Until We Bleed "Luke"

[Melanie Black]

...Melanie...
…When you open your heart and believe in the gift of a friend

The day had been long, too long in her mind. Can’t I just get off? The female sighed, pretending that she was sleeping behind her sunglasses while half hearing about her mother constantly chatting and complaining. ”I can’t believe you…blah blah blah…to this kind of place!? …blah blah blah…WE already have enough facilities…blah blah blah…” Teen wanted to make the older woman shut up put thought otherwise. No need to start quarreling when they wouldn’t see each other, in like hopefully forever. Melanie sighed once more and accidentally encouraged her mother to talk more, but the time wasn’t right. The parking lot for letting off the horses had already taken place and she could hear the victory inside her head. They made it! The engine got killed of a fancy silver coated Toyota and she loosened the seat belt, opened the door and swept out before her mother could warn her. Bam! Falling head first she hit her head because the ground was uneven and unknown. Great, first thing I do is fall head first like a looser.” She growled too herself silently but got back up. Brushing off some dust from her slightly pale jeans and brown top the girl whistled lowly in case someone was around.

Contact was made as soon as the whistle ended, a high strung yet mellow and soft neigh was captivating, with such ease and almost perfection Melanie Ann Black walked towards the trailer, like she was totally normal, well look away that she was never taking away the sunglasses. Her mother had already opened the back of the trailer, she could clearly smell the strong scent of horse, no wait, the scent of her horse. A large head turned looking at her, white blaze covering most of the beautiful face, the horse neighed again, stomped when the older woman tried to walk inside and Melanie giggled. That was her Belly, such a sweetheart, but she hated Catarina Rose Black, her mother and more or less guard. Cat sighed and mumbled to herself how useless the mare was but stood there anxious when her daughter walked into the trailer. That girl always did as she thought was good for her, walking straight into the trailer without knowing where the horse was. But Cat knew all too well how her daughter behaved, and she knew how much Believe Me Friendly loved and cared for the girl. Her blonde head shook and she walked to fetch the tack instead, just as she was passing the trailer with two classy saddles she called in calmly. ”Remember that her stall is straight in on the right, it’s beside the tack room beside the feeding room.”

She ignored her completely but nodded just faintly. Her palm made in contact with the mares rear, then over the spine, going through the silky black mane, to her soft and easily shaped ears over her broad, elegant forehead and the soft silky muzzle. Belly or Believer as she was sometimes called muzzled her palm tickling the seventeen year old and was rewarded with a giggle. The horse released a patient snort but female knew better. She untied the purple lead rope and turned the horse in the large trailer, stepping carefully down the rail she felt how the beauty guided her down and was thankful that it hopefully didn’t look that way. Feeling the ground underneath her she patted the mare lovingly and kissed her muzzle, the horse sniffed in her blonde hair lovingly and wasn’t more than about two centimeters taller than the young teenager. With a soft smile upon her lips she clicked her tongue and the horse went down into a bow. Melanie mounted without much force and got a good grip upon the horse’s mane. ”Let’s take a ride before we go inside, shall we?” The mare neighed lovingly and turned to an open space before slipping into an elegant trot.

Melanie had a great balance; well she needed to have it. Her body flowed with the horse’s steps, it could easily be seen that the pair matched each other. Somehow, however there could be easily spotted, if you had a good eye that something was wrong. You see Melanie didn’t move her hands, hips or head. She just followed the horse’s movements because of one thing. She couldn’t see, and the little sight she had was just light nothing more. It was something she never talked about and so she tried to act as normal as she could. But that was just her, the cool ice-queen that no one really wanted to get close, but at the same time they wanted to come close to her, because she was mysterious. The female nudged lightly and the slobbery and graceful trot became a delightful collected canter. Belly was an easy mare to handle, she was a sweetheart but she had quite the personality. She loved to be the boss and was never frightened of showing it. Mel knew the mare since she was born and had taken care of her; of course she got high in the air when her mother told her that it was alright for her to own Believer. However, it was only because the mare was doing great and trusted Mel completely, they could do anything together, you just wait and see.

It took a little while until the buckskin sabino colored mare slowed her pace down. Ears flicked and she murmured lightly, a sound, which Mel knew off quite well. Smiling she closed her eyes and listened, the wind breeze danced with the leaves of a tree nearby, to be exact it was right in front of them. The smell of spring grass was tasted in her nose and she giggled. ”Fine, we can rest here so you can eat a little, but don’t eat too much. You’ll get chubby Belly.” The mare snorted but went down allowing the female to get off without much force, she walked calmly to the tree, feeling it’s presence until she sat down and leaned against the tree. She released the lead rope calmly and almost spoke out of the blue when her soft tune got told off by the air. ”It’s wonderful here, isn’t it Belly? I can’t see it, but the atmosphere and feeling here, it’s just the right thing for me. But maybe I’m just thinking a lot into it. I wonder how the school will be, I’ve got my computer so I can write easily, I just hope people won’t start mock me like last time.” The horse snorted and nudged her, smudging some green and mushy into her face. The female laughed and pushed her head away until she went into her thoughts again. She wasn’t scared of her mother because this was the last time she would see her mother, right?

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[Luke Peters]

Luke Peters !

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i'm a cowboy, on a steel horse i ride[/right]

Today, Luke thought upon stumbling out of bed, is going to be a good day. That was before it started to suck.
It was just one of those days where you couldn’t avoid the storm cloud, it just continued to hang over your head like a stray dog who’d lost its way. Whenever Luke managed to get a glimpse of sunshine, the rain would torrent down and cover it up. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to be avoidable. Now, one of the things that got under Luke’s skin the most were people who could not keep a smile on their faces. He had no time for sour individuals with lack-luster personalities and a muddy outlook on life. No, he thought that they could keep their negativity to themselves. Today however, seemed a quite unfortunate day for Luke, for upon first glance, he would seem like one of those people. Not so much scowling as sighing, since he didn’t feel angry, just defeated, like life had gotten the better of him. So really, there was only one option: skip class and go visit V.

Luke was a good kid, and he had always been a good kid. He tried to excel in everything he possibly could, and he took things that would benefit him in the future very seriously. True, he did not really like to conform to a set plan for his life, but why not come out on top when he decided what to do? Being advanced both academically and personally could only benefit him in the long run. Sometimes though, he just had to break away from the mold. When he’d rolled over to smack his alarm clock off that morning, he had expected to go to class. Just another regular day at FFA. What he hadn’t expected was to trip over his roommates clothes, lock himself out of the dorm room, forget to shower, and be late. By the time he was scrambling to pull on his shoes, he was already fuming with frustration from that morning’s happenings. It was after he spent five minutes looking around for his science textbook – it was under the bed, hiding under a well-placed paper bag – he’d decided that all this was a bad omen for the day, and it would be in his best interest to skip. But when Luke skipped, he didn’t run into town like the other kids to shop or eat something, no, when Luke skipped, he headed straight for the one thing that always made him feel better: V.

She’d been standing in her stall when he’d found her, neatly brushed from his intense grooming session yesterday afternoon. Ever since Amy had left completely unannounced, Luke had been occupying his time and mind with routine grooming sessions. In the beginning, when she’d first left him that note, Luke might have been a little too intense with his grooming. Actually, after the first three days, he was surprised V even had hair left on her, that’s how thorough he had been. His attitude towards brushing her had greatly changed however, and she didn’t fear him as much as she did that first week. In fact, she was almost happy to see him again, if you could have ever called it that. The relationship between Luke and V was a peculiar one, alright.
Trotting up to see her, he’d administered a carrot and pulled her from the stall. He wasn’t really sure what to do with her, so he decided that he’d allow her a little bit of freedom. Taking her halter and lead, he hooked them over his shoulder and coaxed his horse towards the exit of the barn, thinking about what to say if someone were to see him out of school. He could tell the truth, but that would probably get him in some sort of trouble, and he didn’t want that. No, he’d have to lie, concoct some elaborate story that would weave the truth in with a few little white ones here and there. But it didn’t seem very likely that he’d have to, because looking around, there was really no one about. If it were the wild wild west, a tumbleweed probably would have blown through. V snorted beside him.

Wait, was there a figure standing by that tree over there? Luke cocked his head inquisitively, and slowed his pace. Class was already in session, so it was either another student skipping, or a teacher, come to penalize him for his tardiness. But why would a teacher skip class, especially with their horse? No, it had to be a student. Gingerly, he approached the tree, and upon closer inspection, realized that there was a girl there. She had to be a student, she had to be. Why hadn’t he seen her around before. Noticing her horse, Luke clipped V’s halter on before approaching the pair, which led to a string of protests from V, who obviously did not like this sudden restraint. Still, Luke was too curious to notice anything but the girl and her horse.
“H-hi there.” He made his presence known with a smile and a nod. The hand that wasn’t holding V dropped into his pocket. “I’m Luke. Are you new here? Because I don’t believe I’ve seen you ‘round.” Might as well be blunt. He didn’t feel like playing the introduction game today, so they might as well just get the formalities over with asap. After all, if he was going to take time to chat with her, he had to make sure she was willing to.

[Melanie Black]

...Melanie...
…When you open your heart and believe in the gift of a friend

The horse lifted her head slowly when she heard a pair of steps; dark eyes watched the male and his dappled horse and snorted. Melanie turned her head towards the sound; they had caught it together, but she felt a bit surprised. Wasn’t there school today? Or maybe this person had a free period or study session? But it was weird that they took their horse out for it, it couldn’t be? Was the person skipping class? Not that it was her business or anything. Melanie whistled low and Believer trotted back to her, the lead rope loose over her neck, without hesitation. Nudging her owner the young female smiled but it soon disappeared, they were walking towards them, she rose up and just as she expected, the mare was just a hand stretch from her. She heard the faint click and the opposite horse protested, eyebrow rose easily and her own mare just snorted at the behavior of the male. He was tense, and she could feel it. Ears flicked calmly but the horse was on guard, many had joked telling Melanie that she never needed a dog to help her because Belly was never far behind. The breeze brought with its different scents and they both took it in, the masculine scent of a male.

At first everything seemed to go into slow motion, but her head tilted to the side, blonde straws danced down her side, curling so ever gently in the air. The buckskin equine however snorted and shook her head, she was still as free as a bird but would never go further than a couple of meters from her owner and partner in some crimes, not that her mother would know. His voice ripped the air slowly, she heard it being gently but also stuttering, only slightly. What was wrong? He didn’t expect to see another student, didn’t he? The mare nodded as he did, giving the female a faint knowing of what was happening, like a trained dog, well almost. A slender palm went over the horse’s neck, a silent token of many things people probably couldn’t understand. The shades hid her eyes still and she was not about to take them off, no chance. Believer murmured a greeting to the gray mare before she backed away lightly and went to graze a little away from the three-some. Melanie knew what the horse wanted and looked to the direction of the other horse’s protest, then back hearing Luke make a light introduction and a question for her.

”You can just let your mare loose, Belly won’t do a thing to other mare’s and from the protest I heard I don’t think your horse liked that you took her freedom away.” She shrugged his words easily off her shoulder, a small smile on her luscious lips was shown faintly, but she knew that she had to say her name as well, what was the point in suffocating the thing that were bound to happen anyway, right? Her palm was beside her neat trained curves as she looked at him, her shades were a dark brown and could only make a faint appearance of her eyes, but not the color nor the fact of her negative trait. ”I’m Melanie. No wonder though, I just came here for about ten minutes ago. You haven’t seen a tall blonde woman with piercing grey eyes shouting my name?” Her smile was still faint as she, well, stared at him. A soft snort from the equine behind Mel made teen turn her point, she stretched out her hand and the cranium was already where it should’ve been. Whispering softly to the horse she didn’t turn when she spoke again, this time her Texas tune rang clearly. ”No I didn’ forget abou’ you love. This gal is Believe Me Friendly, bu’ I nickname’ her Belly and Believer. Right luv?”

The dark golden hued mare nickered, her blaze piercing the gleaming sun and her lips moved, munching some straws of grass. Her warm breath warmed up the slender fingers as Melanie let her finger go over the horse’s forehead. Dark intelligent eyes closed and you could easily see how much the pair trusted each other. Releasing a soft sigh the teen turned once again, staring rather gently at Luke before speaking softly. ”But whatcha doin’ skippin’ school so ea’ly in the mornin’ anyway? You’re a bad boy or somethin’?” She raised her eyebrow gently, she wasn’t really out to know everything, he could say what he wanted, she didn’t care. Just a little curious, that was all. The mare however just swished her tail, wanting to walk a little but was a little protective of the female, no wonder really. But that wasn’t the reason, Melanie was a little off when it came to guys, sure she could flirt a lot. But once the bell rang she kept shut and that was when the problems happened. When people started bothering her and then, sometimes, it became a problem for Believer as well, not that it would happen now, right?

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[Luke Peters]

V pawed the ground and snorted irritably. If there was one thing she had, it was a good head, thank you very much. It was easy to assume that the current restraint was unnecessary to her, and annoying. For a well mannered horse, seeing her toss her head, attempting to yank it free of Luke’s hands made the statement obvious: I’ll behave. But in reality, V’s actions were lost to Luke, and he only looked towards the girl for advice on what to do. If V could have talked, it probably wouldn’t have been pretty.
At her suggestion, Luke unhooked V’s halter and slipped it over her head. The sudden rush of freedom caused V to trot away and position herself over a particularly green looking patch of grass. Luke watched her leave, but was otherwise uninterested. It wasn’t every day that you had someone to skip class with, especially not someone this pretty.
Hooking the halter over his shoulder, he took a step or two towards ‘Melanie,’ intending on formally introducing himself. Her words however, made him stop. Usually people allowed a break in their sentences, but Melanie allowed none, leaving Luke feeling awkward about shaking her hand. It wouldn’t be right to interrupt her sentence merely to physically introduce himself. Instead, Luke improvised, and leaned against a nearby tree, crossing his arms and cocking an eyebrow. A tall blonde woman? Was this a trick question? Luke scanned the surrounding area, his eyes finally falling on Melanie’s face.
“You wouldn’t be talkin’ ‘bout yourself? I mean, I can’t see your eyes…” He trailed off, testing her. Sure it was sunny, but in the shade of the trees, it wasn’t unbearable. Maybe her optics were just more sensitive than his.
“No, I haven’t. I’ve kind of been avoidin’ people to the best of my ability—Vee! Git’off!” V had been craning her neck, attempting to reach some kind of fruit off a nearby tree. Obviously trying to be sneaky, she shied away immediately at Luke’s stern drawl and danced away off to some place where she could enjoy a treat in peace. Luke raised his eyes from V just as Melanie introduced her own horse.
It probably wasn’t very polite of him, but as the girl turned to the side, Luke’s eyes jumped from her horse to her own person, observing her from afar. What? He was a guy! He was very discreet in his actions, centering his vision on a point not quite on Melanie’s face as to not look like he was staring at her.
“She sure is pretty.” Luke said softly, making sure to avert his eyes from Melanie as she turned back to face him. Don’t get yourself in trouble now, Luke.

Now it was his turn for introductions. Hooking a thumb over his shoulder, he pointed to where he assumed V was standing, and then drew an air circle just to be safe.
“Somewhere in that general direction is Vanity Fair, my own pride and joy,” he heard a snort emanate from behind him, just more proof that V could actually understand what he was on about. “I jus’ call ‘er Vee for short though.” Luke was monumentally proud of V, although he goofed around with her a lot. He was shocked that she actually allowed a mere mortal like him to master her, although Luke was convinced that V was actually the supreme ruler. The typical relationship between man and horse didn’t apply to this pair, needless to say. They both understood each other on a highly personal level, making V not only Luke’s best friend, but sort of his mentor. This secret never left his lips however, for how many manly cowboys did you hear discussing their BFF as a horse? How many did you hear discussing their BFF at all? Exactly.

So she’d found him out. He could take the embarrassed, ‘don’t tell’ approach, but that was so not him. Instead, he went along with his gut instinct.
“Only if you like that sort of thing.” Luke’s flirtatious side had already taken hold, and he accompanied his words with a sly wink. Luke loved to flirt, as was a known fact. Still, he didn’t know this girl, meaning that he could easily take it too far. That was the downside: some people got offended. After the words had left his mouth, he hoped for the best. Well, he could always soften the blow.
“Yeah, I am actually. Didn’t have a very good mornin,’ and comin’ out here always cheers me up. Nothin’ like spendin’ time with your horse.” He then recalled her previous statement about seeing a similar looking individual roaming around.
“Are you skippin’ out on someone yourself, cowgirl?” He asked, cocking an eyebrow. Maybe they could hide together, eh?

[Melanie Black]

...Melanie...
…When you open your heart and believe in the gift of a friend

Breeze was swift, but Mel could feel it. As soon as Vanity Fair got loose Believer kicked out in shrilling joy. She trotted after the other horse, trying to get the other one annoyed, but also trying to pick a play. The female giggles hearing her horse being so silly. Believer was perhaps eight years of age, but she could act as a two year old, if she wanted to. Tossing her beautiful elegant head the mare kicked out and snorted until she halted again. Cranium turned looking back at the other pair, watching from afar what the male was doing. She wasn’t stupid, but probably not the smartest either, but then again Belly was a silly gal who loved to play. But she loved Melanie even more. The female heard his words and turned her eyes from the sounds of the horses and to where she had heard him. She giggled lightly again, something she easily did when her mother wasn’t around, however, she felt that he was testing her and was lightly on guard, just lightly. ”No, my eyes are grayblue. I was just asking because she’s my mother, was going to check something for me but I kind of shied away, she’s too bothersome.” Her words sounded bitterer then intended so she left it out as a gentle shrug.

Hearing the sound of the other horse shy away Melanie frowned but smiled when she heard Luke complimenting her horse. It was eight years since Believer was born, Melanie had never seen her since her vision had been faded nine years ago, but her mother had told her in detail on how the horse looked, and Melanie could still remember it. ”Thank you, I hand fed her since she was born. Her mother didn’t want her; neither did my mother so we stuck together through good and bad days. Ain’t that right baby?” She turned around just as she heard the mare’s soft trotting. Her dark golden head with a piercing white blaze nickered, letting the ebonite straws tickle the teen lightly. Hearing him introduce his horse she frowned again, where was the horse? But just as she was going to ask, Vee snorted and the female just nodded with a soft smile. ”Do you think I could touch her?” Probably not the smartest question but that was her; she had to feel the horse in order to tell if the equine was pretty or not. Though every horse was beautiful in her mind, her own horse snorted and stared calmly at Luke, “telling” him that she knew what he was doing.

”Anything wron’ Belly? You didn’t eat anything you shouldn’t again?” Another snort made and a shook of her head eased the female down and she let go of a soft smile. That was the most negative thing of being blind, she couldn’t check if there were anything that shouldn’t be there. She had been lucky for now at least, but how long would that last. The breeze caught some of her hair in the shades, great, just great! She released a sigh for herself and took off her sunglasses, the shade was a little soothing but it still stung her eyes. She blinked a couple of times before turning to him again, it still stung, but it was fainter this time, reaching him the sun glasses she made a faint smile. ”Could you help me with this? I’ve got a little problem when it comes to loosening hair from the sunglasses.” She laughed a little embarrassed to admit it, but it was just a hint, she wasn’t stating that she was blind completely. Hearing his flirting she couldn’t help but giggle a little again, her soft lips was holding the faint smile while she thought about his question. ”Probably depends what bad is.” She let the question drip out and stay there without giving a true answer to it.

As the breeze changed the mare snorted more nervously when before. As Melanie put back the sunglasses over her eyes she relaxed her eyes again, fingers went to the horse’s lead rope and she hushed her equine companion and friend down slowly. The wind was carrying something with it; it wasn’t her mother, was it? Crap, if it was she would be in big trouble. However she let the thought subside and turned towards the male again. ”I know that feel. Nothin’ beats a good ride or walk with your horse, at least not if you have a bad day.” How many times hadn’t she skipped school because her day was bad? Taking Belly or Near out for a ride? She loved those two, she couldn’t bring Near with her, which was a shame. He was Belly’s sweetheart after all. But the thought of her other horse disappeared when he asked her the question. Of course it was bound to happen anyway. Might as well tell him the truth, aye? ”Yeah, well I’m ditching my mum. She’s a pain in the ass sometimes, and today is just that day. She doesn’t trust Belly as much as she does her own branded criollos, was naggin’ on me the whole trip how I was stupid choosing a horse I’ve trained myself in my condition. It’s just how it goes, she’ll settle down once she finally gets it that I don’ want to say goo’ bye.” Incredible, she didn’t tell him the whole truth, that was a first, ain’t that right gal?

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[Luke Peters]

V was not really the playful type. To tell you the truth, she was a rather cold bitch, warming only to Luke when he gave her obscene amounts of treats. She was the equivalent to a hard-assed office associate who only let loose when drunk. When the other horse meandered her way, V barely raised an eye. Instead, she continued eating, occupying her time and essentially ignoring Melanie’s horse. Luke looked on, unamused.
“Vee,” he drawled sternly, crossing his arms over his chest and shooting her a steely glare. “play nice.”
Luke shot Melanie an apologetic glance, but offered nothing in way of explanation. It wasn’t like he could make V do something she didn’t want to. Unfortunately, she just wasn’t a very social creature. Luke on the other hand, was. Sure, sometimes he enjoyed solitude, but for the most part, he liked being surrounded by people. Like now for example: with his new friend, Luke was perfectly happy.

Not really paying much attention to the comment, Luke just smiled upon mention of the girl’s eye color. Eyes were usually one of the first things he noticed about members of the opposite sex, but with her furtive shades on, Luke had not really paid it much mind.
“My own parents are back in Texas, where I’m from, but they dun really give me tew much of a hassle,” he tried not to sound boastful, but he couldn’t help it. He was really proud of his southern heritage. “which reminds me, where’dya call from?” He thought that he sensed a little accent in her earlier, but one could never be too sure. His eyes twitched to the side, examining the two horses. V seemed to have given in to the other’s little game, and was now standing by her side, grazing still, but showing signs of improvement. Luke chortled lightly, and smiled at Melanie’s mention of Belly’s upbringing.
“That’s real sweet. I wish I could say the same about V, maybe she woulda turned out a little nicer.” He watched the two horses, a smile still playing on his lips.
“seems like your horse is more than amicable. She must take after her owner.”
Luke looked back towards Melanie, testing her facial reaction. He was flirting again, but it seemed like she didn’t really care the previous time, what made now so different?

Do you think I could touch her? Luke’s musings had placed him in a different world, and her voice snapped him back to attention. Touch her? Couldn’t she see? He furrowed his brow, allowing the cogs in his mind to arrange themselves. C’mon, click. Click. She was blind. There was no other explanation. With a ‘o’ shaped mouth, he slowly pointed a finger in her direction, but lowered it swiftly, in case she could sense it. Don’t be a fool, Luke! He’d dealt with the visually impaired before, why was now so different? It wasn’t, so he needed to calm down before he made her feel insulted. He’d just play it cool, he was good at that. Clearing his throat, he made an outward sweeping hand gesture and nodded.
“Go right ‘head. She won’t bite or anythin’.”
Then again, he didn’t even know if she was blind completely. Hell, she might just enjoy sunglasses! But he didn’t know, why would she be so keen to touch V if she could just see her? Luke was no idiot; he could usually put two and two together. He’d ask her casually, or wait for another sign. No way was he going to blow his cool cover and act differently. His eyes caressed her face, looking for some kind of – something that would hint towards her impairment. Although he didn’t want her hair to become entangled, it was the perfect excuse to get a look at those pretty eyes of hers. He gingerly took a step forward, and then another until he was face to face with her. Hand extending, he meticulously untied her hair, biting his tongue as he did so. He made sure to be gentle, because having someone tug on your hair is no fun at all. Plus, by nature Luke was a gentle guy, so roughing around with her head wasn’t something he was about to do. He was in such close range with her, but he didn’t dare look up lest she catch him staring. It also wouldn’t be too good if he further tangled her glasses. When he finally did manage to extricate her hair from the shades, he allowed himself to look briefly at her face. She looked normal – well er, pretty yes, but normal otherwise. Smiling, Luke backed up a few steps to give Melanie back some personal space.
Depends what bad is? ‘Whatever you want it to be,’ he felt like growling, but held himself back and merely smirked suggestively. Flirting had a limit, and certainly this early on. He’d barely even met her, no way was he going to start shoving sexual innuendos down her throat. He just smiled, for that seemed to be the optimal thing to do in times like these.

“Great, we can skip out together then.” Luke felt slightly awkward discussing her mother, since he personally did not know the missus, but allowed Melanie to vent freely. He was always open for listening. Well, he might as well throw in a little personal insight while he was at it.
“I personally think it’s great, training your own horse. And for you especially, since you’re… uhm…” He trailed off as to not make her feel strange. His gaze averted, he looked down at the ground, staring holes in the dirt. Hopefully he didn’t just end things there. And just when the day was turning around!