Unicorns Lions and Tigers and... Unicorns? Errand

ꜰᴇ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ ʜᴏᴜꜱᴇꜱ ᴏꜱᴛ - 47. ꜱᴏᴍᴇᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇʟᴏɴɢ

His plan for today turned out to be really simple. Go touch some grass, go sweat it out at dueling practice, and avoid whatever mind calming activities he used to do on a daily. The reason why he was willing to suffer so much for the next few days was odd, but understandable. It was his birthday coming up, and it has been literally years since he had done anything remotely celebratory for that date. In the beginning, he had merely hide the embarrassing fact that he was born on Valentines day. Muggle kindergarten was a place where kids who learned their ABC’s before knowing how to keep their mouths shut. Being teased for the simplest things had made Hanako withdrawn from sharing his birthday date with others.

But as time went on, his birthday seemed just as important as another Wednesday. It wasn’t celebrated at home much either. Not in a home where it was more natural to celebrate academic achievement than someone surviving another year in this world. As little as he thinks of his own birthday, even Hanako had ot admit there was some level of…envy.

Who wouldn’t? Watching students get stuff like presents, or birthday cards, or even a hug from a friend. Not that he ever wants a hug no that's not what hes saying psfttt someone like him? With hugs? Nahhh he’ll melt before it’ll happen. But point is, their existence is celebrated with someone else. A birthday was a gentle reminder of that.

So instead of moping around and thinking about that, he’ll just be so productive before his birthday that he won’t even need to think about it. Tiring himself out would only jut encourage a full day of peaceful slumber on his birthday. Thats the solution! Just not think! You can’t think so much when you’re tired!

So that’s what brought him here today to this…less than interesting errand. Hanako wouldn’t say he was bad with magical creatures. He simply just- doesn’t care? Apart from snakes, he had never felt it necessary to feed, care or play with any other animals. Picking to go with the unicorns was really just a random decision. That, and maybe the fact of the unicorns usual discomfort with male students would mean Hana wouldn't need to do much with them in the first place. The thought of even being on this errand and needing to care for animals he coudln’t care less about was exhausting enough as it is. So regardless, he’ll try his best. All for his goal!

Once the errand actually started, Hanako went to work. He started out by giving out dry hay to one of the smaller unicorns, Starlee. Or was is, Starlet? Ok whatever, anyway he held out the hay to feed them, but he didn’t like how close his hand was to the unicorns mouth. Worried that the unicorn would sense his discomfort and kicked him when he wasn’t looking, he decided to spend most of his time in the errand brushing the small foal instead.

“ Well now..” he gently uttered as he stoked the unicorn’s soft gold mane with his brush. “ I have to admit you are a beauty. I’m brushing your coat now but it looked amazing already even before I did anything. You kind of remind me of this girl I know. Her hair shines just as much as yours. I hope you have a better temperament compared to her. Actually, no- scratch that. I think your personality is already ten times better than hers.” Why he even started badmouthing Fowl with a unicorn was beyond him. The words just flowed out of him. It wasn’t like the unicorn could respond. Or even understand what he said at all. But it felt nice to be..listened? He supposed? Again, he doesn’t speak unicorn. And yet there was a comfortable silence between them as he talked shit about Fowl.

Perhaps his short conversation with the unicorn managed to grab the attention of the Professor. She started telling him more about the horse. Starlet! That was their name! And that they turned 1 a week ago. And Hanako, being Hanako- pretended like he couldn’t care less until the professor decided to take her attention away from him and to other students.

Only then when he was left alone, he spoke again. “ Awww. Your birthday was last week? And your first one too? Was it a nice birthday? “ he continued stroking the mane, and allowed a few seconds of silence to ensue between them. Starlet said nothing english but as if their minor movements and breathing was a language Hana understood, he nodded along. “ Hmmmhmm yesss yess I gett iitt. Of course it would be a nice birthday. What birthday wouldn’t be nice? I'm sure a lot of people- erm, sorry unicorns thought so. Well, you’re most likely not going to see me again after this but I wish you a belated birthday, Starlet. May you grow up nice and healthy, despite whatever challenges you may face growing up. I sincerely wish that “ Hanako hadn’t notice while he said it, but a smile appeared on his face. Not the one he always wears for other people. This one - and anyone could see it really - was genuine, through and through. A sad look lingered in his eyes for a while, but that faded as soon as he was done brushing Starlet’s mane and coat. He’s finished the errand.

“ Well, time to go. Let’s keep this conversation between us, hm? I don’t want people to think I’ve grown soft. See ya never, Starlet~. Remember what I said earlier. Go back some other nicer unicorn lover happy“

And so, Hanako kept back the equipment and took off to find another strenuous activity to do to get his mind off things. The errand was surprisingly…not as daunting as he thought. Unfortunately. Yep, truly unfortunate. Hanako thought to himself, as he walked back to his dorm. Blissfully ignorant of his light steps and small smile.

w/c : 1001

Permission to slightly godmode Professor Blumenthal was allowed

Interacting: @Starlet the smol unicorn
Mentioning: @Pea Elena Fowl

I had heard of an errand where you get to take care of magical animals, tell me a good reason why I shouldn't have bolted to the stables. I loved animals, especially the magical ones, and I really wanted to try my hand at Care of Magical Creatures. There were 3 choices: Augereys, Jackalopes, and, most eye-catching of all: unicorns. I had seen one at the Fall Ball last year, but I hadn't gotten the chance to touch it. I came to the pen at around 12. There were 3 unicorns: the cutest little foal, who the professor told us whose name was Starlet, in the middle was Montgomery, but the one that really caught my attention was the tallest, Twilight. She was taller than me, which was to be expected.

I carefully walked toward her and gently petted her soft white hide. I shouldn't have been worried though, the unicorn would trust me more than a boy. And I was bound to treat it with kindness and respect, I'd be shocked at anyone who didn't. "Hi, Twilight...I'm Aurora...are you hungry, would you like some hay?" Twilight didn't turn away, and she ate out of my hand. Rubbing my hands on my overalls, I decided to brush her pure white fur, and stroke her mane carefully.

"What do you like to do for fun, Twilight? I like to do a lot of things...I think I'm a bit of a Gryffindor, you know, 'cause I like adventure and drama and excitement and all that stuff. I wonder, can't Hufflepuffs have adventures too?" Twilight gave a little snort, and I hope she took that as a sign that she was agreeing with me, but probably not. Continuing to stroke her beautiful white mane, I said, "I love unicorns, you know. They're so pretty, and I've always wanted to meet one."

Twilight didn't say anything. But then again, unicorns don't talk. "My dad's parents, I call them Gran and Grandad, they have a small ranch where they breed and raise horses, it's in Wales, in the middle of nowhere. I like the horses, but I think I like magical creatures more." I felt like rambling on now. And then a new question popped into my head. And it may or may not have been more ridiculous.

"So Twilight, I have a question. Have you ever felt out of place? Like, for any reason, but not like all the others around you? I have, it's not a nice feeling." And yes, I was perfectly aware that I was literally talking to a unicorn. Who could not answer back. I continued to brush Twilight's soft white fur and mane and looked down at her beautiful golden hooves. I was very sure that she had never felt out of place before, with all of her beauty and splendor, but I sure had.

I had felt that way ever since I first learned about pureblood wizards. The fact that my brother hadn't known about the wizarding world about his first instance of magic either should have comforted me, but it didn't. And now here I was, spilling my guts to a unicorn who couldn't talk, and probably wasn't listening. And who apparently wanted more hay, so I fed her some. Twilight really is such a beauty, I thought to myself. Unicorns were majestic and pure, so pure in fact, that killing one was a heinous crime.

Newt Scamander's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them book had taught me that much, and a little more. While the other creatures had been interesting, the jackalopes and augereys, which I had at first never heard of, had certainly been eye-catching, the unicorns, some of my most favorite animals after horses and dogs, had really attracted my attention. I was glad to have finally come into contact with one, I couldn't wait to brag to my brother about it.

"Well, too bad you can't speak and tell me you had a good time, or even a bad time, it doesn't matter. I'm just glad I got to talk to you and brush you and- well, ya get it." I(a bit reluctantly)moved aside for the next person and headed toward the next unicorn. Wasn't it Montgomery? Eh, I liked Monty more. I would definitely remember this moment for as long as I lived...hopefully.

time - 12:00	Sweater & Jeans Shoes - outfit
date - February 12, 2023	N/A - accessories
interacting with - Montgomery the Unicorn	N/A - mentioning

Serena wandered over to where the Care of Magical Creatures class was usually held. It had felt like forever since she had participated in an errand. In fact, the fourth year couldn't remember the last time. But when she saw what today's errand entailed, she just knew that she had to join in.

Today's errand involved getting to see and take care of a few different magical creatures. Serena absolutely loved animals. While the augureys and jackalopes were tempting, the one that the blonde girl just had to choose was the unicorn. Ever since she was a little girl, Serena loved unicorns. Yet, despite growing up in the wizarding world, she had yet to encounter one in person due to living in the city all of her life. So, of course, she was not going to pass up this opportunity to see and pet a unicorn for herself.

Serena showed up right on time, not wanting to miss a single second. She had to hold back an excited squeal at the sight of the three unicorns. Two appeared to be fully grown, while the other was obviously a foal. The fourth year paid close attention to what Professor Blumenthal was saying. The last thing that she wanted to do was to accidentally hurt the beautiful, pure creatures.

After the explanation was over, Serena carefully walked over to the second-tallest unicorn, Montgomery. She picked up a clump of hay and held it up to the unicorn. When Montgomery began to eat it out of her hand, she let out a quiet giggle at the strange sensation.

After the unicorn was done eating, Serena began to pet the creature gently. "Aren't you just so beautiful?" She whispered.

The unicorn let out a little snort as if to agree that he was, in fact, beautiful.

"Oh, and humble too!" Serena teased.

She picked up the brush and began to brush Montgomery's mane gently. “Well, let me help you with your beauty routine then. We’ve got to keep this mane looking as beautiful as possible!”

As Serena kept brushing through his mane, she began thinking about how lucky she was to get this opportunity. The unicorns were just as docile and gentle as the books she had read in her youth had said. One would think that being a part of a pureblood family would make the magic of, well, magic fade away. And that was partially true. Objects floating in mid-air and pictures on the wall moving didn’t faze her anymore, not since she was a toddler. But then there were moments like this, meeting and interacting with a magical creature that reminded her of how special this world was and how grateful she was to be able to experience it.

Montgomery let out another snort, pulling the girl from her thoughts. Serena looked down at the brush, realizing that, at some point, she had stopped brushing his mane.

“Oh! Sorry about that!” Serena apologized. “Let’s move onto your tail, now.”

Serena moved the brush through Montgomery’s tail. “Thank you for trusting me and letting me brush you, by the way.” She smiled. Sure, she had a bit of an advantage being a witch, but she knew that gaining an animal’s trust was not something to take lightly.

“You must have lots of unicorn friends. That must be nice.” Montgomery exhaled a bit of air, perhaps in agreement. “I wish I had more friends. I remember when I first got here, I was so excited to make friends. Being an only child was a bit lonely. But I think my excitement must have rubbed some people the wrong way. Ah well, maybe I was just always meant to be alone….” Serena trailed off, realizing that she was sharing her deepest feelings with a unicorn. And it wasn’t as if she was alone; there were quite a few people here to also care for the unicorns, after all.

Serena felt her cheeks warm up, hoping that she was quiet enough that nobody had heard. How embarrassing if anyone had! She quickly finished brushing through Montgomery’s tail, looking up at the unicorn’s eyes and giving him a smile.

“Well, looks like I’m all done here. I should probably let somebody else take a turn. It was a pleasure to meet you, Montgomery. Thank you again.” She said while petting the unicorn for one last time. “I hope one day we’ll meet again. But, for now, goodbye.”

After bidding Montgomery goodbye, Serena stepped aside so that another person could have a chance at meeting Montgomery. She would never forget this day for as long as she lived. And hopefully, this would not be the last time that she would see a unicorn.

word count: 786
ooc note: Open to interactions; Coding by Guinevere Russetwood

^{English:⁠★German:★French:★Thoughts:⁠★}

^{Word Count: 643}

@Bernard Waye

A nice breeze made it's way through Beatrice's hair as she walked on the grounds of Hogwarts. You could perhaps say that it was a magical breeze. She would be seeing Unicorns today. Beatrice had never ever seen a Unicorn in real life and she longed for the day to have such pleasure. They were said to be kind and gentle. Gracious and just wonderful creatures. Beatrice did hope they would like her since she already loved them so dearly. She didn't want to show how excited she was as her steps carried her closer and closer to her destination.

It had been a quite nice day. Since it was Sunday, Beatrice was dressed in pants and a sweater, not wanting to get cold since it still was rather icy outside from time to time. This Morning when Beatrice had woken up, she spent a whole hours just reading in her beloved arm chair, before going to breakfast. She had some tea and enjoyed talking to some friends while eating. After that she had went back to reading and just spent the whole day cozy and calm. When it was time to go, she put on her usual Converse and a jacket so she wouldn't get cold. Her hair was left open, laying long over her shoulders.

When Beatrice saw the Unicorns she almost started running. Three fully grown Unicorns as well as a very small one were walking around freely. They were beautiful. The adult Unicorns were in full pure white. Their mane was just as white as the rest, snow clear white. They all had a perfectly sitting horn and beautiful golden hooves. The Foal however was fully gold. Pure gold color. The new Care of Magical Creatures Professor Sabine Blumenthal had really outdone herself with this. Being able to meet Unicorns was truly magical, no matter how long Beatrice had lived in the Wizarding World, never had she dreamed of meeting such a lovely creature.

A few people were here already, petting or brushing the beautiful creatures. Beatrice couldn't stop walking as she slowly stepped through everyone in admiration. She was fixated and practically hypnotized by the beautiful creatures, much like some people were, when they saw Beatrice. Lovely Creature ability. She almost bumped into someone but she couldn't really notice him because all of a sudden her face was super close to one of those beautiful creatures. She stopped breathing immediately, looking into the Unicorns face. Warm slow breathing met her face as she very carefully lifted her hand and gently brushed/pet over the Unicorns forehead and head. Her hand very slowly and gently went to it's neck as she still watched it in awe.

»Wow.« she breathed out. »They are so beautiful, aren't they?« she wasn't particularly talking to anyone but she still felt a presence of someone beside her. Beatrice couldn't turn her eyes of the Unicorn tho. Her hands gently brushed the soft fur, noticing that the person standing next to her was also apparently brushing the unicorns fur. Not with a hand tho, but with a brush. Just then, she slowly snapped back into reality. »Oh Merlin.« Beatrice swallowed, turning her gaze to the boy. She had never met him. »I apologize. This was rather rude, to just disturb you like this.« She was still unconsciously petting and brushing the beautiful creature. »Do you- do you want me to go? You were here first?« her Voice was gentle, rather quiet and soft the whole time, not wanting to scare the creatures in any way. She looked from the rather weirdly looking boy back to the unicorn. It seemed odd how he was wearing such dark clothes and black eyeliner, standing with this white and golden creature. Beatrice was dressed in rather light colors, giving a drastic contrast to the boy but blending in more with the Unicorn.

@Twilight, Montgomery, & Starlet

House Colours: Ravenclaw

Calming Presence in Effect

Care of Magical Creatures was a class that Piérre excelled in only because he loved animals and was generally an accidental sort of 'green thumb' when concerning fauna (because he most certainly was not the same with flora). While he made no effort to attempt to get himself on the 'good sides' of many of the animals, the Britalian usually found himself with at least the begrudging acceptance of most of the animals. Perhaps it was in part because of the almost childish way that he saw the world with wide open and curious eyes, or perhaps it was because of the empathic calm that constantly seemed draped over him; regardless of the reason, it had made him somewhat of a natural in interfacing with and caring for even the allegedly 'most difficult to handle' of the bunch of animals that they had on hand. With a small, kindly laugh mixed with tender care here and the ability to hyperfocus on sitting still long enough to have the critters walk right up to him there, Piérre was the unlikely animal whisperer among at least the average among his peers.

Maybe it had something to do with owning and caring for an animal himself in the form of Figaro his most precious little kitten now cat. Figaro the familiar had flourished during his time with his mage, and Piérre loved to brag sometimes when others remarked on how well the feline was trained that the silver bengal was indeed "part silver kneazle" just because of how intelligent and quick to learn his little comrade was.

But forget about the rhymes or the reasons, there was a chance now for Piérre to actually take care of some serious magical creatures the likes of Jackalopes and Auguries. Most special of them all in his mind were the Unicorns. Creatures of the sort that you heard in legends and myths, that you wished with all your heart to be real and true and that you could maybe meet (or ride, if you were of the more fantastical and pure of heart types) one. All across Europe, especially in Italy, the legend of the unicorn had had significant cultural value as being a creature of incredible magic and healing powers; indeed, in the early days of Christianity, the unicorn had been a visual symbol for the pure and perfect presence of Christ which was sinless and eternally healing. While Piérre had not been interested in unicorns for their aesthetic value, the unicorn seemed to be something that he had gravitated towards as it was one of the few things in Italian folklore that had no malicious nature in it; the unicorn was simply difficult to find or to befriend, it certainly didn't try to steal your soul (like legends of the Succubae and Incubi) or devour infants from the crib (like the Mommotti or Gata Carogna) or anything. No... the unicorn was just beautiful for the sake of beauty, something rare in today's world, Piérre supposed. Actually, he found it curious that evidently the unicorn was only native to northern Europe... perhaps they had used to live further south but have eventually migrated north to escape the clutches of industrialization around the Mediterranean.

Regardless of the rhyme or reason, Piérre finally approached the grounds, and immediately had his breath stolen away from him as he saw the silver and gold majesties before him. Hands twisting inside the bronze and blue scarf about his throat and tangling in the coarse leather cord that held his hag stone, bright green eyes glittered with awe and his mouth dropped open slightly at the beauty of them. Yes, they had had unicorns at the fall ball for the sake of a petting zoo... but Piérre had never gotten to see any of them since he had been stuck in the hellish main ball where his twin had been an attacked by a dark creature of the same risk level as the shadow slug that he had helped to burn the previous spring.

He wanted to walk away right now; he didn't deserve to even draw too close the the beasts, let alone dare to walk up, attempt to feed, or to brush his fingertips on their glistening hides. Finally sucking in his breath as his heart fluttered inside of him. Hands clenched and trembling with fear, the boy finally crept quietly towards the unicorns, eyes still wide and filled with a mixture of incredulous hope and yet pure hope... Yes, he was not of the fairer sex and therefore the unicorns would likely be less likely to appreciate him... but perhaps...

It was said, after all, that unicorns were drawn to those pure of both heart and spirit; regardless of their sex. In the end, unicorns always came to those who were 'good' and 'pure'. So perhaps that was the fragile hope that Piérre clung to, that perhaps he would be judged and found acceptable to them. Perhaps he could be considered good enough to interact and spend an hour with them.

Timidly, Piérre approached, hands visible but at his sides in a gesture of non-aggression. Head slightly lowered, the boy shifted from side to side nervously as he tried not to meet the gaze of the unicorns. As was perhaps expected, the unicorns paid him no heed and instead turned towards each other in preference of their own company. Glancing quickly about, it seemed that a slightly larger percentage of people had a preference for the golden foal as opposed to the adults. The boy watched as the female population interacted with them without fear of retribution with concern creasing his own brows. In the end... well... he didn't really want to get hurt by these majestic equines. He had been kicked in the chest by a horse before and had ended up with an almost total broken sternum for his troubles... he could only imagine what a much more powerful magical creature was capable of doing to his fragile constitution.

With a small bow (perhaps an action more befitting if he wanted to try and approach a hippogriff), the boy spoke softly with a lump in his throat that caused his voice to crack and squeak with the effort of trying to formulate words. "You are all really pretty..." He murmured to himself as his hands slowly came together in front of him and began to wring together nervously. "P-pleasedon'tkickorstabmeplease... I'vebeenkickedbeforeanditdidn'tfeelgood..." He continued to avert his gaze, trying not to make eye contact so as not to aggravate them; act docile, act quietly so that you presented yourself as nothing near a threat.

He rocked back and forth on his feet a bit, caught between wanting to try and gently extend a hand towards them so that he could pet them and just backing away quietly after praising them for their prettiness. "I just don't wanna get hurt... I do that just fine on my own... and I know that you guys don't like... my... heartier sex." A small smile timidly spread across his face; the knowledge that unicorns preferred females over males was common knowledge, a fac that immediately put the poor Britalian at a severe disadvantage when it came to wanting to admire and tend for the most brilliant magical creatures that he had ever set eyes on in person. "I just wanna say that... you know... even if I was forced to pick up your poops for a month, I think it would be worth it if I could spend more time with all of you..." A sudden flutter of confidence, and Piérre finally dared to raise his eyes towards the beasts. "And maybe then I can be worthy of earning your trusts!"

When he did look up, the boy was not really surprised to find that one of the unicorns wasn't really paying attention to him in the slightest; perhaps that was for the better, after all. Better that it didn't acknowledge his existence than having it act aggressively towards him in a way that could threaten his ability to take care of magical creatures in the future. What did surprise him, however, was the fact that the other one was fixing him with their soft brown eyes; nostrils flaring in and out softly as it bobbed its silver head up and down to shake off some of the chill of the area. As it was chewing on a bit of grass, Piérre didn't really think it was a good idea to try and feed the unicorns at all. They were likely going to get enough food from all the other students who wanted to try and ingratiate themselves with the pure creatures, he decided.

The unicorn nickered to itself once as it seemed to tip its head in an appraisal of this strange boy before it. Pawing the ground once, it seemed to nudge the other one at its side, eliciting a snort from the second and almost seeming to encourage it to also look upon the elf-eared boy. The formerly disinterested unicorn stared at Piérre for a while, which caused the boy to hold his breath again. With a flick of its ear, it let out a deep nicker once more and then flicked its mercurial tail in complacency and then wandered off towards the next student.

Releasing his breath lightly, Piérre sighed again; of course. What else was new? Just like most other things, he was ignored. Should he have expected anything else at this point? Discouraged, he sighed and lightly ground his toe into the dirt. Of course he was not going to be liked by these creatures. He couldn't be friends with everything, after all... he had learned that the hard way.

"Well... thank you for being so pretty... I wish that I could please you better... I'll leave now, that way I don't make any of you uncomfortable or anything." He jested lightly, beginning to turn so that he could leave the unicorns in peace.

Before he took his first step, however, the unicorn behind him snorted loudly and reared slightly onto its hind legs with a small whinny. Freezing in place, Piérre thought for a second that he had perhaps angered the unicorn in some way and that he was going to get hut for impudence. It took a second for the boy to realize-- as the unicorn nickered again at his hesitation-- that he was not an aggravation towards the equine, but rather an interest to it. Slowly, the boy turned again to witness the unicorn stretching its neck as far over the retaining gate so that its head and nose was stretched out in a way that caused it to get as close to the boy as it could manage. It was sniffing deeply as if attempting to get the Britalian's scent.

Piérre blinked at the creature, dumbfounded. Was it... curious of him like he was curious of it? "You... do you wanna sniff me out?" He carefully took a step forward, which caused the creature to jerk back ever so slightly. Stopping in his tracks, Piérre stood still and extended his left hand out, palm down. The unicorn's ear twitched again, and its head stuck out once more so that the warm breath from its nostrils warmed the back of Piérre's cold hand. It had no way of knowing about the scars that were located on his palms, but that didn't seem to matter much in the magical moment. Eyes softening, Piérre simply let it happen and didn't dare to pull his hand away, even when the breath tickled and the whiskers about the equine's face tickled his knuckles. With a small giggle, Piérre couldn't help himself, and he turned bright red with embarrassment. "You can probably smell my kitty, Figaro. He's a really good boy but I didn't think it was a good idea to bring him here. He could have scared some of you guys just because he's a bit excitable, even if he is silvery. It's alright, though, because he's really- oh!"

His words had been cut off by the unicorn's velvet soft black nose pressing itself into his hand and rubbing gently on it. The soft eyes half-lidded themselves as it quietly breathed. Scared to move his hand and to ruin the gentle gesture, Piérre could only smile with childish excitement as his heart raced with joy. His other hand was sweating ever so slightly, so he dried it on the blue scarf about his throat. "You are so... pretty..." His voice cracked once again with the awe of it. "Is it true that you are friend only to the pure of heart? Can I... will you judge me worthy of that someday?" He asked it, quite serious actually. Another broad smile. "Am I a good magician?" His eyes creased and his vision blurred ever so slightly with sudden tears that formed.

Whinnying again, the unicorn began to rub its head on the boy's hand. Reactively, Piérre gently curled his fingers so that he lightly scratched the delicate silver fur. Taking a few careful steps forward, he stood up against the gate and began to scratch the unicorn politely, lightly combing his fingers through its mane, massaging its neck... imagining, strangely enough, that he was touching the face and neck of a person instead of an animal. He had heard, after all, that when interfacing with horses one should act as if they were interfacing with a person; the same pressure points, the same nerve senses, the same desire for physical touch. Breathlessly, Piérre found himself face to face with this most powerful magical creature, and though it stood a few hands taller than him the boy pet the creature as if it was the last thing he would ever touch.

A tear ran down his cheek slowly, a small whimper in the back of his throat as his face twisted into a mixture of bittersweetness and relief. After so many things that had happened in the past, after all these things that had transpired between his and his brother (a relationship that was slowly being rebuilt and nurtured once more), this was a moment in a storm of turmoil and distress. A reminder, just like Piérre himself had always believed, that everything would somehow end up alright. Somehow, in some way, such purity-- the same purity as this creature stood for-- would eventually triumph and become the unifying factor of the entire world.

After what felt like an eternity (though it was probably closer to five minutes) of the boy gently petting the unicorn and the unicorn drawing so close as to put its chin onto the boy's shoulder and sniffing Piérre's fluffy chestnut hair (once it had tried to nibble on his earring before the Britalian had gently dissuaded it from trying to tear it off entirely), the unicorn's attention was attracted by something else, which caused its entire body to snap to attention as the ears flicked about like small radar dishes. Piérre smiled as he wiped his eyes and then nodded. "Yeah, you probably want to go do something else. Thank you for spending time with me... and... trusting me enough to... to let me love you back."

The unicorn looked back at the Britalian before using the tip of its nose to rub up and down on the kid's chest like a normal horse would with a particularly beloved owner. The action almost knocked the boy over... but after only a few firm sternum rubs, the unicorn finally turned away with a sigh and flicked its silvery tail, shaking out its mane with a confidence before trotting off.

Left bewildered yet with brand new core memories, the Britalian stood in shock for a few minutes before smiling like an idiot again and then slowly making his way back to the castle. He still had a lot of work to do, after all...

But he swore to himself he was never going to wash these clothes that he was currently wearing ever again. No way, no how.

He had been rubbed on by a unicorn. Now that... that was not something that a person could say every day...

"Thank you. Thank you again!"