Falling out of Favour

[Draconian]

Hero frowned at her, arms crossed over his chest.

"I hope you realize you've made my day very bad. What if my horse gets pregnant. He's not wooing her behind those bushes." He kicked a rock angrily - one of the main things that got him into this mess, "This is what I get. I kill a drake and then my horse finds herself a fucking boyfriend. Literally." Calm. Be calm.

He clenched his fists and his jaw, neck tense, shoulders back. He grabbed the girls wrist and dragged her away like she'd instructed - he was less than gentle - and he let go of her roughly once they were - he thought - a decent amount away. "So, what. You gonna give me a new horse when she's fat? I don't exactly have the disposable income and I can't ride a horse that's going to spit out a little... Horse-Demon." He wrinkled his nose, clearly not pleased.

[DragonSong]

"Excuse you." Aya jerked her hand away from him, glaring. "You think you've got it bad? Do you know much much coin people would put up to put Moonie out to stud? I wasn't even supposed to be out riding him! They're going to skin me!"

She blinked as the reality of that statement sunk in. "Oh gods. Well this is perfect- you get your very own draques and I wind up fired!"

[Draconian]

That made him angrier.

"You stole him!?" He snapped, angry. Irritated. Today sucked. His horse was going to get pregnant with some beast by a stolen horse with weird parts and he pressed his hands to his temples and went red with anger. This was bullshit. "I don't want a draques. I want my horse to not be pregnant." A deep breath.

Okay.

"He got out," Herostratus ground out, "He got out and he found Sunshine and you're exhausted and he was already goin' for it and I'll vouch for you and you can have the weird abomination that comes out of her." He frowned down at the young girl and held out a hand to shake, "Deal?"

[DragonSong]

She glared, then snapped her hand out to grab his. "Fine. But only if you stop calling it an abomination."

She shook his hand once, then snatched her hand back. "Y'know, she might not even get pregnant. It's like fifty-fifty that a draques can breed with a normal horse."

Aya sighed and rubbed at her temples. "Look, I'm sorry. But I can't control what kinds of mares he finds attractive. And..." She chewed at her lip. "Their mating instinct can be a bit...possessive. Hell wantnto be around her, at least until the foal is born, if there's a foal. Maybe after, too."

[Draconian]

Heostratus frowned and crossed his arms over his chest after their handshake.

"Fifty-fifty is still a lot," Hero hissed at the girl, "GREAT," he snapped, pressing his hands through what hair he could, "just great. How... Fine, you know what." He shook his head, lifting his hands and giving them a shake, "Sunshine is all yours. Let me know when and if she pops the foal out so I can take her back." Hero pressed his fists to his face before he sighed, "How about you just... Tell me about these Draques, okay? Or something?"

[DragonSong]

[sorry for delay!! Totally missed this update somehow :/]

"What? No!" She shook her head. "Are you insane? I'm not taking your horse from you. Even if I did, I'd have to explain to my boss why, and then I'd be in trouble all over again."

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Look- I'm good at what I do. You tell me where I can find you, and I'll make sure Sunshine is properly looked after if she ends up pregnant, okay?"

Another sigh and Aya raised her head. "Well...what do you want to know?"

[Draconian]

Hero frowned at Aya, lips pursed. Great. Won't even take his problem child away. Going and getting herself potentially pregnant. Thank Spirits he wasn't a father or he'd be even more furious. He didn't want to give her his home address but... "Fine. I'll take you there before I escort you and your... Beast home."

Hero crossed his arms over his chest before sitting down in the grass, angry, irritated. "What exactly makes that beast so sought after?" He was curious, "Kinda just looks scary to me and I think he'd have tried to eat my foot if I stayed on Sunshine for long."

[DragonSong]

Aya sighed. "Simplest terms? Magic." She shrugged. "They're powerful, and they can be dangerous, but if you can properly train one, they're some of the most loyal mounts you could find. They make good chargers; stamina is insane, and of course there's the whole flying thing."

Another shrug and she glanced back in the direction of the horses with a wince. "The breed was created through magical experimentation, but that's not the only way to get one."

[Draconian]

"So... DragonHorses," Which made sense, considering what they were called. Draques. Or something. Hero sighed and looked down at the ground, grassy and more inviting at the moment then rocks. Slowly he moved to his back and lay down, staring up at the sky, hands behind his head while he sighed and kept his eyes closed. This was some bullshit.

"So, if Sunshine does end up pregnant with a weird dragonhorse... Is it gonna be weird because she isn't one? I mean..." He sighed, "Either way, can your boss know about it? Do I become the owner of one of these things? Or are you gonna take it? I mean..." He sighed and sat up, "It's not like I can't take care of some baby horse-things, I'm well off enough." Hero pushed his hands through his hair.

"I just don't know how to deal with pregnant horses. You sure you can take care of her if she does end up full of baby? Promise? You can't just walk out on me on this."

[DragonSong]

Hesitantly, Aya sat on the grass beside him. "I'm sure," she murmured. "I help the mares in our stable foal whenever they need an extra hand. I've had some practice."

She sighed and propped her chin in her hand. "It shouldn't be an issue that Sunshine's not a draques. Really the only difference between a normal foal and what she'd have is how possessive they are. Not to mention Moony will want to make sure his baby and baby-mama are okay all the time."

[Draconian]

Baby-mama.

Hero visibly cringed.

What a hot mess this was.

He supposed it was worse for the girl. At least he was an adult and had his own place. Well off, a knight of Adela! The girl was... Maybe down on her luck? "Right, well, I have things to do so the sooner we can figure this out and your horse stops bothering my horse" Hero pressed his hands to his face and groaned.

"Can you go see if he's done yet? I have actual work to do... Like take you back home." He grumbled.

[DragonSong]

Aya winced. "Yeah. Ah- sure." Cautiously, she crept toward the foliage that hid the two animals from view.

Darkmoon and Sunshine stood perfectly content, nose to tail, absently grooming each other's backs. The draques jerked his head up a bit when he smelled the girl and gave a friendly snort in her direction.

She sighed. "Alright, you can come over."

[Draconian]

Hero scrunched his nose in distaste and replaced the armor bits he'd taken off for his comfort.

Great.

Just great.

He meandered over, arms crossed over his chest and watched the girl and then looked to the animals, frowning. Sunshine got a deathglare.

"So. Do I take sunshine with me and then.. Shuffle her off to you when she starts to get fat?"

[DragonSong]

She sighed and rubbed at the back of her neck. "Or you could...call on me, when I'm needed. I can tell you where I live and work- I'm always at one place or the other. I'm happy to help out with her wherever you keep her boarded, you don't need to pass her entirely into my custody."

She giggled a bit when she got writhing sniffing range of the mare and Sunshine gave her a curious going over, breathing into the mare's nostrils and smiling when she returned the favor to learn her scent.

Another chuckle and she glanced over her shoulder at the knight. "She loves you a lot, you know."