Demetri Learns the Trade [Private|Demetri]

[Aesha]

Bright and early after the previous nights meeting in the White Dragon, Starlin was up and about and awaiting the arrival of his brand new protégé, Demetri. The pair had enjoyed a pleasant meal and conversation in the tavern last night, as this morning's preparations were the result of that.

The establishment was not yet fully awake, and certainly no customers were around. The current bustle in Leaps and Bounds consisted of stablehands running around in an attempt to feed and water the horses in stock and to clear the place up, trying to make it look presentable before the first potential buyers arrived. Starlin looked around at them, surveying his empire with satisfactory nod of the head before absently stroking the nose of the horse he was standing next to.

He was dressed back in his overalls again, plain breeches and shirt underneath, with good stout leather work boots on his feet. No-one worked in the stables for very long before they discovered that overalls were a rather handy invention.

Occasionally, his swiveled his head and glanced at the door way, looking for any sign of Demetri's presence in the barn.

[Demetri Valentine]

Demetri's eyes were big and bright, as he stepped his way towards the market place; heading for the Leaps stable. He was whistling a merry tune while he trotted, the lone Outlander remembered to not bring any unecessary gear; such as his shortsword. For once, the human was unarmed, and ready to heave some horse dung.

He finally reached the stables, and could see Starlin waiting for him as he approached the building, and as the Valentine reached him, he spoke proudly, "G'mornin', Starlin. Trust you have some extra overalls laying around somewhere? I needn't get horse debris all over my travelling clothes!" He smiled as he crossed his arms in front of his broad chest, and surveyed the stable boys working frantically all around.

No one appeared to come to the stables this early, so it was perfect timing to learn some foundations for horse care. No doubt Evie would be teaching him, the young girl Demetri heard of at Pracenda last night. She appeared to be the topic of interest, to both Demetri and Starlin, so it would be quite interesting indeed to meet her in person.

[Aesha]

Starlin waved Demetri over with a grin as he saw the man enter the building, pleased to see him again after what had transpired the night before. Other than that, Starlin was quite looking forward to pass on the business aspect of running the stables to someone, it was something that Evie had little interest in, his daughter prefering to tend to the horses rather than mess around with figures.

"Serale, Demetri, glad to see you made it. Get in a good night's sleep last night? You're going to need it today, let me tell you."

He nodded at the mention of overalls, plucking a loose wisp of straw from his own as he did so.

"Sure, can't do without 'em in the business. Follow me and we'll see if there's a pair around that'll fit you."

With a beckoning motion, Starlin led Demetri right through the stables to the opposite end of the barn. He opened a door, that led into a small side room, that served as one of the many storage areas the stables had. This particualar housed, not surprsingly, overalls, and a few other odd bits of clothing and cloth. Picking up a pair out of a crate, Starlin held them up, examined them critically, and then looked at Demetri.

"Hmmm... these look like they'll do. Why don't you try 'em on? If they don't fit, have a root around until you find a better pair." He gave a nod. "I'm just gonna go and find Evie while you do. Won't be long."

Leaving Demetri to try on the uniform of the stablehand, Starlin headed out, in search of his daughter.

[Demetri Valentine]

Smiling as Starlin waved the curious Demetri to his side, only joy could be conjured. At the mention of a good sleep, the Outlander had knew he didn't sleep that much due to anxiety. He wanted to get started so early that sleep would not heed. Starlin's glimmering eye met Demetri's, and with a hearty introduction, the Human quickly replied back,

"G'mornin, Starlin. Yes; a good enough sleep. Shan't be falling into a deep sleep while I'm working, so don't you worry!" He grinned, showing off the pearly whites.

Starlin led Demetri through the series of stalls and room that eventually came to a small storage room. The Valentine could instantly tell it was used much for good use; all materials were lying about the room, some hung up, some in crates. Glancing to the friendly man that picked out a set of overalls that seemed to be an alright size.

"Ah, thank you. Just what I need really, I'm sure they'll fit fine sir." Demetri replied, taking the attire from Starlin and beginning to untie his leather boot straps.

After careful stripping of any obstacles that would get in the way of putting on the coveralls, Demetri shoved each of his broad legs into the holes and arms throughout; like any other would. Re-tieing his leathers up, he wiped off any access dust or hay and examined himself thoroughly - he appeared to look like he had when he was working at his own family farm.

Standing around blankly, Demetri waited silently for Starlin to return with Evie, and continued to stare around the small room at objects of slight interest.

[Aesha]

Objects of slight interest were indeed, all that adorned the small store room. Wooden crates had been left on the floor in a ramshackle fashion, and shelfs had been affixed to the walls of the room that held various rags and such for a numerous amount of jobs that the stables entailed.

Once Demetri had kitted himself out in the brand new shiny pair of overalls provided by Starlin, he only had to wait a few moments more before her heard two pair of footsteps walking in his direction - presumably the owner and his daughter, Evie.

A head peeked around the door, framed by a few wisps of blonde hair. Blue eyes blinked at Demetri, peering out from the slightly pale-skinned face of Evie. She gave the man a grin, and nodded at his new attire.

"Ahhh, they suit you. Really."

She chuckled, and bounded into the storeroom, revealing her overalls of a similar design, though they were off a small size, but still baggy on her slim form. An undyed linen blouse could been seen underneath her workwear, and brown, heavy-duty work boots adorned her feet. The rest of her blonde hair had been tied up into a pony tail, but the few wispy strands around her face remained, too short to stay tied very long.

She stuck out a hand for Demetri to shake, the other placed on her hip in a casual fashion as she did so. Footsteps outside the door again suggested Starlin had wandered off somewhere to leave the pair to get aquainted.

"Demetri, right? Serale! I'm sure you've already heard lots about me." Evie rolled her eyes, creating an expression that suggested she thought that her father overdid his praise just a tad too much.

[Demetri Valentine]

Demetri's wandering eyes skipped around the small room spotting the various objects that would ensue a thriving horse shelter. On his mind; nothing to really take care of. I wonder how hard this job will be? and Wonder what Evie looks like... flooded his mind. There wasn't much to ponder while standing in coveralls in a room filled with hay splattered this and thats; other then How stupid do I look right now?.

The sound of footsteps grew behind him as his back was turned to the doorway. Shifting around quickly, he met the eyes of the Evie-in-Question. Her blonde wisps of hair were in perfect contrast to her shining blue eyes that rivaled Demetri's sapphire orbs. He quickly noticed the girl was nodding in the direction of the clothes he was suited; and came to be a bit uncomfortable at the idea of being checked out. Shes just going to stare? he thought, and then she finally spoke, with a simple compliment of attire. Well, thats better! he grinned at his own thoughts, and then replied quickly, "Well, thanks I spose. I've wore such a thing before... maybe thats why they suit." He said, his cheeks blushing slightly.

Glancing at Evie as she revealed the rest of her slender self, Demetri gave a quick look of his own, Lets see here... he smiled at his evil ways. She appeared to be a scale-model working girl, dressed in that of a farmer's daughter. She looked quite the same as Demetri, which was quite a relief all itself, so he could quickly shrug off any embarrassment. Evie stuck out her small ill-tanned hand to Demetri's, and he quickly accepted the gesture by throwing his own broad hand out and grasped hers firmly. Seems nice... soft hands too! he joked to himself, as he shook the girls hand up and down. Starlin appeared to be off somewhere else; as footsteps could be heard elsewhere the room, leaving the two to get aquainted. What a 'coincidence'. Leave me to meet the girl, eh Starlin? Demetri thought, dropping his hand to his side after the finished hand shake.

Evie had already known his name; due to Starlin of course. She even suggested that the Outlander knew much about her... which was partially true, but that only made for good knowledge of character. Replying to her intro, he said casually, "G'mornin, aye, I'm Demetri, you must be Evie, the wonderful daughter of old Starlin! Hes a great man he is, and apparently your a great daughter too, as hes said. Only good things though, no worries!" He joked to her, and then further introduced himself. "Demetri Valentine, at your service... I think. I'm here to learn from you and your father, hes allowed me to learn some horse care and management skills; I'm quite intrigued from the whole thing! I'm only going to be here for a couple days though, I have to take off to Vers, and then back up to Candaceburg for the tournament. Quite a trek, but I don't really know when I'll be back to Abestat, so I hope I can learn much in the short time I have!" He said, sighing at the fact he had to leave Abestat; it being a real founding home for him.

[Aesha]

Evie shook Demetri's hand in a whole-hearted fashion, grinning all the while. She reached out and plucked at the man's overalls slightly, in a teasing fashion.

"Worn them before? Huh, used to work on a farm, right? Or... perhaps you were just a painter and decorator. Anyway, if you've done this type of thing before... well, doesn't hurt to go over the basics again." Evie seemed to rather like making all the new recruits do the dirty work, though she was well aware that Demetri was an exception, since he had actually paid to learn.

Evie actually blushed slightly and studied the floor momentarily as Demetri retold the praise that Starlin had sung the previous night. Despite her reaction, she tried to ignore it by suddenly mandhandling Demetri out of the door into the main area of the stables. Tugging him by the arm, she looked around, wondering just where to start as she replied to his latter part of their conversation.

"Well, I'll do my best to teach you what I can in those two days. Are you fighting in the tournament? I'd looooooove to go and watch it!"

[Demetri Valentine]

Demetri was plucked; that was all that could be said.

Being talked to and unable to respond fast enough, the Outlander felt himself being pushed out the door he had just entered, and out into the belly of the stables. Evie seemed to like taking control; or so it seemed. She also seemed to blush wildly at the mentioning of sung praise, which was interesting all in itself.

Grinning at her obvious energy and ability to make light of any situation, Demetri heard her respond with a many quick sayings, and tried to get his words in, "Ah, yes, a couple of days. It might be three, but we'll see." He paused and thought over her next question about fighting in the tournement. "Well, I wouldn't call it fighting persay, but I will be participating, yes, with the Hoplites. We need to raise money for our efforts to start the faction, and the rest I won't even bother to bore you with." He smiled, and nudged the girl in a playful fashion. "If you'd loooove to go, why don't you head down? It should be pretty exciting, what with all the challenges and events... I'm sure many people will be flooding to Candaceburg as tourists. It was a good idea to have such a contest!" Which was true; the contest would attract many tourists and newcomers, some might even find homes to stay if all went right. Candaceburg is said to be a fine town indeed; but to Demetri, Abestat and Demios beat it by a long shot.

Glancing around the stables, he asked Evie kindly, "Well, where should we start? Daily chores..? Feeding the animals..? Cleaning up hay..? Filling wat... Ahh, I'm rambling..." He stopped himself, wincing comically at his most likely annoying speaking.

[Aesha]

Evie seemed surprised that Demetri even mentioned the idea of heading down to Candaceburg for the tournament. The answer seemed quite obvious to her, but she enlightened the man as to why she couldn't go anyway.

"Don't be silly. I have to look after the stables. Pa's always away with the books all the time, and if no one keeps an eye on the stablehands one of 'em'll end up being gored or something." By her tone it was clear that Evie didn't think much of the current staff at Leaps and Bounds. "I mean. We've been so short handed lately that Pa'll just hire the first person through the door. Half of 'em ain't even trained properly yet."

She stopped, aware that Demetri probably didn't want to hear any more, and that talking about the incompetance of the staff was never a good way to advertise a business, even though Demetri was now, techincally, one of them, if only for a short time.

"Annnnnyway, I should think that feeding the horses is a daily chore, hmm? But you're right. You get to start right at the bottom!" It was quite, quite obvious that Evie found amusement in that, particularly in the nochalant way she tucked a piece of blonde hair behind her ear whilst trying to hide a smirk.

"In any case, the first I'm going to do is show you where we keep all the tools and what we use them for. Which is pretty obvious, but whatever."

Tugging at Demetri's overalls again, the girl beckoned him to follow her through the stables, and out a back entrance into a large yard that held various wooden constructed sheds. In the middle of the place stood a large, stone well surrounded by several buckets, and over to one side stood several compost heaps, which smelt rather... bad.

"This is where we keep everything. It's convieniant, 'cos it's right next to the well so it's easy to clean the tools off when they've been used. And uh... they will need cleaning after you're done."

She continued her journey over to one of the wooden structures, and pulled the shed door open. Peering inside, she pulled out a shovel and wordlessly handed it to Demetri. She then disappeared inside completely, and momentarily appeared again wheeling a wheelbarrow in front of her.

"The shovel is for shovelling, the wheelbarrowing is for shovelling stuff into, and um, wheeling. Guess what you're going to be doing next?

[Demetri Valentine]

Quickly realizing the idioicy in asking why Evie doesn't go to the tournement, Demetri imaginably slapped himself in the head and remembered. He laughed for a short moment at Evie's thoughts on the Stablehands, and hoped he wouldn't turn out to be one of those slack workers.

Eee... sounds like she doesn't like non-hard workers. Suspect I can 'put up the bar'...

He thought, grinning slightly. Then he recalled how Evie said, Pa'll just hire the first person through the door. Half of 'em ain't even trained properly yet Was Demetri one of those 'first persons through the doors's'? In any case, the training was beginning and he had to focus quite diligently, being one of the part-time staff now.

Demetri listened as Evie preached the starting chores. Apparently feeding the horses was and is a daily chore, the Outlander must have said something otherwise stupid to think otherwise. Evie pranced around happily speaking of 'bottoms' and hiding obvious smirks that were quite intriguing. Demetri stood speechless as she informed him about seeing the tools first, which would be quite a help indeed. She tucked somewhat playfully but again, intriguingly at Demetri's coveralls, beckoning him over through the stables and out a back door. A calming breeze set itself onto Demetri's face for a moment, and then a thorough infulx of smelly reserves snared his nostrils, showing what being a stablehand is all about.

He glanced about the area, following the pretty Evie, clad in coveralls, who was turning here and there between buildings, and then to a wooden shack. A shovel came into Demetri's broad hands, and he quickly handeled it around and to his shoulder. Creeping out of the darkness which Evie enveloped herself in, a wheelbarrow's bow started to show, and then was in full light. Demetri sighing in a joking matter and heard Evie's next question like a ringing bell.

"Guess? Hmm... well, I'd have to say we're going to go to a cavern full of glory and riches, and I'll shovel them carefully into your wheelbarrow here, and then we'll make off with the treasure to the Demiosian Isle's! I'm right aren't I?" He smirked, and tapped the wheelbarrow with the shovel, "So, where are the 'orses then?" He smiled, knowing that the only thing that was going to be filling that wheelbarrow was either feed or horse... debris.

[Aesha]

Evie grinned at the answer Demetri gave, before turning to shut the shed door, and ushering him inside the stables again.

"Well, that was close..." She wheeled the wheelbarrow expertly along the floor of the stables, watching out for any inconsistances in the flooring that might cause the container to jump or go off course. "And well, here's the horses."

She stopped, and waved her hands in the air in front of her in a grand gesture that took in most of the left side of the stables. From end to end were the stalls that the horses for sale were kept in, and even more where on the opposite them, having been built into the centre of the barn itself.

"Luckily for you, we've just had a sale. The first thing to learn..." Evie adopted a stern, authoritive pose, obviously trying to immitate her father, which was particularly noticable by the deep, gruff voice she put on "... is keeping the living area clean! 'A clean horse is a happy horse, and a happy horse is a quick sale'."

Evie then resumed her usual, relaxed stance accompanied by a slight giggle. She then extended a slightly calloused finger and pointed to a vacant stall that was quite obviously in need of a clean, certainly judging by the smell.

"Right. Dung. And lots of it. Just shovel it all up into the wheelbarrow then we'll get fresh hay, feed and water for the new arrival. There's a good boy."

She reached up and gave Demetri a friendly, yet slightly patronising in a good natured way, pat on the head, with a grin the showed up quite a few of her freckles.

[Demetri Valentine]

Demetri followed the pretty Evie through the stables, moving with the wheelbarrow where it swayed to dodge rocks and holes that would knock the cart over. The young stableman nodded his head at Evie's word of sighting the horses, and instantly his nose was fluxed with the fragrance of old times. The smell of dirt, waste, and good ol' animals filled his nostrils, giving him flashbacks of his home and where he used to work with such animals.

He watched where the girl's big gesture spanned, and quickly gazing over the scene Demetri tightened his grip on the shovel-in-hand, and placed it tipped to his shoulder. Laughing at the young girl's imitation of her father, the Outlander replied quickly to her little joke, "Aha, that was a good one, but your ol' pa is too right." He smiled, and had a sudden glint in his eye.

Demetri had a strong sense of respect for Starlin, a caring father and husband, and an all around good friend. Especially after giving him a sudden cheap training with such a pretty lass such as Evie! What luck the human found himself in, to meet a good fellow, a strangely ravishing girl; clad in coveralls, and good training in the form of business management and horsecare!

After thinking for a bit about what posistion he was in socially, Demetri came back to reality to find himself ready to sling dung. "Aye, I understand of course! From point A..." He pointed to the dung infested stall, "To point B..." and then back to the wheelbarrow which sat nearby.

Questioning the young lady politely in a playful fashion, Demetri asked, "Now, will you be accompanying me with this lovely task m'lady?" He smiled, and nudged Evie lightly.

Gripping his shovel he headed into the stall, and began to survey his options. Figuring it was the smarter idea to shovel all the waste in the back more to the front, the human started at the back, heaving large heavy piles of horse excrement just before the wheelbarrow.

[Aesha]

Evie giggled at the comment in a surprisingly girlish fashion, which was somewhat balanced by the returning nudge she gave Demetri in jest.

"Absolutely not! I, of course, have to oversee your work and make sure you're doing it in a correct and proper fashion." The tinge of a mock upper class accent appeared in her lilting tones, though how anyone could shovel manure in a wrong way was anyone's guess.

As Demetri got on with the task in hand, Evie just sort of abled about the stables in a casual manner, occasionally returning to the stall to see how the progress of her student of sorts was going. Whilst she wasn't paying him attention, she was more often than not running after stablehands. In the distance, Starlin could be seen too, showing off a speciman to a potential customer, though he was too far away for words to be heard, especially above the every day din of the stables.

Once Demmy was almost finished with the task, Evie began to hang around in his vicinity a little more often. Eventually, when the floor of the stable had been cleared, she inquired into whether he was finished or not, even though it was pretty clear there wasn't a lot else to be done.

"Are you done yet? Me ma could do that faster'n you!" She giggled, and gave Demetri a cheeky wink as she surveyed his handiwork.

[Demetri Valentine]

Evie's words ringed in Demetri's human ears for a moment then faded as she ran out the stall door, and up and down the halls of the stable. She appeared to have just as much work as Demetri did, if not more, and that would keep her busy long enough, it seemed, for Demetri to finish up the stall.

She returned occasionaly, prying her eyes into the manure-heaving, sweaty face of Demetri, watching over his work. The Outlander soon came accustomed to these prying eyes and began to always have his back turned to Evie, and rear in the air in a joking fashion. Of course, he hoped the girl would get the joke.

Heh, I hope she gets this joke... Wonder if she get unescabebly attracted to my butt, and then want to oversee my work all the time?

Demetri thought, chuckling to himself while he heaved the piles away.

The stall appeared just about clean, as the human was cleaning up a couple corners here and there, while a few random pieces of hay lay about the dirt laden floor. Evie flew into the stall area as she was expected to do, and questioned Demetri's work. With a tone that would only appear humorous to Demetri, he replied to the girl with his own humor,

"Am I done yet? Are you done looking at my backside every couple of minutes?!" He laughed, and propped the shovel on the wall for a moment, then spoke further, "I'm pretty much done here. What else do you want done oh, commandress-of-work?" He winked back, his arms crossed behind his head in a resting fashion.