~Skyrunner~

[terminatefate]

Who:Arthas, Riddick, Sarah, Tirion, Hannibal, _______
Where: Skyrunner Ranch
When: All through Breach; new threads are new circumstances, all will be game canon, timelines are for wusses. :p
Warnings: (if necessary) Connor mouth, fighting, being dumb, and other stuff.

Comments

[cannibalmind]

"That is Miss Connor's truck and trailer," Hannibal observed to nobody as he slowed his SUV down to get a closer look. For a moment he thought of just driving on by; if Will had been here his partner would probably have scoffed at his doing anything else. But Will wasn't here.

He was heading back from the only gourmet grocery in fifty miles when he spied the trailer; now he pulled up behind it and got out. "Hello!" He could see smoke rising from the engine and shook his head. Bad luck--Ms. Connor seemed a magnet for it. A faint frown. It would be a small matter to arrange for a tow--but first he needed to make certain that she and whatever animals she'd had with her weren't going to die of frostbite in this mess.

Finally he slid back into his vehicle and tried his cellular; he had her number because she was the one source of truly fresh eggs in town. Hopefully hers had not been turned off.

[terminatefate]

Not much juice in her phone, and with the winter storm, it'd gotten about a bar of signal. A flickering bar. The ring roused her enough to paw through her deep pockets to find the thing before it died on her. Her last few calls had ended up dead air, which was why her battery was as low as it was. She knew that number.

"Tell me," she answered without niceties and with a hoarse voice, "you're on Skyrunner's back road and you have a pot of coffee hidden somewhere. Fucking Jeep died again. Battery's gonna crap out on me real soon, here."

She could hear the trees groaning and their branches snapping in the wind and buried her face into the mare's neck with a hiss. Keeping hold of the phone was a challenge when your fingers were numb. The black snorted and moved up along side her, thankfully blocking the worse of the wind.

[cannibalmind]

"You're on the back road? I will deliver coffee forthwith. I am near your vehicles." And had a tow shop on speed dial--necessary in this place of snowdrifts and mudholes. But he wasn't going to announce his intentions; Ms. Connor was proud of her independence and he suspected would probably refuse outright.

"It is fortunate I was coming by for eggs and a bit of side business, but I suspect we should get you thawed out first." His voice was uncharacteristically warm; though he was a snob and proud of it, one didn't get very far as a psychologist without compassion.

"Keep moving. Expect me within fifteen minutes." He buckled up and started the engine.

[terminatefate]

"Thank fucking God," Sarah murmured. "The one time I forget my car kit..." The signal crackled and died, leaving her with dead air and shortly, a dead phone. Well. Fuck that.

At least the ranch wasn't that far away.

She could practically smell the damned coffee. Hannibal could have all the damned eggs he wanted as far as she was concerned. There was snow in her hair, her duster was soaked--the horses actually seemed fine and the mare had her winter coat grown in, same with the black. Everyone was relatively shaggy, except Sarah, who was just fucking bedraggled and tired, and well...frozen.

This? A fucking lovely ending to a shitty 'oh by the way your ex is dead, have some horses" fund-raising trip. At least she wasn't going to freeze, not with help coming.

[cannibalmind]

Hannibal was quite confident in his driving skills. He had survived ten years in Boston after all, and there the drivers did't seem to get on the road without taking far too many stimulants. And so after calling in the tow, he sped all the way back to his office--closer than the house--and puttered about getting a thermos of coffee set up before getting back on the road.

Eventually his headlights started to twinkle down the road behind Sarah, and then the noise of his engine became audible. He pulled up a little away, having the sensitivity not to spook the horses, and stepped out with said Thermos and a worried look.

[terminatefate]

The mare came to a stop that Sarah barely noticed, too busy trying to conserve heat. Not too much longer until home was the thought that kept circling like a gaudy merry-go-round decorated with steaming mugs of coffee and warm couches. Or something. Nothing made sense when you were a dumbass--considering she probably should have stayed with the vehicle.

She finally noticed the lights, and the fact that the mare was now headed back toward the scent of coffee. That asshole Jack Frost song had begun somewhere in the back of her mind and it made her want to laugh like she was certifiable. Not funny.

This was definitely not funny.

...okay, considering she was Search and fucking Rescue for this area? It was a little funny. But leaving the horses in a tin can hadn't been an option. She got an arm working and gave a little 'still alive' flop.

[cannibalmind]

The mare was lovely, but it was her hulking companion that gave him pause. "Oh my. Look at him. Did the Nazgul fall off?" He stepped carefully as he hurried over to offer the Thermos. The coffee within was hospital intern strength and could have supported a bottlecap.

"Here, here, let's get this into you." He tsked. "This is no weather for a scenic walk."

[terminatefate]

"Might as well have. He's picky," Sarah said ruefully, her fingers already reach for the damn coffee like it was a life preserver. The black rumbled and shifted, but didn't do much more as if he knew this was help.

"Shit weather perfectly compliments my shit trip," she grumbled.

[cannibalmind]

"He'd look excellent in barding. I do apologize, I didn't ask how you took it and just loaded it up. I figured on your needing a bit of sugar and fat right now."

He looked up at the leaden sky. "Given what you just trudged through for far too long a time I cannot argue. Do you wish to warm up in my auto for a bit?"

lmao - get out the chianti - ah! that icon.

[terminatefate]

"He's a good horse, if a bit temperamental." Her fingers tightened slightly around the thermos. "Coffee is fine no matter what it's got in it," she murmured, taking careful sips. The warmth was so welcome that she could have cried from the relief alone, but thankfully, she didn't.

"A few minutes would be nice, thanks," Sarah said with a slight nod. Getting her words out was easier with coffee warming her up. "Until I can feel my feet again. Gotta get these guys home and bedded down for the night."

^__^

[cannibalmind]

"He's magnificent. How many head of horses does the ranch have now?" he asked in an I-may-have-a-personal-interest tone. Which he did.

"Come." Will would complain about the watermarks on the leather seats, but Hannibal was more pragmatic. "I was coming by anyway, and the cheese for the rarebit can wait."

He opened up the SUV and also rolled back the side door so the horses could stand in a cloud of relatively warm air for a bit themselves. "At least now I know what to get you for the holiday." A tow and repair for the Jeep seemed in order.

Re: ^__^

[terminatefate]

"Five now with these two. I still need to formally settle on names for them. Their papers have conventional horse naming at its worst. Charlie's just a hair shorter than the black, but I think they'll get on okay. She's a sweetheart. Wizard is still as hard working as when he came on board, and I've still got Kyle's Cricket." She was far too slow and it wasn't her finest moment, but she tucked herself up into the seat and let the hot air was over her. Hitting the warmth made her realize just how stiff she was and she winced as she sank into the seat.

The horses investigated the warmth curiously, the black going so far to shove his huge head into the SUV to nose around. Nothing in there for horses, though and he came back out to nudge Hannibal's arm.

"Once I'm back and dry, I can see about getting you what you were after," she said carefully, rubbing her hands together to help with the circulation.

[cannibalmind]

Hannibal stood by patiently as first his auto and then himself were investigated by the enormous horse. "Hello there," he said mildly.

"Of course. Your health is rather important, and I can wait a bit for eggs.

"..." A hesitation. There was a fight with William looming over what he was about to do, but William had been allowed to be in charge a bit too much in their relationship, especially where Richard was concerned.

"Have you ever considered selling or boarding any horses?"

[terminatefate]

"Haven't thought about selling, though Cricket might like to get to know someone new," she murmured, closing her eyes for half a moment. "I've got space and feed for at least four more horses if you're looking to board. It'd run about four hundred a month since I'll take care of the necessities myself."

She'd boarded a few horses in the last few years off and on and it provided much needed income besides the sweaters she'd sold. Sarah never minded the extra work and wound up training a few horses as well. There had been a few horses she'd been sad to see go.