Work Text:
Tabito’s arms wrap around Kenji’s waist a little tighter as they start. Kenji’s hand twitches, as if considering something, and then decides against it, hands tightening on the reins.
He starts them off slow. Tabito had the side of his head pressed against his back, arms adjusting every few steps, like he was having a hard time staying still. Horses weren’t his thing. He was a gardener, not a… whatever Kenji was.
Still, he couldn’t find it in him to refuse. When Kenji had offered to take him for a ride on his birthday, his eyes sparkled. It was so corny, but Tabito couldn’t stop himself from blurting “Yes.”
Kenji must have noticed his apprehension, because he shifted to look over his shoulder. Tabito could hear the smile in his voice. “Easy, now.”
“I’m not a horse,” Tabito snapped, but his heart wasn’t in it, “don’t talk to me like that.”
“Ah, I know yer not.” A pause. “I’m just better with horses, ‘n that usually soothes ‘em. Sorry.”
“…s’fine, I guess,” he mutters, pressing his face into his back.
There’s another stretch of silence. Tabito isn’t looking around them, focusing on calming his nerves and getting used to the ride. Kenji helped, strangely. He smelled like hay and woodsmoke.
Kenji interrupts the quiet again, “Sometimes I forget that not everybody else knows horses like I do, so you let me know when you wanna go back. I don’t mind one bit. I just thought it’d be polite to do somethin’ nice for yer birthday. Everybody deserves a good birthday.”
He sighs. He pulls away from Kenji’s back, letting his grip on him relax. They’re in a forest now, trodding along a trail. Tabito wished he looked sooner. Looking at and analyzing the plants they passed by put him at ease.
“…Do you know what kinds of trees these are?”
“Huh?” Kenji looks around. He narrows his eyes at one. “Er— oak?”
Tabito nods, “Some. There’s some white pine, too. Those are the ones with the needle-like leaves.”
“Oh.”
Tabito felt panicked for a moment. Was that too much? Kenji probably thought he was a stuck-up know-it-all, didn’t he—
“Cool. I didn’t know that. Could ya tell me more?”
Despite his surprise, Tabito nodded, almost immediately. It took him longer to start talking, beginning to ramble about the different plants they wandered past. Kenji listened to every word. He never thought he’d be a good listener.
This present turned out to be a lot nicer than Tabito thought it would be.