I'm a Cowboy Baby

[ßlue]

<sub>The drum of hooves over the grass soothed him, white bangs flaring across his head in the wind that riding made. They were galloping swiftly towards a jump, the smooth brown horse beneath him feeling like a second part of him. The brown of the horse's pelt almost matched his own brown hair, his blue eyes taking in the hurdle as they neared and finally, the horse's muscles smoothly brought them up, gliding over the jump as if they had wings. Lauret felt like he was flying, his heart feeling lighter and the jolt from coming down making him grin. He brought the horse to a slow trot, patting his flanks. That had been a magnificent jump, especially for a horse so old. He laughed, turning them back towards the stables. His mind flitted briefly to his sister. She was off somewhere with Geo. It had been horrible what had happened with them and Janine. He had felt her mind that day and she had felt so horrible. Geo was a very good looking guy after all, he could see why Clarette would fall for someone like that. Lauret himself had never been comfortable with his sister being lesbian. Not that he had a problem with it, it had just seemed awkward, and he knew Clarette had never felt exactly the same way about Janine did about her. He sighed. This was why he came riding. To get his mind off of his sister and her drama or worries.

"Good job today Rocky. Next time I'll take you on a hike, kay? I think you'll like it. I'll give you an apple when we get back."

He patted the horse, finally reaching the stables. The horse's full name was RockyRoad, for his coloring, but Lauret just called him Rocky for short. He led the male back to his stall, taking off the saddle and reins, brushing down the horse, giving him hay and water and then going off to get him an apple. He returned, shiny red apple in hand as the horse waited eagerly. Lauret held the apple out on his palm, Rocky biting into it and leaving a pool of juice to fill Lauret's hand. Lauret just laughed, watching the horse chew his bite of apple and then come back for more. He patted the horse's nose, the soft velvet tickling his fingers. He could see the horse was pleased without having to connect to his thoughts. That was Lauret's power. He could influence people's thoughts. He could hear what they were thinking, softly push them to believe what he wanted, see their dreams at night. Many small things, but he rarely used his power to do anything. He would just briefly touch their minds to see what they thought of him or what they would do next. He could project his thoughts into their mind if he wanted to, but he almost never did. That was something he only did with his sister.

He rubbed the rest of the juice on his jeans, walking off towards the stable doors and breathing in the sweetly moist smell of manure. It was a scent you had to get use to, but he loved it. It was so earthy and made him feel like... like he was a part of what he did. He leaned against the doors, looking out to the trees surrounding the fields. It was a nice day, warm sun skimming across his slightly tanned skin. He brushed his white bangs from his eyes, smiling at a fly that went buzzing by and into the stables. Lovely day indeed.</sub>

((Cat girl.. hwta was her name? Ari? Lauret DID promise to teach her to ride, and I suppose they haven't seen each other since the party sadly enough. COME HERE PARKERRRR))

["Parker!"]

Horses...pretty, elegant, strong, beautiful.... smelly. Yes, smelly. The cat girl's extra sense of smell increased the dirty smell of horses which made her gag every now and then. But besides that foul smell she had aways dreamed of horses. A long time ago some boy had gotten her thinking about riding horses... Every litte girl's dream to ride a beautiful horse. Except the twenty year old Ari was an independent girl finidng herself living the life of an American girl. Her life so far was perfect, she had a good job, a nice home, lots of friends. Except...one little small detail of a boyfriend. However that didn't stop her. She figured a hobby would help her.

The white long leg'd cat girl walked up to the stables in her close to enough riding shoes followed by jeans and a button up shirt which showed a little bit of her waist. Her short hair came down to her chin, it's fullness in the breeze of the day. Carefully she walked around hearing the noises of the whinning horses and birds chirping. She could have sworn she heard a voice so she movied toward the entrance of the barn. Finding a figure of a person in the alley way she brightened her teeth shining.

"Hello?"

She called out to get the man's attention as he tended to his large horse. She kept on speaking, her voice light and airy,

"Hi, I was just curious about taking lesson here. Are lessons held here?"

Ari of course couldn't see the man's face as he was turned to his horse.

[muhaha XD]

[ßlue]

<sub>Lauret patted another horse. A Mare named Misty. She was a roan, lightly dappled reddish creamy coat sleek and soft under his fingers. He smiled at her, the horse nudging his face with her nose in a show of affection. He could feel the horse's warm mind thinking fuzzy things to him. The other woman who worked here could speak to the horses and even though Lauret could peek into their minds or project calm warm things to them he couldn't decipher the horse's mind enough to come up with exact words, just feelings, pictures, something wrong. He always had a small bit of his mind touching the horses so he knew when something was suddenly wrong. Once there had been a small fire in the stables. The horses had smelt it and he'd come running at the first nervous whickers, knowing they knew something was terribly wrong. It didn't smell right, he understood that something smelled wrong to him and he got the image of bright orange and yellow, heat. He'd gotten there and dumped a cup on the small sputtering pile of smoke. It hadn't even turned into flames yet. Turned out one of the stable hands had been smoking.

Smoking was NOT allowed in the barn. He'd been fired straightaway. Lauret returned to where he was when he heard something. A voice. He looked over towards where a girl was standing. The first thing he thought of was 'hot damn', looking at the curvey outline the sun gave her in the darkness of the barn. He couldn't see her face well for the halo of light around her and and smiled politely. He was usually very shy, but he was much more relaxed around the horses. And on a horse? He could rule the world with his confidence. He stepped forward, listening. Lessons? He remembered taking his first lesson here as a kid. Marie had died, but that. That was the day he'd discovered his passion for horses. Love was a good word, but Passion was stronger, and if someone told him he would never ride a horse again he would drop down and die. He wiped his hands off on his jeans, stepping towards her and holding up a hand to keep the sun from his eyes. His white bangs fluttered neatly, the rest of his brown hair doing a similar swish move in a breeze, his deep blue eyes adjusting to the light. For some odd reason he felt as if he knew this girl before. She came into focus a little better but he could not put his finger on it.

"Well, we give kids lessons on Mondays Thursdays, and Fridays. Noon to six. There are some classes on Sunday from six AM to three PM though if you need earlier times. Not very many people go to those ones, incase you like some privacy. There are two instructors, Me and The woman who runs the stables...uhm... I'm sorry but... Do I know you? I just can't seem to remember exactly where..."

His eyes looked apologeticly at her, smile assuming the same emotion as he lowered his hand, looking down at her. She was a pretty little thing. And D.AMN sexy to boot. He bet she could ride a horse like a dream. His eyes caught the ears, taking them in with a swish of his eyes, also catching sight of something that was most likely a tail. His mind clicked to Geo. Could this be one of his sisters? Well, thinking that instantly made him shut himself up. Not every cat in the world was related to Geo after all. Little did he know...</sub>

((dun dun DUN!!! XD LOL))

["Parker!"]

The cat girl inspected the stable boy with an her sharp green cat eyes. They caught every one of his movments as her ears caught every pitch of his voice. She blinked once noticeing the odd coloring of his hair. Brown with white tips. That was rather interesting. Odd yes, but she supposed it was just another fashion statement. Rather cool to be diffrent and everything. She had to give him props for just having the guts to look like that. Besides, he was rather cute. Half of her was thinking like a sexy pool side towel boy while the other was thinking little cute brother that everybody loved. She decided she liked the towel boy better. As he explained the times her eyes stared fixidly at him. His voice was vaugely familiar. She looked puzzled for a momment as he asked if he knew her. She hesitated and raised a brow,

"Uh, I, uhm, I dunno. My name's Ari. Actually you do look kinda familiar... Heh, wow, this is weird."

She gave a small giggle thinking of how weird this was turning out. She ran her fingers though her silky hair staring at him trying to figure out where the hell this boy came from. It was like he popped out of knowhere like...like some childhood friend. She stopped herself from gasping. Childhood friend? She blinked her green eyes becoming wide,

"You...are...you...Lauret?"

That hair...she knew that hair!!!

[ßlue]

<sub>Lauret smiled at her, watching as she eyed him and then listened. The cat ears tuning into his every word. He wondered if they were sensitive and he should speak a little more quiet. He was always considerate to others. He watched her face transform from it's dazzling smile to contemplating what he said to puzzlement, trying to figure it out. He usually had an excellent memory. Maybe he'd met her a long time ago? Cat. Geo. Party. Things flashed through his mind, speeding around when he was about seventeen with Clarette. She had dragged him to a party and he hadn't wanted to go, but he'd met Geo's sister. What had her name been? She answered. Her name was Ari. His eyes opened wider, realizing it was EXACTLY who he thought it was. ARI! THE CAT GIRL HE'D PROMISED TO TEACH TO RIDE A HORSE SOMEDAY!! WHAT WAS SHE DOING HERE?!??! His mind stuck up five seconds earlier when she'd asked about lessons. Oh. Right. His deeply blue eyes still looked down into her green ones as they opened wider to match his own.

She pretty much asked him is he was Lauret and he grinned, nodding.

"Yeah! Oh my God! It's been so long! How have you been?! Ha!"

He stuck his hands in his back pockets, unsure what to really do with them. Holy Cow! It was Ari! The cat girl he'd kissed! Had he kissed her? Or had he dreamed of kissing her for weeks after meeting her? He didn't remember. All he remembered was that he had liked her and always asked Geo and Clarette about her for a long time but they never told him anything. Geo seemed to think Lauret was a whiny wuss. Not That Geo could ride a horse properly if his life depended on it. A lot like Clarette would most certainly break her neck every time she tried. He did remember telling her she could probably ride a horse beautifully. Or something like it. You'd think cat grace would help Geo, but the only way it help was every time he fell off he landed on his feet. He'd given up after the fifth try. Yes, Lauret had tried giving him lessons once to try and get to know one of Clarette's friend's better. Disaster. He smiled down at her, unable to help the glance down at her body and back up to those magnificent green eyes.</sub>

["Parker!"]

Ari gave a little cute squeal as Lauret got excited over hearing his name. Yes, she knew it was him!!Giving a bright sparkled sharp-toothed grin she listened to him her eyes flashing down at him but quickly returning to his eyes. He looked so older! Much older then the boy she'd met at an age of sixteen... or was it seventeen? Maybe even younger? What the hell, she couldn't remember this stuff! She brought out a cuter side of herself feelings returning back to her to remind her of the sweet little kiss she'd asked for a long time ago.

"Lauret, geeze! Your right, it's been forever! How are you? You work at this stable? Sweet, you can give me lessons, right? I have money to pay n' stuff!"

The cat gave a model like smile her body twisting slightly in a nice little postion. Her tail flickered across her body her hands behind her back nervously as she used to be around this boy. No wait... he was a man now.

[ßlue]

((XD ke ke ke ke keeee<---*weird laugh*))

_{Lauret grinned, but then he felt like he was smacked right in between the eyes. Not that skin stopped it, but his head felt like it was stuffed with cotton. She was so pretty! Her felt nervousness flash over him. His mind cooed to him, staying calm. Just answer what she's asking you and ask her something back. Or agree. I dunno! Do something! His smile had flittered a little but he turned it back on, radiating warmth. CRAP! WHAT HAD SH JUST SAID THAT HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE LISTENING TO AND THEN RESPONDING TO?!?!? OH NOOOZ! He gave a slightly nervous sort of laugh, watching as she turned her body just so, seeming to pose in the light. He heard himself gulp and blushed, wondering if those cat ears could hear it too. He moved on though quickly, trying to fill up any silence he could with something to say.}

[/b]"Y-yeah! I give great lessons! I mean, I did tell yo I'd give you some right? You don't have to pay anything. I-if you want I could take you out right now. I just got done with my chores for the day. I w-was teaching Rocky some jumps, but we'll start slow of course. The basics: Front, back, left, right. What to do going uphill or downhill...heh..."[/b]

There was a moment he just stood there, staring at her, as if his mind had struck a blank on what to do next. A horse whickered inside and he flt a mental nudge. Huh? He looked back into the barn frowning and got the feeling of heat from a horse. Not temperature heat. But. IN heat. He blinked, feeling like he wanted to gasp and poke the horse back if it was talking about what he thought. He spun, looking back to Ari with a shocked face. Please God let her not be able to hear horses. He let out a long nervous laugh, stepping back from her back into the barn.

"Ahhh... c'mon, I'll... show you how to put on a saddle. You'll take the roan, Misty. I'll take out Buckwheat. He needs a good trot around the field."

He motioned to the creamy dapple reddish horse, Misty, grabbing himself a saddle and walking off a few stalls down to a big black horse. Stallion. Buckwheat huffed at him, sending him cranky thoughts, to which Lauret sent back annoyed feelings and then managed to get across something like 'be on your best behavior.' He opened the stall and the horse clopped out, snorting and waiting for his saddle to be put on. Lauret took care putting on the riding equipment, finally tying the reins to a peg to move on to Misty. He did the same, strapping he saddle on, hoooking up the reins and then taking the two horses and leading them out. As he got them to stand still he looked at Ari, smiling, having forgotten how one of the horses had pretty much told him to bang her. Horses were pretty much 'do as the birds and the bees do, rules of nature to survive dude...' and...well, Lauret was not going to take love advice from a horse thank you. He waited a moment longer.

"First lesson: Getting On"

He seemed cheerful but unlike the tons of kids who would get pushed up on top of the horse he was fairly sure Ari would not fall off the other side..[/sub]

["Parker!"]

Lauret was just as jumpy as a high squirrel his face shocked almost his words faultering and jumpy. Ari was relaxed, almost taken off by Laurets sudden jumpyness. Was he on something? Perhaps the world of drugs had gotten to him. Aww, poor boy-- what a shame... Wait... Hold a second. Lauret wouldn't do drugs. No way, not her Lauret. The boy that was so cute and innocent back when they were kids. Ari gave a pleased smile as he said she didn't have to pay.

"Aw, really?! Thanks Lauret! Are you sure?"

The cat asked about the money but he was already on another subject of horses. This boy really knew his horses. He'd probably been working her since he left college--maybe even highschool. But no, figuring him he probably went to college and got a nice education. And there he went off. Lauret was on the move and Ari followed her eyes looking at the pretty horse she was going to attempt to ride. Then again he was riding a big horse. Mhm, oddly that was sort of...hot. How he could control something so big... She giggled a little but coughed covering it up and quickly speaking after.

"Okay then...getting on... er..."

She stood as the horse's withers probably came up to her breasts. No way she could use her arm strength to get on this thing. She grabbed the saddle and look at it trying to figure something out but she didn't want to look like a fool infront of him. She glanced at him and gave a shrug with a small little laugh asking for help.


[ehe sorry it took FOREVER to get done]

[ßlue]

<sub>Lauret swept his deep blue eyes over her, sitting atop his own strong horse and watching as she gave the mare a good sweep with her eyes. He got the feeling she was thinking 'How n the heck am I supposed to climb this monster' but more polite and her wasn't reading her mind. He could tell just by the flicker of hesitation in her eyes and the look of thought crossing her face. He smiled, slipping easily off the horse again, a move of such flow and smoothness that it felt like he would start dancing once he was on the ground. But he didn't. He smiled, more calm even than he had been when they first met and went to her, stepping behind her and putting his hands on her hips. He leaned down, whispering lightly into her ear.

"On three jump... One... Two... Three..."

He lifted her effortlessly onto the horse, his height coming in handy as he set her in the saddle. Now all she had to do was put her leg over the other side and put them in the stirrups. That wasn't so hard at all. Right? He grinned, going back over to the stallion and jumping on like they do in the movies, leaping from behind and getting into the saddle. The horse let his ears lay back before flicking forward in an annoyed thought of 'showoff'. Lauret smile, patting the horse's flank and taking the reins.

"Okay, first lesson. Pull the reins right to go right, left to go left. Pull them back to stop. Pretty much anyway. Hold on with your thighs mostly. It may make you sore after the first couple lessons but you'll get use to it."

Again he flashed her a daringly handsome smile sitting atop his tall dark horse and looking down at her, white bangs fluttering across sparkling blue eyes that looked both soft and warm.</sub>

["Parker!"]

Ari looked back on the horse her hands running over its fur. As she was wondering what the heck to do she jumped slightly at the feeling of fingers sliding onto her hips, palms cupping them perfectly. She had almost backed into him but stopped herself. He was leaning down at her ear as if flickered toward him. He was whispering and it was almost suductive. Was he trying to lead her on? She grew hot almost flustered as he picked her up...she didn't even jump!

She noticed as soon as she got there what to do. She swung her other leg over the saddle and sat comfortably in the seat. She grabbed the reigns and looked down. Her feet had to go in those little stirrup things right? She slipped her feet into them and smiled. As he got on his horse she almost gasped. He got on so easily! She smiled almost shocked but listened to what he had to say. The basics first. Yes, left left, right right...she knew that. But holding on with her thighs? Being sore the first couple of times. She suppressed a giggle noting that what he said was kind of dirty. She looked up at Lauret next waiting for more directions. In the meanwhile she just looked too damn cute on that horse. Her butt was a little raised from the saddle her hands cupping the front of the saddle as well as the reigns so she wouldn't lose control. Even if they weren't even walking yet...