The Nippening [Roleplay]

It was a slow day over at Keith’s farm house, and by slow, it meant that everything was going wrong that could go wrong. Durango had gotten out to go see Lady again and threw a hissy fit when Keith had to take him home. Then it started to rain while he trekked back. Keith locked his mustang up and secured a rope around the gate to ensure that Durango didn't make an unwanted departure. Now thoroughly soaked to the bone and muddy the cowboy trudged inside to the bathroom and found that his shower had no hot water. So he grit his teeth and took a not so nice cold shower.

Flo had been out working with the Lady when Durango had trotted up as though it was his due. The Lady had immediately began to ignore Florence, obviously more concerned with the appearance of the stallion. She snorted at him and then, when he was taken away by a rather irate-looking Keith, began to kick up a fuss by rearing and whinnying for the stallion. Flo had called it a day after managing to get the horse's attention back on her and then shrugged as she exited the gate, closing it behind her. Not an hour later, the Lady had done the exact same thing Durango had done- she nibbled at the gate to her fence until she could undo the latch. Flo would have missed her if not for the wet hoof beats and the triumphant whinny. For a moment she sat, wondering if it was worth it, before deciding yes and pulling on her coat, hat, and scarf to go after her. The rain made it difficult to track the Lady but it was obvious to Flo where she was going- back to her buddy. Sure enough, the Lady was standing outside Durango's pen and reaching her head out to lip playfully at his face. Flo watched for a moment before slipping the mare's halter on her and roping her to the fence loosely, and close enough to cover, before walking into the farmhouse. She didn't want to head back home in the rain. Florence at least had the politeness to stomp her boots off outside before entering as though she owned the place. "Keith?" She called out as she slid off her coat and hung it on the rack by the door. "Jesus H., it's cold." She grumbled, rubbing her hands on her arms to try and warm up some.

Keith had just stepped out of the shower when he heard Flo call his name. He cursed out loud as he wrapped a towel around his waist and headed for the front room, thinking something else had went terribly wrong. "Yeah, Flo?" He asked as he shook his wet hair out of his face, looking like a complete hunk in just the towel.

Flo wasn't facing Keith, staring at the renovated home instead. It looked good. A bit barren of personality, but good. "You'll never guess what happened," She said as she turned, "Your horse-" Flo stopped speaking at the sight of her friend. Half of her brain shut off at the sight of her handsome friend shirtless and wet, while the other half continued working, so her words were softened. "-horse taught mine how to open gates and so she escaped and came up here." She paused and then, when her brain came back online, narrowed her eyes a bit. "Why aren't you dressed?"

"Considerin' the mud fest it is outside I decided to take a shower but lo! There's no hot water! So I've been pussyfooting around it for the last hour and just got done when you came in" He regaled her in his _oh so captivating_ tale of him being scared of cold water. "At least you're getting an eyeful, eh?" he chuckled and cracked a wide smile along with a wink directed at her. "So Dusty boots taught Resident guard horse how to open gates huh?"

"No hot water? Huh. Pretty sure I still had some." Flo said in surprise. She rolled her eyes at Keith's sentence and grinned. "I'd say yeah, but I can't tell what type of eye full I'm getting." Flo remarked, looking him up and down before giving him an unimpressed eyebrow raise. "Seems so. If you could make sure he only teaches her good manners from now on, that'd be great." Flo said sarcastically.

"I have no control over what my student horse teaches when I am not present in the classroom" Keith said, his smile widening into a full blown grin "Now if you don't mind, I'd _really_ like to get dressed since my Nip Nops are frozen at this point" He said as he turned tail and headed towards his bedroom to grab clean clothing.

Florence fought the urge to roll her eyes, closing them instead. "You're a nip nop." She muttered, rubbing her arms again as she headed for his kitchen. Surely she could do some cooking while he was getting dressed. She was hungry as a wolf.

Keith dressed quickly and was soon back out in the main room "So then" he said as he hoisted himself up onto the counter as he watched her cook. "What else has nut horse done to you lately?" he inquired

Flo listened to Keith walk up and looked over at him. "Not much. She's been pretty good. She watches me a lot, but doesn't try to attack. I'm going to try and figure out how to set her to guard the house, figure she might do better doing that." Flo answered.

"You you’d set up a fence all the way around your property so she has free roam of the place." He suggested with a shrug "Boots has taken to leaning every dang lock he can get his lips on" Keith sighed and rubbed his temples

"Huh. That's not actually a bad idea." Flo said, pausing her cooking. "Or maybe I should just somehow leave her scent markers so she can know where the boundaries are and still be able to chase people off without having to stop for a fence." Flo suggested, looking to Keith. She grinned at the news about Durango and chuckled. "Well, you taught him to channel his smarts, now you're gonna have to live with it."

"I didn't teach him to open stall doors or gate clips" Keith exasperated as he made an offended noise before nudging her in the shoulder.

"No, but you taught him how to think through things I'm sure, so don't be too upset with him with it was your teaching." Flo said with a grin, nudging Keith back. "All right, beans and soup." She said, glancing out the window. The rain was still coming down hard, though The Lady didn't seem to notice.

"We can toss her into the second stall I have if you wanna stay overnight since it's pretty nasty out" Keith said off handedly as he stared out into the storm.

"I hope you have a second bedroom unless you're planning being a gentleman and sleeping out here." Flo replied easily, digging into her food. Though her house had been renovated as well, it never was very well stocked with food. She could never stand to be there for too long and so didn't want anything going to waste.

"The couch has a busted spring so I'd be on the floor" He shrugged as he dished out his food and started to eat. "Did get a bigger bed though" He mused "We could split it, if y'want to" He said with a pause "I keep my hands to myself. As long as no one try’s to steal my pillow" he said with another half shrug.

"I can't even remember the last time I used a pillow, so I think you'll be safe. I'll eat and then go stick her in a stall so she's got something over her head. Hopefully she won't mind the confined space too much." Florence told Keith, looking over to him as she tried to not speak with a mouth full of food.

Keith nodded and continued to stuff his own face with food "I noticed my duster was missing the other day" He hummed after he paused from eating to look over at her with a curious glance and a raised eyebrow. "Any explanations for that?"

Flo definitely did not look to where her own was hanging up. Nope, she didn't. She did her best to keep her face blank, but she reckoned Keith knew. "No idea. Wonder where it went. Maybe it just went for a joy ride or something." She suggested with a shrug and then scooped some food into her mouth.

"Joy ride? Maybe after a certain little mare?" he said, leaning on his hand and looking pointedly at her.

"Quite certain I don't know what you're talking about. Not me, no, maybe Robin does, or the Lady. I don't." Flo continued, turning away from Keith to continue eating her food. Where had she put his jacket? Probably still at her own place, actually.

Keith ran a hand over his face before breaking out in laughter. "Just bring it back _soon_ please" he said through the laughs. After he settled down he finished his food and dropped his bowl into the sink

"I think you're going crazy, Keith, you might want to get that looked at." Flo continued her lie, though she was smiling as she looked back at him. She finished her own food and then set it down, heading to the front door and slinging on her own duster and hat once more. "If the scarf goes up, a woman's gone down." She warned Keith.

"I'm not crazy my mother had me tested" He shot back as she headed out the door. "Dually noted, I'll send some sloths after you to help" He cackled and sat in a chair

"Some gentleman you are." Flo scolded teasingly, doing up the coat before opening the door and heading out into the rain. The Lady heard her coming, obviously, as her ears went back to listen to Flo and she turned her head. Her expression was curious and a little hurt, but Flo didn't fall for it. "Oh no you don't, Miss, I left you with plenty of room to get shelter and you stayed out here in the rain. No complaining." Flo told her as she unlooped the rope from the fence and began to slosh through the mud to the open, dry stall.

Keith watched for a moment as the pair made their way into the stall before turning away to go get a towel for when Flo made her way back inside. He also made a stop to get her some of his clothes incase hers were soaked all the way through.

Flo led The Lady into the stall, having to tug on her lead a couple times. She was better behaved and more willing to follow Flo places, but still felt it necessary to remind Flo that she was bigger, heavier, and stronger some times. "Miss, if you want to get dry, you'll come in here." Flo warned, tugging once more. The Lady understood, or at least deigned to come in, and followed Flo into the stall. Unfortunately, she was soaked. Flo groaned looking at her- she just didn't feel right leaving the mare so wet. Sure, when she was younger the horses had never had shelter and would get soaked, but this was different. This was her horse, her mustang, and she needed The Lady to like her. Bouncing a bit in irritation, Flo managed to pull off her shirt, which was still mostly dry, and began to use it to dry the mare off. The Lady didn't seem to mind, cocking a hind leg and dropping her head as Flo's shirt got soaked. "You so owe me for this." Flo hissed to her as she wadded up the soaked shirt under her arm. "And don't you dare think you're getting my pants wet either. My shirt, and that's it." The Lady didn't seem to mind, though, turning back to Flo to lip at her arm with a rather gentle expression on her face. Flo almost fell for it before shaking her head. "No," She said again, "You got my shirt. You're drier than you were. See you when it stops." Flo took off the halter and then slipped out of the stall, nearly slipping in the mud as well. She trekked back to the house, glad she had done up her own duster, and then opened the door. "Christ its cold out; probably gonna snow soon." She said something like a complaint.

"Yeah, It's a mess out there" Keith said as he tossed her the towel and dry clothes. "What took so long? I was about to send the sloths to drag you in" He chuckled as he sat on one of the chairs.

Flo grabbed both items and held them away from her body. "The Lady was being a snot and didn't want to follow. And then I had to dry her off a little. Got any place I can hang up my shirt?" She asked, hesitating about dropping the coat. "And turn around so I can take my coat off."

Keith was about to say something about her getting to ogle him earlier but closed his mouth and covered his face, his palms covering his eyes. “Just lay it on the counter to dry" he said as he waited for her to give him the okay.

Flo could see the way he moved as though he was about to speak and only raised her eyebrows. When he covered his eyes she nodded and was quick to slip off her boots before moving into the kitchen. She pulled off the coat and put it where he said before slinging the towel around her shoulders. It covered her chest, but that was all she really needed. "All right, you can look." She said, rubbing herself with the towel to dry off a bit more.

Keith moved his hands and sat up "You should see these new pants I got. They make my ass look hella" He said with a grin, trying to lighten the mood.

Florence tilted her head back and laughed, shaking her head. "You're ridiculous." She replied, letting the towel drape over her shoulders as she took off her wet, eye-burning scarf (the colors now diluted a little from the rain) and her hat, setting them next to the coat.

Keith only half watched her as she moved around the counter "Sorry if it's all a little... Big" he grinned sheepishly as he stood up to go over and stand beside her "You're more than welcome to have a cold shower"

"Big is good." Florence replied, looking up at Keith with a grin. "Just means it's more roomy and warm for me. And I think I'll have to pass on the shower- I'm cold enough as it is and I'm not sure if I'll be warm until I get home and can take a warm one."

"You could always cuddle with me afterwards" He chuckled as he hip bumped her playfully.

"I'm pretty sure not even you would be warm enough for me," Florence said, the last bit of her sentence slightly a yelp as she was hip-checked. "You're lucky you're like, two of me stacked on top of each other or you'd pay for that." She told him, though she was tempted to act like she had as a child and simply tackle him where he stood to make him pay, shirt or no shirt.

"Well come and get me" He taunted with a grin, trying to antagonize her now as he hip-checked her again and bolted for the bedroom

Florence let out a battle yell that was completely ruined by a laugh as she slipped on the floor and then chased after Keith, not able to really get speed in the small space. "You're going to pay for that!" She hollered, hot on Keith's tail.

"I fully accept any and all punishment you wish to bestow on me" he yelped as he was tackled onto the bed, back first

Flo leaped forward and aimed for Keith's waist, tackling him onto the bed like she used to do to her siblings. She cackled as she did, straddling him and trying to hold his hands down. "Banishment, to the couch!" She declared.

"Mmm Nah" He cackled as he stuck his tongue out at her, daring her to try something else. He had that evil look in his eye like he was planning something to retaliate against her.

"You said you would fully accept any and all punishment I wished to bestow on you, and that's it. To the couch with you, cretin!" Flo giggled, glaring down at Keith. She felt like a kid again, hardly noticing the state of dress she was lacking.

Before she could stop him, his hands were on her sides tickling her relentlessly. "Hah! You wish!" he howled with laughter, not bothering to pay attention either. This was the first time in ages that he had any type of good fun thing to happen to him

Flo flinched but didn't completely lose control of herself. It tickled, but not as debilitating as it could be. Instead, she dug her heels into Keith's sides with a squeal, much like Lady's, and started swatting at his hands. It was useless, but it was fun and she didn't mind it.

Keith stopped once he felt her heels dig into his side and almost jumped at the hideous squeal that she made. "Jeez" He said as he reached up to rub his ear, now coming off the adrenaline. His breaths were heavy and moderately labored as he looked back up at Flo, who was still straddling him. "Uh...” He trailed off, noticing her lack of attire now

Flo giggled once more, sitting back triumphantly, resting her hands on his stomach. She didn't register what she had done until Keith stopped and grunted, glancing down at herself. "Shit!" She hissed, immediately sliding off of Keith. "Sorry, sorry!" She said, putting herself on the bed with a red face. "That, uh, maybe I'll take the couch." Flo said, throwing Keith's shirt on and thankful she was still wearing her bra.

"No no, it's uh. Its fine" he said becoming a complete stuttering mess now. His face blossomed into a bright red and he averted his eyes so she could put the shirt on without him staring her down. "Well that was... A thing that happened" He mumbled, embarrassed now before adding more quietly "It was nice being that close" blushing as he did so

"Eh, uh, yeah, it was a thing, that happened." Flo hesitantly agreed, not looking at Keith. She was tempted to just grab the Lady and flee home, where she could take a shower, a warm shower, and forget about had happened. "It was. Been, uh, been a while, since it was anyone. Err, any, person. Been close to horses but not, uh, people." Flo mumbled, looking to the side of the room.

"Well it was fun" he said, a little bit more confident than before. He sat up and slowly reached out to touch her arm lightly to reassure her that everything was in fact, alright. "If you wanna leave I won't stop you" he said quietly

Flo let her mind calm down before she answered, looking over to Keith. Should she? It was still pouring like mad outside, and she didn't have to leave. Sighing, she shook her head. "Nah, I'll... I'll stay. If I'm going to stay over again, though I'm expecting the hot water to be working next time." Flo said.

"It's a deal" he said as he opened his arms and offered her a hug "you're also lucky that I didn't get 'excited' too" he sighed in relief at the statement

Florence hesitated before taking it. She was fully dressed now, and not worked up. For a moment she was relaxed again, until Keith spoke, and she groaned. "Oh my god, Keith, you ruined a moment." She complained, though there was a slight giggle to her voice.

"Hey I wasn't the one straddling myself. Contact like that does things to people" He chuckled and nudged her playfully.

Flo rested her head against Keith for a moment before shaking it. "You're hopeless," She said fondly, "Absolutely hopeless." She stepped out of the hug and then pointed out of the room with a grin. "All right, out. I'm going to finish changing. If you come back in here before I let you in I will end you." Flo promised.

"Yes you maaaajesty" He said with a bow before leaving the room and waiting outside of it

Flo rolled her eyes and waited until the door was shut to change, taking off her bra. Despite the face she wasn't at home, she just could never sleep with it on. She didn't take long, but before she called Keith back in she jumped into the bed and casually wrapped all the blankets around herself. "All right, come on in." She called, her back facing the door.

When he opened the door he made a face "You can't have all my blankets either you" he said as he flopped down on top of her now.

Flo grunted and curled up, pulling the blankets over her head. A benefit to being small, she could easily hide under them, though she was slightly being smothered by her friend. "No?" She said, "Watch me."

"I can and will use force" He said as he stood up and shook her out of the blankets, grinning as she fell onto the bed before laying down and tossing the blanket over _both_ of them

Flo did her best to hold on, but the shivering that was just letting up certainly didn't help her cause. She glared at Keith when he landed under the covers and curled up further, pouting instead of accepting his win.

"Aw don't be so sour" He said nudging her lightly "My offer still stands to cuddle up to me" He grinned, hoping she wouldn't try to smother him in his sleep that night

Flo harrumphed and turned her back onto Keith, snagging one of the pillows to curl around. "Nope, no favors for you." She decided, closing her eyes as though she was going to sleep right then and there.

Keith just shrugged as he turned over to flip off the beside lamp before settling down, actually planning on going to sleep right then and there. He closed his eyes and exhaled softly thinking about what a day it had been

Although she had said she wouldn't, the moment Flo actually fell asleep she was turned around and snuggled against Keith as though she had never declared she wouldn't. She enjoyed proximity, just not being stationary. Asleep, Flo curled up around Keith's back and began to snore, occasionally gently, but often enough the snore of those who don't get enough sleep.

At some point during the night Keith had flopped over and curled his arms back around her. He slept quietly as the night went on, not stirring even once, which was rather unusual for him to do so since he was a restless sleeper most of the time.