[PQ+] Just the way them wild horses run

Flora

Flora is breathless by the time she clears the last jump, dismounting immediately with a sharp wince as she swings the hobby horse free and holds it out in front of her like a broom that has personally betrayed her trust. "Absolutely not," she mutters under her breath, shifting her weight and discovering a constellation of very specific complaints blooming between her thighs, muscles clearly offended at being used in ways they were never consulted about.

Still, when it comes time to tidy up, she doesn’t just toss the thing aside. There’s a pause, a brief consideration, and then she carries it into the shed with unexpected care, leaning it gently against the wall rather than dumping it in with the rakes and shovels. Just in case, she tells herself, because if today has proven anything, it’s that the world is full of surprises and mildly cursed objects and gods she wouldn't be surprised at all if the horses were somehow able to hold a grudge.

She straightens slowly, rolling one hip and then the other, expression tight before it softens into a crooked smile as she looks back toward Colt. "I think," Flora says, voice warm but resolute, "that I will be an extremely enthusiastic spectator when rodeo time comes, if that’s all the same to you."

passion is a passing thing, it's accidental chemistry
caught up in a feelin', it can be deceivin'.
this is like breaking for me

Code stolen from Queen Sky