forum Kill The Prince, Steal The Crown // Private rp

Started May 30, 2019 by @croccin-champagne

tune

She huffed a laugh, shaking her head as she continued with the straps. "Both of you come across as brooding and grumpy." She explained, moving around to Danzing's other side. "But you're both sweeter than you're given credit for."

He flicked his brows up in slight surprise, not exactly used to being described as 'sweet.' "I'd like to make a formal objection to such a thing. I am not sweet," he insisted, "And I've worked very hard to build my reputation as a brooding lump of a grump."

She looked over at him, raising an eyebrow in amusement. "I'm sure you have. That doesn't negate the evidence against your claim, Rhydar." She stated, shaking her head. She finished with the saddle, running a hand along Danzing's neck soothingly.

"And what, pray tell, is the evidence you claim to have that goes against my claim?" he asked with a raised brow. He was now leaning against Kaspa, and the stallion didn't seem to mind as he munched on some hay that was lying around. Rhydar flicked his gaze around the saddle that Lily had put on Danzing, and he nodded in approval.

"Last night as a whole seems good enough for me." She said, rolling her shoulders as she looked over to him. "Horses tend to be good judges of character as well, and Kaspa is obviously fond of you." She gestured to the two of them, raising her own eyebrow.

"That's 'cause I raised this goofball," Rhydar tried to reason, patting Kaspa's neck affectionately. He'd always be denying his worth or any good quality someone claimed he had. He only saw the 'bad' things about him, and constantly referred to himself as a 'royal bandit.' "And last night was just…" he trailed off, closing his mouth as his gaze darted to the side, unable to counter that.

"When you come up with a decent counterargument, let me know." Lily teased, scratching behind Danzing's ears. The smile she gave Rhydar was slightly lopsided, and warm. She'd yet to see anything that painted Rhydar in the same light he seemed to see himself, and she couldn't really imagine him any other way.

"Oh shut it, you," he muttered as he went to grab Danzing's bridle. A faint hint of red on his ears could be seen before he ducked behind the wall separating the stall from the tack room. Kaspa looked over in Rhydar's direction and nickered, seemingly laughing at him.

She pressed a hand over her mouth, muffling the already faint laughter. The small voice in the back of her mind was worried she was pushing her luck, that if she pushed him too far, things would go wrong. But the rest of her knew that wasn't true. Rhydar was safe, somehow.

He purposefully took his time with grabbing the bridle, sitting on a stack of hay in order to take a quick breather. He shouldn't be affected by any of this. It was simple banter, and she was just saying that he was nicer than he liked to say. Nothing more. But her damn smiles…they were getting prettier and warmer with each interaction.

Shaking her head, she didn't bother trying to get rid of her smile as she turned to Danzing. "Alright. Think you can let me up there?" She asked softly, raising an eyebrow at the stallion, who huffed in response. It took her a couple minutes, between leading him out of the stall, talking quietly to him, and ultimately getting up into the saddle on her own, but she managed it. "Let's see if we can do this for just a couple minutes, alright?"

Rhydar managed to cool off by then. He grabbed Danzing's bridal and headed back to where he had left Lily and the stallions. His brows flicked up in surprise when he saw Lily in the saddle and Danzing out of his stall. Kaspa had moved out of the way of the two and was now standing by Rhydar, nudging his back with his muzzle. Rhydar shooed him off before turning back to Lily. "Improvement. I'm thoroughly impressed."

Lily nodded, her smile widening as she shifted in the saddle. "Farther than I thought I'd be able to get, for sure. He's doing amazing." She was once again twisting small braids into Danzing's mane, something that seemed to calm the both of them. "Hand me the bridle?"

You're doing amazing. He shook away his thoughts and came up to her, bridle in hand. "Here you go," he said, holding it up for her. He made sure to stay away from Danzing's bite range, not trusting Kaspa to stand up for him.

She reached out, taking the bridle from him to study it for a moment. "Thank you." She scrunched up her nose as she attempted to put it on Danzing, obviously having a bit more trouble with this than the saddle. Danzing stood patiently still, barely acknowledging Rhydar except to eye him for a moment.

Rhydar noticed Lily's struggle and chuckled quietly. "You need help?" he asked, tilting his head but otherwise not making a move to force his help on her. He just crossed his arms loosely and watched her. Kaspa came back up to Rhydar and rested his head on his shoulder, huffing. Rhydar reached up to scratch behind the stallion's ears.

"Possibly." Lily muttered, struggling for a few moments more before huffing. She looked up from the bridle to Rhydar, biting her lip for a moment before nodding. "If you don't mind, I could definitely use the help."

He just smiled and gently took the bridle, wearily moving towards Danzing's head to put the bridle on. He made sure his touch was light and gentle; his movements slow. He didn't want to spook the horse and lose a few fingers—how was he supposed to steal stuff?

She resumed her braiding, whispering to Danzing in her native tongue again. The horse shifted, but settled down fairly quickly, though his tail did flick occasionally in agitation.

Rhydar finally managed to get the bridle on, and he quickly stepped back from the horse's face. "There, done. Let's see if he tried to chew it off." He hoped that Danzing didn't try to buck Lily off, though, from the looks of it, she had formed some kind of bond with the horse. He doubted that she'd be in any danger, but it was still a little worrying.

Lily huffed a laugh, switching from braiding to lightly scratching along Danzing's neck as she gave him a few minutes to get used to the bridle. Though it was obvious he wasn't too fond of it, he huffed impatiently, drawing an actual, though small, laugh from Lily. "I think we're good."

Rhydar couldn't help it. He grinned at her laugh, however small it was. He briefly forgot about what they were doing until Kaspa nudged him impatiently. He scowled down at the stallion's lowered head, then moved to mount him. Once settled, he lightly tugged on the reigns to get Kaspa's attention. "You both good?" he asked Lily, flicking his gaze back up to her. "I don't want to have to catch you if he decides you're too heavy," he joked.

Lily rolled her eyes, quickly rebraiding her own hair to keep it out of the way as long as she could, though a smile tugged at her lips. "Incredible. Quite the way with words you've got there." She teased, nodding. "Ready if you are. And don't worry about catching me, I can take a fall."

"I'm an exceptional up and coming poet and you know it," he said with a small laugh. He ran his fingers through his hair, then shook his head and gestured for Lily to follow. Stablehands—they had been around but remained unseen by request of the Queen, as she didn't want to have to look at servants—had opened the doors already, so they could just ride right on out and into a wide open plain filled with wildflowers and rolling hills.

((Fuck the Queen))

Danzing didn't need a nudge from Lily, already following Rhydar and Kaspa by the time they were moving. Her eyes lit up at the sight of the wildflowers, and she made a mental note to come out here on her own if she could, to see how many types she could count. "It's gorgeous." She murmured quietly, a soft smile playing on her lips.