OoC: I hope it's okay to powerplay/NPC the horse to this extent? If not, just let me know and I'll change it. I'm not used to the sort of roleplay where it's really possible

@akira

The horse remained placid enough as the boy scanned the crowd, the hand that rested on the neck of the creature moving slightly now and then to stroke soothingly. Not that the mare needed it. She was a confident enough creature, and seemed to either have a soft spot for ragged street rats, or the patience of a saint. Although she huffed now and then in exasperation, she used neither tooth nor hoof to force him back, and even leaned slightly into his touch. A smile touched his lips, and a sense of calm stole over Cyras. He did not cease his search, but relaxed a little, comforted by the new-found friend.

The black-haired head quirked to the left as a glint caught his attention. There. He was just about to move to follow, when a tap was felt on his shoulder, and a voice spoke behind him. Jerking from the contact, mind not yet making sense of what had been said, the boy spun, body pushing back and away, before being halting by the equine body there. Fortunately, the mare seemed used enough to him by this point that she simply snorted in amusement, before butting him forcibly back towards the stranger with her head. A decidedly better outcome that could have been had.

Flustered, the young man caught his breath, dark gaze moving over the stranger even as he tensed to run. Perhaps he should have done that straight away, rather than jumping three feet into the air looking as guilty as hell, but still. She hadn't yet seized hold of his arm or anything, so maybe she wasn't going to turn him in. And anyway, he hadn't done anything criminal yet, right? Not this time. This reasoning had flashed through his mind in the space of a few seconds, and now the brain decided to make sense of the words that the stranger had spoken.

Ah, shit. So she knew what he had been doing. Of course she did; he had hardly been subtle. Still. "I don't know what you're talking about," he insisted. Deny everything. The grin that quirked her lips made it look likely that she wasn't about to get him in trouble, but still. No good could come of confessing. Not in this place. And she hardly would have interrupted, if she was that harmless. Black eyes were wary as they watched the redhead's every movement, ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble.