#p: cas001

[isaacapatow]

@cassxbrookes * the stables. unfortunately

Horses were, in Ike's firm opinion, the animal equivalent of crystal Christmas tree toppers: they were nice to look at, made people inherently happy, were great at one function -- and absolutely shit-impractical in every other avenue of existence. They broke their limbs, they got hoof rot, they seemed to kill themselves just by lying down or standing up or looking sideways too fast. Horses were weird, untrustworthy critters --

--but they were also the best way Ike had of getting to a cache he'd gotten wind of. And Cass was there in the stable with them, ranging about her business as pretty and lanky as her charges.

Ike knocked his cap off as he sidled up towards her, snapping it into one of his belt loops and tucking his thumbs into the pockets of his jeans. "How's it shaking, lamb's tail?" he said, coming up next to her to see what she was doing. "I dunno how you hang around these manure-makers all the livelong day and still come out of it smellin' pretty as a rose."

[ijemmaokafor]

Starter for: @cassbrookes Location: stables

“Ijemma Esther Okafor, you have lost your damn mind.”

Her days rarely brought her out to Beckett Farms. She passed by sometimes on her way to see Ermano. She’d stopped by when the first crop of potatoes was coming in to check daily if they were ready yet. But that was about it.

Now, she was headed toward the stables��on purpose—where one Cass Brookes had agreed to meet her and help her overcome her fear of animals.

Not all animals, to be clear. Calm old cats and small dogs and cute little red pandas were totally fair game. But if it jumped really fast or made hissing sounds or was larger than her? Absolutely not. She was a city girl and proud of it. The year she’d spent in Maysville, KY after the outbreak was a little house on the prairie nightmare. So many farm animals and so much manure and mud. Redwood was rural, sure, but they’d made themselves a little town center. That was her comfort zone.

But losing Ginny was a reality check. Comfort had become complacency, and it was well past time for overcoming fears. Years into the apocalypse and Jemma still didn’t know how to ride a horse. Cass heard her mention as much in passing and hadn’t dropped the subject since. She wasn’t mean about it, just…sweetly insistent.

So when Jemma woke up one more with a sense of dread that she was the least likely person to survive if something happened to Redwood, she reached for a practical solution.

Learn to ride a goddamn horse.

Cass was already bright eyed and bushy tailed as Jemma approached. At least the company will be pleasant.

“Okay, obligatory apology in advance. My grimace face is not personal against you or your beautiful horses.”

[isaacapatow]

Ike listened to Cass talk about her Grandma Bunny's wizard skills with a traditional dessert like he could taste the doughnut in question, and he gave a heavy, wistful sigh when Cass mentioned strawberry jam. "Papanasi," he repeated, not quite hitting the pronunciation but committing it to memory nonetheless. "Okay. If I ever find somewhere that's got European ingredients I'll see what I can do."

He snorted when Cass informed him of the horse's actual name, saying, "Is he registered as a racehorse or something? They're the ones who have the long ass complicated names, right? Or am I thinking of that kennel show." He leaned over, scanning Zodiac's side to spot the white hairs, exclaiming slightly. "Ah, yeah, there they are. Astral Dreaming. You respond to that?" He squinted at the horse, who was more concerned with the nose rubs. "Yeah, I wouldn't either."

Cass seemed to be won over, at least enough to grant him a horse, and Ike nodded, leaning back from Zodiac's stall to look around at the names hung on the others before he spotted Trigger. "You think he'll like me?" Ike asked, in a conspiratorial stage whisper. "Should I bring flowers for the first date?"

"I think pierogies might be... Polish? Most of the traditional main dishes can be kind of weird, honestly. A lot of fermented broths and such. But the desserts - oh the desserts. Papanași was one of my favorites Bunny would make. It's like a fried, cheesy donut, with powdered sugar and she'd always serve it with her strawberry jam. God, I could kill for some papanași right now." Alright Cass, stop reminiscing before you start drooling. "If you can swing it though, I'll gladly make caramels and make sure you get some of the first pieces."

Of course, upon hearing his name, Zodiac had poked his large head over the stall door next to them, curious as to what was going on. "You think Zodiac is a lot? Shit, that's his nickname," she admitted with a laugh. "His registered name is Astral Dreaming, now that is a big name. Zodiac is much easier, plus all his random white hairs make me think of stars anyway." Cass reached out to rub the horse's nose as she spoke, making sure he knew she wasn't ignoring him. As for being a killer, well, if one could kill something that was already dead, then yeah. He was a killer, too.

It was obvious that Ike was going to say something other than what he landed on, but Cass merely arched a brow in question, not wanting to push it. She had to trust that if there was a chance one of the horses would be hurt, he'd let her know. "Well, I think Trigger'll be your best bet. He's good with the less certain terrains and he's easy going enough that he's not likely to give you any issues."

[ijemmaokafor]

Jemma could picture it clear as day--a determined little kiddo Cass, all legs, just like the foal she wanted to meet so badly. Unafraid of all the mess and gore that came along with a live birth, eager to hug new life. Curious little girls were absolute magic.

"Yeah, you strike me as completely unafraid in the face of things you love. I love that, it's like they're just part of your spirit or something."

She thought as hard as she could, back through her memories, for something that might've seeded her own fear of great big animals, but nothing came to mind. "I mean, my family wasn't really a pet-owning kinda family, so it's not like I was around any kind of animal very often. The first time I ever saw a horse in person was at a zoo--there was a kid's kinda petting zoo set up, y'know? With farm animals, mostly, things that kids would recognize from their kids books and stuff? But by then, I was already eight or nine and I just did not dig it."

She almost wished there had been some distinct event she point to as the culprit of her anxieties. But instead, she was feeling blindly through the nerves.

It wasn't until their fourth "lesson" that Jemma would attempt to get on the horse...

She loved watching a bond form between a horse and a person, how the trust would slowly build as they came to an understanding. It was so rewarding to be a small part of it, especially since she knew how it felt to be a part of that bond.

"Not even remotely stupid, I can promise you that," she assured Jemma.

The question that followed a brief silence caught her completely off guard and she had to really stop and think about it. "You know... I don't think I could actually recall my first interaction. My dad always said I could ride before I could walk. The first interaction I remember though..."

Cass paused, searching her memories before her eyes lit up. "I think I was about 4 years old maybe? It was my first time getting to see a foal born. I think my brothers expected me to be grossed out by the whole thing, but I was so excited because it was my mom's favorite mare, Lily, that was giving birth and when that baby was born, I wanted nothing more than to be cuddled right up next to her. I remember my dad laughing 'cause that's almost exactly what I did, too. Lily let me walk right up to her filly and I know now that I had to have just been in the way. All she wanted to do was clean her new baby and help her stand but I just kept hugging on her," she finished with a laugh.

"What about you? Do you remember any interactions you had with horses in the past? Or did you mostly just avoid them from the get-go?"

[isaacapatow]

Ike groaned good-naturedly at the butter pun that Cass gave in response, shutting his eyes and throwing his head back for full effect. "Terrible," he said. "You're lucky it's only me around and not anybody you'd wanna impress. A stinker like that could really cut your Redwood street cred." He did ask, though, curious: "You liked baking, or something? Is that what you'd use butter for?"

Cass gave him the courtesy of hearing him out, listening (really listening, not that thing where someone was just waiting for their own turn to talk) and clearly absorbing what Ike was talking about. She might not have much use for him personally, but she knew he was on the Council and the head raider for a reason, and Ike appreciated that. "I'll refer to your horse as the prettiest pony if that helps my case," he said, with a chortle at her scolding. "A unicorn, even."

She let him sweat it out for a few minutes, and Ike hung on to his pecker and didn't push for an answer. Cass finally put him out of his misery with some follow-up questions and not an outright refusal, and Ike rubbed his hands together, relieved. "Abelite," he said, "about sixteen miles south, and the highway's not bad. No bandits or any shit like that. Should take me maybe a couple days, barring anything unexpected. The stream head's old, so the fill angle's ... thirty? thirty five degrees. In places."

Ike hurried on to say, "Not that I need the horse to scramble up the whole fill. I just need to find the hidey-hatch that the cache I'm after is hidden behind."

Cass let out a very unladylike snort of laughter at his comment. "Listen, I'm not immune to flattery, but you're right about butter. Shit, can you imagine all the things I could make with that?" Her voice trailed off for moment as her eyes unfocused, her mind running through all the meals, the desserts, she could make if she only had some butter. Better derail this train of thought or I'm gonna start drooling, and lord knows Ike would think I'm drooling over him. With a shake of her head, she brought her focus back to the man in front of her. "Besides, you'd be butter than I ever thought possible if you managed that feat." Ha, too bad Jake wasn't around to hear that one.

As he began his little speech, her dark brown eyes followed his gaze to look at Domino, her lips turning up into a small smile when she saw the look that the horse was giving Ike. He wasn't wrong; horses were way more maneuverable than motorcycles, especially these days, where nature had started to take over paved roads. When he finished, she pressed her lips together and made a humming noise before slowly turning back to him. "I mean, it'd help if you didn't refer to my horse as a 'goddamn' horse," she teased.

A long moment of silence passed between them where she let Ike stew for a bit, pretending to mull it over. Yes, she had the final say in which horses were used for which jobs, but as much Ike annoyed people and had rough edges, Cass trusted that he had the community's best interests at heart. "Alright, smooth talker. How steep of a grade are we talkin', and how long of a distance?"

[ijemmaokafor]

Jemma's heart immediately softened to hear that Belle was alright with her. "Aww honey, you're a smart girl, huh? See through all my silly nerves." She took the piece of carrot Cass handed her and held it in the palm of her hand, flat like she'd heard folks preach before. So their teeth don't get your fingers. The mare snatched it right up and Jemma turned her worried gasp into something more joyous.

"Okay! Alright, fed a horse from my hand and petted her! I know this probably seems stupid as fuck, but you have no idea how impossible this would have been back in the day."

The thought forced her into a moment of reflection on how much her life had changed. In some ways, nothing was the different. The work she did now involved less red tape, but the spirit was the same--handle the oversight of keeping a community functioning. But other aspects were unimaginable. It felt too big to think about during the day, so she retrained her attention on Cass.

"Tell me, what was your first ever interaction with a horse like?"

"Right? Thank you!" A ridiculous thing to feel vindicated about, but there it was.

Cass enjoyed watching the first real interaction between Jemma and the mare, keeping an eye on the body language of both. It was quick, but she caught the way that Jemma's body tensed up the second Belle's muzzle came into contact with her. She also caught the way Belle's ears twitched forward in reaction, though it was the only outward sign the horse gave.

"Warm and soft. That's my favorite part about getting the horse kisses. Their muzzles are just so soft with the tickley little whiskers." She let Jemma ramble, listening to the story as Jemma's hand moved up to Belle's nose, with the horse's head lowering so that the woman could give her more scritches.

"Of course! I almost always have something on hand for them." Cass fished around in her pocket, pulling out one of the bits of carrot she had in there, courtesy of the gardeners. "I mean, for what it's worth though, she already knows," she added, dropping one of the carrot chunks into Jemma's outstretched hand. "You see how she's lowered her head so you can more easily reach more of her face? That's a good sign."

[isaacapatow]

"Hey!" Ike yowled in protest when she reached out her hand, fast as you please, to snap the trucker cap from his belt -- but he settled fast when he saw that she wasn't going to throw it into a pile of horseshit or anything. Instead Cass popped it onto her head, giving it a saucy cock, so Ike relaxed, fixing her with a narrow-eyed look. "I get the feeling you don't fall for flattery much, huh?" he said, crinkling one cheek. "Would probably have more luck if I brought actual butter."

That was true enough. With all the things they'd been able to pull together and recreate from their pre-bitey years, stuff like butter proved to be more of an issue than you'd imagine. The cows only produced so much milk, after all, and everything was strictly earmarked for certain uses before it was even out of the damn udder. Ike hadn't had butter in ... three months, was his estimation.

"You seem to understand how these beasts work," Ike said, looking over at the horse. It blinked at him. Judgily, he thought. "I'm a motorcycle man myself, but sometimes you need something with less throttle. More responsive. Sometimes you need to ride a goddamn horse out to a holler fill that's all slippery-ass gravel and uneven grade, and a horse can navigate it better than anything else." Ike spread his hands, smiling hopefully. "Is my pitch working?"

The fact that horses would end up being invaluable during any apocalypse was something Cass had always known in the back of her mind. She'd never thought she'd live to see such a thing happen, but, well... here they were. At least this whole virus thing had gone down after she'd gotten out of NYC. Otherwise, there wasn't a doubt in her mind, she'd already be dead. Probably tripping over her own feet while running away or something equally ridiculous.

Her first warning that someone was coming was that Domino, her deep brown appaloosa, lifted his head to sniff the air before letting out a snort. She glanced up from the hoof she had been cleaning, cocking an eyebrow at Ike's greeting. Manure-makers? He's lucky he's good lookin' enough to get away with saying those sort of things. Barely.

After a moment, she released Domino's hoof and stood up, brushing her hands off on her jeans and setting the hoof pick aside before crossing her arms to study the man. She knew people found him scary, and she supposed she could see it, but he didn't bother her. "It's easy when they're smarter and better smellin' than half the people around here," she replied, half-teasing. Before he could stop her, she reached out and grabbed his cap, giving it a tug to release it before sticking it on her own head and giving him a look. "But c'mon, out with it. Why are you trying to butter me up?"

[ijemmaokafor]

"Clowns! See, now, I feel like that's just good sense."

Cass was seriously good at this. Jemma had met lots of teachers over the years, both the official, certified kind and the casual ones that kept a community thriving. Cass had the instinct for it--made a thing approachable by being approachable herself. Jemma felt a little on edge, sure, but she was this close to a horse and wasn't trying to swallow her heart back down in her chest? That was a testament to her instructor.

She held her hand out just like Cass had and Belle, bless her, snuffled about as gently as her big snout could manage. She felt a frisson of panic shoot through her for just a second, but she breathed through it.

"Okay," came out a little high-pitched when she looked at Cass. "Yeah, this is okay. Weird, a little, but not so bad. Warmer than I expected? I don't know why I wouldn't expect it, it's a warm-blooded animal." She laughed a little nervously and shook her head. "I never had any pets. I was more of a collector kinda kid? Not so big on animals. I had an aunt who had one of those cats like in Meet the Parents? Fluffy, with the dark face? But he always kept to himself. I almost took in a kitten when a coworker's cat had a surprise litter. That's as close as I ever came to having a pet."

She was rambling now, but she was a nervous talker in situations like this, so it helped. At some point, she'd moved her hand to stroke Belle's nose without realizing it.

"Can I give her a treat or something? I want her to know I like her even though I'm being a total weirdo."

"Yeah, I get where you're comin' from," she agreed with a laugh. "It's hard to imagine a nearly one ton animal being afraid of much." Only the few draft horses they had were anywhere near that weight, but most of the rest were still north of one-thousand pounds.

Cass stood back and watched, seeing Jemma gather herself mentally and physically as she stood up straighter. Belle stood there, blinking slowly, serene as always. It was obvious she was listening to Jemma's voice though, as her ear stayed turned toward her, tuned in to the words.

"I feel like I've been saying this a lot lately, to myself as well, but most feelings can't be explained." She shrugged, showing she wasn't judging. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm absolutely terrified of clowns." Another fear most people didn't understand - although how they couldn't was a mystery to Cass.

"Yeah, I definitely get it. Feel free to give her a pat or a scritch whenever you're ready. Or if you'd rather let her suss you out and sniff you first, just hold your hand out flat in front of her nose like this," she added, demonstrating the proper hand position. The bond she had with Zodiac was like none other, and she knew others had witness her bond or others like it. For Cass, it was easy to see why someone would want to form a bond like that for themselves. "Did you have any pets growing up? Or pre... all this?"

[isaacapatow]

"Romanian dishes," Ike mused over that for a moment before venturing, "...like perogies? I can't say I know shit all about Romanian food. But man, caramels." He gave a long, creaky sigh at the thought. "If we ever get some butter going outta those cows I'll petition to get you all the butter and sugar you need for those." She had a Grandma Bunny. He'd remember that.

"Hear that, Killer?" Ike said to the horse. "Your mom doesn't want me giving you ideas above your station. I say she already gave you a big enough name to live up to, all those astrologies contained in one beast." He thought about patting its neck, to feel its mane, but reconsidered. Ike had middling effects on animals so it was probably best to leave Zodiac alone until Cass had introduced them properly.

Ike nodded with Cass' suppositions about what the journey would entail. "These old tips are always shifty underfoot," he said. "Underhoof, too, I guess. But I don't necessarily need to take the horse that close in or ride it down any grades that look too precarious." He considered her question, saying, "No pack horse, not this time. It's more of a scout than a haul. My intel's pretty good but there's always the chance it's ..."

He didn't want to say a trap; that was the kind of thing that was best kept from the general populace of Redwood. They didn't need to worry about that. The raiders were the ones who had to keep the potential of death front and centre. "Always the chance somebody else got to it before me," Ike finished, instead.

"Pfft, you know you're impressed by wit and charm," she shot back with a chuckle. The appreciation for puns in the town was really about fifty-fifty. At his question, she nodded, a warmer smile curling her lips. "Yeah. It's something my grandma Bunny and I used to do together. She taught me a lot of Romanian dishes along with the more common American ones. Caramels were one of our favorite things to make together, even though they took sooo much stirring." God, there were so many foods she missed.

"Lord, don't let Zodiac hear you call him a unicorn. He'll let it go straight to his head!" It was a half-tease; her stallion was a very handsome boy and he knew it. Probably because she constantly told him that and spoiled him as much as she could.

The trip didn't sound too difficult - certainly no more difficult than many of the raiding trips were. It would be the incline that would need to be taken into consideration. Cass was confident that all of the horses could handle the steepish grade, but some were far better than others. "I assume it'll probably be some loose patches, too? Bits of sliding rocks and dirt?" Her mind was already going through the possibilities, taking into account the distance and weight of Ike as well as any haul he might find, along with the incline. "Is it gonna be just you? Would you need a pack horse to help with the haul?"

[ijemmaokafor]

"Horse are prey animals?!"

As soon as she said it aloud, she realized it was true--herbivores, hooves instead of claws, eyes on separate sides of their face. They were just so big and so...

"That's crazy to think about. Well alright honey," she said, making sure Belle could see her at her side. "I guess that makes you a little easier to sympathize with." She watched the animal's big shiny eye shift around and blink. She could see her own reflection distorted in it and took a moment to breathe deep and stand up straight, per Cass's instructions.

"I honestly don't know where the fear comes from. I don't remember ever having a bad experience with them. I think it might just be the size." She still felt silly about it, and felt the need to make sure Cass knew she realized how odd it was.

"Whatever the reason, I appreciate you taking the time to help me out. There's no excuse at this point for me to not learn. And the truth is, I love the idea of horses. It's so romantic, y'know? Having a bond with a majestic animal like this? What am I saying, of course you get it, you clearly love these guys."

Horses had been an everyday part of her life since birth. Even when she lived in NYC, she'd gone down to the Central Park stables every single day, no matter the weather. It was the same way some people religiously went to a gym or to work.

As Jemma spoke, Belle's ears flicked forward with interest. "She can," Cass affirmed with a small nod. "But that's why I've picked Belle here to be your first introduction. Not much ruffles her feathers, and she's the sort that'll pick up on any nerves and be even sweeter because of 'em. She's one of our smartest gals." She patted the mare's neck affectionately while continuing. "Horses are prey animals, so most of 'em will pick up on our nerves around them as being nervous about some nebulous danger that could also threaten them, which is why they'll get skittish, too. They never view themselves as the danger or the reason for the nerves."

Most horses operated on instinct alone, and the prey drive was difficult to overcome when training a horse to tolerate a certain amount of noise and movement. Thankfully, it came down to trust, which is something Cass spent a lot of time on building with the horses in her care.

As far as tips... "Focus on taking deep breaths and stand up straight. Horses will read your body language, so approach her with a posture of confidence, even if you don't necessarily feel it. And, you see the way she's got her head turned to look at you? Horses can't see directly in front of or behind them, so keeping that in mind at all times will help you to keep from spooking them."

[ijemmaokafor]

From a distance, Belle was a gorgeous creature. Jemma thought back to movies--all those alternate worlds she was so charmed and comforted by. Maybe that could be her entry point into all this.

Velvet Brown taming The Pie. Aragorn, carried home from his near-death by Brego. Tony fucking Soprano and his own Pie-Oh-My. It was a beautiful thing to watch onscreen, this camaraderie between horse and human. But then she saw their hugeness with her own two eyeballs and a whole pile of abso-fucking-lutely not started teasing up inside her. Was she spooked by an animal at the zoo when she was too little to even remember it? Was there some freaky generational trauma from a great great great grandfather who got kicked by a horse or something? Jemma was not one to have irrational fears. It just didn't track. And that fact, as much as anything else, was motivating her to get past it all.

She picked a spot between the horse's ears to stare and tried engaging. "Hi pretty girl. I can see how you got your name."

She turned to Cass. "Can she like...does she know that I'm freaked out? I don't wanna make her nervous, too. Any tricks or tips to hide the fact that I'm weirded out right now?"

Cass hadn't spent a whole lot of one on one time with Ijemma, but she'd heard nothing but good things about the other woman. She also had heard how devastating of a blow it was for her to have lost Ginny, so if learning to overcome a fear of horses was a way that Cass could help, no matter how small it was in the grand scheme of things, Cass was more than happy to do her part.

She didn't have security duty until later that evening, so she had plenty of time to spend getting to know Ijemma and letting Ijemma get to know one of the horses. Belle was the perfect choice for someone who was afraid of horses, as she was, by far, the gentlest mare in the entire stable. It was almost as if the mare could sense the level of nervousness of the people around here, and she would compensate for that by altering her own attitude. Zodiac was good with kids, sure, but Belle was on a whole other level.

Belle was tied up in the small, fenced in arena, no tack or anything. Since there wasn't any need for speed on getting Jemma in a saddle, there was no reason they couldn't take things slow and get her comfortable around the animals first.

The immediate advanced apology pulled a chuckle from deep in her throat. "No worries. Neither Belle nor I are gonna take any sort of offense from any faces you make." She gestured for the other woman to follow her up to the fence before she made the introductions, reaching out and giving Belle a pat on the cheek. "The most important thing to remember right now - there's no rush to this. If you feel like you need to take a step back, you just let me know. Today is just about you gettin' comfortable with being near Belle, petting her, letting her sniff you, all the fun stuff."