Universe

"Yes!" Avery said, laughing quietly and watching with interest. Bruno seemed almost overjoyed to have someone ride him after so long. Mark seemed to be having fun, which was good, since according to Avery's mom he was hard to please or something dumb like that. Avery didn't believe half the things her mother said.

Mark smiled slightly before gently kicking Bruno into a trot. He remembered people kicking horses to pick up speed from tv, and surprisingly it worked. "How fast can Bruno go?" he asked Avery. It would be amazing to ride Bruno at a fast pace, the wind blowing in his hair, sending his hood flailing about.

"He can go really fast, I don't know exactly because I've never tracked his speed." Avery said. "If you wanna speed up go ahead, but hold on~" Bruno had always been a fast rider, but rough as well, and he didn't slow down even if you fell off the back of him. Avery had been shot off her horse hundreds of times and none of those times were something she'd ever wanna do again. Mark seemed excited about riding, as much as Avery had been when she first started. She thought it was cute. Of course, she'd never say it out loud.

Mark nodded and tightened his grip on the reigns before having Bruno go at an even faster speed. He could immediately feel Bruno shaking a lot more with every step, and it was hard for him to hold on at first. Eventually he was able to sustain a hold, and began to enjoy himself. A tiny smile crossed his lips as he and Bruno rode in circles.

Avery was greatly pleased by how much fun Mark was having. She had a feeling they were going to be friends, despite what her mother had said in her drunken has the night before. The woman had spilled her guts open about how worried she was for him, how much she wanted him to make friends, how hard she was trying to find his mother even though he didn't know about it. It wasn't until car doors slammed in the driveway that Avery was snapped out of her thoughts.

She turned to see Louis and Pedro walking up, clad in nice clothing apposed to their usual dingy overalls. "Hey Avery, your mom home? She said she wanted us to come meet this kid she's housing or something. I think she was drunk when she called." Pedro leaned over the wooden gates to speak to Avery. They'd know each other since Avery was little, and the tall Mexican man was an old friend of her mother's. Avery smiled up at him and motioned towards Mark and Bruni. "She was drunk, and I would've e-mailed you but I figured you wouldn't get it till you got here anyways."

"That's the 'kid,' his name is Mark. And mom just left for work so she won't be home till tonight."

Mark soon realized that Avery was speaking to two men whom he assumed were some of the farm workers. Curious to meet them, he rode Bruno towards where Avery and the man were before stopping the horse. "Hello", he said, a tad quieter than the tone he had just been speaking to Avery with. He swung around in the saddle, so that his entire body was facing Pedro.

Avery smiled. "Hey! These guys are some of the farmhands. They're pretty great, but since harvest just ended they won't be around as much." She explained, gesturing to the two guys behind her. Pedro waved, spreading a huge smile across his face, and politely introduced himself. "I'm Pedro. I've been working on this farm since before Avery was born, and she's like family, so I guess that makes you family too!" Avery laughed and nodded. "Yeah, I guess it does~" Louis just raised a hand Mark's way and walked off, being the quiet man he is.

"So, is there anything else you'd like to see? I think we can wait till tonight for school talk, since that stuff's pretty boring, but there's still a lot of the farm you haven't seen yet." Avery asked. She was anxious to show Mark every little crevice she knew, but she also didn't want to overwhelm him. She'd never really had another person to show things to and her lack of social interaction was starting to catch up to her.

Mark waved back at Pedro and Louis, listening to Avery. "I'd like to see the fields, I guess?" he said after a few moments of thought. "I'll take Bruno back first, though."

He slid off of Bruno's back and gave the horse a few pats before attempting to take the saddle off. He didn't really know how it worked, but after a bit of messing around, he was able to remove it completely. "Where should I put this?" he asked as he began to lead Bruno back to the barn.

Avery walked over and took the saddle from Mark's arms, slinging it skillfully over the fencing. "We don't really have a specific place we put it." She said. "And if you want to see the fields, the fields we shall see! If you want to someday I can teach you how to drive the tractor~" Avery had learned at a young age how to manage the humongous yellow tractor they had, which was rather impressive, considering how big and old the thing was. She didn't take to highly of it though. It was just a tractor, after all.

Bruno sauntered off towards a patch of grass and Avery started out of the barn, heading towards the dirt road beside the barn. "We haven't had any rain in a while, so there isn't any mud, but watch out for anthills. There's a lot out here. Don't know why either, they just seem to like the dirt on this trail." Avery smiled nostagically as she recalled some memories of her childhood, times when she used to mess with the anthills and sit for hours, simply watching the tiny bugs do their thing.

"Driving a tractor sounds cool", said Mark as he rushed out of the barn and caught up to Avery. He listened to her speak about the anthills before scanning his surroundings. Sure enough, there was one five feet from him. Feeling adventurous, Mark began to run. About a centimeter from the hill, he leapt, narrowly avoiding smashing the entire thing. "That was pretty fun... But I shouldn't do it again. Might squish a hill next time." He felt guilty about the fact that he had nearly squished a bunch of ants. "What kind of crops do you grow?"