Sometimes Heath wondered if the army's steeds liked playing matchmaker. He'd seen Hector and Florina brought together by an errant pegasus, Lowen's horse stop Rebecca from accidentally wandering into dangerous hunting territory at night...even Kent and Fiora's mounts had staged a near-fight just so their masters would have something to laugh about around the campfire later.
Even if they did, though, Heath never would have expected the same of Hyperion. Hyperion was always rambunctious, and eating the supplies wasn't anything new. But apparently, Heath's glances towards Priscilla weren't as discreet as he thought.
So he went to introduce himself to her, unaware of his steed's plot.
"My name's Heath," he said. "This here's Hyperion, he may look scary but he's harmless. I trust you'll be there if either of us get hurt?"
"Gladly," she said. "My name is Priscilla. It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir Heath."
"Right." He grinned. "I'm off. Hyperion, away!" The wyvern didn't move. "...huh? Hyperion, what's wrong?"
"He looks unwell," Priscilla said, a look of concern crossing her face. "But I don't see any injuries..."
"That's strange."
She checked Hyperion over for a moment, and Heath studied her. She was even prettier up close, he thought, and very pleasant to talk to as well.
"I think I've found the problem," she finally said. "From what I can see he apparently ate too much. His stomach is quite bloated."
"But I didn't feed him anything other than what I usually do..." He frowned. "Hyperion, did you eat something you weren't supposed to?"
"Actually, I did hear our merchant complain about missing supplies..." Priscilla laughed. "Looks like Hyperion's been snacking too much between meals."
"Hyperion, you know you're not supposed to eat things that aren't food!" Heath sighed. "This looks bad, I know...he's no angel but I always have more control over him than this, I swear!"
Priscilla smiled.
"Don't worry, Sir Heath. We'll just let this be our little secret."
"Oh, thank you...hey, maybe when he's feeling better I could take you flying," Heath offered. "Unless the thought scares you."
"It does, but I have a feeling you wouldn't let anything happen to me," she said, blushing a little. "I'd love to."
From the corner of his eye, Heath could swear he saw Hyperion grin.