Victorian Vampire Boyfriend |MxM|

Chapter 5

Horses are... bigger than Orsino expected. He's never seen one in real life before this and though he's seen them in photos and movies and such, somehow it never quite translated that that his shoulders only reach a horses back.

He flounders in front of the creature that the stable hand leads out. Darling is already standing by a glossy black mare stroking it's snout and feeding it snacks, with an adorable little smile. But Orsino has no clue what to do with the chestnut horse stomping it's hooves before him. It's already been saddled and bridled. He knows he's supposed to get on it...somehow, but it just seems so alive. He doesn't want to invade it's space.

The stable hand walks over to give Orsino the reins and he just kind of holds them in his hands, blankly. This catches Darling's eye.

"Jimmy, take my reins a moment!" He trots over cane swinging by his side, "Apologies, I become very easily caught up in my own excitement when it comes to riding. I'd forgotten you haven't done this before."

"It's okay, I just don't know where to start," Orsino shuffles a bit on his feet feeling as restless as the horse now in his care.

"Right, where to start, where to start?" he considers, tapping his chin. "Oh, obviously you should get to know her first!" He takes the reigns from Orsino and coaxes the horse over. "Here, she won't mind if you touch her." He gestures for Orsino to pet her head. Tentatively, Orsino reaches out stroking the snout, letting out a gasp when it turns out to be velvet soft. She lets out a snort under his hand. Darling smiles at him, "Her name is Toast."

Orsino laughs continuing to pet her, "What, seriously?"

"Yes, I named her myself, actually her full name is Toasted Rye," grins Darling. Orsino tries not to think about those smiling lips against the maid's neck. "Are you ready to try and mount?"

Orsino gives his head a little shake to try and focus up, "Um, sure. How do I...?"

"Yes, what you're going to do is," Darling walks the two of them over to Toast's side, "put one foot in the stirrup and then swing the other leg over as you push up, and you hold onto the saddle for support. Normally you'd also hold the reins as you do this, but I'll hold them for now, to give you one less aspect to worry about."

"Oh, okay," cautiously Orsino approaches, grabbing hold of either end of the saddle and looking to Darling for confirmation. When he nods, encouragingly, Orsino continues. Tries not to let the approval make his heart swell, "Foot in the... stirrup."

"No, no other way!" calls out Darling.

"Ah!" Orsino tries again, "Foot in the stirrup... then push up and... hup, swing over." He press up with his foot raised, but doesn't quite build up enough momentum and he hisses as he slides back down. Quickly, Darling comes to his side and catches his hip with one hand supporting him as Orsino stumbles, one-footed on the ground again. He flushes in Darling's half-embrace. "Sorry."

"No, no, it's quite alright, you just need a bit more momentum. Give it another try!" Darling's breath, for a moment, is hot on his ear before he steps away again.

Orsino ducks his head, hoping it looks like a nod, before pushing up again, adding a little bit of a hop with his other leg. With a swish his other leg has made it over, and he's sitting solid in the saddle. He blinks. "Oh, I did it!"

"Excellently done! We'll make a rider out of you yet!" Darling hands Orsino's reins up to him and then walks over to his own horse mounting smoothly, but with his back to the horse, probably on account of his leg. With his cane tucked under his arm he nudges his horse forward, to come up beside Orsino and Toast.

"So, uh, what do I do now?"

"First we must fix your posture. Back straight, head forward, heels down. And then you hold the reins like so," Darling demonstrates, looking noble on the back of his black horse, silhouetted by the cloudy sky. Orsino does his best to imitate without feeling clumsy in comparison, but it isn't easy. "If you ever are surprised or unbalanced, stay low and close to her back, and don't shout. Horses are spooked very easily." Eventually, Darling is satisfied with Orsino's attempts and shows him how to coax Toast forward with a click of the tongue and a tap of the heel.

Soon the two of them are trotting around the grounds, not as beautiful as when the sun was out-- the sky continues to darken with more clouds-- but Darling seems to grow more and more chipper as they ride through the greenery.

"What a lovely day, I usually don't get so much fresh air, like this," remarks Darling, "We'll soon lose the last vestiges of the lush summer, but alas. The woods will look gorgeous in fall garb." He nods over to the treeline to their right. "Perhaps, I'll go on some rides through the forest when the leaves have changed, it's usually quite nice, you could join me if you don't mind making the trip over from the university. What is the nature like where you're from?"

"It's pretty much the same," Orsino says slowly, still caught up on the invitation to come back.

"Oh, really?" Surprised, because, of course, he still thinks Orsino is from out of the country. Orsino's heard it a thousand times before.

"Yeah." Orsino adjusts his grip on his reins, "I'm from western Michigan. So, you know, there's just a different lake nearby."

"Oh! I thought-- Are your parents immigrants?"

Orsino sighs, "They were born here, but I was adopted and I decided to take my original parents' name for... reasons," the reasons were he didn't like his adoptive parents because they kept 'forgetting' he asked to be called Orsino. He may not always like being at school, but at least it was better than being home.

"I see, then I apologize for making assumptions based on your name that I shouldn't have," Darling frowns, "Forgive me."

Orsino nods awkwardly, unsure what to say, his feelings about Darling flip-flopping wildly. He looks into the sky which every moment seems to be painting another layer of clouds on itself.  "What about you, I noticed your parents aren't here?" Wouldn't he live with them unless he was married? That was how it worked in ye olden times right? Or wait was that just for women?

"Ah, my parents have been dead for quite some time," Darling says this nonchalantly. Orsino gapes. Oops.

"Shit, I'm so sorry. Wait, but didn't you say your parents wanted you to go to school in England?"

"Oh that, they left that request in their will, and I did my best to honor it. Though I didn't quite adhere to the letter. Parents are... difficult." Darling clears his throat.

"Tell me about it," grumbles Orsino. The sky darkens suddenly, as though someone flipped a switch. He looks up, grimacing, he's about to ask what the forecast is, when he remembers that's probably not a thing here. "Uhh is it gonna storm again?"

As Darling looks up to consider, Toast shies, tossing her head nervously and begins side stepping towards the house. "Whoa." Orsino looks to the tree line, for a moment-- Wait, a flash of movement between the trunks. A silhouette?

Thunder booms.

The horses whinny-- Toast rears up, Orsino's stomach drops as gravity leaves him. There's a shout, maybe his, maybe Darlings.

Thunk.

Everything is dark.

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a/n: Thanks for reading!!