The Dirt Gnome in Stall 1

[Cyril Kingsley]

Cyril would have loved to see that frown turned upside down, but he was not going to back down on his very firm rules. He liked to believe that no one would hurt an animal on purpose but there were some sick people in the world. Plus with a young girl who could easily just lash out and lose control over her power, he didn't want to risk it. Sure the horses had been condition to deal with seeing, hearing, and being involved with a lot of weird things because of being around mutants but they were still horses. They still got scared or spooked and when that happened people, the horse, or both tended to end up hurt in some way. Cyril didn't want any of that to happen so if he had to be a little mean and risk making someone upset then he would. It was all better for the long run, with how he personally saw it.

Cyril had not meant to break Demi's little silence going on there and was just curious to get to know the young girl. Wondering why she had such an outlook on life and why she was okay with being dirty. Well...she was a little girl and they did tend to not care so much until a certain age...maybe. She could have easily grown up to be a tomboy and either way it was not that big of a deal to Cyril in the end. He could tell he had upset her or something along those lines since she made a very audible sound out. "No need to get upset. I'm not a mind reader so I would not fully know if you have been around horses before little bird. You could just be naturally talented with them or enjoy just being around animals in general." Cyril explained himself, still finding it odd yet cute in an odd way that the little girl pretty much got angry with everything so far.

He raised a brown when she used the word 'her people' and assume that she meant her family. Perhaps she was an adoptive child who just never really connected with her adoptive family and had even less of a need to know that she was here at BA. "Oh, so Pan's power was some kind of animal communication. That is pretty cool. I wish I could meet her so I could figure out what these horses are saying sometimes." Cyril said with a small chuckled, still walking with Demi and the horse but noticed that demi was no longer really remaining in control. "You walk with him but you still want to control where he is going. Can't just let him walk off and do as he likes when he is out for a walk." Cyril pointed out because if the horse got used to walking however he wanted then the next person that would walk him would end up having difficulties.

[Demi Smith]

Demi glared as Cyril told her she didn't need to get upset. Again: that sounded like something ripped right out of the staff handbook. One of these days, Demi was going to have to sneak into a staff room and find one. Be way too useful. Though Demi was tempted to point out that she was, in fact, "naturally talented." She just wasn't naturally talented with regards to animals.

"Pan's a he," replied Demi, before rolling her eyes. Cyril clearly didn't talk to animals or whatever, which did make Demi wonder what kind of ability he had then. Not mind control or reading and not talking to animals. So maybe he had some kind of calming touch or whatever? Demi definitely wasn't going to get close enough to let him touch her, that much was for certain.

The horse seemed to be thinking along the same lines, as he'd started to drag Demi away. Despite what Cyril said, the animal clearly knew that he could control the girl instead of the other way around. Demi fought slightly, but the horse seemed determined to do what he wanted. She turned and glared at Cyril before waving at Artemis with the hand not clutching the lead: "How am I supposed to do that if you won't let me hit him?" she demanded. "A quick punch to the head and he'd listen to me. I could even do it real light: wouldn't hurt him much at all,' Demi's hand was already curling into a fist while she looked over, trying to remember where it was easiest to hit an animal. Pan hadn't been too keen on that either, though he'd also been able to keep an easy control. Then again, he'd often let the animals all but torment Demi, so...

[Cyril Kingsley]

Cyril honestly was not using anything out of any rule book, and was just using it based upon life and how he grew up and viewed things. He was sure there a BA rule book and he probably skimmed over it, but it was not something that was what he lived by and out of. He just knew that all he had to worry about was making sure students didn't hurt each other, the horses, and nothing naughty going down at the stables. Other than that, the rest of the rules were for in the other areas of the school and not a big concern of his. Cyril let out a slight embarrassed chuckle as Demi pointed out that Pan was a guy. "Oh, my apologies. I assumed female for some reason." Cyril apologized and did figure the name would work for both genders, he had just assumed female.

Well that certainly made things a little awkward for a moment there but it was not that big of a deal. He made a mistake and it didn't seem like Demi was holding it against him, other than an eye roll but that pretty much was to be expected by the amount of attitude she had shown since they started talking. So tempted to teach her a lesson. Cyril thought to himself but kept himself in check since he was more concerned about the horse at the moment and also wanting to make sure that Demi didn't end up getting trampled on. Demi then started to have more troubles with the horse, as Cyril had predicted because she let him get his way and now that he had a taste of it, he felt like he could do whatever he wanted. It would be easy to get the horse back in line if Cyril did it, but he wanted Demi to do it. Or at least try to. "You don't need to hit an animal or a person in order to get them to listen to you. Remember how you got him to walk by walking with him and not tugging on him to hard?" Cyril asked, knowing that while negative reinforcement worked, positive reinforcement always worked better.

Cyril then moved so he could be in a better position to be in control in case Demi was not able to get control over the horse and as well to sort of be a barrier so Artemis would still not be able to full do as he pleased. "This is the moment where tugging on the lead rope would be okay. Speak to him and tell him no and lead him in the direction that you want him to go." Cyril explained, hoping that was a simple enough way to do it. If not then he could easily show her and have her try, but with the kind of personality she had, he wanted to give her a chance to do it herself.

[Demi Smith]

Yeah, Demi definitely didn't care that the idiot had gotten names wrong. That was what idiots did: they messed stuff up. Just because this guy proved to be just like all the rest was no reason to really hold it against him. except for what Demi did hold against him, obviously.

Though she could've done without the lecture, even if she'd practically been expecting it. Blah blah, don't hit things, just walk and all that. It all sounded just so standard, and she really couldn't help but think that there had to be some kind of book somewhere telling them exactly what to say and when to say it. Still, she noticed him moving and remembered that she still didn't know what he could really do, just that he seemed kind of reluctant to actually do it.

"Right, whatever," she mumbled. Sighing, Demi tugged at the rope, telling Artemis that he had to follow her. She added a "stupid' in there somewhere, but the horse proved to still be easy enough to handle, going along with her and letting her direct the walking a little more. Grumbling a bit, Demi looked back over at Cyril. "Is there somewhere you want me to make him go then? Or is this just walking in circles and stuff?" Because that was stupid. Demi didn't have to add it: it practically lived in that question mark.

[Cyril Kingsley]

What Cyril was saying to Demi was pretty standard, but that tended to happen when a method you used worked repeatedly. It didn't make any sense to try things out with someone who didn't seem to have a lot of...non-violent experiences with horses. It was best to stick to what you knew worked most if not all the time other than doing little test drives. Cyril was the one to test things since he had years under his belt and his 'test' would not be randomly made. It would all be based upon techniques he knew worked or based upon understand how the horse was and what would most likely work for them. Still, Demi didn't have to concern herself with those matters and just focus on getting the horse back in check which should not have been all that hard. Pretty much most of the horses were good with beginners but Artemis was for sure on the top of the list for being good with beginners. This was great when you were working with a horse as big, powerful, and heavy as Artemis was.

Demi said whatever to Cyril's words, but she still did what he had told her and of course had success with it as Cyril had expected. A pleased and proud smile spread across his face as he watched the little girl with the very large horse walking with her. "Good job little bird." Cyril gave her positive praise, unsure how she would take it, but did it anyway. He realized that he was calling her little bird, but it just seemed to fit with her. She was like a baby bird that fell out of its nest, but refused to be eaten or taken by any other animal out there. It having adapted to defend itself on the ground, evaluation in a way. "Are you always this...cranky?" Cyril went ahead and asked because he was curious if Demi was just having a bad day or if she was always like this with everyone or maybe it was just males or perhaps adult figures.

The question on if there was anywhere he wanted them to walk and bringing up the whole walking in circles. Cyril was actually not a fan of making people walk around in circles unless they were having a real hard time working with a horse. He preferred to put them to the test and let them walk in an open wide area. "I was thinking we head over to the tree line and then come back. If you think you can keep in control over him without hitting him of course." Cyril said, presenting it as a challenge in a way. Part of him wondering if saying things that way would work better with her and get less of a grumble and avoid hearing her favorite word. Stupid.

[Demi Smith]

"I'm not a bird," grumbled Demi, glowering as she so often did. She didn't bother looking back at Cyril though, mostly because she wanted to keep her attentions on the animal, which she still didn't quite trust fully. She kept a tight hold on the reins, not wanting Artemis to slip free or anything. Tight, but, well, she still wanted to give him room, since she knew that tight reins could suck.

The question caught her just as she was giving Artemis more room and she snorted. "No," she shot back, sounding as cranky as ever. "It's this stupid place! The people here just suck," she mumbled. The horse nudged her and she let out a "tch," jerking her head away. she didn't seem to mind it nearly as much as she had prior though, instead stolidly trudging forward, one foot in front of the other.

Until the question and all. Demi simply snorted at Cyril's "challenge," tugging on the reins and directing the horse toward the tree line. She didn't see any reason to actually say anything, since her actions would make it beyond obvious. Besides, what kind of idiot couldn't walk a horse? The people here must be really stupid if Cyril thought he had to ask about something like that.

[Cyril Kingsley]

"I know. You remind me of a bird. A very angry little bird that would peck me if I tried to pick you up to take care of you." Cyril said with a small chuckle as he could practically picture it all in his head. A little bird on the ground that needed some help but didn't want it so would peck at and chirp loudly to keep someone away if they tried to get close. Cyril of course being a veterinarian would want to help the little bird out. So even at the risk of being pecked or scratched at, he would still try and help the little bird. That still applied with Demi being a human being, he still wanted to help her out even if she was going to growl, grumbled, and swirl dirt around herself.

She was just too cute and just her little stubborn ways were endearing and he could not help but to want to take her under his wings and look after her like a big brother should. First he had to get past this huge wall she had up, which didn't seem like it would be an easy thing to do. Demi said no to his question and pointed out that it was because of this stupid place and that the people here sucked. "Well, look like I'm going to have to change how you view people and this place then." Cyril said with a grin as he just kept walking with Demi and the horse. It was nice and while he was still working out a way to bond with Demi, that was going to be a work in progress. She for sure was one of those tuff skinned little girls but that just inspired him to try and make her experience here at least a little better.

She was young and was going to be here a while so it was best to make the best of the time here so she was at least not miserable and hating every moment that she was at BA. Cyril didn't go to this school growing up but he was a mutant too and had gone to another school when he had come into his powers. He had always tended to try and make the best of a situation so he didn't really have a hard time at school. Cyril was pleased to see that Demi had took on his challenge, even if she was not saying anything about it. She showed good control and great skill over walking the horse and headed towards the tree line. "Is there any kind of food or treat that you like?" Cyril asked after a moment, wanting to make her something.

[Demi Smith]

The bird analogy still made Demi wrinkle her nose. Yeah, she guessed that some birds were cool or whatever, but he made her sound like some kind of baby bird that had fallen out of her nest or whatever. She just resolved to keep silently stewing, her eyes narrowed into slits and the occasional grumble coming out of her with each step.

Each step did put her closer to the treeline, her supposed goal. Plus, the horse seemed to continue enjoy it, as least as much as horses could. He did occasionally nuzzle Demi, to the point where she just raised a hand up to absently pat it as she walked. Part of her wondered, if only briefly, what it would be like to actually ride said beastie, but she didn't want to try it. for one thing, she wouldn't dare risk looking stupid. For another, having her feet leave the ground still bothered her, and she was worried she'd get sick or something if she spent too long away.

"I'm not some kinda horse," she said, looking over her shoulder. She waited a few more paces before adding: "I like cinnamon," nearly under her breath, "and sticky chicken," which was just what they always called it; she wasn't entirely sure about the recipe or whatever.

[Cyril Kingsley]

Demi did not say anything after Cyril explained why he kept calling her little bird but to Cyril that just meant that she was either okay with it to more than likely that she thought it was stupid to bother wasting her breath comment on. Cyril was going to go with the latter based on how stupid was Demi's favorite word and her view on the staff and the school. Still, he was going to try and change that, even if Demi was going to say everything was stupid and put up a fuss about it the whole time. It was the challenge that made it all the better for a guy like Cyril. Unless the challenge kept up and didn't break, then he probably would give up. For now, he was at one hundred percent for trying to get demi to at least come to like one staff member and maybe at least the concept of the school.

It would take some time and while Cyril figured his time remaining at the school and in the states was limited, he could put it towards making Demi like it here. Plus Artemis seemed to really like and get along well with Demi and that alone was more than enough reason for Cyril to try and get Demi to like things while she was going to be living here at the school. Maybe she would at least build a bond with Artemis and that would be a job well done in Cyril's books. He recalled her saying that she did not want to ride Artmis, but he still planned on offering up the idea again and maybe even just putting her on the horses back one of these days. He had to first pick her up and that seemed like a good way to get himself kicked...or bit by her. He had to take this in a casual way and just sort of gauge how Demi was feeling about him and really all of this, but he just knew he really, really wanted to pick her up and just snuggle the dirt off of her.

"I know you are not. You are an adorable little girl." Cyril said with a snicker as demi pointed out that she was not some kind of horse. Cyril had been tempted to point out that there were a lot of animals that liked to get treats, but he didn't. He started to grin when Demi did speak up about what she liked. Cinnamon and some kind of sticky chicken. Cyril would probably have to look up the latter to fully figure out what she meant by that since there were all kinds of sticky chicken depending on what part of the world you were from. "So if i made you Cinnamon-Sugar Pecan Scones, would you like and eat them? I could easy not add the pecans if you don't like them." Cyril offered since that was the first recipe that came to his head that he knew he could make.

[Demi Smith]

"I'm not adorable!" snapped Demi in a way that didn't really help with the whole proclamation. She added a growl, and dirt and dust began moving and sliding over her skin, going in that familiar pattern. She didn't want to hurt the horse though: it was just a stupid animal and not a stupid human. She wanted to...

...wait, was he offering to make something for her? Demi blinked, not sure how to handle that. Attacks, more insults, things like that, Demi could handle, could handle well, in fact. But someone offering her dessert, something nice and potentially delicious? That fell outside of her realm of response, effectively stalling her out for a few seconds.

"I bet you couldn't make them taste any good," she spat, before snorting and turning to give the horse another tug. Soon she was walking said horse toward the tree line again, purposefully ignoring the idiot.

[Cyril Kingsley]

Demi snapped back that she was not adorable but the way she had said it and it just being in her voice made it become pretty much a fact that she was adorable. Cyril would not fight her on it, at least not yet while they had a horse with them. He could already see that she was taking his words as he expected her to take them. With using her power to cause the dirt that was on her to move around like she was ready to use it. She is so full of spunk, I love it. Cyril thought to himself and noted that he probably was going to end up calling her adorable again and proving how she was in fact adorable at a later date. For now he just grinned and kept an eye on her, having already given her the warning about not using her power around the horse so he was going to trust that she was not going to do anything foolish.

If she did, well he would act and ensure that the horse and she were safe but that she would know that she should never hurt a horse. Period. He asked her if what he had in mind to make for her would be something she would enjoy but he had gotten silence. Perhaps she was not used to being offered treats by an adult. Or she was thinking that he was creepy and was working on a plan of getting as far away from him as possible. He really didn’t have anything bad planned for her or any bad intentions; he was not that kind of guy. He really just wanted to show her kindness and looked after her like a big brother should with their younger sister. Cyril let out a hurt gasp at Demi’s words about not being able to make them taste good. “I bet you I could. I’m pretty good at cooking and baking, I’ll have you know.” Cyril pointed out with pride, slightly offended that she doubted his skills.

“I could even make them for you today right after this and they would taste amazing. If you like cinnamon then you should love them.” Cyril added while he crossed his arms over his chest but still kept walking with the two of them. He was willing to bet money on this matter if he had to in order to prove his point that he had some skills in cooking and baking. He did cook and bake for himself and others all the time and he had not gotten any negative review. Yet, it being Demi she could probably say they were okay just so she would not have to admit that what he was right.

[Demi Smith]

When Cyril kept talking about his baking skills, actually bragging, Demi stopped. she turned to look at him, her nose crinkling for a moment. When she realized he was serious, she actually barked a sharp laugh. She laughed for a few more seconds, leaning against the horse before shaking her head. "What, does your power give you super baking abilities? That's so lame."

It explained why this guy was such a weeny though. Demi definitely wasn't impressed with what he'd said and done so far. Plus, he looked all rangy and stuff. He did keep bragging about his ability to cook, and everyone knew that women were the best at cooking... okay, that wasn't entirely true. Demi knew there were a handful of men in her family who did a lot of cooking and stuff too. That was usually manly stuff like meat stews and whatnot... though, okay, yeah, a few could roast some pretty sweet stuff over a campfire.

Demi felt the horse tug and she let out a very audible sigh before turning. Shouldn't be too much longer till they hit the tree line, at least. Though Demi's eyes were already wandering there, the desire to just make a sprint for it welling up inside.

[Cyril Kingsley]

Cyril stopped when Demi stopped moving, looking over the girl quickly to make sure she was okay, but saw nothing wrong with her. She must have doubted his ability to cook and bake; how dare she. It was practically expected of Cyril to be able to cook and Bake since he was the ultimate older brother. Making sure that his younger siblings always had food if his parents were ever fighting too much to bother with cooking a family meal. Plus then baked good always seemed to improve people’s moods because of the sugar and just the 'love' that was put into them. I will show her. I'll make her the treat for the first time around and as soon as I figure out what she means by this sticky chicken then I'll make that for her. Then she will see that my skills are amazing and ask for me to be her big brother. Yes. Cyril thought to himself, having it all planned out in his head but he doubted it would actually work out like that but he could dream.

Cyril raised a brow and he started to laugh a little at Demi's question about if his power related to baking. "No, not at all. I manipulate gravity. Meaning I can make you float off or crush you into the ground. It was pretty dangerous back when I first came into my power." Cyril informed Demi of what his power was and pointed out that basically his power was not something to joke about. He could literally kill a person by crushing them into the ground or making them just make them float out of his range and cause them to come falling back down to the ground. He mostly had a problem with making things really light and then said object going out of his range and then crashing back to the ground. He had broken a lot of objects in his youth, as well as broken bones that had been more with his body then his actual power.

"I would show you but it would not be a good idea to make you go weightless while you are trying to walk the horse." Cyril pointed out, as his blue eyes canned around for a rock or something that he could show her what he could do instead. They were closing in on the tree line and Cyril did not even see the look in Demi's eyes but just based on her personality he did prepare himself in case she did feel like running off or something wild like that. "Want to try ridding him back? I could ride with you or lead him back if that would make you feel better about it. Bareback it pretty fun." Cyril offered up the whole suggestion of ridding the horse again, but it of course would have to be bareback since the horse didn't have his saddle and all of his ridding gear on.

[Demi Smith]

Messing with gravity? Demi actually had to take a few seconds there to remember what gravity was and stuff, though he kind of explained it. She was pretty sure that she could still take him, unless he could gravity manipulate everything she flung at him, which would be kinda cool to see and now Demi was seriously thinking of attacking him just to see it happen. Especially as he did the whole wussy "I don't want to show you around the horse or something.

Demi stopped just short of the treeline, letting Artemis graze and such for a bit. She figured that it would have to be neat to examine the area, especially if you were stuck. Though she supposed that maybe the various horses were allowed to leave. Funny how stupid animals were allowed to leave the school but Demi was stuck here like a prisoner.

The question had her wrinkling her nose and looking at Cyril like he was three different flavors of stupid. "I don't wanna ride," she stubbornly insisted (again in a way that certainly didn't diminish the whole "adorable" thing). "So, yeah, pass," she picked up the reins again, looking at the animal a little anxiously. Demi wanted to move and all, but, well, she could definitely understand the whole freedom thing. Plus, it was dirty here: she could feel the mostly untrodden earth beneath her feet and it felt...

nice.

[Cyril Kingsley]

Cyril could in fact control the gravity around him in a certain radius but thanks to years of practice and training by this point in his life that radius had increase and he had also been able to strictly focus on one or more items at a time that he wanted to have under his control for gravity. With selecting certain item or items he of course had to be able to see them or else he would just end up doing it in a radius or affecting the gravity of something else. If Demi had actually attacked him then yes he would have ended up using his power on her and also trying to make sure he didn't hurt the horse. Well, he would also want to be sure that he did not end up hurting Demi too bad because he had a hard time being outright harmful to 'little sisters' then he did to say some guy in a bar that looked at him funny and he was under the influence of good old beer.

Cyril stretched out his arms high above his head and took in a nice deep breath of air before slowly letting it out when demi had stopped and let the horse graze a little. The horses were allowed to leave in terms of being able to be taken out and walk around campus. Really the campus was pretty huge and even the woods were technically a part of campus so the horses never really were fully off campus since the trails didn't go too deep into the woods where it would eventually end of the school grounds. Plus the horses of course were not allowed to go anywhere without fences unless they were being walked or ridden by someone for safety reason of course. They were not wild animals and wild they probably could survive a little on their own, they were still conditioned and used to being around people.

Demi asserted again that she did not want to ride, still sounding all kinds of adorable while she said it. A huge grin spreading across Cyril's lips again as he made to hold back any strange sound that threated to leave his body. He really could not help it sometimes when he was dealing with something so cute. It was like seeing new born puppies or kittens and you could not help but to go 'awww' and want to fawn all over them. "Alright, the offer will always be there if you ever want to give it a try. Not just anyone can pull of riding a horse so I can understand if it would be asking too much of you." Cyril said with the grin still on his face as she started to move to head back to the stables. "Ready to head back and put Artemis away now, little bird?" Cyril asked and while he was asking he was basically suggesting that they head back so there was not temptation for Artemis to try and explore the woods.