A/N: Hey guys! I'm back! This time with Tegan and Garth in tow! Prepare for shenanigans. Wonderful word, shenanigans. DISCLAIMER: Any thing, one, or place you may recognize belongs solely to Kristen Britain. Enjoy!

Prompt: "Is that a new perfume?"

Tegan Oldbrine was soaked. Actually, she wasn't soaked. She was saturated. Despite the warning of her ability and their early start from the waystation they had overnighted in she and Kea, her dun mare, had been unable to outrun the storm that had been brewing most of the morning. The skies had opened up on them an almost an hour outside of Sacor City and they had been caught in a deluge. To compact her misery Kea had spooked at a particularly loud clap of thunder that had been followed almost immediately by a blinding flash of lighting. Her horse had gone right, Tegan had gone left. Right into a mud puddle. So now she was saturated and coated in mud and the gods knew what else. Her nose was giving her brain smells that it would rather not identify.

Tegan swiped rain from her eyes and squinted through the down pour. She was fairly certain that she could see the outskirts of Sacor City up ahead. She had never been so happy to see a place in her life. She nudged Kea into an easy jog. The road was too slick for anything faster and honestly, Tegan and Kea were too miserable to muster the energy.

The guards at the gate were mercifully brief and their only comment on her appearance had been a few raised eyebrows. Although she had seen one man take a step back from her once he caught a whiff of her. Ah, the glamourous life of a Green Rider.

Twenty minutes after they left the first gate behind Tegan was guiding Kea across the castle grounds toward the Rider stables. The mare pricked her ears and picked up her pace when she realized they were close to salvation from the hammering rain. They were nearly to the door before someone saw them and rang the bell to signal an incoming Rider. She halted just outside of the door and swung off Kea into yet another mud puddle. Tegan grimaced. Cleaning her gear was going to be a nightmare. She sighed and led a drenched Kea into the blessedly warm and dry barn.

"What in the name of Aeryc happened to you?"

Tegan groaned at the voice and looked up to see Garth standing in the aisle way of the barn with a pitchfork in hand. He was failing miserably to conceal his massive grin as he took in her bedraggled appearance. Of course he had to be the first person she encountered. She sighed again and tugged Kea toward her stall.

"Kea took offense to some thunder and we had a difference of opinion on which way to go which resulted in me having a rather violent encounter with the road."

Garth winced as he leaned the pitchfork up against the wall and crossed to meet her. "Looks like the road won." His eyes widened when he drew close enough for him to get the full effect.

"Is that…is that a new perfume?" He asked trying to mask a cough.

She gave him a droll look over her shoulder as she unbolted the stall door and led the mare inside. "Mmmm, it's called eau d' Green Rider. I predict it'll be all the rage in the city soon."

Garth followed her into the stall and began to help her untack Kea. The mare sighed in relief as the gear was removed. Tegan softened toward the big man, willing to forgive him for his earlier comments. At least she was until he opened his mouth again.

"By the way I like what you've done with your hair. Feral Green Rider is a good look for you."

Tegan glared dagger at him as he grinned at her over Kea's back totally unrepentant.

"Remind why I'm friends with you again?"

"My irresistible charm, my sterling wit, my roguish good looks, my ability to reach things on the top shelf?"

Tegan rolled her eyes at him as she pulled the saddle off of Kea and tried not to reveal her amusement at his antics. "The ability to reach things on the top shelf is helpful. Not sure about the rest of it though. That's more Yates's domain."

He slapped a hand over his chest as if he had just been mortally wounded. "Ouch. Going straight for the jugular today Oldbrine." This time she did grin as she carried her tack out of the stall and set it just outside of the door. She hung the saddle blanket on the rack on the wall so it would hopefully be dry at some point in the near future. She let herself back in to the stall and found Garth had already started rubbing Kea down with handfuls of clean straw. The mare hung her head and gave a contented sigh at his ministrations. Tegan leaned up against the wall and listened to the rain hammer on the roof, content to let him take over for a while.

Truth be told he was her best friend, she thought as she watched him work. For some reason the big bear of a man had decided to take her under his wing when she was a newly minted Rider and soon they were thick as thieves. He always knew how to get her to laugh no matter what mood she was in and would gladly help her come up with pranks to play on others. He was also always willing to listen when she needed someone to talk to or just offer a helping hand when needed. His heart was as big as he is. She had no idea what she had done to earn his friendship, but she was eternally grateful for whatever it was.

Garth stopped beside her as he came around by Kea's head. "By the way you've got a little something right there," he said as he pointed to her cheek.

She swiped at it, but all that seemed to accomplish was smearing the dirt further. "I have a little something everywhere," she commented drily.

"I know something that can help with that."

She caught the glint in his eye a second too late. Before she could make a run for it he began attacking her with the straw, scrubbing her all over with it.

"Garth!" she shrieked through her laughter as she tried to run away. Kea aimed her best mare glare at the Riders as they disturbed her relaxation. "Stop it you big idiot!"

He gave the sides of her face one more good scrub before releasing the straw over her hair.

"That's slightly better. Still kind of feral looking."

He helped when she slugged him in the arm. "What was that for?"

"For being such an oaf."

He laughed as he stepped away from her. "There's something in your hair by the way."

"Alright, that's it." She advanced on him and his grin faded some as he danced away from her. "Come here."

"No, you stay away," he said pointing a finger at her from where he hid on the other side of Kea's rump. The horse was not amused. "I don't want any of your eau d' Green Rider."

"Oh no," she said as she chased him with a maniacal grin, "You're getting some of this. Consider it payback."

He made a break for the door, but she was faster. She tackled him and wrapped herself around his middle.

"Noooo, get off me you feral fiend!" he half yelled, half laughed as he made a very meager effort at trying to pry her off.

"Come on, hold me and never let me go Garth," Tegan said in a sing song voice as she made sure to cover as much of him as she could reach in mud.

"As you wish." He grabbed her around the waist and hauled her over his shoulder.

"Garth! Put me down!"

"Nope, you said to never let you go." He carried her out of the stall. "Now come on. It's off to the baths for you and I need a new change of clothes. Then, if you ask nicely, I might help you clean and oil all your gear."

Tegan sighed in defeat. "Fine," she huffed into his back. "Now can you put me down you ridiculous man?"

He stopped and set her down on her own two feet and they headed for the door side-by-side.

"I may be a ridiculous man, but I'm your ridiculous man," he quipped when they reached the door.

Tegan smiled at him, "Yes you are."

Together they sprinted into the rain.

A/N: I love these two. It feel so good to be writing again. I've written more this month I think than I did all last year. Honestly, I got kind of emotional at the fact I have new material to post. As always I would love to know what you think. Leave me a note after this message. ~ Naomi