Raegan leaned casually against the edge of the stall, though “casual” was a bit of an act when Whiplash’s giant head kept bobbing closer to inspect her, his breath puffing warm across her arm. She gave the horse a side-eye glance that was somewhere between curiosity and mild suspicion, but the tilt of her mouth betrayed the fact she was secretly fascinated.

Charlotte’s first line — about intimidating the most intimidating-looking person ever — earned her a slow, approving nod from Raegan, who didn’t even bother to look at Axl’s inevitable glare. “Impressive,” she said seriously. “It’s not every day someone not only survives being in his orbit but also manages to intimidate him. I’m tempted to take notes. I’ve been working on my methods, but apparently sarcasm alone only gets me so far.” She gave Charlotte a conspiratorial smile, the kind you’d exchange with a co-conspirator just before pulling off a minor heist.

The teenager’s segue into the moon landing debate, though, nearly made her choke on her own laughter. Raegan straightened up, crossing her arms like she was listening to a witness deliver crucial testimony in court. “Alright, I’m just saying — I knew you were dangerous, but I wasn’t expecting the conspiracy theories to come out before we’d even exchanged three full sentences.” Her tone was light, teasing, but her eyes danced with genuine amusement. “Vacuum, flag-waving, the whole thing… you’ve clearly been training for this moment. And I’m with you — the flat earth comment was absolutely bait. He looks like the type who’d start arguments at dinner parties just to watch everyone implode.” She didn’t turn her head toward Axl, but she knew he was listening. When Charlotte declared herself “the smartest kid around,” Raegan tilted her head thoughtfully. “I can believe that. But you should know, being the smartest kid around also comes with a solemn duty: making sure you use those powers for good. Or at least for harmless chaos. You seem to have that down already.”

The 'you two would make a GREAT couple' comment, though… that one hit like a dart aimed with unnerving precision. Raegan’s smile froze for a half-second, her gaze flicking — entirely involuntarily — toward Axl before she snapped it back to Charlotte with a kind of “nice try” expression. “Ah, so that’s your game,” she said finally, shaking her head with mock solemnity. “You get people all comfortable and then — wham — matchmaking ambush. I see you. I respect the hustle. But if we’re making up fictional titles for each other, I’d like to inform the court that I have already cast him as the tragic, possibly royal hero type. That’s a lot of pressure for one man to live up to.”

Charlotte’s over-the-top serious tone about “riding since the break of dawn” made Raegan press a hand dramatically to her chest, as though she’d just been in the presence of greatness. “The dedication! 10/10,” she said, her voice hushed and reverent. “The poetry. I feel like I should be taking off my shoes before stepping into your arena, or bowing, or at least addressing you as Master Horseperson.” She glanced over her shoulder at Whiplash, who flicked an ear in her direction like he knew exactly who they were talking about. “Though I have to admit, Whiplash has the better name. You might want to consider adopting it as a title.”

When Charlotte announced that Whiplash wouldn’t bite unless you pretended your finger was a carrot, Raegan made a face of mock horror and instinctively curled her fingers into her palms. “I don’t intend to pretend my finger is a carrot, but knowing me, I’d probably accidentally give him that idea just by existing. He seems like the opportunistic type.” She studied the horse for a moment, then lowered her voice slightly, as if confiding a terrible secret to Charlotte. “Between you and me, I think he’s already decided I’m suspicious. He’s been giving me the side-eye since I walked in. Can horses smell fear? Or sarcasm? Because I’m definitely guilty of one of those right now.”

Charlotte’s final “kudos” earned her a little bow from Raegan. “I’ll take my medal in the form of baked goods, thank you. Brownies preferred, but I’m flexible.”

While Axl muttered darkly from somewhere inside the stall, Raegan leaned slightly closer to Charlotte, lowering her voice just enough that it might carry but still feel like a shared aside. “You realize he’s pretending not to listen, but he’s probably cataloging every single thing we’ve said so he can throw it back at me later, right?” Her smile was wickedly amused, but there was affection there too — like she knew exactly how the game worked and was perfectly fine playing her part.

When Axl finally emerged, Raegan straightened up, flashing Charlotte a final grin. “Well, Master Horseperson, it’s been an honor to witness your skills and your terrifyingly effective detective work. If I survive whatever dramatic thing happens next, we’ll have to compare notes.” She stepped back toward Axl, still grinning like a madman, holding her hand up in a sort of wave as they left.

And then, because she couldn’t resist twisting the knife just a little, she glanced at Axl with mock deference. “Alright, Your Highness. Let’s go see if this kingdom of yours has any events worth knitting about," she chuckled, kind of bumping his side in nothing but a playful manner. Once they'd turned the corner, she kind of found herself still chuckling. "I like her!" She grinned.

Axl mumbled something about how he was being ganged up against, but stayed in near silence throughout their reaction. However, subtle things proved he heard every word. The tilting of his head at specific words, the twitching of his fingers as he brushed Whiplash, the shifting of his weight when something interesting came up. All proved how carefully he watched everything around him, how observant he truly was.

Charlotte smirked quite smugly at the compliment, looking like she had just won the Olympics. All of it. "Oh, sarcasm never works. Believe me, I've tried. He always has a smart alec response to everything you can possibly say. I've lost months of my life using that method. The only thing I've found that works is the same thing that works for any boy in between the ages of 6 and 20. Tease them about anything having to do with a girl." She stated, pretending to adjust glasses that weren't there. "He once merely glanced at this lady walking by and I said one thing and his entire world nearly collapsed. Until the end of the show he was commenting about how he was looking at the horse, not her. Lies." Charlotte couldn't resist a purely evil giggle.

Axl wouldn't be the least bit surprised if her eyes started glowing red and she bit someone. A low growl came form somewhere in the stall and his head poked around the horse. "I was looking at the fricking horse." He hissed, disappearing again. Damn kids. They were more annoying than Raegan by a long shot. He would gladly obliterate all children under the age of 16 from this earth. Or just make them mature. That would be a less destructive method. He may like Charlotte, but holy hell.

Charlotte just burst into a laughing fit, almost doubling over. "Silver tongue, a forked design. Lies seep from lips like crawling vines. Shadows dance upon the wall. Truth hides, as falsehoods enthrall." She whispered, then ducked down.

It was right in time as a brush came flying out of the stall, through the bars, and almost smacked into the other side. "THE DEVIL IS POSSESSING HER. DO YOU HEAR THAT EVIL SATANIC WORSHIP. SHE IS CALLING TEUFEL." He exclaimed, stalking out the stall and grabbing the brush, wheeling to point his finger at Charlotte. "I will get an exorcist if you keep pulling chants like that out of your sleeve." He threatened with narrowed eyes, yet a good natured twinkle resided in the golden depths as he disappeared back into the stall.

After Charlotte was out of the flying brush zone, she nodded seriously towards Raegan. "I have been training. I knew the time would come when someone asked the important questions." She mused, then nodded far more enthusiastically. "Oh of course! Only for harmless chaos! Yes." She chirped, grinning like a chershire cat.

She smirked again as even Raegan froze and glanced at Axl, who was saying something about demons, looking entirely innocent. "Aw, you have? Pity. Actually, I can see it." She peered into the stall thoughtfully. "Yes, I can see it now. Very good thinking, Miss Raegan. And of course, he cannot fall into more than one special role." She nodded slowly. "Okay. You got me. No more matchmaking." She raised her hands in surrender, giggling again.

"10/10." She repeated in a whisper. "I feel lucky. Special." Her hand lifted to the sky and she swept it across like a banner. "Master Horseperson, direct descendent of Grand Master Oogway. Please, feel no need to bow at my feet, humble peasant. I am a fair ruler. Not all of us were destined for greatness." She stated solemnly, calling herself better than Raegan and lifting her up in the same sentence. Perfection. "Well, I could never steal his title. I will stick with Master Horseperson for now." She sighed. "But I will be asking for a better name later."

"No, believe me, you won't." She huffed. "He is literal perfection and would never bite you if you don't actual stick your finger in his mouth. To be safe, just avoid petting his mouth." She shrugged, grinning as she cooed to the horse and poked them in the nose. "Adorableness in a big black package." She purred, then her eyes widened and she turned to Raegan. "Of course he can't smell fear! He feels it. And he loves it." A snicker of wickedness escaped. "if he could smell sarcasm, he'd have died by now." She added with a wrinkle of her nose.

"Brownies. Check." She chirped, deciding she was able to get that done somehow. She liked this person and would love to make them brownies. "Yes, I will see you at a later time, Miss Raegan. I hope you survive long enough to learn my skills and become a Master yourself. Good day." With a wave, she went into the stall as Axl came out.

Axl's lips twisted into a grimace as Raegan spoke, making his way out of the barn. After they had gotten a little way away, and she was still cackling evilly, he side eyed her for a moment. "Uh huh. I knew you would." He grumbled. "I'd like to note that I knew this would happen and I sacrificed my sanity to let you two meet." He added with an aggrieved sigh, turning towards the line of vendors.

They wandered around for a little while before returning to the stands, where they did cheer Charlotte on when she went. Overall, she had four good times.

Barrels- 16.98

Poles- 15.12

JF8- 19.39

Keyhole- 9.61

They weren't blindingly fast, but fast enough to get her two first and two seconds in her age group. After they went and congratulated her, it was time to go see everything.

"Fireworks starts in an hour, until then, you have free reign of the fairgrounds. Drag me wherever. However, before this starts..." Axl moved towards a specific booth, the cowboy hats hung everywhere. "We need to get you one of these."

Axl blew out an annoyed breath, but the look in his gaze said that he was definitely enjoying all of these. Even being teased by a 14 year old girl about looking at a woman- as if he wasn't supposed to use his eyes and realize that there was a human being walking by. It was all absurd, all silly, all just jovial and fun... but it was all so special. He would rather be no place but here today, or any other day. With Raegan, watching Charlotte, eating expensive food and buying expensive things. It was all... perfect.

His gaze landed on her as she almost started laughing again, blabbering on about Charlotte. He knew they'd love each other. A smile played across his lips as she continued, a content look on his face. "She knew it was coming because it has happened before. Everytime she says something more than a little outrageous I chuck a brush at her. At frist I purposefully missed, but now I couldn't hit her if I wanted to." He explained with a slight chuckle. "Well, mostly. If I thought about where she was going to jump off to and aimed there instead, she'd be nailed. But I wouldn't want to do that."

All throughout the evening he could see how overjoyed and happy she was. She barely walked the entire time... she bounced. Skipped. Bobbed. He had no idea, but she wasn't touching the ground most of the time, and it reminded him of a 4 year old given cotton candy and free rein of the house at 9 pm when their bedtime was usually 8. The sheer look of joy and excitement on her face was enough to make him happy for the rest of his life. Her eyes were bright and she had obviously forgotten about everything bad that had ever happened to her.

It was absolutely amazing. The whole evening he was smiling softly, filled with a soft warm bubbly joy that came only from watching someone you cared about enjoy their existence. So much, in fact, that it rubbed off on everyone. She got more than one grin from people, and many more confused looks. Every one made him smile wider, proud, pleased to be the one walking next to her. Although he wasn't as... energetic, he still seemed to glow. Every step didn't feel weighed down by everything, although he remembered. His eyes were bright, soft, and his lips were always curled up. It felt amazing.

He grinned at her words about what Charlotte had done, shaking his head. "They were good times. Barrels was the first thing we watched.. where they ran a cloverleaf pattern. Poles was where they weaved the poles. Jumping figure 8 is where they jumped, weaved the barrels, and jumped back. And Keyhole is where they ran straight down through the poles, turned around, and ran back." He explained, even if she wasn't really listening. She seemed to move on fast, but he was fine if she didn't hear a single word. As long as she stayed like this.

"I do insist." He mused quietly, knowing it was smart of him to. He found a post to lean against nearby and watched her run from rack to rack, trying on random hats and giggling as they fell down over her eyes when they were too big. Although he was enjoying watching her act like a little kid in a candy store, his mind did wander... not to bad places, per say. Actually, to a song. A song that hadn't been written yet. He had been making a melody for a couple months now on the guitar, and had been trying to find words to fit to it... but he hadn't been able to. He needed a topic, and he hadn't found one that seemed to fit. However, as he stood there, pondering the melody... words started flowing in.

Oh the words I want to say, they get stuck in my head. I'm searching for a way to let you know what's in my heart instead. Unspoken words, they weigh me down. Afraid to let you see the truth I've found.

The chorus came together perfectly in his mind. After literally weeks of trying to think one up, the fact that it came to him in approximately 12 minutes kind of made him mad, but it didn't matter. It was there. And it was perfect. He could work with this topic.

In your eyes, I see a friend so true. But in my heart, there's something more I feel for you. I want to say the words that I've been holding in. But fear of losing you makes my heart spin.

The first verse came just as easily, his head tilting as he watched the sky, head rested against the pole. What had Raegan done to him. He pulled out his phone and wrote the thoughts down quickly, then slipped it away and glanced up just as she bounded over. His face brightened immediately. "Me?" he arched an eyebrow, glancing around as if she was talking to someone else. "But you seemed like you loved every single one. How am I supposed to choose? I almost died over a wrap. Don't make me do this." His eyebrows drew together slightly in immense concern.

At her comment about food, he nodded. "Of course. Overpriced chicken wings and some sugar filled beverages seem like a great idea." Axl smiled, glancing at the booth filled with hats. She had probably tried on every single one. How in the blazes was he supposed to pick one? And know she would like it? What if she preferred one and she was internally hoping he'd pick that one? He hadn't watched closely enough to see which ones she liked better. He could almost already feel the panic setting in. Jeez.