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 Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 5:16 am
PRETTY LITTLE PONIES
season winter; three weeks before the new year
occasion post-visit to the countess' home
location just outside
summary It was almost dark by the time Andrus managed to negotiate his release from assisting with the party decorations. He had learned much and more in one afternoon with the Countess: that there were far more variations of lace than he had ever imagined possible, that pink in one shade would bring out Claudia's eyes while pink in another (but completely similar) shade would flatter her rosy cheeks, and most importantly, that the term assisting had an extremely broad definition.
The last few hours had consisted entirely of him sitting in one of the Countess' perfectly patterned chairs and nodding as she whisked pattern after pattern of lace past him and doing his best to feign interest. He had not the knowledge or understanding of such matters to offer much advice, much less decisions, though he suspected that a large part of his job had been simply to provide approval for the Countess' choices. Not that he knew enough to disapprove; perhaps that was the very reason she had requested his presence.
But the harsh winter provided a suitable excuse and he had begged his leave to ride home before the sun went down. That did not come to pass, of course, and the sun was nearing the horizon by the time Toby led the liver chestnut colt out from the stables. "I do hope he was a polite guest, Toby," Andrus smiled and nodded at the eager stableboy as he took the reins.
"Real dandy, m'lord," the stableboy replied, giving the colt a hearty pat. "Real good keeper, that'un is."
"Good to hear. I'll be sure to bring him back for a visit." He buttoned his coat up against the winter winds and eyed the sloping road downhill from the manor. "I believe it would be best for me to lead him down this, Toby. Looks like slush down at the bottom there."
The stableboy nodded his agreement. "You're real good to your horses you are, m'lord."
"I try, Toby, I try." He turned to take the reins off the colt's neck, leading him down the slope at a gentle walk.
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Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 5:55 pm
The warmth that had been provided by friendly conversation had dwindled since Chloe's company had gone away. The chill crept in on bony little fingers, but rather than bother someone else to start a fire, she simply found one running and took up the corner of the room while other servants worked sewing various types of fabric for what appeared to be dreadfully intricate table dressings. She had been comfortable enough, but as soon as she was no longer needed she was aware of how cold it would be outside.
All the maid had was an old shawl to wrap around her shoulders, and she entered into the night with the hood drawn up over her head. There was not much wind, at the very least, and so as she began down the street it was not so much freezing as uncomfortably chilly. She did not lift her eyes from the road until it came time to weave around another pedestrian and his young horse. It struck her for a moment that the back of this man's head seemed particularly familiar in a nondescript sort of way. Semi-rudely she stared, trying to piece together who in the world-- the horse looked kind of familiar too, didn't it? It took until she reached the long stride of the man for it to strike her.
"Hello, milord," she said, bundling her hands up by her chest, "Fancy seeing you here."
Would the effect be the same outside of someone else's mansion? Poor Andrus had been cooped up with the countess all this time...?
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Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 7:25 pm
The colt paused near the bottom of the slope, ears pricked and eyes wide, to investigate some trees. In the remaining dim light, the branches waved - apparently menacingly - and the young horse blew out through his nostrils in alarm. "You're alright," Andrus reassured the colt, patting it gently. "You're a funny fellow, aren't you? You've seen plenty of trees before."
The horse snorted and was snuffling at his rider's shoulder when a familiar voice reached Andrus' ears. He turned toward it, one hand teasing the colt's soft nose as he sought the speaker. "Indeed, Chloe," he agreed readily when he saw her. She looked quite cold, huddled up against the oncoming night with only a shawl to keep the chill at bay.
"Have you been working all this time?" He assumed the answer the was yes. If the Countess had managed to keep him for so long, then no doubt she would have done the same to her servants. Andrus didn't imagine for a second that Chloe's day had been any more entertaining than his. Then again, few worked for entertainment as the upper class did; of that, at least, he was aware. Not many were as fortunate as he to have been born to the vast fortune of his family. His grandfather's toil and smarts had effectively erased the need to work from the family.
"Oh, leave off, child," he said suddenly with a laugh, turning to the horse that had decided to try to nose his top hat off, leaving it askew. "Cheeky one, he is."
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Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2013 1:42 pm
Chloe looked interestedly between the man and his horse, a small smile playing on her lips. It was amazing enough to her that she had never stopped to view a horse face-to-face although she hadn't realized until just this moment that she had. There had been times when the girl had been asked to perform some duty in the stables and so she had learned to avoid being kicked in the head but not much else.
"I have been," she nodded, speaking softly, her lips already numbing with the cold. Now her gaze returned again to the equine beauty before her. She had been thinking today about horse-back riding and all that it entailed... or at least as far as she knew in her novels and fantasies. Horses were strong, but up close they looked almost dangerous; all taut muscle and stamping hooves. Andrus looked to have a good handle on the colt, though, and it seemed as if they were interacting quite jovially and she laughed when his hat was tipped. She wanted to badly to stroke the horse's fuzzy nose, but would that be acceptable? She raised a hand and looked to Andrus. "May I?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2013 11:28 pm
With all the ease and dexterity of one well-used to top hats, Andrus plucked the slanted hat from his head and in one fluid motion tucked it under his arm, pushed any stray hair back into place, and flipped the hat back into place. All the while, he watched Chloe watching the colt, who had taken a keen interest in the sleeve of his coat and was happily lipping at the fabric.
"Of course," he answered her query with a nod, gently disentangling his sleeve from the horse and pushing his nose in Chloe's direction. "Over there, fellow, she's the one who wants to pet you." It was their lucky day, Andrus supposed. He happened to have quite a friendly horse on hand, one that was always willing to investigate a new person with vigor and that seemed not to have a mean bone in his body. There were others in the stables at Darrowdown that were not so complacent. One black mare that looked quite impressive when harnessed had come to the stables with a keen aversion to human handling and had taken chunks out of several of the grooms before calming down somewhat. Even now, she was likely to threaten with her teeth; threats that Andrus knew would easily turn into actions. That mare was much more a carriage horse than a riding horse, though, which provided her limited opportunities to terrorize her rider's guests.
"Hand flat first," he advised with a grin as the colt bent to snuffle at Chloe's fingers with ears pricked. "Let him get a good smell of you first, and then you'll be all set to give him a good pat." The horse blew softly through his nostrils, frosted breath curling up from his nose as he did. "There it is, say hello, Archer."
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Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 5:36 pm
Were her attention in the normal place, Chloe likely would have been impressed by her... dare she call him a friend? her Coincidence. She was much more interested in his beast at the moment, though, and her eyes danced over its face with a curious gleam. She wondered what it would be like to have such a powerful things between her legs, to ride into the dark. ...that wasn't very becoming of a lady, now, was it? She supposed that some sort of side-saddle decorum would be necessary in public, but the likelihood of her ever having a horse as such was almost null. Besides, who would care about an orphan striking down the street on a colt?
The girl offered out her hand, lips falling apart with childlike awe, and stretched her fingers back as far as they would go. The initial thought was that the less fingers she had the better, but what if horses were prone to nibbling underhanded as well? She had never done more than guide by the reins. Her hand relaxed to just as flat as it could possibly be.
A soft sound left Chloe's lips as the horse whuffled her hand and her eyes only grew wider as time went on and as he gave a little huff. Then it was a broad grin as she reached out gently to rub the beast's nose and then with a bit more passion as she grew to trust that he would not harm her.
"What a pretty boy~" she cooed, reached up to rub his powerful jaw muscles and then his neck. Such a large, powerful beast and yet one who had evolved to help man so closely. "Hello, Archer." After a few more moments of single-minded petting, the girl's attention finally turned back to Andrus and his swanky top hat. The chill had left her and she did not hide her hands.
"I have never had the chance to get friendly with a horse. At most I'd lead them from place to place for the family I was working for. We certainly don't have any at the orphanage." She chuckled lightly then, having let go of information that she had had no intention of sharing with Andrus ever, but certainly not so soon. It had entirely gone over her head, though, her excitement was so grand. "They seem so... free and mysterious. It appeals to the dreamer in me." She laughed again, her eyes so bright and grateful at her dear Coincidence.
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Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 6:59 pm
Andrus, on the other hand, seemed content to focus his attention on Chloe. He had felt enough pride for the colt and spent enough time conveying that pride to have earned himself some respite; the horse would be in his stable, day in and day out, but the same could not be said for the girl. They had run into each other enough times that he no longer doubted whether they would meet again - if nothing else, the several weeks that remained until Claudia's homecoming would provide a chance or two for them to cross paths again - but that did not necessarily mean those meetings would happen all to frequently, or even that they would continue for much longer.
It was difficult to know what to expect when they came from two such different worlds. What would happen after the ball when the Countess no longer needed extra hands on her payroll? Where would Chloe disappear to then? There seemed to be no good answer, so Andrus contented himself with watching as she interacted with the colt, much to Archer's obvious delight. He was a people-pleaser, no doubt, this one and seemed perfectly willing to stand with his head resting in her arms as she patted him.
Any noblewoman would have retreated, snatched her hand back when Archer stretched out his soft muzzle, scooted behind Andrus when the colt tried to shove his head into her arms for fear of getting fur or saliva on her spotless dress. Any noblewoman would have shaken her head and blamed her own uppity disposition on that animal's behavior when the horse had one no wrong.
Yet here she was, cooing at the colt and grinning at him. That was something special, indeed. Andrus almost shared the colt's contentment, a satisfaction that manifested itself in the wistful smile that came across his face as he watched her. So... genuine, he supposed the word was, and understandably endearing in its lack of pretense.
"You have certainly been missing out," he said when her attention shifted from the horse, and his smile became a little less absent as he, too, was forced to focus on the conversation instead of the wonder of her interactions with his horse. "You can play with them as well. It could surprise you how much they understand," he added, gently grabbing Archer's upper lip when the colt raised his head and holding it until the horse wiggled it free and stuck his head out of reach in playful defiance. If it surprised Andrus to hear the Chloe lived at an orphanage, he didn't mention it.
"To understand the meaning of free, one need only watch a horse gallop through a field with nothing on its back to restrain it." Sometimes, it looked less like the horse was running and more like it was flying low, only barely touching the ground. "Maybe one day, I'll show you."
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Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 7:32 pm
"I'd very much enjoy that," Chloe nodded, admiring for a moment her Coincidence's face. He had just been a man before, but in this light he seemed somehow different. His eyes matched the sky, his hat creating a rather attractive set of lines... indeed, for a moment her eyes trailed down to view the rest of his form at which point she blushed vividly and looked away just a moment. Soon she had recovered and peered back up at Andrus, the entire interaction taking not even a second. It was still beyond her that she had revealed a rather important factor of her life, and as her companion had not remarked upon it it was lost in time.
"Have you always had horses?" she asked then, tilting her head inquisitively and absently beginning to rub the horse again, "It's odd, the way my life went I'd simply never met one, but I see nobles on horses all the time, people riding in carriages... it's strange, how different something so silly can be." When Chloe returned from her amused mind's wanderings, she pulled away slightly and clasped her hands under her arms, giggling only slightly nervously. "Look at me, holding you for conversation in the cold. You must be exhausted after your encounter with the countess," she laughed, "I should get home, and I'm certain someone is waiting for you as well. Perhaps we will see each other again, Lord Kinross? My employment with the countess terminates upon Miss Claudia's homecoming... not that I'm implying we should meet during working hours!"
Flustered, Chloe laughed at herself and shook her head, pushing a lock of slightly curled hair back behind her ear. "I'm certain that we'll see each other again, either way."
There was faith there. It made no logical sense to expect herself and Andrus to ever meet again simply because they had had semi-regular meetings lately. They had never met before, after all, so why should they continue now? Something in Chloe's chest niggled at her, though. Perhaps it was her romantic fantasies or simply hope, but when it came crashing down it would hurt for sure. ...but there was no need to worry about that now. She was here, in the road, alone with her Coincidence and his horse, sharing conversation. There was something special about that at a most basic level and in ways that reality rarely gave to a girl like her.
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Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 4:01 pm
"I believe I will hold you to that." For a moment, it felt as though his smile had to widen, simply being she was looking at him. But what was it exactly that he thought to do? What good was it for him to show her a horse? He couldn't rescue her from her life, and perhaps she would have no desire for him to. He didn't know; he didn't know anything.
The thought struck him harder than he had imagined it would. There was much and more that he had yet to learn about Chloe, about her life, and even more that he most likely never would learn. That, he supposed, was something he would have to accept; it was not his place to know, nor was it right to pretend that it was.
"Oh. Yes, always," he answered when her voice drew him out of his mildly depressing reverie. The stables at Darrowdown housed sixty horses, and apart from the dozen or so left open for visitors' mounts, the stalls and fields had always been full or close to it for as long as Andrus could remember. There were two tiny, mild-mannered ponies still in the stables that had taught Andrus and Jordun how to ride as children, and a stocky roan mare that had later taken him galloping headlong across the manor grounds as a flighty teen. There was also the old gray mare, gone white with age and sweet as honey, that belonged to his mother and that was praised far and wide as the most well-mannered horse around. "My father quite liked horses. He used to collect them, almost, but I always knew which ones were the best ones. He didn't." More than once, Oban Kinross and walked into the stable only to catch sight of a horse he didn't recall owning.
"Waiting for me? Alas, only my dear mother," he lamented with a smile. "I should think you are the one who deserves more concern. I have not been working all day." But it did seem time to continue on their separate ways. The sun would be down by the time he rode home, and he wanted to arrive back at Darrowdown in the dark as much as he wanted Chloe to be walking home in the cold at dusk.
Had it not been such a breach of society's norms, he might have offered her a ride home. But somehow, he doubted that the sight of them riding double through the streets would inspire much admiration or approval from his fellow lords and ladies; and if there was anything Andrus had promised to do when his father left Palisade, it was to uphold the family's image.
He was tempted to take her hand, too, and kiss it in farewell, but the idea waned in a moment's hesitation. Instead, he nodded and flipped the reins over Archer's head and onto the horse's neck. "I have no doubt that you are right, Chloe. If you were not, our lives would be in a rather tragic state, and I think that stories ought not end in such fashion, or so soon."
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Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 8:36 pm
Chloe watched Andrus explain himself with the same wonder she might wander a golden corridor. Even an ounce of the information he offered gave her a look into a more romanticized life, at least in her own mind. The man could lie to her about every facet of nobility, remark about time travel and magic, and she would simply take it as fact with doubt at its core to add to her green and silver world of those more well-off than the lives she had known. Now not only did people ride horses through fields on a summer's day, they owned a dozen or more to learn and bond with on a whim. Perhaps Archer was Andrus' favorite, or maybe there was another loyal steed house back at his doubtlessly grand manor with rheumy eyes and worn teeth that had brought him through his early youth and resumed loyalty to this day. Somewhat lost in her fantasy, the girl lost a bit of the comment upon only his mother being home so swiftly following mention of his father. Either way, she would not have asked. Such things were not polite.
"Oh," she remarked then, apparently comfortable enough to give Andrus a politely dismissive wave of her hand, "I work all day every day, it's nothing new. Jobs like this are a good break from the norm. Besides, I get to explore and imagine in other people's homes. The tedium becomes easier then."
Even being the one who suggested it, though, she was loath to leave. Something felt different about this encounter, although she couldn't quite put her finger on it. There was this odd tingling-strained feeling just at the bottom of her heart, and although the sudden unbidden image of Andrus kissing her goodbye on the cheek (which brought forth a slight flush and a quiet huff of a giggle) gave her an idea of what it may be. She could only shake her head before her gaze rose again to Andrus. The passion and spontaneity that had drawn forth their first dance seemed to be somewhat dulled, although they did now know more of each other now. Perhaps that was the deciding factor. Nobody could deny her a fantasy, though, and it was a chaste and harmless one at that. Much of her life was lived in a flight of fantasy, and so long as it didn't alter her reality she saw no harm. Instead of making any more to show her internal waffling, she curtseyed deeply and laughed.
"When ever and where ever we meet again, milord," she said softly, her grin broad. She walked backward only a few steps before she turned, heading back toward home with a ridiculous smile plastered across her face. She was happy. She was excited. It had been a good day.
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Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 2:45 pm
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Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 2:47 pm
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Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 2:49 pm
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Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 2:52 pm
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Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 2:57 pm
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