Open Post: Hard at Work

[sporesprouter]

Yes, Tress might have been up late charting stars, but that doesn't mean that she can't get up at dawn to start doing other work on the continued Operation Get Us Out of Here.

So it's barely light outside when she tucks herself into an out of the way workroom that she's decided to repurpose as a sprouter's workshop. She doesn't have much in the way of spores, just what she arrived with, but that was no reason not to use some. What was the point of hoarding a potential resource? Sitting on something that might be able to help? Not a great idea.

So she currently sits at a table with some supplies laid out carefully before her, carefully taking water from a bowl in front of her with an eyedropper to some pink-red spores and shaping the crystals that spring up from them with a small iron shield-shaped plate and a steel trowel. She's working slowly and incrementally, but several finished spheres sit on the table away from her active work.

On the floor to the side of the table are several full drinking water bottles that she found and commandeered, knowing they'd come in handy if she decides to move on to her next idea.

For now, though, pink crystal spheres.

Comments

[sporesprouter]

She finishes with her tidying up and nods. "Well, here I am, then."

[sagramore]

"Perfect. Come." He's in obviously a glorious mood, and why shouldn't he be -- he got to sleep a reasonable amount, it is beautiful here weather-wise as it always is, he has definitely had at least one drink, and he is going to make someone else have fun with horses with him.

[sporesprouter]

She follows behind Sagramore. "I didn't know the lessons would begin this soon."

[sagramore]

"It's a beautiful day and we shouldn't waste it," cheerfully, as if this is an actual meaningful concern.

[sporesprouter]

"Fair enough, I guess." Fresh air's not a terrible thing, after all.

[sagramore]

"And she needs something to do. I can't let her get bored." For a horse of Fenyes' temperament, this is also not an actual going concern, but shh.

[sporesprouter]

She's barely met Fenyes, but she's already figured out that much. "And you don't want to get bored either, right?"

[sagramore]

"I do not. I am terrible company when idle."

[sporesprouter]

"I don't know how much I believe you could actually ever be terrible company, but I'll go along with it."

[sagramore]

"I've been very busy here," he says lightly. He has no intention of ever being blackout drunk around Tress anyway.

Fenyes is in her stall, contentedly finishing the last of the hay in her hay rack, when they arrive.

[sporesprouter]

"Well, that makes two of us," she replies simply.

"Hello, Fenyes," she says when they arrive to the stable. "It's good to see you."

[sagramore]

Sagramore opens the stall and she emerges placidly. "So, I'll show you how to put on her tack today, and then perhaps we'll get you up on her. But we're in no hurry. It's best to understand the equipment first before you use it in any case."

[sporesprouter]

She nods. "Of course. Best way to learn anything." Granted, she kind of had to learn sprouting, of all things, on the fly, as there was no one on the ship to teach her, but hey, even she realizes it would have been better if there had been.

[sagramore]

"All right. We'll put the reins on her first so I can tether her, not that she's going anywhere." Indeed, she is not. It's easy to see why Sagramore judged her a safe horse to have a seizure on.

[sporesprouter]

"All right." Tress nods, attentively waiting instruction.

[sagramore]

Sagramore retrieves her tack from where he's hung it in the stable -- since he appears to be the only person using the stable at all, he doesn't really feel bad about taking up space. He puts the saddle on the ground for now, and holds up the bridle for Tress to see. "The bit, here, goes in her mouth. The rest of it goes around her head. That's how I tell her where to go."

[sporesprouter]

She studies the bridle. "So the bit goes first, then?"

[sagramore]

"Exactly. I slide it in--" Fenyes dutifully permits the bit to be pushed between her teeth, at which point it's easy to follow as he pulls the rest over her head and fastens the buckle on the side. "Some fellows pull the mouth too hard and can hurt a horse, but there's no need to pull with her. She knows what she's about."

[sporesprouter]

She nods, studying Sagramore's movements. "Definitely wouldn't want to hurt her."

[sagramore]

"Now the reins go over her head like this--" demonstrating, "and when you're on her you can lead in the direction you want to go. If you bring your arm out to the right, turn her head, she'll go that way, and the same with left."

[sporesprouter]

She nods slowly. "So she'll go in the direction her head's facing. That makes sense."

[sagramore]

"Now, the saddle." He picks it up and lifts it over her back, the girth dangling. "I'm going to reach under her and buckle the girth, but then we'll wait a moment. She always blows out so it doesn't fit at first." And indeed after a moment her stomach sort of deflates a few inches, and he tightens the buckle.

[sporesprouter]

Tress laughs. "Does she do that on purpose so it's looser at first?"

[sagramore]

"That is precisely what she's doing, yes. If I didn't wait for her and just mounted up like that, the saddle could slide off her back and leave me upside down beneath her." It would not be that funny, but Sagramore is good at making things sound like they'd be funny.

[sporesprouter]

She laughs almost despite herself. "Oh no."