-Heather lead Storm into his stall, checking both his hay net and water that are both filled before leaving his stall to go fetch Khan from his stall to exercise him to stretch his legs for a while. After a few minutes of both grooming and tacking the black gelding up, she would be walking out of the barn with her younger sister Sandra that she bumped into when the dark haired woman was leading her school horse out of one of the wash stalls. Both the women were heading off to an arena while they have their normal talk..well, more of a pep talk from Sandra that is- "It wasn't your fault that Mystery had to be put down, there was nothing that the vets could do since all of her bones were shattered from the impact of the wreck." -Sandra said while keeping a steady walking pace with the red brunette, being mindful of where she's going while looking at her to hopefully meet her older sister's eye contact while Toby was following them like usual- "Plus, you know that she's in a better place now with Prince. So you just need to focus on giving Storm the best life possible and maybe get a new horse to give him or her the best life possible also." -She added, waiting for Heather to say something at least since the red brunette had went quiet-

-Heather let out a sigh, knowing that Sandra is right...she can't keep constantly blaming herself, she knew that she needed to keep moving forward instead of backwards- "I know, I know." -The red brunette finally responded to the dark haired woman, finally meeting her gaze with her green eyes- "I might get a new horse but for right now, I just..I just need time to cope since I lost her but I know that she's probably frolicking in those greener pastures with him now." -The woman gave a weak smile to her younger sibling, she hated this part of owning a horse...losing them since their passings have always left a hole in people's heart that it's painful since isn't very easy to get over when the horse means a lot to the person that's been with them-

Olivia Lancewood | 17 | Tryst

"Hi, Tryst." She flashed Tryst a beaming smile, her whole body alight with happiness. Livvie had unconsciously risen to her tiptoes to reach the taller girl's height, now only a few centimetres below her eye level. This didn't stop her from tilting her head to meet the German's gaze with more ease, despite the fact that she could have easily just glanced up with her eyes.

"That's so cool! I went to Germany like, once, but that was only for a flight switch-over, so I didn't really sty there, you know? But then, it was delayed so I slept over at a friend's house for a night. Maybe that counts as a visit? But anyways, that's such a fun country!" Her flurry of conversation was only paused to clear a piece of hair that had fallen in front of her face with a small blow, before tossing it over her shoulder once again. "Whereabouts in the country are you from? Do you speak German? I tried to learn it ages ago, but I didn't know anyone who spoke it - the girl i was learning from switched schools - so then I gave up and started with Russian. I still remember like, three words though! Wie geht's?" The German words were laced with her underlying Irish accent, but other than the small fumbling over the second word, her pronunciation didn't completely slaughter the language. (it was a close call, though.) But she seemed blissfully unaware of her inaccuracy, and carried on with her chatter.

At the question about her homeland, she giggled softly. "Nope! I'm from this teeny-tiny town in Ireland called Knockea, but you've probably never heard of it 'cause there were only like, ten people - okay, more like two thousand, but it was absolutely tiny!" Olivia's face was contorting into a wide assortment of expressions that matched her words, her face almost caricature as she gestured vaguely with her hands. Her hair was slowly falling apart from its haphazard braid that ran across her wavy mane. This wasn't helped by her unconscious bobbing of her shoulders, and exaggerated even more by the small movements she was making, as if listening to an upbeat tune in her head that mandated that she swayed in time to the music.

gahh. I had a long reply typed up, and then accidentally reloaded the page before posting. Yay me x)

Alexander Littlewood | R/E | Reggie, Rena, Viktor

Alex was silent for almost the entirety of the car drive, save for the occasional sentence or monosyllabic answer to one of Reggie's or Kitor's questions. The pair seemed to be getting on well together, after the strained silence was broken and a relaxed conversation was picked up. Despite the language barrier, they were holding an interested discussion that ebbed and flowed between them - something that he'd never managed to master, even though it was something he had practiced almost his whole life - neither one dominating or backing away from the words. At first, they tried to coax him into it, with a few probing questions or idle comments tossed in his direction, but upon receiving nothing more than a shrug and a careless reply, they settled into their own conversation. Every now and again, Viktor would be stuck for a word and say the Romanian partner, before trying to describe it as best he could in English until Reggie guessed what it was. Otherwise, it was simply an exchange of information, something most would enjoy but what he would call redundant. Rena, on the other hand, was strangely quiet - quiet than Alex himself, which was a feat that was rarely achieved. A glance at her showed that it wasn't a comfortable silence - her knuckles were almost white from her steely grip on the steering wheel, holding it with such ferocity or nerves that he was almost worried that she would rip it off. Almost.

Her words, once they'd pulled to a halt beside a park, did nothing to settle his thoughts. He recognized himself in her, saw the way she curled into herself. He was well aquainted with his demons. And yet, it felt somehow worse to see it reflected in her expression. He had done anything, everything, to bring the millstone down on his neck, but she had not deserved this. It didn't pick and choose its victims, though. It was a cruel roll of fate, randomly decided by the gods above. If, against his opinion, there was something greater, something more constant than this fickle mortal existence of theirs.

Once Reggie returned - he'd been to wrapped up in his scrutiny to absorb the reason why he disappeared, but now that he was back it felt irrelevant - Alex gave the man a nod, trying to put at least some gratitude in the small gesture. Another person might have smiled, but he tried to save those for more important occasions. They created a fake persona, a charming young man who was trustworthy, and seemed steadier than the truth. It would inevitably disappoint, once someone had peeled back the raw edges and discovered the person that lurked beneath: a man who was broken, but none of him weaker for having healed back wrong. And so he nodded, forcing down the lingering smile that threatened to surface. "Thanks. Quite a spread, then." He picked at the chips, more out of obligation to fulfil Reggie's slightly frozen smile than out of actual hunger.

Alex almost stood up to follow Rena when she left - he'd long since collapsed onto the bench, grateful for the support - but decided against it. He knew how it felt, when everything was too much and all you needed was some space, any space, anything that was separate to wherever and whoever you were with. In a few minutes, she might return, and if not - he would look. Just as solitude was necessary, there was always a point when you needed someone who was willing to crawl into that hole with you and pull you back out - he doubted whether he was the best person for that job. Reggie, he seemed settled in his own character enought to dive down and have enough will to surface.

"I..." He glanced at the other two, eyes flitting between them. "I could go, if you don't want to." Viktor was the best of them, he decided firmly. He knew her the most, and she would probably prefer his presence over his or Reggie's. Yes, Vik should go. But still, he stood up slowly, careful not to offset another wave of dizziness. Vik should go.

Ceri Vaughn | 19 | Reyes

"Jeez, that's a lot of people."

Upon her arrival at the garden, the first things Ceri did was pause, stare somewhat dubiously at the crowd, and then mutter a few colourful curses beneath her breath. When the message had been sent out on the general group chat, she hadn't been expecting many people to pitch. The White Oaks riders seemed, in general, like a pretty unsociable bunch - in her month at the centre, she'd only spoken to about six other people. Two of them were her instructors, so they didn't really count, and the others were a comination of stable hands and the odd rider in her lessons. From her judgement at least, they felt more like the people who would creep away into their horse's stalls and read some ancient classic to the equine, rather than show up in full force for some ice-cream. Admittedly, the property was huge - there could be plenty of those students in the barns, but even so there was an overwhelming amount of people. There was still time to disappear. No one had noticed the thin girl on the edges, and she could still run back to her room, grab a mug of hot chocolate on the way, and curl up for a handful of episodes.

"May as well grab some ice-cream, I guess." She shrugged off her thoughts, stepping towards what she assumed to be the line for the ice-cream - although from her limited experiences in the US, it could be some arbitrary tribute to the god of, who knows, Burger King or something equally inconsequential, that they celebrated once a fortnight. At this point, she couldn't tell. But judging by the regular step forward that everyone took, and the laughing riders that were walking past them with small tubs in hand, her assumption had been correct.

After coming to the front of the queue - quicker than she'd expected, but still long enough for her to bite one of her nails to the point of bleeding - she took her polystyrene container of ice-cream curtly, murmuring a small thank you to the person who was helping distribute, and turned to walk away. The light was slightly too dim for her to completely figure out what flavour she'd been given, but she guessed that it was chocolate or a similarly dark type.

As she glanced up from her inspection of the dessert, Ceri was confused to see someone looking at her. As far as she knew, almost no one knew her face, and she was fully aware that she wasn't the type of person who drew gazes whever she went. Rather, she was the one that slipped away, intriguing enough at first glance, but nothing worth spending time on. Where had she seen him before? His face seemed vaguely familiar, but that didn't say much. Was he an instructor? Surely not; he looked barely older than she was.

Her eyes narrowing slightly, she finally placed him: he was the man with the big grey, the one who'd watched her when she'd turned out Moria. At least he was clothed in something more ordinary this time. He half-smiled softly at her, before turning tail and disappearing into the night. Illogically, she felt like kicking herself; the first chance of getting to know someone that wasn't paid to teach her or an absolute brat, and all she does is stare judgementally at the prospect. But no - it was more than that, surely? She didn't believe in anything at first sight - everyone knew that friendship was based on knowledge of each other, not some fleeting fancy in one mind - but there was something about this stranger that caught her attention. One word, she promised herself. One random, careless word and she would leave. She would binge Sherlock for the sixth time, eat her ice-cream alone in her room, as usual, and forget about this irritatingly intriguing man. All she needed was a name, or a tone, anything.

With sudden purpose, Ceri walked quickly towards where she thought he had retreated to. She quickly found him stretched out on the lawn, his long legs covering a fair amount of grass as he ate his dessert in peace. Some small part of her felt guilty for intruding on this private moment, but she quickly pushed it aside. One word.

"I just saw you disappear, and wanted to check if you're good - you were the one on that horse the other day, weren't you?" Shifting slightly, Ceri glanced around the area, her gaze resting everywhere but the person she was speaking to. She cleared her throat."So, are you? Good, I mean." She fiddled awkwardly with one of her earrings, grateful for once that the sky was dark enough for the man not to see the heat that was spreading from her neck upwards. I'd say this is going swimmingly.

Reggie watched the back of the petite female recede away into the darkness as she left the circular outline that the light rays struggled to reach. Subconsciously, he’d began to gnaw on the corner of his lip as he listened to Viktor. Not quite in a reaction to what the other was saying, but more as a visual representation of his mind working. For the tension in this situation, his mind was rather slow, every decision carefully thought out. Once that was finished, he nodded slowly and went back to his eating. It was obviously better that Viktor went – the two seemed to be really good friends, so he would know best how to pacify her.

“I don’t think anyone wants anyone else to exactly go. But we probably are all thinking that it’s best you do so.”

Remaining seated, he looked up at the two standing figures, momentarily pausing his chewing until Viktor started to walk away. His eyes furrowed, Reggie’s expression was locked into that position until Viktor too, disappeared into the footsteps of Rena. “Well, that’s that. Alex, you might as well sit back down – not much point in hovering around. And whilst I have the chance, I should eat up because I have another diet starting tomorrow and I am not missing out on this meal.”

The words came eerily calmly out of his mouth, with no traces of emotion. This was his best skill – well, one of the many he had, but hey – to dispose of any emotion that he deemed pointless. Rationality is his strong suit. Common sense says that holding onto baseless guilt is foolish. Best focus on the apology some other time.

Ten minutes later, the two returned and Rena placed an explanation for herself. “Don’t worry. We all feel a bit blue now-or-again. Some more than others, and that is not condemned according to modern society.”

Roaming the street, Reggie’s energy returned. In the peace and silence, the sound of their footsteps was exhilarating – like a horror movie. The temptation to go “Boo!” was quietly bubbling. If it wasn’t socially unacceptable to skip like a seven year-old, he absolutely would be skipping down the street, if only to calm his heart. Aside from the slight damper situation – actually, the whole evening had been incredibly boring as compared to what he had gotten used to back in Germany. The moment the doctor deemed him healed, he’d gone straight into physical therapy and was playing sports and jogging every day in under six months. And had been doing so for the past three years. Being active was so ingrained with him, that the lack of adrenaline and the slower routine had been killing him.

And it had only been a day. Perhaps that was why he had felt the guilt in stronger pangs? The boredom was eating him into being depressed. Pondering over this, the suggestion of a nightclub caught him in his tracks. Beer would be nice. The dancing bit slightly less, but that was only – what, five percent of the whole experience? So when they got in, Reggie went straight for a large, almost jug style of beer. Tasting it, he was slightly offput by the taste. This was some cheap thing that had been fetched out of some dusting cupboard. Couldn’t compete with Germans, naturally. That, he downed in maybe fifteen minutes.

Getting a refill, he spotted Rena in a corner and weaved his way to her. Settling right next to her, he faced out towards the dance floor, staying silent, taking sips of the beer. At length, he started, “I probably should have asked this first, but do you mind me drinking next to you? I do promise I won’t end up throwing up on you.” He wasn’t lying about the last bit; he did have an unusually high alcohol tolerance and knew where he should stop.

Alexander Littlewood | R/E | Reggie, Viktor, Rena

Everything was going wrong. First the trip to the park, which had ended in awkward silence as was the rest of the time they'd spent together, and now this ill-fated decision to go to a nightclub. He hadn't said anything verbal to argue with the decision - true, he hadn't shown that much in terms of body language, either. He was focused on becoming the perfect human, the emotionless robot that sank into the background as soon as no notice was given. Preferably, even if someone did give any notice. He kept on reminding himself that this was good practice, that it was good to slowly resocialize himself with others. But this felt less like the gradual easing in he'd imagined and more like an icy dive into shark-infested waters, and his bones were getting colder by the minute. They would freeze soon, of that at least he was certain.

He drifted away from the buzz to find a quiet corner- if thatr even existed in this suffocating place - in some foolish attempt at silence. The noise was overwhelming; everything was overwhelming. It felt like an ocean, rising up to meet him in a wave he knew he could never conquer. It always was, wasn't it? Some unsurmountable darkness that slipped in unawares, taking hold of whatever heart he had left and twisting it, twisting it, to do its bidding. Lee had always said that he shouldn't make it become him, that he was not the darkness. But Lee had been wrong. They had all been wrong. That was he had left. And now they could laugh on the sidelines as he failed yet again, crashing like a ton of bricks just before the goal. (He seemed to have forgotten what, exactly, that goal was. But that was irrelevant, and he brushed it aside.)

He flinched as someone brushed past him. It was no one - no one important, no one that he knew, no one - and that almost made it worse. Physical contact at best was unwanted, but when he ws quickly spiralling down some dark, creaky staircase, it was a nightmare. Alex felt like crawling away, or to anywhere with space. Wide, open space, that he'd come to take for granted. Was it acceptable to wait outside, however long that might be until the others decided they had enough of blaringly loud music and stifling amount of people? Maybe he could catch a taxi - but no. That would involve another stranger, and he doubted he could put up with that again. And it was doubly unlikely that the driver would want to drive to some back of the woods riding centre in the dark, with a young man who could barely string three words together and had no promise of payment. That idea was scratched out, then.

Alex shook his head when offer a drink, and ignored any other attempts at conversation. His head ached, and all he wanted right now was to teleport back to White Oaks - he almost said home, but it didn't seem to fit a place where he had never belonged. His brain couldn't quite decide whether than was a lie or not. At some point, he may have belonged - when he was being carried by his friend's buoying presence, or when he first arrived and no one had judged him yet. But that chance had long since flitted away,and he ignored the niggling voice that whispered in his head. You could have, if you'd tried. You can still. That wasn't an option.

[don't mind me releasing all my issues onto my comfort character. we are fine lol x)]