I've left this open so anyone with a new person can jump in.

Olivia Lancewood | 17 | Heather [past tense], social peeps

Cirrus's hooves clattered on the barn floor, a few horses poking their heads out curiously at the sound. He ws surprisingly clean for his cream-coloured coat, evident by the shine of his fur in the dying afternoon sunlight.

Olivia held the lead rope loosely, practically skipping as she walked towards his stall. She didn't spare a glance behind her to know that her pony followed willingly, her gaze dancing instead over the various sights and sounds of the bustling stable. It was quieter than usual, since the peak lesson hour had passed, but there were still a fair amount of students around the barn. There was a gentle camaraderie in the air, as everyone went about their tasks quietly.

Once she'd let Cirrus into his stall and checked that his haynet was full and that he couldn't get himself stuck anywhere while she was gone, she hung his bright green halter on the hook outside his door. The lead was taken to the tackroom, to be stuffed wherever it could fit in her overflowing general tackbox. The teen had barely stepped inside before noticing a familiar face.

"Heather!!" Livvie let out an ecstatic squeal, her face lighting up like a torch in the dark. "I haven't seen you in ages!" She hugged the red brunette quickly - for once, she was less than a head shorter than the recipient of her attention. They usually towered over her by at least twenty-five centimetres; it felt like just about everyone here was a giant, at least in comparison to her shortness. Not that it ever bothered her, though.

"I saw Khan in the cross-ties, so I thought you'd be here. This is so cool!!" Stepping back to toss her rope into the box that was spilling over in the back corner - she'd actually remembered her original task this time - her dancing green eyes quickly returned to Heather, brightening as she remembered something. "Oh, are you coming to the social tonight? I'm helping with the set-up, it's going to be so much fun!! There's like, fairy lights and cie-cream and just, so much cool stuff!" She gestured excitably with her arms, as if the vague movements they were creating would somehow symbolise what she was describing. "You should totpally come!" At this point, there was no acknowledgement of the large possibility that heather did not, against popular belief, want to go to a crowded space full of near-strangers.

A sudden vibration from her back pocket startled her train of chatter, brows furrowing as she pulled it out to check the alarm. Her face pulled into an exaggerated grimace, glancing up at the older rider in search of sympathy. "Whoops, I'm going to be late. Or really, I'm late already, but I'm gonna be more late, you know? Is later even a word? Like, in that context? But anyway, I'll see you there!" With that, the girl flashed one last beaming grin at Heather before skipping out of the room.

***

Livvie dancing between the small groups and cliques of riders that were drifiting into the garden, her face radiant - from her naturally bright disposition, or the crowd that boosted her extroverted self, it wasn't quite clear. Her honey-streaked hair cascaded into a waterfall braid she'd somehow managed to rustle up between the set-up and arrival of the other students.

She'd been here for over two hours now, helping and, in he ropinion, overseeing the decor and ice-cream stands. The actual organizer might beg to differ, though. Regardless of how large a role she had actually played, Olivia had taken it upon herself to greet everyone that came in - admittedly, she already knew most of them by name, thanks to her fizzling bubbliness and cruious nature.

Her searching eyes finally lighting on someone she hadn't yet met, the Irish girl bounced towards the stranger. "Hey, welcome!! I'm OLivia, but like, everyone calls me Livvie, but you can call me whatever you want! Are you new, or what? Usually I know just about everyone - excluding the instructors, they're a bit scary." She let out a light giggle, her dimples showing. "-but I guess I've chatted to you now, so maybe I know you? But anyways, what's your name?"

Conrad Fairfield | 28 | SJ Instructor | Open

Conrad stood on the outskirts of the group, his face set in a dark frown - deifitely not fitting of the general vibe, but then he'd never been one to comply to social norms. The twinkling fairy lights cast cheerful patterns on the grass, pirouetting in the gentle breeze that was blowing through the garden. The full moon added to the light, making it eerily bright for the time after the sun had set.

A lanky young man with shoulder-length blonde hair and a cocky grin he could recognize a mile away appeared by the path, immediately being sucked into the group. Conrad's lip curled irritably. It gets better. He had only discovered after accepting the position at White Oaks that it was in fact the riding school that his younger brother was attending. He'd kicked himself for not listening to the niggle when he saw the name, or the idle remark that his mother had made during one of the occasional and therefore inevitably long phone calls. Oh, isn't that near where Cam is? You two should meet up! He rolled his eyes at the memory. It was wishful thinking that she still believed that he was faintly interested in that spoilt brat of a sibling. Little did he know that he would be forced to coexist with Cameron - as the sole showjumping coach, he was stuck with that imp for a while longer. At least, until Cam finally realized that he wasn't going to make it pro, and switched disciplines - hopefully, he'd chanhe his name at the same time, severing all ties between Conrad Fairfield, world-class showjumper, and the horror he had to call his family.

The tanned man ran a hand through his hair, glancing at his watch just before he did so. Still two more hours of torture, it seemed. For some arbitrary reason, his employer had decided that all instructors had to attend the social. He couldn't see how it could benefit anyone, but as the person who paid him, he wasn't about to argue with her. Although, seeing as he was easily the most experienced rider of the gaggle of coaches, she wasn't likely to fire him.

Might as well get comfortable. Re-tying the hair that he'd just pulled out of its pony tail, he rolled his shoulders in an attempt to loosen up his strained nerves. I'll be here for a while.

-Heather would have just gotten her grooming box kit out of her locker, gently shutting the metal door but making sure that she has locked it back correctly this time while Toby would be on the other side of the red brunette to practically stay out of the way of the other riders way. She let out a sigh, turning sharply on her heels as if in perfect time to hearing someone, a female's voice, saying her name with an ecstatic squeal. Her eyes would have captured a familiar face, Olivia, who's face would be lit up like a lighted torch in the dark- "Oh Hey, Olivia." -She greeted the other rider happily with a gentle smile on her lips-

-The red brunette was a bit taken back from Olivia's sudden hug but she soon processed it before giving a sheepish smile, returning back the hug before releasing. Her green eyes held curiousness when she was being told about a social event, she couldn't help but to give Olivia all of her attention as she was listening while seeing how excited the young girl was, Toby was sitting close to Heather's right as he practically leaned his weight against her leg a bit, starting to absent-mindedly pet the dog's head while she listened- "Sure, It sounds like fun." -Heather let a genuine smile spread across her soft lips while absent-mindedly giving her dog some attention-

-After a while of chit chat, she watched Olivia skip away after saying their farewells. Heather let out a sigh before leaving the tack room, making her way back to Storm who was waiting patiently at the cross ties while Toby happily trailed behind his human. The red brunette gently smiled at her gelding as he softly nickered at her presence, she ducked under the cross tie on the right before setting the grooming box down then grabs a curry brush before she got right into the grooming process while the large Shephard stayed out of the way but still in sight like usual as the dog comfortably laid down, panting with his tongue sticking out on the left side-

-After a while, the young woman was just finishing up on cleaning the gelding's hooves before placing the hoof pick away in the grooming box kit after setting his front left hoof gently down on the ground, she straighten herself up and sighed, carefully moving a few loose strains of her hair away from her face with her arm- "There, all taken cared of." -Heather said this before gently patting Storm on the neck, going around him from behind to get back on the right side before grabbing his lead off the wall that she hanged it up on. Clipping it back on his halter before taking the cross ties off both sides of his Grey halter, placing Toby on the stay command since she'll be back to clean up her things as she leads Storm back to his stall to let him have some time to himself-

Nathan Dubois | 25 | SJ | M: Open

The gentle padding of sand could be heard as the soft colored mare moved in time to her riders commands. With a click of the mans tongue the mare moved into an uphill canter. The 20' bounce jumps came closer and closer. Nathan hoisted himself up into the correct position and guided Bowie over the two jumps. Yes, they were a bit short for the pairs liking, but they needed to get back into the swing of things before going for the big jumps.

By the time Nathan had finished grooming Bowie and his gelding, Macca, he had received many messages from a group chat he had been added to. It was one used for the whole stables to converse, and the messages he had received were about a social event held in the gardens.

Nathan rugged both horses and led them out towards their assigned pasture, babbling like a lunatic to the pair. "So, yeah, basically I'm expected to go to this, social event." The last two words he overexaggerated, and chuckled to himself about it. Bowie continued walking with her head down, and Macca was showing just as much character as the man. "And, like, equestrian boys. Mm yummy." He giggled like a school boy." And the gals, even better."

_

A deep sigh was heaved and Nathan looked at himself in the mirror for the fifth time. Covering his legs were a pair of ripped skinny jeans, and he wore a dark colored denim jacket with a white tee-shirt underneath. Adorning his fingers were his various rings, and he wore a chain around his wrist. His usual out-of-riding attire. As he changed positions every couple of seconds like a lunatic girl choosing a prom dress, he decided it would have to do and ruffled his black hair before leaving his dorm.

He followed the sounds of chatter and the map on his phone and soon found himself standing a few meters from the gathering. "Breathe.. deep.." Nathan muttered. He did so, and took a step with each breath. Nathan was greeted by a table with liquid and took his most favorite before walking to an outer edge of the gathering.

Of course I only now realize that I owe you an Alex post.

Alexander Littlewood | R/E | Rena

Alex hadn't dressed up in the slightest for the social, other than to toss on a fresh hoodie without the manure stains of his old one - if Payton was here, she'd have forced him into something slightly neater, but for better or worse, she was long gone. All he'd really wanted when he excused himself to get ready was a reason to have a handful of time to himself, to pull himself together. If the only reason he was going was to fulfil another person's wishes - he toyed with the word friend for a moment, before shrugging it off - there was no reason to doll himself up into something he wasn't (apparently, even running a comb through his hair was too much to ask). And people tended to steer cleer of an outsider in a hoodie, especially iin the dark. Even the year he'd spent here hadn't done much to change that fact - he wasn't someone who fitted in naturally, and it wasn't on his bucket list.

He watched the other students with a careless gaze, eyes flitting from each moving person to the next. The garden was alive, what with the decorations Reggie had helped set up, and the unmistakable scent of warm summer air. The alcohol that someone had managed to procur without attracting Kholo's notice was a help, too. There was surprisingly little official supervision at the social, other than an unfamiliar instructor-esque man lurking by the opposite end, and Kholo for the few minutes that she'd been there before scrambling off to another commitment. This was going to get messy very quickly.

At Rena's remark, he pulled himself away from the mesmerizing lights he'd been staring at. Viktor had disappeared - most likely, related to the urgent tone of her voice when she'd asked the Romanian something - and shrugged with a minute movement of his shoulders. "Don't know for sure. I think he was hanging somewhere around the ice cream, last I checked. Clever guy." He glanced at her, scrutinizing her reaction. She seemed unsettled, which didn't quite fit with what he'd seen of her so far - but then he'd only known he for half an afternoon, so he couldn't quite say what was unusual for her behaviour.

Kyran Meyer | 22 | Irish Armageddon | Drew, Nathan

Kay glanced at his phone for the tenth time in the last two minutes, releasing a sigh as he admitted defeat. Of course, on the one day that he would valued his older brother's hovering presence, Hunter was delayed. He'd mentioned something about Lee needing an unexpected farrier visit, and was now two hours later than he'd said. Typical. Admittedly, it wasn't exactly Hunter's fault that the mare had thrown a shoe, but that was basically irrelevant. He wasn't going to make it, and that was what mattered.

A buzz from his phone - which he was now cradling in one hand, as if he could will it to give him the news he wanted - brought him back to reality. [Drew Meyer] ready when u r :). A rueful smile fluttered through his face. Trust Drew to toss together an outfit that would probably look double as stylish as whatever the hell he was going to wear, in half the time as him. So far, all he'd done to prepare was lay out his favourite flannel jersey - there was no way anyone was going to talk him out of that one, at least - and stare despondantly at his phone, watching the minutes tick by.

[K] down in a sec. Wishful thinking. At this rate, he might have his laces tied by November.

***

Drew was leaning against the doorframe as Kay finally emerged from the boy's dorms, idly tapping at her phone as messages pinged back in response. She glanced up at his footsteps, a mischievous grin on her lips. "Ready, are we?" She grabbed his arm, linking it with hers. "After, what - " she checked the time again "-ten minutes? Hon, we need to get your fashion sense in tow. That took way too long." As expected, she was dressed in an assortment of what she described as 'punk-chic', but what most would call 'shopping on a student budget', that somehow worked. Her dark hair was contrasted with the bright pink tips, hanging at a rough bob just above her shoulders.

"Anyway, I've been stalking everyone on the group chat, and all I'm saying is that I swear all equestrians are hot." She sneaked a teasing glance at him, watching her younger brother blush faintly, but completely unabashedly.

"So? Are you interested, already? I thought you'd be hung up on Chloe for the rest of your life, judging by your dramatic 1am counselling sessions with me." Kay rolled his eyes, the words having their desired effect as she pouted at him. "Just you wait," she shot back. "You'll find true love someday, and then you'll stop judging. Who are you to judge if I have some fun while I pine for my soulmate, anyway?"

Before too long, the pair arrived at the garden that had been allocated for the ice-cream social. There was already a fair crowd, and despite the cliques that seemed to be forming already, there was a relaxed air to it. Drew disappeared almost as soon as they stopped, with some backhanded remark that if Kay didn't make at least one friend during the evening, she was going to personally cut up his flannels in front of him.

"Love you too, Drew." He shook his head playfully as she darted off, completely aware that his words would never reach her. She was already onto her next mission - socializing. Kay watched as she slid into a conversation easily, chatting up to almost everyone in the nearby area. Time to make some friends. Even if he lacked the charisma and self-confidence - arrogance, most would say - that his sister had, at least he was comfortable enough in his own skin to walk up to a stranger. Right?

Noticing a man standing by the edges - he looked interruptable enough, didn't he? - Kay made his way towards him, pausing only once to grab a glass of water. "Hey," he said, glancing up at the stranger with a friendly smile. He wasn't much taller than him, at least not in the way that Hunter towered over him, but it was still necessary for him to look up. "Hope you don't mind me interfering with your silence, but you looked a bit lonely. Feel free to shoo me off if you want to be alone, though. I'm Kay." He stuck out his hand amiably, his head tilted slightly to the side. "And you are?"