[ME] The Ride is Worth the Fall

SuNjATA

the flood

“Only sometimes.” Sunjata winks to Iskra with a smirk. But his gaze flits to his niece as he informs him that she’d just been telling him that she’d suggested it to him. Humming a soft laugh and nodding, he folds his arms across his chest, glancing over through the crowd to see Deimos in question, before he’s looking back at Melita and completely missing the previous possible choking incident with enough time for her to recover completely.

He grins to her before shrugging. “I’ll try. No idea, though. I think she randomizes it?” He murmurs, brows pinching as he thinks back on it. “I got Charlie last time which was fun.” The Ancient priestess had always been a good time, but as he scans the crowd he can’t find her amongst the rest.

“Is Deimos participating?” He asks, looking over at Iskra now curiously.

get a load of this trainwreck

said i was the best simultaneously the worst

A laugh leaves the courtesan as the other man’s cowboy hat is tipped toward him and Thorn rolls his eyes playfully. “Eh, practice makes perfect right? Maybe one year you’ll stay on.” He bounces his brows, before he flashes a warm grin after. As the question is turned to him, though, he seems a little surprised by the question, shaking his head to laugh.

“Nah, I think I get ‘nough ridin’ done with work. Don’t gotta throw myself to all’ve these wolves.” He winces slightly, the apology on the tip of his tongue that he won’t be able to join Zavien in his full misery. “Happy to commiserate though if it doesn’t go well.” He leans in to nudge Zavien with his shoulder in camaraderie.

Hawthorn

and best case scenario, i should be cursed

I got the horses in the back, horse tack is attached
Hat is matte black, got the boots that's black to match

Cowboy Koa is here to ride.

Don't ask where he managed to find such a remarkably large cowboy hat, nor whether he bought the boots or brought them from the Stormbreak collapse. The dragon belt buckle, at least, is Noe's responsibility, though the leather belt it's affixed to is all Koa's call. Finish it off with classic blue jeans and a blue-and-cream plaid shirt (he'd tried a jacket but it's far too hot), and you have an ensemble as charming as it is ridiculous. It might be laughable on anyone else, but Koa is somehow both handsome and confident enough to make it work.

As usual, Koa gravitates toward his friends. He spots Zavien and Hawthorn in the crowd, waving to them before ambling over, boyish enthusiasm awash on his face. "Hey, partners!" he greets the others, tipping his hat playfully. "Thorn, didn't see your name on the sign up sheet. Woulda thought you of all people would be down to ride." He winks teasingly at the courtesan before taking a sip of his beer.

My life is a movie, bull ridin' and boobies
Cowboy hat from Gucci, Wrangler on my booty

Koa

COLT

Colt flashes smiles, nods, or waves to everyone that she recognizes or tries to catch her eye. This especially includes anyone brave enough to sign up to ride, and all those willing to play at bull for the day. Zavien earns a delighted gasp, Colt reaching out to grab at his arm, leaning in with an excited warmth. "Not only did you show up, you're also riding again this year! What a cowboy," she commends, releasing him to set her hands on her hips. "Well, win or lose, come to my place after the event, yeah? I still got that treat I saved for you." the corners of her lips tug with the slightest hint of mischief blending into her honey-rich smile, but it's gone just as quick as she gets back to helping organize the entry lists.

Sohalia 's bull entry earns a low whistle of approval, much as she is not surprised to see it. Pegasus is absolutely making her mouth run off with her face, the adoration sparking bright in Colt's gaze as she locks eyes with the blonde. "Knock 'em dead out there," Colt drawls around the curve of her mouth, finishing with a wink before the crowd eats Soh up and the work resumes for Colt. Sunjata 's application is acknowledged with a bounce of her brows as he ups his game this year with hydra as his form of choice, and there's surely a joke there about the sex demigod having a lot of heads. Dantalion 's approach and name in the game rouses a rich drawl of approval. "Oh, a red rider. I'll be rooting for you," she informs him with a tip of her hat, providing all the details for where, when, and what he'll need to be doing (in as much as one can get in two minutes before stepping on the back of a 'bull' for the first time, at least).

The familiar face of Noah and his expected griffin entry is met with gratitude. "So glad you're joining this year," she says with a pleasant croon. "Hope you dance as well as a bull as you did a target," she teases before shifting her attention to the next rider that walks up. Koa . His name on paper had not immediately jostled recognition, but as she meets his face now, she remembers him and their talk of gods and the work assembling the Dragoon office here. "Koa," she beams, edges of the welcome a touch sly. "You'll put on quite the show, I expect," she appraises with the faintest hum as she adds his entry with the rest.

Cowgirls don't cry
Ride, baby, ride
It's gonna hurt every now and then
If you fall, get back on again

there's an angel on your story and a demon in your bed
feels a bit surreal, feeling bad, don't feel it yet

Settling in a little further as Niki accepts his arrival, the butcher’s tail pools at his feet, the ashen spaded tip flitting like a feline’s as he watches the sign ups continue, and if he spots Danta in the group prepping, he waves to him to ensure he knows where precisely he is. “Mm, well…” Asta trails off, unable to hide the twitch of his lips in a laugh and a smirk before he shakes his head. “He has not ridden in a rodeo before, I do not think.”

Other things, though? Well… He’s sure Niki can imagine it.

As for a horse, though, that takes him by surprise – his gaze flitting over toward Niki with a raise of his dark brow. “No?” He asks, though it isn’t like he’s too experienced in that either. He knows enough to get around, but for the most part he prefers his shifts these days. A soft laugh leaves him as he shakes his head to the follow up question, his grin easily settling on his face. “No, no. It is not something I am interested in apart from watching.” At least not without far much more convincing.

Astaroth

it's a roulette kinda deal, black and red is what you get

You can’t stop the change,

any more than you can stop the suns from setting.

When he'd signed up earlier, Zavien had clasped Colt's arm in return, shrugging and laughing at her assessment. He'd even agreed to her proposition, still not understanding the joke behind her eyes when she spoke of the treat, nodding his head with an enthusiastic, "It's a deal." 

Hawthorn's joke, on the other hand, doesn't fly over his head quite as easily, and Zavien bursts out with a shock of laughter. "Fair enough." He grins, able to appreciate the joke even if the flush on his cheeks deepens the faintest of shades. "I'll take all the company I can get." Even if Thorn doesn't hurt like him, they can enjoy the memories of his poor performance together. 

His eyes catch on a waving arm, the smile on his face seeming to have found a permanent place. "Koa! You're riding too?" The idea of some friendly competition has excitement racing through him.

Zavien

No way you can deny, you feel the most alive when you are terrified

Delight stretches out across his face in response to her proclamation. Since it's coming from her, it's really a royal decree to get fucking wasted, and far be it from him to defy a monarch. "Yessssss!" he celebrates loudly, always fond of a party and a good time, which has been hard to find as of late. Oh, there'd been parties, but from floating dicks to a lost mom, the past few events have been less than a [i]good time. Although the hot air balloons were fun. RIP Teddy. That feels like a lifetime ago though; since then there's been a secret wedding, falling cities, and fighting hats. Not that he's complaining about the whirlwind of it all, but, well, this is why they need shots.

His attention narrows from the surrounding buzz of the event to that smile of hers that always spells trouble. The exact kind he likes getting into, to be clear, but trouble nonetheless. "Oh, no?" he wonders with a put on innocence, as if the idea that Flora wants to wear less clothes could still prove a surprise, especially in this season. All attempts at playful jabs melt away the moment she pins him with that look though, and maybe it's the heat, but a red tinge finds his cheeks. His expression crumbles into something that's savoring temptation, his own gaze darkening with desire as he lets it wander down the shape of her, imagining all the remainders that her outfit keeps hidden. "In the spirit of the occasion here," he drawls after a beat, words thick and slow with the sly promise buried in them. "Maybe we do a little contest of our own? Just to ensure we know who the best rider is, and all." His smile slants and spreads, want yielding somewhat to humor and challenge as he leans in to offer up his plan into her ear.

Setting their two empty glasses back down at the stall, he's turning not long behind Flora to greet Sohalia. He fits himself back at her side without hesitation once their bouncing has ended, the warmth rolling off her an embrace of its own. One of his arms loops back behind her, low and loose, hand fitting into one of her back pockets. Soh's question immediately blazes a grin back onto his face, and he rolls a noncommittal shoulder. "Not in the arena," he offers up, gaze darting to Flora before returning to Sohalia. The mention of Koa's name has him straightening a touch though, attention quickly darting back to Flora, the start of a laugh forming even as he talks. "Wait. Koa is gonna ride?" Amusement tickles the back of his throat as he scans the crowd, already seeming to expect to see his cousin astride some beast and trying desperately to hang on. "That's gonna be worth watching."

---

Kai is w/ Flora and Soh by the drink vendor

Kaisel

I'm a daredevil on the highway to hell

I've been trying out the high road, and I hate it

"So?" The Ark shoots Jack a sideways smirk, one shoulder lifting in a careless roll. "As long as it isn’t you, what do I care?" She leans into him as they climb, dust kicking up around their boots, her body fitting to his with seamless inevitability. When they reach the stands she sinks into a seat as though claiming it outright, laying one calf on the seat in front of her and folding one long leg over the other. She leans back, red hair spilling and shifting like a restless tide caught in dry wind before fixing Jack with another cocky lift of an eyebrow.

She pretends to weigh the matter with exaggerated gravity before her lips curve again. "They did come to be entertained, didn’t they?" 

As Calypso approaches, at first the Ark does not look, if only because she has never seen Caly before and up here in the stands, she has no way of feeling the girl as she normally would. But when her voice comes with its unmistakable cadence—that bright-sunshine lilt threaded with something sharper beneath—recognition slides into place immediately and the Ark turns her blue eyes on the Marin girl where they drink her in without haste: blonde hair catching light, dark eyes that watch with sly intelligence, the posture of someone who has always known how to hold herself both on and off the sea. The Ark’s red mouth curves slowly. "Of course not," she says easily, voice smooth as polished timber. "Hello, Caly."

Jack's crew had known who the Ark was immediately; they'd been there the first time he'd called her up out of wood and canvas and into form, but would Caly know? The Ark studies her with unhurried curiosity, head tilting slightly, red hair lifting in a breeze of her own making, the faintest trace of brine threading the air before it dissolves. She does not know whether there is something visible about her, something that marks her as more than skin and curve and breath. Whether the sea leaves a sheen on her that distance from the galleon can't dull, whether the weight of depth hums beneath her ribs loud enough to be heard.

"Do you know who I am?"

---

The Ark is sitting in the stands with Caly and Jack.

Her Siren's Wake ability is active:
Magic: Siren's Wake | After she leaves a space, traces of her presence linger briefly: a faint scent of salt, the sound of distant water, a restless feeling in the chest. People rarely notice it consciously.
Type: Dark | Rank: Mastered | Cost: Passive

I've got a lot of sins, but you're my favourite

Code 100% taken from the queeeeeeen herself, Sky <3

Sohalia

Sohalia stepped into Flora 's hug with the kind of relieved exhale of someone searching for safe harbor in a storm, squeezing tight until the Doubletake moved away. Then she shot a friendly smile at Kaisel, her gaze flicking conspiratorially back to Flora at her husband's innuendo. But her expression quickly dropped into something that fell somewhere between excited and anxious and ended up firmly at nauseated. "Oh my gods, really?" she asked Flora, trying her best not to be too obvious about her (entirely fair, in her opinion) desire to buck Koa off.

At about that moment, Soh's next shot was delivered, and she picked up the glass, toying with it as Kai expressed his own excitement about Koa's decision to ride. "I didn't come to the rodeo last time," she confided in the couple. "So I have no idea what to expect. I mean, I get the whole 'buck 'em off as fast as possible' part, but like..." She trailed off, biting her lower lip nervously. "Who else has signed up? Do you know?" she asked Flora.

it's just a spark, but it's enough to keep me going

ISKRA

Shooting Melita a sidelong glance, lips quirking sly for a moment before he schools them back, he chews on his laughter rather than releasing it. Terrible timing on her uncle's part, as it'd turn out, but perhaps their fault for summoning him by talking about him. There'd be plenty of time for pantsing later on, he supposes.

His attention is inevitably drawn back to the Honeybee, and this time his humor does escape, although it's truly no surprise. "Your thirst for chaos carnage is insatiable, isn't it?" he says with clear fondness, her call for throwing everyone off a clear root for the entertainment at the expense of others (willing at that) that he could get behind but definitely needed to playfully tease her about. "Maybe he'll get multiple riders, one for each head," Iskra grins, the image absurd, although it really is no matter what because it involves someone riding a hydra. "You don't wear a saddle, do you?"

At Sunjata 's ask, Iskra shrugs. "No clue. Understandable to just come and enjoy it, clearly." Iskra gestures at himself, although he had briefly considered signing up for riding. Who knows, could give Mel a nice show, although there's easier ways to manage that. "Seems like it'd be fun though, throwing someone off." Definitely would have signed up for that if he had the means to.

Yippee-ki-yay

slow down, you're doing fine

Flora’s grin sharpens as Kaisel starts plotting, red lipstick catching the light so that her smile looks almost dangerous, like she is about to agree to something wildly irresponsible and thoroughly delightful. (She is). One brow arches as she studies him, slow and assessing, as if weighing the terms of a contract neither of them intends to honour safely. "Oh?" she hums, tilting her head, braid sliding over her shoulder. "Same rules as last time?" she asks immediately, already nodding as if the answer is obviously yes, because she has absolutely no intention of backing down from whatever this is. Her hand drifts around him without ceremony, sliding beneath the fringe of leather to the warm curve of skin left scandalously uncovered by the chaps. Her fingers press in, possessive and playful all at once.

"And when I win," she corrects sweetly, squeezing his ass once for emphasis, "you are putting these back on. Only these." Her smile goes molten as she withdraws her hand, entirely pleased with herself.

Then Sohalia is there, and Flora’s expression flips in an instant, widening dramatically, all theatrical innocence as she answers, "yep," about Koa's participation. She shrugs, casual as you please, though her eyes flick toward Kaisel with a coy glimmer, as he'd absolutely had not been informed in advance because he cannot keep a secret to save his life. "And I wonder who he'll get paired with?" she adds lightly, as if this is idle speculation and not deliberate instigation.

Turning back to Soh, she leans her hip against Kai and gestures vaguely toward the arena where dust already floats like anticipation. "From what I can tell, the trick seems to be a lot of spinning, make them dizzy before they can figure out which way is up." She considers this for half a second longer, then brightens. "Or you could just fly upside down, maybe."

Her laughter bubbles up easily, warm and effervescent, before she glances toward the sign-up boards again. "I'm fairly certain I heard Sunjata’s name and Danta’s, but otherwise I'm not sure."

---

Flora is standing with Koa and Sohalia by the drink stand.

Clothing 6/6

Flora

you can't be everything you wanna be before your time

I got the horses in the back, horse tack is attached
Hat is matte black, got the boots that's black to match

Having no idea of the machinations happening around him, Koa'd taken Colt's greeting at face value. "I'll do my best, ma'am," he'd promised with a flourished hat tilt, hubris filling him as he assumed (inaccurately) that the rancher must have been very impressed with his equestrian skills at their prior interactions.

Cut to the present, and a still clueless Koa who has already set a tone for the day by putting his foot in his mouth, oblivious to Hawthorn's already having explained his lack of need to additional riding because I cannot read. "Hell yeah," the Dragoon replies to Zavien, raising his beer up in a toast. "Wouldn't do to let you have all the glory," he grins back playfully, eyebrows wiggling. "Now, tell me about what happened last year so we can plan a strategy, yeah?"

My life is a movie, bull ridin' and boobies
Cowboy hat from Gucci, Wrangler on my booty

Koa

No way you can deny, you feel the most alive when you are terrified

For someone who likes to win, he has to hand it Flora , she makes losing sound irresistible sometimes. Although, she's so damn cocky about it—which yes, is also terribly attractive, and equally infuriating—the idea of throwing this is fleeting at best. He intends for her to wear the assless pants in this family. "One of us definitely will," he confirms, voice and features alike tipping low, burying themselves beneath a slope of mischief. He straightens up smartly around her abrupt grasp, standing taller, proper and proper, and swats at her hand. "No spoils yet," he warns. "The victor has yet to be decided." His grin stretches ear to ear though, utterly delighted at the prospect of their game.

Turning immediately around and claiming his own spoils in her back pocket with Soh's approach, and utterly shameless about it. "Yeah, we didn't either," he shrugs in response to Sohalia , not really sure what advice to provide, although Flora's seems sound. "When fighting, unbalancing your opponent is all about quick, powerful movements. Doing the unexpected too, and using their own weight and momentum against them." He releases Flora's ass to give a few demonstrations with the air, knife-hands whizzing past. It's far too hot to keep that shit up though, so he settles, eye caught by a familiar face. His arm shoots out, pushing against Flora's shoulder faintly, blue hair tie catching the light. "I see Koa!" he announces brightly, pivoting quick enough to break his neck to deliver a kiss to her cheek before darting off. He waves behind himself, calling out a "good luck!" It seems meant for both women.

Laughing faintly under his breath as he strolls up to Koa, looping an arm immediately around his neck and hanging on him like laundry to a clothesline, Kaisel seamlessly joins the conversation. "WOW!" he trills, glossing over past disturbances with Zavien without a lingering grudge on his part, all smiles and ease again. "You all have done an excellent job looking the part. You think I need one of those, uh," he snaps his fingers, seeming to forget the name, and instead gestures around his head and flicks the brim of the one on Hawthorn . "I mean, I got all the rest, might as well go all in right?" His eyes widen though, and he sags closer to Koa. "Dude, what if it falls off when you're riding?!"

---

6/6 clothes

Kaisel left Flora & Soh and is with Koa, Zavien, and Hawthorn

Kaisel

I'm a daredevil on the highway to hell

Sohalia

At Flora's so-called 'idle speculation,' Soh nearly choked on her drink; having chosen that exact moment to down the shot was, perhaps, not her best idea. Fortunately, Kaisel chose that moment to dart away, leaving the Luminary to cough and splutter with no one to see aside from her best friend. "Flora," she said when she had recovered, gasping for air. "Please do not tell me..." That she'd actually rigged the game. She wouldn't have, right?

Spotting Koa and Kaisel through the crowd, Soh deliberately turned away, suddenly even more nervous than before. "Okay, spinning. Make them dizzy. Quick, powerful movements." Her eyes widened suddenly. "Okay, but what if I get dizzy first?" Another drink suddenly sounded brilliant, but given that her immediate future was likely to involve spinning, apparently, Soh decided that maybe water would be a better option.

it's just a spark, but it's enough to keep me going