Nier grinned sheepishly as Coli shielded herself from the droplets that rained from his hair. He eyed the cloak that she wore, it was a beautiful garment and it seemed to have shielded her from the worst of the rain, but she was still wet, and if the shivers he was experiencing were anything, she would be cold too. He really did want to get her warm and dry, there was no hope of getting back to a house as the rain was still pounding down outside. Her quiet voice came again, floating across the stable as he put the donkey away, he chuckled lowly before he answered, I like horses just as much as I like every other animal out there. Saul gave Darcy to me and there was no way I'd turn him down. That colt is the prettiest horse I've ever seen. He paused for a moment, thinking over his next answer, I like having companions, I guess you could call 'em pets, but I wouldn't ever dare call Ciaran my pet. He laughed as the cat meowed from Darcy's stall "You better bloody not." The cats voice holding the Irish tones he had picked up from Niernan. See, he's a law unto himself. Though I suppose Grace's little menagerie could be considered pets. I like having a full house." He shrugged, not entirely sure why he surrounded himself with animals. He slid the bolt home on the stall door and paused, thinking over Brans involvement with the horses, he turned to face the cloaked woman, "I don't think Bran has met Darce yet, I don't think he's even been to the stables. But I bet he'd be fine with my colt, as he's gonna grow up to be a useful animal as well as a companion."
Nier shook his head at Coli's question, I don't recall any of the new lot mentioning a donkey companion, nor do I recall anybody else picking him up from a trader or anything like that. He must have escaped from somewhere. He stroked the donkeys face affectionately, sure that he and this fella could become friends quickly. He smiled as Coli frowned, the expression endearing on her face. He moved quickly to settle Darcy, aware of movement behind him as Coli followed him at a distance. After the horse had pressed his little body against Niers legs, and Nier had introduced Coli to the colt he looked up to see an affectionate smile abruptly disappear from her face. He smiled to himself, having felt that he had caught her actually feeling something more than fear and dislike for an equine. He chuckled at Coli's statement, Darcy's plenty nice, as nice as your donkey friend over there, but I suppose Darce is littler and cuter. At his name the colt buried himself further into Niernans legs, rubbing his nose against the mans shorts, begging for attention. Nier smoothed his face with one handpaw, while he beckoned Coli with the other, Here, you can pet him, he'd like that. His voice was quiet and calm, his whole body relaxed, knowing that if he was tense the colt and Coli would pick up on it and his plan to get Coli to come closer would go awry.
.neiot b {font-weight:bold; color:#d99e6f; letter-spacing:1px; text-shadow: 0.1em 0.1em 0.2em #100802; }
.neiot p {text-indent:0px; padding:5px 16px; margin:0px;}
.neiot {margin:0 auto; width:520px; background-color:#3d2414; background-image:url(http://i.imgur.com/EBZI5.png); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; border:1px solid #0b052c; padding: 390px 0px 7px 0px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size:12px; color:#a96b44; text-shadow: 0.1em 0.1em 0.2em #; letter-spacing:.6px; word-spacing:.9x; line-height:13.3px; text-align:justify;}
.neiot p b:before { content: open-quote; }
.neiot p b:after {content: close-quote; }
</style>
[/html]