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Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2013 2:06 pm
AIM Rp between Bernadette and Cato (vollyballrocks91 and Roman Foi) 
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Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2013 2:15 pm
Cato seemed to suddenly find himself back in the now. His thoughts, first groggy, centered around "where am I" and "what time is it", before they had a completely more urgent realization of "who is next to me". While his heart lept to his throat, Cato quickly reassessed and soon remembered that he had asked the mare--oh what was her name?-- to spend the night with him. Waves of guilt and embarrassment washed over him. How pathetic he must have seemed! Enough to have her agree to spend the night. How improper a request! Stupid stupid stupid. Cato hardly moved, with only his eyes open, and those were still even blurry, trying to figure out what was the best thing to do? Stand? Leave? Pretend to be asleep? He remained paralyzed, assessing the consequences of each option.
Bernadette had actually been awake for a short while now, and had cycled through the same thoughts. It would be rude to wake him, and equally as rude to just leave without a word. So she had remained silent, deciding this would be a good time to pick out the day's accumulation of stuff in her hair. It was mainly her tail that dragged on the ground. Without realizing he had awoken she continued to pick out the little bits of dirt, moss, and twigs in her hair.
He stopped breathing when she moved, and realized she was very much awake. Okay. Good. So it was okay to move too. Gathering his wits.... and admitedly his courage... Cato shifted, to pull himself into the standing position. He at first glanced her way a few times, avoiding eye contact, almost. He decided being polite would be a good start, and so he mumbled a gruff "good morning" as he started to shake out his main and wings, stretching.
She started a bit when he stood up and offered a smile, still remaining in her place on the ground. She had a couple more to get out of her tail. "Good morning. Did you sleep well?" He seemed to be back in his grumpy mood, but that was fine, she figured he'd dismiss her soon enough.
He hesitated, and shook out his mane one last time. "You could say that." He turned and watched her pick at her mane, resisting the urge to make a joke about how little good it would do. And the urge to help pull a twig out from around her left ear.
"Good to hear." She smiled and pulled the last piece out of her tail. Good as new for the day! Her mane would have to wait until later. She stood and shook herself out as well. "You'll have to find your own breakfast today, but I can point you where the berries were if you wanted more."
He felt his hollow stomach rumble like it hadn't been fed in days. He never seemed to be full. He swallowed, his mouth watering at the idea of eating. Cato decided the reason he was at a loss for words with this mare was due to his lack of food. Yup. Made sense. Totally logical. He shifted one hoof to the other, ready to chow down on some nice greens, more than anything. The rich, filling kind. "What do you plan on doing for breakfast?" He asked, genuinely curious. He wasn't well versed on the foods, or where to find them really, in this area of territory.
She tilted her head curiously at him. "I.. hadn't planned on doing anything for breakfast. Probably just find some fresh grass." She especially like when there was still dew on the blades in the early morning, but with it being so warm lately she hadn't had that in a while. "Why aren't you telling me to leave, Cato? I thought once you'd felt better in the morning you'd want to be on your own."
He laid his ears back and frowned. "Direct, aren't you?" he said gruffly, twitching his tail left and right with irritation. "If you want me to tell you to leave, then say so. I don't even know why you have to have me tell you too." He said, with an air of superiority, almost. He didn't like that the mare had asked him so bluntly, like it was what he was supposed to say to her. Fine. If that's what she wanted, so be it.
"I didn't say I wanted anything. You just.." she sighed. "Last night I wanted to help you, give you some sort of comfort. But this morning you're being blunt and gruff again, I took that to mean you were annoyed by my presence." She tried to keep her smile in place but it faltered at his attitude toward her. "I apologize if being direct was somehow offensive, I was merely speaking my thoughts."
"I don't need your comfort, mare." He said, offended, but he hadn't been looking at her. He turned to give her a talking to, about how he didn't need to be comforted by anyone, to be need the help of anyone, especially a mare, until he saw her smile faulter--just as he'd turned. He hadn't seen her actually unhappy since he'd met her yesterday, and believe you me, he had given her plenty to be unhappy about. It tugged the strings in his heart and he found himself weak. "Hey, d-don't, don't do that. Stop frowning." Ironically, telling her not to frown, deepened his.
She actually frowned more at his words. "I think I have a right to frown at you, sir. I'm sorry I misinterpreted the reason you asked me to stay, from now on I'll try not to think about why you do the things you do." She was being extremely sarcastic, and lashing out wasn't normally her thing, but he was being infuriating and didn't seem to want to explain himself. Well that was just fine, he could be a grump about life all he wanted once she left. "I'm going to find food." She stalked off in the direction she knew the river was in to find a cool drink and fresh grass.
"Hey!" He called after her, easily keeping pace. "It's not your job to examine my actions, either way." He commented, his eyes unwavering from the back her head.
"No it's not. I just wanted to make sure you were alright, you seemed upset. Sorry that I care. Apparently that's a crime now. Are you going to follow me just so you can badger me more?" She refused to turn around and look at him.
"I just might." he huffed, keeping on her tail. He avoided stepping on her locks, though the thought crossed his mind one more than one occasion, just to see her flip her gears some more it. It was rather entertaining. He almost smiled at the idea. "Where are you leading us?" he said after a moment's silent.
"I'm leading myself toward the river. Dealing with a brute of a stallion can make one extremely thirsty, and there's fresher grass near water." She chanced a look over her shoulder at him.
He gave her a bored look, though with his "mask" in place, he wasn't looking where he was going. He didn't lift his hoof high enough and stumbled, catching himself by bringing his lifted hoof down on her tail's hair. Oops. His mouth fell open and eyes popped wide, as he, quickly as he could, recovered and stepped off her locks. "I-I-I" he was flabbergasted.
She yelped as her tail was yanked, and she quickly turned to glare at him. "Now I don't care if you don't like me, or if you even want to be around me, but that does not give you an excuse to yank my tail." She was right up in his face now, noses practically touching. "How would you like it if I took a big bite out of your tail, sir? Probably wouldn't feel too good, huh?" She had looked away after the look he'd given her so she hadn't seen the fact that he'd tripped. But even so he should have watched where he was going!
"It was an accident!" he yelped, feeling pretty bad about it. "Honestly!" he said as he galloped to her side, and tried to show her, in earnest, he hadn't meant to step on her. "Do you see these big hoofs?! It was only a matter of time, really, you must admit."
"No I will not admit it. You should watch where you're going, and MAYBE you shouldn't walk so close behind me." She huffed and kept on walking. Man she had really lost it, she needed to get away from him or something or she feared she'd never regain her composure. Finally with a sigh of relief she stopped at the edge of the fast moving water and dipped her head for a drink. Maybe being refreshed and getting a bite to eat would help.
He never left an inch of her side, even when she beant to drink. His head followed, staring at her with out blinking. "It was total and complete accident. After the mayhem you seem to deal with constantly because all that you have going on, I wouldn't intentionally add to it." He frowned, frustrated she didn't believe him.
Bernadette narrowed her eyes at his closeness. "Fine it was an accident. Don't walk behind me anymore." Nope. Needed more water. She switched to eating the tender blades of grass along the river bank.
He nodded in assent, and trotted be her side, following her around like he didn't know what to do himself. Oh. Thats right. He didn't. His stomach rumbled louder this time, catching his attention. "Ahhh" he sighed, finding the scent of the greens too much. He began ripping the sweet, moist blades from the ground a mouthfuls at a time.
She tried to ignore him for the time being, at least while he was quiet that was easier to do. She focus on calming herself down to be able to deal with him better and continued eating quietly.
Sadly for the lady, Cato wasn't exactly the most peacful eater. He was load in his ripping up the greens, chewed loudly, and happened to make moaning sounds when he tasted a particularly good piece of grass. He continued mulling around like a fattening cow, and happened to not notice his almost bumping into the mare, hip to hip.
Goodness gracious. As she chewed she slowly slid her eyes over at the said cow. Just to try and bug him, she reached over and snatched the blades of grass he was about to eat, giving him a satisfied grin. She continued her little game, eating her own grass, then snatching the specially tasty looking ones right out from under him.
Cato at first didn't care that much. Fine. She could have that piece. As he went for his next bite, he saw a lovely batch and reached to snatch it up, boom. Gone. He pushed his bottom lip out a little and laid his ears back. Ok then... He reached out one more time. Snatch! ..... Fine, if that's how she wanted to be. Tryin to repress a wide smile, Cato saw a very green and what seemed like just a little dew left on the blades remaining in the shade. Eyeballing the mare, Cato timed his move right just. As she spotted them and reached, Cato bumped his hip into her, rather smaller, hip and grabbed the greens right on up. He lifted his head proudly, chewing rather dramatically with a smile.
Bernadette squeaked as she stumbled from his much larger form bumping into hers and wrinkled her nose at him. "Why don't you just stay over there. You keep your grass, and I'll take the grass over here." She practically stomped over to another area, but she managed to contain herself.. a little. She needed to keep space between them or she might go crazy. His mood was changing again, gruff to almost playful, but she didn't dare say anything of it. Last time she did that, he closed up on her. And if she was going to get to the bottom of his moods then she needed to keep him open.
~More to come~
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Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 12:57 am
Cato chuckled silently and relented to bugging the poor girl. He took his own space with some bountiful greens, but made sure to keep his eye sight in line with her. His wings stayed close to his body, and moved his drape to around his neck so it didn't get in his way while he chowed down. She was a great sight, that was sure. Especially with the sun lighting up her hair and body.
Finally some peace. She took the time she had to continue eating and enjoy the calm that the sound of the river brought her. She ate her fill, which would take less than him considering how massive he was and went to get another cool drink. Her hair prickled as she glanced over to catch him watching her. She offered him a smile, hoping she had the patience to keep up her niceness.
He looked away at her smile and pretended he hadn't spent the past several moments admiring her silver metal accessories. They were especially pretty in the sunlight against her lighter skin. He wondered, in the mean time, where she was from? What her lineage came from? Surely not the dessert. His thoughts turned to a dark place, and he quickly tried to find a different thought path. That clover patch looked decent. He'd never had them before. Reaching over, he snatched up a nice batch. Ew. He immediately lifted his head and spat and sputtered, trying to get the taste out of his mouth. Gross!
"No taste for clovers?" Suddenly she had appeared at his side, looking extremely amused by his disgust. "They're not so bad, you just have to get used to them." To prove her point, she leaned to take another bite of the same batch of clovers and chewed them with a smirk. "What are you planning to do for the day? Follow me around some more." She silently thanked that she was able to get her normal cheery mood back, as she leaned forward to pluck a piece of clover off the side of his mouth.
He hardly heard her words as he tried desperately to get the taste out. How could anyone ever eat this? There were plenty of delicacies he'd never seen in the desert, but he was thankful that these ugly, gross things never sprouted near by. As he was turning to respond with "what where you saying?" She leaned over to do... well he didn't know what... but their muzzles touched for the briefest moment. His eyes grew wide and he jerked back, unsure why she was so close, or what the heck was happening.
She giggled. "Relax, you had some evil clover still trying to attack you." He didn't seem used to any sort of close contact, unless he was initiating it with hip bumps.. or tail tugging. He had tensed when she'd touched him with a wing, and now barely a brush from her nose. Interesting. "You didn't answer my question."
His mind spun around and around and he only could really spit out "What question?" as he stared at the mare in frantic evaluation, making sure she wasn't offended or angry with him. In his culture, mares just didn't get as close as she seemed to be repeatedly. Especially their faces!
Good, she had him thorougly flustered. Better him than her. "I asked what you were planning to do for the day, or if you planned on just following me around some more. And then you freaked out on me." Her head tilted as she studied him, her long hair falling past her eyes. "Should I not get that close to you?"
"No, you really shouldn't," he said rather gruffly, making his pouting face again. "Very unlady like," he added, knowing that would be probably more rational reasoning for her more than anything.
Bernadette took a step back, she was actually offended by that. "Well stepping on a lady's tail and bumping your hip to hers, which could be a lot more suggestive, would be called very ungentleman like. Get off your pedestal, Cato." She was back to not caring what he did anymore, and turned to leave. She'd eaten, had a drink, now she'd find something else to do for herself. She still needed to groom out her mane but she'd rather go find somewhere peaceful for that task.
Cato sighed dramatically and looked to the sky. She was entirely too difficult. "Hold you horses, woman." (pun intended) Cato trotted his way to her again. "You know, you do this whole walking off thing too much." He commented, as if casual conversation.
She was done talking to him, she'd only tried to help him and he repaid her with an insult. Nothing nice would be coming out of her mouth at the moment and as she kept walking in silence she kind of just hoped he would give up on following her everywhere.
Cato was very much aware she wanted him to leave, but he wouldn't. Not because SHE stuck her face in HIS, way to close, and way to intimately. Who just does that? Odd people, that's who. He continued in silence keeping pace with her, waiting for her to speak. He was positive attempting conversation would only p her off more. Silly women. He rolled his eyes silently and trotted on.
He wasn't leaving. Why wasn't he leaving? After too long she stopped abrubtly and looked at him with narrowed eyes. "What do you want? You owe me an apology for that comment. Where I come from you don't insult someone who tries to help you. You say thank you. Apparently you must have been raised by bears."
Cato flattened his ears and narrowed his eyes back. "Actually the opposite! Where I come from, women don't put their faces next to a males! That's scandalous and disrespectful for both. So no-- not bears." Cato had stopped his pace too, standing still to see what she wanted to do. He wasn't letting her go in a huff over something that wasn't his fault, no ma'am uh-uh.
"Oh scandalous, is it?" She shoved her face back in his, noses actually touching this time, and she wasn't about to back down. "I'm sorry, you must have been raised by dainty little birds who are afraid to get close to anyone. Maybe I like being close to people, perhaps you should just get over it."
Cato had to only tilt his head up straight to avoid her contact. She was much shorter, and already had to reach to put her snout next to his. "Or maybe YOU should be more respectful, ever though of that?" He said, equally as harsh. He wasn't backing down either.
That's it. With an aggravated snort she brought her hoof down smartly on his. "I give people respect who deserve it and who give it back to me!"
It did nothing but amuse Cato that she would attempt to harm him. "Really?" He said, with a grin in his tone. "Do you keep up this whole 'lady' thing this well, all the time, Bernadette?" Her name came to him in a flash. He'd not remembered it until seeing her crack a little bit more, showing her frustration. His grin widened.
She had to bite her tongue to keep from swearing at him. She'd never let her temper slip THAT much before. And she hated even more that his damn grin was infections, as she tried to keep her frown she was slowly failing. "I hate you. I'm very much always a lady until I meet brute stallions who are a pain in my behind."
"And how often do you meet brute, but devilishly handsome, stallions such as myself?" He grinned more, giving her a wink before backing up a little so he could saftly put his head down.
"So far I've only met one." She wrinkled her nose at him. "How often do you have to be rude to nice gentle mares who simply want to help you?"
He smiled a little more... nicely would be a understatement. He flashed her a smile that had not been on his lips in a long, long time; a smile that was down right... sweet. "So far I've only met one." He quoted her, and kept his smile on his lips a little more before shaking his mane out, almost out of habit. "Uhm, well, we should probably get going where we're going." He nodded his head in the direction that dark, rolling clouds seemed to be forming.
Well that was new, and quite a sight if she did say so herself. A smile like that melted almost all irritation she'd had left and it softened his face nicely making him seem even more handsome. She blinked when he spoke and turned to see what he was talking about. "I wasn't really going anywhere. Just mainly trying to get away from you," she looked up at him sheepishly from behind her hair.
He chuckled out right, at that. His smile stayed as he looked back down at the mare. "Well. I think you failed." He seemed to have left a lingering notion that she would continue to fail so long as she tried.
She let out a breath. "Yes I suppose I did." Her head turned to look at the dark forming clouds again. How strange she'd never noticed them before, she really must have been distracted by this stallion. "Well you must be tired of following me around, so how about I follow you? Where to, Cato?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 1:13 am
Cato smirked before taking pace again, in the same direction Bernadette had been going just because. He didn't have anywhere better to go, and it seemed to be going off to the side of the incoming storm. It was odd he hadn't sensed it arriving, either. Of course, his senses were just a little duller with the whole "rain" concept. When rain was coming in the desert... you knew. "What would you like to do today, ma'am?" He asked, very politely and gentlemanly, humoring her.
Bernadette stuck to his side and kept pace with him. "I don't have anything in mind good sir. I'm content with whatever you feel like doing. Although I would like to avoid getting wet if that's possible.. Probably won't be, but I just thought I would inform you of my thoughts." She smiled at him.
He resisted to roll his eyes again, but instead smiled back and kept up his even trot. What to do, what to do. His eyes swooped the area and he grinned. This storm could come in handy after all. "I have something in mind... but you're going to have to follow me and not ask questions until we get there. Can you do that?" He asked turning her way, showing we was serious about the not asking part. He had something fun in mind, but he could see a lady being apprehensive.
Her head tilted, curiosity piqued by his tone. "I can't make any promises, I am of the curious sort. There may be a couple questions, but I'll try my best." Her smile was still in place. "Lead the way, captain, and I'll try to keep up."
"Alrighty, then" he said with a even more wide grin. He then splayed his wings out wide and started a running start before taking to the air in one big swoosh from the ground. He flapped his way up higher to catch the momentum of the mild winds coming in from the storm, gliding his way to the higher rocks and ridges that laid off in the distance. He checked back to make sure Bernadette was going to follow him, though he thought she would.
Now she was really curious. Where on earth was he going? She started trotting first, then picked up to a gallop to get her momentum before spreading her wings and taking flight after him. She glided below him, but was still close enough for him to hear her over the roar of the winds. "So where are we goin'?" She grinned, purposely breaking his question rule just to ruffle his feathers.
He shook his head with a small smile as both in exasperation and as a 'I'm not telling' manner. "You'll see soon!" he called down, tilting with the winds. They became a little more rough, but would still be managable by a young wind soq, no problems. A little exercise was good for the soul either way.
He continued to glide until they reached the areas that had rock ridges and were the starts of mountains, almost. He tried to find the best area he would, where there was plenty of room all around... and down. He spotted a nice ridge that was about 20 square feet around, and about 500ft up from the ground. Just about 15 stories higher than what they were now, really. He nodded for her to see where he was going before he shifted his wings and led him up and up and up to the place. He was pleased to see a fave sat off to the backside of the area.
Just to make sure though... he landed in run, and kept up his gallop all the way to the cave. Just making sure he wasn't invading anyone's home.... It was small, big enough for a family of 2, probably, and had reminants of grasses and leaves someone would have used to make a small bed, probably. He peered inside and caught the faint scent of old soq. He couldn't make out anymore specific, as it was so very faint. He believed this probably had belong to someone a while ago, but had been abandoned for some time. Satisfied with his quick inspection he turned to see how far behind his new companion was.
Bernadette followed after him and saw where he was planning on landing, but she couldn't help but wonder why they were coming up here. Once her hooves landed on the hard rock, she trotted after him to peer around his shoulder into the cave. And he had called her unlady like, he was the one bringing her to a dark secluded cave they could have to themselves. But she'd keep that thought to herself for the time being, perhaps he actually had something in mind. "Nice place. May I ask why we're up here?" Her wings settled over her body to keep away the slight chill that was up here in the mountains.
Cato turned from the cave and walked to the edge of the cliff to peer over it, with out a word. Satisfied with examination from one side to the other, he was getting antsy. He'd noticed Bernadette's chill at first, then realized how cold it was up. He was not built for the cold. "Ready to warm yourself up?" He asked after he was done scouting the perimeter, throwing a grin over his shoulder as he stood off to the center of the cave.
She actually stared at him a little apprehensively. "Maybe.. Depends how I'm going to be getting warm. Are you going to tell me why we're up here yet?" He sure was acting strange. The way he looked over the edge of the cliff made her a little nervous, even if she did have wings..
His grin widened. "We're going to jump." He was excited to see her reaction, choosing the least tactful way to explain it to her.
"Absolutely not! You may like to be risk your life and fly headlong into people or jump off cliffs like a maniac, but I certainly do not. You can go jump off and I'll just wait here until you've finished trying to kill yourself." She moved farther away from the edge and planted her hooves defiantly. He definitely was crazy, she'd only had suspicions before but now it was confirmed. Totally crazy.
Cato rolled his eye with a bright smile, reacting exactly as he was hoping. "We aren't going to die." The wind pick up sharply, billowing his hair towards Bernadette. "Trust me, we'll be just fine. He have two sets of these-" he said splaying his wings out as far as they would go, "with a clear shot down, annnnd this wind? We're going to be fiiiine."
"You're not helping your case. That wind could slam us right into the side of the cliff!" She huddled closer to the rock wall, wings clenched in tight, and her own hair getting whipped around and tangled together. "You go, I'll wait here."
Cato turned to face her. "Are you sure?" He took a step back towards the edge.
"Yep, sure am. It was nice knowing you."
"Positive?" He took another step back, grinning a little more.
"Absolutely. Have fun." She started inching toward the cave.
He sighed dramatically taking a huge step back. "Suit yourself..." He said before making a quick crouch and flinging himself backwards off the cliff side.
She squeaked a little as he disappeared over the side. She scooted closer and stretched her neck as far is it would go to peer over the side.
Cato somersaulted a couple times before his wings took hold. He wasn't perfectly steady in the air for a few more feet, letting his flapping wings readjust his body weight free falling in the air. Once settled, he grinned and shot back upward, gliding nearly a foot from the rock wall, aiming right for Bernadette. Again.
Before she could register what she was seeing, he was heading straight back up at her. After letting out a squeal she scurried back and bolted into the little cave.
Cato chuckled, though through the wind, it was hardly audible He reached his legs out and used them to help scale the wall, speeding his momentum, before he was past the cliff side and higher in the air than even before, giving a loud "wooo!" into the empty sky.
At the current moment, Bernadette thought the little cave was very cozy. There was barely a breeze in the small space and it was away from the edge. She settled down muttering something about crazy oaf stallions, and worked to untangle her wind blown hair. Luckily it wasn't as bad as she thought. She shook her head when she heard him shouting from outside.
"Come on Bernadette!" He called, spinning up in the air before landing with a thud near the cave. Except he landed.. 'off'. Cato's front left ankle had always been weaker than the rest. He'd tried training it but you have to keep up with that sort of thing, and as of late... well as of late, it just hadn't occurred to him. Because it gave way, he also landed wrong on his left side, damaging one of his wings. He didn't cry out in pain, but he sure felt the searing hurt in both his ankle and his wing, and he sucked air in quickly through his clenched teeth, trying to maneuver his way up right.
Bernadette was wrinkling her nose as he called for her, about to respond with a hell no bucko, but when she looked up something obviously went wrong. Terror shot through her as she watched him go down, and before she knew what had happened she was racing back outside to help him. "Are you okay? Oh my gosh, Cato, what happened?" She bent down to offer her support and try to get him back on his hooves. He couldn't be hurt, he was so big he practically looked indestructible.
In the white hot second of pain, he didn't hear much of anything. Then he felt the smaller mare, and practically wanted to laugh out right. Her small frame trying to support his? That was hilarious. Except it hurt damn to much to laugh at much of anything really. He focused mainly on getting on his three good legs. He knew it would be no good to put weight on his front one for the time being. It'd be rolled enough to know it would take a couple days before full weight could be put on it. What scared him most wash is wing... How good could he fly with three sets?
"I'm fine, I'm fine" he said reassuringly as he was finally upright. "I landed wrong is all, no harm done." He lied with a pained smile put in place on his snout.
"I don't believe you." She searched his face, worry evident in her eyes, and it was obvious he was in pain. "Maybe you should lie down, take a break from trying to kill yourself. Go on," she nudged him toward the cave.
He rolled his eyes and braced himself. There was no way he was going to full on limp his way to the cave. He set his left hoof down and put as much weight on it as he could, which was no more than a third for more than a few seconds. He thought about possibly pushing himself with his wings but moving his bottom left wing at all ached horribly... well that was out. Wonderful. He continued his way to the cave mouth where, feeling like he had cold water all of his body, gave up and decided outside the cave was perfectly fine with him. Plopping down, none too gracefully, Cato leaned his good side against the rock wall. "See?" He said, practically out of breath.
Now she was really worried. She rushed back over when he practically collapsed, and for some reason she clicked into mother hen mode. "Alright alright, just take it easy." The cave was just right there, and it was still pretty cold outside. "Are you sure you can't make it into the cave? The last thing we need is you being stuck out here when dark rolls around, it's probably going to get even colder." What was she going to do if he couldn't move..?
"I-I wanna stay," he hissed as he readjusted, "I wanna stay out here for the time being." The cold air helped block the pain. Eventually he would need to go inside, but for now, he was content laying there. "Really, Bernnie, I'm just fine." He grinned up at her, hoping to distract her.
She couldn't help but wrinkle her nose at the name. "I still don't believe you. Tell me what you need, I'll go get it for you. Anything."
Damn. Didn't work. "I need you to calmly sit down here, next to me." He said simply, a grin planning on his lips. She was absolutely, unbearably adorable when she was freaking out over his well being. He didn't even stop himself from the thoughts, because he liked it too much.
"I don't think you want me to do that." How could he be teasing when he was obviously in pain. She was definitely positive he was crazy now. Or had a death wish. Which probably fell under the crazy category too. Maybe it also had something to do with his grumpy mood the other night when he had shut down on her. Although now wasn't the time to be thinking about discussing that.
"Yes, I do Bernadette." He said resting his head against the rocks, resting.
She hesitated, even though he'd said he wanted her to, every other time she got close to him he pushed her away or insulted her because it 'wasn't what ladies should do'. Well to hell with that, she'd just bite him if he tried to do it again now. With a sigh she turned and settled her side against his, mainly wanting to try and keep some of the cold off him. To some it could have looked like they were cuddling, and she dared him to say anything about it cause she was ready for him this time.
Well............... he hadn't meant that close, sheesh! He tensed. A lot. In fact he kind of stopped breathing too. Well, some of that had to do with his good side against the rock, that left his injured wing exposed, except she couldn't have know it was hurt. Luckily he had had it up, and she was under the injury. It was going to suck when his wing got tired, and by the feel of it, it wouldn't take that long before it did. He was strong but he had limits.He was "sweating bulletts" again, so to speak.
It was literally like laying next to a boulder. "Would you relax? I don't have spikes on me, I'm not going to eat you, and you're quite frankly being ridiculous." She tried to make herself comfortable next to the big baby. "If I didn't know any better I would think you were repulsed by being next to me. Well I don't care." That was a lie, but he didn't need to know that. "I'm gonna stay here and try to help you."
"Would you just hush woman?" He said, half joking, half his anxiety talking. This was the closest, and most intimately he'd ever been with someone of the opposite gender and it was strikingly exciting and nerve wracking. After a few more moments Cato sighed, staring up into the sky. He slowly but surely was loosing grip on his wing as it eased downward. The pain was getting to him, and he decided, why the hell not, and let the remainder down, his wing gently being splayed over Bernadette form beside him.
She almost snapped at him but held her tongue and smiled triumphantly as she had won this match. "You'll tell me if you need anything, right? I meant it, I will go get you anything. Water might be difficult.. knowing you that would be what you asked for." She tried looking him over, noticing the bit of swelling on his ankle made her heart hurt for him.
He was outright shocked, and almost questioning her intelligence when she had no real profound reaction to his wing being placed over her. He was glad she didn't revolt and snap his head off for being forward or inappropriate but a little something would be nice! He stared at her, probably with a funny face mixed with worry and aggravation so he didn't immediately hear her words. "I'm fine thanks" were all he was able to muster out, a questioning look remaining on his features as he waited to see what she'd do.
"...What? Did I sprout a horn or something?" It wasn't like she went snuggling up to every stallion she met, but Bernadette wasn't put off by physical contact. It was a normal thing for her. To show you care, and yes to show affection, but something as simple as laying next to another was really no big deal at all. Well, no big deal for her. So she was a little confused by the look he was giving her. "You didn't really answer my question though. You don't need to be the big macho guy, I want you to be honest if you need something."
After a few more seconds, Cato made his typical pout face and faced forward. She could be a little considerate for his embarrassment. Being embarrassed was embarrassing, to add to it. "I'm not being macho. I'm okay. I promise." He shook out his mane out of nervousness, and resting his head against the rocks again. He was becoming more and more thankful for her presence as the storm really arrived. The winds whipped horrendously and the smell of rain tripled A few more moments and they were going to be drenched.
Bernadette ducked her head to avoid the harsh winds. "Alright then tough guy, let's get into the cave. I can't leave you out here, but I have no desire to freeze out here." She stuck her nose under his side, hoping to somehow propel him to stand up. "It's only a few steps away."
Cato, not as dumb as he may look, agreed. "Yeah... we should definitely get inside." He sounded wary now, watching the storm clouds becoming angrier and gaining momentum. "Let's go." He was waiting for her stand up so he would use his left side again. Until she was up, he couldn't use his good side in the least.
She took the hint and stood up, side stepping away so he had room to move, but was close enough if she needed to help.
Getting up wasn't too terribly bad. His knees were fine and he propped his front half on them before shoving off. Okay... Good. He turned and began his quick limp into the cave, thankful for the shelter. It was moments later that sheets of rain began pouring from the sky in what could have been buckets. Thunder rolled near by, loud and authoritative.
She scurried in after him and stared out as the rain began to pour. Leave it to the stallion to get them stranded in a mountain in the middle of a storm. She jumped with a yelp at the loud boom of thunder and couldn't help but think this was going to be a long rest of the day.
He gave her a quizzical look. "You scream. A lot," he commented, with a matter of fact tone. He thought it was really cute, but a little excessive. He didn't mind it at all, he was just observing. He smirked at whatever smart remark she had in return and began his more through examination of their little bunker. Turn his neck to crane around, he saw that it was a decent size. He wouldn't have been able to reach his wings to full height but it was their wing length and a half; stretching room, though he wouldn't be doing any of that for a while. "Might as well get comfortable" he murmured, limping back farther into the cave, to its curved wall and preparing to plop down again.
Her nose wrinkled. "Sorry if it's a natural reaction when I get startled. And it's not an actual scream, I usually just.. squeak or.. something. Now she was pouting and she settled near the mouth of the cave, giving mr. grumpy his space this time. I do not scream a lot. The thunder was loud what else do you expect? And he stepped on my tail! That hurt!
He frowned and stared at her across the cave. Oh NOOOW you don't want to be attached at my hip? He snorted and rolled his eyes. Well, fine. Snuggling in the ground, he relaxed his wings around him as comfortably as he could. He began to feel really guilty that this was really all his fault. If he hadn't been injured, they wouldn't be stuck, but he very much appreciated that Bernadette hadn't attacked him, or blamed him outright.
She turned her head to watch the rain pelting down against the rocks, the bright flashes the lit up the sky, and she still jumped at the loud booms of thunder but at least she kept her mouth shut. She wondered how long the storm would last.. but then that really didn't matter anyway if Cato couldn't get off this mountain on his own. And she already knew she couldn't just leave him behind. Who knew how long they would be up here.
Cato had been lulled to sleep by the sound of the storms. He loved the rain and thunder, even when it was excessively loud. He hadn't actually slept so deeply in what he couldn't remember. When he resurfaced to the real world, the only real things he was aware of was the dripping noises that were coming from the mouth of the cave. It was really annoying. He took a deep breath which was when he realized expanding his lungs was a little harder than normal. What.. ? His heart leaped again as he felt Bernadette's form next to him again. She'd someone nuzzled her way over to him with out waking him up. He froze, not wanting to alert her to his awareness. Taking a quick peek he saw her sound asleep. Taking several nervous breaths, Cato settled his nerves. Okay. Okay. This wasn't so bad. Nothing was wrong. No one was doing anything bad. Okay. Resting his head back down, he tried to rein in his thoughts and racing heart beat again. This was normal... right?
Epilogue: Cato and Bernadette safely made it down the rock side, with each other's help, the next day. She refused to leave him after that point, figuring out his wing was also damaged when he couldn't simply fly from the rocks. She was determined to see that he fully recovered, and so she did. He was stubborn most of the week they spent together, but they learned quite a deal about each other's behaviors. He became less nervous about her proximity, though he still didn't like it, and Bernadette was getting a little better at dealing with his moods every day.
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