Chapter Text
“Stupid, avoidant, job-stealing garrin.”
Gan was staring angrily at where Logan’s tack should be. If she went and checked, she knew Strider would already be gone, as he had been everyday for the past week.
“I didn’t think he was capable of avoiding an argument, but I guess he got what he needed.”
“He did look very concerned when he left us, you know.”
She jumped but quickly took a deep breath in and out to calm herself. While she would never have put in the effort for certain people, Molland was a special case. He deserved the very best of her, always. Gan responded after a drawn out sigh.
“He’s a garrin Molland. Regardless of how he feels about me personally, it’s his job to make sure that everyone in Soulford is safe. And he was right about the concussion.”
It was an unpleasant memory for both of them, and Molland’s ears turned downwards at the recollection. Gan had had a rough night of it following Ellonson’s capture, and he had stayed by her side through it all, providing a safe space for her to be vulnerable and reminding her that she was cared for.
After a moment, she could see his mind drift off on another train of thought. Conversation with Molland was always easy, there was no rush, no need to reply just for the sake of responding. His face was contemplative, with a touch of what almost seemed like amusement, but had to be his usual unceasing positivity.
“Logan’s never been one to let go of a difficult problem. When Isaac first discovered that he could distract him with puzzles, he went through so many in such a short span of time that his father had to start asking every passing traveler for new ones. I think he started paying Harold to come up with riddles when he grew old enough and his talent for wordsmithing became apparent, not that Logan likely ever learned of it.”
Gan chuckled at this new bit of knowledge, picturing a young Harold fighting to keep up with Logan’s drive to impress his father. She knew that Molland was trying to comfort her, even if she didn’t know why he thought she was upset with being left behind.
“Noted. Don’t get me wrong Molland, it’s nice to be left to my work, I just wish he would stop taking it…I’m not going to have anything left to do between him and Evey if this keeps up.”
Molland smiled cheerily at that.
“Oh, don’t worry about that. There’s always something to do! Come with me.”
As she followed Molland out of the tack room, Gan looked back one last time to where Logan’s saddle should have been. Molland knew Logan well, but she couldn’t help but think that this one time his intuition might not be on the mark.
Molland sent Gan on her way to collect some berries that grew deeper in the woods, and which he knew that she and Evey were quite partial to. He was worried about her, ever since the fire at the Lodestone she had been a mess of emotions, none of which were positive. When she had let loose on Evey, he had known that he could comfort Evey and explain away the bite of Gan’s words, because Evey trusted him and would be able to feel Gan’s obvious regret and sadness when she had calmed. But Gan was a different story, while she probably trusted him more than anyone else in Soulford, she still had walls up, and as she had demonstrated with Evey, she was in the process of putting up more. It had been such a relief to see her seek reconciliation so quickly, but her words had put him on edge. If only I could speak to her as I can with Romulus or Remus, then she might understand that she does have a place here.
He thought back on their conversation. Logan was also a dear part of his herd here. Molland had watched him and Cody grow from rambunctious young terrors into the fine garrins they were today, and he couldn’t help but be proud of them. But Logan also had a tendency to take every problem upon himself, and Molland was sure that that was what was going on now. Strider had said that they were spending more and more time in the fields surrounding the town, so he knew that Logan wasn’t avoiding the stable because he was occupied with any particular order of business. He had also seemed even more exhausted than usual when they had run into each other in the market a few days back, so he must have had a very good reason to be pushing himself so hard. Gan also doesn’t seem to be getting much sleep.
Pausing for a moment as he walked out of the stable and considered the fields beyond, he pushed his worries to the side. His young friends may be struggling, but that was a part of youth, and he trusted that they would get through it. He highly doubted Logan could keep this up forever, and while the inevitable confrontation between him and Gan was sure to leave some wounds, he had seen Logan’s concern for Gan and Gan’s growing awareness of the consequences of unleashing her anger. Yes, they would be alright.