I'll be there // Lisa Peterson x reader

03 ♪ Alex

I took the liberty of chosing what horse and a name for it, feel free to change if you want a different name or breed. In my previous writing of this I had a jorvik wild horse be your horse, however I'm an indescisive person and I fell in love with the white icelandic from the horses app so🤭 congratulations new horse

No way you'd be paying 100 shillings for a dingy hotel room, that's way too much... Or maybe it isn't, you made a mental note to check the conversion rates once you got to charge your phone. This did leave you with a major problem: nowhere to sleep. Were you really going to sleep on a bench outside? How much of your family's reputation would be ruined by that if they ever heard? It's bad enough you stood up an old lady, there was no need to dig your grave deeper, surely.

 That left you with only one choice: walking into the dark.

 The street lights outside were spread much further apart, and the cold wind from before fazed through you like an unwanted touch from a distant relative. Whatever the weather was during the day, it had changed to being bitter and unwelcoming. You stop on the side of the road near a lamp post, opening the bag you'd brought along in the search for a sweater. How deep did you even pack it? "Hi there, stranger." A voice greeted behind you. Who on earth rides up behind a random person and decides to speak to them? Are these people normal? "Alex is my name, care to share yours?" The voice, Alex, said. "Y/N." There, finally, the sweater. "What's got you out in the cold?" Was she trying to rob you? "Looking for a place to stay?" She's definetly robbing you. "None of your business"

"Alright, be like that. You're from the mainland aren't you?" Alex quizzed. Zipping up the bag you turned to see her. She was lightly lit up from the lamp post, as she looked down on you from her  caramel-esque horse. "Why does that matter?" She just laughed at you, "It doesn't. There's a hotel and stable just down the road, I'll take you there." Alex offered, turning her horse in the direction of Fort Pinta. You scoff, "Fort Pinta? That place is a walking scam, no way I'm good." 

Alex grinned at me, "Very well, Y/N, very well. James can be... frugal, that's for sure. What about Moorland stables? It's just down the hill." Moorland? That was a familiar name. "How far away is Jarlaheim?" You ask, slipping your sweater on. "Far." Is all she replied, wow, way to be concise. "And Silverglade manor?" Alex raises an eyebrow, "Closer, why you asking?" You furrow your brows, "Wouldn't you like to know." "I would." She quips. "Too bad." you reply, Alex smiled. 

"So, what do you say? Free ride to Moorland? I'll take you to Jarlaheim first thing in the morning." Alex turned her head slightly too the side. What is the sane choice here? Accepting a horse ride from a stranger to an unknown location? or walking all the way to Moorland yourself? Or abandoning the idea of Moorland and sleep on the grass until the morning? Alex noticed your internal debate and decided to snag your bag from you, "Hop on!" Not the most orthodox method of negotiation, but effective, you'll give her that.

You'd think Alex would be quiet on the ride, focused on finding the way, but no, it was almost like the horse was doing all the work and she was just along for the ride, she even pulled out her phone for part of it! "So what's your business in Jarlaheim?" She asked "Picking up my horse before going to Silverglade Manor." "Oh yeah? And your business at the Manor?" She really wouldn't give up would she? "uh.. Diplomacy or something." Alex furrowed her brows and turned her head, unknown if it was due to the road curving or to look at me, whatever the reason was, she let it be. 

"What kind of horse you got?" Now that's a slightly more normal conversation topic to bring up than my reason and whereabouts for my entire stay. "White Icelandic. Her name's Rosie. Or well, technically it's Rose Gatsby, because Rosie wasn't good enough name for my dad, but no one really calls her that." "Rose Gatsby," Alex repeats, "What a name." "Something wrong with it? What's your horse's name? Twinkle toes?" You defend. "Close, Tin-can." She responds. "Tin-can? As in a tin can?" You furrow your brows, did she name her horse after what she got hit in the head with?

The horse let out a... huff? Can horses huff? That was a very human sounding huff. Was he... offended? Horses can't get offended, horses don't speak English! She gave a reply, but I didn't pay too much attention, as I saw the light from a stable shine, like a small island in a vast dark sea. Under the light stood a middle aged man, leaning against a pile of crates. He stood in a wife beater and Jeans, undoubtedly whatever he had been wearing before he was awoken. 

"Alex, good to see you!.. even if the timing is a bit on the nose." He grinned, earning a hello back from Alex. "You must be one of the unlucky subjects of the Harvest County weather?" He quipped before reaching his hand out for a handshake, "My name is Thomas, Thomas Moorland. I run the place." He smiled, furrowing his brows slightly when you didn't return the handshake. But who would? He was wearing a wife beater!

"I've got a room for you ready for you to get into. We can deal with the payment and things tomorrow, it's too late to bother with that now." He said, swiftly moving on from the awkward moment. "Great! I'll see you tomorrow, Y/N, the Jarlaheim shuttle-horse will be leaving as soon as possible! See ya!" And with that, Alex was out. 

Thomas lead you to the sleeping areas, giving you a good look out over a training course that had been set up for beginner riders learning cavaletti, before wishing you a goodnight and heading off to wherever he slept. 

The room was simple enough, a bunk bed in the corner (Thomas did mention these rooms were typically used during the summer holiday for riding camps), a table with a sad vase of dandelions and some chairs by the window, a door into what you presumed was the bathroom, a carpet on the ground, and the never leaving smell of dust and hay. This had got to be the dungiest place you'd slept, far away from Luxury suites and penthouses booked during family vacations. On the bright side, the bed wasn't as hard as it looked, and it had an electricity port for you to charge your phone. 

And it was only one night, so it can't be that bad right?

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