The work that day was grueling, as it was almost every day for the young jockey, but he went on throughout it with an infectiously positive air about him. He was a cheerful man when it came down to it, that much was obvious, and it seemed fairly difficult to get under his skin, in a sense. He was an individual that was so desperate to be happy, that it would’ve been quite the task to tear that away from him. Through backbreaking, sweaty work he continued to give Tempus his tour of the grounds, or at least the portions of the grounds that they would regularly find themselves working within. Their last task of the day was to bring in the horses from their respective fields, which Tempus was permitted to assist him with as his first official task. They caught the beasts with ropes around their necks quite easily and led them back in pairs, Eryx instructing Tempus as to which stalls each respective animal was to be placed. It wasn’t a particularly difficult task, but a tedious one that put the end of their working day well past sundown.<br/><br/>Once they were finished with their day Tempus asked after their next meal. Eryx smiled at the question and he answered pleasantly, “Technically speaking I’m meant to make you eat with the servants … But this job can be grueling, and Airlea always forces me to take more food than I could possibly consume on my own, so I’ll share my rations with you. I believe this evening we’ll be having a meat stew of some sort, alongside a load of the mistresses favorite salt and pepper bread.” He moved towards one of the aisleways exits after resting a hand upon Tempus’ shoulder to guide him along “Before we go up to the kitchens to fetch our food, however, we must bathe. I’m sure the stench of us would be likely to offend even the wait staff,” he added in a lighthearted tone, smiling down at his new companion. His smile was genuine, and one could tell by the way it set a soft crinkle into the outer corners of his eyes.<br/><br/>He led Tempus out of the barns and down a narrow footpath to a little creek that ran through the property. It wasn’t very wide, nor was a deep, it went up to about his knees at its deepest points, but it would get the job done well enough. “This is where we’re meant to bathe. The servants bathe upstream a bit if the desire to stare at some pretty men ever strikes you, but we get this little stretch of creek. The water is cold, but quite pleasant after a days work,” he commented as he began stripping himself of the ragged robes he’d been donning.<br/><br/>He stripped down to his flesh as though it was nothing, clearly not concerned with the context that nudity may have held in some circles. He was a well-built man, with nothing to be ashamed of, and nothing about him stood out as particularly negative aside from one massive scar that spanned a good length of his body. From just below his ribs upon the left side of his body, wrapped around all the way to his upper left thigh it was, though it didn’t seem to limit him in any way, nor did it cause him any sort of discomfort. It wasn’t particularly aesthetically pleasing, however, though the rest of his leanly muscled form was. Even now as it was covered in grime from a hard day's labor, which he seemed quite intent to scrub off in the near future as he made his way towards the water after layout out his wrappings upon a large boulder that sat beside the footpath.<br/><br/>Eryx glanced over his shoulder as he placed a foot into the shallow depths of water, smiling pleasantly back at Tempus. “Are you coming, my friend, or will I be forced to make you sleep out with the horses with that stench?” he teased playfully before he stepped the rest of the way in and squatted down in the deepest portion of the moving body. He cupped his hands beneath its surface and ducked his head down, splashing water up over himself and humming at the pleasant cooling sensation within the suffocatingly warm spring evening.