save a horse ride a cowboy / magica x poe x scrooge

[lifesa_witch]

 It's not as the ranch never got rich clients before - but what would come upon their humble abode this day was a few steps higher than mere "rich". The two that exited the limo were in a league all their own.

"I don't know about this."
"Look, it's got five stars from all the best rating sites. And you said you wanted to be with some animals."
"Doesn't mean I want to live in a zoo."
"None of that now. Let's give these people a nice little opportunity to better themselves with our presence... smile, darling."


With that, a pair of twins headed up to the front desk, their exhausted chauffer carrying way more bags than the human arm could really shoulder. One would think the two were moving in instead of crashing for the weekend.

Comments

[lifesa_witch]

Perhaps the first bit of soreness began to kick in - there was enough of a trip that Magica wound up falling into his arms!

Her cheeks flushed all over again, and she quickly looked away. "... Sorry."

[richestduck]

"It's all right. Accidents happen."

Though she probably got to feel that, yes, he had some damn good muscle tone under his plaid shirt.

[lifesa_witch]

Boy, that was going to add fuel to the fantasy fire... She cleared her throat, and tried to pull away. "R-Right, of course."

[richestduck]

Scrooge smiled at her. "I'll see you later on then. I've got to lead a trail ride in about ten minutes."

[lifesa_witch]

Magica nodded in understanding. "... Thank you, Scrooge." She gave Cloudy Day a bit of petting to thank her as well, before walking off.

[richestduck]

"You're welcome. Have a good day!"

With that, Scrooge gave Cloudy Day a good brushing down before leading the group on the trail tour. He made it back to the lodge a little after noon, practically ravenous.

[nevermore_a_duck]

Poe had spent the majority of the morning hours in the library... for good reason. Slowly, whispers were being passed around by guest and employees - not for Poe and Magica themselves exactly, but of their infamous parents who were facing jail time for their numerous financial crimes.

At the moment, Poe was intending to grab a light lunch then retreat to the books, although he already had one under his arm.

[richestduck]

"Good afternoon, Mr. De Spell," Scrooge greeted. He pointed towards the main dining room. "Heading for some lunch?"

[nevermore_a_duck]

Poe held up a hand, as if to suddenly stop Scrooge. "One, please don't call me that. Just Poe will do. And second? Yes."

[richestduck]

"Poe then. Do you mind if I join you for a few minutes? The staff dining area is currently being renovated and right now I could use some time in the air conditioning." He smiled. "I promise to try and sit downwind."

[nevermore_a_duck]

Well, from what he saw earlier, Magica and Scrooge probably spent a good amount of time together. So this could be harmless.

"Sit where you please, I don't plan on staying long. Unless I'm not permitted to bring food to the library?"

[richestduck]

"Sorry, but after a few guests got a little too...rowdy...in the library, it's preferred if you check out a book and bring it to the table with you than bringing food into the library."

Scrooge gave him an apologetic smile.

[nevermore_a_duck]

Poe shrugged one shoulder. "It was worth asking." So he'd have to endure one meal among people. He'd make it.

"... I take it Magica enjoyed her fun with the foals?"

[richestduck]

"She did! Even had a riding lesson this morning though I imagine she's lounging in her cabin's hot tub right now." Scrooge grinned. "Most do."

The pair sat down and Scrooge told his order -- the "Hand's Special" -- to the waitress who stopped by. The young lady handed a menu over to Poe.

"Food not allowed in the library aside, you enjoying yourself?"

[nevermore_a_duck]

Poe smirked - having Scrooge thinking about Magica in a hot tub was a plus. Even if it was innocent, it was amusing.

"I had a good night's sleep, and breakfast was very good." Poe replied, placing the book on the table so he could inspect the menu - one of the few novels not in English. "And judging by the menu, I'm about to enjoy myself again."

[richestduck]

"Mummy's food is excellent. Plenty of guests say that staying here spoiled them."

Scrooge looked to the book, tilting his head slightly as he read the title.

"Not many guests read books in their original languages. If you need something else to read, I could bring you a few things from my bookshelf."

[nevermore_a_duck]

"I chose this on purpose," Poe countered. "I find mental exercises like this stimulating. I'll admit my tongue's a bit rusty on this one, but I always accept challenges."

[richestduck]

"This close to the border, it pays to know at least a little French," Scrooge said with a smile, slipping easily into fluent, unaccented French.

He looked back at the book, swapping back into English. "I have a love-hate relationship with Dumas. I love stories of adventure, so I thought I'd enjoy The Three Musketeers but that book was trying so desperately to act like it didn't care about money when it would draw attention to things like how much D'Artagnan sold his mustard-colored horse for. It was annoying." Scrooge tapped his finger against the wood of the table as two glasses of water were brought over, the food still being prepared. He thanked the server by name before re-focusing on the book Poe had chose. "But The Count of Monte Cristo fascinates me, and all the money talk fits given it was part of his revenge scheme. I've got my own copy of the book in my room, and I've about worn out the binding."

[nevermore_a_duck]

Poe stared with wide eyes, and swiftly crossed one leg over the other.

After a moment, he cleared his throat, setting the menu down.

"I didn't think a ranch-hand would be... fluent in such classics. Did you go to private school, or was this just your own... special curiosity?"

[richestduck]

"Most people don't." Matter-of-fact, completely unoffended. "After all, why would someone with even a little education want to be mucking out stalls?"

Not that it'd been his first choice. He'd even resented the ranch at the beginning, but it had grown to become home.

"And I just like to read. Anything I can get my hands on, really. If you don't count our little library, the closest one is about half an hour from here, so I usually check out the used book stalls at the market and the local bookstore when it's my day off. Taught myself French, Spanish, Italian, German, Mandarin, and Japanese along with about a dozen dead languages just from reading on top of the family's Scots-Gaelic and English."

[nevermore_a_duck]

Goddamn. Each new tongue make Poe cross his legs all the tighter. He was starting to regret "giving" Scrooge to his sister... but he shook his head.

"With those kinds of language skills, you'd be more rare and valuable than a diamond mine... but I take it there's a whole 'family loyalty' thing that keeps you here."

[richestduck]

"Familial loyalty and guaranteed financial ruin if this place fails." Scrooge then perked up as the server came back with a tray laden with his meal. "Thanks, Clara!"

"You're welcome." She smiled at Poe. "Have you figured out what you want yet or do you think you can mooch off of his plate? Because if you're hoping for that, you'll be lucky if he leaves a crumb!"

Scrooge's plate was crammed full with a barbecue sandwich, green beans, mashed potatoes, corn bread, and fried apples. Not to mention a thick slice of pie ala mode on a second, smaller plate.

[nevermore_a_duck]

Ah, right, money was something to worry about for other people. It was often difficult to remember that.

"I'll take the shepherd's pie." Yes, it was filling, and might give his belly room to poke, but that was supposedly the point of vacations. "I do hope Magica's not trying that ridiculous diet nonsense again..."

[richestduck]

"If I can be frank, it's a bit worrying how thin she is. Especially since she thinks she still needs to diet."

Rolypoly wasn't a good shape but ducks were certainly never meant to be twigs.

[nevermore_a_duck]

Poe sighed, shaking his head a little. "The short version is, you can blame our parents for that lovely mind-set."