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+---- Thread: [ME] The Ride is Worth the Fall (/showthread.php?tid=12493)
RE: The Ride is Worth the Fall - Hawthorn - 02-17-2026
Surprised to see
He draws quiet, though, listening as Zavien asks him if Koa’s riding too, and looking much like a dog caught between a conversation just looking for the sound of the noise. As for Koa’s answer, Thorn snorts, snags a drink, and sits in to hear what happened to Zavien last year, recalling the dragon in question. “[say]Boy, can I relate.[/say]” He mutters with a smirk, at least until Kaisel arrives and he feels the air shift and he has absolutely no fucking clue what’s going on.
He barks a laugh at the flick to the brim of his hat, though, debating whether or not to snap his teeth at him. “[say]Hey Kai.[/say]” He greets warmly, not sure what the deal is when he sees the cool greeting Zavien offers and seems to slyly ask him if he wants to go get another drink. But before they can do anything else, everyone’s called to go and start the rodeo which leaves Thorn alongside Kaisel, cheering his friends on with an easy smile. “[say]Don’t break a leg![/say]”
Looking back over at Kaisel with the answer, though, and finding it really fucking confusing that he’s just chucked his shoes under the bleacher, Thorn shoots him an amused smile as his seafoam gaze focuses back on him. “[say]Guess so. Who’s yer money on?[/say]” He crosses one arm along his chest while the other cradles his drink, a coyness to him as if they’re sharing secrets of who’s going to win.
Thorn is hanging out with Kaisel!
RE: The Ride is Worth the Fall - Kaisel - 02-17-2026
Leaving
[Say]"Hang on, will ya?"[/say] he asks before leaning down and stripping off his socks one by one. With his dogs fully out now, socks wadded up and stuffed in each front jean pocket, he continues on with a barefoot stride like nothing out of the ordinary just occurred. [Say]"Let's grab some seats before all the good ones fill up,"[/say] he advises, hand propping up on his forehead against the glare as he squints around. [Say]"Lemme just grab my wi-iiiine drunk girlfriend first,[/say] he laughs, the nerves making the sound a little too quick, a little too high. Fucking close one.
He spots Flora not far from where he'd left her, so directs him and Thorn that way. Stepping off Thorn's side to lean in to Flora before they all get too close, he embraces her for a cheek kiss, which disguises the quick whisper he offers. [Say]"You're drunk."[/say] It's precise with command before he steps back and pivots with a broad grin to Thorn. [Say]"Show time!"[/say]
4/6 clothes
Standing with Flora and Hawthorn
RE: The Ride is Worth the Fall - Colt - 02-17-2026
Colt’s gaze drops to the plate in hand, evidence of what had once been there clear with smears of BBQ sauce and bloody remnants. Her grin doubles in size at once, a laugh slipping free as her attention climbs back to Thalassa ’s face. [say]”I’ll take that as high praise from you, given most of that meat was hand-raised here and supplied by me. The beef, at least.”[/say] Fuck them pigs. She’s not partial to the lambs and the goats much either, obnoxious little pricks.
The edges of the humor’s mark sharpen though as the ancient offers up her critique. Ever the glutton for punishment, the rancher tilts her head in with an [say]”Oh?”[/say] Clearly prompting for more explanation there, but not about to just lie down and take it, she fields it back with some teeth showing now behind her lips as her arms cross loosely over her chest, beer held out like an extension of her hand. [say]”Let me guess, you’re more into bull fighting?”[/say]
Tipping back a pull from the bottle, she nods in confirmation. [say]”Yeah, you got money on ‘im?”[/say] she wonders, one brow kicking up. [say]”Oh, I think his run’s starting now actually,”[/say] Colt murmurs, her hand reaching out to brush Thal’s arm to direct her focus into the pen. There, Danta is freshly astride Hydrata, the fearsome beast she’s come face to face with before spilling out of the chute with far too many necks swinging about. Fortunately, Danta is easy for the spectators to keep track of in his brilliantly red fit, and Colt rouses a cheer as he dart!s to another neck. [say]”He’s not bad!”[/say] Her money would definitely be on Sunjata throwing him, if not for loyalty, just based on the fact he's the nastiest bull she managed to wrangle for this event, his demigod status boosting him above the rest.
Colt is watching Danta ride Sunjata with Thalassa
RE: The Ride is Worth the Fall - Koa - 02-17-2026
A lot more happens and a lot more people join and leave and mill about. Kaisel appears, draping himself over Koa's shoulder like a cloak. Which is good, because the air is suddenly frigid between Kaisel and Zavien, the Risen Sun looking very much like a cloud has drifted across his face. Remembering the drama between the two, Koa glances between them awkwardly, but there's too much going on for today to be the day to try and rebuild that particular bridge. [say]"Hats?"[/say] he offers Kai as his cousin grasps for verbiage, laughing brightly and reaching to ruffle a teasing hand through the boy's hair.
But then the matches are posted up, and it's time to head off to the main event. With a tip of his hat Koa leaves the group, heartbeat increasing to see Sohalia 's name beside his own as partner. Hopefully he'll be able to give her a ride to remember, and the audience a show.
(Spoiler alert: he will not. But at least it's not his own voiceover playing as he falls)
Koa heads off to
RE: The Ride is Worth the Fall - Iskra - 02-17-2026
Melita is shamelessly herself, and it’s definitely top five of his favorite things about her. She doesn’t shy or soften for the sake of others, especially not if entertainment is involved. As she maps out her additional plan, hands orchestrating the whole possibility in grand display, his grin threatens to take over every part of his face. Stuffing it with chicken as a distraction, he gives a muffled farewell to Sunjata . [say]”Guf uck!”[/say]
A more mobile vendor slinging drinks and churros from a tray around their neck is ambling by just in time for Iskra to wave him down. Swallowing, he gestures and asks for two spiked lemonades and a churro to share. Washing down the fried chicken with a sip as he passes Mel her own cup, he glances over the rim towards the starting show. [say]”Y’think if we broke this in half it’d make a good straw?”[/say] he wonders, brandishing the churro mightily between them, sugar and cinnamon tumbling free with every faint movement like dessert glitter.
RE: The Ride is Worth the Fall - Erebos - 02-18-2026
Erebos was already hooting and hollering for everyone, fists pumping, cheering, as individuals shifted or went through chutes. [say]“This is awesome!”[/say] he muttered to anyone, chewing on some mac and cheese bites before focusing his attention back onto matters at hand. [say]“Who do you think is going to win?”[/say] he asked his father, unaware of the implications behind how such things would occur – rigged, fortitude, might, fortune, or otherwise. [say]“Do you get a better score for the more heads you have?”[/say] he indicated, pointing to Sunjata, missing the way his father had grabbed hold of one of the deep-fried fair treats.
The questions kept flowing though, laser focused on action upon action. [say]“How come Koa didn’t stay on? Can Sunjata eat the rider with one of his other heads? Do you think that’s allowed?”[/say]
RE: The Ride is Worth the Fall - Deimos - 02-18-2026
It turned out they knew quite a few participating, and as Deimos’ gaze swung back and forth between pairings as they were announced, he gave Noah, then Zavien, another good luck nod. Holding tight to Erebos as the boy began to whoop and yell at Sunjata (with his many, multiple heads) striving to make an impact against Danta, he snorted, roughly amused. But it was Koa’s (with new information about Sohalia; he’d had no idea about her pegasus shift) that made him cringe upon its immediacy. A lunge, a twist, and he was off. [say]“Oof,”[/say] he rumbled with a brief wrinkle to his nose, content that Erebos hadn’t asked him to participate, and hopeful the child would forget the whole thing next year.
Snagging at one of the foods, pleasantly surprised by the taste, he could hear the endless barrage of his son’s questions, but truly wasn’t certain on some of them. [say]“We will have to see, but I doubt it on the heads portion,”[/say] on both counts of scores and being able to eat one’s rider; he could presume the Ancient would put up a fight on that predicament.
RE: The Ride is Worth the Fall - Thalassa - 02-18-2026
[say]"I am a natural expert on meat."[/say] She flashes her fangs at Colt, willing to let the woman take the praise but equally happy to boast her own strengths. And as someone whose diet primarily consists of proteins and pastries, she'll admit that the barbecue passes the test.
Staring out across the stage, she hums, considering the various events she's observed today. 'Bull fighting' certainly sounds like one of the events she'd enjoyed. Her head tilts, the light playing against the reflective surface of her horns, blonde hair looking extra bright. [say]"If that's the one where crazy horned beasts run at people, then yes."[/say] Thal grins to herself, lounging back as she waves her bottle lazily in the air. [say]"The others just lack that... danger aspect."[/say] And where's the fun in watching anything if there's no risk of mortal injury? Her sharp smile turns to Colt, knowing the mischief will shine bright in her eyes.
At the mention of Danta, she shakes her head. [say]"No money, although I would've bet on him if I'd known."[/say] He's the scrappy kind that can't be easily shaken. It's one of the reasons he's grown on her (besides being the source of Asta's happiness). She wouldn't bet against him in any competition.
The casual brush against her arm is strange, a friendliness that she pretends not to notice - or like. Thal simply sweeps her eyes to where the hydra and the Maverick enter the arena in a flourish of limbs and necks. She tracks the moment he vanishes, a grin spreading wider at the impressive display of Ancient abilities. Yeah, she's pretty confident in her choice.
When the hydra begins to twist his necks around themselves, Thal gives a low laugh. [say]"That doesn't look comfortable."[/say]
RE: The Ride is Worth the Fall - Melita - 02-18-2026
As pairs were announced, her brow arched, intrigued by the match-up – she didn’t know Dantalion well, but certainly enough to know he’d be putting up a fight. [say]“Good luck!”[/say] On another thought, she cupped her hands around her mouth as Sunjata began to thread his way through the gathered people. [say]“Maybe knock him around with your other heads too!”[/say] Shrugging, uncertain if he heard her, she directed her attention back to Iskra (seeing Koa fall out of the corner of her eye – yikes but good on Sohalia and all their weird ass drama llama shit), only to be briefly enamored with his grin. Gods, if he kept looking at her like that –
But then there was a mobile vendor with drinks and churros, and she accepted the cup with a wink and a nudge, always content to indulge. Arching her brow as she took a sip, his question made her snort, and she waited until she’d swallowed everything down before answering. [say]“I would love for you to try,” [/say]batting her eyelashes and openly encouraging the nonsense, she broke off the churro between them, though stuck her half directly out of her mouth, waiting to see if he was successful.
RE: The Ride is Worth the Fall - Calypso - 02-18-2026
She sits comfortably beside her father and the unknown woman for a moment, admiring the reddish hue of her hair as she smoothly says hello. The young attuned’s smile brightens, enough that her nose wrinkles as she hums an easy “[say]hey,[/say]” back with all the warmth of a sunwarmed greenhouse.
She gets the distinct sensation, though, as she scents something deeply familiar to her – not quite to the note of her father’s familiarity – but enough that she tracks the scent of salt, some restlessness that she pairs intimately with the senation of being on the Ark, and when the question comes? Caly thinks she might be adept enough to piece something together about the beautiful woman sitting beside Jack.
He beats her to the punch before she can fumble, though, and right as her lips part to guess they break into a bright grin of surprise and excitement. “[say]No shit. I did think so.[/say]” She says brightly, blossoming and leaning in a bit toward the Ark despite Jack being right between them (sorry dad). “[say]Hope I didn’t do too bad of a job, might be in my blood but I ain’t as experienced with it.[/say]” She laughs lightly, ignoring most of the rodeo for the realization of this. “[say]How d’ya like bein’ out of the water?[/say]” She isn’t sure whether it’s a brilliant opportunity for her or if she missed it.
Maybe it’s like her nostalgia for Safrin’s sky, in a way.
Caly's sitting with the Ark and Jack!
RE: The Ride is Worth the Fall - The Ark - 02-18-2026
The Ark drinks Calypso in without apology, blue eyes bright and measuring, red lips pulling back in a dazzling, slow smile that shows every inch of her satisfaction. The girl glows—sun-warmed and clever—and the Ark enjoys the way she leans in despite Jack squarely between them, as though proximity were a tide that could simply be waded through. [say]"You did fine,"[/say] she says with a low chuckle, shaking her head, dismissing the apology with easy generosity. [say]"My boards have known far worse hands than yours."[/say] Her grin turns sly then, something sharper glinting behind it. [say]"Though I’ll admit,"[/say] she adds, voice dropping into velvet mischief, [say]"I found you much more interesting when you weren’t cleaning."[/say]
Below them, the chute gate slams open and a rider explodes into motion atop a bucking mass of muscle and fury. The crowd roars, dust rises. The Ark feels the vibration of it in her bones, in the hollow places where water should be. At Caly's question, her grin turns wolfish as she nods toward the lower rows where, at the edge of the stands, Kaisel is looping at arm around Flora 's waist. The sight flickers across the Ark’s vision like a flare at sea; bright, unnecessary, irritating.
As she sighs, a thin current of wind snakes down the bleachers, subtle and pleasant at first, cooling sunburnt shoulders and lifting stray curls. It passes the row behind Flora and Kaisel, and brushes against a precariously balanced cup of red slushie just enough to send it tumbling. It arcs in a lazy, inevitable curve before splashing bright crimson across Flora’s white crop top, sticky sweetness cascading down to pool over Kaisel’s bare feet.
Innocent as anything, the Ark turns her gaze back to Caly, blinking once, serene. [say]"It has its benefits,"[/say] she says lightly, as if commenting on the weather.
The Ark is sitting with Jack and Calypso and just used air magic to spill a slushie on Flora / Kaisel!
RE: The Ride is Worth the Fall - Noah - 02-19-2026
Noah couldn't help but chuckle back at Erebos and his enthusiasm, his youthful excitement giving the Sentinel a boost within himself. [say]"I am. I'll be using my griffin form for it."[/say] He told the youth, his smile never fading even as he continued. [say]"I wasn't here last year, either."[/say] He cast Deimos a knowing glance, the reasons between neither of them attending quite the same. [say]"But I suppose Colt decides. It's her ranch and all."[/say] Noah said, jutting his chin towards the blonde as she approached.
He chuckled again at Colt's comment. [say]"By Safrin's blessing, I hope so too."[/say] He settled in then with Deimos and his son, waiting for the next step as he let his glacier eyes sweep over the gathering crowd. He recognized many, many faces. Some were friendly, some less so, but Noah didn't move from his spot until it was time. Hearing the announcements over the crowd, the hunter's eyes immediately began to search for Zavien. The Risen Sun had done the same, and closed the distance between them. Noah reached out to shake his hand, nodding. [say]"All in good fun, right?"[/say] He asked with his smile still present and a waggle of his brows.
Giving a nod to Deimos and asking Erebos for a good-luck high five, Noah stepped forward to the chutes.
RE: The Ride is Worth the Fall - Flora - 02-19-2026
Kaisel ’s arm slips around her waist and Flora’s grin flickers, just for a breath, as she listens to his too-precise whisper. Then she snorts softly, the sound inelegant and entirely hers, smile blooming right back into place as if nothing in the world could puncture it. Wondering why she was drunk, nevertheless she's already turning with bright cheer, braid swinging as she lifts her voice toward Hawthorn. [say]"Hey, Thorn—"[/say] The yelp that tears out of her is sharp and startled as something cold and violently sweet splashes across her chest. Bright red blooms over white in an instant, sticky and shocking, the slushie cascading down in syrupy rivulets that cling and drip and then, insult to injury, pool over Kaisel’s bare feet.
She jumps back on instinct, eyes wide, hands flying out from her sides. For half a second she looks every bit the caricature of someone who has overindulged and lost control of her drink, and then her expression tightens because while she was occasionally clumsy, this time, she hadn't been. Her gaze slides over her shoulder, slow and deliberate, scanning the rows above. She follows the trajectory of where the cup must have fallen from and her eyes land there, on Jack, arm slung around a redhead who leans easy and intimate across his lap, Calypso tipped inward toward them both.
Her breath catches and while it's small, almost invisible, it's there. The sticky chill on her skin is nothing compared to the sudden prickle beneath her ribs. For all of Caly's semi-righteous hatred toward she and Kai, she was an attuned, so it couldn't have been her. But between Jack and his daughter and the deliberatenessof that spill, she is certain this was not clumsy chance, and it stings.
Not because of the shirt—though it was a good shirt—but because retaliation, out of nowhere, feels petty and pointed in a way she does not expect from Jack. It makes something in her chest tighten, old ache brushing against something she had thought set down, before a roar from the arena snaps through her like a whipcrack and she spins too late to see the moment itself, just in time to watch Koa hit dirt, and though she has missed the actual bucking, she throws both hands into the air anyway. [say]"WHOOOOP!"[/say] she whoops, loud and unashamed, clapping hard enough that her rings flash in the sun. [say]"YES!"[/say]
Her grin comes back fierce and bright, defiant as anything. If she feels watched, if she feels needled, she does not let it root. Without hesitation she hooks one arm aggressively through Kaisel ’s and the other through Hawthorn ’s, red slushie be damned, tugging them both forward with queenly insistence. [say]"Come on,"[/say] she declares, already steering them away from the stands and
Flora drags Thorn and Kai
6/6 clothes
RE: The Ride is Worth the Fall - Colt - 02-19-2026
Colt doesn't try to fight away the short laugh that rises in response to Thalassa . [say]"I think all your darting around skews your sense of danger a touch. Plenty of cowboys that meet their last ride doing something like this, or walk away changed."[/say] There's healers on standby, if needed, but healing doesn't remove the pain that sets in first, and an outfit like this doesn't really attract or afford the best and the brightest medics around. For anything too terrible, the injured will have to travel or pray, and some prefer to wear it like a badge of honor instead. [say]"Or maybe I'm just partial to a certain style of danger,"[/say] she admits with a faint shrug, knowing that Caido has plenty to offer, and yet she's always found her way to here—organized it, even.
In the arena, Sunjata and Danta prove her point rather well as they display an impressive show. Scales gleam in the Longheat sun as Sunjata twists and writhes around, a hat lost to the dust as the red rider rises to the challenge of each undulating neck. Colt's cheer rises louder and fuller, delight carrying her away in a full rush of volume and heat. She's strained on the edge of every moment, gaze sharp with focus and appreciation as she tracks their wild movements, waiting to see what happens next. Danta nearly makes it, but the buzzer sounds the end of the eight seconds after he's already left the hydra's back too long, and Colt's breath releases all at once. [say]"Looks like you could have made some money,"[/say] she grins over at Thal, acknolwedging that the ride had been more than a show, but a worthwhile contender.
Indeed, as all the rides wrap up, Danta will be proclaimed the winner, his earnings and belt buckle handed over by one of her ranch hands.