tunasub | OPEN POST 2021

[ it is a very nice horse, with a sleek white coat, the trademark gray speckles of an appaloosa, and a fitness to her build that suggest she does more than munch on grass all day, although the saddle and bridle she's wearing are probably more obvious evidence of that. Her hearty trot slows to an amble when she spots Fiore, ears flicking to and fro as she eyes the girl with a wary curiosity. Not the friendliest of critters, apparently. But whatever horse girl movie is about to begin here is interrupted by a loud shout from somewhere down the hill. ]

Hey -- Hey! The hell's your problem all of a sudden?!

[ it is coming from a blue, boy-shaped lump currently laying half-collapsed on the ground. Judging by the dirt on his pants and elbows, he got there by accident. The horse huffs loudly, still looking rather unsure. It's only answered by an annoyed groan from Johnny. Evidently, he has no clue there's another human out here. ]

Thought we were past this, but fine, whatever.

[ Damn. Her dreams of starring in the next Thoroughbred series are gone, dissipated like smoke.

Which is to say that Fiore is mostly curious, rather than enraptured. Any magus worth their grain relies on the power of observation and awareness first and foremost, and while she is most certainly not an expert on horses, she can tell that a.) this is not a simple farm equine and b.) this horse has a rider. Had a rider?

Aaaaand there he is, slumped on the ground. There's something about the way he's sprawled there that strikes at her empathy, though she chooses not to comment on it for now, instead gripping the wheels of her chair to steadily bring herself closer. ]

I'd ask if you were all right, but it seems as though you're plenty spirited.

[ oh shit, there's someone here?! He immediately freezes, several different thoughts cycling through his head (oh, that's why Slow Dancer got nervous - god, he looks like an idiot here on the ground - fuck, it's a girl, too!! - among other things) before he settles on "whatever" and adopts his usual, preemptively-slightly-defensive expression. Kind of like the horse, actually. Pets do resemble their owners!! ]

I'm fine.

[ from his current vantage point, he can't really tell she's (also) in a wheelchair. He dusts some dirt off his pants vaguely, hoping to not look too awkward and pathetic from his current spot on the ground. ]

Didn't think anyone else was gonna be out here. [ he clicks his tongue a few times in the horse's direction. ] Hey! Quit bein' a nuisance and get back down here.

[ the horse appears to be thinking about it, taking a few tentative steps towards Johnny before glancing over at Fiore again. ]

You're on Yggdmillennia territory, technically. If I didn't find you, someone else would have noticed eventually.

[ Honestly, it's probably a good thing it was Fiore who'd encountered the horse and her downed rider, instead of... no, she amends to herself, it's better not to think about it.

She looks back at the horse, then at Johnny, consideringly. ]

Is it me? I can move back if she thinks I'm too close to come near.

Yggdmillenia?

[ muttered. some bigwig family? Oops. He's also thinking it's good he got found by a nice(?) girl and not an angry property owner with a gun. Damn - he's usually good with directions, too. He must have been lost in thoughts, too; another reason the horse got fed up with him. ]

Nah, it's her. She's, uh... [ how does he say "used to other people around them being bad news" without it sounding sketchy?! There is no way, so he opts for the lie. ] She's eccentric. Don't worry about it. I'll be off your property in a minute, promise.

[ once he ... gets back onto his horse ... which he will manage, somehow, although his hopes of doing so without humiliating himself are dwindling rapidly. He was having too nice a day for something bad to not happen to him, he supposes. After a brief handful of seconds where he holds a staring contest with his stubborn horse, Johnny gives in, and begins doing his best to drag himself up the hill. His arms are damn strong, at this point, so it's not as bad as it could be, but there's no hiding the way his legs drag limply behind him. ]

[ Eccentric... are horses usually eccentric? Fiore didn't have too many experiences with animals, be they livestock or domesticated, and the thought of the last one she'd truly known, had loved...

She tries not to think about it. Instead, she studies this new stranger and his horse (who does not seem to give a damn about his struggle). Magi are trained to be observant and while she doesn't really deem him someone who might try to make himself a threat, Fiore can't help but perceive, almost unconsciously. He doesn't seem to have noticed she's in a wheelchair, given the way people tended to pause, if just for a split second of surprise, others for longer as they scrambled for a subtle way to react to it. So he may not know.

Still, he doesn't even think about asking for help. Prideful, maybe? From the look of his arms, he's clearly got more than adequate upper body strength, and she hesitates to offer assistance. Fiore knows firsthand how frustrating it is to be looked down upon, even kindly.

So instead, she looks at the horse. ]

I don't suppose I could persuade you to cooperate a little more?

[ It's said rather dryly. ]

[ Slow Dancer only barely gives a damn about Johnny, and that's when he's actually in trouble, which she has deemed this Not To Be. Animals are good at sensing things like that, especially an old horse like her, at least in his estimation. It feels like she's deemed this girl not a threat after being concerned about her presence, and is now smugly watching Johnny embarrass himself...

Okay, maybe he's projecting.

Fiore's lack of commentary is slightly reassuring, but there's really no getting around that it sucks - he knows that she's just being polite, because he's used to that, too. Or he assumes as much, anyway, until a few seconds later, when he's high enough up the hill that the angle's changed and he can very clearly see that she's in a wheelchair, too. That split second of surprise she was looking for is here now.

He's actually never met anyone else who can't walk, and finds that he has no idea how to react to it?! So he's just awkward for a second, blinking. ]

Well, shit, [ he says without thinking, then remembers he's in front of a girl. Johnny, be good! ] Uh, I mean... There's crutches tied up on her back, if you can reach 'em and throw 'em this way. [ a beat. ] Please.

[ shmanners... at least it's less embarrassing asking someone else who knows the score for that kind of help. ]

Mm, I understand.

[ Fiore's expression doesn't falter for the worse, though her lips twitch faintly in the sense of amused recognition. There it is, though his kneejerk reaction is new. Mostly because most people had to think before they spoke, out of fear of offending her.

It's honestly kind of refreshing.

But also not important right now, so she focuses on wheeling herself a little closer to Slow Dancer, keeping herself in the horse's sights so it doesn't look like she's trying to spook her. Provided this goes well, she'll try to reach up as high as she can in an attempt to get a grip on whatever binds the crutches to her, to undo it. She'd rather not use the horse to pull herself up high enough but if so.

Needs must. ]

[ Slow Dancer doesn't seem to mind now, apparently having judged Fiore as non-threatening - for a horse, she's surprisingly hard to spook. The crutches are just where Johnny said they were, latched securely but simply so they're easy to get in situations like this - albeit for someone not sitting down. Do what you must, Fiore. ]

If you can't reach, don't bother. I don't want you hurting yourself.

[ He could use the Spin and have Slow Dancer flip him up onto her back, but, frankly, he doesn't want to freak this girl out more than he probably already has, suddenly showing up and crawling around like this. Maybe he could grab the reins and pull himself up? He starts scooting himself over towards the horse again, just assuming that Fiore will listen to him. ]

[ She will not.

Fiore isn't unreasonable, prefers to be diplomatic where she can be, but her younger brother would be the first to insist that there is absolutely no one in the entire Yggdmillennia family who is as obstinate as his sister when she wants to be.

And right now, hearing this stranger's faint concern, that tenacity kicks in. It's a kind sentiment, really, it is, but it still rings softly of "you're not strong enough for this". To her, anyway. ]

Thank you, but I'm used to pain. This should be very little discomfort in comparison.

[ She reaches up, curls her fingers tightly around the reins and uses that grip to haul herself up. Her other hand grasps at the saddle and she switches her hold from the reins to undo the latch and free the crutches. They get tossed behind her, as carefully as she can manage, but she's sorry if you get conked, Johnny.

She is, of course, pretty much hanging onto Slow Dancer now for dear life with her legs dangling uselessly, but it's fine. ]

[ he narrowly avoids being bonked, and is about to give her a hard time for almost hitting him with the crutches (when he said "throw 'em this way" he didn't mean it that literally), but then he sees that she's just kind of clinging to his horse helplessly now.

Why. ]

Jesus, what're you doing? I told you not to do it if you couldn't reach!

[ He thanks his lucky stars that Slow Dancer is used to being weirdly manhandled when he's trying to climb up on her back, or else this might be a lot worse - although she doesn't look particularly happy about the current situation, shuffling her hooves a little. Okay. How does he solve this? If he gets up on his crutches now, he won't be able to use his hands -- and since his legs are non-functional, the crutches take so much effort that they're only really useful if he's not going far, i.e. from here to horseback, which is no longer the plan. Unless he gets up onto the horse and then pulls her up? No, then they'd both be on the horse and they'd have a new set of problems. Uhh.

Fuck it. Johnny grabs the crutches and scrambles to get upright as fast as he can (which is more than a little difficult, but he manages), then hauls himself over to Slow Dancer's side, planting one crutch stabilizingly on the ground to prepare for the extra weight. ]

Just -- get on my back for a second and I'll put you back in the chair.

[ Fiore chooses to ignore any further protest because the one that truly deserves any kind of apology is this poor horse, so she's already murmuring it to Slow Dancer as she hangs.

It's also why she doesn't protest or even try to politely demur. She just glances over her shoulder to verify that he's close enough and mutters something indecipherable underneath her breath before she lowers herself onto this stranger's back and gingerly grabs at his shoulders for balance.

Funnily enough, she seems quite a bit lighter than a girl of her age and build should feel, but it's fine. If he doesn't ask, she won't have to quietly lie through her teeth. ]

[ Fiore automatically gets some points for being nice to his horse, even if she's also losing points by causing trouble like this - although he supposes it's technically his fault for trespassing. Johnny is her opposite here: despite his lithe appearance and less-than-graceful display from a few seconds ago, he's remarkably solid, at least up top. This does not keep him from grunting a complaint. ]

Urgh... [ so she's not that heavy. Still feels heavy when he's basically only supporting himself with his arms. He does his best, but he essentially just turns and unceremoniously dumps her into the chair as fast as he can before he tears something and makes this even more embarrassing. Even so, he still asks before moving away: ] You good?

[ It's not the roughest manhandling she's ever received. Fiore just kind of releases a stifled "oof" as he drops her back into her wheelchair, gripping at the arms for balance and reorienting herself. ]

I'm fine-- [ automatically. She doesn't look like she's all that put-off, at least. ]

More importantly, are you all right? Is your horse?

[ She's aware she just chucked the crutches at him. She'll take responsibility if she concussed him or something. ]

[ he does kind of immediately tip forwards and into Slow Dancer. Luckily, she's not knocked over by it, only stumbling slightly and promptly hitting Johnny in the head with an annoyed flick of her tail as he crumples to his knees again, the immense energy required to both hold up his entire lower body and Fiore spent. At least he keeps a grip on the crutches so they don't fall forward and bonk her on the head. ]

Yeah, I'm -- I'm great.

[ there's sarcasm here. shock. What a couple of asshats they must look like out here. At least no one's around to see it except Slow Dancer? Hopefully? He sighs, sounding a bit fed up. Girls are always causing him trouble... ]

All right... How much are you gonna charge me?

[ No one is around to see it. Technically.

Though he's also not only on Yggdmillennia land, he's very close to their base of operations, which means he is absolutely being watched-- by something, rather than someone, but there was no such thing as a family of magi who didn't have familiars out to keep an eye on the perimeter and anything that entered.

Fiore just folds her hands in her lap now, head canted enough to have some of her hair spill over one shoulder. It's a bit of a puzzling question, but she has context clues going for her. ]

That depends. Do you wish to stable her here for the time being?

You did just assist the heir, so I doubt you would be charged for trespassing.

OPEN POST 2021

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