ikissdhimbck | OOM sorta: Rooms, back door, stables, in the morning.

"Just thinkin'," he admits. "What I got to do today."

Spending time with his newest hire might be on that list.

"What I got to do to make up for stealin' your victory away. 'Sides buying you dinner, of course. Thinkin' 'bout those horses behind us. About Liberty. Just...thinkin'."

'Bout you and me. You and I.

"Yeah?" she murmurs, hands still working through his hair. Though, the motions are gentler now, more tender.

"Them good thoughts?"

"Real good thoughts."

A pause.

"S'a welcome change, if I'm bein' honest."

"Good," she hums, looking genuinely glad to hear it.

She lingers just a moment longer in the pleasantness of the moment.

Finally, she draws in a deep breath, and smiles.

"You're not settin' a very good work ethic, boss," she teases.

Doc laughs at that.

"I'm not, but, I suppose that's the advantage of bein' the boss, now ain't it? Gettin' to set your own work ethic as you choose to do so, how you choose to do so."

He leans in and briefly brushes his lips against hers, one more time.

"I like bein' the boss."

She giggles, somewhat wickedly, as he pulls away again, her arms threading back around his neck.

"I like you being the boss, too, though I don't want my fellow hands to resent me. Because, if it's not too bold to say so, I think I just might be the boss's favorite."

Unless she's completely mistaken.

"I won't tell, if you don't."

Not like it's not obvious.

Doc grins regardless. "Plus, they know how to respect a lady's right to privacy." He removes one of his hands (oh-so-reluctantly) from her side and tucks it into his pocket. "So we'll be fine. Get our work done, and nobody'll know."

She chuckles.

"If you say so."

When he pockets that one hand, she takes it as an invitation to shift in their embrace, arms uncurling from his neck as one slips around his lower back, and the other pockets a hand of her own.

She fits against him, snug against his side.

"It'll be our secret," she murmurs, tilting her head to grin up at him.

"Sounds like a plan t'me."

Doc tips his head towards the doorway around the corner and smiles.

"Now, c'mon, darlin'. We got work to do, and if you're expectin' me to eat that lunch you brought then I'm gonna have t'work for it."

"Oh, I'm expectin' it, all right," she laughs, following his lead back inside the stables.

They move through the rest of the morning's chores fairly quick, getting the horses out to pasture where Doc designates, and cleaning the stalls up once they're out. They still need to move Corella, but Doc seems undecided on whether or not they should bother her.

"I can take her out, while you look at Nova, if you like. She seems agreeable enough to let me lead her, at least," Katherine offers, pulling a lead rope through her hands.

"If you think you can handle her," he agrees, and then he nods in her direction. "She could use to get out, even if she doesn't quite think so herself, even."

The solid black gelding is still in his stall, watching them both curiously awaiting his turn to be turned out, as is Nova, but Doc'll wait until Katherine leads the mare out before even moving from where he's leaned against the wall.

Watching, just in case. It's not that he doesn't trust her, and not that he doesn't trust Corella to behave, it's just...precaution.

A smart precaution, as she is tiny in comparison to the pregnant mare. She grins at him.

"I've worked with ornery animals before," she shrugs. "Been kicked at, my fair share of times. Bucked, once or twice. Even bit."

She's got some right fancy scars to show for it, too. Though, she doesn't plan on adding to the collection today.

She moves cautiously back into Corella's stall, murmuring soft words of comfort as she slowly approaches. The mare's ears are perked to the utterances, though there is a definite stiffness to her stance that shows she's on edge.

It takes some convincing to get the lead on, but Katherine does so without incident. But as she's leading Corella out of the stall, the mare tosses her head suddenly, whinnying in protest.

"Shh, you're all right," she murmurs, not losing her calm. Her gloved hands tighten around the rope ever-so-slightly. "You're all right, baby. Just gonna take you out to some sunshine, where you can graze all by yourself. Take it easy."

Reluctantly, Corella finally consents, clip-clopping slowly out of the stables and into the paddock.

Doc stays put and still, across the way, arms crossed over his chest and eyes focused on the scene in front of him. When Corella does protest, sudden and loud, he manages somehow not to start on instinct. Him jumping would only make things worse.

Once she and the mare are out and on their way to the paddock, he moves to take Nova from his stall, and ties the lead around the nearest railing just to keep him in one place.

He's careful in his check of the animal, making certain that he looks completely healthy and ready to be ridden, including his shoes. If Katherine is going to be riding him (with plenty of hesitation on her part as it is) he doesn't want Nova to have anything wrong with him that might cause him injury (or her, for that matter) or distress.

"You're gonna be a good boy, ain't ya," he chatters with the gelding. "You're always a good boy, but today you're on your best behavior, you understand me?"

Nova is quite used to his hooves being picked up off the ground, and cooperates with the inspection. When she returns, she'll find the gelding gnawing happily on the carrot that Doc happens to be spoiling him with as a reward for not kicking him.

"He's gonna get fat, you know."

The statement is uttered from the doorway, where Katherine is leaning, arms crossed over her chest and legs crossed at the ankles, just watching the two of them interact. She grins, and nods once.

"Corella made it out just fine. She's found herself a nice little patch of grass, and is enjoying the sunshine."

Which is really an understatement for 'last I saw her, she was spread out like a dead fish, rolling in the grass as much as her pregnant belly would allow for.'

"How's he lookin'?" she asks, inclining her chin to Nova and stepping back over to him.

(The "aside from spoiled and on his way to a pot belly," is implied in the look she gives him.)

"Lookin' just fine."

A beat.

"And he's not gonna get fat from carrots."

Those sugarcubes are still on the desk, and he glances from her to the horse, who's watching her walk closer with curious interest. Perhaps she has the treats.

"Least I ain't feedin' him spaghetti."

From the tone of his voice, there's a story there.

"Depends on how many carrots you feed him a day," she returns the serve, pointing a finger to accentuate her point.

We'll forget the way her hand sneaks into her pocket then, producing three of the aforementioned sugar cubes.

(What, did you think it was just coincidence that the animals were all behaving so well with her this morning?)

She tries to hold Doc's gaze long enough to sneak them under Nova's muzzle, but the smirk growing at her lips will no doubt give her away.

She arches a curious eyebrow.

"Spaghetti?"

And the way his horse suddenly nibbles at something in her open palm.

"Billy's horse eats spaghetti."

Doc shrugs and then glances over at the black gelding (who still needs a name) and considers, then returns his attention back to her.

"You still up for that ride?"

"You mean, of all the things, that story is one of the true ones?" she asks, a mildly horrified look on her face.

Accompanied by a highly amused smile.

She shakes her head, rubbing Nova's muzzle affectionately when the ~~secret~~ sugar is gone.

"You sure you still trust me with this fella?" she asks, just once more to make sure. There's nuzzling from Nova's end, as he insistently seeks out more affection from the lady with the treats.

"Well he obviously don't mind you," he points out, but he nods easily. "Yeah, I do. He saddles easy, unless you want help?"

Doc's giving her the option to do it herself if she'd like.

This is obviously a Big Step.

A Big Step, indeed. Therefore, Katherine tries her best to rein in the amused little smirk tugging at her lips.

"I think I can manage. 'Sides, you have your own fella to worry about," she points out, looking over his shoulder to where the black gelding is stabled. He looks right back, ears twitching,

"Alright, then," he nods, and then motions for her to follow him. The tack room is full of various saddles, reins, bits and bridles, blankets and various other pieces. Each storage 'place' is labeled with either the owner's name or that of the horse or beast it matches up to.

(This is so Doc can see who is out, when, and keep track of things a bit easier and tell at a glance who else might be around.)

"His is down at this near end," he points out, before he heads deeper into the room (it's a pretty good sized room, too, with the amount of stock they have it's necessary) to pull his own gear.

He gets another raised eyebrow as she peers around at the efficient organization of the room, smile still tugging at her mouth. But she doesn't comment on it. She simply nods, once, and moves to get her gear.

Doc wasn't kidding; Nova is an absolute gentleman when it comes to saddling him up. In short order, she has him brushed, saddled, and reined, talking to the animal gently the entire time, getting to know his personality and body language.

"You about ready, Scurlock?" she calls, giving each belt and clasp one more thorough once over before she mounts.

Obviously, someone spent a lot of time out here organizing. Doc needed something to do while she was gone, after all. That was a long time.

The black gelding is quite used to being saddled and reined, probably thanks to a well trained page, and even if he does have a bit of an attitude when it comes to actually being ridden.

(Which explains why Doc pauses just long enough to pull a pair of dull spurs on, before he scribbles something down on the desk's logbook, then walks over to the gelding again.)

"Now you treat her right," he warns his horse, needlessly, before he checks the straps on the gelding and then hauls himself up into the saddle. The horse sidesteps and tosses his head a little, impatiently, but Doc doesn't pay him much mind.

It feels weird to see Nova saddled and being ridden by someone that's not himself, but it doesn't bother him. He nods.

"You follow me?"

It is weird. Katherine's still-gloved hands are light on the reins, but she still has them double-wrapped, to be sure she has that needed control. She's sitting very proper, but she's not overly tense. Just aware.

She nods in return, giving him the go ahead to take the lead. But before she starts out, she leans forward in her saddle to stroke Nova's beautiful neck, whispering surreptitiously in his velvety ear.

Almost in understanding, or perhaps agreement, he nickers quietly, stamping his foreleg twice. And Katherine smiles.

Doc doesn't notice the secret-sharing going on behind him, as he leads the gelding out of the stables and towards the path that will lead them towards the mountains.

Horse still needs a name, but he's got an idea floating around in his head, now.

The path on this part of the trail is wide and flat, and easy enough for her to come along side him if she'd like to. Nova's used to running in a pack, the gelding not so much, but he's got the reins held firm just in case he decides to try and start something.

"This fella's used t'bein' the only horse for miles, I think," he comments, idly, tossing the words back to her as he tilts his head.

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