"Like this?"

Looking up from Magu's saddle, Lonnie watched as Carlos adjusted Quick Shot's bridle. "Exactly," she nodded. A few feet behind Carlos, Evie stroked Mist's mane, Lonnie having used Mist to show Carlos how to properly tack a horse. When she offered to teach Carlos to ride, he jumped at the chance before the rest of his gang could say anything. Evie asked to join and Lonnie was more than happy to agree. And she had to say, Carlos was a natural with the horses. Actually, he was a natural with all the stable animals. All of the cats greeted him the moment they stepped inside before even bothering with Lonnie or Evie. Evie wasn't bad either, though Lonnie suspected Evie had only asked to learn so she could keep an eye on Carlos. Jay was probably sick of the stables considering how much time he spent with the youngest VK.

"Will you double check?" Carlos asked as he took a step back to look over his work.

"Sure." After tightening her girth one more time, Magu had a habit of pushing out her belly enough to make the saddle loose if Lonnie wasn't careful, Lonnie walked over to the chestnut gelding. Quick Shot chomped idly at the bit as she looked over Carlos's work. "Not bad," she said, adjusting the bridle just a little before stepping back. "Especially for your first time." Giving the horse a pat, Lonnie grinned at Carlos. "Ready to ride?"

Eyes bright, Carlos beamed. "Yes!" And then he seemed to catch himself and his smile faded to a small grin, though he couldn't really hide the excitement glittering in his eyes. "I mean, yeah. Please."

So close. But she was definitely on the right track with animals.

"Evie, you ready?" she asked.

"Yes," Evie nodded.

"Let's go." Reins in hand, Lonnie led the way out to the riding arena, her mare snorting and prancing in place, eager to go. Once the gate was closed behind them, Lonnie gestured for Carlos to bring Quick Shot closer. "I'll boost you up."

The youngest VK hesitated until Quick Shot nudged him forward with a soft nicker. With a faint snort, Carlos rolled his eyes and joined her. "How do we do this?"

"Easy." Lacing her fingers together, Lonnie bent her legs. Before she could give him any instructions, Carlos stepped easily into the cup of her hands and pushed up to swing gracefully into the saddle. For a split second Lonnie stayed where she was. She knew it shouldn't surprise her that he was athletic, but it was still a little startling how easily all the VKs could move.

"Thanks."

"Yeah," she blinked before shaking herself and turning to Evie. "Your turn."

Just like Carlos, the daughter of the Evil Queen mounted smoothly and Lonnie took the chance to refocus as she helped them adjust their stirrups. By the time she was in her own saddle, Lonnie was focused and ready to teach. They didn't do more than go in circles around the arena and it was over an hour before either VK was ready to try trotting. But Lonnie was impressed all the same. Both of them were fast learners and after two hours Carlos was trotting ahead while Lonnie and Evie both kept to a walk.

His smile was brighter than Lonnie had ever seen it and as she watched, he relaxed enough to laugh and tease Evie and her. Confident. Comfortable. She thought she understood why he fit into his gang so well now. So far so good. Hopefully this would give her a good starting point for getting to know him. Now she needed to find a way to talk to Evie…

Beneath her, Magu pranced, and she grimaced inwardly. Right. As much as she used Magu for regular rides, she was still the daughter of two warhorses. Circles in an arena were only so fun. Especially when all they were doing was walking.

"How do you guys feel about going out on a trail?" Lonnie suggested the next time Carlos moved to pass them.

Slowing, Carlos patted Quick Shot's neck as he glanced hopefully at Lonnie. "Can we really?"

"Oh yeah," she laughed. "We can just ride around campus or take one of the trails through the forest."

Carlos swayed a little, suddenly pale, but before Lonnie could say anything, Evie nudged Mist between them with a smile. "I think I'd feel a little safer on campus. You're an excellent teacher and Mist seems like a very steady horse, but I don't think I'm a confident enough rider to leave campus."

Was she covering something? That had to be her redirecting Lonnie's attention, right? With a faint frown, Lonnie glanced at Carlos over Evie's shoulder, but he seemed fine. When she caught his gaze for a second, he offered a small smile. "Carlos, you good with the campus?"

"Sure," he nodded with a slight shrug. "I just want to keep riding."

"Cool." With a nudge of her heel, Lonnie steered Magu over to the gate and leaned over to unlatch it. "You can lead."

After closing the gate behind Evie, she gestured for Carlos to go ahead and let Magu fall into step beside Mist. Two mares nickered to one another as they followed Quick Shot and Carlos.

Beside her Evie laughed. "It's like they're whispering about him," Evie said and Lonnie laughed.

"Doesn't matter what species they are, girls like to talk, huh?" she agreed. Evie smiled. Okay. This was good… Now she just needed to come up with something they could actually talk about. Easier said than done. At least with Jay and Mal, and maybe Carlos, Lonnie had similar interests. With Evie, Lonnie had no idea what they had in common. "So I have to ask," she started and Evie glanced at her, "what do you think of the main fashion sense in the Ascendancy?"

The other girl blinked at her, but there was no getting out of it now. So Lonnie just shrugged and picked a leaf off Magu's flank. Finally, Evie said, "It's beautiful. My mother had books with all kinds of illustrations, but they didn't do it justice. Though, it isn't always very practical." Lonnie snorted a laugh. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I was so weirded out by it when I first visited. The stuff back home is way more comfortable too. Or at least I think so."

Something flickered in Evie's eyes and she angled herself to better face Lonnie. For an untrained rider, Evie's balance was incredible. "You're from China right? We never heard about it on the Isle, but I'd love to know more. Especially about your fashion. I've noticed that your clothes are similar to what people in the Ascendancy wear, but with enough differences that you're clearly altering them to be more like your home's."

"Well yeah. What do you want to know?" And just like that Lonnie found herself describing the different hanfu and who wore what and why. It was actually fun. Normally this type of stuff bored her, but Evie was curious and her genuine passion was a little infectious.

Lonnie didn't even notice they were back at the stables until Carlos called, "Oh gods, E. Not again. Stop sucking people into your fashion insanity."

"She asked," Evie protested with a smile.

Rolling his eyes, Carlos turned to Lonnie. "Jay will miss you. E will never let you go now," he informed her.

"His fault for never talking about fashion with me."

"Because you'd talk him to death."

The two continued to tease each other as Lonnie helped them dismount, and they led the horses into the stable to untack and groom them. Lonnie was just grabbing Magu's brushes, still laughing as she listened to the VKs, when a dog barked. Turning, she watched as the stray that followed Carlos around skittered into the stable, whole body shaking as he wagged his tail and ran over to Carlos.

"Duke!" Carlos shouted, crouching to catch the dog barreling into him.

Confused, Lonnie glanced at Evie. "What?" she asked.

"That's going to be his name; Duke," Carlos said. "What do you think, boy? Do you like it?" Barking, tail wagging, the dog bounced around Carlos.

"I love it," Evie beamed, reaching out to let Duke sniff her before petting him.

Leaving the brushes next to Magu, Lonnie went over to join them. "Why Duke?" she asked as she narrowly avoided being smacked by Duke's tail.

Carlos hesitated and glanced at her and Lonnie could see him debating with himself about whether or not to tell her. Silently, she hoped he would. Even if he didn't tell her the whole truth.

"Um," he started, not meeting her eyes and fidgeting with Duke's ear as the dog butted against his leg. "Because he's important and deserves only the best."

Heart melting a little, Lonnie smiled. It was so hard to believe this was the son of Cruella de Vil. The woman who would skin anything if she thought it would make a fashion statement and didn't care what she had to do to get away with it. He was the exact opposite of that devil woman. He valued lives. For gods' sake, he wanted to make sure a stray was valued.

"It's a good name," she told him as she let Duke sniff her. "And it'll be easier for you to play with him and teach him tricks now that you have a name."

Eyes wide, Carlos grinned. "I can teach him tricks?"