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WHO: Avery Davenport & Victoria Powers
WHAT: Random run-ins trying to hang out with the horses
WHEN: Mid-day Sunday
WHERE: The stables
WARNINGS: TBD

Even though Avery wasn't in the Equestrian club (which she was seriously starting to regret and reconsider) the discussion with Ollie about horses had sparked her curiosity. It wasn't like she'd never been to the stables, but with no real great need Avery had nearly forgotten they were even there. Fortunately, on a lazy Sunday like this one was, Avery found herself with the free time to wander down to the stables. It was decently warm outside, so with no real plan in mind Avery made her way to see the horses.

The threat of rain later in the afternoon was hardly on her mind. Nothing really stopped Avery from wearing a dress on any given day, and today was no different. She did add boots to the ensemble instead of regular shoes, considering where exactly she was going. She didn't plan on meeting anyone there other than, perhaps, a teacher - but she still wanted to look her best.

As she got closer to the stables, Avery could see that some of the horses were grazing in the fenced-off area near their stalls and (particularly because she had no right to actually enter the stables), she made her way to the fence and leaned against it, watching as the horses made their way around the area, nibbling on the grass. "You're lucky you know? Nice area to live, students who take care of you, no worries about anything except when feeding time is. That's the life." A soft sigh escaped her lips. Not one to usually be down about things, it was tough on gloomy days like this not to think too much. Maybe that's why she came out the stables in the first place. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like the horses were helping too much on that front.

What she really needed was a more engaging distraction.

Comments

[vicpower.insanejournal.com]

Vic was having a pleasant enough afternoon. Homework finished, she decided to take a jaunt to the stables to get some time in with the horses. She was also not in Equestrian Club, but mostly because she had little interest in actually riding horses. She just liked feeding and helping care for them, her appreciation for animals was fun enough in itself.

She was cleaning the hooves of one of her favorite mares near the entrance of the stables when she heard the voice of someone else. Vic wasn't one to naturally go out of her way to talk to people, but she was certainly trying to fight that. Being friendly was good. Friends could help you do the things you needed to have done. People tended to trust friendly people more. All of these were good reasons to finish up her task and see who might be outside. Maybe it was someone she could form a bond with. That was her new goal for the year. Besides getting her first kiss.

She walked out to see Avery leaning against the open fenced area, alone talking to horses. She smiled-that was something she'd do herself.

"It really is. Wouldn't it be nice to have someone brush and pet you and give you food, no homework to worry about?" she asked, walking up to stand next to the other girl. She realized she didn't know the other girl exceptionally well, just by name, and decided an introduction wouldn't go amiss.

"Hi, I'm Victoria Powers. Vic. Always nice to meet a horse fan."

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Definitely into her own thoughts, Avery didn't hear Victoria walking up to her at all. So when the slightly younger girl's voice rang out, Avery jumped back from the fence a little bit, hand over her heart. "Oh! Hi. Yeah, it would be totally nice to laze about and have everyone do things for you." Of course, some people did get that but Avery really wasn't that kind of person. She didn't want to make or pay people to do things for her.

Smoothing out her skirt, she stood up a little straighter (though at 5'11", she really didn't need to try and make herself look any taller) and eventually stuck out her hand. "Avery Davenport. Just Avery, I guess, not really a good nickname for Aver that I know of. It's nice to meet you, Vic. Hey, aren't you in the same house as Olivia?"

She didn't really know the younger girl much, they definitely didn't share classes and she wasn't a Ribbonfin, but she had seen the redhead out before and was pretty sure the other girl was from her sister's house. "And yeah, same. I'm not like a diehard horse fan but they are really beautiful animals. I kind of admire them, I guess."

[vicpower.insanejournal.com]

While she probably should have registered that it was weird to just start talking to people who hadn't seen you approach them, Vic was not always the most observant of individuals. She smiled sheepishly when she saw the older girl start. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. And Avery is a nice name, doesn't need a nickname. Honestly Victoria isn't bad, but I couldn't say it all when I was a kid." Huh. That was interesting. Vic wasn't one to share much about herself, so it even surprised herself that she let that little bit out. She shook the other girl's hand warmly.

At the mention of Olivia, Vic let a smile spread. She really liked Olivia. She might even call her a friend. "I am, Olivia's great," she said honestly. "I'm the same. I like all animals, actually. I have an iguana, but my family has a dog and my sister has a cat, and I haven't really met an animal I didn't like." Victoria was proud of herself. She was sharing and having a conversation and it was going just fine. She could do this. She could make random friends. And someone in another house was probably a really good idea.

"But you're right, horses are majestic and beautiful. Easy to admire. Harder to love the ones you can't cuddle, but I find a lot to be said for even what seems like the creepiest animal on the surface."

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It wasn't necessarily weird to talk to someone who wasn't looking, Avery just happened to startle easily. "Victoria is a very regal name, but yeah I bet as a kid it's hard to pronounce." Avery did not talk about her childhood often, if at all. And certainly not with strangers, no matter how nice they seemed to be. But that didn't mean she discouraged other people from talking about their own childhood experiences. She smiled at her warmly, leaning back against the fence again.

"I don't think I've ever met an animal I didn't like either. Spiders don't count, they're alien beasts." Which she firmly believed. There was no way spiders weren't some kind of hideous monster. She had a huge fear of them. "Ollie's my sister. Well, sorta. They adopted me." Avery did, however, love to talk about her adopted family, and she thought Ollie was great.

Avery had a hard time imagining creepy animals, having never encountered any truly creepy ones herself (aside from Spiders which she was not counting as an animal). "Yeah, a lot of people naturally gravitate to what is cute but there's something to love about... all animals, in some respect."

[vicpower.insanejournal.com]

"I mean, it shouldn't be that hard, but I guess I stumbled a lot so we stuck to Vic. And I kinda like it. Vic and Vee, two peas in a pod," she babbled, happy to be striking up a conversation and not totally blowing it. Wow, this was easy. why did she think it was so hard?

"Spiders aren't so bad once you understand them. I wouldn't go making friends with an acromantula or whatever, but thankfully those stick to the creepy forests of Scotland, I'm pretty sure." She didn't love all spiders, but given Avery's response she thought she'd leave out that she was sorta hoping to get a pet tarantula soon. Probably wise to keep that to herself.

A smile spread across Vic's lips and she nodded. "I could see Olivia doing that. Adopting people. Well, family you choose is sometimes better than the one you're just given, right?" Vic always felt lucky. As much as she tried to push her parents' buttons, she loved her family very much. Vee was her other half, and her parents always encouraged her various animal dealings. She didn't press Avery as to why she needed to be adopted, as that was rather personal, but she did know that not all families were like hers.

Vic nodded vigorously, glad to find someone with a kindred mind. "Exactly! Not everything has to be cuddly to be useful and good for the world. Without vultures we'd have too much carrion. Without rats there'd be way more garbage. Things need to be balanced, you know?"

I KNOW I'M THE *WORST*

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"I like Vic and Vee. Ollie and I don't get that but I still think Ollie and Avery rolls off the tongue kind of nice." They weren't blood related sisters, that was obvious, but Ollie was Avery's family, blood or not. Hands down. Ride or die.

Avery gave a distinct sort of If you say so face to the spider comment. She just couldn't see herself ever liking the things, they were terrifying and some of them were really deadly. Not like everything else in life was easy and never dangerous, but still. They were surprise deadly. Tiny monsters that hide in your clothes. It gave her the shivers just to think about it. "Oh no, nope nope not about Acromantulas at all." Those were LARGE and murderous.

"Yeah. I mean we met when were like, little kids. She kind of adopted me from day one." And her family came shortly thereafter. It was nice, to have a rock like Ollie around all the time. She had no idea what she would have done without her. "And definitely, I think we choose our family. Sometimes that happens to be our blood relatives and sometimes not." Avery didn't think much about blood ties the way some people did.

"Without bees we'd all be dead or something." She was pretty sure she'd read that, anyway. "And bees are also mildly terrifying. Though thankfully I'm not allergic so they're just more annoying please get out of my face than I-need-to-run-away-now!"

YOU'RE FINE DONT WORRY <3

[vicpower.insanejournal.com]

"It definitely does, it sounds really nice. Ollie and Avery are definitely easy to say," Vic said, a little sarcasm creeping into her voice. She cleared it, not having meant to sound like that. "I mean, those are good nicknames." She smiled and kicked at the ground a little, upset with herself slightly for having gone back to her usual mode of dealing with unfamiliar people. No wonder she was mainly friends with people like Sly. He basically spoke sarcasm as a second language.

Victoria laughed and nodded. "Yeah those suckers are scary as hell. Though they have their place in the world too. I just don't feel the need to have a chat with one any time soon," she joked, back to feeling more comfortable and in control.

She smiled at the thought of getting adopted as chosen family like that. "That's really nice. See? Even better when someone chooses you like that. That's real family," she said, matter of factly.

She laughed again at Avery's description of bees. "Well," Vic said, leaning on the post a bit before pulling herself up to sit on the top of the fence, he legs dangling. "Everything has it's place. Even us. But I'm glad to be here where we can explore how the magic us fit in with everything else, you know? Sometimes it feels like you don't quite belong, for whatever reason. And then you start understanding that everyone feels that way at some time or other. I guess the trick is to not let it get to you too much. That's what I'm still working on."

She looked over to the horses that were coming over to the fence, eager for treats or a ride, and probably both.

"I was going to have a little ride. Want to come along?"