The Beach, Friday Evening (11/02)

[comelyhonour]

Beauty hadn't given A.J. a chance to rethink his offer to go riding with her this evening. Instead, she'd nearly dragged him through the dorms -- making a very brief stop at her room to grab her boots -- and off to the stables. Greatheart had picked up on some of her excitement, and it had taken a few minutes to get him to settle down, so Beauty

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[by137]

Boy, A.J....sure didn't remember the walk to the beach from the dorms being this...short before. He pressed his lips together a little nervously, glad that it wasn't so dark that things couldn't be seen but still dark enough that Beauty wouldn't have to read his expression. "Uh, you sure it's not too late?" he offered as one last finally resort. He'd been alright with just walking with Greatheart, especially now that he wasn't being all.....jumpy, but the idea of actually riding. "He, uh, looks tired. Wouldn't want to wear him out or anything..."

[comelyhonour]

"I promise, there's enough light to just walk, and if Greatheart gets tired, he'll let me know." Beauty smiled at A.J., and reached out to give his hand a squeeze. "And if you really don't like it, we'll go back."

She'd have suggested they not do it at all, with him still being so nervous, but decided that giving up at the this point wouldn't make A.J. feel better at all. Instead, she leaned up to give him a kiss on the cheek, and said, "Here's the place. I'll show you, and then I'll give you a hand."

Greatheart stood obediently still by the rock Beauty had chosen, his head turned toward A.J. as if to ask him what the problem was.

[by137]

A.J. wasn't even sure if the pout would work on equines, but Greatheart was getting it now, this time with a slight touch of please don't, like, throw me off your back and trample me to death or whatever it is that big animals can do to smaller, probably less intelligent animals added to it. But he had to admit that the kiss on the cheek from Beauty was a little encouraging. If anything, he now knew that he was going to try really, really hard not to make an ass out of himself. He nodded. "Let's do this."

And get it over with.

[comelyhonour]

Either the pout worked on horses, or Greatheart wasn't planning on trampling A.J. anyway, because he turned his head forward and remained perfectly still while Beauty handwavily lalala demonstrated how to mount up. She carefully pointed out the way A.J. should stand, where to put his hands and his feet, and warned him that Greatheart would probably move a little.

"It's just shifting his balance, he's not going to move away from you," she promised. Then she gave A.J. another reassuring smile, and swung herself easily up into the saddle. "Now, I'm here for you to grab on to, and I'm not going to fall off, all right? I promise."

[by137]

"That almost sounds like a challenge," A.J. said, grinning just a little to use a bit of humor to ease off the tension. It helped, also, to help him realize that he might be being a tad bit ridiculous. It was a horse, for crying out loud. He stood there for a moment, on the rock, looking at the horse, going over what Beauty had told him. But not quite doing it yet...

[comelyhonour]

Beauty decided that she needed to try a different tactic. And since teasing seemed to help diffuse the tension a little, she gave A.J. her best sad face -- learned mostly from him, so it was a really good one, too.

"I'm starting to think that you just don't want to be that close to me. And after I went and put the boots on and everything."

[by137]

That was more than just teasing, that was downright unfair. "That's not it at all!" A.J. said quickly, blinking in surprise, a true testiment that his unknown student in the art of the pout had succeeded quite well. "I'm just nervous!"

Of which admitting didn't make him feel any better. "Okay, fine, I'm doing it. It's just a horse. No big deal." Steeling himself, he carefully did everything Beauty had instructed, second guessing here and over analyzing there, but, eventually, he'd managed, and was on the horse, and quite possibly clinging to Beauty in front of him. "There. Happy?"

[comelyhonour]

Oh dear. Maybe she'd put a little too much pout into it. Beauty bit her lip and held quite still while A.J. clambered up, and then twisted around a little and gave him a bright, proud smile. "Yes. And you know I was only teasing you."

She kissed his chin, since the angle was kind of awkward, and then looked down on both sides to make sure he seemed to be sitting comfortable. "How do you feel? You can shift around a little to get comfortable, and just keep your arms around my waist." They'd get to the actual riding in a minute, but first Beauty wanted to make sure that A.J. was okay.

[by137]

"I know," A.J. said, and then considered Beauty's suggestion about shifting. Usually, he would be pretty happy to have a beautiful girl in his arm and to be all close to her in everything, but... "He didn't seem this tall from down on the ground," he commented. "This is kind of...weird."

He went with weird instead of awkward, and kept possible thoughts about how this might hurt to himself. Beauty said just walking, right? So...noooo problem. He hoped.

[comelyhonour]

"He is pretty tall," Beauty agreed. "His breed are descended from warhorses, like the knights used to ride." She gave Greatheart an affectionate pat on the neck, and his ears twitched back as if he was listening to their conversation.

She slid forward as much as she could to give A.J. plenty of room, and put her free hand over his. "Look out instead of down. Don't worry, he's used to being this big, and used to carrying people. Look out at the ocean instead."

[by137]

After shifting a little himself, A.J. realized there was at least one benefit. He was positioned perfectly so that, with a little bend, he could just rest his chin on Beauty's shoulder, and, if she asked or objected, he could just argue that he was only doing it to help him keep his attention focused forward. "So, like, now what?" he asked, although he was perfectly okay with not necessarily moving. He was there, on top of a horse! That was very good progress for the day!

[comelyhonour]

Beauty didn't mind a bit, and she smiled to herself when she felt A.J.'s chin on her shoulder. "Now we're going to move. Just a walk down the beach. If something happens -- which isn't likely, but if a...wolf comes running out of the woods and down the beach or something, and Greatheart gets spooked, just hold on to me. I'm a really good rider, and he's a smart horse. If for some reason he does bolt, and you get thrown, just protect your head and roll away from him. He doesn't want to step on anything that isn't solid ground, horses are smart that way."

She knew it wasn't very reassuring, but it would be far worse if she pretended nothing could happen and then the worst did happen, and A.J. didn't know what to do.

"Are you all ready?"

[by137]

Luckily, A.J. was still a little caught up on the idea of a wolf more than anything. A dinosaur or a unicorn or a duck-billed platypus, maybe, but a wolf? Come on. He nodded just a little, since he was intent on keeping his chin on her shoulder, and managed to clear his throat to prevent himself from squeaking out, "Yeah. Ready as I'll ever be."

[comelyhonour]

A wolf was the only thing off-hand that Beauty could think of that Greatheart might run from, but she didn't catch A.J.'s reaction to the idea, so she only smiled and gave a little nod as well.

Giving Greatheart a nudge with her heel, she headed him down to walk on the packed sand at the water's edge, where she figured A.J. would feel more comfortable. They ambled at an easy pace, the big horse not seeming terribly interested in going any faster than a slow walk. After giving A.J. a few minutes to experience it, Beauty murmured, "What do you think so far?"

[by137]

"It's not....bad," A.J. had to admit after giving it a moment's thought. "But this can't really be called riding, can it?" He hoped not, because then he'd have to admit that he liked it and that Beauty was right, but he was also working in a possible defense that the only reason he liked it was because he got to be close to her, which, while true, he figured would work as a pretty good way to distract from the fact that she was right.

[comelyhonour]

"Well, technically, it is. I mean, we're on a horse, and the horse is moving. I know it isn't very exciting, but it can be a lot of fun, to just walk leisurely like this."

Beauty didn't really want to go any faster, even if she'd have dared with A.J. being so new to it and it getting dark. His arm felt nice around her waist, and his chin on her shoulder meant that she could feel his breath when he talked. "Greatheart knows some fancy steps, should I have him do some?"