Playing with Poultry [Riven & Esteban]

[Esteban]

The tip of one worn, dirty Adidas sneaker repeatedly knocked on the wooden fence surrounding the paddock. Thump. Thump. Thump. Esteban sighed loudly, pulled his lips into a wry frown, then began rocking himself back and forth as he held on to the poles. He couldn't possibly make more of a show of being bored.

The promises Owen made weren't untrue. No. The place was filled with cool people, and ones that didn't bat an eye at his appearance. What he failed to mention - or rather, what Esteban failed to realize, even though he would not admit to it being his fault - was that the school was, well, an actual school. Which required its students to go to class and study. To listen to some old idiots prattle on about some irrelevant crap, to sit over books... School things. Things he thought he'd never have to do again.

Eventually, the boy would have to show up in class, if he wanted to stay there - and he did. One day. Today was not that day.

The stables seemed like a relatively safe place to camp at, after all, the teachers were rather unlikely to show up there. There was a small problem - the lack of things to do... but Esteban was resourceful, no? He'd make do with what he had available. He hummed as he looked over the animals in the paddock, then leaned down to pick up a few pebbles from the ground. First target: a stoic-looking gray goat. Esteban narrowed his eyes, aimed, and chucked the small rock. It hit the animal's butt, which twitched weirdly, and the goat paused its chewing... only to continue it a few seconds later. Not very entertaining. The boy blew a raspberry in the goat's direction, then turned around to look for a larger stone, when another paddock caught his eye. It was filled with poultry, peacefully pecking at the dirt. Perfect.

Esteban strolled over slowly as to not spook them prematurely, a grin on his face. He picked out the biggest of the pebbles from his hand, chose a chicken that was in the middle of a group, then threw the rock as hard as he could.

The resulting noise sounded very loud over the quiet castle grounds. A frightened screech and rustle of feathers, followed by panicked clucking, gobbling and squawking, the changeling's gleeful laughter chiming throughout.

[Riven Anselm]

The nervous horse started whinnying and pawing the ground, wanting to get away.

"Woah." Riven dropped the reins, taking a step back from the animal as his hands fell to his sides. "Hey, it's fine," he said to it calmly, watching it, glancing at the laughing person and flustered chickens once before focusing back on the horse. "Come on," he called again, managing to settle a small smile on his face. He couldn't really blame the horse for being spooked. He took a step, then another, the horse calming with each one and each muttering that left The Magician. He raised a hand slowly, rubbing the gentle spot on the horse's forehead before moving his hand back and taking the reins again, leading the second horse into the paddock, locking it behind him and his companion Riven had led in previously.

He removed the reins from the both of them, hanging them back up where he had taken them from before turning back and raising a hand towards the second horse. The saddle undid itself from the horse, lifting itself over the horse's side, sliding off, and floating over to Riven's outstretched hand. He approached them again and stroked one of them, giving another glance at the other person in the stables. Riven guessed he was another student. He was just here to bother the animals?

Earlier this day, Riven had been mulling over one his assignments: shooting a sniper rifle for Offense and Defense. Rather, he had been trying to convince himself to do it. It wasn't that it was homework, or a chore. He had had plenty of those before coming to the island. No, it was that it was using a gun. It wasn't that he didn't know how to use it, though he never had used any kind of rifle. No, it was that, the last time he had been around guns, it was the Fire Tamer's men trying to gun him down, and anyone else in the troupe that stood in their way. He had seen his friends shot, needlessly, spitefully, cruelly, in cold blood. The thought of this assignment did just that to him: made his blood run cold.

In the end, he had decided to leave the rifle and dummy behind, deciding instead to just saddle up a horse and get a look around the island. He would have rather been around the sturdy animal and out losing himself in exploring or practicing magic than anything else. Having studied maps of the island and academy in the library, he wanted to start with the island first, see it for himself; it was a habit of his too, getting the lay of wherever he was staying. Learning ways of egress and access, easy paths and how to circumvent others. The task of doing that at Lillegard and exploring was an adventure in itself.

Riven, still slightly upset about the assignment, had started to ride out to the forest. However, he had been sidetracked. He had seen a second horse, saddled and bridled, wondering out into the fields. Looking around and calling several times, it appeared whomever had brought it out here had left it out here as well. Unable to leave the beast, he had gripped the far-off reins with his magic, led it over to him, tied the horse to his with his belt, and headed back to the stables with him.

Noting the time of day, Riven decided to call his ride off and dismounted at the door of the stables. Taking his horse's reins in hand, he had led the two inside, noticing someone approaching one of the other paddocks, the paddock on the far side of the barn from Riven, the person with his back to him. Riven had untied the two and gotten the first into the fencing before the chickens, and the second horse, had been frightened.

[Esteban]

Slowly, his laughter subsided, and through the indignant clucking of the chickens, who were now congregating in a far off corner of their enclosure, he could hear some noises. Esteban turned around to see some loser comforting a horse, scaring which was, apparently, a side effect of his toying with the poultry. Interesting, he thought; the only horses he'd ever seen were police ones, and those definitely weren't rustled nearly as easily. That one had to be particularly wimpy.

The boy leaned on the fence, watching the other fuss about the large animal's tack. His eyes widened slightly as he stared at the floating saddle. He didn't want to be impressed by somebody who thought smelly animals were good company, but he had to admit that he was. A little. He shrugged to himself, pushed himself off the fence, glanced to the still-nervous chickens one more time, then started slowly walking in the direction of the boy with the horse. His long, dark hair fell freely around his face as he strode with a slight swagger; he avoided rapid movements as to not spook the horse further, but while he tried his best to school his features into a neutral expression, a shadow of a smirk played about his lips. The other kid seemed weird, his attire at least, but then again, so did everybody else's on the island. That was not Esteban's main point of interest now, though, so he turned his gaze away from Riven and to the horse standing nearby.

And then, rapidly, he jumped in the animal's direction, hooting loudly, and clapped his hands right in front of its face.

[Riven Anselm]

The horse, as probably intended, flared it's nostrils at the teenager and danced to the other side of the paddock, making a good amount of noise. Riven stepped back from the fence, somewhat surprised, as the animal bolted. He thought he had heard the student coming over and probably could have guessed what he was going to do. Looking at him fully for the first time, Riven had seen he was definitely enjoying himself and seemed to be continuing to. He felt indifferent about him, though mildly annoyed at him scaring the horse, but that was a feeling probably mostly displaced from his previous thoughts towards his assignment.

Giving some thought to his observations, the other student was probably a bully besides, and Riven guessed now he looking for something to occupy his time. He had let the chickens be as soon as Riven had brought a better object in, a horse that was easy to scare.

Most likely being the next notch up from chickens and horses, Riven also guessed he would hear a smart remark from him soon after the horse calmed down if he still was not satisfied. He had met a lot of people like this one before. Circuses, generally, did not attract only happy families, Riven knew first hand. How they acted toward him determined how he acted towards them, though he usually tried to be the more civil party if the other decided they weren't going to be. "Civil" sometimes meant not being the one to throw an insult before hitting the other.

He did not really want to find out how he would react to this guy, his eyes shifting back to the horse. Why bother? He probably wouldn't be too happy to discuss anything with Riven. More over, the horse had just been spooked and he seemed fine now. As it began to walk away calmly again, Riven thought he might do the same, but say something to the other teenager about leaving likewise.

[Esteban]

As the horse panicked and trotted away, Esteban laughed gleefully, finding something immensely satisfying in the fact that a beast as big as that was scared of him just clapping and booing. A grin still glued to his face, he rubbed a tear away from his eye with his knuckles, then looked to the other boy as he jutted out an elbow to lean against the paddock's fence. He inclined his head and pointed to the horse.

"This horse" he said slowly. "is chicken." He snickered with a snort worthy of a better joke, but his laughter was short-lived and soon trailed off. Esteban rested his chin on his palm and regarded Riven with a good, long, evaluating look, pouting a bit. He had been hoping to get some sort of a reaction out of the stable boy as well as from the horse. Maybe anger, maybe upset, maybe disgust, as some people seemed to think being mean to animals was more appalling than being mean to people. But this detachment was disappointing... and irritating. He wasn't sure what to think of the guy. Maybe he was scared... but he didn't really seem the cowardly type, as girly a hobby as horse-riding was. Esteban flicked hair out of his face and stood up straight, still staring at the other curiously.

"'Ey, so... Whatchu doin'ere?"

[Riven Anselm]

Maybe he had been wrong about talking, Riven looking back at Esteban as he turned around and joked with him. Though...I guess you would know.

Riven found that part of the joke a little ironic, more funny than the punchline. Not enough to laugh at it, but he continued to regard Esteban with a calm, polite look in return. It did still annoy him that all of his joking and amusement was coming from bothering the animals, and he kept his distance while the other teenager did just what Riven had done a moment ago: try to read the character of the other. Something else he remembered from his circus days, usually done by a new act or someone who was curious...or who was trying to weigh the odds.

He was about to nod casually and take his leave, leaving him to ponder whichever was on his mind, but staid a minute more as the teenager stood up, apparently having made up his mind, on him, at least.

Riven considered his answer, whether to give one or not, noting the student's accent. The person seemed more curious, but Riven thought there had been more than curiosity in his eyes. Still, he might as well give him an honest answer. "I was going for a ride and brought that horse back. He was left out in the field." Riven thought, aside to himself, maybe he would have preferred I left him out there.

[Esteban]

So reserved the guy was, Esteban was beginning to feel somewhat impressed. Not many would remain so completely calm under close, silent scrutiny that lasted so long. But still... he wanted to know what was underneath that collected exterior... What if he was just too stupid and apathetic to have a reaction...? But he didn't really seem so... Esteban tilted his head at the answer that was just as boring as the indifferent expression, then tutted and faked a shocked gasp, raising his eyebrows and putting his hands on his hips.

"Why wouldja do that? Maybe 'e wanned be free." He wriggled his fingers, a slight smirk taking place on his face again. "An' not havin' guys' butts bouncin'n his his back all day." His gaze slid up and down Riven again, this time in a more obviously checking-out manner. But just in case that wasn't obvious enough, he strolled casually around the guy to have a look at his behind. Well. Not bad. He hummed, leaning against the fence on the other side. If that, too, failed to have any sort of an interesting effect...

Well, he'd have to come up with something else.

[Riven Anselm]

“You don't seem to have much care for animals,” Riven said flatly to the theatrics and his back, thinking to himself “though I don't know if I'm the one he'd complain about.” Riven could have been referring to horse or the other teen, the guy having made a more overt show of wanting see for himself than the agitated equine. Riven did not react in kind overtness or agitation, though he was a little surprised at the sheer nonchalance of the person, who had done a little short of winking and asking Riven to move his cape. This guy was really trying to get a reaction from him. His prodding was worse than some cops'. Riven did wonder what he would try next if he was not satisfied. He didn't really care enough to stay, half-turning and ready to leave once the person had answered, if he was going to. The teenager wasn't one for idle conversations, nor humoring a joker, right now anyway. Maybe some other time.

[Esteban]

Well... Underwhelming didn't begin to describe it, but least the kid was replying, he supposed. It seemed that Esteban would have to try something else in the end. The fact that Riven seemed to be preparing to leave was duly noted and promptly disregarded. Esteban snickered, his gaze traveling up to try and catch eye contact.

"Not jus' 'andsome, yous also observant!" His grin couldn't be cheekier. "Yea, animals are dumb an' useless." Sticking out his tongue, he glanced over his shoulder at the horse, rocking back and forth on his heels a little. "I mean, cars exist, righ'?" He rolled his eyes and waved a hand dismissively. "Well, not in dis place, but y'know..." he trailed off, realizing that he'd been doing all the talking. Quickly, as if to catch Riven's attention that could have been wavering, Esteban pushed himself off the fence and stepped to the front of him again. Casually, he put his hands into his pockets, smirking slightly in a way that suggested there would be no easy escape.

"So where ya bin off to on the poor excuse for a vehicle?"

[Riven Anselm]

Riven stood and listened as the other student did reply to him, letting their gazes meet before nodding in agreement about cars and the absence of them on the island. He preferred the horses here, in truth. Completing his turn away after it, he started out of the stables. He also started to say good bye over his shoulder, though stopped as he heard the individual get up and move. He paused completely as he moved in front of him to cut off his path. Riven looking at the other student half-expectantly in response to the his smirk, but not as if he was going to remain.

"So where ya bin off to on the poor excuse for a vehicle?"

Riven replied to his question, “Just the fields,” as he then stepped to the side of him and continued out. He saw the horizon more clearly as he did, noticing the time. "Good bye.” He started back to the castle, it almost being night now.

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