The Tale of Two Riches

[Casey]

Thalion flicked a few petals from his shoulders, and ran a hand through his hair, to no avail. He was still covered, but then again so was she. He listened patiently to her explanation of her jewelry business while he sipped his tea, but only found more questions come to mind. He put off on asking them for the moment, however. Today was going surprisingly well, and he didn't want to risk messing it up – on purpose.

"I study a lot, as you can see. I take pride in my education. I write letters, both for business and for communicating with my sister, Olivia. She lives in... Ketra..." he quieted down for a minute, a solemn look crossing his features. Olivia was a sensitive subject for him. It was the one thing in his life that made him question who he was on a fundamental level. As fast as the bad mood came, though, it left again. He cleared his throat and continued, "I spend time making sure the family business runs smoothly, I take care of my mother, which is the only reason she lives in my house, and I do go riding," he assured her. He suddenly realized that most of those things weren't exactly hobbies. Were his only hobbies really gambling, riding, reading, and picking up woman?

"Ah, Lillith requested we share a stable with our neighbors, to keep the smell of horse manure out of the yard, you see," he said as he plopped a couple raspberries into his mouth. He was done divulging about himself for now. "Would you like to go for a ride?" he offered, and even ventured to hold his arm out to properly escort her like a gentleman. He knew he was pushing her boundaries, but he'd hardly had an opportunity to show off the positive side to being a noble. Today was the start of it.

[Juno]

Pride in his education? She wasn't quite sure she could entirely believe that with how closed-minded he'd been with her before. It was interesting to her, though, that he mentioned writing letters for business. Well, how could you expect to know what that's all about, you never asked him about having a business. She figured, though, that since he hadn't brought it up himself before that he might not even think it all that important, even as he spoke of it now.

"That's understandable," she offered as she finished up her tea. She was well aware of how minimally he'd satisfied her curiosity of what he did with his time, but she wasn't in a rush to pry the information out of him as she knew well enough that they would have plenty of time both today and in what meetings would come. At his question, though, she raised a brow slightly and eyed the arm he held out, unsure if the offer was truly genuine or if this might be some attempt at making a mockery of her. "A ride? Would you even let me?" she scoffed playfully, a smile there as she slipped her hand to rest against his elbow so they might truly walk arm in arm now, much as she hadn't expected this to happen.

"Let's try it, then. I must warn you, though... I haven't been on a horse in a little while, so I might be a bit rusty." In truth, a little while was several years. Several years was actually just over a decade ago for a brief period in her life where she'd learned, ridden, and then promptly decided she didn't want to do it anymore on a whim. "You said you have a family business, though? In what? Does... your sister help out with it in Ketra, then?" she asked, entirely oblivious to how her wondering about his sister might be received.

[Casey]

"The business was passed down directly from my grandfather to myself. He couldn't pass it down to my mother. That didn't stop her from running it until I was old enough to take a hold of it, myself. It's a trading business. We buy all sorts of supplies directly from people all over the world who make them, and sell them for higher. Arca is a great central area between the kingdoms. Plus, we have people working for us outside of Arca." His passion was not in the items being traded. His passion lied in making money, and keeping the business running smoothly. He made sure the people who took care of the logistics of delivering goods didn't steal supplies or money from him. Basically, he looked at numbers and talked to only the people directly below him, and that was it.

The question about his sister did, indeed, hit a nerve in him. He stiffened slightly next to her as they strolled together out of the yard and down the street towards his neighbor's property. "Olivia... no. She does not help," he stated curtly. Don't have such a stick up your ass. Olivia is a good sister, and this would upset her, he scolded himself. "Ah..." he sighed in defeat at his very small conscience, "she runs her own business with my fath-- ah, she runs it. It's... smaller." Thalion could open up about Olivia a little bit, but he could not open up about his father. That was a scandal he preferred not to share.

Officially done with the conversation about his family, he turned the conversation back towards horseback riding. It was a legitimate passion of his. "You could always share my horse. I'll make sure you won't fall," Thalion stated boldly with a wink. He hunted on horses, escaped town via horseback, traveled on horseback to visit his father and sister. Riding was his escape from working, reading, studying, and the world of money and politics.

[Juno]

What he described definitely needed to be immense, and she didn't doubt that with how well-rooted he made it out to be. The comments about his mother -especially the business failing to go directly through her hands- and sister were not missed, but she still chose not to comment on such things just yet. Instead, she was stockpiling those little snippets of information. Whatever seemed to make him uncomfortable was ammo she wanted to have, especially when he was offering it up so freely now just for a dash of a softer, sweeter side from her, or so she thought.

His refusal to divulge more about his sister right now definitely caught her interest, especially knowing that they both had a hand in their own, separate business dealings. There were so many things she didn't know that she couldn't help but wonder about. For instance, why his sister might choose to live away from her family to run a smaller business of her own when it was clear enough to her that the family, or at least Thalion, did well enough already here in Arca.

He was soon switching topics back to riding, though, a decidedly far more comfortable subject that she was happy to indulge. "Share? You? How kind," she teased, "I didn't really take you for a man who might truly share his fine horses, especially with someone like me. But, if you can promise, I suppose that might be best..." What am I doing? This is the guy that took my jewelry! A few kind words and pretty things and I've already almost forgotten why I'm here! "Just this once, until I get my bearings. That is, if we ever ride again, of course.

"Is that it over there?" she asked, her gaze shifting to focus on what looked like stables to her. "How many are there? Or, rather, how many are yours?"

[Casey]

Thalion grinned at her sarcastic teasing. "I know, shocking. Just don't tell anyone I share. It'll ruin my terrible reputation," he said, with equal sarcasm. As they approached the stables, he waved a friendly hand towards his neighbor in the distance who was standing by his house, watching the two cross his property. Upon seeing who it was, he turned away uninterested.

"We have four horses. One per family member, also two of them hardly ever get used," he answered her as he ran a hand across his own horse. It was a beautiful, tall horse with a dense, muscular body. It's colors faded between black and dark brown, blending into a shimmering coat full of colorful depth, complete with a black mane and tail.  "This is Zeke," Thalion told Chela, also he was looking at his horse fondly, running his hand down the horse's neck.

In the stall next to Zeke was a beautiful chestnut horse with a dark brown mane and tail. "And that's Cheslie, Olivia's horse" he said, motioning towards the elegant horse. Their other two horses were their parents'.

One was a male dappled gray horse with a dark gray mane and tail, with a spotted ashy coat, as if ash had been thrown at him and exploded into random speckled patterns. "This is my father's horse, Charlie. He may not look like much in comparison to the others, but he works hard, and listens well." It was a slightly shorter, more modest horse, although it could still hold someone of significant height.

The last was a white horse with a dark nose, dark ears, and a white mane and tail that only contrasted slightly with its coat, with hidden bits of light gray mixed into the rough fibers of the mane and tail. "Don't be fooled by Bella's beauty," Thalion warned Chela. "The only thing this horse knows how to do is be pretty. She's been so pampered that she doesn't listen, tends to buck and bite, and her temperament is a force to be reckoned with."

Thalion led Zeke out his stall and geared him up with a halter and bit but disregarded the saddle, grabbed the mane, and hoisted himself up with ease. Looking down at Chela, he offered his hand to help her get up. "Just try not to kick me in the face when you jump up here."

[Juno]

She frowned slightly at the thought of some of their horses mostly going unused, it seemed like such a waste of life, of energy and resources to keep animals that might hardly serve a purpose. Entering the barn, though, her eyes widened at the puffing snorts of air that greeted them. She wasn't at all frightened, but it had indeed been a long while since she had been so close to horses like this.

It was interesting to her to watch Thalion as he introduced her to the animals, and the particularly fond look he gave his own horse was not missed upon her and was, in fact, quite surprising; she was used to him being a loud, demanding and obnoxious man and hadn't expected to see a slightly gentler side of him at all, ever. Each horse was certainly quite beautiful in its own way, she thought, slipping away from him to look at the other three in their stalls again as he readied Zeke.

Eyeing Bella, she reached out a hand to the mare to gently stroke at her muzzle. "You're gorgeous, aren't you girl?" she cooed, ignoring the fact that she'd been so ill-spoken of. I bet I could ride her one day. I think I will, if I ever get the chance to, she decided. No longer hearing much noise by the entrance, though, Chela turned to see Thalion pulling himself up onto the horse. Staring at his offered hand, she wandered back over to look up at the horse.

"He looks taller outside of his stall," she commented, eyeing the animal warily now that she could clearly see how sturdily built he was. And no saddle... Well, I hope he doesn't think I'm going to just cling to him. None of that, I'm not some fragile girl. I can hold my own. With that, her mind was made up and she stepped up to the horse with a false ballooning of pride. "No kicks in the face, I promise," she mumbled as she tried to figure out how she was going to do this while, in the meantime, she just stared at his offered hand still. Though, I can't promise there won't be kicks anywhere else, on or off the horse.

Even though it was his horse, even though it was he that was sharing, Chela decided that she wanted to at least feel more in control in this if she was going to trust in a horse taking them off. "Sit still," she warned, reaching up to grab a handful of mane and grip his leg instead of his hand to pull herself up. It wasn't a smooth mount like his was, though, as she wiggled and strained to get herself up on her belly across Zeke's withers. It stung, it was painful, and in her heart she knew that this was definitely not the way to get on a horse, especially with two people, but she was doing it anyway.

Determined, though, she cautiously pulled her leg up under herself and then around to finally get her seat upon the horse. "I'm riding like this. Scoot back," she commanded, though her voice was not very strong even though the awareness of their proximity was. Huffing and wheezing for the crushed feeling in her gut, she realized she was entirely ill-prepared for riding as she took to pulling at the skirt of her dress to try and cover as much of the exposed parts of her legs as she could from where it had ridden up.

[Casey]

A smile tugged at the corner of Thalion's lips as he watched Chela struggle to get onto his horse. Part of him wanted to help her, but it was so much better to watch her struggle. The amusement in his gut threatened to spill over into an offensive onslaught of laughter and jokes, but he pushed his lips together and fought the urge as best he could. With Chela slung over his horse in front of him, his eyes wandered. From her back side, to the way her dressed gripped her curves, he took full advantage of the opportunity given to him to stare without getting caught.

Upon hearing Chela's demand, Thalion obediently moved backwards to give her room. Still, he had his hands on the reins, and his arms were touching either side of Chela's waist to keep her stable on his horse. He couldn't help but celebrate the small victory of the physical contact he was making. Pushing his heel gently into Zeke's side, the horse began to walk out to the clearing near the stables, with trees lining either side of the long, empty, quiet clearing. Aside from the whisper of the wind, and the occasional song of a bird, there was nothing out here.

Days like this are what made Thalion thrive. The silence of riding a horse took away all his responsibility of being a business owner or a bachelor expected to marry the richest and best political match of a girl. No, out here, he got to be whatever he wanted to be. It was relaxing and isolated. Not to say he minded Chela becoming part of his favorite place. She'd walked into his library while he read, and now she was being incorporated into a ride on his horse.

"This is my favorite part of the day," he confided to her exposed leg that he was staring at, although to her it'd sound like he was talking softly into her ear. "Just me, Zeke, and the day. What do you think of it, m'lady?"

[Juno]

That little rush of confidence? She had no idea where it was now.

Feeling slightly guilty for yanking on a pretty horse's mane like she had, was soon reaching up to the thick strands and leaned closer to Zeke's neck to smooth them back out in the moment they were getting settled. That was when she found herself looking down and, in turn, realizing just how high up they were. The contact of Thalion's arms at her sides made her tense. When she reasoned with herself that he still had to control the horse, though, she forced herself to try and relax again. She thought she shouldn't think anything of it, really. As they began to head off, though, her dress was forgotten. The odd feeling of the animal beneath them actually moving had her feeling strange, not in control, and, irrationally, that she was going to somehow tip over or be rocked off.

Hands hanging awkwardly at the horse's neck, they worked their way back up to entwine with mane again, if only to have something to hold onto. Her lips were drawn tightly into a line and eyes wide with uncertainty as she tried to settle into the gentle, rocking movements of the horse's gait. Upon hearing his voice and the -she felt- oddly gentle tone with which he spoke, Chela raised her head to look up to the horse's flickering ears and take in the sight of something other than white knuckles for the unnecessary effort she'd been putting into holding on when she was already securely atop the animal.

"Your favorite?" she asked somewhat skeptically. She hadn't remembered horseback riding like this but, then again, she'd never ridden anything but a fully tacked steed. "It is nice out here, I have to admit." Chela was only just now getting around to actually looking, though. The clearing she'd been able to see on their way over looked so different from up there. All was so serene and seemingly calm besides the sounds of hooves crushing grass, the steady breaths of the animal, muffled shifting of the bit or the occasional little gust that rustled leaves and buffeted fabric. The little moments of noise all around them made her ears just that much more sensitive to the almost deafening spaces of quiet.

"How can you just ride like this, though? With no saddle, I mean. There's nothing to hold onto! I can't imagine it would be very comfortable long term. Or do you always go like this?" He was quite lucky she wasn't feeling confident enough to alter her seat yet or swivel in any sort of way, but she did add a curious, but slow, "Is he fast?"

[Casey]

"Thighs," he responded with a terribly large grin. "You hold onto the horse with your thighs." Thalion was thrilled with how this was turning out. He felt so powerful and in control. He controlled her staying on Zeke, where he went, and how fast he went. There was also something thrilling about teaching Chela to ride a horse. It was true that riding bare-back was much more uncomfortable than with a saddle, and that falling off the horse was a strong possibility without that stability of something to hold onto and keep his butt in place, but he didn't tell her that.

"I always have a saddle," he responded, knowing that it was not what Chela would enjoy hearing. Thalion stifled laughter that bubbled in his throat and threatened to break through. He calmed himself so he could talk without laughing to explain, "A saddle is only designed to have one butt in it. It'd be difficult to have two people riding with a saddle taking up so much space." The saddles he used were large leather things with a horn in front, not the tiny saddles without a horn people used to jump their horses. There really would be no room for two people with one of his saddles.

"But don't worry yourself about that. We'll be fine. All you have to do is grip the horse with your thighs, and hang onto his mane if you need to. Horses have virtually no feeling in their manes, so you can pull as hard as you want. Zeke won't mind, will ya, boy?" Zeke didn't respond, and instead just walked slowly through the clearing, responding well to the touch of the reins and the touch of Thalion's heels in his side.

"Oh, and yes. He's quite fast. Would you like to see how fast?" he asked, eager to show off his skill.

[Juno]

"Oh... Right," she mumbled, regretting that she'd been leaning on her hands for as long as she'd been. Adjusting her seat as he answered her other question, Chela finally tilted her head enough to look back at him over her shoulder. "As long as this is how it works with two that's fine. Just don't let me fall," she warned again, trying to keep the worry from her voice as she plastered on a horribly fake smile of confidence that clashed with her words and looked forward again.

At his prompting, she adjusted her seat again as she was trying to make sure everything was right even down to her hands. Glancing down over one side of the stallion she realized her feet were totally slack and just slapping at the poor animal. "How...fast? Um, sure! I knew he would be I just... What do I do with my feet?" she questioned, swinging one around to gently tap against his shoe.

"And are we going all the way out there?" she continued while pointing out to the tree line.