[Drawlloween] Apple Picking, Derek Style!

Autumn was one of Meg's favorite times of the year. For a few precious weeks, it wasn't too hot or too cold, she could enjoy cozy evenings curled up in a blanket with a good book or show, and best of all it included some of her favorite crops coming in. Today, that crop was apples from the dwarf trees in their small orchard.

First thing after lunch, she rode Derek bareback out to the orchard, with bags slung across his rump, ready to pack full of ripe fruit. She was barefoot, easier for standing atop his back to reach some of the higher branches. She'd need to climb for the very highest ones, but the trees were short, not too hard to reach almost everything. But first, the lower apples.

Derek nosed at her hair as she slid to the ground, dry grass stubble pricking the soles of her feet. Throwing him an amused look, she pushed his nose aside. “You're gonna need to wait a bit, mister – work first, payment after.”

He huffed, lower lip pushing out petulantly. He might not be a small colt anymore, but he did still had a great deal of the impatient youngster about him. The mischief he got into on the property was evidence enough of that – and that was on his own. Paired with Meg's small daughter Lydi and their cat Dazy, he could stir up enough ruckus to get the neighbors involved. She could only be grateful that they usually thought he was funny, and that none of the chaos had involved any worse than a few bruises or scrapes.

The abrupt shove from his nose startled an 'oof' out of her, and she watched in weary exasperation as he reached past her to the nearest branch, seizing a glossy red apple and tearing it free. She could swear he was grinning at her, in his own horsey way.

“Alright, fine.” She shook her head. “One apple now to tide you over, and if you're not the death of me before this is over, you get the rest later.”