Playing Horse (Closed)

[Kendall Saarinen]

26th of Spring, 511 AV While lifting the bales was difficult Kendall was starting to prefer it to the actual washing and grooming of the horses. The lifting was difficult but it did not require Kendall to actually wash the dirt and muck off of the animals. That was his task today though. He had been dreading it since he woke up but if he wanted to get paid, he would need to do even the worst parts of the job. It had been a while since starting the job and slowly Kendall was finding the lifting of the bales of hay easier. Still, he could not ignore the burning in his arms when he lifted the hay to walk it over to the horse's stall. Walking slowly, the blond walked forward slowly. When he finally made it to one of the horse's stall, he dropped the hay with a small grunt. At least it would be distracted by eating while he was washing it. He did not need a horse trying to nip at him while he worked. Walking away from the stall, Kendall started to look for the washing equipment. After a few chimes of searching, he found the pail, soap, and brushes. After filling the pail with water, Kendall made his way over to the horse once more. "Okay horse, I don't like this any better than you do. If you cooperate, this will be over soon." Kendall grabbed a brush and submerged it in the soapy water. After it had gotten nice and soapy, he slowly began to brush it across the horse's side. The creature let out a low whinny at the action which spooked Kendall. "Please don't kick me…" When he looked back at the horse it seemed to have lost interest in him once more and began chewing on it's hay.

[Kendall Saarinen]

With a small sigh, Kendall began to wash the horse again. The creature turned back to look at him. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just trying to wash you." The horse let out a short sigh-like grunt before turning back to it's food. Kendall was not going to get much done if he was so scared of the horse. After a few more tries, Kendall was able to work on washing the horse without it paying too much attention to him. He sang quietly to himself as he worked. He did not want the others to hear him in fear that they might find him even stranger than they already did but singing calmed him. He knew there really was not a reason to be scared of the horse but there was something in him that was convinced the creature wanted nothing more than to kick him through the wall of the stable. After a few chimes there seemed to be a rhythm to Kendall's work and the chewing of the horse. Chew, brush up. Chew, brush down. The work was getting monotonous but what work wasn't? He kept brushing, occasionally dipping the brush into the soapy water once more to get it clean again, and repeated the process. The cycle seemed to never end.

[Kendall Saarinen]

After the washing of the horse came the brushing of the tail and mane. That was a bit more enjoyable than the actual washing just because it was less pressure on the arms and the motion of the brushing was only going on way. After grabbing a clean brush, Kendall began to comb the brush through the horse's mane. It seemed more at ease with the brushing than the washing. As Kendall worked, he continued to quietly sing. He hoped it would help to keep the horse a bit quieter but he doubted it would. Once again, he settled into a rhythm of brushing. It was not the most exciting work but he did not wish it to be either. Exciting work in the stables usually meant one was working with rowdy horses or putting out stable fires. While the fire didn't scare him, the thought of getting trampled to death did. After the mane was brushed and freed of any tangles or knots, Kendall moved down to the horse's tail. He wanted nothing to do with this area of the horse. It went without saying that it would not smell as nice as one would hope. Still, he had washed it earlier so at least it wouldn't smell as bad.

[Kendall Saarinen]

When Kendall began to brush the horse's tail, it stomped it's hooves as if he tell him to stop brushing it. "I'm sorry but I need to. I promise after this is over I'll leave you alone. You'll feel cleaner too." Kendall often wondered why he spoke to animals like this. Maybe it was from spending so much time with Kelvics. He liked to think he was being kind and personable but the truth of the matter was, the horse had no idea what he was saying. This was the last stretch of work and so Kendall sang once more. He could see he was getting strange looks from the other workers so with a blush, he quieted his singing to a small hum. At least he could leave soon. He always felt uncomfortable at the stables. Once the brushing of the horse's tail was finished Kendall stepped back. He was happy the work was over but now all he wanted was to take a bath. He felt completely disgusting and dirty from working with the horse. Before leaving, Kendall fed a few more horses. As always, he struggled with the bales, clumsily walking them to the stalls, before dropping them with a sigh. Once the horses were fed, the work was over for the day, thank the Gods.

[Tabarnac]

XP Award! Kendall XP Award: Bodybuilding +2; Horsemanship +4; Singing +3 Seasonal XP, Spring 511 A.V.: Bodybuilding +2; Horsemanship +3 Seasonal Income, Spring 511 A.V. 92 gm Seasonal Expenses, Spring 511 A.V. 64.5 gm Seasonal Earnings, net 27.5 gm Additional Notes: The long haul is over! Since this is your last employment thread, I put all the extras here rather than in your storyteller secrets for your convenience. Rock on! Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or concerns. Keep writing!