Marley-Roze | Nirvana | D | M: Open

Marley droze along the dirt track, Nirvana moving around only slightly. She looked up into her rear view mirror, her brown eyes filled with worry. The old man never had been too good with long car trips but they had taken breaks. Slowly pulling up on a large grass patch filled with some other cars Marley let out a calming sigh.

Marley jumped out of the drivers seat and marvelled at the sudden new dints on her car door. The battered and old 80 series Land Cruiser had been through enough but the woman shrugged it off. She walked to behind the trailer, opening it slowly, revealing her large dun horse. Nirvana was a beauty and Marley knew it.

_

She led the horse through the stables, her brown eyes taking everything in. Marley smiled at all the horses and waved to a few of them, mainly to ones who seemed interested in her. Finding Nirvana's stall Marley led him in and stood there for a moment thinking about her first interaction with one of her friends would go. They hadn't seen each other for a while and this concerned Marley. Not to mention she didn't tell him she was coming.

Astrid | Bjorn, Raven | M: Open

Astrid finished up her groundwork with the mare and let out a content sigh. Raven didn't want to give this up however, hence why they ended up doing laps of the arena. Raven's jet black head raising in time with each second step, Astrid doing the same in the saddle. It had been a while since the woman had ridden just to ride and had forgotten what it was like.

( Sorry it's short >.< )

My goal for today is to make one post for each character I have, but probably won't happen til 11/12/1 GT. Stay tuned.

Laurence/Emily | Each other, Sam, Tim

Emily squealed slightly as she bumped into a muscular frame, who steadied her gently as she regained her balance, wobbling on her legs as he held her slightly. That was one of the things she most despised about not having real legs, the lack of ability to react and to alter her movement. Most times, with less gracious people who didn't try to steady her, she would just collapse and be left to try and pick herself back up. Most days she was far too aware for a mistake like this to happen, but at an early morning hour, even for her, the queen of morning people, especially after a night like they'd had, it was obvious how a mistake such as this could occur.

"Sorry, I should've watched where I was going, my bad."

"Me too," she replied groggily, slightly more awake, but not lucid, as she looked up to meet Laurence's gaze. They smiled at each other before continuing on. "Where you headed so early?"

"Wanted to talk to Tim about something, you?"

"Need to give my letter of notice," she replied, unknowingly within earshot of a lesson occuring in one of the indoor arenas.

"Oh, you're moving out?"

"Yeah, it's just time..." She gave a thoughtful smile, walking in rhythm with Laurence's slower, more thoughtful strides.

"Bummer," he replied, "I feel like I just got here, it would have been nice to get to know you."

Just as Emily was about to clarify the situation, she made eye contact with Tim, realizing a lesson was going down. She gave an awkward smile, sensing the tension between herself and her former trainer.

"Oh, hey man! Just the guy I was looking for. When you're done, can we talk for a minute? I had an idea I thought about running by you."

He glanced up and saw Sam, his features softening and becoming more humored. Emily went to turn to Tim to see if he'd noticed, but felt herself force her gaze in the other direction--they didn't have it like that anymore.

"Hey Sam," he greeted with a casual wave, for perhaps the first time not referencing her as a 'top eventer' and professionally, by her name.

"Or, if you guys want, I can take over for a minute while you chat. Just drop this off in the office mailbox on your way to your office?"

Handing her letter to Laurence, he gave a thoughtful nod and accepted it graciously. They both looked at Tim, curious as to whether he would accept her offer to take over the girl's training for a few minutes.

Laurence/Emily

"Alright, Sam. What do you say we try and make a wild pole exercise? Is Tim boring you with equitation-type stuff?"

She met the girl's eyes with an older-sister style smile, mainly resembled in her light-colored eyes. She started walking slowly over to a set of poles off the wall, trying her hardest to carry them and keep herself upright, majorly struggling but too stubborn to give up. Finally, she heard an enthusiastic voice from behind her.

"Hey, can I help you?" The girl put her guitar case and her other things down beside the entrance to the arena, as if no was not an answer. She smiled shyly and said, "I'm Chandler."

Truth was, this woman hated women, especially in environments where facades were encouraged, but she did enjoy helping others, helping them to see where the source of her hope came from.

"Emily," she replied gently, not exactly enjoying the help but accepting it graciously. It visibly pained her to feel vulnerable and helpless, but it was a reality.

Within about ten minutes of the two girls moving stuff around, the entire arena was a mess of perfectly calculated poles in the oddest shapes and elevations, completely perfect yet confusing.

"Alright, let's start rocking through this. Let's just walk through that line of poles over there. They're set so that if you don't extend him in the third section you'll just...regret it. Middle section is a normal walk, which you'll have to ask for from a collected walk in the front here. It's kind of like an acceleration ramp on the highway, you know? You just keep asking your cute boy for more, and he'll comply when he understands that there's pretty much no other option, yeah?"

...

"Why don't you walk with me while I drop Emily's resignation letter off at the office? It should be a quick walk," he replied softly, a neutral, casual demeanor about him despite an overwhelming sleepiness. He hadn't been hardly drunk at all, but the lack of sleep was causing a terrible sensation.

"I wanted to talk to you about the possibility of me taking over Sam's training, or teaming up with you. God only knows why, but she seems to respond well to me, and I've seen her try to absolutely obliterate both you and Katrina." He shrugged casually, trying to play it off as if this suggestion wasn't at all risky, and leaving him in a vulnerable position. "You can think it over, I just feel like giving it a shot may be in everyone's best interests..."

Emily | Eventing | Tim

"That is not a walk," Emily acknowledged humorously to herself. She glanced over to where the girl had once stood, noticing she'd left to go somewhere. Not far, she'd presumed.

With a slight curiosity, she began to ponder what exactly Laurence had needed to get up so early in the morning to talk to Tim about. Before she could bring her attention back to Sam, she heard very hasty footsteps which could only belong to one person.

Her first instinct was anxiety and hurt, for she hated the feeling of being yelled at, especially in front of people. Then it was anger, which did surface slightly.

"You have no idea what you're talking about, moron. And, I can't even believe you have the audacity to call me out, you're the one who left not once, not twice, but three times when I needed you most."

As he got closer, her face fell, softening completely. It was her fault he was on the brink of bawling, wasn't it? She stepped closer slightly, attempting to touch his arm comfortingly. "Tim?" Her voice was soft, containing a childlike innocence. Her pale irises expressed worry--she'd seen him do a lot of things, but cry was not one. "Why are you crying?"

She was doing okay, not especially feeling anything other than overwhelming guilt and anxiety, like a child who had done something wrong. That was until her arm was yanked away, a defeated look was given, and that 'good job' was delivered. That was the final straw.

A now-sniffling Emily pursued him out of the indoor, pleading for him to stop. "Tim, wait, just let me explain," she pleaded gently, sorrowfully, with grief. Finally, he stopped, and, now crying, Emily simply wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug, not really sure if it was for her benefit or his. "I'm not leaving," she whispered. "I'm not going anywhere..."

Laurence | DCT | Chandler, Sam

"Man, that seemed rough, I feel bad for them," Laurence frowned softly, twisting the ring on his finger. It seemed a habit he had, no one feeling seeming to trigger it.

He offered the girl a small smile, crossing his arms across a very attractive gray hoodie he had literally shrugged on over a pair of shorts he'd slept in. He hadn't really planned to be seen, or he'd have put a shirt on under it. Especially with the growing heat of the summer morning.

"Hey, I heard we have some new kids coming in, a worship leader and some rising eventer. I thought it'd be nice to go explore the town, since I've lived in Virginia for almost a month and the only thing I know about this place is how to get around our farm. I didn't want to make them uncomfortable, so I figured I'd invite someone else along. You up for it, or are you not wanting to hang out with another top eventer..?" He gave a sly smile, a harmless wink following.

"I also heard Spencer Cooley is coming to take some kind of clinician position here. If that doesn't excite you, I don't know what will. I mean, the number one rider in the world is no match for you, but, I figured having someone in your own league may be a welcome relief from us commonfolk." His grin only widened as he teased her more, the events of last night still lucid in his mind.