Breaking in at the Stables

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

It was 5 am and after completing her early morning routine she cleaned, changed and left her room on the second floor to head down to the Stables. What she planned on doing this morning was simple: set Connor up in the stable and make sure he knew his task. Sometimes it was the simple things that turned out to be the most difficult and with the attitude that man had displayed upon arriving she only hoped that he was as good at labor as he was with his quips.

There were not many people up at this hour - or any at all - so she wasn't concerned about people seeing her as she walked with hands behind her head, pulling her hair into a French braid. The only door that barred her way was the front one and she was done with her hair by the time she reached it. Once opened she left the Inns interior and made a left off of the porch and traveled around to the back where the stable sat just far enough from the Inn that the residents wouldn't be disturbed by any of the animals.

The stable was made out of wood, the outside of it painted a deep red. There was a small fenced around it that appeared to be made for simple grazing. A few hay stacks were outside but they were assembled neatly. The stable also had a second floor and the front opening consisted of two sliding French doors. Wooden and colored to match the rest of course.

One door opened with little protest and the young stable hand looked to it from the horse he was wiping down. "Morning Ma'am." The boy stifled a yawn as he went back to work. He didn't work everyday, only four days out of the week, but he was paid for his services and received food when he was hungry.

"Good morning Oliver, I trust your well this morning. Breakfast will be available for you when you want it." De'Ryanna pushed up the vanilla colored sleeves of her off-shoulder top that was under the bodice and picked up a wearable feeding trough from one of the hooks on the wall. "You will be getting a Stable-Mate today, he'll be working here to pay for his lodgings."

The feeder in hand she made her way to the feed. "You may feel free to hit him over the head if he is of any trouble. His name is Connor and he should be here shortly."

[Connor]

Speak of the devil. Connor walked into the barn, looking around slowly, finally seeing the young man and walking over. "Hey kid, have you seen a woman named De'Ryanna around here? She said to be here at five, but...oh." He caught her scent then, which was a little hard to do over the other scents in the stables. "Thanks, kid."

He walked in the direction of her scent, finally finding her and stopping directly behind her. "Hello, De'Ryanna." His voice was right behind her and barely heard...in fact, she could most likely feel his breath on the back of her neck. He knew her other side would make up for the lack of volume in his voice, so he wasn't worried. "So, where do I start? Oh, and do you have anything like a smock or something? Haven't had a chance to find the laundry room, so I'm stuck in what little I have on my back. Which reminds me..." He shrugged out of his denim vest, looking for a place to hang it. "Can't go back into the inn smelling of horse leavings...who knows how long it would take for me to get a turn in the bathhouse?"

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

She was aware of another person entering the stables when she heard the door open. Her ears had picked up that sound but she couldn't quite tell who it was, and she didn't bother to look. Instead she continued in her task of mixing the feed - she was using a stir.

However, the closer he got to her, the more she was able to pick the smells apart and she knew it was him, but in knowing her actions on the sick slightly changed. She heard him when he spoke to Oliver and already a ghost of a smile was on her face. Well, at least he's punctual, was her thought.

Connor was getting closer and she had a quick thought of leaving her task for the moment and moving away, but then he may have thought that she was doing so because of him. Didn't want to give the wrong impression. But then he did what he probably shouldn't have done: spoke softly with his breath upon her neck. Her hair was even braided back to leave it almost fully exposed. That action cause her stirring to stop and her eyes to drift shut as she exhaled slowly. He was so close that even if he hadn't said anything her skin still would have prickled. But she knew who he wasn't and that was the thought she pushed to the forefront of her mind.

He continued speaking and she moved forward a step as she composed herself. When she turned around he was lacking in the clothing department, but she wouldn't complain. He looked good but it also reinforced another thought.

De'Ryanna thrust the feeder bag she was holding at his now bare chest, her hands staying on it as she looked a him with a slight upturn of her lips before she made a short laugh. "Afraid of getting dirty Connor?" It was then that she released the bag. Either he held it or it would fall to the ground. Smooth steps took her around to his side, her eyes pointedly looking at him from top to bottom and her tone held a pinch of a challenge in her voice when she spoke next. "I will have no use for you."

As to what the challenge was.. she wasn't saying, but it was all in the eyes. She turned from him , putting her back to him as she walked towards the wall to get a pitchfork. "Feed the horses. Then we'll test your stick control."

[Connor]

"On the contrary. Under the right circumstances, I enjoy getting dirty. The question is, do you?" He would give a wink and begin to set about his work, placing feed into the horse pens carefully so as not to spill any.

He was done rather quickly, so was it any surprise that he found himself back in close proximity to De'Ryanna? He smiled, leaning toward her. "So, De'Ryanna. Something was said about stick control. No need to test, I already have perfect control." Was he growing tired? No, he hadn't even broken a sweat. He would try to do so, however, if for nothing else, for her benefit.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

"For your sake the right circumstance should be now." Because he was sure to get dirty while in the stables, right? She had said that while not looking over at him. She wasn't going to look at him. She wasn't. She wasn't.

While he was feeding the horses she was breaking up the hay with the pitchfork, this would be used later to line a portion of each horses stall. There were eight of them in all but their were only four horses housed presently and those were the horses that belonged to the Inn. Oliver tried to hide the fact that he was watching by peering out from behind the side of the horse he was working on, but even as a kid he found it amusing. Maybe he was getting tips from Connor?

Whether the current task of forking the hay and lifting it was heavy or not wasn't known as De'Ryanna handled it as easily as lifting a fork on a plate. She was stronger than she looked but that was do to the blood that she and Connor both shared.

Speaking of Connor . . . he was back near her in short time. She had been slightly bent over her stick when he approached and hearing what he said she picked up a straw of hay and stood. Facing him she let her eyes travel as she held on to the pitchfork. "I already know what I can do, but your talk is cheap." He was probably taller than she was which caused her to raise her head up to look him in the eye since he insisted on standing so close.

That hay straw went out to trace a 'D' over his bare chest. "Show me your control. Or do I have to guide you?"

[Connor]

He smiled, his eyes sparkling. "No one has ever had to guide me in either control....or forking. Hay, that is." He smirked as he took the pitchfork and turned, setting himself to the task at hand. He spoke over his shoulder as he began to work. "Just for the record, if that is your way of marking me, you may have something to learn of the way we Lycans mark our territory." He couldn't help but chuckle, and hopefully she would know that he was making a joke, ribald as it was.

After a few moments, he had successfully moved the hay from its previous location to the point to which she had been moving it. "Well, that's done. Oh dear, I seem to have worked up a little sweat. Silly me. Would you happen to have a towel, De'Ryanna?" He spoke with a musky growl in his voice, knowing she would understand.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

De'Ryanna watched as he did the work, for a change she only stood there and didn't help or engage in any work activity. And why should she? He was here and willing to work - didn't matter that it was his job - and he didn't ask for any help.

"Just for the record," she said to his back as he worked, "if I were going to mark you then you would have your hands on something more pleasing than that pitchfork." De'Ryanna wasn't joking, even if she knew he was. Then what it she had done with the straw?

While she watched him Oliver came over and asked if he could be excused to go to the kitchen and eat breakfast. Not having any need of him at the moment she nodded and sent him on his way with a push-pat to the shoulder. When her attention turned back to Connor she saw that he was ending in the task and she shifted as she stood up fully. Hearing the bit of growl in his own voice she clamped her jaw tight and quickly scanned the room with her eyes to help distract herself. Think of something else. Think of something else.

She caught sight of where he had hung up his shirt and walked over and take it down. De'Ryanna balled it up in her hands and proceeded to toss it over to him. "Use your shirt. If you feel the need to dry off." There was a pause between her two statements and in that pause her chin had lowered and her last words were laced with her own underlining growl.

[Connor]

The vest he had been wearing earlier was still hanging on the wall, so he had no idea whose shirt she was pelting him with. He gave it a tentative sniff, then wrinkled his nose. "Ugh.....this shirt must have been soaked in some blonde-haired prancing poof! It smells of weakling.....probably some nancy that prances about speaking on how blue his eyes sparkle, and oh, how his heart beats so true...." He snickered at that, shaking his head. "In my experience, flowery words and poetry on get one so far. After that, one needs to prove that they are a man." He shrugged slightly, then smiled. "Well, in my case, something more....but then, you'd have to know that beforehand, like you did."

He had noticed the growl in her voice, which caused him to grin broadly. "Maybe I shouldn't dry off at all. Besides, I do some of my best work sweating." He'd leave that one hanging in the air between them, smile, and get back to work. The sweat was beading on his taut form, and while he did not brag, he did take pride in keeping himself in shape. Thus, the rivulets of sweat had many different ways to accentuate his musculature.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

De'Ryanna chuckled a bit at his assessment of the shirt, she not only found it a bit funny but she found it interesting as well. Until now she never considered using the sense of smell that she had to determine attributes of the person. She could pick out their emotions, fear and nerves were always easy to smell because of the chemical change of a person, but she never thought to consider what else the persons smell could say about them. The question now was, is that really possible or was Connor simply being funny?

This curiosity made her tip her head to the and look off after him as he went back to work. "Are you afraid that wiping yourself off with something that's less than what you are will threaten your masculinity?" She moved off to the side to open the stable windows as she saw bits of sunlight creeping through.

"Are you that vain?" Being partially serious but it was more for jest. "Could you really tell those things about the shirt, or was it a guess?"

[Connor]

The look on his face would tell her that he was, indeed, not being vain, and had almost been shocked by her words. Hurt, even. "I do not engage in empty boast, and I am not a vain being. As for the shirt....it smells of nervous sweat, cheap cologne, has a long blonde hair on it, and the scent is definitely a male human." At this point, he sneezed. "One I would rather not meet. Hells, that cologne should be outlawed as a biological weapon!"

He stopped making a show of things and grinned. "No. I just don't want that smell on me. I'd rather smell like the horse dung. Actually, I've been meaning to ask about this communal bath thing. Do I have to bathe in the same room with others?" It was a perfectly honest question.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

"I meant it in jest. The comment about the vanity." The look he gave her and the change in his actions said he took offense even if his words were not said. "My jokes can often be misread." That was a slight bit of an understatement as she finds very few people who understand her humor at all. Still, she felt a need to let him know that she wasn't picking on him. Besides, he had a skill that she was interested in and it wasn't very wise to make enemies with those you may need to learn from.

De'Ryanna stepped closer but more to the side as she watched him. "That thing you did with the shirt, knowing the qualities of a person. It's probably a basic skill but I didn't know we could do that." This was something she was defiantly going to have to explore in her inconspicuous way.

"As for the bath, you are in the same room and yet you are not. Each shower stall is sectioned off and has a door for the person to have their own privacy, it's tall enough so that the average person cannot look over." By average she meant anyone who was shorter than six and a half feet tall. "But it is unisex so you may be walking around in your towel and see a female walking around in hers." Or less. All depended on the persons comfort level. "I wouldn't think that you have a problem with nudity."

It was another attempt at a joke, said because as a Lycan when he shifted he was without clothes anyway. Now as she took her eyes off of him and set them back on the horses she cleared her throat.

"Make sure you clean the horses stalls, Oliver will help teach you how to wipe the animals down. They also get released outside once a day, usually after their breakfast, for exercise. You can take them for walks or the like just be sure to have all the horses in by nightfall." Despite being what she was, De'Ryanna did ride, though that was before the Lycan side was awakened.

"Anything else you need to know?"

[Connor]

He smiled, relaxing a bit. "Oh. Well, basing things on scent has its uses for our kind. There are ways around it, but most humans don't know how to mask their scent, and to be honest, none that I have met can do so completely. Humans, that is. There are those that are completely without a scent, and they are not usually to be trusted. In short, make sure they don't get behind you." A slight smile was given at that last statement. "The rest of the analysis was pretty basic. Guy was blonde, nervous about something, and the victim of poor olfactory senses. Someone actually convinced the poor fellow that the cologne smelled pleasant!"

He gave over, laughing freely. "My apologies, though. I do not mean anything unkind. Such as that is why I am used to doing my own laundry. Perfume is for women at court, not for clothes-washing. Last time someone else did my laundry, the soap they used made me sneeze for an hour." That had not been pleasant in the least.

"Good to know about the bath. Yes, I'm accustomed to being nude at least part of the time, but you don't just walk around flashing the kibbles and bits in mixed company." A joke for a joke! "Just because we're blessed with the gift to change into what humans call a beast does not give us free reign to behave as beasts. That's what humans are for. They are their own worst enemy....a king is raised to a throne, and in celebration, they clear-cut an entire forest and kill everything within it to supply firewood, seats, and a banquet where everyone eats and drinks then passes out with half the food either wasted on the floor or left to rot." He was speaking while fiddling with the pitchfork, clearly relating something that he had seen happen.

After a moment, he hefted the pitchfork and looked to her in a friendly manner. "Well, I should get back to work. I still need to do laundry and get settled in. Of course, there's the matter of paying for my room. Tell me, do any of your customers favor venison? I could go hunting later, if you'd like. Maybe you could even join me?" He shrugged, making sure she didn't feel pressured. "Who knows, you might enjoy the rush." He left that hanging in the air as he moved to get back to work. When he was not idly chattering, he was, it turned out, a pretty proficient laborer as well as seeming knowledgeable about what he was doing. Maybe appearances are deceiving after all.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

De'Ryanna was playing close attention to what Connor was saying about scents and she was cuing in on his actions. They were changing again. She couldn't have made him nervous so therefore it had to be something else and thinking about it drew a smile to the corner of her lips. "I do believe, Connor, that I may have a suitable use for you yet."

If she said she did, she did. That is why she made it sound indefinite, besides, there was nothing wrong with him working for her in the Stables but if she could use a person for more than one thing she would. As for the clothing - she didn't care much for some of the colognes and perfumes others wore and it was probably for his same reason. When you had a sensitive nose there was no need to overwhelm it. For the record, to those with sensitive noses De'Ryanna had a hint of lilies about her.

Since he had declined her offer to do his clothes she added, "There is a laundry room, it's on the second floor."

What he said about the King and celebrations was something she choose not to comment on, it wasn't a sore topic but he was reflecting and she didn't feel it wasn't her place to speak. But she stepped a few feet closer to let him know that she listening to what he had to say and not merely casting it off as idle chatter. When he commented about going hunting is when she spoke again. "I can hunt." She would not say how she hunted though it was neither with a physical weapon or in the Lycan form.

De'Ryanna gave him a smile with an upward tip of her chin before she turned to walk away. "The Inn doesn't get all of it's meat from the local market." That's what she would say about hunting and he could figure out for himself if the offer to join him was a yes or a no.

"Satisfy me with your work Connor. I'll let you get back to it. Oliver will be back should you need help." He did say that he should get to it, she was only agreeing.

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