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Bear Creek, Montana.
"Are you sure about this, Chris?" Una asked as he shifted the saddle against his side.It was heavy, the comfortable western type he always rode. The stirrups were folded up over the seat so they didn't drag, same with the cinch. They still flopped occasionally against him.
Archer's bridle lay draped over his other shoulder so he didn't trip on the reins or the long lunge line lying on top of it. He couldn't believe he'd never thought of this before in all the years that he's known Una.
They were walking up the path from the barn to where he had Archer in one of the round pens. It was a gorgeous fall Montana day. The colors were already starting to turn and the air was comfortably cool, but not cold.
"Quite sure, Una. It's as safe as you can get on a horse short of a pony ride. Pretty sure you're too big for those." He chuckled. "Besides, Archer's as minded as they get. He once stood down a black bear across a field with nothing but a few snorts and stomps."
Una side eyed him with a half-glare.
Chris couldn't tell whether she'd hate him or love him even more for this.
"That's a…good thing?" The gravel crunched underneath their boots.
He nodded with a grin. "A very good thing. A lesser horse might've spooked or bolted." He explained calmly. "A minded horse is like a good Captain. They can handle danger and fear hand in hand and still remain calm."
"Uh-huh." Una said. Chris had admittedly never seen her this nervous. Una could face down a whole squad of Klingons without batting an eye yet here she was balking before a horse. He couldn't blame her, they were quite scary but not Archer.
Not his trusty bay steed.
The metal fencing for the round pen clinked in the gentle wind. Still, Archer stood in the center of the pen dozing calmly. His tail fluttered in the wind behind him and his neck was drooped.
"See? I even lunged him earlier so…to put it crassly, all the piss and vinegar is out." He said.
Una looked lost but not nodded regardless.
Archer raised his head with a nicker. Chris wondered if he'd caught their scent since the wind was blowing from their position towards him. Una flinched back, her arm brushing against his elbow curled around the saddle.
"It'll be alright Una." He reassured as he walked over to the fencing and set the saddle on the top rung. It wobbled before settling and he draped the bridle and lines over that. Below, on the ground lay the grooming supply box he always used. Command gold, ironically, made of hard, durable plastic. A mounting block was next to that. He never used it, but he knew Una would need it.
"Alright, we'll do some lunging and then maybe later we can go for a trail ride." He said happily as he bent to pick up the gold box.
"A..trail ride?" Una asked. "So, you want me to ride through bear country on my own?"
Chris chuckled. "Never. I'd be with you, but we could start with that if you'd like."
Una shook her head. "No, I'll be fine here." It sounded to him like she was trying to convince herself.
Chris shrugged. "Your choice. Come and help me groom him, I promise Archer isn't as scary as he looks."
"You sure about that?" Una replied dryly as he handed her a curry comb. Most of his supplies in here was command gold because why shouldn't a captain have things that weren't the color of his rank?
"Pretty sure. Like I said he's even-keeled." Una stared at the oval curry comb in her hand as if it were an alien too. In a way, it was.
"Here, I'll show you how to use it. Archer will let you know if you press too hard." With his free hand he grabbed Una's free one leading her behind Archer and around to his left side. He handed her the curry comb, watching those perfectly manicured hands slip into the hoop on the top.
Chris reached out for her hand again, placing his on top of the curry combed one. Gently, he guided it to Archer's flank. Archer's tail flicked a fly away and the rough hair smack against them. Una stiffened again.
"Relax, Una, it was just a fly." He said lowly, the same sort of tone he would use to work with a spooked horse.
He felt her relax under his hand and began moving the curry against Archer’s flank. Her hand was smooth under his, cooler than his own skin after hauling the tack up here.
Chris guided her through the first circle and felt her forearm settle against his. The muscle underneath was denser than he expected. It shifted with each stroke, pressing and releasing against his arm in a slow rhythm that had nothing to do with horses.
He had known she was strong. He hadn’t known it would feel like this. The quiet certainty of it against his skin, the way it made him aware of his own arm, his own pulse, the warmth pooling in the narrowing space between his chest and her back.
It was only when Archer snapped his head back that he realized Una was pushing too hard. "Thanks, buddy." He said and lightened up on her hand.
"Think you got it now?" Chris asked as he reluctantly stepped back.
"I think so. You know, this isn't that bad." She glanced back at him. Then, her eyes went right back to Archer. Archer's head had lowered again. It hadn't been an intention to bite, just a warning. Chris watched her hand go back to Archer's flank. It moved methodically across it in those brusque circles.
"I'll do the cinch and his belly so you don't have to. It can be intimidating the first time." He bent down to pick up the hoof pick.
Una nodded as he stood back up. "Is this the right pressure?" Chris glanced back and nodded. "Absolutely."
He had to pass close to Una since Archer was close to the fencing. Una was so focused on what she was doing that she didn't notice. Chris could ask her to move but he didn't. There was enough space for him to pass by, but barely.
Then her elbow brushed against Chris' lower back. Chris' breath caught and he almost dropped the hoof pick.
Una went back to grooming. Archer's ears flicked back momentarily. His trusty steed didn't turn to look at him, but Chris caught that judgemental side eye. Archer stomped his hoof with a snort.
"Shut up, you." Chris muttered fondly under his breath. He bent down with his back now fully to Una. He ran his free hand down Archer's legs, gently squeezing just above his hoof. Archer obliged and lifted his hoof. "Good boy." He muttered, scraping the hoof out. He heard Una's brushing still.
"You're avoiding that triangle part."
"I am."
"Why?"
Chris smiled even though Una couldn't see it.
"Because this part is sensitive."
"So, it'd hurt if you picked there?"
"Exactly." He nodded.
Chris then flicked the pick around and brushed out the hoof.
"Don't worry about being perfect, he's not being shown." Chris pointed out, realizing only now that he hadn't mentioned that.
Una ran her hand along Archer’s neck. “You’re not so bad, are you?” She said it quietly, almost to herself. Archer’s ear swiveled toward her voice and he let out a long breath through his nose. Una’s hand stilled on his neck for a moment before she went back to brushing.
Una moved onto his back. She tried to reach with just her arms. When that failed she went up onto her toes. She muttered something he didn't catch. She dropped back to her soles and tried another angle but still couldn't reach.
Chris stepped in behind Una this time. He felt her shoulder against his chest. Her natural warmth radiating out. His arm maneuvered in around her shoulder, reaching out for her hand. Una stiffened, and then relaxed against him with her back now fully against his chest.
Una fit perfectly against him. The thought ambushed him out of the blue and he blinked. Her hair was close enough that it brushed his jaw when the wind shifted. Something herbal caught him first. Piney that reminded him of holidays spent cooking. Then something deeper, warmer, almost like wood. Then something soft under both that he couldn’t place and didn’t try to.
Archer shifted and stomped a hoof. His rough tail smacked into them and Una flinched against him.
"Just a fly." He said again.
At least Chris hoped it was.
He slipped her hand out of the hoop, thumb brushing the top. He had to reach a little more and closed the distance between them even more.
Una leaned back against his chest and Chris' breathing caught and stuttered. The wind shifted the gate's lock, the chain rattling against the metal but neither of them moved. Even Archer didn't take notice. His hand had stilled against Archer's side.
Una…She took over his mind. He couldn't think of anything else except for the woman leaning into his chest. Her scent, warm and herbal wafted off her hair. Her warmth. Her breathing and even the weight of her against him.
"You could've gotten that block thing." Una muttered and Chris watched her hand raise back and find his face. He held it there with his free one. "Mm, but where'd the fun be in that?"
Una turned around and the curry comb was entirely forgotten as her shoulder dragged across his chest. At the same time her hand dropped from his cheek, but grabbed his flannel shirt. Her eyes found his and stayed and there was nothing professional left in them. This was the Una that he'd never seen on the bridge. Not even during gamma shift. Her expression was open, unguarded.
Chris reached up to brush a strand of hair behind her ear. "We should get you a helmet." He muttered.
Una didn't respond. She was staring at his lips with her own parted slightly like she wanted to say something. Her grip on his shirt tightened a little, pulling him in. She reached up to cup the back of his head and he swallowed.
Then Archer swung his hips away and Chris lost half his support. He pitched forward into Una and her grip on his shirt pulled him the rest of the way. Her foot caught on something — the grooming box, the mounting block, the dirt — and they went down together.
"Oof." Chris puffed out as they landed. Instinctively he caught himself on his knees. One hand landed in the dirt beside her face while the other clutched the curry comb, hand still through the hoop. He had a feeling he'd feel this tomorrow.
He stared down at Una who had more than just a strand of hair in her face. It was all there, lying diagonally. A bunch of it ballooned out when she blew it out of her mouth.
Laughter bubbled out of Chris at the sight. Una glared at him for half a second before breaking out into her own laughter. Archer shifted and with a flick of his tail meandered off to the other side of the pen looking bored. Chris laughed even harder.
Then, lips were against his.
Warm lips slightly chapped from the chilly Montana air.
Una's lips.
They tasted faintly of dust.
They were rough and warm.
Chris' arms locked out on either side of her for a half second. He tried to slip his hand free of the curry comb, fumbled it, and let it drop into the dirt. Then both hands were in her hair.
One of Una's hands found his own hair and gripped it while the other clung to his flannel shirt.
Chris would carry this with him. The dirt, the dust, the taste of her. This. This was why he'd brought her to Montana.
To his home.
Una pulled back and looked up at him with those startling blue eyes. The wind gusted again, blowing dust around them.
"You still owe me that lesson."
"I do, don't I?" Chris said, looking up as Archer walked over with his nose low. He felt velvety skin against his cheek as Archer nuzzled him.