After having felt shut-in and stir-crazy all morning, Anwyn had managed to convince Louis to go into town for a walk. *It's not JUST for myself that I'm doing this*, she told herself, firmly squashing any hint of guilt at what she was doing, *it's for HIS own good too*.
Just as she thought things were going to be "the same boring stuff, just a different day", she spotted a crowd over on a nearby street. "Come on", she argued, tugging at the sleeve of Louis' jacket, "let's go see what that is".
He sighed and grumbled a bit, then decided that perhaps it would be simplest to humour her in this whim. He just hoped that THIS time, she wouldn't lead him into trouble again. Yes, his life had gotten more INTERESTING since he'd met her -- but it had been complicated already, largely thanks to Kay and her habit of "collecting strays".
So it was a pleasant surprise when he noticed that it was only a puppet show. Feeling rather relieved, Louis moved closer and sat down beside Anwyn.
The puppet was dressed in a guardsmen's uniform and had red hair and a frown painted permanently on it's face. Rhodri looked very hard at it and thought something about the face and gestures the puppet was making looked remarkably familiar to him. Then Rhodri's eyes widened and he began to laugh out loud, "Oh my, they couldn't have! Oh no, they did! I don't believe it!", he said laughing.
Anwyn half-turned to see who was talking. But then she got distracted by a face that caught her eye. Oriental faces were rather rare in Thendara (except for the immediate spaceport area). Looking closer, Anwyn realized that she KNEW that face -- Mariko n'ha Kimiko, one of the doctors who sometimes worked with Louis, and who was a rather interesting young woman who had integrated herself into the local community so easily that Anwyn envied her for it. Anwyn liked Mariko because she loved books too, and was a challenging sparring partner in the gym.
"Hi, Mariko", Anwyn called to the woman, waving her arm in greeting, and forgetting that it wasn't polite to shout at someone, "Have you and your horse come to see the show too ?".
Louis reached out and lightly tugged Anwyn's braided ponytail to catch her attention. "Quiet" the show's about to start, Anwyn", he reminded her,"if she comes over, THEN you can talk to her. Otherwise you can wait until later".
Mariko returned the wave, but said nothing in reply. So Anwyn turned her attention back to the puppets.
The the guardsman puppet was berating a shorter puppet in a cadet's uniform that was shaking and cowering nervously. The puppeteer mimicked the guardsman, "You're late again, Cadet! Ten demerits for you! For punishment you'll have to muck out the stables! After that you can wash the dishes in the mess hall! When you're done with that you can shine my boots! I want my boots so shiny that I can look down and see my face in them!". The Cadet puppet said nervously in a cracking teenager's voice, "Y-yes, sir."
Anwyn started laughing so hard that her face was starting to turn red. When she managed to catch her breath, she turned to Louis. "This is WONDERFUL!", she declared happily, "Aren't you glad that we came into town today ? You work too hard, and isn't this so much BETTER than spending your lunch break at your desk with a sandwich ? I wonder if that boy is anyone that MacConal knows ... it's the same uniform anyways".
From behind her, Louis smiled and shrugged, "But part of the fun of a parody is that the puppeteers DON'T name names". He was enjoying the show too -- but more quietly, so as not to disturb the performers.
What the crowd had been laughing at through the whole thing was a tall, thin, Cadet puppet with curly red hair and bright blue eyes, that was standing behind the "Captain" puppet and mouthing the words and mimicking the "Captain" puppet's every move. Then the funny cadet puppet finished by turning around, dropping his pants, and bending over with bare rear end facing the Captain and the audience.
Raising an eyebrow in amusement at such youthful hijinks, Louis let a wide grin spread across his face. There were many times back in pre-med (and in med schol) when he would have LIKED to do the same thing to some authority figure or other. And some rebel part of him wished that he'd been bold enough to do more than just THINK about it.
Meanwhile, Anwyn was laughing so hard that her ribs were starting to ache. It was a good thing that she'd already finished her meat pie just before the show started. Otherwise, she'd surely have sprayed at least ONE person with crumbs. Laughing with a full mouth was usually rather MESSY.
The audience was laughing so hard there were tears of laughter coming out of some of their eyes. Then, right before the "Captain" puppet turned around to look behind him, the Cadet puppet pulled up his pants, and faced the Captain while whistling innocently. The puppets all finished and took a bow.
Both Louis and Anwyn applauded loudly. "It's too bad that Kay wouldn't join us", Anwyn said thoughtfully. Louis sighed, then replied sadly "I suspect it would take more than the opportunity for a bit of fun. But that's HER choice and she doesn't want to talk about WHY she chose it, so we SHOULD repect her wishes".
An odd sort of thoughtful expression crossed Anwyn's face. Now THAT was an interesting idea -- perhaps she could DO something that would help change Kay's mind. Now she just needed to figure out WHAT .
After the show was over, Mariko came over to join them, followed by her horse. Anwyn grinned at her and giggled, "Hey Mariko, so what did you think of the show? And is this YOUR horse ? She's very pretty, isn't she ?".
Mariko replied, "I enjoyed the show. As far as the horse goes, yes, she's my mare. Her name's Star, and she definitely is pretty.
Anwyn's hands disseapeared for a moment into her pockets. From one pocket came a distinct "meow" as a small, black-furred head peeked out. Mairead had been trying to have a cat-nap, and now Anwyn had woken her up.
Fortunately, what Anwyn had been seekig, was in her OTHER pocket. From this one, her other hand produced a small apple. Balancing the sweet red fruit carefully in her palm she extended it to the mare (making sure that her fingers were all flat and pressed together). "Hullo, Star", she called softly, "Would you be my friend too ? I've never met a horse before".
Star wiggled her ears and gently took a bite out of the apple. "She's very gentle," Mariko said, stroking her beloved mount's neck.
Louis just grinned at Mariko. He found it rather cute and amusing how many girls (even the grown-up ones) got all silly over a horse. Sure, they were attractive-enough animals. But one end could bite, the other end could kick, and the whole package tended to smell like the well-used mens' locker room at the gym.
Star looked so soft and silky that Anwyn couldn't resist the urge to stroke her. Very slowly, she extended her free hand and gently copied what she saw Mariko doing. Star offered no resistance to Anwyn's touch.
Anwyn then glanced down at her pocket, "See, Mairead, She's friendly". But the kitten wasn't convinced -- that was an awfully-big equine face looking down at her. So Mairead made a small shy "meep", pulled her head back inside Anwyn's pocket and went back to her nap. Humans did some awfully strange things sometimes, she thought to herself.
An idea suddenly popped into Anwyn's head, and a thoughtful look spread across her face. "Do either of you know whether there's anywhere around here that gives riding lessons ?", she asked, hoping that at last one fof the two adults would know the answer.
Louis shrugged, "This is the first horse that I ever met, so I can't help you on that.", he answered.
"I can't help you either," Mariko added. "I learned how to ride on my uncle's farm on Proxima 3."
Anwyn shrugged, "I guess I'll just have to find MYSELF a pony (or a horse), then -- once I can afford to adopt one".
"There are a number of public boarding stables that might know of someone wanting to sell a horse", Mariko replied thoughtfully.
Anwyn grinned happily. "Thanks, Mariko. Stables shouldn't be too difficult to find -- and eventually one of them should be able to help me. I guess I just need to follow my nose, listen carefully, and be persistent". She giggled softly to herself.