Hard work never hurt nobody

[Shade Stone]

Shade Stone was new here and he was a little nervous. He needed to work on his energy and so he headed down to the barn to work. His horse not yet arriving but in the stables was where he felt the most comfortable. Perhaps he could pick out a stall for his steed and then muck a few stalls out.

He managed to get there with just a few odd looks and no conversation at all. His piercing green eyes just glanced about as he nodded and wordlessly tipped his hat like a true gentleman, smiling with an awarding winning smile and likely making all of the girls swoon over his attention, immediately wondering who this new guy was but to shy to come up to him and ask. Stone was use to that sort of femme reaction.

By the time he reached the barn all of the horses had been left out for the day. This gave him plenty of work to do, a little hard work never hurt nobody, he thought. Shade hefted the scooping rake up and began with his first stall. By the time he got to his third the temperature outside was warming up and he was forced to take his shirt off, displaying his muscular frame and his two tattoos.

Before beginning his fourth stall he retreated to the hose and took a drink, spraying it over his face and then using his hand to wet his hair. He sighed with the cool feeling, smiled and then went back to work, playing happily using his teeth to play with his tongue ring.

[Sonya Williams]

Skylar smiled as she trotted Solo into the stable yard. They had just had their team roping class, still getting the fundamentals and whatnot down. Solo enjoyed the work and so did Sky but now seemed like a good time to head into the barn since that was her last class for the day. She'd be ending with math tomorrow so, it wasn't likely she'd get to ride Solo tomorrow or visit Hotspot. So, dressed in a white tank top, faded blue jeans, battered old boots and a tan cowgirl hat, Skylar Williams rode her fifteen point two hand buckskin stallion into the barn. Slender, not too tall, not too short and with a nice tan, Skylar wasn't bad on the eyes and to be blunt, cowgirl apparel fit her perfectly. Her long brunette hair was twisted into a bun and tucked under her hat, silver studs in her ears and her belly button ring covered up for now. If she stretched though, people would be able to see it.

"Easy Solo" Sky murmured, patting Solo's neck as his hooves clopped into the stable yard.

Halting her mount, Sky swung out of the western-style saddle and snatched up Solo's reins. Solo snuffled and followed easily as Sky led the mustang into the barn. It wasn't unusual to see a stable hand bedding a new stall or students mucking so, Sky didn't think anything of the guy working in a stall at the far end of the stable. She simply shrugged and unbolted the door for the stall labeled "Lone Ranger" and glanced toward the stall a bit farther down labeled "Standing on a Hotspot." Hotspot's stall was empty. Frowning slightly, Sky glanced at the pastures, just visible through the open barn door. The hands must have rotated the mares.

Shrugging, Sky slipped into Solo's stall and set about untacking the horse. Slipping off his bridle and gathering the saddle and blanket, Sky used her hip to bump the half door open. Solo, far too interested in his feed bucket to escape, didn't seem to notice. Bumping the door again to close but not latch it, Sky readjusted her grip on the stallion's tack and made her way down the row of stalls toward the tack room. As she neared the stall where the boy was working though, Sky glanced at the name plate.

"Your Best Days" was what it read. Kel was a school owned Thoroughbred mare but as far as Sky knew, she didn't have a registered rider. Frowning, Sky stopped outside of the stall. School owned horses with no registered rider were taken care of by stable hands, not students.

"Hey, you do know this isn't your horse's stall right?" Sky said, adjusting her grip on Solo's tack. "The stable hands take care of school horses." She wasn't trying to be mean or rude but just, pointing out the obvious. Most students were glad they only had to take care of two horses at max.

[Shade Stone]

Shade did hear someone enter but paid them no heed, though he did glance over and saw that it happened to be an attractive young female who seemed to be about the age of sixteen, much to young for him, or so he thought, but she sure was pretty to look at.

He simply kept right on working, that was until she showed up where he was giving way to hard labor and a very sweaty brow, which his wiped with the back of his hand before answering her. "Yes I know that this isn't my stall and I did imagine that this wasn't my job but I wanted to work out some frustrations and I thought that this was the perfect way to do it. I'm sure that they won't mind me lending them a hand." Stone continued to sift and then to toss the poop in the direction of the wheel barrel, which so happened to be right where the pretty young girl was standing. He managed to miss her, thank goodness.

He grinned and then continued to work. When she failed to leave he looked back up at her and gave her the cutest cowboy smile as he tipped his hat back on his head. "Oh... Did you want to help? I suppose not since you probably don't want to get those pretty hands of yours dirty." He stated to her jesting but at the same time letting her think what she wanted about his statement. After all she did seem a little point blank with telling him what she did.

[Sonya Williams]

What the boy had to say for himself made Skylar raise an eyebrow and give him an "are you serious?" look that bordered on "are you an idiot?". Apparently he also was under the ludicrus impression that she never got her hands dirty mucking a stall or worked a day in her life. She would have fun with this one but not the same kind of fun she had around Tylear. Ty had at least had some sense and not gone mucking stalls that weren't his responsibility. Turning sharply on her heel, Sky stalked toward the tack room without bothering to respond to the weird guy.

Going into the slightly crowded room of saddles, bridles, blankets and grooming kits, Sky sorted out Solo's western tack and put things in their proper place. If there was anything Sky cared about, it was her horses and anything to do with them, so, she kept their tack in proper order. Once she was sure everything was where it should by, Sky headed out of the tack room and back to Kel's stall where the boy was still mucking away.

Folding her now unburdened arms across her stomach, Sky put her weight on her right foot, slightly behind her left and stared at him. Oh if looks could kill!

"Do you have a brain in your head? Wait, don't answer that, I can guess. The stable hands are actually rather particular about their work because they get paid pretty good for what they do" Sky told Shade. "If you need to work on frustrations, go to the gym, there's a punching bag in the weight room or go take care of your own horse."

It was true some of the stable hands were snippy about their work. They got paid good and Sky knew more than one that didn't like the idea of being put out of work by students. Plus, Sky's mom put a lot of emphisis on students taking good care of their own horses. Oh wouldn't it just make Sky's day if he said he hadn't gotten to his own horse yet? Ha! That would be hilarious! That would maybe be the one time Sky would love to report wrongdoings to her mom.

"I get you want to help or just want to work but there are other ways to do it rather than going around in stalls that aren't yours. We don't need you doing the work of other students or people that are paid for it,."

People might think her a little bitchy but, Sky knew what all the teachers said. Every student took care of their own stall. If Shade accidentally did the work of another student, it might make them lazy or might make them think that all the sudden stable hands are responsible for cleaning stalls, not them.

[Shade Stone]

Shade may have seemed 'weird' to others but he actually liked to work. Many guys his age were happy to just sit in front of the television set and play video games or go to the mall. Not this guy. He liked hard labor, especially when he was going through times like these. A new place set his nerves on fire.

She departed and then came back. Shade already thought that she was a bitch just by the question that she asked him. He stood tall and pulled back his shoulders before stepping forward. "My horse has not yet arrived and are you always such a damn bitch? I'll be the only guys that hang around you are ones that only want to get some." He chuckled.

He then walked out of the stall and leaned the handle of the pooper scooper against her shoulder and then began to walk passed her. But before he was completely around her he leaned down to whisper something in her ear. "Thanks for the warm welcome. I feel so at home now." He stated this sarcastically and in a very thick Irish accent.

And then he walked passed her, brushing her shoulder a bit with his. From there he grabbed his shirt, not bothering to put it on but instead he walked out to where the hose was and began to wash off his hands and face, of course wetting his entire head again, the droplets trailing down his rather tan muscular body. Shade then took a nice long drink.

[Sonya Williams]

Skylar rolled her eyes. Oh this guy was really an idiot. Unlike most of the girls that he was probably familiar with, Sky may act out and do everything the opposite of what her mom told her but she was still a virgin and didn't bother with guys that were trying to get to her. Who needed jackasses like that hanging around? Sky wasn't a bitch, not really. Usually she was easy going and, well, kind of a flirt but it rubbed her the wrong way when people went into spaces that weren't theres. Helping out was one thing but nobody had asked, nor was it his space to alter thus he should keep his nose out. There were other ways to work around FFA, Sky's mom made sure of that. When he brushed past her, Sky made a point to shove him out of her personal bubble. She didn't take shit from guys and if she'd been able, Sky would have slammed her fist into his jaw.

Stalking toward Solo's stall, Skylar leaned against the half door. Solo hung his head out of the stall door and looked at her and then swung his head toward the hose when he heard it turn on. Watching the guy from Solo's perspective, Sky shrugged. Whatever. There were better ways to do things around here and he'd have to learn that everybody had responsibilities.

Reaching to a hook on the inside of Solo's stall, Sky grabbed a purple nylon lead rope. Giving Solo a quick kiss on his soft nose, Sky headed out of the barn, jogging to the fence that made up the mare and gelding pasture. Farther back on the property, behind the barn was where the stallions were pastured. Standing next to the whitewashed fence, Sky whistled sharply to get the horses' attention.

Several mares came walking lazily toward her, various shades of bay, black, paint, buckskin, roan and others. One caught Sky's attention and made her smile. A blue-eyed Appaloosa filly strutted through the meandering mares, swinging her head over the top rail and bumping Skylar's arm.

Hotspot snuffled and huffed as Skylar clipped on the lead rope and led the filly along the fence to the gate. Pushing back the bolt, Sky led Hots out of the pasture. Looping the lead rope around the filly's neck and tying the end on the filly's halter, Sky put her boot on the bottom rail of the fence and boosted herself bareback onto Hotspot's back. The filly whinied and shifted under the new weight but didn't buck or try to fling Skylar off. Smiling at her victory, Sky patted Hots' neck. Looking over toward the boy at the barn, Sky half smirked half smiled.

"Horse deliveries are usually around noon. There's one tomorrow. If he's yours, his stall is the second to the left of the tack room."

Being the owner's daughter had some perks. Sky tended to know most delivery times, pasture rotations and other useless information. Well, sometimes it came in handly, like when she had to help Ty get Joker settled in.

[Shade Stone]

After Shade was pretty wet, it now seeping down into his jeans even though he didn't care because, well, it felt really good, he looked up and saw the girl leaving. He instantly knew after he called her a bitch that he shouldn't have. His personality usually wasn't like that at all. Usually he was kind and really flirtatious but what she said and the way that she said it grated over his nerves. Still though he shouldn't have been so crud and tongue biting. He sighed, inwardly kicking himself. Now he really wanted to go home. He longed to be in familiar surroundings, never thinking that his first day would end up like this.

He shook his head and then took the hose to his cowboy boots, but not before putting his hat back on. After he sat on a nearby bench and leaned back, allowing his already tanned skin to soak up the rays of the sun. He needed to get as much as he could from the sun in order to be able to carry his tan long after summer was gone.

It wasn't long after that the female trotted back up to him, sporting very nicely between her thighs a horse. He had to admit that she looked pretty good riding. She had rhythm and mostly the look. But of course he knew that by what he sensed of her personality thus far she probably wouldn't keep her mouth shut long enough for him to begin to like her. And of course she didn't but it wasn't anything really mean this time.

"Horse deliveries are usually around noon. There's one tomorrow. If he's yours, his stall is the second to the left of the tack room." After she said it he only looked up at her from beneath the rim of his hat with those brilliant green eyes of his. "You know... there's worse things then me cleaning a stall that's not my own. Like babies dying in the hospital of cancer or women being raped and beaten by their very own husbands. But thanks for the information. I may just put a hold on my horse being shipped because I'm not entirely sure that I'm staying." Shade put his hands behind his head and leaned back a bit more and stretched.

[Sonya Williams]

It took a lot of control for Skylar not to just roll her eyes at him again. For a guy he sure did whine a lot. Instead the brunette teen shook her head lightly and chuckled. "If you run off just because you get snapped at, you don't need to be here" Sky told him easily, pushing her hair behind her ears. Between her legs, Sky felt Hotspot shift, trying to move but the tightening of Sky's knees keeping her still. No need for the filly to go running off.

Hotspot blinked her baby blue eyes and swung her elegant head toward Shade, snuffling curiously. Craning her neck, the spotted filly swished her tail and reached toward Shade. If nothing else, Hotspot was a curious little girl along with being attention-spoiled. Hots always got attention from Sky and thanks to her unique but beautiful colorings as an Appaloosa, she often got attention from other students and staff as well. Being ignored was not Hotspot's cup of tea. So, the filly stomped her hoof like an impatient toddler and shook her mane.

Sky leaned back slightly on the filly's back, tightening her knees again. "Easy Hots, easy" Sky cooed to the filly.

Snorting noisily, Hotspot stilled again, nickering unhappily and lurching forward as if to take off. Sky tightened her knees again and leaned back further, gripping the improvised reins. Hotspot was still on the young side and not really fully broken in. Riding her bareback wasn't Skylar's best idea ever but, Hots was just energetic. Being in the pasture and stalls all day made it hard to transition a foal to being ridden.

"Whoa, easy girl" Sky murmured, patting Hots' neck as the filly reluctantly stilled again. Shaking her head with a mother's patient smile, Sky looked from the be-spotted filly to Shade. "If you're looking to work, next time maybe you should try some of the younger kids with the school horses. They're mostly rescues and get a little rowdy when their new riders try to take them on alone."

Some of the school horses like Kel, Heart and Blackie tended to get a bit itchy with new riders. They challenged and tested, pushing their riders around because they thought they could get away with it. Other horses, like Cammy, were so shy it was hard to get them acclimated to new riders. If Shade really wanted a work out, that would be one way to do it without getting in the way of the stable hands or messing with their oh-so-particular chore schedule.

[Shade Stone]

Oh God! She got under his damn skin! Just who in the hell does she think that she is? And Shade 'never' whines. It just so happens that perhaps she doesn't like what he has to say. Yes she seemed the type that needed to rule the roost. Shade was leaning toward the side of 'not' liking her. Thus far she's given him nothing at all to like. She was snotty, stuck up and certainly bossy. The male clenched his jaw when she said that maybe he didn't need to be here. Well maybe she was right but Shade wasn't going to say another damned word about it, especially not to her.

The horse beneath the fem was restless. Shade couldn't help but to grin and inwardly he was praying that the 'know-it-all' would get bucked off the horse. His eye watched the mare as she did her little dance, mentally telling her to dance a little harder, buck in fact. It seems that the horse was like her owner, use to getting her own way.

Shade remained leaned back and relaxed. He really didn't want further conversation from the girl and so he tried his hardest to ignore her and maybe she would go away. But clearly it didn't work. She just had to speak to him again. This time Shade would answer her in a manner that would surely shoo her away. He tipped his hat up at her and grinned, putting on a happy face. "Why thank you miss for the good advice. Now I hope that you have a nice day." Again he tugged at the front of his hat and then crossed his legs, catching each and every ray of the sun as possible.

[Sonya Williams]

Skylar smirked and tipped her hat right back. "So long cowboy."

The guy was weird, annoying and well, just plain infuriating. He had fake charm and obviously had not a lick of sense in his head. Who took care of stalls that weren't your own without asking permission of the owners or caretakers? Honestly! It was just as bad as taking someone else's horse out for a ride without permission or the owner's knowledge. Apparently this guy hadn't been around horses very long if he didn't get that. Plus, it was a general school rule. You didn't dabble in someone else's stuff. Just because the school horse stalls weren't officially owned by anyone, they still had designated caretakers, thus the no touching rule applied. Ah well. She wasn't about to run off and report him. She knew what it was like to want to work. She couldn't sit still and have nothing to do but there were other ways to fix that little problem.

Clicking her tongue softly to Hotspot, Sky tapped the filly's spotted flanks with her boot heels. With a soft snort the filly set off at a walk, Skylar focusing on keeping her balance without a saddle or stirrups. She'd ridden bareback plenty of times in her life, just not recently. Usually when she did, Sky would ride Solo because he was a sturdier, steadier mount than the ambitious Appaloosa filly she was currently riding. Oh well, she was mounted up now so it didn't matter.

-Character Change: Enter Blake Monroe-

A tall boy wearing torn up blue jeans and a navy blue air force shirt sighed, raking a hand through his short brown hair. The hooves of a tall bay Thoroughbred clopped on the paved stable yard as Blake rode his stallion toward the barn. Thanks to his endurance teacher's determination to take the longest trails, most of the hunter jumper class were only just now getting back to the stable. Blake didn't mind the workout for Tucker or the scenery but he did mind the annoying classmates he had. After a while, listening to the girls giggle about this and that just got too annoying. Most of the students had decided to finish the trail rather than turn back like Blake had so, he wasn't surprised to find the stable yard empty, or mostly empty.

Blake spotted a guy dressed in all ways like a cowboy leaning on the side of the barn near the water pump. Raising an eyebrow, Blake shrugged and halted Kentucky Rain before swinging out of the ex-racer's saddle. Tucker snuffled softly, eyeing the other guy with a more or less "couldn't care less" kind of look. Blake loosed Tucker's reins and led the bay toward the water hose, grabbing an empty bucket that was left next to the pump. Grabbing the end of the hose, Blake turned on the pump and filled the bucket, turning it off and letting Tucker drink.

As the stallion drank and Blake ignored the other guy, Blake crouched next to the stallion's legs which were covered with riding boots to support and protect his legs and ankles. Unstrapping the boot on one leg, Blake examined the leg.

"Lookin' good boy" Blake murmured to Tuck, restrapping the boot.

Tucker, finished with his drink was regarding Shade again as Blake continued the post-ride check. Reaching toward Shade, Tucker flared his nostrils at the boy, catching whiffs of other horses on the boy's clothes. Glancing up and noticing his horse's curosity, Blake patted Tucker's belly.

"Don't go getting nosy Tuck, I doubt he's been around any Vee today so just cool your engines." Tucker snorted but continued snuffling at the boy making Blake roll his eyes.

Fishing in his jeans pocket, Blake pulled out two white and red peppermints. The treats instantly had Tucker's attention. Unwrapping one, Blake let Tucker have it as he straightened up, about to lead the stallion into the barn. Tucker bumped his hand, sending the second mint tumbling, rolling toward Shade. Tucker instantly planted his hooves and reached for the treat. Blake rolled his eyes and tugged the reins a little.

"Come on Tuck, you don't need to get fat off your treats anyway."

Tucker snorted and stomped his back hoof, looking for all the world like he was pouting.

[Shade Stone]

'If' Shade could read her mind he would most definitely respond back to her. He would inform her that he's been around horses his entire life and that he was very charming to those who deserved it and he was far from fake. He also happened to be very smart, A-student smart. But she didn't say anything out loud, even though it was written all over her smug little face. And it 'may' have been the rules around here that you don't muck someone else's stall for them but Shade highly doubted that someone would complain.

And then she rode away. When Shade thought that it was safe enough to look he pushed his hat up on his head with his index finger and swiveled in his seat, looking at her as she walked off on her horse, or at least he thought that it was hers. He was a typical male and took a long gander, thinking that she may have been a snob but she sure had a nice ass. Shade chuckled at the thought. If she only knew what he was thinking about her. If she knew he would probably get his face slapped by the pristine bitch.

Still chuckling Shade turned to see yet another person coming in on a horse. Now he sorely wished that he had his horse with him now. Oh well. He would arrive tomorrow. And no... Shade didn't plan on leaving, though he was sure that Skylar would love that now.

Shade's attention was upon the newcomer now. He seemed like a sort of odd fellow and Shade wondered why he was all alone. Well then again Sky was all alone as well so he supposed that it wasn't all that unusual around here, something that he would have to get use to because he was a social butterfly.

Soon there was a mint racing toward him. It his hit boot and then plopped over like a coin. He couldn't help but say something about it though. "Yea... Your right. Sweets are fattening plus they aren't good for their teeth." Shade gave him a small smile, hoping that he wouldn't take his little advice the wrong way. He already pissed someone off already today.