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writerproblem193Title: a horse by any other name
Fandom: Original
Relationship: Jacqueline x Kate
Prompt: 10.11 Natural Colours
Rating: T
Warnings: literal man eating horse that works for the mob
Summary: Jacks loves her horse that also happens to be a kelpie. Kate loves her. Somehow. Also the mob is involved.
Having a kelpie instead of a horse wasn’t as different as I had expected. They were the same size, the same shape, and tried to bite you with the same consistency. My kelpie had the same teeth as a horse, too. Blunt herbivore teeth that were made for grinding, not tearing. That didn't stop Pasiphäe from trying.
The solution to was the same as with a regular horse: keep half an eye on your mount and be ready to have your elbow up if they made a move. They could pop themselves in the jaw if they were trying to get frisky. Natural consequences.
The only unnatural thing about my horse-shaped, ridable, man eater was her colour.
Kelpies came in one colour: green. Luckily for me, Pasiphäe was a light, horizon-from-underwater green. It lent itself well to dye. Which was good, because kelpies were, technically, illegal.
But hey, my day job was illegal too. So. Pasiphäe at least was cute.
“Good girl,” I told Pasiphäe. She had been more cooperative than usual today. Maybe it was her latest meal. Maybe it was Maybelline. “Just your tail left after this, okay? Then you’ll look all lovely and charming and non-lethal."
“Jacks,” Kate called. She clattered down the stable halls with all the grace of a rampaging elephant. I could hear more than one horse kick a wall in their surprise.
I quieted Pasiphäe, running my hand down her sleek neck. I didn’t care if it came away orange. “Shhh. Shh-shh.” I looked up at Kate over the crest of Pasiphäe’s mane. Kate looked flustered and put together all in one, packaged up in a suit that looked good enough to eat. “Careful,” I warned. “You’ll scare her, running up like that.”
A familiar exhausted look passed over Kate’s face. She shoved her hands into her pockets, leaning against a stall-half door. “The man eating mythical monster will be scared. By me."
I stroked Pasiphäe once more, then returned to setting the dye. “She’s basically a horse.”
Kate laughed, her head tipping back, her neck a dark streak above the crisp collar of her shirt. “And I’m basically a fish with legs. You know she’d eat you if you gave her even an inch, right?”
“Yes,” I cooed, and spread another handful of macerated chestnuts into Pasiphäe’s mane. “She’s got a good appetite. Don’t you?”
Pasiphäe snorted and tossed her head, spraying the both of us with bits of chestnut. I spat out what little had landed in my mouth, and brushed the rest off my jacket.
Kate sighed, and pulled a hand out to check her watch. “Speaking of. We’ve got another delivery of her… food in a couple hours. Are you going to be around to receive it or do I need to reassign Brendan?”
I pulled a face. “Another already? Hasn't Grandmob knocked off everyone she doesn’t like already?”
“Your grandmother,” Kate said, primly, “has her own agenda and we don’t need to know it to obey it.”
I could concede to that. “Do you want to give her a treat before you go?” I brandished a package of sausages. It was the kelpie equivalent of carrots, as much as Kate and the rest of the stable staff liked to goggle at it.
“Do I want to put my fingers near a-“
“Okay, okay. Seriously though, if you do it right, she’s not going to eat you.”
“Until she slips her halter and goes wild and eats the entire county.”
“A horse could kill you almost as easily,” I reasoned. Not one to deprive Pasiphäe of treats, I offered the sausage to her myself.
Pasiphäe peeled her lips back, delicate, and picked the sausage from my palm. With my fingers all clamped together, there was no surface for her to nibble on or mistake for food. Just like a horse. Kate and I watched her chew it, bits of juice and flesh scattering from her lips onto the floor. I smiled, contented. Kate looked like she was re-evaluating her entire life path.
With Pasiphäe sated and dyed, I made my way around her to Kate. Kate pretended not to watch me, her eyes fixed on the kelpie at my back. I kissed her, sweet with just a kind of spice. “See you tonight.”
Kate huffed half a laugh, bumped noses with me. “Wouldn’t miss it. Wouldn’t want you to send your happy horse there after me.”
I kissed her again just because I could. “Not until you missed the second date, at least.”
Fandom: Original
Relationship: Jacqueline x Kate
Prompt: 10.11 Natural Colours
Rating: T
Warnings: literal man eating horse that works for the mob
Summary: Jacks loves her horse that also happens to be a kelpie. Kate loves her. Somehow. Also the mob is involved.
Having a kelpie instead of a horse wasn’t as different as I had expected. They were the same size, the same shape, and tried to bite you with the same consistency. My kelpie had the same teeth as a horse, too. Blunt herbivore teeth that were made for grinding, not tearing. That didn't stop Pasiphäe from trying.
The solution to was the same as with a regular horse: keep half an eye on your mount and be ready to have your elbow up if they made a move. They could pop themselves in the jaw if they were trying to get frisky. Natural consequences.
The only unnatural thing about my horse-shaped, ridable, man eater was her colour.
Kelpies came in one colour: green. Luckily for me, Pasiphäe was a light, horizon-from-underwater green. It lent itself well to dye. Which was good, because kelpies were, technically, illegal.
But hey, my day job was illegal too. So. Pasiphäe at least was cute.
“Good girl,” I told Pasiphäe. She had been more cooperative than usual today. Maybe it was her latest meal. Maybe it was Maybelline. “Just your tail left after this, okay? Then you’ll look all lovely and charming and non-lethal."
“Jacks,” Kate called. She clattered down the stable halls with all the grace of a rampaging elephant. I could hear more than one horse kick a wall in their surprise.
I quieted Pasiphäe, running my hand down her sleek neck. I didn’t care if it came away orange. “Shhh. Shh-shh.” I looked up at Kate over the crest of Pasiphäe’s mane. Kate looked flustered and put together all in one, packaged up in a suit that looked good enough to eat. “Careful,” I warned. “You’ll scare her, running up like that.”
A familiar exhausted look passed over Kate’s face. She shoved her hands into her pockets, leaning against a stall-half door. “The man eating mythical monster will be scared. By me."
I stroked Pasiphäe once more, then returned to setting the dye. “She’s basically a horse.”
Kate laughed, her head tipping back, her neck a dark streak above the crisp collar of her shirt. “And I’m basically a fish with legs. You know she’d eat you if you gave her even an inch, right?”
“Yes,” I cooed, and spread another handful of macerated chestnuts into Pasiphäe’s mane. “She’s got a good appetite. Don’t you?”
Pasiphäe snorted and tossed her head, spraying the both of us with bits of chestnut. I spat out what little had landed in my mouth, and brushed the rest off my jacket.
Kate sighed, and pulled a hand out to check her watch. “Speaking of. We’ve got another delivery of her… food in a couple hours. Are you going to be around to receive it or do I need to reassign Brendan?”
I pulled a face. “Another already? Hasn't Grandmob knocked off everyone she doesn’t like already?”
“Your grandmother,” Kate said, primly, “has her own agenda and we don’t need to know it to obey it.”
I could concede to that. “Do you want to give her a treat before you go?” I brandished a package of sausages. It was the kelpie equivalent of carrots, as much as Kate and the rest of the stable staff liked to goggle at it.
“Do I want to put my fingers near a-“
“Okay, okay. Seriously though, if you do it right, she’s not going to eat you.”
“Until she slips her halter and goes wild and eats the entire county.”
“A horse could kill you almost as easily,” I reasoned. Not one to deprive Pasiphäe of treats, I offered the sausage to her myself.
Pasiphäe peeled her lips back, delicate, and picked the sausage from my palm. With my fingers all clamped together, there was no surface for her to nibble on or mistake for food. Just like a horse. Kate and I watched her chew it, bits of juice and flesh scattering from her lips onto the floor. I smiled, contented. Kate looked like she was re-evaluating her entire life path.
With Pasiphäe sated and dyed, I made my way around her to Kate. Kate pretended not to watch me, her eyes fixed on the kelpie at my back. I kissed her, sweet with just a kind of spice. “See you tonight.”
Kate huffed half a laugh, bumped noses with me. “Wouldn’t miss it. Wouldn’t want you to send your happy horse there after me.”
I kissed her again just because I could. “Not until you missed the second date, at least.”
