fandomhighdorms | The Stables: Sunday afternoon

Andrew was a little of a lot excited. He was also quite nervous.

Seeing Karal in Trenor's stall, he stopped to try and take a few shots of the two before they noticed him. The best shots always seemed to come from moments like these.

Karal didn't notice, but Trenor did, and he flicked his ears at the strange noises and the strange person.

That Karal noticed, and he leaned over the stall door to smile at Andrew. "Hello," he said, looking a little shyly at the camera.

"Hey there," Andrew responded, snapping one more shot.

He lowered the camera and looked wide-eyed at Trenor. "He's beautiful," he said. "A lot bigger than what I was expecting." Andrew was having serious doubts about his ability to ride this horse.

Karal beamed. "Thank you," he said, clipping the lead onto Trenor's halter. "Come and meet him, if you like? He won't hurt you, I promise."

Trenor, ever the opportunist, was stretching his nose towards Andrew, eager for treats or pats.

Andrew fumbled with the zipper on his jacket pocket. He pulled out an apple. There were a couple of carrots visibly sticking out of the other pocket.

"Should I cut it in half? I don't want him to choke or anything. I didn't brush up on the horsey Heimlich."

"He'll be fine with it whole. Just put it on your palm an hold your hand flat while you give it to him." Trenor was practically quivering at the sight of the apple and Karal laughed a little and patted his shoulder. "He's very fond of treats."

Andrew did exactly as he was told, placing the apple on his palm and holding it out towards Trenor. Unconsciously, he stood as far away as he could and flinched as though he thought there might be a chance the horse could take off a few fingers in the treat giving process.

Trenor very gently lifted the apple off Andrew's hand, whiskers possibly tickling a bit, and then bit it in half, one part falling to the floor, the other half being eaten with every evidence of horsie bliss.

Karal slipped out of the stall and placed the fallen half on the stall door. "You see? He's very careful," he said, trying to sound reassuring.

Andrew grinned. "He likes it!" he exclaimed, stating the obvious. He took a few steps closer to the stall, reaching out to try and pat Trenor.

"Hi there, big guy," he said. "I'm Andrew."

Pats were even better than treats, and Trenor nudged Andrew's hand with his nose, then dropped his head to make pats much easier to give.

Karal hid a smile. "He's rather shameless."

"He's wonderful," Andrew said admiringly. He looked over and smiled at Karal, clearly excited that things seemed to be going so well.

"Hey, you want to take our picture?" He held the digital camera out towards Karal. It was a fairly basic model. He thought it best not to bring the one with interchangeable lenses.

"Are you sure?" He accepted the camera, handling it like it would break if he closed his fingers around it too tightly. "I don't want to hurt it, and it looks very complex."

"Let me show you." Andrew gave Trenor a final pat and stepped over next to Karal.

"Press this button here to turn it on," he pointed to the appropriate button. "This little screen will actually show you what the camera, um, sees."

Trenor watched Andrew sadly, ears drooping, then started nosing his apple half sulkily.

"Just push it?" he said, doing exactly that, eyes widening when he could suddenly see the ground and his feet on the screen. "Glory! It's like the television!"

Andrew laughed. "You're too cute," he commented. "It is just like a television, except you're in control of the image. Now," he stepped closer, "these buttons here control your zoom. See, if you press this one, things on your view screen get closer, and the other will zoom back out."

Karal was completely enthralled, holding the camera up and zooming in on things as he turned in a slow circle. "This is amazing!" He pointed it at Trenor, getting a very close look at his sulky expression, and started to laugh. "Trenor, he can't pat you forever. Andrew, this is incredible! Is it taking a picture of everything it sees?"

"No, that would be a video camera. I have one of those too, though, if you ever want to learn." Andrew was getting quite a kick out of watching Karal enjoy himself.

"That big button next to the zoom will actually take the picture. Go ahead, try it." Andrew pulled a carrot out of his pocket and headed back over to Trenor.

Trenor's sulkiness disappeared and he arched his neck, whickering happily at Andrew as he stretched his nose towards the carrot.

Karal waited until he could see them both in the screen. "Are you ready?"

"If only everyone were this easy to please," he said, holding the carrot out for Trenor.

He looked back towards Karal. "Fire at will! If it's a bad shot, we can just delete it."

Karal pushed the button just as Trenor reached for the carrot, then grinned as he hurried over to show it to Andrew. "Look!"

He might be a bit excited, yes.

"Great job!" Andrew exclaimed. "You're a natural." He started to give Karal a hug, but checked himself. No need to mess things up by making the other boy feel uncomfortable.

Karal appreciated it, casual hugging not something he was overly comfortable with, but he grinned and patted Andrew's shoulder. "I have a good teacher," he decided, quickly moving the camera away from Trenor's attempts to sniff it. "What do you think? Do you want to try riding today, or would you like to get more comfortable around him first?"

Andrew gave Karal an apprehensive look. "I mean, it's up to you. He's really big. I don't even know how I would get up there. Maybe it would be best if we just got to be friends."

"Whatever you're most comfortable with," he said, setting the camera safely aside before moving to open the stall. "How about if I tack him up, and then we can go for a walk? You can lead him if you like, then if you want to try riding him, you can. There's a mounting block in the stable yard, so you'll be able to get on."

"A walk would be nice," he said. "I think I could handle that." Andrew watched Karal intently, noting how familiar and easy handling the big animal seemed to be for him.

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