The Preserve; Saturday Morning [05/27].

[pun_king]

The day had finally come! The stars had aligned, and Graham was finally taking Belle out to the preserve so she could see Triumph's favorite rock!

It was a pretty good rock, after all, no one could really blame him for deciding that was his favorite, but they'll get to that when they arrived!

Which might take a little longer than normal, because they were making it there on foot, all three of them, because Belle had expressed that she'd like to walk, and Graham wasn't about to ride when a lady was walking, and Triumph was occasionally letting out confused little squeaks about the fact that they were walking when there he was, a perfectly good mount, that no one was riding, what was even the point?

So with another apologetic smile toward Triumph and a rub of his head between his ears, as they started down a little decline that wound around a tree, Graham looked over at Belle and risked sounding unbearably repetative as he asked her, again, "Are you sure you don't want a ride? We do have him, after all; it's sort of what he does."

[[ Graham's obviously here with the decorously modded book work, but the post is most certainly open for all your preserve needs! ]]

Comments

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"It hardly seems fair to ride while you walk," Belle said. "Perhaps I'll be tired on the way back?"

Or perhaps Triumph would make a sad enough noise to make her give in.

[pun_king]

Triumph did let out what definitely was a disappointed sigh at this response, so perhaps not sad enough, but the wag of his head hopefully added something to it, as well.

"No need to be more tired than you need to be," Graham pointed out. "Save that energy for exploring! Triumph can carry both of us, you know; he is a mighty steed, after all."

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"Oh, I would never want to imply otherwise," Belle said hurriedly. "Of course he could carry us both!"

[pun_king]

"Then why not, then?" asked Graham, shrugging his shoulders a little, before leaning a little more toward Belle to drop his voice into a conspiratorial whisper: "He does like to feel helpful, after all. It'll be good for his confidence! Although, this was, he can at least still clear out a pretty good path in front of us."

[noonedecidesmyfate]

Belle nodded very seriously.

"Well, if it will help Triumph to feel more included in this excursion..." She smiled over at Graham. "Perhaps I should take him up on his very generous offer to carry us both!"

[pun_king]

"It will get us to the rock faster, too," Graham offered, as an extra incentive, "if he's not having to slow down his own pace to keep up with us two puttering humans! Well, then!"

With this, his own grin eager and pleased by this decision, he stopped for a moment and put his thumb and his forefinger between his lips to help him let out a rallying whistle, one in which Triumph responded to with an excited little serious of short squeal and his ears perking up. Triumph stopped as well, his tiny little psuedo-hooved-webbed feet prancing on the ground a few times before finally settling in a firm and noble position, his head held high, his back clearly ready to take on a passenger or two. At this excellent form, Graham smiled proudly, fondly, at his might mount before turning to Belle and gesturing an arm toward Triumph, which swept into a bow.

"After you, then, my lady!" he announced, and, when he straightened, offered his hand out so that Belle could use it if she needed it. "Your grand stallion awaits!"

There was a little bit of a wiggle from Triumph at that, as if to call attention to the fact that that was him. He was the grand stallion, and it was nice to have that recognized on occasion!

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"Why thank you, Triumph," Belle said as she patted his side. "And thank you Graham," she added as she took his hand to help herself climb up to Triumph's back.

"I've never had such a grand mount!"

[pun_king]

Don't mind the few happy little squeaks Triumph trumpeted at such high (and clearly very true!) praise, and Graham had to chuckle a little. He always wanted to tell Belle to reel in a little, lest Triumph get so big a head that he'd be unable to move forward, but it was probably too late for that. And besides, what she said was only true, right?

And once she seemed settled, Graham joined her, hopping up with the expert ease of someone who'd done this millions of times before, even with the added challenge of making sure he didn't kick Belle or anything when he swung his legs over and settled in behind her, and gave Triumph the faintest nudge with his heels to get him started forward.

"And off we go!" he declared. "You'll see, Belle. Travel by Triumph is definitely the superior way to travel through the preserve! At least until we get to the rock, anyway."

[noonedecidesmyfate]

Everything Belle said about Triumph was true. He was a very impressive steed and she'd never ridden anything like him. She patted him firmly once she was settled and turned to grin at Graham.

"I'm looking forward to the ride. And to the rock I've heard so much about!"

[pun_king]

"Oh, it's great," said Graham, with enthusiasm, and an excited grin for the chance to not only show her, but just to see it for himself again, as Triumph made careful little eager steps of his own, rooting expertly through the brush and foliage as he pranced along. "You're going to love it. You can really see why it's his favorite. There's even a little jagged part, on the side, that's just the right height for him to scratch his shoulders on, and he could spend practically all day scratching his shoulders!"

A pause.

"He won't," he felt it necessary to add, "because we have much more exploring to do, but he definitely would if he could!"

And Graham might have taken advantage for his own back a few times, too!

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"Triumph, you've only to ask if you need help with an itch. I would be happy to assist you with a good scratch if you need it!"

"Especially," she added, "since you've been so kind to give us a ride to your very favorite rock on the island and points beyond."

[pun_king]

To that, Triumph let out a series of little questioning chirps and squeaks and Graham laughed.

"He's asked if you could actually just get the spot right at the bottom of his neck for him right now, then," he translated, helpfully.

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"Of course," Belle said before getting right to scratching at what she hoped was the right spot.

"Would you care to tell me how you found this wonderful rock?"

[pun_king]

The pleased little chirps from Triumph as he continued to trundle along was probably a good indication that, yes, yes she had.

And Belle might have felt the little shrug from Graham behind her. "Just by exploring, really!" he said. "It wasn't long after we first got here, and I was trying to give it a nudge, you know, to move it, in case there was any hidden treasure or maybe a secret item underneath it. You always hear about stuff like that, you know, rocks with useful things underneath them. If not rocks, then sometimes stumps, or maybe holes in trees or in between roots...but, anyway, I tried to move it, but it wouldn't budge, and Triumph even helped, and then nothing. And then he just coming back around to it whenever we were out here, and we'd sit for a bit, and that's when I realized, 'Zounds, he must really like this rock!' And the rest? Well. The rest is history, really!"

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"Does that happen often where you're from?" Belle asked, glancing back over her shoulder at Graham. "Finding treasures under rocks? I've only heard of such things in the stories I would read."

Of course, Belle had also traveled by magic bean and had fled a land engaged in a generations-long war against ogres so she really couldn't talk.

"Have you and Triumph found any treasures besides his favorite rock?"

Obviously the rock counted as a treasure even if it wasn't hidden.

[pun_king]

Graham had, unfortunately, not had the opportunity to encounter any magic beans yet, but some day! Not that he knew that, but it was kind of funny that they'd have that in common!

And, naturally, in an echo of the narrative, Graham grinned a little and told her, "No, not under it. It turns out that the treasure was the rocks we found along the way!

"Occasionally," he added, "I'd find little things like acorns and arrowheads and bitterroot under rocks back home, but no treasure. Yet. But you'll never find it if you don't even bother looking!"

[noonedecidesmyfate]

Graham had plenty of jelly beans though! Those were almost like magic.

"Some rocks are treasures," Belle said agreeably. "I hope you discover something else soon on one of your adventures, Graham. Perhaps we'll find something today?"

Probably just the Favorite Rock.