Hot damn he had won the horse. Briefly he watched Valkyrie walk away and then his attention returned to the stallion. Now...how on earth was he going to get the beast home? Supposedly it was smarter than the rest of its kind but so far all Jupiter had seen it do was buck around like a normal angry horse.

The viking had been kind enough to have the horse tied to a tree so at least for now he didn’t have to do any chasing. Which was nice. Gave him a chance to be reasonable.

Jupiter approached slowly and stopped in front of Balian but well outside his reach. “So...” he said slowly as he eyed the beast. “The lady says your smart.” He eyed Balian up and down, his gaze speculative. “Well, are you?”

That was it. The auction was over. He had been sold like a common animal and his eyes narrowed and ears flattened as he watched the slaver leave. His efforts to appear wild so nobody would be interested didn't work, and now he was stuck here and tied to a tree. A little part of him felt like it had died. He was a free spirit, and since he had been captured he had the dreaded feeling that he'd be used as for some sort of sick sport hunt before they decided to kill him. He sighed and closed his eyes before pressing his forehead to the tree, already resigning himself to defeat. "So..." Oh. Right. He forgot about this part. He pulled away from the tree and stared at the blue furred wolf, ears pinned back as he looked at the male with hostile eyed. "That heathen will say anything to make a profit." He snorted. He had heard their talks before coming to market. Bits and pieces...but he was sure she talked up the "merchandise" to get others to buy. It was disgusting. And now here he was...his dignity stripped away because someone thought it was okay to do this. Not just to him, but their own kind. Eyeing the wolf, he rolled his eyes and looked away. Hiding the shame he felt. If his father could see him now, being held captive...he shook the thought away and reluctantly looked at the boy again. "I am smart...we all are. We just play the part of stupidity so we don't end up like this." That was where he had screwed up. He had been careless. "Speech"

"That heathen will say anything to make a profit." At this Jupiter's brows rose. So was he saying - yes saying, because he was a talking horse after all - he wasn't a smart horse? The statement amused Jupiter but he thought better about making a quip at the horse's expense. After all, he wanted to keep this beast and mocking him probably wouldn't help his cause.

As for the statement about them all being smart, Jupiter wasn't sure he should put much stock in it. As a whole they sure didn't seem very smart. His true feelings bubbled to the surface and he fixed the horse with a critical expression. "Odd game plan seeing as intelligence might upgrade you from prey to something else. I mean, you're alive and uneaten right now for that very reason." No way that viking lady would have gone through the trouble of keeping and selling him if he'd been "just another horse".

He watched Jupiter carefully, noting his expressions as he spoke. He doubted the boy believed him but it didn't matter, playing the part hadn't worked for him but even if he had there was the chance the wolf would have tried to get more for him or used him for something else. "Odd game plan seeing as intelligence might upgrade you from prey to something else. I mean, you're alive and uneaten right now for that very reason." He snorted, though it wasn't in contempt. "Yes, I am alive. But I don't trust a wolf not to try to eat me at some point. Growing up I assumed wolves and other predators were dumb, lacked intelligence and only lived to hunt and kill." It was his turn to turn a critical eye to the blue furred boy, "And I also never expected to see a blue wolf before, most are the color of the earth or snow. So perhaps there are some of our species who have more intelligence than others while some have simply succumbed to their primal states. Mere wild animals, pure and simple. My father referred to them as "Primals", nothing more and nothing less." He snorted again and pawed the ground with a hoof, "But you didn't come to hear about any of that I suppose. So tell me, what is it that you want from me, wolf? You...bought me...you must have some selfish reason for it, no?" He raised his head and stared at him, waiting to hear his answer. If he had to fight, he'd fight until his last breath. Expecting nothing but the worst from a predatory animal. "Speech"

Jupiter eyed the stallion skeptically but only parted with a moody "Hmmmm..." He wanted to keep this guy, after all, so it paid to be on his best behavior. Or whatever passed as good behavior for the hooligan. In this instance it involved holding his tongue. He wasn't quite sure he believed the horse's explanation. Sure, he'd seen wolves who weren't exactly civilized, but he chalked it up to a lack of parenting (totally not pointing fingers at himself here) and/or a couple of loose screws. And the explanation did nothing to explain the assload of clearly dumb prey animals.

But that wasn't worth losing his new pet horse over so he wasn't going to pursue it.

Thankfully the horse provided an easy escape of that sticky conversation. "Ah," he purred, still satisfied with his victory. "Yes of course. See, I'm getting into the trade business and I need someone such as yourself -big and strong and all of that-" He was laying it on thick and he didn't care if the horse saw through him. "To pull my cart and carry my bags."