After that fiasco of a dinner, Axel found himself idly wandering the streets of Shiganshina. He didn't really feel like going home, but he had nowhere in particular to go. A tavern caught his eye, but the thought of drinking alone was just too depressing for words. While he stood on the other side of the street, wondering where to go next, a very familiar form caught his eye. Axel stepped back into the shadows immediately, his back thunking against the side of a tall brick building. Preacher, alone, and looking out-of-sorts. She entered the tavern without noticing him, the door swinging shut behind her.

The box of pencils in his pocket dug into his side as he pressed his back flat against the wall of the building. This was the perfect opportunity! Leaving the shadows, Axel crossed the street and stood before the tavern debating with himself. He could go, give it to her, and apologize. Axel sighed. The gift of pencils had seemed like such a good idea earlier, but now it just seemed horribly stupid and misguided. Preacher could hardly look at him without blowing up, and he didn't blame her. At this point, it would take a lot more than an apology and some pencils to fix things.

Suddenly a young man on a horse bustled up. Axel jumped out of its way, barely avoiding the creature's hooves. To his horror and immense displeasure, the young nobleman bounced down off the horse and immediately pressed a coin and the horse's reins into his palm.

"I'll expect him groomed and watered when I get out. Oh, and do see to his feet. These streets are so filthy. They don't agree with poor Valiant, do they?"

Flabbergasted, Axel watched the princely little fellow swan off towards the tavern.

Well, ******** the horse a suspicious look, Axel dragged it towards the entrance to the stables nearby. A crusty-looking groom was snoozing in a canvas chair inside. Axel knocked on the open door and the man cracked one eye open. "He'p you?"

"Can you take this horse?"

The man gave a wheezy laugh. "This here's a private stable, boy. For carriage ******** the horse back towards the tavern, Axel opened his palm and took a peek at the coin. Gold. He had never in his life held a gold mark. The thoughtlessness with which the young nobleman had handed it to him was both astonishing and infuriating. Axel fought down the urge to throw the coin away and leave the horse where it was. With his luck someone would steal it and he would wind up arrested and hanged for horse-theft. Aggravated, Axel kicked at a lamppost to express his displeasure, achieving nothing but a pain in his toe. The horse tossed its gloriously white head, snorting.

Someone bumped into it and the horse whinnied. "Hey blondie, getcher dumb a** horse off the sidewalk!"

"It's not my horse!" Axel snapped. The man who'd walked into Valiant -- walls, what a disgusting name -- made an extremely rude gesture and stomped off. No sooner had he disappeared into the gathering darkness than a woman pushing a cart of groceries ran over his toes as she tried to squeeze past Valiant's horsy bulk.

"Young man, horses do not belong on the sidewalk," the old woman said, looking up at him and straightening her glasses imperiously.

With a defeated sigh, Axel limped off, dragging Valiant across the street and towards the building he had been lurking in front of earlier. None of the businesses on that side of the street were open, and the streetlamps were dark. Fewer people bustled up and down this sidewalk. Tucking the gold coin into his pocket next to the box of pencils, Axel walked towards the streetcorner with Valiant in tow. Some broad steps in front of a shuttered building caught his eye. A mailbox on a sturdy post was right next to them. Convenient. He could sit there and tether the stupid horse to the mailbox while he waited for the nobleman to leave. Being made into the lackey of a pompous dickweed nobleman was infuriating, but Axel had to admit that he had nothing better to do, and that a gold mark was a nice thing to have. Looping Valiant's reins around the mailbox, Axel sat on the steps.

Crunch.

Looking up at the big, glamorous white horse, Axel noticed that Valiant had something in his mouth. A carrot, stolen from the old woman's cart as she rolled it over Axel's feet. Feeling an uncharacteristic surge of good will towards the equine race, Axel raised a fist towards the horse. Valiant bumped his fist with his velvety nose and kept on crunching.

"Good boy," Axel said.

Unsure of what to do while he waited, Axel pulled the pack of pencils out and took a look at it. They looked mostly the same to him, but each pencil had a little golden number printed on it. Letters and numbers both, actually. Different kinds of pencils for different kinds of drawing. In the hands of an artist, the pencils would be worth something. In his hands, they would probably just break. Putting the pencils back in his pocket, Axel rested his elbows on his knees and leaned forward, staring gloomily at Valiant. Across the street, the noise of good times filtered out of the tavern's windows. Laughter, drunken shouts, and the offkey tinkling of a rarely-tuned piano. Axel sighed. It was a good sigh, but it didn't really convey the depths of his depression, so he sucked in air and tried again. A heaving sigh this time.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder and Axel looked up. A little girl. He was no great judge of little girls, but this one looked to be about ten. Her hair was bunched up in two lumpy brown pigtails, and she was wearing a nightgown. "What're you doing on my step? My papa's gonna be mad."

"Oh," said Axel. "Sorry. I can move."

The little girl tapped her chin, squinting at him thoughtfully. "I might let you stay, if you let me play with your horse," the girl said, with the sly voice of a blackmailer.

Axel didn't particularly want to see the girl get stomped by Valiant, but the big shiny white noble horse was about the most inoffensive horse he'd ever encountered. He grinned. "Go ahead."

The little girl narrowed her eyes. "And I get to put ribbons in his hair."

"Please do."

She ran back up the steps, into the darkened shop, and returned in less than five minutes. She and her family must live above the shop. In her hands were a number of things. A brush, several ribbons, a whole handful of carrots and a dozen pieces of brightly colored street chalk.

Axel's mood was improving by the second.

As he watched, the pigtailed girl handed Valiant a carrot and went to work. The horse stood contentedly as she tied the ribbons into his mane. This was no professional ribbon job, but the work of an enthusiastic amateur. The ribbons were everywhere. By the time she was done ribboning, Valiant's mane resembled a large fluffy rainbow-colored pinata. Fascinated, Axel had stopped paying attention to the tavern entirely. The piano music had ceased and the shouts had increased in volume. None of it penetrated Axel's brain. He was too busy laughing. The little girl had started to draw on the horse with the street chalk. Valiant swished his tail irritably and was calmed with another carrot. The little girl frowned with determination, the tip of her tongue sticking out between her teeth as she colored. Hearts, stars, and flowers. Butterflies and bees. Kitty-cat faces. Axel roared with laughter, his despair over the pencils forgotten.

Then, suddenly, the door to the tavern flew open with a crash. Startled, Axel looked down the street. Two people ran out, one with a long dark navy braid and one in a coat that glittered in the dim light.

Axel flew to his feet. "Go back inside!" He hissed. The little girl grabbed her chalk and booked it back inside. Throwing one last look over his shoulder at the odd pair, Axel left Valiant to fend for himself and fled. It was kind of hard to run while still laughing breathlessly, but Axel didn't want to get caught by the nobleman with that disaster of a rainbow-colored horse. And he definitely didn't want to get caught by Preacher.