[o] Horny Horses

COLT

She bid farewell to her horse Beans for the time being as she boarded the skyship up to Stormbreak. He'd do fine in the little pen by the road, she'd paid the man enough to keep him cared for. So she flew up to the city without concern, though she was anxious to finish her task of posting the Rodeo notice for the town and be on her way. However, the Celestine had been such an experience last time she'd come here that she couldn't help but swing by it again. Just for a little peek.

So Colt wandered down the aisles, stopping by the assorted plants from time to time to fully admire them. In the distance beasts could be heard chuffing and bellowing, and the sound at times was haunting. "I wonder if those unicorns ever made it back home," she murmured to herself as she entered a region that looked like home, like it was made for the proud, sword-bearing equids. She leaned against the railing, golden hair sliding across her back, as she peered in and tried to find the mares and foals once more.

If I go missing, don't bother looking, I'm probably just riding the wind
'Cause cowboys and sunsets, you can always count on them, but never to stay
I guess I'm a cowboy, 'cause there's a sunset on the way

ISKRA

He'd come to Stormbreak again looking for Elizabeth. He couldn't find her at Halo, and he knew she traveled a lot, so he figured why not retrace his steps to a place he had been able to find her. She wasn't at the White Hart this time though, and he'd left with a sigh of resignation, and a few drinks in to warm his belly on the way home. Guess he'd just write her a letter rather than run around on Skyships like a fool. One might think that's why he's SHOUTING, the inebriation, but while the liquor had certainly helped make the world a little bit fuzzier, a little bit easier to handle while dark fears circled him like vultures, this was all courtesy of Ludo.

"HEY!" he greeted the woman leaning against the rails, staring into an empty pen like she might find meaning in the nothingness. He couldn't blame her, the ceiling in his room held a lot of answers to life, or so he thought. If there was a sway to his step, he didn't notice as he leaned in next to her, all smiles and...flowers. He'd been collecting some while he was here. Maybe something to give to his mother, when he worked up the courage to complete that task, maybe just something to brighten up his sad little shack in Halo. "I DON'T THINK ANYTHING'S IN THERE, BUT THERE'S SOME CLOUD WYRM'S NEARBY THOUGH."

It's hard to tell the truth when you lie to yourself
Always give too much of you to someone else
I'm talkin' to you now like we're old friends
It'll never be too late to start again

COLT

His shout cuts across the settled peace, and given his proximity, is wholly unnecessary. She jerked her head to him, hair splashing against her back with the motion. Her stare was edged with annoyance, her lips drawn tight and puckered slightly with already forming rebuke. "Shhh!" she chastised sharply, like a librarian who's lost her way. Either he didn't hear her, over the sound of his own continued hollering, or he didn't care.

Colt threw her hands up in exasperation, "Well there's not fucking anything in there to see now!" They landed back on the rail with a slap, and she leaned into them, exhaling through her mouth to steady the clip to her tone. She could smell the booze on him, insufferable. "The exit's that way if you're lost," she said with cool dismissal, resigned to linger here long enough after his departure to see the beasts for herself (or lack of them).

If I go missing, don't bother looking, I'm probably just riding the wind
'Cause cowboys and sunsets, you can always count on them, but never to stay
I guess I'm a cowboy, 'cause there's a sunset on the way

ISKRA

There's no softness to her as her attention whipped to him, her bite causing him to straighten like a child reprimanded by a vexed adult. "SORRY!" he offered, the attempt at an apologetic grin faltering into a subdued frown. "I CAN'T STOP IT—I HAVE TO YELL, BECAUSE LUDO HATES THE COLD!" He had to explain somehow that he wasn't normally this much, and he'd spread the word about the god's distaste of climate to any and all who would listen so they wouldn't have to suffer the same fate. At least, it was the best theory he'd worked out thus far. All things considered, he got off light, the deities aren't always known for their ability to forgive.

He shook his head at her words, and immediately regretted the motion as he slouched deeper into the rail. The flowers in his hand curled over the edge, seeming to go a bit more limp, like him. "NOT LOST, JUST WANDERING." Poetic, perhaps, if not screamed at her. "NAME'S ISKRA," he offers, willing a smile.

It's hard to tell the truth when you lie to yourself
Always give too much of you to someone else
I'm talkin' to you now like we're old friends
It'll never be too late to start again

COLT

He remained. Oblivious, or obstinate, either way he grated against her, the shouts continuing as if he couldn't hear himself over the din inside his own head. She glanced sidelong at him at his apology, but tilted more towards him at his continued, confusing reasoning. "That makes no fucking sense," she huffed, arms crossing as her weight tipped against the rail with just a hip. Then she realized, this must be his shtick. Draw people in by acting half mad and spouting some off the wall bullshit to get them asking questions and responding.

"Uh huh, well go wander back to the bar, Iskra." She directed him visually with a finger now, like a dog that needed both the words and the hands to finally acquiesce. Maybe, he needed her to speak in his language?

"FUCK OFF."

If I go missing, don't bother looking, I'm probably just riding the wind
'Cause cowboys and sunsets, you can always count on them, but never to stay
I guess I'm a cowboy, 'cause there's a sunset on the way

ISKRA

Seems not everyone was as charmed by his curse as Melita had been. Likely because she and Ludo had conspired about it—a thought that had started as a joke but was gradually making more sense. Well that and, the other thing they had made a deal on. The thought of that flickered like salt on a wound, and Vesper's poison crept deeper into the pockets of Iskra's mind.

With a resigned sigh Iskra pushed off the railing, "SORRY, I'LL LEAVE YOU BE." His lips moved up in a departing smile, but it was all lips and sorrow. He didn't normally manage to piss of strangers immediately, so this was a bit of a new flavor to chew on, but more than that, he was stuck on the overbearing shadow of what exactly Mel saw in him to be worth spending time together. This stranger didn't see it, and he didn't either. Slowly, he meandered back to the skyship home.

[FIN]

It's hard to tell the truth when you lie to yourself
Always give too much of you to someone else
I'm talkin' to you now like we're old friends
It'll never be too late to start again