fandomhighdorms | The Stables: Saturday morning

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The Stables: Saturday morning

Karal's first clue something was wrong was when he slid open the stable door and there was no demanding whicker. His second was the total lack of horse.

His third was the partially clothed, wide eyed young man standing in Trenor's stall.

"Hello?" Karal slowly opened the door, worry over Trenor pushed away by worry over this stranger's obvious distress. "It's all right," he said soothingly, keeping his voice low. "No one will hurt you." The reaction was instantaneous, and not at all what he expected.

"Karal! Karal Karal Karal!" The young man lunged forward and shoved his head against his chest.

Karal stared. Altra stared. :That's Trenor.:

"What?!" he exclaimed, making - Trenor? - shy away. "Shhh, it's all right. I'm sorry."

Trenor returned, leaning against Karal, trembling slightly. "Everything is strange, and the stall is wrong, and I'm hungry."

Karal patted him awkwardly on the shoulder, and Trenor relaxed. After a minute he pulled away, smiling brightly. "Can we go out now? I want to run. And get something to eat."

Karal stepped out of the way, but Trenor just looked at him until he said, "It's okay, you can go out. Just don't go too far."

Trenor, well, trotted was the only word for it, out of the stall, out of the stable, and onto the grass. Karal followed slowly, watching Trenor run across the lawn towards the dorms, then back to circle around Karal and Altra. "Altra?" he asked weakly.

:I have no idea. But it's him.:

"Right." This was going to be a very interesting day. He was just grateful Trenor was wearing pants.

[ooc: open if you like! But I'm going to sleeeep in a bit.]

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Inara had woken up early and gone for a cleansing walk. The fact that today's walk took her towards the stables on a day when she happened to have obtained a few sugar cubes, an apple, and a carrot was just a happy coincidence.

She waved when she saw Karal and Altra.

Karal actually didn't see her, lost as he was in a state of what anyone who wasn't a priest would probably describe as WTF?.

Trenor did, and he recognised her, so he went running over, sliding to a halt and standing very straight, practically quivering, because she had food! "Hi!"

"Hello," Inara curtseyed slightly to the young man and wondered who he was and why he wasn't wearing a shirt, "it's nice to meet you. I'm Inara."

"Inara! I know you! Is that for me?" Trenor asked, pointing at what she was carrying. It was always for him. "Please?"

Karal looked up, finally, saw all this, and quickly walked over, careful not to approach Trenor from behind. "Inara, hello. This...is Trenor," he said, giving her a look of utter confusion as he rested a hand on his shoulder. "And I have no idea how."

"Trenor? As in your horse Trenor? Is this...common?" Inara asked, just as confused as Karal as she offered the food to the young man, "And, oh, yes. Of course you may have it, if you want it."

"I do not know. Sunlord, I hope not," he added as Trenor bent his head towards her hands, stopped, looked extremely puzzled for a moment, then held out both his hands. "You have never heard of such a thing?"

Even Altra looked up at her hopefully. :And will he change back?:

"Never in my life," Inara said emphatically. She finally realized Trenor's problem and gently wrapped his fingers around the carrot, "Eat slowly and in small bites, Trenor. This may be very different for you."

"Thank you!" He cocked one hip and started chewing on the carrot. It was a lot harder to eat like this, the carrot was harder, and he frowned in concentration. "It tastes different. So did the hay, but the hay tasted bad."

"You ate hay?" Inara looked from Trenor to Karal, and then to Altra, "Well, you're a human now, apparently, so you should eat human food. Most of us don't eat hay."

"He was in the stall this morning," Karal explained. "I do not know how long he was there as a, as a human. He was himself last night when I fed him, and he does have hay overnight, so it is possible he attempted to eat some."

Trenor finished the carrot and looked at the apple hopefully. "But I like these."

"Don't eat the seeds in the center," Inara warned, handing it over and wondering where he'd gotten pants. "How odd. Trenor? Are you in pain?"

He took a huge bite, then spent quite a while trying to deal with it, before he answered her. "No," he said, shrugging. "No pain. The hay was pointy and my stall stopped being comfortable, but now I have Karal and breakfast so things are good! Why can't I eat the seeds? I usually eat the seeds."

Karal and Altra just watched. Altra? Could you please try and find out what happened?

The 'cat nodded and trotted off, disappearing behind a tree.

"I don't know, we just...don't," she shrugged, looking to Karal for an explanation. "Maybe you should try napping in the sun on the grass later. Or playing in the ocean. I bet you'd like that."

"They do not taste very good to people," Karal said, rubbing his forehead. "You may try one if you want, but you will not like it."

Trenor bobbed his head, accepting Karal's word for it and spat out a bunch of seeds. "I like the ocean," he said after another big bite. "Karal rode me in the ocean a bunch of times."

Inara blinked, and then realized Trenor hadn't meant anything naughty by his comment. "It will probably feel very different this time."

Trenor's comment was so bizarre given his current state that Karal started to laugh, albeit a little helplessly. "I believe that it will feel very different. And I will not be riding you again until you are back to your other self. But we could go down to the ocean and you could swim, if you like."

Trenor bobbed his head, then moved to lean against Karal while he finished his apple. "As long as I can stay with you."

"Awwww," Inara couldn't help herself.

Karal rubbed his forehead again, still laughing, then patted Trenor's head. "Horses are herd animals. I think that I might be his herd," he ventured, wondering how his life had become this strange.

Trenor nodded, finished the apple, spat out the rest of the seeds and then looked at Inara again. "Sugar?"

"One at a time," Inara laughed, handing the cubes over, "and are you a good herd, Karal?"

Karal watched Trenor, grasping a handful of sugar cubes and popping them one at a time into his mouth, happily crunching them up while he looked around. "I hope so," he finally said. "At least he didn't try and run away, so I suppose I can't be terrible."

Trenor stared at him, a very puzzled look on his face. "You don't run away from the herd or you get eaten."

"Eaten?" Inara stared at both of them. "You know that that won't happen to you here, right?"

Karal was staring at him as well.

Trenor stopped eating, because he was still a horse underneath, and a horse didn't understand concepts like instincts. "I know," he said slowly, lifting one foot and setting it down repeatedly. "But you stay with the herd and you follow the lead mare. The lead mare keeps you safe. Even if there isn't anything bad now, there could be. So I follow Karal."

"So...if there was a lead mare in your, er, herd, you'd follow her, instead of Karal?" Inara was finding this surprisingly interesting.

Trenor shook his head in confusion, not understanding, and stamped one foot. "Karal is my lead mare. I follow him."

Karal facepalmed. Actually facepalmed. "Oh, Sunlord," he muttered.

Inara was giggling hard into her hand by this point. "Oh, I see."

Karal looked up into the sky, and rubbed one hand across his face. "Trenor? Do you want to run some more?"

He nodded and crunched up his last sugar cube. "Thank you for the treats," he said, then trotted off to look at the tree Altra had disappeared behind.

"He always had impeccable manners," Karal said to Inara.

"You've trained him very well, as apparently a lead mare should," Inara snickered, "and he seems to trust you very much. That speaks well of your character."

"Oh, Sunlord," he repeated, starting to laugh again. "He is my horse. This is, just, I have no idea. I have always tried to care for him and keep him safe, but lead mare?"

"Is there someone better for the position?" she asked.

"No, no I guess there is not," he replied, watching Trenor stare at a butterfly. "It is still an odd feeling."

"It's quite a responsibility, to care for another life. To have them look to you for love, support, and care." She studied him for his reaction.

He smiled, still watching Trenor, then turned back to Inara. "But that is what a priest is supposed to do, all the time, for anyone who needs it. Although usually it is not quite so," he hesitated, not at all certain of the right word, "immediate. But Trenor is my responsibility, and I love him for his own sake. I will care for him, regardless of what happens."

"I knew I liked you," Inara smiled and nodded. "I wish more people felt like you did."

He blushed scarlet. "Thank you," he said, looking at his feet. "I like you as well."

Trenor came running back and slid to a stop beside them. "Where are we going now? I'm still hungry, and the grass is not good."

"I should let you go to find greener grass and food," Inara said, prepared to start back on her walk. "And possibly a shirt."

"Yes, that might be a good idea," he agreed. "I am just grateful he is wearing pants. Enjoy your day, Inara, and thank you for bringing him breakfast."

Trenor looked down at himself, and shrugged. Horses didn't really have a concept of nakedness.

"You're welcome," she smiled at them both, "and good luck."

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The Stables: Saturday morning

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