08-23-2019, 06:17 PM
<link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Source+Serif+Pro|Reenie+Beanie&display=swap" rel="stylesheet"><style>#cassian{ width:368px; border:1px solid #44555d; box-shadow:0px 0px 10px #44555d;}#cassianpic{ position:relative; z-index:0;}#cassianwrapper{ position:relative; z-index:1; background:-webkit-linear-gradient(bottom, rgba(149,171,168,0), rgba(149,171,168,1)140px); background:-o-linear-gradient(top, rgba(149,171,168,0), rgba(149,171,168,1)140px); background:-moz-linear-gradient(bottom, rgba(149,171,168,0), rgba(149,171,168,1)140px); background:-linear-gradient(to top, rgba(149,171,168,0), rgba(149,171,168,1)140px); background:-ms-linear-gradient(bottom, rgba(149,171,168,0), rgba(149,171,168,1)140px); padding-top:20px; padding-bottom:40px; margin-bottom:-158px;}#cassiantext{ font-family: 'Source Serif Pro', serif; font-size:13px; color:#222e34; padding:25px; padding-bottom:35px; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px}#cassianquote{ font-family: 'Reenie Beanie', cursive; font-size:20px; color:#ffffff; line-height:16px; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:-12px; padding:4px; position:relative;}#cassianname{ font-family: 'Reenie Beanie', cursive; font-size:50px; color:#ffffff; opacity:0.8; margin-top:-55px; margin-bottom:10px; margin-right:10px;}</style><center><div id="cassian"><div id="cassianwrapper"><p id="cassianquote">gotta do it in the penthouse<br>that's where I keep my pen<p id="cassiantext" align="justify">Let’s be real, Cassian most certainly will not be top of his class. Actually, just passing would be a miracle, really. It’s become quite clear he seems to have a severe allergy to taking things seriously. And, well, he really hasn’t had much incentive to. Not when his decidedly boyish humor grants him much better reactions than grave, serious intelligence would.
As if anyone would mistake Cassian for anything resembling grave, serious, or intelligent.
But hey, he has his charms at least. Which, as it turns out, is quite fortunate. Once they’re transported to the maze with it’s three seemingly innocuous trails leading into the unknown, he does have to wonder who in their right mind would want him on their team. It’s not like he’d displayed the most, er, brilliant of minds to date.
But, much to his surprise, he hears his name called, a pretty golden mare asking him if he’d like to join them. He blinks at her for a moment before favoring her with a wide, delighted smile. He trots over to join them, eyes bright as he glances between Lilli and her companion. <b>“Elaina, is it?”</b> he asks by way of greeting, casually winking at her as he settles nearby. <b>“Hmmm, I think Gorgeous would be more fitting.”</b>
She doesn’t quite seem to know what to do with that, but, well, we already know Cassian is pretty incorrigible. In any case, she is soon deep in conversation with Lilli after he offers up no immediate ideas to their dilemma. To be honest, he hadn’t really considered it. And, naturally, as they talk, his mind begins to wander, eyes flitting about rather aimlessly.
Surprisingly enough, he’s actually considering the problem with some (limited) diligence, despite his lost expression.
The girls have probably given up on him by the time the solution comes to him. Really, in the end, it’s actually pretty simple. He’s definitely gotten himself out of weirder situations before. <b>“Um,”</b> he interrupts, gaze jumping to the trio. <b>“I’m pretty sure we can just send someone back to get more water.”</b>
All three turn to look at him with wide, surprised eyes. He shrugs as though it’s nothing, but secretly he’s pretty pleased he managed to surprise them. <b>“I mean, two of us can just fill up the other two’s buckets after we’ve gone an hour and go back to get more water. And the other two go to the end and get water and come back to fill the first two’s buckets when they’re empty.”</b> He grins at them as understanding dawns, along with the realization that he, of all horses, managed to find an answer. <b>“So, uhhhh, one helper each? Easy peasy.”</b>
When Lilli favors him with a dazzling smile, he winks jauntily at her. Elaina’s exclamation draws his attention, and he tugs playful at a stray lock of her hair when she reaches out to bump his shoulder before quipping teasingly, <b>“Well, I’ve got someone to impress, don’t I?”</b>
He does rather enjoy the way she seems to blush in response to his teasing.
In short order, they’ve all gathered their buckets and filled them at the stream. The bucket in his mouth prevents him from making any more wayward comments as they head down trail number one, and so they travel largely in silence, picking their way carefully over the rough terrain. Once they’ve traveled an hour, they pause to make their water exchanges.
They hadn’t managed to clarify who was going with whom quite yet, and well, Cassian ain’t no fool. Setting his bucket down, he bumps Lilli with teasing camaraderie before interrupting Elaina to say to Lilli, <b>“Trying to keep her to yourself, I see”</b> He laughs, the sound warm and low with amusement. <b>“Smart.”</b> He smiles broadly at her before continuing, <b>“Mind if I steal her?”</b>
With a decidedly impish expression, he glances at Elaina and winks. He doesn’t wait for an answer before drawing her over to their buckets. Looking back at Lilli and Jackie, he gestures broadly to the pails at their feet, <b>“Let’s fill ‘er up and we’ll see you in a few hours.”</b>
Soon enough, he and Elaina have had their buckets filled, and as Lilli and Jackie retreat to the stream, he and Elaina continue onwards. With his mouth full of bucket, he can’t really say much (he’s pretty sure she’s ignoring his flirtations anyway), but he does manage to wiggle his tail rather jauntily at her as she follows him.
A lot.
They both stumble to a halt however, when they encounter a rather intimidating looking nest of scorpions. Honestly, he hadn’t been paying much attention, so the few they’d passed hadn’t really hit his radar. But this writhing mass of black bugs certainly give him pause. He stares at them curiously for a long moment before Elaina interrupts his reverie. Setting his bucket down, he tilts one eyebrow at her before grinning. <b>“Yes, Ma’am!”</b> One could almost imagine him saluting as he goes to shove his shoulder into the boulder. One could also imagine him not quite deliberately flexing his muscles as he moves the large stone over the path to give them safe passage.
As they pass the scorpions, he tosses a jaunty smirk at her over his shoulder, despite the bucket once more in his mouth.
The rest of their trip is rather uneventful, and when they reach the water at the end, they both refill and begin the short trip back to meet Lilli and Jackie. An hour in, they encounter the duo. After sloshing some water into their dry buckets, they all turn around and make their way back to the end of the treacherous path. Once there, Cas drops his bucket and turns a quite merrily towards his unlikely team. <b>“Well, that was fun!”</b></p><p id="cassianname" align="right">Cassian</p></div><div id="cassianpic"><img src="https://i.postimg.cc/05MjqdY9/Cas.jpg"/></div></div></center>
As if anyone would mistake Cassian for anything resembling grave, serious, or intelligent.
But hey, he has his charms at least. Which, as it turns out, is quite fortunate. Once they’re transported to the maze with it’s three seemingly innocuous trails leading into the unknown, he does have to wonder who in their right mind would want him on their team. It’s not like he’d displayed the most, er, brilliant of minds to date.
But, much to his surprise, he hears his name called, a pretty golden mare asking him if he’d like to join them. He blinks at her for a moment before favoring her with a wide, delighted smile. He trots over to join them, eyes bright as he glances between Lilli and her companion. <b>“Elaina, is it?”</b> he asks by way of greeting, casually winking at her as he settles nearby. <b>“Hmmm, I think Gorgeous would be more fitting.”</b>
She doesn’t quite seem to know what to do with that, but, well, we already know Cassian is pretty incorrigible. In any case, she is soon deep in conversation with Lilli after he offers up no immediate ideas to their dilemma. To be honest, he hadn’t really considered it. And, naturally, as they talk, his mind begins to wander, eyes flitting about rather aimlessly.
Surprisingly enough, he’s actually considering the problem with some (limited) diligence, despite his lost expression.
The girls have probably given up on him by the time the solution comes to him. Really, in the end, it’s actually pretty simple. He’s definitely gotten himself out of weirder situations before. <b>“Um,”</b> he interrupts, gaze jumping to the trio. <b>“I’m pretty sure we can just send someone back to get more water.”</b>
All three turn to look at him with wide, surprised eyes. He shrugs as though it’s nothing, but secretly he’s pretty pleased he managed to surprise them. <b>“I mean, two of us can just fill up the other two’s buckets after we’ve gone an hour and go back to get more water. And the other two go to the end and get water and come back to fill the first two’s buckets when they’re empty.”</b> He grins at them as understanding dawns, along with the realization that he, of all horses, managed to find an answer. <b>“So, uhhhh, one helper each? Easy peasy.”</b>
When Lilli favors him with a dazzling smile, he winks jauntily at her. Elaina’s exclamation draws his attention, and he tugs playful at a stray lock of her hair when she reaches out to bump his shoulder before quipping teasingly, <b>“Well, I’ve got someone to impress, don’t I?”</b>
He does rather enjoy the way she seems to blush in response to his teasing.
In short order, they’ve all gathered their buckets and filled them at the stream. The bucket in his mouth prevents him from making any more wayward comments as they head down trail number one, and so they travel largely in silence, picking their way carefully over the rough terrain. Once they’ve traveled an hour, they pause to make their water exchanges.
They hadn’t managed to clarify who was going with whom quite yet, and well, Cassian ain’t no fool. Setting his bucket down, he bumps Lilli with teasing camaraderie before interrupting Elaina to say to Lilli, <b>“Trying to keep her to yourself, I see”</b> He laughs, the sound warm and low with amusement. <b>“Smart.”</b> He smiles broadly at her before continuing, <b>“Mind if I steal her?”</b>
With a decidedly impish expression, he glances at Elaina and winks. He doesn’t wait for an answer before drawing her over to their buckets. Looking back at Lilli and Jackie, he gestures broadly to the pails at their feet, <b>“Let’s fill ‘er up and we’ll see you in a few hours.”</b>
Soon enough, he and Elaina have had their buckets filled, and as Lilli and Jackie retreat to the stream, he and Elaina continue onwards. With his mouth full of bucket, he can’t really say much (he’s pretty sure she’s ignoring his flirtations anyway), but he does manage to wiggle his tail rather jauntily at her as she follows him.
A lot.
They both stumble to a halt however, when they encounter a rather intimidating looking nest of scorpions. Honestly, he hadn’t been paying much attention, so the few they’d passed hadn’t really hit his radar. But this writhing mass of black bugs certainly give him pause. He stares at them curiously for a long moment before Elaina interrupts his reverie. Setting his bucket down, he tilts one eyebrow at her before grinning. <b>“Yes, Ma’am!”</b> One could almost imagine him saluting as he goes to shove his shoulder into the boulder. One could also imagine him not quite deliberately flexing his muscles as he moves the large stone over the path to give them safe passage.
As they pass the scorpions, he tosses a jaunty smirk at her over his shoulder, despite the bucket once more in his mouth.
The rest of their trip is rather uneventful, and when they reach the water at the end, they both refill and begin the short trip back to meet Lilli and Jackie. An hour in, they encounter the duo. After sloshing some water into their dry buckets, they all turn around and make their way back to the end of the treacherous path. Once there, Cas drops his bucket and turns a quite merrily towards his unlikely team. <b>“Well, that was fun!”</b></p><p id="cassianname" align="right">Cassian</p></div><div id="cassianpic"><img src="https://i.postimg.cc/05MjqdY9/Cas.jpg"/></div></div></center>