end of the stick - “and here I only came to suggest we go riding!” His mock dismay dissipated a little too fast to sell it, Ari admitted, pushing Ben through into the tack room. With his foot, he nudged the door closed after them - or meant to, at least, although if it were still slightly ajar it wasn’t likely to matter, if everyone had long since gone home. (The horses probably weren’t prominent contributors to the local gossip mill.)

Without any reservation, then, he slid his hands to Ben’s shoulders and leant in keenly to kiss him.

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   Benevolence Crouch

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Ben grinned at the mischievous look in Ari's eyes. For as long as Ari was his best friend, he'd seen him host such a serious demeanor; his eyes always looking rather grave and like they were present, but not quite. It was rare to see him with such a sparkle in his eye - such a glint that suggested they were about to make some trouble.

Well, they were, really. Just not at the cost of either's emotional sanity. And it hadn't escaped the Auror that once he and Ari had started to spend more....time together, the light in Ari's eyes had been the brightest he'd ever seen. Somehow, knowing that he seemed to at least be some of the reason for the change made Ben all the happier. It told him he knew this was right. "Well, now, now, we can still do that if you'd like!" Ben muttered with a chuckle, though his action of taking Ari's waist and pulling him closer defied all pretense of stepping back outside. He pressed his lips to Ari's, immediately feeling at home. "Just depends on how long you want to spend in here." He added between kissing him.

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   Benevolence Crouch

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Bragi dismounted nimbly, and frowned as he inspected Galahad's shoe — Galahad being a very handsome black horse he'd purchased last year upon arrival in the country. "Poor fellow. And you didn't even complain once", the youth murmured to his equine friend, giving him a pat. A sizeable chunk of the shoe had been chipped off by something or other. Bragi wouldn't have noticed, but Galahad had started to trot a little strangely.

The young horseman sighed, and looked around, running a hand through his windswept orange hair. They were slap bang in the middle of nowhere, and the sun was fleeing faster than a hare from a fox. Darn.

But he recognised the area, and fidgeted nervously with his lower lip upon realising his options. Sterling Stables was just to the West of the hillock ahead. He'd found Benedict Sterling to be blooming wonderful, yes, but also quite intimidating. Regardless... Galahad's comfort was at risk, and the horse had been born there. It was a friendly place. And Mr Sterling wouldn't be at home anyway. There would be a stable hand to help.

With a determined nod, Bragi led Galahad up the hillock and West, and the lights of the house were immediately visible — the lights in the stable were lit as well, which meant a stable hand was in attendance. Feeling better already, the Dane and his steed approached.

A fateful gust of Winter wind heralded him, blowing open the ajar barn door to reveal — what? Mr Sterling. In a heated embrace with... well with what had to be his lady wife. In the world Bragi Holm lived in, there was no other option. It was ingrained in Bragi that a man could not kiss another man; ingrained more than the idea that a woman could not be so tall, rugged and bearded. The appearance of Mr Sterling's companion became entirely abstract in Bragi's befuddled brain as he took a hurried step backwards — and stumbled over Galahad's leg. "I am so... so sorry", the boy gasped from the dirt.

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Ari’s voice lowered to a murmur. “Mm, I think we’ll be alright for a while...” He couldn’t pretend to be in the faintest rush to leave; not when he was perfectly content with this activity. He illustrated as much with his next kiss, at the same time shrugging off his jacket and then turning his attentions to distractedly undoing the buttons on Ben’s shirt.

He had almost forgotten that they were in the stables until a heavy gust of wind tore through the barn, slamming the door to the tack room wide open. Startled by that alone, Ari broke off the kiss and happened to glance past Ben, his eyes catching on a figure in the doorway of the stables looking right at them... A stranger who had absolutely, awfully, undeniably, just seen.

The safest thing Ari supposed he could have done was disapparate, just in case it had all been too sudden for the young man to properly witness, but his heart was pounding out of his chest, his head was reeling and his blood had gone cold, almost freezing him in place. “Shit,” Ari swore, out of breath, as he let go of Ben and shrank back into the shadows of the tack room, pressed against the wall and hardly able to think. Fuck. Well, that was it - they were done for, weren’t they? So disapparating now would just be leaving Ben in this mess, and he couldn’t do that either... All he had to hope for was that the man with the horse out there hadn’t registered what he’d seen. Who is that, he appealed to Ben silently; in case Ben knew him, in case there was any hope that this wasn’t the end...

Expression grave, the only thing Ari could think to do was nudge Ben out towards the unexpected visitor, sorely hoping Ben would know what to do, desperate to believe he might have a plan up his sleeve.

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   Benevolence Crouch

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His grin broke even wider as he chuckled, watching with pleasure as Ari began on his shirt. He ran his hand through Ari's hair, savoring the feeling of the silky strands between his fingers and pulled him even closer, regardless if that just made Ari's task of unbuttoning his shirt even more difficult. What did it matter when they had all the time in the world? Well - at least until dawn before the workers arrived.

All that - the thrill of being alone with Ari, the pleasure of finally seeing him at the end of the day – vanished when the door slammed open. His heart dropped into the pit of his stomach when he followed Ari's gaze over his shoulder and to - was that...?! "Shit." He swore at almost the exact same moment as Ari.

Whether it was by reflex or just quick to react, Ben placed a hand on Ari's chest and pushed him backward. Nevermind if Ari was taller than him, it was Ben's prayer to Merlin that the shadows had hid Ari's face from his former customer. It helped that he felt Ari retreat as well; Ben stepped into the doorway and he could feel the hair rise on the back of his neck as a surge of anger overtook him. In two strides he approached him, wand out, though it was still pointed towards the ground, ready to cast an incarceration spell on him if need be.

His eyes flashed and his face contorted into barely controlled rage as he towered over the young man on the floor, his expression promising violence. "You have less than ten seconds to explain what you are doing here, Mr. Holm," he thundered, his voice on the verge of a snarl. As if by cue, sparks crackled from his wand and hit the floor beneath him.

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   Benevolence Crouch, Melody Crouch

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The shattered pieces of his mind hastily endeavored to piece themselves back together, forming some dim insistence that what he'd seen had been Mr and Mrs Sterling in a very private moment between two wedded adults. Never mind that he'd never met or been aware of the latter. In fact Mr Wilson had once pointedly said that Mr Sterling was a bachelor. And never mind that this was suddenly a world in which people called Mrs Sterling could be sturdy and bearded, never mind that. And never mind that these mental puzzle pieces just weren't piecing together at all, just pressing together feebly, desperately, trying to form a picture that just refused to be formed.

Never mind that!

The once amicable and quippy gentleman now seemed seven foot tall as he advanced on Bragi. From the dirt, the boy scrambled another few inches backwards (Galahad huffed his disquiet), only to wince as he realised he'd badly grazed both his palms in the fall, and sharp fragments of straw were intermingling with the blood. He didn't care though; it was nothing compared to the dangerous fury emanating from the sorcerer's devil-green eyes.

"Jeg vil gerne undskylde", he breathed another apology, and quickly translated; "all-all my apologies, sir. It was Galahad, we- we were out for a ride and — his shoe — he's l-limping, and... I saw the lights on, I thought a stable hand might... but the th-the wind blew the door open, I would never... I would never just..." to his horror, a hint of a tear prickled at the corner of his eye. "I can't believe what I've done, I'm the biggest ratbag imaginable."

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   Amelia Evans, Benevolence Crouch, Jupiter Smith

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Ari waited, head against the wall and his heart in his throat, and listened as Ben stormed out towards the intruder. Mr. Holm, he heard him say. Mr. Holm: Ari had no idea who that was. Incredible to think that though he had always feared this moment, he had never expected to be met with the horror of a stranger.

In his imagination, when the day of his ruin came, it had always been someone who knew him: Dionisia; or one of his siblings, maybe Zelda or Xena, Ros or Kons; or maybe even Baxter stumbling across them. He had dreaded any one of them finding out, but in the here and now he almost wished he could be met with their dismay, disappointment or disgust. Even if they never saw him the same way again, there might have been a sliver of a chance that they would at least leave it untold out of compassion, and if not, simple familial obligation, to spare their own reputation in being associated with him.

But they had found their fates in the hands of an unwilling stranger, so who knew what this Mr. Holm would be inclined to do with the knowledge. Ari held his hands against his chest to try to stop their sudden trembling, listening carefully. He was almost thankful that Ben had unleashed his temper; there was something especially terrifying in it, especially for anyone who knew his truer, twinkling-eyed, jovial nature. But this was Ben the Auror, a threatening figure in his own right, even without the anger Ari could hear spitting from his tone. Perhaps that threat would serve as enough to silence him?

Mr. Holm, whoever he was, sounded suitably taken-aback, stammering through his words. If this had been any other situation, the apology tearing out of him, the sorrow in it - I can’t believe what I’ve done - would have softened Ari instantly, would have seen him forgiven. Ari was met with the temptation growing in his gut to step out of the shadows and go out to see whether he was alright or had hurt himself in his fall, but - well, that would be patently stupid, wouldn’t it? Any kindness he could offer would pale, probably, to the proof before his eyes that he’d witnessed what he had. So he shut his eyes and stilled himself, waiting in silence.

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   Amelia Evans, Benevolence Crouch, Melody Crouch, Ophelia Devine

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They were ruined. They'd been found out. Ben had absolutely no idea what would happen, nor was he honestly thinking about what would transpire after tonight. If anything were to happen to them - happen to Ari – he knew he wouldn't forgive himself. This idea of being in the barn had been his idea to begin with. The idea of being with Ari, being happy with him had lured him into such a false sense of security; he'd been careless and now they would both be ruined. The fact that his own selfishness had played such a drastic part in their ultimate ruin swept over him. Ben took another step towards the boy as he scrambled backward. The foreign language was lost on him, and his scowl deepened as the gibberish made way for a language he could understand.

With his wand hand still down at his side, Ben took his left hand and gestured at the barn door. In perhaps another situation it would be considered a gesture to leave, however, any pretense of that was swept out as the barn door slammed firmly closed. With a click, the latch on the door locked. He took another step towards him. "So you thought you could just walk in unannounced?" He said, his shoulders tensing and his expression all but confirming the boy's last statement. "Have you any sort of propriety, Mr. Holm?" His eyes flashed again, his words clipped and harsh. He knew full well the act that he and Ari had been discovered in wasn't at all proper by society's standards.

This was his property, and Holm boy had all but invaded it. Blood was pounding in his head as more sparks flew out of his wand, crackling as they hit the floor.

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What should've been the most important and revelatory discovery of Bragi's young life had been replaced by fear, shame, and the sad realisation that kind Mr Sterling had always just been a cannon waiting to go off. Bragi felt rotten that he should be the one to light the fuse.

He could not bring himself to tear his eyes away from the man's glowering face, but if he had he would've noticed that he and Galahad had in fact wandered straight into the open barn, just as its owner had said, perhaps far too used to the open, casual system back home. He hadn't been thinking. He'd behaved like an entitled child.

Now said door slammed shut and locked. Galahad gave a nervous whinny, and, despite himself, Bragi shuffled a bit closer to him by way of comfort. But there was no comfort to be found here as Mr Sterling threatened him further. Bragi raised a hand to hurriedly wipe tears from his cheek, ashamed of them, but only succeeded in smearing blood across his face. He looked a broken mess.

"N-no, sir", he replied when asked if he had any propriety, for evidently he did not. His parents would be ashamed of him. Mr Wilson would be too. Would his well-to-do neighbours in North Bartonburg still have him if they knew he was no better than a burglar? He allowed himself to feel his injured hands as much as possible, knowing he deserved the pain; but it didn't stop him fearing what could come next, as Mr Sterling shot menacing sparks from his wand.

  

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Some of the bridles rattled on the opposite wall as the stable door slammed. Relieved as he had been that Ben had acted swiftly, whoever Mr. Holm was, he sounded penitent enough; he sounded completely abashed.

And that was a promise of nothing - there was still no saying what would best obtain his silence - but he was sure Ben’s threats were largely empty (unless they meddled magically with his memory, but after the trouble Ben had gone through with that, it seemed too awful to attempt).

Besides, the young man sounded more upset at himself than anything, so perhaps not all was quite lost yet? Oddly, though the balance was not in their favour, though their whole lives were in danger of toppling from the edge, in this moment it felt like they had a great deal more leverage. So, in spite of the fact Ari had just told himself not to, and that he didn’t think Ben would be best pleased by it, for better or worse, he shifted from the shadows and stepped out towards them both.

“Ben,” he murmured in a tone of warning, with the faintest shake of his head. Here in the light he fancied the young man was hardly more than a boy, small and slight and cowering; there was blood on his face. Ari approached them both, feeling the knot of unease in his stomach quite as though he was signing his own death warrant in doing so - but if the worst were to happen and this all became public scandal, how could he live with himself if he stood back and let Ben take the fall alone?

He pressed a hand briefly to Ben’s wand arm, to silently say enough, but he didn’t dare make any other contact now: that touch alone had felt incriminating enough, even a split-second of it, like touching hot coals.

“It was a mistake,” Ari declared in a false state of calm, his gaze carefully flickering between the two of them, hoping that they could all latch onto that small truth and forget the entire rest of it, agree to say no more. “A simple mistake. I’m sure we’ll all forget it by tomorrow.”

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   Jupiter Smith, Ophelia Devine

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It was only when the boy wiped his hands across his tear-stricken face that Ben saw the blood smeared across it. Through his cloud of radiating anger, something dropped into his stomach. The boy looked such a sad picture; defenseless and thoroughly shaken. The sight of the blood was a smack in the face for him. Instantly Ben knew there was nothing of it but for Ben to realize that he'd done that. And to only add to it, he heard his name from behind him and realized that Ari had come out of the shed. He turned partially to face Ari, his eyes scanning up and down his person to search for any sign of harm. There seemed to be none, though Ari looked as shaken as he felt. Upon scanning Ari for any signs of harm, he also realized his shirt was partially unbuttoned.

A wave of shame swept through him and his shoulders drooped a fraction as Ari came over. His heart was fluttering erratically in his chest, and he swore he could see a vein in Ari's neck that conveyed the same symptom on his end. Ari's hand was only in contact with him the briefest moment but it was enough to clear a majority of the storm in his head, only to make way for the fear that he realized was mounting in his chest. He shot what he thought was a warning look at Ari, but was in fact a look of desperation; he didn't know what to do and the fact that Ari had stepped out to reveal his face only invoked further panic on his part.

He wanted to shake his head, vigorously to tell Ari to go back inside and let him deal with this but it was all too late. Ben looked down at his own hands. The last time he'd seen so much blood was...He closed his hands into fists, shutting his eyes to block out the memory of that night that was threatening to overcome him. Instead, of succumbing he glanced back down at Mr. Holm whose figure, he realized, made for a rather pitiful one. His brows knitted together as Ari spoke again. What was he suggesting, they wipe Mr. Holm's memory?

They couldn't do that. He was an Auror. Or at least.... he hadn't acted much like one in the past few minutes; certainly, if this got back to the Ministry forget the scandal, he'd get sacked. But the thin plan that played out his mind where they both wiped Mr. Holm's memories was not a good one, even if Ari wasn't suggesting such a thing. This was all Ben's fault. He glanced back down at his former client. Nothing to do but try and fix what he'd so quickly destroyed. Again.

Kneeling down, he sighed. Knowing this was a long shot, he held a hand out to Mr. Holm, his expression beseeching.

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   Jupiter Smith

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The sparks that had fizzled dramatically from Mr Sterling's wand felt like they'd beelined directly for Bragi's chest, such was the heat of fear and ache of shame in his pounding heart. He'd been a fool to think he'd grown up since coming to this country, when in reality he was still a naive child, a privileged brat who'd wandered into the grounds of a familiar private stable as if it were public property. He was a landlord for Merlin's sake... he was supposed to be an expert on property.

Me, me, me, me. Bragi was perhaps ashamed of that most of all. He should spare a thought for Mr Sterling, victim of trespass and imposition, someone who's very private moment had been interrupted with brazen abandon. Mr Sterling's anger was not for nothing; he'd been so kind before, after all. Even a golden retriever will snap when threatened.

Alarmed, Bragi watched as a steely figure emerged from the shadows, confirming with his masculine presence what the Dane had known all along. There was no Mrs Sterling here. There was no Mrs anything. Bragi's instinct was to freeze, afraid that the second man would be more ruthless still. But the reality was to the contrary. The bearded stranger tried to calm Mr Sterling — and called him "Ben".

It was that, more than anything, that gave Bragi some semblance of hope.

And it worked on Mr Sterling like a reassuring hand to a bristling dog. Bragi was wide-eyed, respectfully silent and watchful — but he couldn't take the sorcerer's hand. "Oh, I'm- I'm covered in..." he meekly showed his hands, badly grazed from the fall, and also covered in dust and bits of straw.

Just then, Galahad the horse finally made a gesture of recognition to his erstwhile owner, and leaned down to snuffle disrespectfully at Mr Sterling's hair. "Oh! Galahad! Don't..." Bragi took Galahad's reins, using them to pull himself shakily to his feet. It might have been an amusing moment in any other context, but Bragi was aware that the sudden events of tonight were more dire than was being spoken.

He chewed his lower lip nervously, then said; "I am truly sorry for everything, sir. Sir", he added with a timid glance towards the other man. "I will be p-perfectly behaved henceforth. That is, I promise I... I shan't come to your property again."

It was almost as if he were missing the crux of the problem.

  

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It was not difficult to see the transition in Ben as that tumultuous rage gave way in an instant to fear. Although Ari had endured the first once or twice before - one night in particular still stood stark in his mind, despite all that had succeeded it - seeing the worry on his face was almost worse. Ari might be trying to hide his desperation, but seeing it mirrored in Ben’s eyes drove home the trouble they were in. It would be a miracle if they stumbled out of this intact - it would be a miracle if they ever spent another evening together not aware of everything they were risking. (Maybe one day the risk would prove too much, and Ben would decide that this kind of life wasn’t worth it after all.)

But Ben had knelt down and changed tactic, and in spite of everything that half made Ari want to smile. As did the stranger’s horse nuzzling at Ben’s dishevelled hair. But there was little time to dwell on the glimmer of levity in the situation; Ari’s gaze returned to Mr. Holm, getting a better look at his grazed hands, and studying him warily as he offered his apologies once more (if only apologies could undo what he’d seen!) and promised never to come again.

Ari took a pace forward, reluctant to chase the stranger away so quickly with everyone still in such a state, without knowing how the dust in the air might settle by tomorrow morning. Ben had made a start on trying to repair the situation, but there was a great deal still to be done. (Ari wasn’t sure whether any of it would work. But there was no sense in not trying.) “Please, I’m sure you meant no harm,” Ari said gently, praying that that was true and might be something the younger man would hold onto, even after the fright he’d just had. “Your horse seems glad enough to be here,” he said - joked, slightly - with a faint smile, “I suppose he’s been here before?” It was nonsense to make smalltalk, probably, but at least that would set things back into the realm of familiarity, and soothe the tensions that Ari could still feel crackling about the place. Anything, really, to distract from the glaring elephant in the room. In the same vein, Ari would prefer the young man didn’t leave the place looking like a storm had hit, or fleeing like a skittish stray.

“And can I help clean up those hands, at all, Mr. - Holm, was it?” Ari offered next, nodding at the cuts and grazes (and wanting to be sure he knew a bit more about who the gentleman was, if he was going to carry their deepest secret with him). “I’m a healer.”

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