paradisa | one ➢ dictated, & some spam

[Cassel isn't sure - hasn't been sure - how to ask this question. Even now he's pretty positive he's not wording it right, but if he waits for the perfect phrasing to pop up in his head, he'll be waiting forever.]

[So basically, screw it.]

What would you do if you woke up and looked in the mirror and saw someone else? Or if all your friends were suddenly someone else? Would you change yourself like that if you could, even if it scared other people?

How important is your face?

A. STABLES.

[He's learning to love the horses, the weird ones and the normal ones, even if as a city kid he still has no real idea how to groom them, much less ride them. The stables are comforting, warm and natural-smelling, and when he's not exploring he's usually resting in some corner, knees tucked up under him and a book on his lap, or his eyes closed, just listening.]

B. GYM.

[. . . and when the frustration and the sense of isolation in a crowd gets to be too much, he heads to the gym. He never really bulked up, but training with Superboy once upon a time left him wiry and strong, and he has no intention of getting weak here, in this castle full of strangers.]

[He spends most of his time with the punching bag, focused and sharp, and leaves exhausted. It's worth it, though - and at least it's something familiar.]

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_{[ Well, Casse, prepared to have your quiet afternoon interrupted - kind of. A high whinny plays through the stables and the stamp of a hoof on the concrete of the aisle, followed swiftly by the trod of boots. ]}

Hahah, yes, it is good to see you too, my love.

_{[ An answering snort, the sound of a hand patting horse-flesh. ]}

You have not been to bored?

_{[ A pause, a snort, another pause. ]}

Oh? And how long as he been here?

_{[ You might feel two pairs of eyes looking your way now, Casse. ]}

Hello?

[People talking to their animals isn't too weird to him. After all, he's done it enough times in his life - animals are usually better listeners than human beings are anyway. It kind of sounds like there's a legitimate conversation going on here, which is weird and might just be his imagination.]

[When they both turn to look at him, though, he thinks: maybe not. Stretching, he stands slowly and leaves the book where he sat.]

Am I bothering [a brief hesitation] her?

Oh, no. She's just wanting you to introduce yourself is all. She's noticed you before here.

_{[ He smiled at him, going to a tack box and opening it to begin
drawing out groom items. Yfandes snorted and came out of her stall of her
own accord and took up a place in the aisle to make it easier on Vanyel to
work.}

He came around the side of Yfandes with a curry comb, patting her flank. ]

I'm Vanyel Ashkevron, and this is Yfandes.

Oh.

[Yeah, oh. He's been caught out by a horse, hanging out in the stables like a loser. With a sheepish grin, he shrugs.]

I guess she's more polite than I am, then.

[He wipes his hands on his pants and holds one out to shake, trying not to think too hard about how you greet a horse. Should he bow?]

Cassel. Cassel Sharpe. At yôur service. [Probably.]

_{[ He reached out and took his hand, grasping his arm in a more
medieval sort of greeting. He let go and turned to Yfandes to begin working
the comb, a bit of dust rising up on the pure white hairs. ]}

It's nice to meet you, Cassel. Do you come out here often? Keep a horse?

[Well, that's different, but he rolls with it, grasping Vanyel's arm with only a brief hesitation to figure out what the hell's going on. Then he shoves his hands in his pockets, looking a little out of his depth.]

No. I mean, I've been coming down here lately, but I never had a horse before. I never spent much time around them at all, really. I'm kind of a city kid.

She's beautiful, though. I like being around her. All of them.

She says thank you for the compliment.

_{[ He chuckled as Yfandes snorted and arched her neck prettily, tail
raising. She shivered her skin, making the dust fall away so that her coat
seemed to shine. ]}

Ah, and her she goes showing off.

_{[ His words are clearly the gentle teasing of someone who is much
loved, and Yfandes whacks him with her tail, making the Herald laugh and
shake his dark head of hair. ]}

I like the stables too - I always have. My family breeds horses in my world.

[He grins tentatively, wrinkling his nose at Yfandes.]

Yeah, well. Everybody has to show off once in a while or nobody'll know how awesome we are. [He and Yfandes clearly understand each other.]

You lived in the country? [Or, you know, Ancient Times, but he really has no idea how to say that in a way that doesn't sound damn stupid.]

I used to live in the country. My family owns an estate and we breed and sell horses - we're known for it. But I left when I was about sixteen to study under my aunt in the capital, where I ended up being Chosen and thereby staying.

_{[ There was a lot more to that story that he said, but it was nothing
to bog down a new friend with. Yfandes swished him with her tail and he
nudged her haunches with his shoulder before bending down to see to her
hooves. ]}

[It does seem like a pretty simple story - there's obviously more to being Chosen than the unspoken capital letter - but Cassel doesn't press. Yet. Instead he backs away slightly, looking at them both critically.]

You need help with her, or will she kick me if I try? Worst case scenario I can sit over here braiding my own hair while you braid hers.

_{[ There is a pause, a conversation happening without words. Vanyel stands and goes to the tack box, pulling out a mane comb and holding it out to Cassel. ]}

She says you can brush her mane. She thinks it is getting a bit rough about the edges.

_{[ It was also hard to hurt a horse there - for some reason the mane was less sensitive than the tail. And though Vanyel knew she would not actually hurt the boy, he did not want him accidentally hurting her with good intentions if he let him pick a hoof out. ]}

[He stares at the comb, then at Vanyel, then at Yfandes. The majority of his questioning expression goes to her - she's clearly intelligent, she can probably understand what he means - but in the end he takes the comb and looks at her mane like he's facing a pretty hefty monster.]

Just - brush like regular brushing, or do I have to do anything special?

No, just brush it like it was your own hair. She says she thinks there are a few knots growing, she wants them out.

_{[ He smiled at him and let down Yfandes' back off, moving around to
the other side. The silver hoof came up without prompting, Vanyel digging
out build up from the night. He kept her stall clean, but you never knew
what she stepped into out in the fields. ]}

[Well, that sounds easy enough. He steps forward and gets to it, running the comb carefully from the middle to the bottom, then the top to the bottom, easing out any knots he finds.]

[Glancing around Yfandes's neck at Vanyel, he raises his eyebrows.]

Do you always let strange teenagers groom your horse, or am I special somehow?

I do not let anyone do anything to her. She lets people do things to her like grooming. If she had said no, you would not be holding that comb right now.

_{[ She's smart as a person and able to make her own decisions, though
plenty of stable hands helped with the Companions back home while the
Trainees and Heralds went about duties that required being on foot than
horseback. ]}

one ➢ dictated, & some spam

action - stables

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