@awashsquid said:
PLEASE WRITE THIS OMG
@paksenarrion-reader said:
bonus points: horses get skittish around people who are nervous
TUMBLR WOULDN’T POST A REGULAR REPLY POST RIGHT, BUT HERE’S ABOUT 2400 WORDS ON THIS ENJOY
Haruka was not entirely sure how she’d gotten here. Michiru saying she had a surprise had honestly sounded like a sex thing, and the outfit she’d told Haruka to change into had only supported that in Haruka’s mind. Small pants, a jacket with a lot of buttons, high boots? Seemed like one of Michiru’s weird fantasies to her, and then Michiru had been in a matching outfit, but with a whip… what was she supposed to think?
Maybe the fact that they then left the apartment should have tipped her off. Michiru was a private person. Even a hotel seemed too gauche for her tastes, but Haruka hadn’t wanted to say anything. They’d only been together a little while, and by Haruka’s guess they only had a little while longer until Michiru realized she deserved something better, so she didn’t feel it was her place to ask questions.
Now, staring into one dark eye of a large beast, she realized she should have asked a lot of questions.
“Isn’t she lovely?” Michiru asked, brushing the mane of another horse. “Noir has long been a favorite of mine, I requested she be brought out for you.”
Haruka made a motion of patting the horse’s side without actually touching it. “Oh, uh. Thanks. She’s… great.”
Michiru smiled. “I’ve been thinking about all the things we have in common, and I realized I was overlooking such a wonderful thing we share. I grew up taking riding lessons, you grew up in the country, we did the same thing as children even though our backgrounds were so different.”
“Yeah,” Haruka croaked. “Amazing.” It had been Michiru’s mission to find their common ground lately. She wasn’t ready to accept that they came from different worlds and would end up in different worlds. And here, she thought she’d found something they really shared, beyond their attraction to each other.
But Haruka had never been on a horse. She’d never even been near a horse, except that one time a school friend’s uncle had taken them to a race and asked if they’d pitch in on his bet. When Michiru heard the drawl of Haruka’s accent, she pictured open pastures and grazing cattle, but the trailer Haruka had grown up in barely had yard enough for a sandbox.
Haruka tried to pet the horse for real. It shied away from her hand.
She had to tell her.
“Uh, Michiru…”
“Michiru!”
Another woman strode up, a brilliant white horse in tow. “I haven’t seen you out here in months, how are you?”
Michiru’s face morphed into the placid, polite expression Haruka had come to recognize as her socialite mask. “Oh, Rina, how nice to see you. It really has been too long.”
“And who is this… charming gentleman you have brought with you?”
Haruka stiffened.
“She is my companion for the day, Haruka. She’s quite good at riding, I’m not sure you’ll be able to keep up with us.”
Haruka swallowed hard.
Rina smiled. “I’ll just have to try my best.” She looked at Haruka’s horse with what Haruka was sure was faux concern. “Noir seems skittish today, did something happen?”
Michiru’s eyes narrowed. “She does dislike negativity.”
“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.” She pulled gloves over her manicured hands. “What trail are we riding today?”
“We haven’t decided, perhaps you should go on ahead and pick one yourself.”
“Oh, nonsense. How could I miss this opportunity to catch up with you?” Rina flashed a glance at Haruka. “And your companion seems so interesting.”
Haruka was doomed, plain and simple. Noir’s ears flicked back and forth as she pawed at the ground. Haruka was going to have to ride her. Her heart pounded in her ears. As if the horse could hear it too, she whinnied and side stepped as far as the bridle would let her go.
“Let us not delay any longer,” Rina said with a smile that seemed malicious to Haruka. “It’s too nice a day to waste it in the yard.”
Haruka watched as she mounted on her horse with ease. Left side, foot up, and then… she was just magically atop the saddle, looking smug.
Haruka took a deep breath. “Okay,” she whispered. “Okay.” She slowly drew close to Noir. “You don’t like me, and I don’t like you, but we gotta do this, okay?” She put a hand on the horse’s neck, and she finally didn’t pull away. “Okay. We can do this.” A horse couldn’t be that different from a car, really. Both were big and scary, but when you knew what you were doing they were the safest thing in the world, practically. Haruka just had to ignore that she didn’t know wht she was doing.
She positioned herself on the left side, as she’d seen Rina do. Foot up, that seemed good, sturdy, yes. And then she just had to lift herself, it wasn’t scary, she wasn’t terrified, she was doing just fine…
And then Noir bucked. Haruka hit the ground and skidded on her back. Michiru would be so mad about the grass stains, shit.
“Haruka!”
“I’m fine.” She sat up as Michiru rushed over. “I didn’t hit my head or nothin’.”
Michiru brushed her off and looked into her eyes. “Maybe we shouldn’t do this today, Noir seems out of sorts, and–”
“Naw, I want to.” Haruka stood. “Little rough start never meant nothin’.” She smiled, and the knot between Michiru’s brows dissipated.
“If you’re sure, lo… Haruka.”
Haruka turned back to Noir. The good thing was, she supposed, that she was stupid and stubborn more than she was ever afraid. She remembered hearing once that horses could smell fear. “Well,” she whispered to Noir was she readied to try again. “Let’s see if you can smell determination too.”
And maybe they could, or maybe it was just a miracle, for Haruka settled into the saddle with only a few sickening moments of fear that she might tip over. Rina watched her with a cocked eyebrow. She knew, Haruka was sure. How Michiru hadn’t caught on was the only real mystery.
Rina led the way towards the wooded trails. Haruka was grateful that Noir knew to follow without guidance.
Michiru angled her horse to be stride for stride with Haruka’s. “I’m so sorry she’s here,” she whispered. “I wanted it to be just us.”
“It’s fine,” Haruka lied. “We can be alone later.” That was a true comforting thought, confessing everything to Michiru when they got back to her home, where Michiru would maybe offer her tea Haruka didn’t really like but appreciated the gesture, and wrap her in a blanket and stroke her hair while promising they’d never have to do it again.
“She just…”
“What are you two whispering about back there?” Rina pulled back on her reins, slowing until her horse was between Haruka and Michiru. “I’d love to hear whatever you’re gossiping about.”
“Oh, have you heard that my mother might not be able to attend this year’s charity gala? Quite tragic, I’m afraid…”
Michiru led her into mindless prattle, and Haruka took the opportunity to focus on her bearings. Riding was wholly uncomfortable, bumpy, and she felt as though she might wobble too far to one side at any moment. But the horse was calm, for now, so Haruka figured she should be grateful.
“Wouldn’t you agree, Haruka?”
“Oh, yeah, um, what?”
Rina looked at her expectantly. “We should really pick up the pace. I’d love to see your true skill with riding.”
“Yeah,” Haruka said, her stupid pride jumping off her tongue before her brain could catch it. “Definitely.”
“We ought to have a race to the edge of the wood.” To her other side, Michiru frowned.
“Surely after the incident earlier…”
Rina waved her off. “Oh, Michiru, it’s all in good fun. And Haruka wants to, don’t you Haruka?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Well there you have it. You aren’t going to deny us our fun, are you?”
“I just wouldn’t want to bruise your ego too much, Rina, you’ve never been able to outride me.”
Rina’s expression crossed into contempt for a moment. “Overconfidence is a dangerous trait.”
“I don’t believe I’ve been overconfident.”
“We’ll see about that.” She took off, and Michiru quickly overtook her.
Haruka’s heart sank as Noir merely stopped.
“Run,” she tried.
She pressed her legs into the horse’s sides in what she assumed was the right way. Noir began to walk, but only at the same pace they’d been going before.
“No, listen, this is gonna let them know I’m a fraud. You gotta run for me.”
Noir did not seem interested. Haruka gave the reins a shake. “Please, come on.”
Nothing.
She had an idea. A bad idea, she knew, but an idea, and the only one she could think of. She couldn’t embarrass Michiru in front of that insidious woman anymore than she already had. So she took one shaking hand off the reins, leaned back a little, and slapped Noir near the tail.
Noir launched forward, nearly throwing Haruka off. Her heart leapt to her throat, every frightened beat seeming to drive Noir to go faster. Rina and Michiru came back into sight, she was going to pass them. She could say her delay was to make it more fair, that was good.
But, she realized as Noir careened closer and closer, she didn’t know how to maneuver around them. “Watch out!” she half-screamed, making Noir press on even faster.
She barely caught Michiru’s gasp as she pulled her horse to the side of the trail to let Haruka pass, but she could have sworn she heard Rina chuckle.
The woods passed in a blur, Haruka barely being able to duck under low branches fast enough. The end appeared before her, and she realized the most important thing she didn’t know.
“Stop!” She yelled as they broke into the sunny open trail. “Stop!”
That, apparently, was not the way to stop a horse. She squeezed with her legs, and then pulled on the reins.
Noir reared up, and for a second the forward momentum Haruka still had made her feel like she’d stay on, she leaned into the horse’s neck with all her strength, but her balance was too wobbly and she slipped to one side, feet coming out of the saddle and the ground suddenly rising up to meet her shoulder, hard.
Noir trotted to the side to graze the grass, seemingly proud of her work.
Haruka lay splayed on the trail, half worried the next horse to come by would trample her and half too consumed by pain to care.
She didn’t budge as hoofbeats thundered towards her.
“Haruka!” Michiru practically leapt from her horse and ran to kneel at her side. “HAruka, are you alright?”
“Not really.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry, I don’t know what’s gotten into Noir today, something must have happened while I haven’t been coming, I–”
“Is she alright?” Rina had the decency to look sheepish.
“Ride back and get help, she might be hurt.”
Rina’s face went white. Haruka wondered what she had expected to happen. “I… yes, right away.”
“Did you hit your head?”
“No, I landed on my shoulder.” She was lucky, she knew, but it hurt like hell. “Michiru, I have to tell you. There’s nothing wrong with the horse. I’m the problem. I’ve never done this before.”
Michiru put her face in her hands. “Oh Haruka, I’m so sorry. I wondered, when we first arrived, but then you didn’t say anything, and…”
“No, it’s my fault, I was pretty stupid about it.” She pushed herself up to sit with her good arm, and felt around her shoulder. Nothing felt broken, she might get off with just a hell of a bruise. “I don’t want to disappoint you. I don’t want to be too…you know… poor to have a good time with.”
“That’s not…” Michiru looked at her, her eyes shockingly wet. “So many of the things I like are boring to you. Art is too static, and you always fall asleep during foreign films, and…”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, I understand, I can’t pay attention at all when you turn on a race.” Michiru pressed her lips together. “But I like being with you, and I want to show you there are things we can do together, because I love you. And I’ve done this all wrong, and–”
“Wait, back up a little.” Haruka swallowed. Her throat was suddenly very dry, and her heart pounded harder than it had at any moment on the horse. “What did you just say?” Had the pain made her hallucinate? Surely, it couldn’t be that Michiru had really just said…
Michiru’s eyes went wide and she cast them to the ground. “I… it’s okay if you don’t feel it too, especially after what a fool I’ve been today, I understand. But I love you, Haruka, and if there’s any way I can find to keep you, I’ll do it.”
“Michi, I’m not nearly good enough for you. I don’t have the things you need. I can’t even ride a horse.”
“The fact that you tried is proof enough that you’re too good for me.” She gave a small half smile, more vulnerable than Haruka had ever seen her. “Maybe we don’t have anything in common, and maybe it won’t work, but I’m in love with you, Haruka.”
Haruka swallowed again. “Well, you know, I guess that’s one thing in common we have.”
Michiru looked at her in askance.
“I’m in love with you, too.”
She sighed. “You don’t have to say it just because I did, I’ve had quite enough of social niceties for the day.”
“Michi, I got thrown off a horse trying to prove myself to you, I wouldn’t do that for just any girl. I love you.” She leaned forward and kissed her, soft and slow. “I love you, Michiru.”
Michiru’s eyes traced up from Haruka’s lips to her eyes. “I love you, Haruka.” She shook her head. “We’ve both been such idiots today, haven’t we?”
Haruka laughed. “Hey, there’s another thing we’ve got.”
“I suppose that’s true.” She smiled. “Now, let’s get your shoulder checked out, and then never come back here again.” She stood and offered her hand to Haruka.
“Sounds like a good plan to me.”
They walked off together, hand in hand.
SittingOverHereDreaming 