Aven's eyes closed as her lips graced his forehead, a light smile on his face. "Right."
A few days of travel later...
It was embarrassing, riding behind Hakon on Purgatorio. Not because of social norms, nor a conceited belief that he should be in front: no, there was a small muscular hump in the area directly under Aven where he sat, and whenever Purgatorio would trot over uneven terrain, the hard protrusion would partially crush the Alveron family jewels, coaxing a pitiful whimper from him each time, thus his embarrassment.
Halfway through the journey, he could have sworn the steed was doing so on purpose, seeking out the stray rock, maybe a wayward root. Only speculation, of course, but animals always had hated him, even before his dark matter transfiguration. Now, they loathed him, and Purgatorio had extra motive for doing so, being that he and Hakon had relations. It wouldn't have surprised Aven if he was viewed as trespassing on the Theocog's territory.
As the Kilandre family estate loomed close, one such stray rock was discovered, and the pained gasp from a man who'd had the vertebrae in his spine repeatedly torn apart in his body rang out. It was every man's weakness, no exceptions. "Agh... Haki, I think Purgatorio really does hate me..."
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