Days passed.
Weeks turned into months.
And before you had noticed Charles was already four months with you. He helped around the farm without objecting, tended to the cows and kept the house clean while you took him to the forest to show him all the fun places that Aponi once had shown you.
The days got longer and spring passed. Summer was about to end and leaves started to turn from green into orange and brown at their tips.
It smelled of wood, cool river water and the iron of washed stones.
With your nose raised towards the treetops you took in a deep breath. The air was crisp and as clean as naturally possible.
Birds passed about your head. Some started to get ready to fly south.
"You think that's enough?", Charles asked as he tied a bunch of fallen branches to the back of his horse.
You threw a glance at him.
He had hardly changed over the months, kept his face still mostly shaven and his hair long. Although he had started to braid it like it was common practice in most native tribes.
Even though he hadn't complained a single time this far you could read in his eyes how he started to be restless again. He liked the life that you offered him.
But his soul yearned for more. For undiscovered places and trees that were older than his imagination.
This life, a settled life in a place so far from what he desired, just wasn't what he needed to be happy. He was satisfied but if you could have guessed you would have said he fought down the urge to get up and travel again.
A strange thought, considering that he had no obligation to stay. He could just leave. But something seemed to hold him back.
You just couldn't name the reason.
"(Y/N)?", all of a sudden his hand was on your tight.
It was a soft gesture, both to get your attention and to pull you from your thoughts.
Confused, you blinked.
"Hm?", your gaze locked with his.
"The wood?", one eyebrow raised, he tilted his head.
As he did so, the two feathers he had integrated into his braid trembled.
You took a deep breath. As you looked at him again you couldn't help but smile softly. With one hand you reached down to fix a strand of his hair.
"You did great, Charles.", you said gently. "Thank you."
For a brief moment he looked at you. His eyes wandered over your face.
"You sound weird.", he noted with a smile and returned to his horse. "Wanna head back? I hunted a deer yesterday. We could make steaks from that."
As his hand left your leg a strange feeling of cold remained. As if his hand had left a print that burned into your skin.
Smiling sadly, you listened how he went on talking to himself, thinking about all the options that today's dinner could offer.
He was a whole lot more talkative than he used to be, which just went to show that he had grown more comfortable.
A compliment that made your heart beat faster.
Yet again, as you listened to him while your horse walked next to his in a slow pace, a thought crept up in the back of your head. A thought that was more of a certain moment of realisation.
Soon it would be time to say your goodbyes to Charles. A soul like his could have never found satisfaction in a place like yours. He needed to find his own sanctuary instead of nesting in someone else's.
From the beginning you had known that your time with him was limited. But now that he had grown on you it hurt so much more.
"You think we should reinforce the fence?", his clear voice cut through the fog of your thoughts like a sharpened blade.
Sighing, you closed your eyes and let your head fall back to feel the wind caress your cheeks. Goosebumps chased down your back only to fade into a pleasant feeling.
"Maybe it would be better to let the bull go.", you said with a smile towards the sky.
Struck by surprise, he looked at you, baffled.
"You want to let it go?", he asked.
"Sure. Why not? He's a wild animal."
"He's attached to you now."
You glanced at him from the corner of your eyes.
"Is he?", you didn't ask about the bull.
You didn't need to. It was obvious that you had ruined the wilderness inside of him and he was more of an exotic pet now.
But Charles seemed to miss the actual point of the question and just huffed.
"I've seen you scratch his chin so many times. You don't want to let him go.", he shook his head. "Not really."
You chuckled.
"No...", it crossed your lips in a soft whisper. "Not really."
Wrapped in a comfortable kind of silence, the two of you returned to the ranch.
The cows mooed as they noticed your return. Eagerly they ran up to the fence and stretched their snoots towards you in hopes of getting a little snack.
"They're hungry.", Charles noted.
"They are fat as fuck.", you replied with a snort. "We should stop feeding them so often."
"Well fed means more milk."
"That's not how that really works, you know that, right?", you asked with crooked grin.
He shrugged.
"I'm not a farmer."
"Yeah... you're not.", secretly you wondered if he'd ever be able to become one, or at least would be able to try.
But that would have been just another way of trapping him in a place that he wouldn't be able to thrive in.
"I'll take care of them.", Charles grabbed a bucket and filled it with some of the feed you had bought from town. "Tend to the horses for me, will you?"
He pressed you the reins of his horse into one hand and ruffles through your hair.
Playfully annoyed, you pulled your head back.
"You're getting too comfortable, mister Smith.", you chuckled.