Welcome to Gaia! ::

A few weeks ago, Evie had been very kind to Aria and shown her where she worked and about some of her passion for making candy. It had been a wonderful day, and it had left Aria wanting to spend more time with her friend, and maybe to show her a little more of her own life, as well.

She did not yet try to convince her to come deep in the woods with her and look at mushrooms, however. Not yet. She did not bring her to the Vanguard house to look over her research, either.

She was starting with the part of her life that humans seemed to understand better than some of her fellow Velencyans. It was her bond with the horse, Portabella. Evie seemed like the kind of human who would appreciate a horse. so Aria had invited her to come and meet her at the stables.

While she waited, she started doing some of Portabella's basic care, things like mucking the stall that would not have been as exciting for a newcomer. Every few minutes, she went to check the door, however.

Aria smiled at first when she heard Evie's voice, and turned to see her walking into the stable, but a second later she was blinking those owlish yellow eyes of hers, because something did not seem quite right.

She was not always good at understanding tones of voice, but she could tell that something seemed different.

"Hello, Evie," she said. "Are you-" She trailed off, considered different possibilities for a long moment, "Healthy?"

That seemed like the statistically most likely possibility, that she was unwell. Along with their tragically short lifespans in general, humans seemed to suffer from many different kinds of illnesses very frequently. She could not watch any of the human television programs or look at any websites without seeing advertisements for many different kinds of medicine.

Portabella peered over at Evie from her stall. She did happen to be a tall horse, well suited for Naeria, and she gently snorted as she saw the new arrival to the building.

"Oh," said Aria, and then blinked a few more times. So, she was healthy. That was a relief. Aria did not have to go home and try to research earth medicines to try to heal her friend.

She was just nervous about horses.

"They are large," Aria agreed, "But that calms me. You do not have to worry about squishing them."

To demonstrate, Aria reached up to rub the side of Naeria's neck.

"Someone I live with is roomates with a hamster and I always worry a little, when I visit them. Horses will not harm you if they are you friends. Here."

She reached out, handing Evie a peppermint.

"These are one of her favorite treats."

Carrots worked, sometimes, but peppermints were fine in moderation and she knew Evie liked candy.

Aria was not always good at words. She especially was not good at words that convinced people of things. As Evie kept worrying, Aria felt the words start sticking in her throat again, the words that said Portabella was gentle, that she was a friend, that she was kinder than most humans, just tall.

Instead, she reached over to take Evie's hand.

"Flat," she said, gently arranging her fingers so that they laid flatter. "So she knows you're feeding her."

And so she wouldn't nibble her fingers by accident, but she knew better than to say that.

"Here," she murmured, reaching to hold her hand out unless Evie resisted.

Aria stayed steady and calm, holding her hand under Evie’s as an act of support. She knew that Portabella could be shy, sometimes, that she would be spooked if someone flinched. She had perked up at the sight of the peppermint, though, and now she leaned forwards, politely taking the offered peppermint with just her lips.

Evie would certainly feel the brush of velvet muzzle and the tickle of whiskers, though.

“Good girl,” said Aria, reaching up to stroke Portabella’s face while she happily chuffed.

“She is starting to like you,” she told Evie. A moment passed. “But if you do not feel comfortable around horses we do not have to stay here.”

She had not intended for this to be something that raised Evie’s stress to the amount where she would feel unwell.

"I understand," said Naeria. "There were a lot of things on Earth that were new to me, too."

There were still so many things that had her skittering, shy, freezing up and stuttering, or not knowing what to do at all. Humans were the strangest ones, and she still didn't know what to do about them, most of the time.

Even if sometimes they were kind, like now.

Naeria rummaged through Portbella's feeding supplies and brought out a carrot.

"Here," she said, as the horse eyed the treat. "She likes these, too."

And you didn't have to be as careful, offering them up.

Portabella took the carrot gently, too, and when that was all gone, she shoved her soft nose back into Evie's empty palm, an action that made Aria smile.

"She's looking for more," said Aria, who produced another carrot and held this one out herself, rubbing the side of Portabella's neck with her free hand. "When you came in, she was a little hesitant about you, too," she said, not knowing if Evie had noticed over her own nerves, "But now, she's starting to be curious."

Even as she took the food from Aria, Portabella continued to watch Evie.