lastgunslinger | (no subject)

It's been a quiet couple of days.

Roland is hanging over the paddock fence. There are a couple of apples in a bag at his feet.

One is sliced, and he's feeding it to Kiseki. Joe's horse -- or so he thinks of the gelding.

The other hand is busy running over the St. Christopher's medal at his neck.

The bounty hunter always understood, even if he didn't approve.

Sometimes Roland hates himself.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

lastgunslinger

Roland grins.

Yes. He grins.

"You show off. Give me a moment."

He, too, hops the fence and leads Kiseki toward the stable.

A few moments later, he leads Kiseki out, saddled.

And he mounts. "All right."

From:

river_meimei

River rests one hand on Boukephalos's withers, the other balancing her on the fence, and lifts one leg over his back with a dancer's grace. She settles into place lightly.

"There's a gate," she informs Roland.

No jumping the fence bareback on a warhorse. ~~Today.~~

From:

lastgunslinger

"There is." And he rides up to it. "You going to get it, or are you going to make me do it?"

From:

river_meimei

She eyes him consideringly.

Because River can be a brat sometimes.

And then she giggles silently, kneeing Boukephalos a sidestep closer, and leans over the fence to unlatch it. The gate is well-made and well-balanced; it swings open with a light pull, as Boukephalos backs clear.

From:

lastgunslinger

"Good to know." And Roland rides through, letting Kiseki pace outside, waiting for her to close it.

It's a beautiful afternoon.

From:

river_meimei

"Your turn next time."

She pulls the gate shut, giving it an extra tug to make certain after the latch clicks. Boukephalos pivots, and steps forward delicately to keep pace with Kiseki; it's hard to say whether she's giving him commands, or if he's moving of his own choice.

From:

lastgunslinger

"Fair enough."

A sidelong smile at River; and then he nudges Kiseki into a trot along the lake shore -- and then, after a suitable time, an easy canter.

From:

river_meimei

River keeps pace, sitting easily on Boukephalos's bare back, knee-length skirt spread about her. Her hair lifts in the wind, and she turns her face to it.

From:

lastgunslinger

Roland feels Kiseki wanting to let go, to go faster -- and so Roland allows it.

The last time he rode Kiseki he was trying to forget what he'd just done to River.

Now...

Now it's better.

And so Roland smiles, and raises his head; and if he sits easier, breathes easier, than he has these last few days...we can credit that to the good weather, of course.

From:

river_meimei

Kiseki's a good horse.

Boukephalos is a better one, by far. A prince's warsteed and a demon's atonement-gift.

He matches Kiseki's speed, graceful long strides across the turf, and pushes it just a little faster, and faster, until River sits a little deeper into his back to slow him down for the other horse's sake.

Not because she's insecure at the gallop. Never in life. Her face is alight, and she laughs silently into the wind, here in this long moment of golden afternoon sunlight.

From:

lastgunslinger

It's been a while since Roland has ridden a horse for the sheer pleasure of doing so.

He lets Kiseki hang back for a moment, watching River

(in this haze of green and gold)

and smiling.

And then --

-- and he knows he'll lose --

-- Roland leans forward and urges Kiseki on, more, faster.

It's a race he'll lose...but maybe it'll make River smile.

And that's enough.

From:

river_meimei

For a second, Kiseki pulls ahead, and River looks at him, startled.

And then she laughs aloud, and leans over Boukephalos's neck, urging him onwards, and Boukephalous leaps forward, neck arched and tail flagging.

"Gonna lose," she calls teasingly, and laughs again as the wind snatches at her words, and then Boukephalos's hooves are thundering against the ground and they pull ahead.

From:

lastgunslinger

Roland just hunches his shoulders and laughs himself, and he doesn't know it.

Softly: "Go. Keep going. Faster."

He might be talking to Kiseki; he might be talking to River.

Either way, Kiseki closes the difference. Doesn't pull ahead, but gets closer.

From:

river_meimei

And so they

(fly)

gallop, pressed to their horses' necks for that extra fraction of streamlining, matching unconscious grins against the rushing air of speed. Bright-eyed and no knife-edges at all to those smiles, say true, no savagery.

Boukephalos tosses his head and stretches, extending into a stride that's long and floating and swift as the wind he races against.

From:

lastgunslinger

And Kiseki is a fine horse, say true -- but he just can't keep up with Boukephalos. Eventually the lead of the war-horse increases, and Roland just laughs, and lets Kiseki slow.

And he straightens, slowly, and just watches River go.

He's not aware of how much he's smiling.

From:

river_meimei

And she gallops on, fingers twined in Boukephalos's flying mane and knees tight to his barrel. They run together in the hazy afternoon sunlight, the huge black horse and the slim girl, across a long stretch of meadow, curving finally into a loop that slows as she returns, into a canter and then a smooth trot as she nears him.

She's still beaming.

From:

lastgunslinger

And Roland is sitting back on Kiseki, stopped now, with Kiseki cropping the grass. His arms are folded.

And he is grinning.

"Well."

From:

river_meimei

Boukephalos slows to a halt near Kiseki, not winded but blowing hard, lather flecked on his chest. His tail is still up, and his ears pricked forward.

"Shouldn't challenge if you can't win," River informs him impishly. "That's what you'd tell me."