Welcome to Gaia! ::

Amaya briskly turned to the stewpot and ladled the leftovers into a bowl, so Yuriko could not see her blush. "I met him only the other night, and, yeah, 'smitten' describes it nicely, I guess... as in 'bonked upside the head'... the insufferable..." Huffing, she noisyly scraped the bottom of the pot, muttering under her breath. "Gah! I didn't even ask how he ended up on the barn in the first place!" She scowled and sat down, attacking the stew with her spoon.

((@SSJ3 Sage: It would be nice if you could wait until Yuriko and Amaya do their morning chores... we'll come to that, soon.))

Amaya hmmm-ed around a mouthfull of stew and shrugged.
Same page? We're not even in the same library!
After she had finished it, she rose and started to clean the stewpot and the bowl.
"He's a professional pain in the neck for all I know, and whoever put him there, I will have a word with them... could've scared all the customers away... what were they thinking!" She noisily put the dishes away, then headed for the stairs, scowl still firmly in place. "Anyway... good night to you, Yuriko, and sleep well!" Halfway up the stairs and well out of earshot of the stable maid, her expression softened again, and she sighed.
Damn me, but I hope he's allright...

As usual, Amaya awoke at the break of dawn the next day. Shaking off the last remnants of dreams in which a certain blue-haired guy had a lot of stage-time, she hastily donned her workclothes and headed for the stables to start the pin-over, so she and Yuriko could hopefully have breakfast before the patron arrived.

"Yes I did, thank you. I hope you slept well, too?" Amaya eyed the breakfast-preparations. "I will go tend to the horses quickly, there's another patron coming over today... hopefully he does not arrive before I had the chance to tuck into whatever you're making at the moment... mhh, it smells so good." She smiled and hurried to start her morning chores.

"Allright, stalls cleaned, throughs refilled... ready for breakfast!" Amaya dusted herself off and wiped the sweat from her brow as she hurried for the cottage again. She bounded up the stairs, showered quickly and put on a fresh tunic and breeches, then headed for the kitchen, stomach growling loudly.

Amaya tucked in, smiling and savouring the taste of Yuriko's excellent cooking. "Yeah, I want to give Raku to the patron today and ride alongside with Gigi... she has not been moved for a while, so I expect a nasty fight until I can get her in line again." She sighed. "Oh well, has to be done. If you like to, you can take Toto out for a rack after we've come back. I don't think there will be a lot more patrons today. What do you think?"

"Ahh... thank you for the meal, it was excellent. I'm going to put the tack on Gigi and Raku now, so we can start as soon as the patron arrives. If you want to, you can warm up Raku while I do so with Gigi." Amaya stashed her plate and glass in the sink and went outside again. Passing by the umbrella stand in the hall, she retrieved a leather riding crop and stuck it in her boot. She would never ever stoop to using the curb or a gag bit on her horses, so sometimes a little extra persuasion was needed to get the balky and bullheaded Achal-tekh mare in line.
As she had expected, Gigi was at her very worst behaviour when Amaya brushed her and put the tack on, biting, kicking and trying to push her around, but she retaliated with a slap to the nuzzle and some choice words in her native language. When she rode her around the coral, the mare tried to buck several times, but forcing her head up with the reins and showing her the crop was enough to get her to behave again... Amaya was sweating lightly after that, but Gigi seemed to be as meek as a lamb now.
"And if you think I'm going to let my guard down for only one second, you're sorely mistaken you red devil you... I don't trust you further than I can throw you, beast!", she told the horse, who promptly flattened her ears to her head and gnawed at the bit, frothing from the muzzle, as if she had understood every word.
Oh well... everything is ready for the patron now, I guess.

I stood in my fighting stance in the middle of the meadow. The top of my gi was hung on the fence, my bronze skin was gleeming in the sun. I had a series of strange stripelike scars that were placed on random points on my body and my muscles were primed and pumped. I contiuned practicing as I did everyday at sunrise since I was child.