She Came For Horses [Keiko]

[Aiko]

The bus ride to the edge of the city was an unusual kind of torture. Some old man sitting a few seats away from Renée was particularly pungent. No joke, he smelled as if he had taken a fish and rubbed it all over his body. The American, who sat close to the open window, was careful to breathe only through her mouth, because no matter how much fresh air billowed into the bus, the fishy stink of the old man remained, stagnating in the bus and turning it into a swamp of malodorous stench. Between the stink and the boredom, Ren felt as if she was going to die on this horrible example of public transportation. She traced invisible patterns on her jeans with a fingertip, she undid and retied her shoelaces, and she reorganized phone numbers in her cell phone, but mostly she just stared out the window, praying for the ride to end.

Finally, the bus pulled out of the city and onto Higuri, as Keiko had said Ren should to get to his house. The bus stop was reached in moments, and the tall American stood. She had to hold herself back, to keep herself from racing off the bus and into the fresh air that waited beyond the doors. As it was, she stepped lightly down onto a sidewalk, and turned to watch the bus pull away. After the fumes passed, blessed fresh air kissed the girl’s freckled cheeks. Heaving a sigh of relief, she tilted her head back, enjoying the late afternoon sunshine for a moment before pulling out her phone again to check the time. It was fifteen minutes later than she’d told Keiko she’d be at his house, but there wasn’t anything she could do about that.

Almond-shaped green eyes, after surveying the surrounding area, landed on a gate across the road. [green]That must be the place,[/green] Ren thought to herself, and replacing her phone in her pants pocket, she jogged across the asphalt and up to the gate that she presumed led to Keiko’s house. As she neared it, she got a whiff of horse manure on the breeze. She smiled. [green]Definitely a step up from fish,[/green] she decided. Pausing before the imposing gates, Renée tilted back her head to stare up for a moment before looking for a buzzer. Well, here was the moment of truth. If it wasn’t Keiko’s house, she reasoned, she’d ask where he lived. There couldn’t be too many kids with purple hair living around here. Sucking in a breath, the tall girl pressed the button.

[Naraku]

The gate opens and lets her in. Keiko was already outside playing with the dogs, they was american breed, They was the doblerman pinchers which made great guard dogs. The two dogs soon stop at his feet growling towards the new visiter. Keiko just lightly whispers something to them and they both stop. He then makes his way towards the girl. "Hey, I see you made it." He smiles as he half expected her not to show, like most people have done him, and the only ones that does come is because of his wealth. "Anyways this house here is where I am staying." He points out to what look to be a large temple or bigger. "My parents live in a bigger section on the other side." He smiles again taking her hand and begins leading her towards the house.

[Aiko]

Ren nearly jumped out of her skin when the gates suddenly swung open. She’d been expecting something like a voice over an intercom, demanding to know who she was. When she peered through the opening in the gates, the first things the girl saw were the dogs. Lean pinschers were staring at her, growling. The tall girl stepped back, nervousness prickling like a pin at the back of her neck. What the hell was this? It wasn’t until a familiar boy with familiar purple hair came towards her, talking and smiling, that Ren remembered him saying, only two days ago, to “mind the dogs.” Relieved to see Keiko’s face, the taller girl allowed herself to be led forward, though her bright green eyes lingered on the fierce-looking canines before roving over the world inside the gates.

Of course, when the girl followed Keiko’s pointing with her gaze, her eyes came close to popping straight out of their sockets. [green]“Holy cow!”[/green] she exclaimed, as this was the only decent exclamation she knew in Japanese. [green]“It is huge! A monster! A monster house! You live in that house?”[/green] Renée gaped at Keiko for a moment, then remembered what he’d said about his parents. [green]“Your parents live in a bigger house? Houses can be bigger than that?”[/green] The American’s eyes couldn’t decide whether to focus on the purple-haired boy or on the behemoth of a building, so they kept flicking between the two, even as she was shepherded towards the house. She wondered where Keiko was leading her, and what he planned on showing her next.

[ooc: Blah… crap-post.]

[Naraku]

"Yea, my side is bigger here, but in the south my parents lived in a bigger house then they have now. " He smiles as he leads her around the house towards a large stable that oddly only housed two horse, but gave them plenty of room. One was a solid black horse which was a male, and a white female with golden specks along her fur, which sparkled into the light.
"Meet Hotaru and Odin" Hotaru was calm and didn't make much movement when they came in but Odin made sure to watch Renee every movement, with his eyes, oddly that was red.

[Aiko]

Having listened attentively and nodded, allowedly with a look of astonishment on her face, Ren followed Keiko in silence as the boy led her around the monster building to a smaller, though still unnecessarily large, one. The warm, slightly sweet smell of hay and grain, and the mustier smell of horse, met the girl’s nostrils as she entered. Her eyes first alighted on a beautiful horse with a pale coat. Letting out a little [green]“Ooh!”[/green] of awe, the tall girl slipped her hand out of the boy’s grasp and took a step towards the light-colored horse, then turned as she noticed movement. She saw another horse, this one with a velvety black hide, following her with odd-colored eyes, though from her position she couldn’t discern the exact color. She turned back to Keiko as he told her their names.

[green]“Odin?”[/green] she repeated. Renée’s head turned from side to side, causing her wavy-haired ponytail to swish like a horse’s tail. Of course, from appearance alone she couldn’t tell which of the horses was Odin, but in her head she decided it was the black one, though it just as easily could have been the white one. [green]“Odin is a god from Norse mythology.”[/green] Trust Ren to know how to say words like “mythology” in another language. [green]“The leader god. Is that why your horse is called Odin?”[/green] As she waited for Keiko’s reply, she wandered closer to the black horse, which seemed to be almost suspicious of her, the way it kept watching her. She was careful not to make eye contact, since animals usually took that as a threat, and tried to approach the creature in the most non-threatening way she knew, though if the horse started to seem upset she’d back down.

[Naraku]

"He is also the god of darkness, which I think suits him just fine, cause he doesn't let anyone ride him exactly. I bought him from a stable that was going to sell him, and have him killed, because he was to wild, and killed his last rider." Keiko then takes her over towards Hotaru." I name her Hotaru for the face of her golden specks that will seem to light up, like a reflector. Hotaru mean firefly in english."

Keiko smiles as he begins to unlatch Hotaru's door, letting ren have the chance to get in with her. "If you like you can try to ride her bareback." Keiko then lightly blushes as he looks away. "If not I guess you could ride behind me."

[Aiko]

Ren, who had been just beginning to reach her hand out towards Odin, snatched her fingers back. [green]“Oh, I see,”[/green] she said, her voice suddenly somber. Horses were dangerous animals, that she knew, and you had to be careful even around the placid-seeming ones. If this Odin was as wild as Keiko suggested, it would probably be best if Ren didn’t bother with him. Instead, the tall girl allowed herself to be steered over to the pale horse. As she walked, Renée noticed flecks of a different color catching the light, and her interest was quickly taken with Hotaru.

When Keiko unlatched the door, Ren slowly plodded into the stall, a little nervous. Hotaru was a big animal when you got close like this. [green]Be calm,[/green] Renée thought to herself. [green]Animals are supposed to be able to sense when people are calm and when they’re not.[/green] The girl forced her muscles to remain relaxed as she slowly extended her hand towards the mare, allowing the horse to sniff her fingers and know that she was not a threat. Ren smiled at the beautiful horse, whispering in her talking-to-animals voice and in her native language, [green]“Hey there, pretty girl. You’re a nice girl, aren’t you?”[/green] So long as the horse would allow, the tall girl stroked the mare’s cheek with two fingers. [green]“Good girl.”[/green]

When Keiko spoke again, Ren turned to him. [green]“What? Oh, yes, riding.”[/green] She turned back to Hotaru, letting her fingers run along her light-colored neck. At first the girl that Keiko meant he would ride Odin in front of her on Hotaru, but that didn’t make sense. When she realized what he meant, she became very intent on brushing invisible dust off the horse’s coat, hoping the boy wouldn’t notice her awkwardness. [green]“Let’s groom Hotaru first and let her get used to me,”[/green] she said evasively. She walked over to where she saw the brushes and grooming care, and picked up a currycomb. Returning to Hotaru, she began to brush in circular motions, like she remembered learning in the horseback riding class she had taken years before. It was funny how things came back to her when she was around the horses.

[Naraku]

Odin scuffed and moved around as his red eyes follows the two. "Hotaru is pretty calm and seems to take a liking to anyone who is nice to her." Keiko smiles moving over to her, and handing her the brush. "Besides if we do ride out it be easier for them to clean the stalls, which I believe they will be starting soon." As Ren takes ahold of the brush, keiko finally turns walking towards Odin's stall next to them. Odin finally stood up completly showing his was much larger, the Hotaru, but wasn't surprising since he was a clydesdale.

Keiko reaches into his pocket and holds and apple out towards Odin who moves his head down over into their stall as he sniffed and begin to eat out of his hand. Keiko smiles as he reaches up and pets the side of his maine.

"You such a big lovely giant you are." Odin slightly shook his body but continue to eat the apple. "When he first came here, he would charge towards me, like he would our staff. Let alone that he can actually get out of his own stall if he wanted too...."

[Aiko]

Ren shook her head as she groomed Hotaru, frowning a little. [green]“‘They’ can wait before they clean the stalls,”[/green] she said, sounding surprisingly stubborn about it. [green]“The horses must be cared for before we take them out. They must be groomed.”[/green] She remembered her old riding instructor, a plump but stern woman who treated her horses better than her students, always telling her, ”Take care of your horse before and after you ride, and even when you aren’t riding. If they’re gonna slave away under your lazy butts, the least they deserve is a little thanks.” Whether the instructor was right or wrong was besides the point. The necessity of grooming had been drilled into Renée’s brain.

Even so, the tall girl listened to Keiko tell his story as she moved from one of Hotaru’s flanks to the other. She imagined the huge Odin wreaking havoc on a bunch of scurrying stable hands, smiling at the pictures painted by her imagination. At the boy’s last comment, though, Ren paused in her grooming, as much because it was time for her to move onto the next brush as anything. [green] “Why does he stay?”[/green] she asked, referring to Odin and his ability to escape. She wondered at it for a moment, thinking that maybe Keiko and his horse had an especially close relationship, before walking over to where the other brushes were. She dropped off the currycomb and selecting a dandy brush. Hotaru’s flanks and neck now received treatment from Ren’s gentle hand, which was probably gentler than it needed to be. Despite the mare’s placid personality, Ren was still wary.

[Naraku]

"Its according, He will get out when he wants too, but he likes it here. Besides He was my only horse and Hotaru was my mom's til Odin was fighting off the rest of the male horses, cause he claimed her." Keiko smiles as Odin finishes the apple and walks over towards Ren handing her one. As Keiko approaches her and they was standing both next to Hotaru the sound of the stall next to them opens. Odin had reared up and kicked the lock, having it release letting him out. Unlike most that may of bolted, Odin was moving around and was in hotaru's stall by the time even Keiko had time to turn around.

Keiko smiles and gently pets him. "I was meaning the apple to be for Hotaru not you." About the time Keiko was talking the outside door open as two workers was coming in. Both seeing that Odin was loose, they both shut the door back and left without a word. "Well I Guess I will give you a 2nd apple." Keiko reaches back and pulls out another apple and holds out towards Odin, who didn't seem to really care as long as he had an apple.

[Aiko]

A smile made its way onto Ren’s face as the tall American listened to Keiko’s story. [green] “How romantic!”[/green] she laughed, becoming a little braver with her brushing as she said it. [green] “Maybe not romantic, but Odin knows what he wants, and he goes to get it.” [/green] Her mind was painting pictures for her again, and she saw the huge black horse trotting up to beautiful Hotaru in a meadow bathed in sunlight. Her entire face grew gentle as she imagined it. Even if the actual story wasn’t romantic, the images that she conjured up to illustrate it certainly were.

She hadn’t noticed Keiko enter the stall until she discovered an apple in her hand. Renée blinked, coming out of her daydream, and mumbled gratefully to the purple-haired boy. Her thanks was drowned out, though, by a loud clattering noise, and a little apprehensively, the tall girl turned, and Odin was right there! Gasping at the unexpected appearance of the big horse, Ren backed up a few steps, though Keiko seemed totally at ease with this turn of events. Just then, the girl heard a door open, and she glanced over with wide green eyes to see a pair of stable hands enter, take one look at Odin, and exit. Ren giggled, relaxing a little, and turned to look at Odin, who was munching on an apple.

Trying her best to be nonchalant about it, Ren sauntered past the black horse and offered her apple to Hotaru, being careful to keep her fingers out of the way of the horse’s powerful teeth. The piece of fruit laid flat on her palm, offered up to the mare. As she offered it, Renée glanced over at Keiko. [green]“How many apples do you have in your pockets?”[/green] she wondered aloud, laughing a little. Looking back at Hotaru, the girl stroked the light-colored horse’s cheek with the back of her hand, then glanced back over at Keiko and Odin.

[green]“Do you think Odin would ever let me brush him? Not now, not today, but some day?”[/green] she wondered. She liked the thought of befriending the frighteningly large horse. Heck, she liked to befriend anything, really, not that anything liked to befriend her. That, and Odin was a magnificent, intriguing animal, and she just thought it would be wonderful if he would at least let her touch him someday.

[Naraku]

"He may, if you prove to him, that he cannot friethen you, He actually seem to enjoy making taunts, and No I am out of apples, Its pretty obvious he would want a 2nd apple. Besides they are brush consitantly, Though I am the only one that seems to get to do Odin."

Keiko smiles walking around Odin, and quicklly leaps and hops up onto his, adjusting himself, from the large jump up to the horse. "It not til I ride him I see how short I am...."

[Aiko]

Smiling, Ren went to put down the brush. [green]“If they are brushed often, I am finished,”[/green] she told Keiko. Hotaru was practically shining with the radiance of her gold-and-white coat, even though Renée hadn’t finished going through all the brushes necessary for complete grooming. As the girl turned and walked back towards the horses, she glanced around, not seeing Keiko. When suddenly his voice came from above, the tall American tilted her head back. [green]“When did you go up?”[/green] she asked him, blinking with the surprise of, for once, having to turn her face upwards to look at the shorter boy. Then she smiled and headed over to Hotaru, planning to mount up.

Of course, she was immediately faced with a dilemma. Exactly how was she supposed to get on the horse’s back? Renée was afraid that if she just tried to clamor on, she’d end up kicking poor Hotaru, or whacking her in the head with wild flailing, or other products of clumsiness. She walked around the beautiful horse, looking for some better way to get on her back. When she saw none, Ren gave an inward groan of dread. [green]Here goes everything![/green] she thought, approaching the mare’s right flank. She put her hands on the mare’s back, and heaved. Next thing she knew, she was sitting on the hay-strewn floor, and her butt hurt. She looked up dazedly, realizing that she fell. [green]“Meant to do that,”[/green] she muttered to herself, and picked herself up, brushing dust and straw off the seat of her jeans. [green]“Let’s try this again!” [/green] This time, Ren managed to awkwardly haul herself halfway over the mare’s back, and she tried swinging her leg over, only to realize that she wasn’t entirely sure how. She had somehow gotten to where she was laying over the horse’s spine, her legs dangling over one flank while her shoulders and head dangled over the other. [green]“Um, help?”[/green]

[Naraku]

Keiko couldn't help but laugh and watch her as he slowly approaches her. "You could of used fensing and climbed onto her, I had to and still jump." He reaches over helping her adjust herself on the horse. "Think you can ride her?" He smiles as he slowly turns odin facing the exit of the stable.

Odin was beginning to strut and neighing as he was getting riled and impatient for having to go out. Keiko leans down petting the side of his neck as he whispers into his ear. "We will be out soon enough don't worry.

[Aiko]

[ooc: You don’t mind me “playing” Hotaru, do you? I just think it’ll speed things up.]

Renée sighed as, with Keiko’s help, she righted her awkward body. She managed to get her legs over each side of the horse, and she could feel Hotaru’s spine between her legs, even though the mare wasn’t a particularly bony horse. Ren scooted forward along the horse’s back, her hands reaching for the long hair of the mane. Praying that Hotaru wouldn’t mind so long as she was gentle, the American held onto bunches of the mare’s mane as she shifted until she found a semi-comfortable position. Still, it had been a long time since she’d had a whole horse between her legs. It was a feeling that was going to take some getting used to. Ren used her ankles to grip the horse’s flanks, then paused uncertainly, trying to remember if she was right in using her ankles or if she was supposed to use her knees. She’d find out soon enough, she supposed.

In response to Keiko’s question, Ren admitted, [green]“No.”[/green] Then she sucked in a deep breath, full of the smells of hay and dust and manure and horse. [green]“Allons-y. Let’s go.”[/green] Pressing her ankles harder into Hotaru’s side, the girl leaned over the horse’s neck. She was sure she was going about this all wrong, but the mare seemed to understand the intent. Snorting, the horse began to make her way towards the exit, probably more because that’s what she wanted to do than that’s what Ren wanted her to do. Renée was just along for the ride, it seemed. The feel of another creature walking underneath her was a strange feeling, for Ren was jarred a bit with every step that Hotaru took. But then the horse was out into the late afternoon sunlight, her head up and her ears pricked with apparent interest. The girl who rode her smiled and relaxed a bit. [green]“Thanks,”[/green] she whispered to the horse. [green]“You’re doing all the work here, and you’re really helping me. So thank you.”[/green]