Before the Homework Begins

[Avery Durand]

Saturday mornings without homework - Definitely something to be savored, Avery knew. So that morning found her in the barn, Dolent in the crossties, Saskia hanging out on her mat as her human groomed. His stall had already been mucked out, and while she didn't have an exact plan for what they would do next, she knew it would include both of her critters.

For now, she was taking her time in grooming Dolent, going over every inch, detangling his mane, all of the things that sometimes got skipped if she was in a hurry to get to class.

[Caspian Collins]

Cass hated the winter months. Not so much because of the cold, but because the ground was wet, thus making is slightly more challenging to get across the campus than when it was dry. Wanting to spend a morning with his horse, he opted for his crutches rather than trying to explain to people that he was more than capable with a walking stick, he swung his way toward the barn. Knowing he could ditch the crutches in the tack room and grab the spare stick from his locker.

Once in the barn, it became evident that he wasn't the only one with plans for some equine bonding. At least he could never be accused of sneaking up on people, as the thunk, thunk of his crutches took away any idea of stealth. After swapping the crutches for stick, and grabbing Slick's grooming kit at the same time, Cass made his way out into the barn again and down to the Mustang's stall.

[Avery Durand]

Avery grumbled as she fought with a particularly stubborn knot on Dolent's mane, smiling as she saw the Thoroughbred's ears prick up as people moved around the barn. Finally deciding she wasn't going to win without some outside reinforcement, Avery turned around to grab the detangling spray from her grooming kit. She doused that portion of the gelding's mane and then let it sit for a moment before attacking it again with the comb.

[Caspian Collins]

Cass led his gelding down to the grooming stalls and clipped the crossties to the rings on either side of the gelding's halter.

He sorted through the grooming kit until he'd found the hoof pick and straightened up again. He paused for a moment as he watched a person on the other side of large bay horse seemed to be attacking the horse's mane. "Are you winning over there?" He asked before he returned his attention to Slick, who already seemed to be asleep in the crossties. Cass wasn't looking forward to combing out the Mustang's mane, which is why he was working from the ground up.

[Avery Durand]

Avery finally made some headway on the tangle, and before too long, had that section of the gelding's mane all separated out. After running the comb through one final time to make sure she'd gotten it all, she continued on her way up the gelding's neck, being more generous with the detangling spray now - No need to make it miserable for Dolent, and it looked like he'd managed to do quite some work on his mane. Definitely a good time to go through it and make it presentable.

[Caspian Collins]

Cass' eyebrows rose when he didn't get a reply from his fellow groomer, but when he took a moment to take another look at the horse, he worked out who the human on the other side of the horse was, as he shared a couple of classes with her. "Is his mane getting the better of you, Avery?" He asked with a smile, knowing that the girl's name would at least catch the canine's attention - who he assumed would be nearby.

Rather than standing there, staring, while waiting for a response, he returned his attention to Slick, swapping the hoof pick for the body brush and sweeping it over the gelding's coat.

[Avery Durand]

The mane had sounded the retreat in their battle, and Avery was definitely making some headway. However, as she was working on one of the last few knots, she felt pressure against her leg, and glanced down to see Saskia standing beside her. Once they'd made eye contact, Avery held out her hands in a "what?" gesture, speaking the word at the same time. Saskia took a step towards the other grooming stall, and Avery put two and two together. With a nod and a quick stroke of the dog's ears, she thanked the canine for the alert, and then turned her attention to the boy in the other grooming stall, reaching up to turn on her hearing aid to make things at least slightly easier, "Sorry, I missed whatever you said. What's up?"

[Caspian Collins]

Cass grinned toward Avery as he dropped the brush back into the kit and dusted his hands against each other. "Just wondering if you were winning the war against your horse's mane." He said. "And if you have any advice before I head to battle?" He really wasn't looking forward to working through Slick's mane, the gelding was prone to getting stains all through the frosting.

[Avery Durand]

Avery grinned, "I have indeed, at least for this round." She considered the other horse, "A healthy dousing of detangler, and then just persistence." She liked the boy's horse, had noticed it even in the classes they shared, but she couldn't recall if they'd ever said more than a few words to each other, "And for the record, I take no offense if you tap my shoulder to get my attention first if you have questions - And Dolent isn't the kind to spook if someone else walks up." She patted her horse affectionately.

[Caspian Collins]

Cass nodded as she spoke, pretending to take notes, while silently hoping that his detangler hadn't run out as he was sure it was pretty low the last time he had used it. He felt his cheeks heat up at her next words. "I didn't know who I was talking to when I first started talking." He said, feeling lame for saying it. "And then I recognised your horse, and everything clicked into place. But I'll remember that for future encounters."

He returned his attention to grooming his horse, even though he knew that Slick wouldn't care if he was here in cross-ties for the entire day, the gelding would happily spend it sleeping.