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myfriendthedictionary · 3 years

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a very “stable” relationship - We Are The Tigers (Pt. 1, 1636 words)

pairing: evaleigh (Eva x Annleigh)

CW: horses are the main focus! otherwise, it’s just fluff! ^^

—————

“Are you sure this is okay...?”

Eva had been asking this for the past hour or so. It wasn’t unlike her to be chatty when she was nervous, but her girlfriend found this level of uncertainty rather adorable. The horseback rider was so used to being the one who needed constant reassurance. The flier was crazy smart, super talented, and generally just so charming that you couldn’t help but love her. Some days, Annleigh felt like she was just... well... Annleigh.

So, it did feel a little bit nice to get to be the confident one. Just for a little bit.

(And not at all because she liked getting the opportunity to show off for her girlfriend. Nope.)

“It’s gonna be fine!” The taller girl gave her girlfriend’s hand a squeeze as the two of them approached the large, wooden structure. Annleigh’s boots clomped along loudly, walking the familiar path. She’d attempted to offer Eva a pair, too, but the flier’s feet were much smaller than her own. Her girlfriend had just settled on her sneakers. Well, had “settled” on them after at least a forty-five minute freak out session about whether she should buy boots for the occasion. Annleigh had assured her that it wouldn’t be necessary.

“I already called Kathy and set everything up over the phone. I used to practically live here, so she trusts me to not kill you or anything. Plus, you already signed the release waiver. All we have to do is put this under the door to her office and we’ll be good to go!” Annleigh led the climatologist through the large doors, inhaling the familiar scent as she did so. Nothing like the smell of hay and manure to send you into nostalgia.

Next to her, Eva was wide-eyed. She gazed around at all the stalls with fascination, taking in all the horses. It was unfairly cute, but Annleigh had to force herself to focus. She couldn’t be distracted by her girlfriend was right now. Not when she was the one who was supposed to know what to do for once.

As they reached the office, the taller girl retrieved Eva’s waver that she’d signed last night from her pocket and slid it under the door. It was nice Kathy still trusted her so much. It had been two years since college had started, and she only got to come back to ride over the holidays. Annleigh was grateful for how hands-off her trainer was in this respect. Not that she didn’t love the woman, of course. It was just... her instructor was practically like family, after as long as she’d ridden here. The thought of introducing her to her girlfriend was almost as scary as when she’d introduced Eva to her parents.

(Of course, Eva had never made a bad impression in her life. More than anything, it would have been another ‘how’d you land such a catch’ kind of thing. Not that Annleigh didn’t think that to herself every day already.)

Beside her, her girlfriend let out a low whistle. “It’s so much bigger than I thought it was going to be. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many horses in one place...!”

Annleigh giggled, retaking Eva’s hand to lead her through the aisle. It was pretty early in the day, but the barn wasn’t too busy. A few younger kids here and there who must have been homeschooled waved in greeting to the two of them, but the arenas were both empty. That was good. Really good, actually.

As much as she tried not to show it, the equestrian was probably just as nervous as her girlfriend was. Maybe more nervous, actually. She really, really, really wanted this to go well. Eva’s interest in horses had been what the two of them had initially bonded over, back in high school. Although she’d never gotten a chance to ride growing up like Annleigh had, she was pretty sure the flier would have loved to if there’d been the option.

“And... here we are...!” Annleigh stopped in front of a stall, releasing Eva’s hand to open the feeding latch so the horse could stick his head out. The gelding, who’d been dozing towards the back wall, perked an ear up at the sound of her voice. Blinking lazily, the animal wandered over and poked his nose out, pushing Annleigh’s hand as she reached up to pet him. “Hi, buddy!” She chuckled, allowing him to sniff her hair. His breath was warm. “Okay, okay. I missed you too!”

Eva was hanging back, gazing at the horse and her girlfriend in awe. “This is your horse?”

The brunette nodded. “Mostly mine, anyway. He’s leased out right now to a few kids since we’re at college, but otherwise. Yep! This is the one!”

The gelding snorted, kicking the stall once to indicate that he was very much not receiving the ideal amount of attention. Eva jumped a bit at the loud sound. Annleigh snorted at her horse’s antics. “Goodness! Sorryyy, Mister~!” She scratched his blaze. “Where are my manners? Pegasus, this is Eva! Eva, this is Pegasus.”

Eva looked unsure of what to do, so she did a little wave in greeting. “Uhh... nice to meet you, Pegasus?” She was still gazing at him in wonder. Annleigh had to resist the urge to smile. The two of them were going to get along just fine, she could tell. The gelding loved attention, especially from people who would talk to him. It was a match made in Heaven, really.

“Here, you can come closer, if you want.” Annleigh opened the gate a little further so Pegasus could crane his neck out. She swatted him lightly as he tried to paw at the stall again. “He’s assured me that he’s going to be on his best behavior. Right, Gus?”

Pegasus gave a snort. Annleigh decided to take that as a ‘yes, Mom, of course I’ll be perfect with your girlfriend! Why would you ever worry about this?’ sort of noise. Rather than a ‘Mom, I’m going to absolutely wreck your relationship’ snort.

Please let it be the first one. Oh Lord, please let it be the first one.

The shorter girl approached cautiously, hands tucked into the pockets of the jacket she always wore. The buttons jingled a bit, metal catching the rays of light steeping in from the roof and making them sparkle. “Uhh... hey there, boy?” Eva phrased it more as a question, glancing at Annleigh for confirmation that she was approaching him correctly. The brunette had to keep herself from giggling. The whole thing was so sweet. She really didn’t deserve to know Eva Sanchez.

Pegasus, apparently, thought that he certainly did, however. He thrust his head out further, bracing his neck against the door and turning it at a ninety degree angle. It made him look like an undercooked giraffe. Eva snorted and looked at Annleigh questioningly, with a look that clearly read ‘uhhhhh.... is he supposed to be doing that?’

The rider nodded, motioning her to continue to approach him. “He’s just being silly! Keep going, you’re doing great!” With her other hand, she was digging through her pocket for her phone. She had to get a photo of this. Pegasus had always hated her Polaroid, but she’d take iPhone evidence if it meant she could film this moment. Annleigh flashed a thumbs up to Eva as the other girl reached out to pet the horse’s head.

“Oh!” The climatologist’s grin grew even larger as she stroked his nose. “He’s super soft!” She gasped lightly as he nudged her, stepping backwards a bit while Pegasus moved his lips down to nibble at her pocket. “Uhh. Whatcha doing?”

Annleigh rolled her eyes. “Gus, that is very rude.” She stopped snapping photos long enough to push his nose more forcefully away from her girlfriend’s jacket. Please, if you rip that, I will be in so much trouble—

“He thinks you might have a cookie for him. Even though he knows,” Annleigh said the second part directly to the bay, who was blinking his brown eyes innocently at her. “That he doesn’t get any until after he goes for a ride.”

The horse snorted. Pegasus had always been a little too intelligent for his own good. Annleigh could never tell exactly how much of any conversation he could understand, but it was more than enough to be a little unnerving. She glared at him to ensure another round of ‘do not mess this up for us’ was communicated. He blinked back.

... it was hard to tell if he’d gotten the message or not. Horses were hard to read.

Her girlfriend laughed, reaching up to scratch his blaze again. “Sorry, boy. I didn’t bring any treats. Plus, your mom said no.”

This did not seem to deter the gelding. Almost as soon as Annleigh had gone back to trying to film, he’d returned to his interest in Eva’s jacket. The horse seemed enchanted by her pins. As they watched, he fumbled the rainbow heart one and attempted to pull it away from her jacket, almost sending Eva toppling forward if Annie hadn’t moved forward to catch her.

“Pegasus!” She swatted him back, the bay looking entirely too pleased with himself for his own good, and moved to relatch the door. “That’s it. Five minute time out. We do not attempt to steal pins in this family!” When she closed the door, she turned back to Eva, dusting her breeches off. “Jeez, sorry about him. You go away for a few months to school and somebody forgets all their manners. I don’t know what’s up with him... he’s not usually so naughty!”

“...”

“Uh, babe, I think your horse might be homophobic.” Eva was barely containing her smile.

They both burst out laughing.

#yes the title. is just a horse pun. look it was the best i could do-#coerces you into shipping evaleigh with my intimate knowledge of horseback riding: the fic #anyway what else was i going to do with my 13 years of horseback riding ngl #anyway shoutout to the pony my friend used to have named pegasus that we called gusgus for the name #anyway i just Think That They (end sentence)#watt #we are the tigers #paige writes #watt eva #watt annleigh #eva sanchez #annleigh o'daniel #evaleigh #watt fanfic #we are the tigers fanfic #ask to tag #horse tw

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