Thank you for all of your awesome reviews! I love 'em! And thanks to everyone who alerted or favorited! You guys are amazing. Gratias! Gratias! Gratias! (Thanks in Latin)
Disclaimer: Do I sound like I would be someone connected to Rick Riordan or somehow affiliated with the ownership of Heroes of Olympus? Yeah, I don't think so either.
Jason stands in the doorway of the stables. Golden orange light from the sun, which is close to setting, brightens the place, making it seem to glow softly. To any mortal farmer, it would seem a nice place to be. Cozy and clean.
He doesn't go in, though. Jason has a mild distaste when it comes to horses The stables smells bad to him. Like hay and dust and animal fur. Oddly, it's never cold inside the stables. He guesses it's probably all the hot gas from the stupid horses farting all the time.
Okay, fine. Maybe it's possible he doesn't go in because he doesn't trust horses. He doesn't exactly know where his dislike of them comes from. Jason thinks it's because Neptune created them. Besides, Neptune and Jupiter don't exactly have the best of relationships. He even sometimes kills Romans in his domain when they try to cross the sea.
"What is it you want, Jason? Come on in, he won't bite." Reyna says teasingly.
She's brushing Scipio, who snorts, as if acknowleging Jason's prescence. Scipio is a present from Reyna's sister Hylla who once joked that if Reyna ever became praetor, she'd send her the best pegasus that the Amazons had to offer. Well, she did become praetor, and got a pegasus.
Skippy and him are on good terms. He likes pegasi. They make him feel safe, and he knows that he can trust them.
Jason walks hesitantly into the stables and towards Reyna. He can almost feel the horses and unicorns staring at him.
He feels safer the closer he is to Reyna. She smiles,"You still don't like horses, do you?"
"Not really."
"So, the great praetor Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, slayer of the Titan Krios, is afraid of a pony."
"No, I'm not Reyna! That's stupid! What person is scared of horses?"
"I don't know. Minerva children maybe, you..."
Jason scoffs and rolls his eyes as he sarcastically says,"Yeah I'm afraid of horses."
"Okay fine. So you're not afraid of them, but why do you hate them so much? I mean, sure. Most Romans, including me, don't like riding when it comes to horses, but we don't hate them."
"I just don't care for them. I don't hate them. They're untrustworthy on both ends and... crafty in the middle, and- hey, maybe I don't like the feeling of something I can't control bouncing between my legs."
Reyna laughs. Jason loves her laugh. When she laughs, it makes Jason want to laugh as well.
"Fine. Go over to that horse and feed it a sugar cube." Reyna dares cockily, handing him a white square object.
"Fine." Jason replies, grabbing the sugar cube and walking up to the nearest horse.
He walks up to it and clicks his tounge. The chestnut colored horse snorts and glares at him with sharp black eyes. Jason reaches his hand through the wooden pen's wide bars, and holds out his cupped hand. The horse looks at him, acting skittish, then attempts to bite him. Jason jerks back.
"It almost bit my hand off, Reyna!"
"Did you hold your hand out flat?"
"You didnt tell me that!"
"I thought you knew, Jason." Reyna says, smirking.
She puts the brush down and walks to him. She takes the hand that has the sugar cube in it in hers, and smooths his hand out so it's flat.
"Here." She says softly, placing her hand underneath his flat one. Jason locks eyes with her for reassurance, but she only smiles back gently. Their hands move through the bars, and Jason forces himself to not jerk his hand back. Jason can feel the horse's hot breath on his hand. It's lips move over his hand and, to Jason's surprise, it doesn't bite him, and eats the sugarcube.
"That wasn't so bad, now was it Jason?"
He looks at Reyna, amusement glittering in her eyes. She tries to hide a smile.
Jason's infuriated,"You're laughing at me."
"No, Jason I'm not! Really, I'm not. Come on, do you want to go for a ride with me before evening muster?"
Reyna unties Skippy and walks him toward the entrance of the stables. Jason can tell she changed the subject on purpose. He's still mad at her, and wants to say no just to prove a point to her.
But, the offer to ride a pegasus into the almost setting sun with the wind blowing through Jason's hair and his arms wrapped tightly around Reyna's waist didn't seem like a bad way to end the day. So, Jason tries his best to act annoyed and upset with her as she takes his hand and hoists him onto the back of the pegasus, who begins to gallop, then takes off and soars towards the heavens.