Iden hadn't been paying attention when Batya had come into view, he hadn't hear her say anything until Duke responded to her slight pat upon his neck and snorted. Shaking his unruly head of hair and looking down he smirked, "Hey there!, Nah it's okay really, I got to see a glimpse of what were're about to see, Man Batty it's AMAZING!" His boyish glee shown brightly in those big blue eyes as he held his hand down for his friend, his hands were rough and calloused from constantly working the plows and doing most of the hunting for his family to provide them with the necessities.<br/><br/>But, instead of her hand she held out her half of the fee, giving her a sideways smirk he gripped her wrist and hauled her up behind him, "Never mind that, you can hold onto it till we get there, yeah?" Looking back at Batya he lightly pulled on Duke's reins and chuckled. "Hey Batty, you smell like horse shit," ducking his head just in case the girl tried to take a swipe at him he didn't give her a moment more before laughing and spurring Duke into a gallop. He knew she wouldn't fall off, by now she should be used to the way Duke moved and besides, she had been right, the quicker they left the area the better their chances were at getting away with it.<br/><br/>After leaving town he pulling into the small ring of woods that surrounded the circus, where he had been previously that morning, and stopped at the fresh creek there. "Why don't you wash up, we can tie Duke up here, it's only on the other side of these here trees, we can walk...I mean unless your Pa has finally worked you to the bone?" Iden really couldn't help but tease his friend, he never meant to hurt her when he did, and if he saw that it bothered her, he was quick to stop his actions and apologize to her.<br/><br/>He could remember when they were a little younger, one day he had surprised her by jumping down from the rafters in her Father's barn and scared her to the point she fell into a fresh pile of manure, she was so angry, the he saw tears in her eyes, which was almost never, Batya was a tough girl, but she was young at that. He had quickly apologized however, and offered himself for her to throw shit at him....She had...Got in every facial orifice there was...He smelled manure and tasted it for weeks!