they say they ride horses!

[Tayui Aston]

I liked it!

WC: 300.

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Claudius had been wondering the entire time what set Conor and him apart. He wondered if it was courage; from what he observed, Conor had a great deal of it, and Claudius had absolutely none. Everything he had done had been at the behest of his mother, which he had dutifully obeyed. Certainly, he had offered a meek protest when they had ventured to Dahlia de Mai, but Conor never would have. Claudius knew it, because Conor was brave (and Claudius was not). Claudius thusly determined that it was such an attribute that set the two boys apart, which made Conor great and Claudius weak.



It was not just Conor’s strength that impressed him. The Dahlian boy seemed very nice, too, and Claudius liked it. The Aston boy had never met any boy his own age that had been nice, and he had thought all of them were mean. Of course, he had only met Attila, so he supposed he had grossly erred in that assumption. Claudius quietly watched Conor as he spoke, watching as the boy’s words came forth with such strength and certainty. Claudius was horribly impressed.



“I don’t think I could do that. I don’t want them to laugh at me, and I don’t like it when anyone does. I don’t think I could do what you do. I just like dying. I don’t need anyone to know that, do I?” Claudius wrinkled his nose in thought. He did not want anyone laughing at him, but he would like to impress someone, perhaps many people. He just wasn’t ready yet for people to know he could be wrong. He wanted to be smart and strong and always right.

“Why do you know so much?” Claudius asked suddenly, wanting to know where this boy derived his wisdom from.

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