It was starting to feel like fall.

Lysistrata loved it. The chill in the air, the cold breezes, the damp, the dreary skies.. and the colors. Lord, she loved the colors of fall. The trees were just starting to turn, their glorious mixtures of lightening greens and bright yellows, even a few fiery oranges. It was... perfection. Pure and simple.

She wasn't usually a morning person, like the people she lived with, so the house was exceptionally quiet that morning. On her way out of the house she grabbed an apple and then paused to give herself a once-over in the hall mirror. Her denim jacket over a SPENSER sweatshirt, rich magenta pleated skirt atop her black riding leggings, down to her black riding boots. After only a moment's hesitation did she wrap a matching magenta scarf around her head and march out the front door.

The cool autumn breeze met her face, carrying with it the scent of rain not yet fallen. Lysistrata closed her eyes and inhaled slowly before closing the door behind her. A glance to the sky told her that yes, it would soon rain. Or sleet, more likely. Fabulous. Well.. she'd make do. The brunette slung her backpack over her shoulder and slid onto her bike. This was probably the last time this year she could get away with it, and once she thought about it, she probably should not have even considered riding the bike all the way across town.

"It's not THAT big of a deal," she whispered to herself. Deliberately turning the bike against the wind, she turned down First Avenue towards the older part of down. And you couldn't get that feeling of the wind in your hair in a car.. no matter how cold you got. Her father would probably murder her when he found out.

'That was why I bought you the damn thing!' he'd say. 'And you never use it!' Then shout about how the insurance was so much a month and neglect to mention that her good grades saved them so much money, and that she payed for half of it. Samantha would hang around in the background, waving cookies and milk, trying to calm him down.

Lyza peddled harder, zooming down the nearly empty street, her hair and scarf flying wildly behind her. Her nose was a healthy pink by the time she arrived a few minutes later, and locked her bike in the tack room, but she didn't mind. She flexed her fingers, hoping to warm them, and headed down the line of stalls.

Every horse poked their head out as she walked by, whickering and reaching out for a touch. Lyza obliged easily, but her mind was on her favorite horse, in the very last stall - a palomino gelding by the name of Nike. It was funny, she thought, how she found Greek influence everywhere. The horse was starting to get old but had a bit of a reputation for causing trouble, and while many adored him, Lyza was Nike's favorite staffer. Surely, he had missed her yesterday and the day before - she'd holed up in her room, studying - and she looked forward to spending some time with him.

But as she approached his stall, she could see that his halter wasn't hanging on the hook outside. Lyza frowned and pushed the top half of the door back, then jumped.

"I'm sorry," she said, blushing. "I didn't expect to... to see anyone here this early," she rambled. Of course.. Nike would belong to someone. Someone who would make trips to see him, as often as she did.

Damian had woken up very early that morning, wanting to go to the stables, and see his horse, Nike. Usually, he didn't have a lot of time to visit his horse unless he woke up very early in the morning, which meant that he would only spend about a half an hour with it. That day, however, he decided to wake up earlier, so that he would be able to spend more time with Nike that day.

Getting up from his bed, Damian went over to his closet, and put on a pair of carpenter jeans with black combat boots, a black t-shirt, and a bomber jacket, since he thought it was a little cold outside, and didn't want to take any chances catching a cold. After getting dressed, he took his car keys from his table, and walked out of the room. Before he could even get to the steps to go downstairs, he was greeted by his father, wondering why he was up so late. Telling his father that he was going to see his horse, his father told him not to forget about the practice session that night, and to be back by 10 PM. Nodding at his father, Damian then smiled at his father, and got a smile back, before going down the stairs. When he was downstairs, Damian was about to leave before he heard his mother tell him to eat breakfast before he left, but Damian said that he wanted to go to the stables early. Taking the glass of orange juice set at his usual place at the table, Damian drank it quickly, and took two pieces of toast, before running out of the house.

Going to the garage, he got into his Dodge Viper, turned it on, then drove out of the garage, and into the street, then towards the Parker Ranch. The ranch wasn't very far away from his house on car, being only about a half hour drive. During that time, Damian thought about Lysistrata, since they had talked about horses a few times, and he never talked with anyone else about that subject. His thoughts then drifted to wondering if he would find the witches in Ipswich, knowing that there was at least one in the town. He was very anxious to finally find this person, or these people who did use magic, to add them to his kill count, which he was picturing already.

Driving up to the Ranch, he parked his car in the parking lot, then walked out, and towards the stables. He went to the stables, opened the door, and walked to Nike. While he didn't exactly look like a person that enjoyed riding horses, he liked them, and especially his horse. It was one of the things his father had gotten him as soon as they got to Ipswich, since it was a small ritual that the secret society his family was a part of had done that commemorated the witch-hunters when they were in their hometown. In Ipswich, his family occasionally redid those rituals, but secretly.

Petting his horse, and taking the halter, he put it on the horse, and decided to go on a ride on it. Putting the saddle on the horse too, he was about to get onto the horse, he suddenly heard the sound of someone coming in.

"I'm sorry. I didn't expect to... to see anyone here this early."

Recognizing that voice, Damian turned around to see Lysistrata, and smiled at her. "It's ok, Lysistrata. I was just going for a ride on Nike. If you want, you could come with us."

Lyza couldn't say that she expected to see Damian at the stables. She really couldn't. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she made the connection, though, that he probably did own a horse.

It was only befitting that his horse was the one she not-so-secretly adored.

"It's ok, Lysistrata. I was just going for a ride on Nike. If you want, you could come with us."

She grinned. "I should have known," she said, leaning on the stall door. "My favorite horse belongs to one of the few people I get along with." The brunette leaned into the stall and stroked Nike down the length of his muzzle and planted a kiss on his forehead. He nickered at her touch, but waited patiently for whatever Damian would do. She couldn't help rolling her eyes.

"I dunno if I should. I've got stalls to much. And please tell me you're going to use a bridle this time?" she added, nodding at how Damian appeared to be prepared to leave without using one.. again. Lyza remembered Damian telling her a story of when he first learned how to ride, when he'd been just a little tyke, and tried to attach the reins to a halter instead of a bridle. It hadn't been pretty.

Damian looked at Lysistrata, somehow not being surprised to see her, because he heard her saying something about working at a ranch, tending to horses, but he didn't think it was the Parker Ranch, despite not knowing of any other ranches in Ipswich. Having never seen her while he was on the ranch grounds, Damian would have probably never connected thought she worked there, or at least never had thought of it. However, he did think this was very good, because she was very nice, and loved horses a lot, so she'd take good care of them. He also thought this was good, because she was among the few people in the town that he liked.

"I should have known. My favorite horse belongs to one of the few people I get along with."

He smiled a little at that comment, and blushed a little too. Damian was flattered that she liked him, or at the very least got along with him. He was also glad that Nike was her favorite horse, because Damian also liked Lysistrata. Watching the way that Nike had responded to Lysistrata petting her, Damian knew that it was a smart choice for him to like her, but he still wasn't going to tell her about his witch-hunting activities, not trusting her enough for that, or at least not yet.

"I dunno if I should. I've got stalls to much. And please tell me you're going to use a bridle this time?"

Damian knew that he shouldn't have told her that story of when he was younger, but thought that it was really funny. He didn't mind too much about hearing someone bring that up though, since it was a learning experience, and he didn't do that anymore. Walking over to where the bridle was, he had taken it, and the reins, before he walked over to Nike. Taking off the halter, he then put on the bridle, and attached the reins to the bridle. After that, he placed the saddle on the horse, then turned back to Lysistrata. "Yeah. Yeah. Laugh it up all you want while I go riding. Are you sure that you don't want to come riding, Lysistrata? Nike wants you to ride." He figured that the last comment may have been the one that made her decided to ride with them, because of the way that the horse was responding to her.