dreamer.

landan winslowe.

[auranstablehand]

tvlbotts‌:

a quarrel — over the price of medicine. something dominic never had the burden of experiencing himself; a barrier he tried hard to get over in his short rule of acacia. he seemed to experience the life of commoners in flashes: through overseeing hearings in the royal courts, through tales of the less fortunate knights in his army, and now here.

was it better to bite his tongue, and let nature take its course? or interject, and risk a hostile commoner with no desire for his help.

he sighed, mulling it over through the fuzz of a peach he was pretending to be immensely interested. eventually, a decision — “i beg your pardon, gentlemen.” he said thinly. “i’m not generally in the habit of prying, “ a lie, “but i couldn’t help but overhear. might there be something i can aid with?”

the crest of acacia was plain to see on his garments, the sword at his hip clearly that of stature. in acacia, this would be more a seamless conversation; but it was always a crapshoot as to whether the people of the aisle even knew who dominic was at first. the merchant seemed not to register his face, which made matters tricky.

especially because the king had wandered off with no money on his person, nor was his ensemble anywhere in sight. fuck.

Looking over at the sound of a man interrupting their argument, Landan’s brow furrowed slightly. The man certainly looked familiar, though he couldn’t quite put a finger on why that was. The sword was intimidating - whose side was this stranger on? Would he side with the merchant and his overpriced concoction? Or with Landan and his desperation for medicine for his boss? He felt fear shoot through him - what was he to do? He couldn’t just return without medicine.

Biting his tongue as he thought things over, the merchant spoke before Landan could. While Landan wasn’t listening very well, he did overhear some comments about how Landan was trying to pay him less than what the medicine was worth - who knows why. After all, if he sold it for twenty to Landan, he’d have to sell it to everyone for twenty.

Taking a step back, he took a deep breath, looking around. Rubbing at the back of his neck, he wondered if there was anywhere else he could get medicine like this. “Twenty’s all I have,” his voice was quiet, nervous, unsure of his own situation. The sword was more than intimidating, especially considering the fact that Landan was unarmed. He was no fighter - Auran through and through, a dreamer who had never once dreamt of picking up a weapon. “I just need the medicine for my boss; he said that twenty would be more than enough, but it doesn’t seem to be the case...”

[taisirifrezi-deactivated2021060]

@auranstablehand​

Of all the days for Farrah to need her horse shoes replaced, she had to choose this day.  It wasn’t exactly by choice - the last time he’d gotten his faithful old warhorse shod, it was a rush-job, but Ezrai hadn’t been able to afford any thing better, at the time.  Now that he was back in Acacia, he took full advantage of the royal blacksmith to fit his horse with good quality shoes.

Which meant when it turned out Ezrai had to go to the Centre Aisle to deal with some estate business, he had to borrow another horse from the castle stables.  The black horse was, in short, foolish.  Ezrai hoped to quickly get this last-minute business done and still meet his curfew at sundown.

The horse, however had different ideas.

The moment he entered the Centre Aisle, the creature started acting antsy, tossing its head and jolting in stops and starts.  If anyone was watching, Ezrai was sure he looked as much of a fool as his horse did, a knight in bulking armour bearing the Acacian crest, bouncing atop a nervous horse.

“If you don’t calm down soon, I have a good mind to sell you to the poorhouse kitchen. They’ll make better use of you than I can,” Ezrai warned the horse, his grip tight on the reins.  The beast neighed loudly in response, and hopped, bringing more attention.  

“Left, dammit.  Just go left.”  The horse took this order to mean it should kick over a barrel of apples, leaving the vendor to shout in dismay.

[auranstablehand]

Landan had never been in the Centre Aisle as much as he had been in the past few weeks; his life had seemed to turn itself on his head in a matter of days, and, now, he was struggling to help provide for his family. Earning more money meant more time spent away from them, and even less time spent dreaming of his future potential plays.

He didn’t like the Centre Aisle - there were too many people crowded into a space that felt far too small, all of whom were shouting something or another. Selling their fares, trying to earn a living - the stables seemed like they’d be a welcome embrace upon his return. 

Trying to find food to last his family at least a week or so - food that he could afford - was proving to be far more difficult. What with the outbreak, it seemed as if the rich were scooping up as much of the resources as possible, leaving the poor to scramble for scraps. How Landan wished things were different, how he wished he could provide more than a meager stablehand’s income.

The sound of a nervous horse caught his attention. Perhaps his ears had been tuned to those noises over the past few years of work, but it always sent a shiver down his spine in the worst way possible. His head snapped around, looking for the source, before finding a man in armor atop a black Friesian, neither of whom looked particularly happy about their situation.

Making his way over, Landan gently eased his hand onto the side of the horse’s neck, gently rubbing his hand in the direction of the growth of the horse’s hair. “You’re unnerving him,” he spoke simply. “He doesn’t like the crowd, and it doesn’t seem like you’re easing his worries very much.”

Despite that - the horse had just kicked over a barrel of apples, therefore making those apples more difficult to sell to nobles. If apples would be his (and his family’s) survival, then thank all the gods for this horse and its discomfort in the Centre Aisle.

[auranstablehand]

i am so sorry i haven’t been on ! school is,,, how you say,,, a hellscape right now - with that being said, i’m going to go see a movie tonight for my seminar class but i should be able to get on after that ! so please feel free to like this for me to come by your ims or feel free to swing by mine ! 

[auranstablehand]

landan’s boss is fuckin dead *insert peace sign emoji here*

[auranstablehand]

tvlbotts‌:

@auranstablehand​

THIS TIME OF YEAR, the center aisle was bustling with foot traffic from the four kingdoms. feet draggers coming back from the aurian wedding and those taking their sweet time along the roads were here to rest their horses, and refresh themselves before the remainder of their arduous journey. dominic was doing much of the same, except for him the name of the game was returning home bearing gifts for his ever deserving wife.

he strolled through colorful vendors all hollering for the attention of passerby — “custom made tapestries“ & “silk fabric sourced from across the ocean” & “two for one on headache draughts; best in the four kingdoms” competed for his attention. even if dominic knew most were horse crap, more than likely.

as he strolled, his hearing tuned into an argument at one of the nearby medicinal stands. something between the vendor and a man he couldn’t quite place. on the table, a mystery concoction: purple in color, and shimmering under the afternoon sunlight.

dominic wasn’t an adept eavesdropper, but focused his attention on the neighboring jewelry stand as he listened in. perpetually nosy, and always looking for a worthy distraction.

There was never a true feeling of comfort in the Centre Aisle for Landan; he always felt just a little out of place, as if people could both see right through him and see into his soul at the same time. He didn’t have much exposure to people from outside of Aura (aside from the recent festivities, of course) and it felt to him like that was evident to everyone he spoke to. His Auran commoner’s accent was thick, he always felt like he smelled like the stables - all that to say that he wanted to get back home as quickly as possible.

Of course his boss had to have gotten sick. Of course it was something drastic, something that could lead to Landan’s income being cut off if not cured. He didn’t much appreciate being sent on errands for them, but this one was vital to his source of income, therefore, he had to go. He had been given currency, but he hadn’t expected the man at the stall he’d been instructed to go to to ask for more than what he’d been given. Obviously, Landan had no money past what was in the little satchel he’d been handed back in Aura, so he couldn’t do anything but quietly try to insist that the price be brought down.

“No - I’m not - that’s not what I’m saying - Sir, I’m not saying your medicines are worth less than the price that you set prior to this, but-” The vendor was the first to raise his voice, insisting that Landan was calling him things that Landan didn’t quite understand; maybe it was the accent, or maybe it was just rude words that he had never been taught, but, either way, he could tell that the man at the stall was angry with him. “Look. All I have is twenty - please, I - no, I didn’t say that...!” Raising his voice to try to be heard, Landan could feel himself getting frustrated. What was he to do in this situation...?

[auranstablehand]

okay so since i’m officially dropping all event one threads please feel free to like this for a new one ! i’ll come by your ims and we can figure something out :)

[auranstablehand]

last call for people who want replies to the event one threads :)

[auranstablehand]

~

[auranstablehand]

tvlbotts‌:

“you’re quite busy this morning.” he noticed, eyes following his steed as it moved on towards the pastures. little bastard, dominic thought, as it suddenly galloped with ease in the open field. there was an unusual amount of clutter among the stables, it seemed. much more horses than would naturally fill the space, like they’d not been prepared to handle aura’s sudden influx of visitors. then again, they likely hadn’t been. even dominic was surprised with the crowds he’d seen riding into the kingdom. but how often did one get to witness history like this — ? “you’re handling the commotion well. i’d imagine it doesn’t get quite this hectic on a usual morning, no?”

“I won’t deny that,” he agreed, nodding a little bit. Reaching up to rub at the back of his neck, he turned back to the man before him, finally allowing himself a moment’s reprieve from the horses. “If not for the wedding, things would be much... more calm, to say the least. Not to say that I can’t handle this many horses - I can - but I usually have... a bit more time for myself.” That was to say, time to daydream. Time to sit down in the corner and allow himself to develop ideas for plays that would never be written in his head. Sometimes, when he was alone, and there wasn’t a care in the world, it didn’t even feel like he was working; he’d gotten used to the smell of the stables, after all. “Thank you for saying that I’m handling it well, though. The compliment is appreciated. Are you just visiting for the wedding?”

[auranstablehand]

sorry i haven’t been as active as usual this past few days ! i’m very stressed (thanks midterms season) but things should be back to normal after tuesday !

[auranstablehand]

bardiisms‌:

     EMBARRASSMENT  CAUSED  HER  TO  DELAY  HER  LEAVE.  she  had  moved  as  if  to  turn  ,  but  thought  better  of  it  and  returned  her  gaze  to  the  stablehand.  “  could  you  ,  perhaps  ,  escort  me?  ”  what  elena  wouldn’t  say  ,  in  order  to  not  harm  her  pride  ,  was  that  she  had  always  been  terrible  with  directions.  once  she  found  her  way  somewhere  ,  she  could  always  account  her  steps  but  it  was  the  getting  there  the  first  time  that  gave  her  trouble.  arriving  to  her  performances  on  the  castle  grounds  on  time  was  proving  to  be  quite  the  feat.        

His brow furrowed at the question. Looking at her, Landan tried to figure out if she was serious or not. “I’m... working, at the moment...” he spoke slowly, still trying to figure out if there was some kind of sick joke that he wasn’t in on. “I can’t just leave the horses unaccompanied. If you’d like to wait until my shift is over, I’d be more than happy to accompany you to the gardens then, but... that’ll be around sunset.” 

[auranstablehand]

lacedweb‌:

jade’s fingers squeezed the material of the harness. she had just wanted to know where her horse was. had someone taken him to get to the wedding? a lot of people seemingly thought her black friesian was owned by the palace and anyone could just ride him. “thank you,” she expressed, biting her own tongue. “nothing too pressing, just wish to ride him.” as if the other cared.

Landan knew the horses in his care - the ones that belonged to the palace were familiar as his own family to him, at this point, and the ones that didn’t... well, they belonged to the guests, or the family - they were private, not to be taken out by someone who wasn’t trusted. He thought that this woman didn’t trust him with even a minor thing, let alone her horse.  “Well, I could bring him in now, if you’d like...” He didn’t like it when people weren’t direct with him - how was he supposed to know what they wanted if they wouldn’t outright tell him?

[auranstablehand]

ofeveningblooms‌:

Avianna knew quite well that it was likely the man would be required to continue to work even long after the celebration spilled into the streets - but some part of her didn’t wish for that to be the case. She wished for everyone to enjoy the festivities to take place over the next several days ( though perhaps selfishly - because the thought of anyone not doing so would simply remind her that once it came to a close, she would return home without her sister at her side ). “Might I be so bold as to ask if you’d like to join? I’m certain if that’s the case that I could pull a few strings - free you from your duties for a few hours… though I can understand the desire to escape the chaos, and should you wish to avoid it all, perhaps I might be able to send someone along with some food and drink for you?”

Rubbing his hands together for some way to occupy them, his brow furrowed as he listened to her speak. Who, exactly, did she think she was? He didn’t know her face, didn’t know about her status within Aura; why did she think she’d be able to, somehow, pull strings and get him off of work? Who did she think would replace him? It wasn’t as if his supervisors would come in and work the stables themselves, not when they were likely already drunk somewhere in town. “You don’t have to do that.” Landan shook his head, wiping his hands on his pants. “This is my duty, just like it was the duty of the prince’s to get married, and the duty of the king’s to rule.” He wouldn’t say it, but the thought of being able to taste the food would taunt him for the rest of the day, though.

[auranstablehand]

leoxbastille‌:

Leo nodded. “You do have a point.” He shrugged and turned his attention towards the horses. “So… I never caught your name.” He stated. “I’m Leo.” He stated with a smile. He took a sip of his drink in hand and sighed loudly. He had been having a bit much to drink and he wanted someone else to talk to. “Have you met the princess?” He asked him. “I danced with her this evening and…” He paused to sigh and close his eyes. “She’s incredible.”  

He was surprised when the man continued to engage him in conversation; Landan never thought that he was particularly good at conversing with strangers. Nevertheless, he couldn’t bring himself to even try to be rude with him. “Landan, pleasure to meet you.” Raising an eyebrow at the next question, he turned to face him again. “Princess Rosalind?” He wasn’t used to speaking about her to other people - people other than Rosalind herself, that is. Therefore, he wasn’t sure if their friendship was common knowledge, so he decided not to touch upon it. “I’ve met her a few times. I’m glad that you enjoyed your experience with her. For what I know, she’s got a good character.”

[auranstablehand]

tvlbotts‌:

the question had taken him aback. that was certainly not one he tended to be asked very often. off sides, he could hear his guards snickering; a wry smile corking his own lips. the stables were rather far from the castle. perhaps his dear landan hadn’t gotten into town much at all. really — that seemed like the life. nothing but green pastures and horses to tend to… one could always dream. “dominic. of acacia.” he said simply, extending a hand out for landan to shake. “it’s a pleasure, truly.”

At the sound of snickering from the entrance of the stables, Landan looked over his shoulder, brow furrowing at the sight of a group of men who seemed to find something he’d said humorous. He wasn’t really sure what that was, though - maybe the fact that he hadn’t used a ‘sir’? Reaching out to shake the man’s hand, he nodded. Dominic of Acacia. “Pleasure’s mine.” He nodded as he shook the hand. “Welcome to Aura, I hope it treats you well.” So many visitors, all of whom he’d likely never see again once this celebration had come to an end. That was odd for him to think about, to say the least. Strangers crossing paths could have led to an interesting play, but where was one to go with that idea after they parted ways? How realistic would it be for two strangers from different kingdoms to meet multiple times? Looking back to the man, he gave him a little smile, before turning his attention back to the horse as it joined the others in the pasture. “As I said - everything should be alright in due time.”

[auranstablehand]

ofeveningblooms‌:

Moving further into the stables, the Princess only came to a pause once she was situated outside the stall which harbored her stead. Digging into the nearest bag of grain, her tongue clucked against the roof her her mouth before offering the treat out to the approaching beast. “Then I envy them and wish it were so simple for us.” It seemed there were always to many moving pieces - each being used to build something delicate and intricate. “Will you be joining in on the festivities?”

The question was incredibly naive, to say the very least. Landan was taken aback at the mere fact that it had been asked. The festivities were most certainly not designated for him to be joining. “I don’t think I will,” he answered in as polite a way as he could manage so that he didn’t have to explain that they were meant to appease the nobility, and that people like him had to continue on working despite the streets filled with revelers. “I’m sure they’re wonderful, though.”

[auranstablehand]

tvlbotts‌:

around the right company, the stablehand’s words would’ve made him laugh. dominic knew just how his horse felt — pushed along all through the night without ease. he wished he could refuse to keep going, the way his steed had. it made him grin slightly, renewing the fondness he had for his animal. “thank you.” he granted, watching with sharp eyes as he moved the horse along to the pastures. “ and your name, sir — ?”

Well, that was a first - no one in Landan’s life had ever called him sir before. “My pleasure.” He nodded in response to the thanks - that was rare in his occupation, as well. Looking over his shoulder after gently guiding the horse into the pasture, he gave the other man a little smile. “Landan. And yours?” Was he supposed to return the ‘sir’? It was times like these, when Aura was filled with strangers beyond what Landan could count, where he felt incredibly out of his depth. How was he to know who was who, after all? No one had briefed him on any of this.