14 December 2010 @ 06:49 pm
For Ray  
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.
 
 
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[identity profile] speakscanadian.livejournal.com on December 18th, 2010 05:06 pm (UTC)
"What the hell's wrong with her?" Ray demanded, immediately on the defensive. He hadn't done anything to her and he didn't want Asher thinking he was a secret horse injurer.

"What is that?" Some weird looking gunk, that was what it was. Reaching down, Ray swiped a thumb over the hoof and brought a sample back. "Is it contagious? Is it..." He gave it a sniff and the horse lowered her foot to the ground, bobbing her head and wandering away. Just in time to avoid the gagging. "...shit!"
asher_talos: ZOMG![personal profile] asher_talos on December 19th, 2010 04:26 am (UTC)
That just happened. That had actually just happened. Asher hadn't expected Ray to touch it, didn't think it would have been necessary to warn him. Apparently, he was very, very wrong.

Pushing away from the stall, Asher was busy being more disgusted than he'd been in a long while, and laughing at Ray's misfortune. And stupidity. "I can not believe you just did that."

Oh, but he had.
[identity profile] speakscanadian.livejournal.com on December 19th, 2010 04:42 am (UTC)
"I thought she was dying!" Ray screeched, doubled-over and gagging between words. He'd thought it was gangrene. He flapped his hand manically to try to get the offending excrement off it. "I thought her foot was gonna fall off! Oh my God, get this stuff off me."

Stumbling over to some stray hay, he grabbed a handful and wiped his finger on it, starting to feel faint and light-headed. "Stop laughing at me." This was what he got for caring about the damn animal?
asher_talos: Amused[personal profile] asher_talos on December 19th, 2010 08:38 pm (UTC)
"Congratulations, you saved her foot." Too bad it was never actually at risk of falling off in the first place. "I'm sure she appreciates it." That, or she thought he was a complete idiot. Who could really tell?

"I'm gonna need you to stay at least five feet away from me at all times."
[identity profile] speakscanadian.livejournal.com on December 19th, 2010 10:03 pm (UTC)
It was at times like these that Ray wondered what he even saw in Asher. Storming out of the pen, he strode into the snow and dropped down, burying his hands in it and scrubbing until they turned red. It wasn't disinfectant but it would do for now.

"That's fine," he replied, rising to his feet and lobbing the snowball he'd made straight at Asher. "I can throw that far."
asher_talos: I haz a pout[personal profile] asher_talos on December 20th, 2010 01:05 am (UTC)
"Hey!" Asher turned just in time to let the back of his shoulder absorb the snowball's impact. "Why the fuck are you taking it out on me? I didn't tell you to touch it. Why not throw one at the damn horse? She's the one who stepped in it."
[identity profile] speakscanadian.livejournal.com on December 20th, 2010 09:59 pm (UTC)
"You're the one that laughed," Ray reminded him, bending down to scoop up another handful. Patting it into a rough sphere shape, he took a bit longer lining up his shot, just to maximise his chances of getting another hit. He'd never really seen the appeal of snowball fights but now he figured he'd just never had the right target before, because landing one on Asher was beyond satisfying.
asher_talos: Let me see your mean[personal profile] asher_talos on December 21st, 2010 12:16 am (UTC)
"How about lobbing one at yourself for doing something that idiotic?" Asher suggested poised to dodge any more snowballs that Ray decided to send his way. "Instead of playing in the snow what you should be doing is bleaching your hand and scrubbing the first few layers of skin off." Telling him to chop the hand off completely would have been a bit dramatic, he thought, but it definitely did cross Asher's mind.
[identity profile] speakscanadian.livejournal.com on December 22nd, 2010 08:48 pm (UTC)
"You can do the honors," Ray offered, holding out snowballs to Asher in each hand as he walked up to him. He wasn't sure how obvious his lie was but by the time he was a foot away, the snowballs were hurtling straight at the other man, point blank range.
(no subject) - (Anonymous) on December 24th, 2011 02:19 pm (UTC)
[identity profile] speakscanadian.livejournal.com on December 24th, 2010 02:12 am (UTC)
When Asher was done saving his face, Ray found himself a lot closer still. Witnessing the birth of a baby horse might have disgusted him at first but he couldn't deny there was something almost nice about it.

A residual smile from his snowball attack was still on his face when he shrugged a shoulder. "I can save the moment," Ray told him, leaning in without thinking. When he realized what he was about to do, he rocked back an inch, and then another, and another. "We should check on the uh, puledro."
asher_talos: Say what?[personal profile] asher_talos on December 24th, 2010 03:52 am (UTC)
"I hope that means disinfectant." Because any moments Ray was planning on would be effectually ruined, no matter what, if thorough decontamination wasn't on the agenda.
[identity profile] speakscanadian.livejournal.com on December 24th, 2010 04:03 am (UTC)
"The horse," Ray corrected, only rolling his eyes once he was sure Asher couldn't see. "Its mom was licking so hard I wouldn't be surprised if she's eaten the entire thing." Not that he'd heard much about horses having a cannibalistic side but then he knew very little about animals, period.

"Got a name?" He asked, clearing his throat and heading back to mother and baby, grateful to have the distraction. "Bellini's cute."
asher_talos: Touch of pink.[personal profile] asher_talos on December 24th, 2010 04:12 am (UTC)
"Great. Keep that one for your first born then." Asher insisted as he followed. The baby was still wobbly on her new legs, but standing up on all fours and steady enough to balance while suckling. "Her name's Bijou. It's not a cocktail, but I like it."
[identity profile] speakscanadian.livejournal.com on December 24th, 2010 04:32 am (UTC)
"I gotta name the one I got now before I start thinking about kids," Ray pointed out. He was fairly certain that after the stunt she'd just pulled, she'd always be known from this day forward as 'she who will not be named' anyway. "I pictured you as more of a whiskey kind of guy."
asher_talos: Smooth criminal.[personal profile] asher_talos on December 24th, 2010 06:09 pm (UTC)
"...and you've had her for how long now?" Asher asked. There was being indecisive and then there was just being lazy. He was going to assume that the horse was nameless because its owner was the latter. "Good call. You offering?
[identity profile] speakscanadian.livejournal.com on December 24th, 2010 06:59 pm (UTC)
"Too long," Ray answered, tucking his hands under his arms and crunching the snow under his boots. He glanced over at Asher, thinking about it. "Yeah, I'm offering. Long as you're okay with drinking around me now."
asher_talos: Considering.[personal profile] asher_talos on December 24th, 2010 08:47 pm (UTC)
"Keep your knees and that hand to yourself and things should be fine." In theory. Right now, Asher was more worried about the hand than anything else. Although, wearing a cup didn't really seem like too bad an idea. Just in case.
[identity profile] speakscanadian.livejournal.com on December 25th, 2010 04:30 am (UTC)
"Alright, but this hand gets to roam freely," Ray warned, holding up the clean one and wiggling his fingers. "Tonight, 8 o'clock? Catscratch." He tried not to think of it as date number two but the rate they were going, Ray figured dinner and dancing wasn't too far off. Though he wasn't sure how much persuasion Asher would need for the latter. "Somewhere away from the naked people."
asher_talos: It's a brand new day.[personal profile] asher_talos on December 25th, 2010 06:15 am (UTC)
"Above the belt." And not just because they'd be in public. More for just self-preservation reasons. "Pretty sure clothes are mostly mandatory in the Willows Room," Asher assured him. "So you're safe."
[identity profile] speakscanadian.livejournal.com on December 26th, 2010 02:19 am (UTC)
"PG-13 all the way," Ray promised, tucking the hand into his pocket. Except for the alcohol anyway. "Just a normal, friendly drink. No strings attached." And hopefully no manic highs and lows since Asher was so pernickety about those. "Y'know, this'll be nice. Give us a chance to uh, get to know each other better."
asher_talos: Take it all in.[personal profile] asher_talos on December 26th, 2010 11:42 pm (UTC)
"What else is there to know? You're bipolar, immature and you like monkeys. You're telling me there's more?" Asher did his best to sound genuinely shocked by that, with every intention of hanging on to his skepticism until he was proven wrong.
[identity profile] speakscanadian.livejournal.com on December 27th, 2010 01:07 am (UTC)
"Now that you mention it, I think that might be all," Ray drawled, tempted to argue the immature remark but he didn't want to risk proving Asher right. "Let me get to know you better then. I mean, come on, all I know is that you're old, used to be picky about your diet and your hair grew back when you cut it."
asher_talos: This number has been disconnected.[personal profile] asher_talos on December 27th, 2010 02:12 am (UTC)
"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?"
[identity profile] speakscanadian.livejournal.com on December 27th, 2010 02:55 am (UTC)
"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?
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