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Steve came to Milliways on purpose this time.

He's outside by the lake, sitting on a rock near the shore. (in the back of his mind, it may be because he has no desire to run into the vampire again.) He's working on preliminary sketches for three different drawings, and singing to himself in a passable baritone.

The first is an oceanscape--the Pacific Ocean on a fine day, the waves rolling to a nearly empty beach. Only one dark-haired figure is one the shore.

The second is a play on one of the Captain America trading cards, with YOU CAN DO IT written at the top in large, friendly letters.

The third, his current project, is of a young man playing guitar. It's the most intense of them all, with dark lines and negative space. The musician's expression is as focused as Steve's.

As he draws, Steve sings under his breath, "'Night and day, you are the one, only you beneath the moon and under the sun...in the roaring traffic's boom or the silence of my lonely room, I think of you...night and day...'"

[ooc: Open all day, though I will be in and out periodically.]

[tiny tag: the Huntsman]

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Tequila is of a less talk more treats mood, and goes to nudge Steve in the shoulder.

"Here -- " Sallie hands over a couple sugar cubes. "I'll go get his things for you. Make friends."

Steve feeds a sugar cube to Tequila, rubbing the horse's head with his other hand. "We're going to be friends, aren't we?" he says quietly. "Yeah, I think we are."

There's something that is always rewarding about showing a beginning rider the ropes. Everyone should have this sort of thing in their lives, Sallie has thought - and she gets to show it to them. All the better.

Sallie comes back with the saddle and tack in her arms, dumping it sort of unceremoniously on a beam next to the stall. She attaches the lead to bring Tequila out of his stall and shows Steve quickly how everything straps together once she hands him the lead to keep Tequila there.

"...And if you want, I got a block you can use to get up."

Steve pays close attention to how to do the tackle, and then nods. "I think the block would be good until I get the hang of this."

Which won't take long.

"Sure - just let me sign out a ride o' my own."

Sallie quickly chooses a grey dapple pony to saddle up, and finds the block for Steve.

For all her lack of height, Sallie doesn't use one.

Steve grips the pommel, climbs onto the block, takes a deep breath, and swings into the saddle.

He probably won't even fall off.

Tequila doesn't even flinch - just readjusts with the new weight, waiting for instruction.

"None too shabby. How're you feelin'?"

"Like a cowboy," Steve says, looking around with genuine pleasure. He strokes Tequila's mane.

Aww!

"I could let you loose, let you hog-tie somethin'."

Terribly serious.

"I should should probably learn how to stop and start first."

"He's not a car," Sallie laughs, "but the idea's the same. Tequila'll follow me if I'm out in front, but if you are, you ease in with your heels and he'll feel it. Give it a go and I'll follow you for a bit."

Steve does as he's told, and beams when Tequila starts off at an easy canter.

When Sallie follows as they make their way in a lazy circle around the paddock outside the stables, Sallie takes a slightly different path so that she's just behind and inside to Tequila's left.

"Alright, now -- stoppin'. Don't yank back on those reins, but with the reins and your heels, gently pull in low to your center -- "

Steve gently pulls, and Tequila stops. Steve pats his neck proudly.

"That feels like a good beginning," he says to Sallie.

"Doin' better than a fair few of the people I've taught in the past. Maybe you missed your callin' a little."

"The experiment improved more than my body," Steve says casually. "My memory, for instance. I learn things faster than ever."

He was never a dim study. He feels ravenous for knowledge, now.

"But it would have been neat to be a cowboy."

"Maybe for a while. Full-time cowboy work is not all that glamorous Steve."

It's a lot of cold, and eating alone on a mountainside somewhere. From what she gleaned from Ennis and Jack, anyway.

"Do you want to go out on a trail, or take a few more turns around here?"

"Very few things are," Steve observes.

"Let's try a trail. I'd love to see more of the -- whatever you call this." He gestures with his arm to include the entirety of the grounds of Milliways. "Back yard?"

"I call it the lakeside. Backyard works too."

Sallie swings down off of her mount to open the gate for both Steve and herself, locking up behind them and picking a random direction to head off towards. The trail widens eventually that they can ride side by side, but Sallie stays in front for the moment unless Steve chooses to move - guiding and all.

Steve follows without protest, taking in the forest around them.

It's not long before he's humming again, a happier song than earlier.

"You're just...a picture of idyllic."

Which somehow sounds complimentary.

Steve laughs. "I'm having a good time."

"Ain't a thing wrong with that."

The next fifteen minutes or so is quiet, since sometimes the best thing about a ride is that quiet -- but Sallie pulls off the outline of the trail for a minute to brush right up to the shore of the lake and dismounts.

"I wanted to stop here to show you all the divergent trails," she explains, pointing to the path towards the mountains, several less-used trails towards the deeper, darker areas of the forest.

Steve dismounts too, less clumsily than you'd expect, and peers at the trails. "What's down there?" he asks, pointing at the darker trail.

Sallie shrugs meaningfully.

"You can find out if you'd like.

"Not on my son's horse, though."