I've been through the desert on a horse with no name

[troubadamsel]

WHO: Maribelle & Kirishima
WHERE: Maribelle's house.
WHEN: Early May, Early afternoon
WHAT: Fulfilling a quest by... riding a horse!
WARNINGS: Swearing maybe???


Maribelle calmly waited outside of her home with her valiant companion, brushing her mane carefully. It was quite exciting, teaching another, something she'd never really done before. But how hard could it possibly be? As long as Kirishima did exactly as Maribelle said, perfectly, then there should be no problems! As if a student of Maribelle would ever cause problems! Why, this would be the easiest quest that had ever been assigned!

"Mmm, we truly are blessed, are we not?" She happily chirped.

Comments

[explodosafe]

"Hey! Sorry for the wait, I got sidetracked helping my housemate for a bit!"

Theoretically it really should have been an easy quest. Kirishima is by no means a bad or even an unruly students, passionate over-eagerness aside. It's this same over-eagerness that had him now jog toward the horse and Maribelle in quick strides, teeth bared in a toothy grin. That and his excitement led Kirishima to look a bit like a young predator who couldn't wait to tear into his new toy, which was probably not the best first impression to aim for when approaching a horse, but at least he stopped in a reasonable distance and walked the last few steps slower, his eyes glued onto the horse.

"Is that her? She's so tall!"

[troubadamsel]

The horse itself snorted a bit, perhaps not liking the extra company. But Maribelle continued stroking it, not turning her head to meet her companion.

"She was bred to battle, so very factor had to be considered. But before you come any closer, I need you to take a few breaths and calm down. If you approach her while bouncing all over the place, she'll see you either as an enemy or an annoyance."

[explodosafe]

"Ah, alright. Sorry~" His smile carried through his voice as he reeled himself in and did as he was told. During this time Kirishima's eyes remain glued on Maribelle and the horse, eagerly observing the way she was treating her steed and just the horse in general. Kirishima doesn't come from a big city like Tokyo, but he didn't exactly grow up in a place where getting a chance to get real close to a horse was normal either. The most familiar he is with them is through plays and parades, many of those festivals having been based on historical figures and events that filled his heads with ideas of samurai and great honorable battles.

"Most heroes don't have any particular means for moving around where I'm from. But I always thought that having a fast car or maybe a motorbike would be cool." He had never imagined himself on horseback, though. But he liked the idea, already because it'll make him feel like one of those old legendary heroes for sure!

He was only vibrating a little with held back energy when he dared to come closer after a few minutes of just taking calming breaths and watching. Since Kirishima had no clue if there are any rules on how to approach a horse he tried to do it like he knows from the pets he is more familiar with - approaching it slowly from the front and holding his hand out like a peace offering for the horse to sniff and decide whether it wants to shy away from it or not.

[troubadamsel]

As Kirishima approaches, Maribelle watches him warily. However, it's made clear within seconds that she approves, given how she's smiling and nodding.

"Always approached from the front first." So why did she still make it sound like a lecture? Because Maribelle is a bit of snooty snoot. "Approaching from behind will get you a nice kick to the face. Let her get familiar with you. With me here, she knows you're someone she can trust."

The horse took a few careful whiffs of Kirishima's hand. After a fourth sniff, it made a decision, pushing its hand right into Kirishima's palm, even making it flop about. Maribelle struggled not to giggle - it would be most unladylike now. "That means she'd like you to pet her. I admit, she can be a trifle... spoiled." Pets do resemble their masters after a while.

[explodosafe]

"Always from the front first, got it." He nods, obviously committing the advice to memory. Kirishima is nothing but an eager student, at least as long as no overly big amount of names or numbers are involved. Learning new skills is something completely different, though! He can do that anytime!

Kirishima laughs when the horse pushes into his hand. "Haha! Looks like she likes me! That's great!" Soon he is busy petting her like one would a big dog with both of his hands, stretching a little to reach up to her neck while pulling the steed's head close to his chest. After a couple of minutes he pauses to beam up at Maribelle.

"I'm so glad she's okay with me! Sometimes pets have a hard time trusting me at first because of my teeth and to be honest I was a little worried... But that was unneccassary, right? You're a brave horse! Here, do you want a treat?" The last parts are addressed to the horse as Kirishima pulls what looks like a piece of bread soaked in orange juice out of his pockets. It's not exactly a sugar cube, be he's tried.

[troubadamsel]

Maribelle glances at the treat and - by the gods! How disgusting! Maribelle scoffs, turning her head away with a toss of her hair. "I do appreciate the offer, but... you must understand, she's a pure-breed. She's upper-class, used to the fancier things. She's hardly going to eat something so rancid-"

CHOMP.

That would be the sound of the horse taking the entire piece into its mouth and happily eating away. Seems pretty good to the horse, yum!

"... A-hem." Maribelle's cheeks begin to redden. "... Then again, perhaps she's the tiniest bit hungry..."

[explodosafe]

Kirishima laughs as he shakes his fingers out, unhardening them subtly because it's not like he was scared to get bitten by a horse. Pure reflex, that's all!

"I guess even the most pure-breds are willing to make compromises when the selections small, huh? What do you usually feed her?"

His expression is silently laughing at her, but for now Kirishima is keeping his tongue. It might not last long of the horse keeps showing up its owner, though.

[troubadamsel]

Maribelle now refuses to look at Kirishima, guessing there's some sneer or smirk to be had there. Dang it, horse! "Only the most healthiest and greenest of grasses, carefully selected hay and grains, with occasional foliage. But, living here, our choices are few, so, perhaps she's already learned to lower herself..."

Horses don't have standards, Maribelle. She clears her throat. "Let's just get started already. Come over here to the side and take a good at the saddle."

[explodosafe]

She's lucky that Kirishima has nothing but good humor for her little getting foiled by her pet. Do horses qualify as pets? It probably doesn't matter right now, so he just nods along, trying to commit it all to memory.

"She's probably as tired of color and tasteless food as we are. Can't blame anyone for that."

Patting the horses head one last time he walks over to Maribelle. Looking at the saddle Kirishima frowns lightly before he reaches for the stirrups. He knows that his feet are supposed to get there, but first...

"How do I get up? Just grab the saddle and climb/jump?"

Wont the horse mind that and start running away if he does something like that? It always looks so easy in movies but they have no doubt specially trained horses there and can do as many takes as they want without you as the viewer being any the wiser. From where he is standing the back of the horse is looking pretty high all of a sudden.

thank god youtube has tutorials on everything

[troubadamsel]

"Not just yet." Maribelle wags a finger, ready to lecture. "I just want to look at it, first. Many people think it's a simple matter of sticking one foot in, grabbing both ends of the saddle and plopping yourself on. But if you do that, you'll have a more difficult time settling in, especially as you're putting your other leg over her... you can lose your balance, startle her, and get injured."

That warning settled, Maribelle then comes over to take the reigns. "This is what comes first before you even think of hopping on. You want to hold these and have a firm grip. Not enough to make her think you want to pull her this way, but just enough so she knows you're there. Then, with your other hand, you will grab a fistful of her mane."

Before Kirishima can even think to ask, "No, it won't hurt her. Horse hair and human hair are quite different."

[explodosafe]

"Huh. Just look at it, alright." He is confused now, but he is looking. If only he knew what he is supposed to pay attention to. "Huh, her not wanting to stand still and let people climb around on her makes sense." It'd be sort of enduring somebody doing acrobatics on your back without asking first.

Shooting the horse a look Kirishima feels like accomplices in suffering difficult riders who jump around way too much for a moment.

"Alright, first take the reigns, then hold onto her neck - the mane- do I tell her to hold still that way or is it to help me climb up?"

[troubadamsel]

"It's just to help you." Maribelle replies, giving the man another tug just to show how little it affected the horse. "She doesn't feel a thing. Now, you have your back to her face, holding her hair, and you put your left foot in the stirrup." Which she points out is hanging on the horse's side. "With your right hand, you grab the front of the saddle, and you stand up straight in the stirrup. Then you swing your leg over, without pushing forward, finding the other stirrup, and you're all set."

With a clap of her hands, she steps back. "Are you ready to try?"

[explodosafe]

"Yes!" Ready as ever! Kirishima tries to concentrate on everything she just said, forgets right away at least half of it but still swings into motion anyway. Back to horse head, hold onto the mane, the leg that's closer to the horse up and-

His first attempt to raise his leg up and hook it into the stirrup ends with him not even getting it halfway up enough.

"Oops. Next one is it!"

Or not, because this time he jerks his leg high enough that the could join a ballet ensemble with that move. Kirishima clutches onto the steeds mane to keep from keeling over and grumbles under his breath. Two attempts later he has finally figured out how to slow it down enough with the right amount of vigor so that he manages to push the sole of his leg into the stirrup - not unlike as if he were trying to thread a needle, but getting in is what counts if you ask him!

"Finally!"

Forgetting everything about going slow Kirishima immediately launches himself off the ground and more or less climbs his way up the horse. It's not very graceful and looks a lot like he were climbing a mountain but in the end he is sitting in the saddle and positively beaming.

"Maribelle! I got up! Just like you told me to!"

Looking around he gazes at the strange knob in front of the saddle and then slightly confused at his hands. What is he supposed to do now? "Uh, it might be good if you show me how to use the breaks first before we try to get her going. Do I pull the reigns when I want her to stop?"

[troubadamsel]

Well, Maribelle hadn't expected him to get it exactly right on the first try... then again, she is a perfectionist, so she closes her eyes and sighs for the first failure. And all the other ones. Maybe she should have made him take notes first.

But he does eventually get it right, so, progress! She forces herself to smile and straighten up. "Yes, but not too hard. A firm tug with both hands will tell her to stop. But there's a simple way to get her to start walking, and stop altogether... All you have to do is squeeze her with your legs. Doing it when you've stopped tells her to walk, doing it when you're walking tells her to stop."

[explodosafe]

"Huh. So I just... squeeze?" He gives them both a dobious look and then looks pst his legs to the sides of the horse. THen he looks back at Maribelle again.

"What if I hurt her?"

He might be too used to worry about making body contact with others that could be considered rough in any way, thanks to having had his quirk this long. In any case he is giving the horse one more doubting glance before he holds onto the reins and then pulls his legs a bit up and back in a very gentle squeeze that only holds enough force to be noticed.

[troubadamsel]

Maribelle actually chuckles a little at that - it's somewhat endearing that Kirishima is so concerned. "Need I remind you that she's a war horse? She's been in battles ever since she could hold human weight. A little squeeze means nothing to her."

To prove it, as the horse understood the signal, it slowly began to walk forward, carefully going along the grass. "And there, you're riding!"

[explodosafe]

"Yeah, but I-" he trails off and rubs his neck with an unhappy huff. No way getting around it, huh? "I- whoa! Yeah, I do!"

For a moment he's too amazed to continue his train of thoughts, concentrating on the gentle sway of the strong body beneath him. It's amazing how the horse doesn't seem to mind his presence at all, even though he cannot be easy to dismiss with his size and weight - not to say that he's fat, but he knows that he's one of the uh, 'tankier' guys of their class. Especially if you consider that you can't blame his quirk for that.

After a moment Kirishima tentatively tries to tug the rein in his left hand to see if the horse will react.

[troubadamsel]

Maribelle turns around, smiling all the while. Kirishima appears to be a quick learner, which is what she likes in a student. Indeed, the horse reacts to the light tug, beginning to turn in that direction.

"Very good, very good. She's following your directions, and you're in complete control. You should be proud of yourself."

[explodosafe]

"Hehe~ I am! I know how to ride a horse now, thanks!" He beams at her and gives the horse experimentally a couple more of commands, whooping under his breath when it's actually working.