The Dirt Gnome in Stall 1

[Demi Smith]

"Ah, so you could totally hit me with your power by moving stuff then!" Demi proclaimed, grinning wide, feeling like she'd just totally scored. It felt especially good given how Cyril had been going all teacher on her, his tone moving closer to this lecture thing that Demi definitely didn't appreciate. Her confidence made it that much easier to stand on her own, despite the way her head throbbed and her muscles protested.

Also easier to wave away his comments, even taking a step forward. "See?" she insisted, motioning down at herself, "I'm totally fine. Walking on my own and everything," Demi took another step, feeling more confidence grow. Cyril moved to pick her up and Demi jerked back, her hands flying up into a defensive stance, ready to slap away or potentially use more dirt. Demi managed the motion just fine, though the actual action made her body practically scream.

She almost literally screamed at Cyril's suggestion. "A piggy back ride?" she repeated, her brows raising in disbelief. "Are you serious? I'm fourteen; I'm way too old for a piggy back ride," she snorted and tried taking a step to the side, wobbling a bit, which required her to lash out and grab a hunk of the wall behind her. Didn't stop her from glaring at Cyril though, half daring him to say something stupid again.

[Cyril Kingsley]

“Well I could but that could really hurt you. I don’t really like the idea of making a hay bale light, tossing it at you, and making it heavy as it collides with you.” Cyril responded back. He was smiling however as he said it, because it was interesting to see how she was trying to use his words against him. Just like a little sister. Why was she not accepting of seeing him as a big brother and thankful for his help? Perhaps she was an only child or just really didn’t like anyone at this school.

She argued that she was fine moving around on her own but looked at if she was going to fall so he moved to help. However she recovered and stepped back away from him and already moving like she was about to attack. He let out a sigh over the matter but he was not going to try and keep her so she could rest. “Alright, calm down. You can go if you can walk all the way out of the stables without falling. If you fall however you have to at least lay down for a little longer and drink all of your water.” Cyril pointed out.

He also made another suggestion, one that caused Demi to look like she was going to scream and freak out. She was sort of freaking out and asking if he was serious. He was very serious but now he realized that the piggy back ride was off the table. He didn’t realize she was fourteen years old at first but even still he figured that was still young enough to want a piggy back ride. Who didn’t like to be carried around from time to time? “I’m sorry for suggesting giving a piggy back ride to a little girl of your age. Truce?” Cyril asked after apologizing. He took a step back, giving her some more space. She was most certainly a difficult child.

[Demi Smith]

Dodging hay bales actually sounded like fun practice to Demi, and she was nearly tempted to suggest as much. The last thing she wanted to do was work with this guy, who she'd already decided was about as much fun as getting kicked in the butt repeatedly. She forced herself to keep ignoring his stupid comments and keep moving forward, wobbling as she went. He must've taken notice, given his offer and all.

"Uh, you can't make me stay," Demi argued. "Or, well, you can't make me stay here. They all make me stay at this stupid school," she snorted and forced her body forward again. Everything ached and her head pounded, but moving actually didn't feel too horrible. She could actually managed going forward, just putting one foot in front of the other and heading onward as best she could.

The last apology was just met with a snort as Demi worked her way to the exit. She got a few feet and felt herself wobbling, which meant that she had to lean against the wall. Demi paused for a moment then, taking deep breaths, forcing herself to calm down. Just a little mind over matter and she could get out of this neverending torture.

[Cyril Kingsley]

Cyril would have been up for the activities that seemed a little risky now that he had seen what Demi was capable of. He would still be hesitant but if she asked then it was highly possible that he would say yes to give it a go. It would have been something that would have been good training/practice for the both of them. Plus he could do it while he was working, since he needed to toss hay bales down anyways while he was working. She was not saying anything however, just moving along as she struggled to move. It felt good that he had basically one and pushed her to that state, but at the same time he didn't want to hurt her.

It practically broke his heart a little to see her trying so hard when she was clearly hurting but he had already given up on trying forcing her to do anything. She clearly was against that sort of thing and well he didn't want to lose his job. "That is true. I could make you stay if I was not worried about my job, but I like working down here with the horse, Little Bird." Cyril said, reverting back to the little bird nickname. He probably call her honey badger again when she was in better condition but in her current state she was nothing more than a little bird.

He did follow behind her, but at a distance so she was still pretty much doing everything on her own. He just wanted to be ready just in case she fell again and passed out like before, but she managed on her way. She was struggling and having to use her surrounding to support herself. He would have made her body feel lighter, but understood that very well could make things worse later when she would end up out of his range. "I hope you come back around again, Demi. I know Artemis would like to see you again." Cyril said to the young girl as he moved to lean against one of the stall doors, still watching her as she went just to make sure she was okay.

[Demi Smith]

"I. Am not. A bird," hissed Demi between clenched teeth. She felt like attempting to throw something at Cyril, wipe that smug smile off his stupid face. Except throwing something would either mean using her power or actually turning and flinging something. Both sounded like really bad ideas right now. Even Demi realized that unless she focused, there was just no way that she was going to make it back to the Academy.

So she focused, putting one step in front of the other. She could find her inner strength, actually felt it starting to swell, making the footfalls a little easier. She heard the comments and looked over her shoulder. "I like the horse," she admitted, "even if he is stupid." She let out a snort and then plodded onward, drawing on that impressive willpower of hers to get back to the school.

Then she'd collapse, likely not moving for the rest of the day. So totally worth it.