For Ray

[asher_talos]

Asher had managed to completely miss the birth of his own kids, but, as luck would have it, he'd caught the last half of this one. The gross half. The half that made sense out of just why the fathers weren't around when babies were being delivered way back when.

He'd gotten to the barn early in the morning to feed Beau and Belle, just the same as he had every other morning before. Except there were two and a half horses when he got there that time, and three whole ones just a while later.

Beau had been fed at some point during the wait, and Asher finally fed Belle once it was all over, but she was more interested in cleaning the foal up than eating. After watching that, Asher didn't have much of an appetite himself, either.

Comments

[asher_talos]

"Two out of three," Asher replied. Ray was lucky that the alcohol was free on the island, because it was going to take a good few drinks to loosen his lips. Although, now that he knew that was his goal, Asher probably wouldn't do much drinking at all. "Did you try the last one on yourself only to find that it didn't grow back?"

[speakscanadian.livejournal.com]

"Your sense of humor is definitely your most attractive feature," Ray retorted with a smirk. It would be a sad day when he actually thought that was true, considering Asher usually substituted jokes for insults.

As entertaining as conversations with him could be, Ray was kind of hoping he was making some progress with the whole bipolar thing, but Asher seemed to be keeping that to himself. "How's the motion sickness?" he asked, curiosity tilting his head. It was pretty much akin to asking are we there yet?

[asher_talos]

"Better." They hadn't argued nearly as often and it had been a while since either of them felt it necessary to take a swing at the other. That had to be progress. "But that might just be because I make sure to chew ginger before being around you now."

[speakscanadian.livejournal.com]

"It's a good thing we're surrounded by all this snow because you are on fire." If they had made progress already, then that boded well for Christmas, Ray hoped. He was a patient guy when he wanted to be but there was a part of him that just wanted to go for it, all guns blazing again, even if he did risk getting punched and/or rejected. He wasn't really sure how much longer he could keep it in.

Maybe it wasn't such a good idea that they went back to the Catscratch club...

That didn't stop Ray from insinuating the exact opposite though. "Make sure to carry breath freshener with you. I'm not a fan of ginger."

[asher_talos]

"...I'm not sure I know many people who'd try coming on to anyone after a person has seen them in a hat like yours and after that thing with the horse shit." Actually, Asher wasn't sure he knew many people who'd try coming on to him, period. Except maybe Del, but she was nuts; he was pretty sure he'd seen her make a pass at a tree once.

"I'll keep that in mind."

[speakscanadian.livejournal.com]

"How many people d'you know like me?" Ray asked, flashing Asher a grin a moment later. He looked away and dragged a fingernail down the side of his neck, scratching slowly. "Y'know, a woman once told me I'm different but good. I'd like to think she was right." And she'd definitely had fun that night. Who knew sweat lodges could be so thrilling?

[asher_talos]

"Just you." Which was plenty. More than enough, really. Any more and one of them would have been dead by now, Asher was sure of it. "Did this woman see you in a monkey hat? Probably not." he was willing to bet money on it, or he would have if money were worth anything.

[speakscanadian.livejournal.com]

"No, but she saw me in a birthday suit," Ray answered under his breath, eyebrow quirking a little. "So, what happens to Bijou now? Christmas present for the twins?"

[asher_talos]

"Thanks for sharing..." And for immediately changing the subject. "Maybe. That, or the glue factory."

[speakscanadian.livejournal.com]

"Pony rides it is then." Ray guessed it was better to be a present for the twins than a present for Onyx. "I'm gonna go shout at my horse," he said, chucking a thumb in her direction, "and then get coerced into feeding it. If you feel like you wanna help shovel muck, then please feel free to follow." He wasn't going to hold his breath though.

[asher_talos]

"I haven't lost any bets lately." And he wasn't planning to. After the example Ray set, he'd also never wager doing anyone elses grunt work for a week. "Have fun."