|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 8:56 pm
While Kahlilia had been putting away the hose, Roman had soaked a sponge and was currently using it to wash the mud off Phoenix. "Hmm? Oh," he murmured when he heard her words. "I was. Scared out of my bloody mind, Kahlilia. But if I'd showed it, he would have learned from me that there was something to be afraid of, and he would never have gone near this platform again." Rubbing the base of the horse's ears, he smiled faintly. "It wasn't much worse than what I was expecting, really. We'll work on it. Won't we, boy?" When Phoenix whickered softly and nuzzled Roman - almost apologetically - the boy laughed.
"He doesn't seem to mind the sponge," he said thoughtfully as he stood back and examined his cleaning job critically. "Maybe it really is just the spray of the water. I wonder if the force of the hose can be adjusted." He patted Phoenix's withers lightly and led the now-clean stallion off the washing platform. "Once he dries, we can tack up and go ride, if you still want to," he said cheerfully. "Unless that was enough excitement for you today. I've got a stopwatch on my watch," he offered it for inspection, "and I could clock Ben for you if you'll watch Phoenix's form for me while we're jumping."
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 9:27 pm
Kahlilia was standing beside Benvolio, with one hand on his back, petting him. Still pale from the reaction, but calming down, she offered a wary smile. "Maybe we can ask," She suggested quietly, wondering briefly where Shannon was.
For that matter, where were all of the others? She hadn't seen many others, and she remembered talking to Roman about that, walking by the pond and thinking about things that scared her.
You joined because you want to get over your past fears, now get over them. An inner voice chastisted her and she leaned against Ben subconsciously. She briefly caught herself and hoped that Roman hadn't noticed the fact that she had spaced out. Whats wrong with me?
"No," She said with a small shake of her head. "I think I'll be able to handle it." Lifting her gaze to look at the stopwatch, she brightened just enough to look noticeable. "Of course," she replied, her voice still quiet and holding lightness that made it sound timid even if she was in a good mood. "D'you think Phoenix will surprise us again?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 11:31 pm
"Is that hesitation I hear in your voice, Xavier?" Summer asked smirking at him. "And who said I'm going to do anything but swim," Summer stated a weird tone in her voice. It was a kind of mysterious tone which she used to tease and hint that she was going to do something but she wasn't going to do anything while they where so far out that she couldn't touch the bottom of the river. "Speaking of mud, remind me to give you a mud bath later," Summer said with a wink. She the swam toward him until she was close enough that she could fell his breath on her lips and smiled then kissed him and pulled away swimming backwards and smiling, "There I did something. What kind of dirty you have in mind?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 11:43 am
Roman chuckled wryly. "I hope not. I've had about all the surprises I can take from this grumpy old man for today," he joked, scratching under the horse's jaw. Phoenix's eyes were half-closed and his body was relaxed again - clearly he was enjoying the attention. "Yeah, we can ask Shannon about the hose later. Of course, then she'll want to know why we're asking, and then we'll have to tell her about Phoenix, and...did we ever tell her that I've started riding him at all? We should probably do that at some point," he mused. "Even if we don't tell her about the jumping."
When he smiled at last, patting the horse, he looked very gentle. "Kahlilia..." he began, his voice quiet and almost nervous. Then he hesitated and after a second, shook his head. "Never mind. Phoenix is almost dry now. We should go back into the barn and tack up."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 8:53 pm
"Pfff," Xavier said. "Me? Of course not !" He was laughing and mimicking his own voice so that Summer would know he was joking of fake egotistical pride. Really, he was confident, and everybody who knew him knew, but he wasn't the kind that would shove it in your face like some stupid beer blaster.
He stood, or sort of stood in the river, his feet a little less than a foot from touching the muddy and algae covered floor of the river. He was very tall, he was six foot four, but even he looked small compared to it. So far, he wasn't aware of it. He was watching Summer, giving her a devious smirk that left little to the imagination but also hid what he was thinking. Xavier was like that ; he was a human set of contradictions.
With passion and surprising lovingness, he kissed Summer in return and brightened a little. Then, his facial expression curled back into a smirk and he just shrugged. However, he eventually answered her in a voice that was surprisingly calm and cool.
"I dunno, what kind of dirty do you have in mind?" With that, he poked her arm and raised one eyebrow.
Kahlilia giggled lightly, looking up at him with growing admiration. "Yeah, thats true," She agreed with a voice that was still full of giggling. Benvolio nudged her shoulder just then, asking for attention as well. If another horse was getting attention and he was not, he was not happy.
Kahlilia remembered saying this large, sweet stallion so resembled a child, and as she spent time with him the thought seemed to grow into what was now either a belief or a solid fact in her mind, at least.
The girl straightened because she had finally realized she was leaning competely against Ben and stroked him gently. "By the way, have you seen Shannon lately? I don't think I have." She said evenly when Roman mentioned the woman. She remembered seeing her and introducing herself when she had first arrived - was that only yesterday, or the other day? Why did so many memories feel detached from her?
She looked up with what was at first surprise. What was he going to tell her? Her mind was blank this early in the morning and it would take a while to regain it. Obviously, she was no morning person. It was probably only nine o'clock.
Despite her curiousity, she nodded and checked to see that Benvolio's reins were still intact, which they were, and started to lead him back towards the barn. Or rather, Ben lead Kahlilia. He seemed eager to be up and moving, and it was catching. Hopefully, his hyper attitude wouldn't become a problem in the future.
"Were you going to say something?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 10:28 pm
Roman smiled a little at her laughter. "For all we know, he's not supposed to be ridden at all, and I'll be in deep horse manure," he said lightly. Phoenix snorted, sounding almost amused, and Roman chuckled. "I'm telling you, he knows what we're saying. I'm sure of it." He lazily patted the horse.
When Kahlilia asked her question, however, he frowned. "Actually, now that you mention it, I haven't seen her at all recently. Maybe she's just letting us handle things on our own - I mean, the stalls are done and everything." Absently stroking Phoenix as he thought, he mused, "Maybe she's just busy. I don't know."
At her next words, however, he flushed slightly. "Oh. No. No, I wasn't. It was just a thought." He smiled weakly and shrugged his shoulders. "Then I forgot it again, so it couldn't have been too important."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 3:24 pm
Kahlilia giggled a little again. "I guess we misjudged him then," she said in the same light tone of voice, remembering how they had agreed that Phoenix's main purpose was probably breeding. Well, maybe it was, but the huge black stallion was obviously extremely intelligent and was, well... deep? Usually, she thought her own ideas were strange, as though they were inferior and detached from her logic. But were they?
The girl shrugged nonchalantly, agreeing with a nod to Roman's statement. "Yeah, thats probably true." Her tone was still very light, because she was in a good mood and didn't feel like bringing herself down to worry. She was just Kahlilia like that.
On seeing Roman flush, the look of slight surprise appeared again in her eyes, and her curiousity started to grow again. Even if curiousity did kill the cat, maybe it wouldn't kill her ... or would it?
God, I am weird.
However, she returned a smile and started to tack Benvolio up, and then suddenly asked, "Do you think Phoenix has any other foals?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 4:33 pm
"And what where you smirking at?" Summer asked him poking him in the ribs after he poked her arm. "What is going trough that devious little mind of yours?" She then swam around behind him and neatly manage to get onto his back and wrap her legs around his waist. "You sounded like a parrot when you asked me basically the same question I asked you," she said laughing and holding tight to him. "Now I believe you are stuck with me on your back for as long as I want to stay here." She then looked around and spotted Shadow rolling in the mud near the back of the water, "Now I have to wash her all over again," Summer complained.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 8:32 pm
Xavier chuckled a little. "Well," He replied in the same casual tone, "Anything and everything."
That statement probably made him sound pretty disgusting. Deep in the back of his mind, he had probably been called such a name - or others relating to it - more than his share of times. He never really cared, and if he were to meet the right person he could even gloat about it.
Guys will be guys.
Making a squeaky noise to mimic a parrot, he laughed and caught Summer around her waist to hold her. Then, he looked over at Shadow and shrugged lightly, not seeming to mind. It always seemed to be a mystery, whatever it was that was actually on his mind. "Hey," He told Summer and smiled, joking around as usual. "How'd you like to go romping in the mud?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 11:12 am
"Oh, I wouldn't think so," replied Roman jokingly as he patted the horse. "You have to be able to get near him before you could find out that he's brilliant and talented and all those good things, right, Phoenix?" The horse whickered, nudging him. Then he stretched out his neck to examine Kahlilia more closely. "Behave, pal," Roman warned laughingly as he patted the horse. "She's not interested."
He let go of the vague curiosity as to Shannon's whereabouts, because it didn't really matter. It was easier that way.
His flush had faded by the time Kahlilia asked about foals, but he still felt a little awkward. "Well, that is...I don't really know. Probably, since I'm pretty sure he's a breeding stallion. We could keep an eye out, see if there are any other foals in the fields that look like him. Speaking of which, when we come back from our ride, do you want to take Kelly and Ariel out for a walk?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 3:20 pm
Kahlilia laughed again and pushed her hair back in a way that probably made her look ditsy, as she most likely was. Meaning when she pushed it back most of her hair rebelled the action and flew to her face so that it covered her entire left eye. She didn't seem to mind, she just started to laugh again and appeared to blush.
Benvolio seemed to brighten when he heard the subject of riding and started to paw the ground again in what looked like a very eager way. Kahlilia was putting her hair back up in a ponytail so that it didn't fly around again, but she could see he was getting antsy and she patted his neck as though to say 'Soon, just wait.'
She nodded then, hearing Roman's words. "Yeah, it would be nice to get them out." There was still a special feeling in her heart from witnessing Ariel's birth, which made her feel like a second mother of sorts. However, she knew she would never want to threaten Kelly, because in all cases it could mean trouble.
She shrugged the thought off and mounted Benvolio, who was starting to wag his tail as an excited canine would do. Kahlilia smiled and said, "Where d'you want to go?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 6:05 pm
Roman, who had been tacking up as they talked, had just convinced Phoenix to take the bit when Kahlilia started talking again. "Hmm? Oh. Yeah. We need to get them to start walking around together - we can't teach Ariel to walk on a lead until she's weaned, I think, but at least she can see her mother walking on a lead so that she knows it's no big deal. We can start teaching her to bathe and load soon, too, because you're supposed to start that with their mother." He grinned. "As long as the mother is good at it."
Leading his horse out of the barn before mounting, he replied, "Well, I was thinking that we could go back to that pond that we found last time - and maybe go cross-country, see if we can find any trees to jump. I'd like to know how high he'll go before he refuses." He patted Phoenix, who was prancing a little in his eagerness. "I think it's pretty high."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 6:58 pm
Kahlilia listened with a nod, and said, "I wonder if Ariel will like bathing?" She gave a playful smile then, hoping to make a joke of the total fear she had felt just earlier. In a way, it proved to be her defense mechanism, but there were others such as her more noticeable flight reaction to scary things.
Enough about that, she chastisted herself.
Then she remembered the pond and what had happened. Thoughts, whirling around like invisible but nevertheless strong tornados deep in her mind, screaming for salvation. Salvation...
However, she kept the light smile on her berry colored lips and said, "That sounds fun," She agreed. She noticed the two horse's increasing energy and giggled a little, "You ready?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 7:11 pm
Roman chuckled wryly. "We can hope she likes it more than her father does," he replied as he stroked Phoenix. "I think as long as her mother doesn't mind it, she won't either." Easily, he leaned back in his saddle and turned towards the rolling pastures. "I'm ready."
He grinned over his shoulder at her. "Let's do this."
((OOC: Short post, I have to run downstairs so I can watch a movie with the folks! mrgreen ))
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 7:53 pm
( No problem [: )
Kahlilia giggled a little again and leaned forward as though to hug Benvolio, and then straightened, looking towards the pastures and turning towards them as well. Secretly, she was hoping she wouldn't have to deal with herself back towards the pond. Eighteen years is too soon, she thought, but what if I'm just being selfish?
There were no tears this time, only slightly angry thoughts and a curiousity of the world that would never fade away.
Benvolio began to gallop towards the fields, breaking the girl from her thoughts in an instant. She held the reins, one hand gently stroking the back of his neck. It was like he had memorized the entire ranch, maybe, and Kahlilia couldn't help but be amazed by that. There were so many places to go, so many things to see.
It was only a matter of minutes before both Benvolio and Kahlilia caught sight of the pond. Benvolio made some sort of snorting sound at a rabbit hiding just beside a large oak tree and looked ready to start chasing it. Thus, it ran back into its home somewhere else. Kahlilia laughed when she saw Ben's ears twitch and go back very slightly, petting him and muttering 'Next time'.
Subconsciously, she looked for the frog they had heard the other day. They had beautiful vocals, even if their meaning was only very vaguely known. She continued to stroke the still hyper stallion while she waited for Roman and Phoenix.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
