Dolly Mixtures Musebox

"Some horse friends," he says with a grin as he pushes himself out of his seat and opens the door, slipping out with obvious enthusiasm.

"They told me they wouldn't mind me coming back any time, and all the handlers here know me. So I thought you might like to meet all of the horses."

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Dick scrambled for his seat belt, shoving the door open and climbing eagerly out the car. He'd always loved animals, elephants were his favourite of course but he'd become very close to all the animals during his time at the circus.

"Okay let's go!" he was half bouncing towards the building, completely forgetting he was trying not to bond with Clark.

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Clark just keeps his mouth shut, slipping in the back door and waving to one of the other handlers. They share a moment of silent communication where he gestures to Dick and the other man nods with understanding before Clark heads to the first stall. There's a large black horse there who's already shuffling with interest at the visitors.

"Say hello to Hades," Clark says easily enough as he reaches out for a bin and pulls out an apple. He cracks it in half with his hands and offers the first half to the horse before holding out the second half to Dick.

"Scarier name than horse. This guy's a total sweetheart when he knows he's got your attention." Beat. "And you come bearing an apple."

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Dick spares a moment to file away the information that Clark can apparently break an apple in half, adding it to his growing list of 'apparently superhuman things his new bodyguard can do', but he's too taken with the horse to focus on it for long at the moment.

"Hey buddy," Dick says softly, holding out his half of the apple towards the horse "How's it going?"

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The animal shuffles a little at the new person, but he doesn't take long to sniff out the apple and go for the food. Clark nods to the animal's nose; go on, you can pat him.

"He looks scary, but he's one of the better animals for new riders. Very solid, very hard to spook."

He looks over at Dick.

"Do you know how to ride?"

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Dick lifted a hand to give the horse a pat, clearly enchanted. He glanced over at Clark with a cocky grin.

"Do I know how to ride?" he scoffed "I can do handstands on the back of a horse."

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That gets a grin as he tips his chin towards the animal.

"Would you like to give him a ride?"

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"Yes please!" Dick looked up eagerly, at least he hadn't completely forgotten his manners, or maybe he just didn't want to ruin the opportunity however much he didn't want to get along with Clark.

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He holds up a hand before he leans out to look for the handler he'd waved to. There's a bit more silent communication before he leans back and starts to open up the stable to get the animal ready for a ride.

"Give me a few minutes and I'll have him ready for you."

Buuut-

"Unless you know your way around the tack as well?"

Nothing wrong with letting the boy work for his treats, after all.

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"I think I can still remember," Dick nodded, eager to get involved rather than hang back and watch. He's right on Clark's heels heading into the stable, and maybe he'll just call a temporary truce, at least until the riding's done.

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Clark lets him go with a smile, keeping some distance to let boy and horse get to know one another but keeping watch in case of any trouble. He doesn't think there will be; he'd brought Dick over to Hades for a reason, as much for his size and beauty as because of his temperament. Lollipop was just as sweet of an animal, but he knew that Dick might have taken it the wrong way, given how tenuous his credibility currently was with the boy.

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Dick has a couple of false starts remembering which bit of tack does what, but once he gets going he seems to remember easily enough what he's doing, and he intersperses his work with small murmurs and gentle pats to keep the animal calm while he's working. It's easy enough to forget he has an audience when he's so engrossed in the horse, so he looked a little surprised when he turned to see Clark.

"Okay all ready." he announced.

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Clark takes that moment to open the door, reaching a hand to grab at the lead so he can bring them out to the main riding area.

"You two sound like you're getting alone well enough. Think you can canter around a little around here while I go and get Zeus to ride with you?"

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"Definitely," Dick said eagerly, forgetting for a moment he was supposed to be playing it cool and pretending to be the rebellious youth he presented to the world.

Without hesitation, he swung himself up into the saddle, struggling to hide his excitement.

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Thankfully, one of his old co-workers had been good enough to get lead Zeus out since he'd already done all the work to get him ready, so he's up and in the saddle soon enough. He canters beside Dick and tips his head.

"Stay inside the fences but other than that, you're fine to wander. We've got them for about a half an hour, since it's getting late. I'll follow your lead."

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Dick nods vaguely, nudging the horse into a canter around the paddock, building up speed a little before a calculated expression crosses his face and he starts to move, kneeling up on the saddle first before standing carefully, one hand still on the reins, but the grin on his face is obvious as he manages to keep his balance on the back of the running horse.

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Clark doesn't balk or yell; instead, he rides alongside, watching, keeping his horse far away enough for the two animals not to disturb one another as he watches Dick. Mostly, he's watching him grin, pleased that he'd managed to get the kid smiling.

But he does offer some applause. That earned it!

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Rather than startle him out of his enjoyment, the applause only seems to spur him on, he's having too much fun to care about the fact he's supposed to not like this guy.

The calculating expression returns as he crouches, looping the reins around the pommel of the saddle to keep it safe. He runs a hand reassuringly through the horse's mane before placing his hands on the saddle, securing his grip. He takes a deep breath and pushes his legs up, doing a handstand on the saddle.

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Clark can't help a laugh and a cheer at that, since the boy'd said he could do as such and now he gets to see the trick for himself.

"I think Hades is enjoying his role in the show, Dick."

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He wants to make a comment, say something about them not being friends, about this not changing anything, but it's hard to be snippy when you're balancing upside down on a horse having the time of your life, so he just lowers himself back down and slides into the saddle again, reaching out to stroke the horse's neck affectionately.

"He's a good horse."

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"He's a very sweet animal, and I'm glad you've made friends."

Clark seems content to just ride alongside Dick, letting him do what he likes for the next half an hour.

"The horse I'm on, Zeus, is his stable brother." The horse in question was storm grey where Hades was black.

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Dick nods, giving the animal another pat before settling in for some more relaxed riding. He glances over at the other horse curiously.

"Do they get along, or do they take after their namesake?"

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