[PRP] Horseplay (Calder/Lysander)

[MoonKitsune]

It had been some time since the haunted house had appeared to him, and he paused in the middle of walking his minipets to see it standing there. Curious, he turned direction and trotted inside, the herd of small creatures rushing behind and head, bucking and kicking about.

It felt less threatening now that he could collect Fear as an adult. Even his years at Amityville seemed far away.

The old floorboards shook and creaked under the chorus of many hoof-falls.  

[Baneful]

Lysander didn’t trust the haunted house one bit, not after the mess Merric yad been in, it was a weird and truly freaky place and he treated it with much more suspicion than he had.

Normally it was quiet but when he heard what was unmistakably a horse he couldn’t help but turn in the direction of the sound, Herald also listening attentively.

He clucked in the way he had when calling his own horses. “Here my darling.” He said quietly.  

[MoonKitsune]

The mingling herd of deathknells, appleoosas, and eponies stopped as their heard rose up and ears perked. On alert, the scraping of small hooves tapped the ground and moved around Calder with apprehension. The white mare rose her head to the direction of the noise and felt flattered at the name.

Darling.

Someone was being flirtatious. Tail flicking, Calder turned at a fork in the hallway to the voice and turned a corner. From one end Lysander could see a white dappled mare and at its legs a small herd of various pony creatures heading his way.

What Calder saw was an older hunter. Hunter because of the coat. Seemed things never changed.

 

[Baneful]

The closer he got the more aware Lysander became of the fact that there was apparently more than one horse and that something was wrong with the weight behind some of the footfalls. Before he could deal with this he was confronted with a deeply unexpected sight, stopping dead in his tracks and looking surprised. Not only was it a horse, but lots of little horses, lots of really really cute really small horses.

Lysander couldn't help himself at all, bringing his hands up to his face as he took a sharp intake of breath.

"Oh my gooooood." he exhaled quietly, overwhelmed by the adorable little creatures and the fine conformation and appearance of the horse that accompanied them.

"Look at all of you!" he said, still keeping his voice soft but unable to hide his enthusiasm. "Hello my dears." His eyes flicked from the herd to Calder. "And aren't you a very beautiful...." he ducked to check. "..lady too?"

 

[MoonKitsune]

The reaction wasn't one she expected ans she paused as the man bearly could hold it all together before whisoeribg to the herd as they rushed in to move about him, smelling the air about him while a few more minis nipped and pulled on his coat.

As Calder fully made her way over, her ears went back as he checked her gender so openly. "You could have asked." She said back, nostrils flaring as she snorted at him, not comfortable with such focused attention in that area from anyone other than Zar.

To which she looked over and then at his chest. "Man?"

Despite the boldness of his actions, her ears went back to being relaxed as she moved her head in to smell him. "What's a hunter doing here? I could trample you." She spoke softly but not in a whisper like him.

 

[Baneful]

Lysander could have melted from the sheer cuteness of the tiny horses, holding carefully still so as not to startle them. He was used to hot blooded horses who were spooky at best and assumed this was the situation with these guys. He wanted them to trust him immediately.

He didn't seem afraid of the mare in front of him, and when she spoke he merely raised an eyebrow. "You talk." he said obviously. "And yes. Man."

He let her smell him, smelling faintly of pleasant cologne, almost imperceptable sweat, a strange toxic chemical tang which wasn't at all human and somehow, somewhere in there the salty smell of the ocean.

"And you could trample me, any equine could trample me. Some have." and he smiled assertively. "Most don't though."

 

[MoonKitsune]

The smell was inviting, sweet like candy or ripe fruit and the tang of something like the ocean had her invested in breathing in deeply. "You smell of water, sugar, and ....like the runoff from the city." Something in the smell was souring the sweet and ocean brininess.

"I'm not a minipet. So yes, I talk." She watched him hovering about the herd, looking eager to touch, and moved her head forward close to his own face. "You met many horses?"  

[Baneful]

Lysander looked surprised at this. "Runoff?" he said, wrinkling his nose, but even as he said it he knew why it had to be. Herald's influence was more than just a voice in his head, manifesting in other subtle ways, maybe other creatures like her could somehow tell. "Never mind."

He looked her over. "Yes, you are certainly no minipet." he said. "No standard horse either, I've seen so many horses, I've ridden champions, and I've never seen conformation like yours before. You make them look like schooling ponies." And he smiled about this, not making any effort to disguise his admiration.

"And yes, I've met a lot of horses, maybe more horses than people."

 

[MoonKitsune]

She was beyond flattered to hear she in no way compared to the common horses of his world and rose her hear with pride as she moved in place, unable to do a turn about to show every gorgeous angle of her supernatural form. "Of course. I'm not just a mare either." She said, shaking her head to toss about her luminous white mane.

"They cannot compare the blood of my kind. They are my brethern in thought and heart." They were the inspiration to which her kind was created. The fear of something wild and untamed and the dangers of nature itself.

Not one for games for too long, the fog rose into the corridor and wrapped about her before the mare vanished to leave a man, dressed in a soft, blue tunic top decorated in golden leafwork, a black coat, and a green kilt.

"You are a weird hunter to not want to attack. Who are you?" He asked, reaching down to pet a appleoosa beside him.  

[Baneful]

Lysander made a low whistle as she did a turn for him, mesmerised by how truy gorgeous the horse in front of him was. He'd never seen anything like it and he could only imagine what it would feel like to ride her.

When she was gone he felt like he could finally focus again, giving him a friendly smile. "I guess I'm kind of weird. I'm Lysander. I don't really see the point in attacking someone who hasn't done anything to me, especially when they are an equine. I love horses."

 

[MoonKitsune]

"Kelpie. Not a horse." He corrected as he nuzzled a deathknell that came beside him to chew at the ends of a lock of hair.

"I heard there were some like you. Doesn't mean you won't be torn apart by someone. I know what your kind does. What they do to us. I've fought yiur kind since I was a young colt." He looked up before standing fully.

"But I don't see a reason today. I'm Calder." He moved closer now to look him over up close before reaching out to touch Lysander's mane. "I don't see many that grow their mane out."  

[Baneful]

"Ohhh wow, a kelpie!" Lysander said, just as enthusiastic as always. "Water horses!" He'd heard about them because of course he had, his interest in equines boundless and extending to all manner of mythological horse creatures.

"Well I've not done a lot of fighting, it's not really my thing. I mostly get my assistant to re-arrange that sort of thing and avoid it." he shrugged. "Not a fan of violence, I prefer riding to everything else."

He didn't seem bothered or to feel threatened by the touch, simply giving Calder a big smile. "Most people don't, its a lot of maintainence. But I have the time and the patience for it, so it's not a big problem really. I like it long. "

Moonkitsune

 

[MoonKitsune]

"A few of my kind would be envious of someone who could maintain this length and wasn't one of us. Not ta say that there isn't an appeal to short but not too short. Then what is there to touch?" He said as he removed his hand and started to circle, not really having many chances to inspect a human up close.

"I've heard about your horses.The tamed ones. Broken spirits. You could never handle the creatures here."

Baneful

 

[Baneful]

"I enjoy long hair." he said, seeming slightly pleased that it would be considered a feat by the kelpie's kind. He wasn't sure why so many hunters were gung ho about killing or harming these creatures, from all he could see they seemed fine, positively approachable and much nicer than many hunters (Melvin), that he'd met.

Lysander gave him a smile that darkened his already dark eyes. "You've only heard about them, I'll take that to mean you've never met them, nor a truly fiesty specimen. You can't win championships on a broken horse, not at all. You can tame them but that's mostly on their terms. Never say never."

He shrugged. "It was maybe the only thing I was ever really good at" he said.

Moonkitsune

 

[MoonKitsune]

"I've mingled with a few in some fields. Skittish things. Rushing to barns and stables. Confused by fences they don't try to jump over. I haven't seen enough to encounter the wilder ones. I have a long time to find more."

"I think you're cocky, but I lije that you get that it's on their terms. Most people, I think, would think it's from their own might."

Calder flicked his tail as he watched him. "So you're a professional rider? Wanna give it a go?" He said with a sly smile.