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oom: outside of milliways sorta
After returning from Green Lake the night before, Doc had a promise to keep to Miss Katherine in regards to the stables and taking her out riding for a proper tour of the grounds. And even with the immediate exit blocked by strange plants and vines, he'd gone out early to take care of the cleaning, feeding, and general work that he'd missed over the last few days before slipping back in for breakfast and to have a waitrat deliver a note upstairs to her room while he got changed into more riding-appropriate clothes.
The note (which she'll find along with the clothes Bar has most likely helpfully left for her upstairs -- don't ask how the rat got in to leave it, these things just happen) says simply that he'll be out in the stables after she's had breakfast and is ready, but not to rush, and to avoid angering the strange plants and she'll be just fine walking through.
So when she does wander outside, she'll catch him singing if she's quiet walking into the stables. It's a more modern song, but one that he heard while in the bar one day and it caught his interest and he's heard it enough that he's got a little bit of it memorized.
"Well Maggie was my true love, the only kiss I knew
I’d meet her at the oak tree in the cool evening dew
Where we would walk beside the levee, our fingers intertwined
While the crimson moon gazed through the needles of the pines
We’d lay beside each other, staring at the sky
Listenin’ to the whistlin’ of the train blowin’ by..."
That's all he knows, so he trails off towards the middle of the verse.
She'll find that he's in one of the store rooms gathering up the tack they'll need for two horses, and there's a few papers pinned to the wall near the door with his handwriting on them, notes and lists of feed and supplies, reminders, that sort of thing.
The note (which she'll find along with the clothes Bar has most likely helpfully left for her upstairs -- don't ask how the rat got in to leave it, these things just happen) says simply that he'll be out in the stables after she's had breakfast and is ready, but not to rush, and to avoid angering the strange plants and she'll be just fine walking through.
So when she does wander outside, she'll catch him singing if she's quiet walking into the stables. It's a more modern song, but one that he heard while in the bar one day and it caught his interest and he's heard it enough that he's got a little bit of it memorized.
"Well Maggie was my true love, the only kiss I knew
I’d meet her at the oak tree in the cool evening dew
Where we would walk beside the levee, our fingers intertwined
While the crimson moon gazed through the needles of the pines
We’d lay beside each other, staring at the sky
Listenin’ to the whistlin’ of the train blowin’ by..."
That's all he knows, so he trails off towards the middle of the verse.
She'll find that he's in one of the store rooms gathering up the tack they'll need for two horses, and there's a few papers pinned to the wall near the door with his handwriting on them, notes and lists of feed and supplies, reminders, that sort of thing.
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"I can't guarantee my aim," she shakes her head, winding up for a throw. It has been a few years since she's done any kind of hard labor, but there's still a bit of strength in her arm as she pitches the stick forward.
It flies out across the lake, coming down with a plunk only a few feet from Doc's original throw.
She smiles with self-satisfaction.
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She fit there, against his chest, his arm looped around her middle.
Just like Yen fit there, against his chest. There's a memory that flashes back into his head and in any other company he might have grimaced at it, but he hides the look with years of practice and smiles.
"Very well done," he says, giving a glance back to the horses before he looks again at her. "I'll have to remember to take a few fish out later when I head to the stables for the evening. Thank them."
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She gazes out across the water, eyes shining with amusement, and hugs her jacket a little tighter around her body to fight off a chill. It's not particularly cold outside, but the absence of Doc's warmth next to her has left her trembling.
"Thank them for the game?" she asks, turning over her shoulder again to look at him, still smiling. "Oh, I think they're plenty content."
One has started using the stick as a weapon against the other---when it isn't waving it around tauntingly, that is.
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(It's a strange feeling, not having to run everywhere.)
Besides, the longer they stay out here, the longer he can focus on her and Milliways and not the list of stuff he knows he needs to take care of before he goes home.
"Lake freezes over in the winter," he comments, idly. "We get a pretty good snow, too."
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Almost as if on cue, a short gust of wind kicks up her hair, exhaling a chilling breath across her bare neck. She shrugs away the shiver.
"I haven't seen much for snow or ice before. It must be beautiful."
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He motions around at the forest.
"Hear tell this is like Scotland, or England, the types of trees and the weather. Wouldn't know -- I've never been."
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"Sounds like you folk really enjoy having a good time with each other," she smiles, with an expression that clearly shows her excitement at seeing what Milliways may have in store for her.
"Hockey... isn't that like golf? But you're doing it on skates?"
Sounds dangerous.
Sounds fun.
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Doc smiles a little at the memory.
"We make do with what we can. I've been Bound here before...you find ways to amuse yourself. That's part of the reason I asked Will to teach me to shoot and spar."
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She dips her head to hide a smirk, scuffing the earth with the toe of her boot.
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A pause.
"Course y'can learn to do anythin' with enough practice."
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She definitely doesn't look at him, lest he catch that spark in her eyes.
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Rachat stamps his feet a little and paces, drawing Doc's attention back towards the two horses and the forest. He doesn't see any beady eyes, thankfully.
"I'd be more than willin' to teach you," he adds.
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"I'll hold you to that, Josiah. After all, it's not like we don't have time."
She eventually follows his gaze back to the two horses, watching Rachat pace and Duncan twitch, switching a tail against his hind shanks. He snorts unhappily.
"Horses seem ill at ease," she comments.
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Doc offers her his hand (as it wouldn't do if she stumbled on that lake shore, what with it's easy, gentle slope of grass and all) without hesitation.
"Should probably get to headin' back before they start followin' us too close. I ain't about to test if these two are gun-shy or not. And I expect y'to hold me to that. Man should be in the habit of keepin' his word to a lady."
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A horse scared of a bunny rabbit? Pssh.
She threads her fingers through his easily, masterfully disguising a bashful grin as they pick their way back up to the waiting equines and away from the squids, who had long since lost interest in them.
"We're not in any serious threat of trouble, are we?"
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Doc smiles a little as she threads her fingers through his.
"And we ain't in a threat until they start their circlin' and breathin' fire. They sleep durin' the day, though, I think. At least they're more active at night."
He'll leave out the part about how they explode when you shoot them.
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She stares at him.
"There's a dr--THEY BREATHE FIRE?"
Katherine isn't sure which to freak out about first, so she goes with both.
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Doc uses his free hand to mimic huge wings, as any story is better told with illustration, naturally. "Sometimes it hangs out around the back door of the bar, or near the lake on a rock. You can't miss it...size of a house."
A grin.
"And, yep. Breathe fire and they go up like a powder keg when you manage to hit one square on. Sometimes Billy and I have a contest..."
That sounds dangerous. And possibly fun as hell.
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Katherine follows the sweep of his hand with huge, round eyes.
You can't miss it...size of a house
A HOUSE.
*INWARD FLAIL*
She blinks at him a few times before attempting a response.
"I-i-is it dangerous?" she breathes.
And then she's hit with the fantastic mental picture of bunnies going up in a puff of flame and smoke.
Thank you, Doc. Thank you so much for that one.
"And you shoot the rabbits. For sport."
It's only half a question. The other half is good ol' dry incredulity.
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Doc tries his best to look innocent.
(It fails, miserably.)
"And I don't suppose it's so much sport as...a means by which to settle disagreements over who's the better shot. Of course I wouldn't recommend it to just anyone...but Billy's a special brand of crazy all his very own."
And Doc's not crazy at all like that. Not one bit.
He lightly tugs on her hand to continue their short trip up to the horses.
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"Josiah, I do believe you're having fun at my expense," she scolds playfully, trying in vain to hide the smile on her lips as he tugs at her hand. She squeezes his fingertips lightly.
When they reach the horses, Katherine pauses just before hauling herself back up into the saddle. She looks at Doc through her eyelashes, and smirks.
"And who is the better shot, Mr. Scurlock?"
No, that wasn't a challenge in her voice. Not at all.
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That might be pride in his voice.
Doc unties Duncan and then hands up the reins, before he does the same to Rachat, and it's not long before he's pulled himself back up into the saddle either.
"Course, I'd been workin' for Mr. Tunstall long before Billy ever got to the territory, so had Chavez, 'cept he's better with knives."
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She tosses a look back over her shoulder at him, but doesn't say another word.
Duncan prances a bit, stepping proper and shaking that long, shiny mane.
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Doc grins and follows her, letting her lead for awhile. It's not like it's hard to follow the path around the lake, nearing the inlet where it's shallow enough to cross.
"That's why I've been practicin' juggling," he offers. "Faster hands."
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Hooves splash through shallow water, and Katherine grins, feeling the urge to break into a gallop and send the spray flying.
She restrains herself, but barely.
"Do you find it helps?"
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