Garnier looked away quickly, redding a little, when he realized Joan had noticed him. Had he gotten that lost in his thoughts about her that he had went into a full fledged stare? It was happening too often lately. More than his eyes were lingering on her. His mind was increasingly filled with her. He still kept to his duties well enough, but he would find himself passing a field of flowers wondering which one she would like best, or he would see a cake or pie in the market at town and wonder what her favorite flavor was. He was worried that she was becoming his obsession. He threw the thought out of his mind. But eventually he was going to have to confront her about it wasn't he. Didn't those stupid unsaid gender role say that he had to make the first move? Ack.....What was he thinking. She was his friend and comrade in arms. no more. and she likely didn't see him the way he saw her. Or did she. This was so confusing. Deciding to take his mind off of things for a while he looked back at her.<br/><br/>"You wanna have some fun? Theres a small stream about a mile from here. first one there gets to cook tonight! and you know how bad my cooking is."<br/><br/>With that he grinned and spurred his horse forward. the black stallion lunged forward like a rat being chased by a mouse. he often took his horse on runs and Firebrand and him loved it. The wind in your face at 40 miles an hour with nothing but your feet keeping you from plummeting to the ground, it was pure bliss. But Garnier wondered if Joan was up for it. Damn. he had started this race to get his mind off of her. At this point he made up his mind. After the mission was over and they had returned the lady he was going to ask her out. She might slap him or run away but Garnier would be happy that he tried. And the small chance that she would say yes was worth the risk of the larger chance that she would say no. and why was he thinking this now. During the middle of a mission! he was going to have to be careful. he couldn't let his feelings for Joan cloud his judgement and cause him to be careless.<br/><br/>WHAMMMM!<br/><br/>out of nowhere Garnier got clotheslined by a branch that was hanging across the road. Firebrand slowed to a trot and walked back over to his master and Nuzzled him, whinnying to make sure he was alright. Garnier reached up and patted him on the nose assuring him that he was fine. His head hurt like hell though. Garnier reached up to his nose, which was where the most pain was. It was definitely broken. Great, now he had to face the bandits with a broken nose, a pretty obvious problem as it would mess with his site and provide a very obvious target for whoever they came across. With steely resolve Garnier struggled through the pain and popped his nose back into place. A very sickening crunch accompanied the act. He then pulled out his Handkerchief and applied pressure to his nose, painful though it was. It was embarrasing enough and painful enough wiyhout losing too much blood. and of course, his thoughts were "Shes gonna think i'm a fool"