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[And just like promised, Richard can be found at the stables. He's taken Blackie out of his stall and is currently brushing the horse's dark and bare coat. The saddle is placed on the fence nearby. And when Altius is close enough to be noticeable it's Blackie who pays attention to him first, neighing softly and kicking the ground with his front legs - informing Richard that they got company.

Now, while they have had only limited amount of encounters that does not mean that Richard had not seen Altius around. The man was a regular at the inn, after all. So, he does pay attention to his unusual attire. Well, the man had stroke to him as sensible one. If he had showed up in his suit Richard would have just laughed.]

It's good to see you, Altius. I see that you are serious about this.

[His eyebrows rise momentarily at the remark, after having taken in the horse's appearance, demeanor, and saddle with a bit more interest than last time. He is nothing if not a dedicated student.]

Thank you for saying so, I suppose. I certainly don't intend to waste your time when I asked specifically for your help.

[That said, he is patient, so he won't be rushing Richard, either. He'll follow the other man's lead, however he wants to go about things. Speaking of...]

Have you taught many others how to ride?

Nay, I haven't. Teaching was most cases responsibility of lower rank officers or tutors. [Aka, him being the lord protector of high ranking meant that such activities were normally below him. Which was true, more or less. He had a whole north to rule over, wars to fight and kingdom to overthrow. That all had left him with very little time to any extra activities. He had even handed over the task of teaching his son to his servants.

But oh well, he had earlier promised to teach and share his skills with whoever was interested in learning so here they were.] However, riding is considered a basic skill and knowledge in my country. Being able to ride on your own is one rite of passage for a child to step into adulthood.

Have you had any contact with horses since our last meeting?

[He'd had the vague thought that Richard wouldn't have back home, which the man has now confirmed—but it sounds as if he hasn't taught many here, either. That's almost a shame, he thinks. He lets out a thoughtful hum.]

It's not so different, in my time. It's just that we learn to drive a self-propelled carriage, rather than an animal.

[The more things change, the more they stay the same.]

But no, nothing direct. [Passing by as he visited the farm for business once or twice; hardly relevant.] I admit the decision to learn only came to me yesterday.

I have heard of such things, I believe. Wagons that move without horses. [Richard had more or less gotten used to the oddities of the other worlds and it did feel like nothing would really surprise him at this point. But it would still be a lie to say that he didn't find some of the described scenarios uncomfortable or haunting. A wagon rolling by without horses or a visible coach was something that sounded straight from the horror stories of the witches and demons that he grew up with. Well, at least he's learned not to voice out these thoughts anymore.

Richard reaches up to grab Blackie's reins and gently tugs him out of the stall.]

This is my horse, Blackie. I have trained him myself and he has been my loyal companion in many battles. At first I will show you how to prepare the saddle and have you repeat it with Goldie, [He nods his head towards the other horse in the stalls with a dark gold coloring.] After that I'll show you basics of riding.

[Chemistry might as well be witchcraft to some of those of older times, so he wouldn't have been surprised by the sentiment if Richard had expressed it. As it stands, he offers a simple remark on them that might help to explain.]

They use the power of heat to move, more or less. You can't avoid them where I'm from, so it's been... an adjustment, to not see them here.

[He regards the familiar steed and then the other horse with a level expression, gauging as best he can; he's certainly no expert on horse body language. Goldie, he says... perhaps Altius will find a steed of his own choosing that he can name with a slightly different... scheme. But that's not important, for the moment.]

Alright.

[To the point, just as Altius likes it. He very rarely turns down a conversation, but he does prefer to have practical matters sorted first. Richard will find him as attentive and precise a student as he could reasonably expect, despite his utter lack of expertise with horses in general. This is something he intends to seriously follow through with, after all.]

[Please do not go all scientific with him, Altius. Richard's little medieval brain will only be double confused.]

Hm. [He hums as an answer. He supposes that it does makes sense that this world would expose difficulties to all of them. Although, he'd have to admit that he hadn't considered that someone else would feel similar disarray and displacement as he did. At least he hadn't seen anyone else to react the same way as he had to the false light emitting from the orbs in the ceiling or the beeping tablets.

Well, either way. Richard moves to grab the saddle placed on the stable gate. Blackie, who is properly socialised and trained steed, does not seem to mind playing the part in this show-and-tell presentation and only lowers his neck to sniff the grass. Richard hauls the saddle on the horse's back and begins with his explanation, going through each part of the equipment step by step. It really helps that this is not Altius' first encounter with horses and he can trust that the other man can keep up with his explanation.

He finally, after he has grouched down to fasten the strap under Blackie's belly he's finished.] There. Your turn.

[He only said heat! Richard's brain is not so small he can't understand hot things!! Besides, Altius is far from an engineer, himself—he's frequently the one getting simplified explanations from those more technologically minded...

The mechanics of saddling a horse, meanwhile, take much less effort to understand in comparison. He regards Goldie with a momentary, even look to gauge its attitude, setting aside the idea that it's more likely than not a piece of code without any real feelings, and picks up the saddle Richard has set out for him.

He follows Richard's methods, and though he obviously lacks the experience to get it all right the first go around or finish quickly, he's still aware enough to pay attention and fix his own mistakes before he moves on for the most part, paying attention to any of the horse's movements as he does.

Once he's done:]

Fitted well enough, do you think?

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