-Toby would be sniffing Mickey while the large dog remained sitting, the German Shepherd took an opportunity to give the horse a few playful boops on the snoot. Heather shyly shook the man's hand, giving a kind smile in return- "New Eventing team? Hm, I heard Emily talk about it a little bit." -she said this while releasing the man's hand, hearing his phone beep which has gotten her dog to tilt his head to the side a bit- "I should probably head back to the barn to check up on my horses. Oh uh I'm Heather, it's nice to meet you to-?" -Once she has gotten to know the raven haired man's name, she walked off with Toby following right beside her as the short woman was heading straight to the barn-

-She stepped inside the cool barn as her boots gently tap on the wooden barn hall floor which was shortly followed by Toby's footsteps since his nails gently scratch against the floor. Mystery would be the first one to pop her head out of her stall as the mare let out a greetingful nicker at the woman which would have woken Storm up from his long restful nap, poking his head out of his stall shortly after- "Hey you two, I'm guessing that you were both on your best behavior while I was gone?" -she jokingly said to her colorful mounts before giving them both some sugar cubes, she felt her phone buzz which she pulled it out of her pocket, unlocking her phone to see her Instagram pop up to see that her little sister has posted a picture of both the brunette and Prince clearing a tall jump as the title of the caption is called 'In loving memory of the gentle giant that became a legend' but her green eyes have scanned through the very....vile comments of people that accused the young woman of abusing her horses, saying that she's an idiot for rescuing a dangerous wild beast or etc.-

-Heather gently placed her right hand over her mouth, batting her eyes in order to hold her tears back as she didn't want to cry..not here..not now at least but her heart was still broken by the gentle gelding's passing. Toby whimpered as he gently rubbed his face against her leg to try to comfort her while Mystery started to nuzzle the brunette while Storm playfully nipped at her jacket sleeve a bit but he wouldn't put his teeth on the clothing at the very least but the young woman's heart was still in a slow process of healing-

Em / Tim

Emily giggled again, "I'm gonna take that as a comple-whatever, I can't even think of that word. I'm, like, a little more than a little drunk." She smiled, meeting his eyes as she remained slumped over the table, not really able to hold herself up or do anything else. It had only been an hour or so, and she was positive she wasn't going to make it to her old dorm, nor did she know if people were there. Last time she had checked she didn't have a roommate, but that was months ago.

"Seriously though, your accent is, like, so cute. So cute. It really fits you, you know? I don't." She giggled again, trying to sit back in her chair and almost falling back out of it, which only made her fall into another fit of laughter, and then she did end up on the floor. She started crying she was laughing so hard, and then actually crying silently, her head in her hands.

"Tim, I'm scared. I have a kid now, and I haven't even considered getting married. Well I considered marrying you today, but, like, I don't even know if you like kids. If he doesn't have a father figure he's going to end up like, like... Laurence." She giggled again, her emotions fluctuant and ever-changing. Then she frowned again. "But really though. I'm like, ready to settle down now. I'm not the same person I was when I came here. I thought I needed the whole world, but I've realized the only world I needed was right here."

(OMG FLIP WE NEED DRUNK EMILY TO GO BOTHER SAMANTHA BUT LIKE HAVE TIM WALK HER TO HER DORM AND HAVE EMILY SAY WAYYY TOO MUCH TO SAM AND CALVIN THIS WILL BE BRILLIANT I CAN'T BELIEVE WE DIDN'T THINK OF THIS // SHOUTOUT TO TANGLER FOR GIVING US THE BEST POSSIBLE ROOMIE SITUATION)

Cal / Sam

Cal stared blankly, his left hand still tracing the edges of his hairline on the back of his neck. It felt weird to have hair after years of a short military haircut.

"I...uh, actually, yeah. My mom's ex was an internationally known sous chef. A real d-bag, but a damn good cook. What are you making?"

He stepped forward confidently after initial bewilderment, hesitation, whatever it was. He actually chastised himself for that, he had always been assertive, extreme, all-in. Hesitation was weakness, and weakness was failure. He stood beside her, towering over her. His golden skin took an ethereal hue in the evening glow as the moonlight reflected on him through the window. He glanced down at her gently, cautiously, though it could have been mistaken for respect.

"I'm Calvin, and you?"

His eyes sparkled as he noticed the flour she was covered in. What was she trying to make? He traced his palm down her arm, showing her all of the white residue that came off. The slightest whisper of a smile reached his lips, but he said nothing. He washed his hands in the sink adjacent, waiting for further instruction.

-Heather would have been sitting in the tackroom for more than a minute, sitting on a stool while she mindlessly was cleaning one of her show tack, her XC tack set. The brunette was trying her hardest to try to get her mind off of the vile comments but she just couldn't since it had already gotten her to...is that what people really thought of her?...a picture fell out of her pocket which caught her attention, she bent down then picked it up off the floor. Straighting herself up as she leaned back against the wall a bit, staring blankly at an old picture that was taken way back of when her 16 year old self was playing in the large greener pastures with the younger looking Prince as he was 8 years old at that time period-

-She felt a tear run down her cheek but a weak smile showed on her lips, remembering the good, the bad, and the ugly memories that the two have created with each other, even if one of them was having a bad day, they've always pulled through it. Heather gently traced her index finger over Prince's face before softly saying to herself while the half cleaned bridle sat comfortable on her lap- "I miss you so much, bud. I really wish you were here but...I know that you probably have other plans set for me to discover them." -Toby looked up at Heather since he raised his head from his front paws, having a concerned but worried look in his brown eyes which caused the young woman to look down at the German Shepherd before gently massaging his ear- "I'm fine, Toby. I just...I just really miss that old, wild goofball."

i feel bad for ignoring half of your extremely cute post but I think we owe it to Sam and Cal to hold Tim and Em off a little longer. Just a little ;)

Em / Tim

"You're strong," she chimed, a little woozy as she stumbled to her feet. "But why are we getting up?" She wobbled quite a bit on her prosthetics, feeling her cheek slowly with her hand, missing the warmth of his as he'd wiped her tears away. "You know, sometimes it still feels like my legs are there. It hurts really bad, I wake up screaming and scare the only person I'm supposed to make feel safe." She gave the most heartbreaking, innocent smile as she added, "but it's kind of funny because normally people scream after the nightmare. I always scream before I look down and realize I'll never have real legs again."

She glanced down at his lower-half with a childlike wonder, maybe a hint of sadness. Her voice came out in a ghost of a whisper, tan eyes twinkling in the moonlight. "What's it like having legs? Real legs? I ask people sometimes and they think it's because I want them to feel guilty, but really I just want to remember how I was when I was complete."

He began to make mention of taking her home and she clung to him like a little child, streams of tears illuminated by the brightness of the night. It was unusually starry, unusually clear, and there was hardly a need for artificial lighting indoors.

"Please don't take me back there, I don't want to be alone," she whispered. "It's so lonely everywhere I am. Being in my big house reminds me that I don't have a family, and being in my dorm reminds me that I don't have legs. You're all I have," she whispered, nestling closer to him, probably completely due to her lack of balance, and breathing him in. His voice was deeper, huskier, more slurred now, and she felt herself being swept up in sensory overload. Before she knew it, she was staring into his eyes, her arms around his neck. She didn't know how they had gotten there, all she knew was that she felt herself getting closer and closer to him, not necessarily because she was choosing to--she felt like a puppet on a string being manipulated by fate, or whatever it was that needed them together so badly.

She seemed to come to her senses after it was obvious what was happening but before she was absolutely leading him on, a wave of pain flashing in her eyes. She felt something in that moment that had been locked in the depths of her being and stored away for eternity, something she swore she'd never be vulnerable to again: love. Yet, with a background as broken as hers, Emily had come to the realization that love equalled pain, and should be avoided at all costs. She'd never been really loved, genuinely loved, so the idea was unfathomable. She only knew what her parents and Riley had given her: passed down trauma and inflicted pain disguised and labeled as "love."

"I...I just tried to kiss you, I think." She seemed as surprised as he, but too childish, too naiive to feel remorse, regret, or guilt. She buried into him again, her voice a gentle, innocent tone, tainted by a pained curiosity, the kind that only comes around once in a while. "How do you let someone love you?"

Cal / Sam

Calvin gave the slightest smirk at the way he had already affected Sam. He was just playing around, and it only strengthened his ego that that was all it had taken. It seemed that's all it took for most to fall for him, so it wasn't much of a surprise. He was looking for the one person who would despise him despite having a mile-long list of admirable traits, who would challenge him and cease to be affected by all that was Calvin O'Connor. In truth, all of the admiration and affection bored him greatly, and he sought to actually be challenged by someone. He never had that kind of connection with anyone, so he didn't expect much. He'd learned to have low expectations and a flawed impression of what love was, so he had adopted a personal motto: "it's all fun and games until feelings come out."

When he'd turned back around, Sam was pretending to be occupied with something, which made something burn inside of him. His natural intuition paired with an absurd amount of experience made him an excellent read of women. In fact, he often kept his impressions of others to himself to avoid scaring them.

He gave a goofy look of mock digust before pretending to be busy doing something else--he knew when to package himself as someone other than himself for the sake of not being "intimidating" or "too much." He'd been doing it since he was in grade school, and still hated it all the same.

"Let me guess. Your family is filthy rich, you're here thanks to daddy's money even though you actually hate riding and horses and everything that comes with, but at least being far from home means you aren't constantly failing expectations and being forced to be someone you're not. Yet, you don't actually know who you are because you've been playing pretend for so long, right?" He crossed his arms, that twinkle in his eye once more though he seldom smiled. For one, the military had taken his smile away, and two, he had always been self-conscious of his dimples.

"Don't worry, I'm not a creep, I'm just that good a read. Plus, I've seen your type before. Often."

He chuckled in a light-hearted way, his steely gaze shifting towards the ingredients that were out.

"What do you actually have here? I don't think you just need cooking lessons, I think you may need some shopping lessons too," he teased, looking through another bare cabinet.

I love this role play so much *-*

Olivia Lancewood | 16 | Ty

"Bungee jumping would be amazing though! I wonder if there's somewhere nearby - or maybe we could do a road trip! That would be so fun." She talked idly as they walked to one of the many barns, her words completely unfiltered. Her hair had long escaped its messy pony tail, now bouncing energetically with every step she took.

"...I wonder if you can get paid to do write ups on horses? That must be super fun! Like your job is literally just talking about horses! But maybe that's what salespeople are like too...Ty, do you think I should be a salesperson thingie? But - ooh, there's the schoolhorse list! I want to see who we have." Livvie immediately pounced on the paper, her eyes lighting up. "M...N. Olivia! So apparently I have a mare called Oasis, and you have..." She ran her finger down the sheet, remarkably efficient compared to her usual floundering. "-Zeus. That's such a cute name! I wonder what they're like - d'you think the tack will be labeled?"

"Never mind, they are!" She grabbed the assigned saddle and bridle, slinging the latter over her shoulder in an attempt to carry both at once. "Ohmigosh have you seen the saddle pads? There's like, a whole stack of different coloured ones over here."

........................

After locating Oasis, Livvie led the pinto mare to where she had left Tyler. He was already waiting, holding a handsome bay gelding. She made quick work, giving the mare a light groom, before swinging on the saddle - a feat for her height - and adjusting the stirrups.

"Ready when you are!"

[ack I don't like the flow, but it's nearly 11pm and I'm tired xD]