Yeehaw! Woo, literally just finished writing this one. Yea, I am proud of the way the dumb joke at the end managed to work 😁😁
When the Cactus Blooms
26. A Horse with No Name
“Who’s this lad?” Scotty asked.
Chekov and Jaylah had come into the stables. A horse followed calmly behind them.
“Don’t know,” Chekov answered. “It was standing outside the fence.” He pointed towards the back of the stables and the pasture beyond.
“Hmm,” Scotty hummed. “Must have broken loose from somewhere during the storm last night. Seems tame enough. Any marks?”
“None,” Jaylah said. Jim had been teaching her the neighboring and common brands.
“It’s quite a handsome beast,” Scotty said. “Just followed you? Didn’t have to hand guide it?”
“No. She’s very tame,” Chekov agreed.
“Well, you get her some food and I’ll go see if Spock recognizes her. He’s got a good memory for that sort of thing. If he’s seen her in town he’ll know.”
Spock did not recognize the horse.
“What shall we do?” Spock asked Jim. Jim had come to see the horse as well when Scotty had gone looking for Spock.
“Keep her here for now,” Jim said. “She acts like she’s come from a good home. Someone will have to come along, missing her eventually.”
The horse spent a week in the pasture and stables with their own animals.
“Don’t forget to ask about the horse,” Jim called as Scotty and McCoy rode away.
“Yeah, yeah,” McCoy waved a dismissive hand over his shoulder and Scotty held back a laugh.
“Be nice love,” Scotty told him and bumped closer to him on the wagon seat.
They were headed to town. Christine and Uhura had made them a list and so had Jim. Scotty didn’t like going to town too often, he preferred to stay and work on the ranch, but the opportunity to spend time with McCoy away from everyone for a while sounded too good to pass up.
McCoy let the horses set a steady pace and turned to snatch a quick kiss.
“Len!” Scotty laughed.
“Had to get it out,” McCoy smiled. “Probably don’t want me doing that in town.”
“Might get looked at, true,” Scotty agreed with a smile.
“My, my! Look who just walked through my door!” A girlish voice called to him and Scotty grinned.
“Hello Gaila!”
“Montgomery Scott! I haven’t seen you for ages!” The saloon owner came forward to give him a hug. “How are you? What brings you to town?” Gaila took his arm and led him to a table.
“Supplies,” Scotty answered. “The ladies made a list.”
“And how are they? And everyone else?”
Scotty sat and chatted. He and McCoy had already loaded the wagon, and the doctor had gone to visit and collect a few things from Dr. M’Benga. Scotty had taken the task of checking around for the mysterious horse’s owner.
“Say Gaila,” Scotty began after they had caught up on the doings at the ranch, “had anyone been in who’s missing a horse?”
“Oh. Hmm, let me think,” Gaila looked up towards the ceiling and was quiet. “No. Can’t think of anyone. You’ve got one?”
“Aye. Quite a nice one. Lovely chestnut color, some white around the back and legs.”
“Well, if I hear anything I’ll send’em your way. Is that Dr. McCoy?”
Scotty looked up to see McCoy enter. He lifted a hand and waved.
“Hello Ms. Gaila,” McCoy said as he took the seat next to Scotty. “Any luck?” he asked.
“No one is missing a horse,” Scotty told Jim as they unloaded the wagon. “Gaila said if she hears anything she’ll let us know or send them our way.”
“Well I suppose it’s no bad thing to keep such a pleasant animal around,” Jim shrugged.
“Did you find Trébol’s owner?” Chekov came around the corner of the stable. Jim handed him down a sack, and Chekov grunted at the weight.
“Who’s Tribble?” McCoy asked.
“Trébol,” Chekov repeated. “The horse.”
“What kind of name is Tribble?” McCoy asked, making a confused face at Chekov.
“You named her?” Jim asked.
Chekov blushed.
“It didn’t seem right to just keep calling her ‘the horse.’ So, Trébol.”
“Tribble?” McCoy said again, skeptically.
“Trébol,” Chekov said.
“I said that, Tribble,” McCoy stated.
“Not Tribble, Trébol. Because her one large marking looks like a clover.”
“What does a clover have to do with this?” McCoy asked, stopping what he was doing to look at Chekov. The young man’s face had gone red again.
“In Spanish! Trébol is clover! Her marking is clover shaped.” Chekov stared at the doctor, his look nearly exasperated.
“Oh,” McCoy said. “Trébol. Yeah, guess that’s fitting.” He grabbed a bolt of cloth Uhura had asked for, and began to walk for the house. “Tribble,” he muttered under his breath as he walked. He gave his head a shake.
Scotty and Jim gave each other a look before shaking their own heads and getting back to work.
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10 characters, 10 fandoms (obscure takes & slightly furry edition)
I was tagged by @tangledupblue and @reliablejoukido approximately forever ago! I’ve actually done this meme two times previously, but there are always more characters to talk about (that cannot be true forever, but we’ll say it’s true for now). So let’s get to it!
Also, I don't feel like tagging this one, but please feel free to do this if you want to! I always love to hear about peoples' favorite characters <3
1. Iago (Disney’s Aladdin)
I… I… I don't have any excuses, I just think he’s neat, ok?! There has always been something about the sarcastic talking animal sidekick trope that speaks to me, even though I can’t explain why. He’s just such a angry, self-centered, fun little guy, and he has a real character arc that runs through all of the 90s animated media! Love his role in the TV series, and I also love that he went off with Aladdin’s dad at the end of King of Thieves. For better or worse, he’s my favorite Disney character, period!
2. Bad Bird/Karamaru (Samurai Pizza Cats/Kyatto Ninden Teyandee)
SPC is a show from the mid-90s era of dubs, and it’s generally beloved for taking a rather loose approach to its translation of the original source material. Bad Bird is yet another bird-type henchman, a rival to the "star" character, a bit of a punching bag, and also not-really-all-that-evil. I uh… I guess I have a type? *shifty eyes*
3. Jose Carioca
Oh sh*t I lied, I do actually have ANOTHER favorite Disney character! Who is a bird!! I honestly don’t know why I have such an attachment to Jose. Three Caballeros was something I ONLY watched at my grandma’s house as a wee one, so I do have some very specific childhood memories of it, and little me always thought this charming parrot was the best part. I have never seen anything he featured in that didn’t originate in the 1940s (yeah, I slept on the DuckTales reunion because I don't have cable or Disney+), but I’ve heard he has (had?) his own long-running comic book series in Brazil. I’ve always wanted to see one of those!
I uh… I definitely have a type. Who knew?? ^^;
4. Ryouga Hibiki (Ranma 1/2)
Ok look. I came into Ranma 1/2 in a pretty weird way: looking it up obsessively on the late 90s Internet, falling in love with character descriptions, screenshots and promo art, and reading fanfiction before I was able to watch or read ANY significant portions of the source material. Ryouga was always kind of my favorite back then, and he still is now (even though I have only seen a few of the OVAs and read about half of the manga). He’s just. He’s such an idiot (affectionate). But he's a great rival, a dog person, has Feelings but is incredibly awkward, and generally means well.
5. Ben Wyatt (Parks and Rec)
Live action? GASP! Just… Ben Wyatt is a MOOD. The entire ensemble cast of P&R is amazing, but it’s incredible how much Adam Scott and Rob Lowe brought to the table. I am very normal about Ben, Cones of Dunshire, and the Letters to Cleo shirt (I am not).
6. Lily Aldrin (How I Met Your Mother)
While I will watch Alyson Hannigan act in pretty much anything, HIMYM is a total comfort show for me, and Lily is just *chef’s kiss.* Don’t really have much more to say than that!
7. Lum(?) (Urusei Yatsura)
UY has such a HUGE ensemble cast with tons of interdependencies, you practically can’t isolate one character without at least three others tagging along. You also can’t think too hard about them, because they are all idiots (affectionate) (there is definitely a distinction to make between characterization being good and characterization being deep). Lum is... not my favorite character (that might actually be the manga version of Mendo?), but she's such a dang icon, plus she’s the one I've tried to draw the most, so that… counts?? Much like Ranma 1/2, I also have to factor in all the years I spent wanting to experience UY. Amazingly enough, I've seen more of it than Ranma at this point!
Currently wishing I could watch the reboot too, because the manga characterization/version of events might actually be getting their day in the sun? :D
8. Bentley (Sly Cooper)
Oof. OOF. Why did I do this to myself. The Sly Cooper series is a 3D platforming series from the PS2 era of video games. Penelope from Sly 3 might be my favorite character conceptually (she brings something really fun to the table, and geek girls FTW!), but her being The Fave is hampered by the fact that she only appears in the one game (What's that? Sly 4? Sorry, don't know what you're talking about). Sly 2 is hands-down my favorite entry in the franchise, and while he’s really difficult to play as, Bentley’s development across the original trilogy is… ghhh. IT’S SO GOOD, as are his friendships with Sly and Murray. Bentley!!! (I still love you though Penelope, you got done so dirty).
9. Donatello (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
I don’t believe I’ve watched/played/read any TMNT property that is younger than a third-grader at this point. But Donnie’s the Smart One, and he is Purple. ‘Nuff said!!
OK so. Birds and smart turtles. We're learning more about what my types are all the time...
10. Daisuke Jigen (Lupin III)
I have not seen much Lupin III. But Jigen is cool <3
(I also like hats).
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