toomuchbull | Horsepower

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Horsepower

There is something unspeakably insulting to Rider about being in a suit. It is not as if it does not flatter him - padded shoulders and a tapered waist do wonders to showcase his form beneath layers of fabric, and the blue of his tie strives to match the lapis lazuli that was used to summon him - but it forces anyone gazing upon him to guess at the strength his muscles so clearly show and there is where the offense of the suit lies.

Other insults linger in his mind as he reflects on this matter, fiddling irritably at the buttons of the suit jacket. Being used a dress up doll is only one more tally mark against his supposed master, who called upon him for great and glorious battle, yet has failed to provide him with even a single opponent. Each time he had attempted to speak with her about the matter, he had been dismissed, and he knows that a fourth attempt to cajole her into letting him fight something will be greeted with even more anger than the previous three attempts. That does not stop him from preparing an appropriate speech to hurl at his master, and if he can rouse her to anger when she comes in to inspect the work of her tailors, so be it. It will at least be a fight of some sort, and even a brief one will gladden his spirits.

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Chiyo sat back and admired her handiwork. Well, not strictly hers. That of the Tohsaka tailors who worked specifically to dress the family in all the finest garments, as suited to their status. Since Rider was so adamant not to wear kimono of any kind, she'd been forced to take a more western approach. After all, she supposed he was a more western Heroic Spirit anyway.

Anything to stop him walking around with his bare naked torso on full display. What if her daughters saw such a thing?!

"Well now," she smiled, clapping her hands together and looking up and down appreciatively at the finished product. "That's much better."

"It is fine handiwork if one is a scribe whose occupation is to stay seated all day, looking pretty and having no need to move," is the response, dripping in irritation. There istruth in the statement - it is fine handiwork down to the smallest details, delicate golden stitching around the button holes and all - and he cannot begrudge the skill it takes to make such a thing. "The problem is that I am no scribe, and the task you handed me is no place for sitting idly in constricting clothes."

He doesn't bother to pause as he folds his arms across his chest, but he does cringe at the feel of fabric beneath his fingers when he has finished the gesture. "I have seen not so much as a skirmish in this war, Tohsaka, and these dress up games are so below me that I wonder if your intention was to make a mockery of my story rather than have me fight on your behalf."

Edited 2012-08-16 02:30 (UTC)

"Why of course not," Chiyo says dismissively. "The war simply hasn't got into full swing yet, and we can't have you wandering around the house with your torso exposed." She frowns slightly. "I didn't know that clothing so offended you."

"Anything that hides my status is an offense, and so with all of these layers, each more stifling than the last." For emphasis, he tugs at the fabric of the suit jacket again, the stiffness only driving his point home - or at least in his own mind. "What you call exposure I call frank display of my person, and if you are so concerned with others seeing such a display, they ought to be sent away from here."

"Is it really necessary to make such a display, though?" Chiyo sighs in a put-upon manner. She tries, she really does, but sometimes people are just unreasonable, she supposes. "Even at a glance, anyone can tell you're strong, well built, confident and perfectly capable. I think the suit shows a sort of modesty, if anything."

"Tell me, what place does modesty have on the battlefield?" Rider snorts. "And what can you tell me of how to fight, when you choose to sit in your home and waste not only your time but mine?"

He gives up with at least the suit jacket and takes it off, although not daring to throw it to the floor. There isn't enough anger for that, not yet. "Besides, what harm is there in announcing my strength to all who presume to fight this war? None are mightier than I, none can make the land tremble as I do. Let them try and mount a defense. I can destroy them as I like, and it will be the powerful families that are knocked out first."

As much as Chiyo enjoys the notion of the Matou and the Einzbern getting theirs right off the bat, she still folds her arms, tapping her folded fan against her sleeve. "The importance of stealth should not be underestimated," she says, inclining her head at him. "I do not waste time, only bide it. If you are impatient to do something, then I'm sure we can find you an adequate distraction."

"To bide and to waste are one in the same from where I stand."

And it is true, although to feel so restless is a sharp contrast to how he spent his first life in Uruk, delighted for a day's rest. He reflects on that for a mere moment, nearly smiling at the memory. The memory is quickly enough accompanied by a reminder that the only reason rest was so welcome was because all that came before it - great journeys beyond Uruk's walls, magnificent battles against great beasts and all of this at the side of his friend. No wonder restlessness has seized his heart now in the modern age.

"I an open to suggestions."

And now Chiyo wracks her brain. What would be adequate to placate her Servant? The last thing she needed was him to become bitter towards her, that wouldn't be helpful at all should the need arise that he protect her. Command seals were nice, but they were precious few. Better he saw her as an ally than an irritation.

The epic, that is clearly the key. His legend would dictate what other interests asides from fighting he had. She ponders and wonders and paces a little in thought before inspiration strikes. Animals, Enkidu was a man of the wild, with an affinity for animals. This could be it.

"The Tohsaka family keeps a great many horses," she began slowly. "Some of them still wild. I recently lost one of my best horse breakers. The horse broke him, you see." Turning her gaze towards him, she measured his reaction. "I wonder if that would at all entertain you?"

"Mm." It is not a bad idea, and merely being around horses means that such fine clothing such as Rider was in now would be unnecessary. Such a low job would be worth wasting time with on that principle alone.

"How many horses, and where? I would prefer to see the work ahead of me before agreeing to it, lest you make a promise you cannot keep for a second time."

"A good fifty in the main stables, which are just outside of the city," Chiyo says after some thought. "And perhaps another thirty more, loaned to stud for other stables. Keeps business partners happy." And while she bristles at the implication that she doesn't keep her promises, she gestures towards the door. "Would you like to go see them? We can take the car."

"That would require keys, but yes."

There is, of course, the question of how well paved the roads are beyond the city, if only because the idea of a car stuck in mud and being the stuck trying to push it out rises almost too quickly in Rider's mind. Still, he gestures for the keys, as if Chiyo automatically has them on her person, and goes so far as to put the suit jacket back on as a display of good will.

A quick clap of her hands and the keys are in her possession, a servant of much lower caliber than Rider arriving and then vanishing in complete silence, head bowed. If only all could be so obedient. She passes them over to Rider, and then makes her way towards the front door.

A small maniac smile takes over Rider's face at being handed the keys, as the car is one of the things that delights him most in the modern age. It is no taking three days which would be a six week's journey for ordinary men, but the great growl of the engine nearly makes up for it. He had been permitted to drive the car - a Bugatti type 57 Ventoux, imported from Europe for reasons that Chiyo had certainly not divulged - once before, so that he might acquaint himself with the streets of Fuyuki, but heading out of the city limits? Oh now there was something even better than a fight.

He does everything but run to the Bugatti, and before Chiyo can so much as climb into the passenger's seat he has started the car, engine merrily humming and his hand resting on the gear knob, ready to speed away from the Tohsaka house as soon as possible.

Well this is certainly the other distraction she can give Rider, though it is considerably more expensive should he happen to break it. Not to mention she is quite fond of the contraption. It took some doing to get it here in the first place, and it was so distinctive that it made sure everyone knew it was her whenever it passed through the streets.

She primly settled herself on the passenger seat of the car, arranging herself before closing the door so that Rider couldn't shoot off before she was ready.

"Head out to the east of the city, towards where the signs say Toshizawa."

The engine hums as Rider pulls out of the Tohsaka homestead, and he can swear it is less a natural response of the machine and moreso a reply to himself and the skills that being of the rider class grants him. He'd be a fool to call it communication between man and machine, but it lingers on the border there, and that threshold is one that holds his awe.

Awe, however, is overridden by joy, and soon joy translates into speed and experimentation with gear changing as he drives east, east and out if the city, pushing the gas peddle all the way to the ground and delighting in the change in terrain. The car responds with great growls as Rider forces it through it's paces , all eight cylinders firing and all 135 horses propelling them forward.

Speeding through the streets quickly turns to racing through the countryside, trees rushing by in a blur. This is another reason why Chiyo loves this machine - the raw power that can be pulled from its engine, driving her forward faster than anyone else. She spends so long enjoying it that she nearly forgets that they're actually meant to be going somewhere.

"Next left, over the bridge and then right."

"Very well."

With no one behind them, Rider does not bother to indicate their burn, but the curious lack of rebuke from Chiyo is a surprise. He doesn't dwell on it long though, as the turn is coming up and he needs to shift down.

The turn is abrupt, and while Rider is attempted to regain their speed immediately after making it, the narrow bridge ahead hints that that is the worst possible idea with how it shows it's age. He drives over it slowly instead, then continues at the slower speed until the right that Chiyo indicated appears, and he again makes the turn without signaling. They'll speed back, he notes, and going down hill will be even more of a delight.

The stables quickly come into view once they turn the corner, passing through fields and paddocks already containing several horses. The sun is making its journey towards the west with increasing speed, so they'll have to hurry and make this quick before it gets dark. Hopefully Chiyo could introduce him to the problem horses first.

"Pull in over by the door, that'll do," she instructed, noting how the stable hands were suddenly running around trying to get everything clean. Well, they should always anticipate her arrival and keep things spick and span anyway.

The smell of manure is strangely welcome for Rider, especially against the scent of exhaust and oil that lingers around the car. It's a wilder form of civilization, one he knows better and one he could almost call a comfort.

But comfort later. He drives slowly over towards the door indicates, keeping the engine low as not to spook any horses.

Chiyo unfurls herself from the passenger seat as soon as the car comes to a stop. Immediately a groom comes out from the stables and bows deeply to her. "Tohsaka-sama, we didn't know you'd be coming..."

Ah, so they indeed weren't prepared, and this is a distraction. "Regardless, I'm sure my stables are as well ordered and tidy as usual?"

The groom swallows nervously. "Well, you see, uh, we were going to have another shot at breaking in Makuro today, but well, um, he may have slipped the reigns out of his handler's grasp and... trashed the whole stables," and then he winces in preparation for the oncoming onslaught. Usually, this would be where Chiyo launches into a lecture about proper handling and responsibility. However, today, she turns to Rider and smiles.

"There's a challenge for you, Rider."

"Is it?" While Chiyo had taken care of pleasantries, he had turned the car off and fussed for a few moments about strands of stray hair lingering on the seats, brushing them off, only vaguely tuning in to the small talk that always occurred between servants and their betters.

"Lead on, and I will decide on the truth of that statement."

The groom gave a curious look to this foreign man who spoke so easily to the Tohsaka head, but with a sharp look from Chiyo, he quickly escorts them towards one of the further paddocks. Chiyo tuts at the scene before her. Makuro, a large black stalion, had mounted some unsuspecting mare, and was rather ignoring her attempts to get away, all the while tearing up the grass of the field.

"He's 12 hands high, the largest horse we have," says the groom grimly. "Completely untameable. I humbly request, Tohsaka-sama, that we are rid of him before he destroys more property..."

Chiyo gives the groom a withering look. "Untameable? We'll see."

"It does feel wrong to interrupt in the midst of pleasure," Rider admits with a content shrug, then proceeds to ignore his own observation by leaping over the paddock fence.

The horse is no swift footed gazelle that Enkidu used to roam at the side of upon the steppe, and that alone means that he can outrun the creature. As for bringing it to heel, well, that was where it was about to get interesting.

"Oh, you'll probably not want me destroying this," Rider says, pausing to shrug out of the suit jacket for a second time and pull his tie off, resting it on the fence rather than expecting Chiyo or the stable hands to hold it.

Free of as much fabric as he can get away with, he proceeds to run towards the great black horse, sure of his footing and prepared to tackle the thing to the ground if need be, as sudden and as heavy as a meteor falling ton earth.

Chiyo didn't bother to touch the jacket. Instead she settled where she was to watch the undoubtably entertaining spectacle that was about to follow.

There was something strangely liberating about not needing to be worried about death via trampled by a horse, especially as Rider threw himself directly in the stallion's path. He laughs as the thing swerved at the last minute to avoid him, and the temptation to give chase is great. Rider would, if he wasn't intent on demonstrating his raw strength, and so he instead walks off to the side, waiting for the horse to rush past him again.

He counts the seconds in his head, waiting, waiting and off again, and this time he is certain to slam into the horse. He'd never dare try this in Uruk, and the novelty is only exhilarating as he tries to wrap his great arms around the animal's neck. As he struggles, he tries to remember how he communicated back on the plains beyond Uruk - through eyes and gentle noises. It's hard to do on the angle he's on, but if he can still the creature, he knows everything else will follow naturally.

It is quite impressive, the way he simply throws himself at the beast. Chiyo takes this as a sort of muted preview to what she'd be seeing later, a rehearsal in the green room before they properly took to the stage to astound fellow actors.

The horse kicked and shook its head and galloped around the field, but it had already used a great amount of energy today, and was starting to tire, long strides stumbling, snorting heaving breaths through its nose.

Rider barely restrains a laugh, chokes it in his throat and turns it into a snort to match that of his present opponent before coming to stand in front of it again, eyes narrow and daring the thing to charge at him again, to put up any form of resistance whatsoever.

Edited 2012-08-17 03:58 (UTC)

The horse snorts, shifts on its legs nervously like it's going to bolt again, but doesn't break eye contact. It thinks it can intimidate this human away. When that doesn't work, it gives a bellowing neigh in his face. Chiyo tries not to let her smile too obvious. A rock and a hard place, huh?

Rider shrugs the noise off, then reaches out to put a hand on the stallion's nose. He doesn't pet it or do anything more than let his hand rest there. "That's enough, hm?"

For a long moment of tense silence, it seems like the horse is going to kick or bite Rider's hand, shifting its weight on its hooves. But instead, it snorts and closes its eyes, allowing Rider to remain.

Chiyo quietly applauds from the edge of the paddock. "Very good, very good." The groom simply gapes silently, unable to fathom how this complete stranger accomplished in minutes what they hadn't been able to do in months.

"Thank you," he says directly to the stallion, face breaking into a grin. It's running on the steppe all over again, back before Shamhat, when he could communicate in the ways animals do. "We'll see each other again soon, I'm sure.

Rider gives the horse an affectionate pat, then walks back over to where Chiyo stands. The fine leather shoes he had been wearing are now hopelessly dirty from kicking up dirt, and he smiles at their ruin. It's childish to take delight in such basic destruction, petty even, but the fact remains.

"What you're asking me to do is incredibly low work, you realize," he says to her, hopping over the fence.

"If you don't enjoy it, we can find something else," Chiyo remarks, watching something just behind him rather than Rider himself. The horse has followed him to the fence, just behind his shoulder. "But I think you're fairly good at it."

Rider turns, sensing the large and - well, horse breath-y - presence behind him. He regards the horse with an absentminded pat. "It will make the hours go faster until the matter you called me here for begins."

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