ArchivedLogs:A Horse of Course

A Horse of Course
Dramatis Personae Jackson, Mallory, Rasa, Ross	2013-07-22 '
Location <XS> - Stables
The distinctive smell of hay and sawdust and horses greets visitors to this large barn, kept well-tended by the stablehand and those who have a passion here for equestrianism. The horses at Xavier's are well cared for, stabled in comfortable stalls. The walls host a plethora of tack for those who wish to take a jaunt around the grounds. Later today, the sky is promising rain, a roil of grey clouds creeping in from the distance. As yet, though, it's actually a /pleasant/ morning, for once; oppressive heat faded down to a more palatable temperature -- at least this early in the day. Somewhere in the mansion breakfast is underway. Out here there is breakfast underway, too! Jackson is brightly-coloured as ever; he's likely not dressed for /riding/ in purple capris (with silver dragonflies embroidered up the legs), a thin-strappy seafoam-green tank top underneath a short-sleeved silvery-sheened fishnet shirt. Chunky platform sneakers. Glittery silvery-purple makeup, chrome nails. But, regardless of not being dressed for /riding/ he is happily working all the same; he's filled the bins of the horses here with fresh hay, troughs with fresh water. At the moment he has leaned his pitchfork up against the wall of one stall in particular; its door is opened, he's inside with a small stool though he's not seated, currycomb in hand, grooming a sleek-tall mare, black with white star and socks. More, perhaps, for her own enjoyment than for necessity; she occasionally turns her head down to nuzzle /back/ at him, bonking nose up against the side of his head. His messenger bag has been discarded, too, just outside the stall door, a black canvas bag with a FreakAngels logo on it. Someone else is up early this morning, though less motivated by the gentle nudging of the day's light creeping onto the horizon and more powered by an early morning energy drink and an iced coffee. Rasa is dressed for a morning run, looking a bit damp for hir efforts. Hir stretchy running pants are black with a lightning bolt of bright purple down the outside of each leg. Ze has opted for a loose neon yellow tank top, which now clings with sweat to hir chest. Strangely enough, hir feet are bare. Hair in pigtails and skin flush pink and yellow with dawn colors, ze peeks into the stables and follows the sound of the currycomb against horsehide. The sight of Jackson's bag puts a little more lift in hir step as ze pads hir way to the stall opening. "I thought I'd find you here!" Ze speaks softly after a gentle knock, so as not to spook the horse. "I have a message." The prospect of being able to horseback ride has piqued Mallory's interest, enough to bring the librarian down to the stables in the early morning hours. She does not quite have high hopes of being able to ride this morning, requiring side saddle tack and a decidedly more sturdy horse than is typically kept for riding purposes. By no means dressed for riding, Mallory wears a fluttery skirt in jet black, the hem of which brushes just below the knees of her digitigrade legs, paired with a charcoal gray cotton camisole, edged in a cream colored lace. Her long black hair is pulled back into a high pony-tail, accenting the curling black ram's horns on either side of her head, a slight accenting of makeup on her dusky red complexion. Approaching the open door of the stables, Mallory moves cautiously, though her cloven hooves click lightly against the threshold as she steps in, nervous that she may spook the horses or anyone inside the stalls. Dark eyes blink in amazement at the selection of saddles and tack, and she breathes out quietly, "Oh, wow. I, ah, might actually be able to ride again." Horses. Ross never actually rode a horse, even though she was a "country girl". Nor did she like that title. Wearing a black sweatjacket with a self-embroidered logo, done quite badly, from the 1998 film The Avengers, which she probably chose because it was on TV or the like, a pair of sweat slacks, and some flip flops, her brown hair highlighted with green streaks, she was quite chipper this morning. The purple-skinned girl with the elfish ears' first sight was Rasa. Her mood grew even better as she waved, shouting quite loudly "Hey, Rasa!", which may not be suitable for the time of day. She quickly trotted over, almost tripping, but luckily not. "How are you doing, Rasa?" Jackson glances up at the quiet voices, a quick warm smile spreading bright across his face. He pauses in his grooming, gently nudging the mare's nose away from his shoulder; she turns her attention to the teen at her door, instead. Inspecting Rasa curiously, edging forward to nose at hir shoulder. "Hey, Rasa," Jackson's greeting is warm, too, if soft. "Y'met Ramiel? She's a sweetheart. -- A message?" His brows raise quizzically. "For me?" He slips a little closer to the door, poking his bald tattooed head out of the stall at the sound of another person arriving. Mallory gets a smile, too, a wave, though he doesn't raise his voice above quiet conversational level to greet her -- "G'mornin'! Y'ride? -- Wo-o-ah, woah hey, sweetie --" The /shouting/ stirs up a host of edginess from the horses; some ignore it, though some in their stalls fidget anxiously; there's a stirring of whickering, a rustling of many hooves. Ramiel is edging quickly /forward/; Jackson lifts a hand to her neck, /his/ voice soothing: "Easy, girl, you're aright." The smile dims into a furrow of brows when he looks towards Ross, and his voice is firmer if no less warm: "-- Hey, you should keep it down in here. You're spooking the horses." "Hello there, Ramiel," Rasa turns hir attention to the horse when she starts paying attention to hir. Hands lift to present themselves for sniffing, fingers curled inwards to avoid any nibbling. Soon, ze is moving to stroke Ramiel's cheeks and nose. "Mmm. yes. A message." Apparently, it can wait as Mallory is greeted. "G'morning, Miss Winthrop," is the bright and cheery reply, tones still soft for the sleepy horses. Then ze cringes, releasing the horse's head and backing away slowly, looking this way and that to do so carefully. Hir balance threatened, a cool bronze tail pushes itself quickly out of hir pants, changing the rest of hir skin bronze as well. The counter weight helps, especially when ze starts backing upwards against a post, ending up very quickly upsidedown. "Um... Hi Ross." Mallory smiles happily, the gesture showing off pointed canines, and bobs her head in greeting to Jackson, keeping her Oxford accented voice low to avoid spooking the horses, "Oh, yes. I used to ride as a child, but have gotten unfortunately out of practice more recently. I require a somewhat stockier steed, so that tends to limit my options." Rasa receives a polite smile and nod, "Hello Rasa. How are you doing this morning?" Her voice trails off as the shout comes from the outside, Mallory visibly winces, her long tapering tail lashing in agitation as the horses begin to startle. Dark eyes glance towards the source of the disturbance, a slightly stern expression on her features as she regards the newly arrived girl. It takes Ross a short while to realize that she had been loud, but once she does, she realizes what happened, and slowly lowers her voice as she replies. "Oh...sorry. Didn't know I was being so loud, I'll try better next time.". Although that being slightly uncharacteristic to those who know her, she quickly results to normal shortly after. "These horses are pretty. Is it true glue is made from horses?". She slowly picks at her wrists as her phone goes off, her having set her alarm for this time but had woken up earlier. She quickly silences it, looking embarassed at the reactions of the others and the horses. "Oops, sorry!" "Ross," Jackson says with level patience, his hand still on Ramiel's neck, "please be /considerate/ in here." His fingers curl loosely through the mare's mane. "-- What message? From who?" he asks Rasa, still puzzled. He leans against the stall doorway, his single eye flicking a quick up-down glance over Mallory. "When I was here, we had a pretty solid workhorse in here once. Big ol' Clydesdale. S'gone now. We got mostly Quarterhorses and Paints in here though -- Ram's a Thoroughbred, an' s'a Morgan -- mm. Bastian's favourite down at the end's a Hanoverian --" His fingers drum against the side of his leg. "-- Noone super sturdy just at the moment," he says apologetically. His gaze turns from Mallory to Ross, and he shrugs a shoulder. "Not all glue, no. Not even most, these days, but -- yeah, you can make glue from animal connective tissue. Don't just use horses. Rabbits. Fish. Used t'be a lot more common, they use synthetic now for a lotta the stuff you used t'use animal glue for. Woodworkin' an' the like. But s'still made, yeah. Used in a lotta specialty work." Rasa wraps hir tail around the post ze perches on and hands out there for a while, 'chitlin' covered feet pressed fully to the wood and clinging to it. "Ah, yes, Sorry. The message is from Ivan. He says he misses classes and being around everyone. He is looking forward to his return. He's started counting down the days." Ze relays the message with some of Ivan's intonation, a hint of a Russian accent filtering into hir words. "Sorry if I made it sound very important. It is just fond wishes." Mallory approaches the stalls, her hooves making gently clicking sounds against the flooring of the barn, holding her hand out to allow the animal to sniff her, a gentle smile on her features. "I had an Irish Sport Horse when I was younger - Navia. Maybe once I'm here longer I'll see about it. But for now I'm just content to know it's a possibility, at least." she muses to no one in particular, gently stroking the nose of the horse in front of her. "And yes, hide glue was one of the most popular binding agents for older books. Oddly enough, it is one of the smells most people associate with libraries, thought they don't always know it," she offers in addition to Jackson's response, "Though most new books have syntheitc glue, thankfully." She continues to stroke the nose of the horse in front of her, whispering inaudibly to the steed. Ross finally notices Mallory, and is visually kind of, stunned by her appearance, taking a few steps back. "Oh, uh, hello...! I uh...didn't see you there!". Noticing that Mallory is more of staff age, she is slightly nicer then usual, but still a bit brash in her dialogue and tone. She slightly stupidly approaches a horse she doesn't know to pet it, but moves a bit quickly to do this. The horse, scared by this plus her earlier shouting, backs up, makes a loud vocal noise, and moves her head away from Ross. In response, Ross falls backwards, landing on her bum, which, while not breaking any bones, hurts quite a bit. She immediately makes a small shriek, rubbing her sore area. "Oh!" Jackson's face lights up in a smile at Rasa's message. "-- Fond wishes're always welcome. We miss him, too. Sounded like he was at least havin' a good summer, last I heard. Be sure nice t'have him back, though." He quirks a crooked smile up a Rasa, head tipping around halfway to upside down to look at hir. "-- Probably for you, too." He slips further out of Ramiel's stall, closing its door behind himself, and stoops to his bag to retrieve a small tupperware of sliced carrots, scooping out a few to hold them up to Ramiel on a palm for eating. "-- Faculty /or/ students are allowed to board horses here, if they have 'em," he says lightly. "-- Ross --" He hesitates, a moment, head tipping forward to rest his forehead against Ramiel's star while she lips carrots off of his palm. "Calm. Down," he says, veeery mildly. "Y'gotta take your time, hon, approach them /gently/. Let 'em get used to you being there. Speak soft. Move soft. Hold out a hand -- slowly. Let 'em adjust." Rasa smiles and nods, turning hirself around to lower hirself to the ground. "Yes, it will be amazing when he gets back. Now he is busy with construction work and paying bills and getting tackled lovingly by his family." Feet on the floor, ze offers a small wave as ze starts to skirt hir way out. "I am feeling the rumbles in my stomach and should go shower and eat before classes start." Ze moves out. "I'll see you soon!" Mallory winces slightly as Ross startles the horse, shifting her tail carefully out of the way so she does not get pulled down in the fall as well. She gently strokes the nose of the horse in front of her, keeping an eye on Ross, "Are you alright, Miss... Bennet?" The librarian shifts from one hoof to the other, pausing momentarily to recall the name of the student from recent faculty alerts. As she shifts her attention to Jackson, Mallory nods, "That is good to know. I will speak to my brother about it - although I would be hesitant to bring our horses over, the journey may be unpleasant for them." When Rasa makes hir exit, Mallory offers a kind wave and a smile, turning her attention back to Jackson and the horses, although she stays quiet for a long moment. Slowly lifting herself up, Ross turns to Mallory, visibly not making eye contact like she usually does when speaking to a person. "I'm..fine.". She immediately turns to Jackson, looking him in the eyes when she speaks. "I've never actually been up close with a horse. Sure, I've seen dozens back where I was raised, but, never got close." She turns to wave to Rasa as she leaves, before looking back at Jackson. "But, I'm sorry...will she be okay?". She sighs, taking a deep breath, before brushing the hay off of her bum. She picks at her wrist again as she stretches upwards slowly. "Oh -- man, breakfast, yeah, should probably -- be doing that too," Jackson says with a sheepish dip of his head. "See you, Rasa!" His attention turns back to the others remaining as he latches Ramiel's stall door closed. "I can't imagine they'd enjoy the overseas trip, yeah," Jackson says a little wryly. "The horse'll be fine, s'just a little spooked. Here --" Jax steps forward, holding out his tupperware of carrots. "Why don't you take a couple? Try holdin' 'em out -- on your palm, not in your fingers. But /slow/. Easy." Mallory nods and watches Ross rise to her feet, "Glad you are not hurt, Miss Bennet. Perhaps, if you are interested in learning more about how to care for the horses, you could see about participating in the extracurricular activities? I imagine they do start with a basic introduction, which is always a good jumping off point." The fact that Ross won't meet her gaze does not seem to phase Mallory, and the tall woman returns her attention to the horse, "Perhaps I will save up for purchasing a horse state side. I imagine my parents sold my horse after..." Her voice trails off and she shakes her head, idly stroking the horses nose. "Oh, bother, yes, breakfast. I had gotten distracted when someone mentioned stables, and, well, curiosity overcame hunger, I suppose," Mallory says with a slight chuckle, her dark eyes glancing up towards the mansion, a bemused smirk on her lips. Ross picks up the carrots, opening the container andputting them in her palm. One of the horses, a stallion, approachs her, slowly eating them. She turns to Mallory. "Psh, too much fucking work.". She continues watching the horse, which grows a bit warmer to her, but not necessarily ready to be pet. "I'm thinking of starting a club anyways. A club about...doing club stuff.". She approaches the horse closer, slowly, but not too close. "Oh man, food. I only ate my left over ration of beef jerky. I should go eat before class. Hmm...how could I get out of class...". She thinks to herself about escape plans, but once she realizes that these two are most likely staff, stops her bemusing, and continues watching the horse. "-- Prooobably shouldn't be gettin' out of class if you're due there," Jackson says, wryly. He stoops to pick up his bag, retrieving his pitchfork and currycomb as well to set them back with the rest of the equipment. "Yeah? Startin' a club ain't so hard. S'a form you can get if you want it. Submit it for approval, find a faculty sponsor." He slings the bag over his shoulder, watching Ross with the stallion and nodding approvingly. "Good. See? Stay calm and they'll be calm, too. -- I gotta grab some breakfast, too -- y'wanna head back with me?" he asks Mallory, head jerking towards the mansion. Mallory quirks an eyebrow at Ross's willingness to skip out on classes, dark eyes fixed on the young girl, "I concur. Attending classes is in fact part of the concept of attending school. And certainly, they can't be all /that/ bad, miss." At Jackson's offer to walk back up to the mansion, she smiles, "Yes, that would be quite lovely. I appreciate the company." She takes a few steps toward the doorway, hooves clicking lightly against the flooring, "Perhaps, Miss Bennet, you would like to come along as well? Even if you are intent on missing classes, missing breakfast is rarely a good idea. And it is quite good, at the very least." She offers a kind smile, and gestures towards the mansion, allowing for a little curtsey. Even if the offer is turned down, breakfast awaits those who are interested, and the trudge to the mansion is made lighter by companionship. Ross shrugs, brushing hair back. "I wish that wasn't a concept of school, though.". She sticks her hand out, the horse finally letting her pet it. She turns to Mallory and Jackson. She thinks about the offer, until her stomach starts rumbling. "Okay, I'll come, I guess.". Leaving the horse alone, she heads towards them. Their conversations on the way, if any, will surely be...pleasant...