Em / Tim

Emily had been taken a little off guard by his sudden movement, but was more amused at his words. She was halfway to making a comment about the fact that he'd abandoned her at the hospital when she lost her legs, but refrained. She knew it would only result in conflict, and she wasn't in the mood, nor was she ever.

"Where are we going? I wondered why you of all people wanted to go for a walk."

Then he let her see. First she was confused, obviously. Then it started to click. "Is that..? From my dad's..?"

In all actuality, she'd blocked most of Germany out of her mind. Not the good parts, just all of the chaos and all of the loss. She didn't know what happened to half of the horses there. Some she had donated to the school, some she had sold, and some had simply been blocked out of her mind. Mira was one of them.

When the colt peeked out, she was immediately impressed. Everything she had learned about breeding sport horses while she had been away in Kentucky applied to this colt. He was a beautiful gray, and--resembled almost a near replica of Tim's horses.

By this point, there were tears in her eyes, not necessarily out of excessive emotion, just out of being extremely touched. She felt immediately connected to the foal, and, oddly, accepted. Tim had chosen a mare bred by Emily's father to carry his foal, and that was the closest to acceptance she had ever felt.

She hugged him closely, letting it linger in the emotional moment. Plus, it was cold--really cold, and getting colder.

"He's beautiful," she whispered, "he looks just like him."

Em / Tim

"Yes," she replied in the same gentle, soft tone. Several times she wanted to say something chipper, something bright that would lift the conversation, but she decided to let herself feel the emotion and steep in it without feeling uncomfortable--it was a weak point in her personality, one she had no trouble in admitting. If so many people were drawn to her bubbly personality, why in the world would she ever be sad or upset?

She never really let go of him after they'd hugged, keeping an arm gently around him, both for warmth and for support, she gently squeezed him and smiled in a comforting way.

"We're gonna be okay, we're gonna get through all of the bad stuff that's happened to us. Life dealt both of us a rough hand, but we have each other, right? At least when we're not constantly at odds," she giggled softly. "I'm here for you, Tim. Whatever you need."

It was obvious he was going through something, what that was she didn't know. She knew he had a rough family life, but didn't know a single detail. She was curious, but knew how it felt when people asked about her family, so generally refrained from letting her interest be known. She wondered if it was that, or just the loss of his beloved gelding. Or maybe something else. It was all foreign to her, emotions and anxiety and a fear of the past but also of the future.

"What's his name?"

Em / Tim

Emily agreed, letting his arm rest on her until they began walking and it became too awkward. She felt his eyes on her several times but didn't care to return his gaze, sometimes he was almost too adoring in a way she couldn't explain. Emily liked action, results, progress, and it always seemed as if Tim was stuck here, wherever here was. She had always been pursued, always been the one to receive the advances with grace, and it was almost like he was willing her to make the move. That sounded absurd, and she was happy being his friend, had her doubts like everyone does about having a relationship with someone that close, so she let it be.

A quaint smile on her lips, she felt burdened with emotion, but in a good way. "So, when did all this happen? I wasn't in Kentucky that long!" She turned to meet his gaze once, out of sincerity. "I'm really happy for you, Tim, really. That's incredible."

Freakin Tim XD I hate Tim XD jkjk (kinda)

Em / Tim

Emily was surprised by his sudden reaction, then frustrated, for she should have known better. His blue eyes were clouded with worry for the millionth time and she briefly considered that if this was how he acted around someone he trusted, he must have been awful with those he didn't.

"What can't you do, Tim, keep your mood stable for five seconds? Gracious, I'm starting to think you're bipolar," she smiled, but there was pain behind her eyes. His reactivity reminded her of her father, and that was no positive association.

She gently touched his arm, though he'd yanked it away, and looked into his eyes, imploring him to focus on her instead of his thoughts. "Hey," she said calmly, "what is it?"

Emily / Tim

Emily was oddly calm about the matter at hand, perhaps learned behavior from dealing with his constant crises. Her eyebrows raised slightly as he revealed the matter at hand, the subject being, of all things, her.

Obviously she was not the brightest nor the sharpest, but she didn't feel as though anyone else would have seen this coming either, would they? She made a mental note to ask Tristan, Kierstan, or Laurence later, she was close with each, at least enough to confide in and be confided in. All three often offered a more intuitive perspective than she could muster on her own, which made them great friends. In return she showered them with love and affection and occasionally came very handy when it came to parties, gift giving, things of that matter. She enjoyed feeling needed.

On the other hand, Tim often made her feel helpless. He was so stubborn, and seemed to get stuck in his own head. He would create an outcome that hadn't even had the chance to materialize before shutting it down. For example, this.

'Love?' He'd used the word so carelessly yet passionately. It wasn't one that was in his regular vocabulary, nor had she heard it used by him ever, so it obviously grabbed her attention. 'What does he mean, love?' Emily used the word all the time for friends, animals, any place she could. In fact, she would use any other word to describe a non-platonic relationship, those would be the difficult ones to say. Yet, it sounded so vastly different from the way she said and meant it, almost as if he spoke another language. Sometimes she thought he did. It was so hard to understand him, he was so complicated in every way she wasn't.

"Are you done?" She asked calmly, after a few moments. He retreated towards the barn and she struggled to keep up on legs that felt so unnatural it hurt. "Tim, stop. Wait. Stop." She grabbed his arm, a little breathless, and pulled it towards her.

"I don't know where to start. That was oddly touching, but also very self-loathing on your end, I'm not sure which part I should address first."

She gave a gentle smile, still gently holding his arm. They had been in more uncomfortable situations somehow. "Why haven't you used your words before? I didn't know you felt this way," she said gently, "and, have you forgotten that I pretty much manage every trainer's weekly schedule around here since I'm the most organized person on our staff? You have, like, two lessons tomorrow, and one never shows, or that's what you tell me, anyway."

A mischievious, childish glint came into her tan eyes as she added, "I have an idea, we should settle this like adults. You can go do whatever you have to do, I'll go to the store and find the strongest alcohol I can manage, and we can get absolutely trashed and talk about our feelings. If something comes of it, great, if it goes south, we never have to talk about it again. Deal?"