Establishing Relationships [onzy]

[Sync]

A broad smile tugged at his lips as he saw a familiar auburn haired female turned the corner into the yard. He was surprised to notice that the girl barely flinched when another student brushed against her accidentally. Pride ebbed into his expression, he pushed himself off the wall beside Fever's stall and made his way closer to greet the female. "Charlie!" he beamed at her, placing an affectionate hand on her shoulder. The young female looked up to her taller companion, smiling at him happily. "Hullo Finn." she returned, her expression holding no resentment toward the physical contact established between them. Finn thought back to the first time he'd ever met Charlie, when she'd shrink back to even the slight movement emanated from him. Now, she was comfortable with him hugging her, guiding her and was even fond of allowing him to give her a piggy back. She'd become a sort of little sister to him, and she definitely saw him as a older brother. "Ready to go to the pastures?" Finn queried as they made their way back to their respective horses stable. Carlo and Fever had grown as close as their owners had, and ended up sharing a pasture due to the fact that they were pretty much inseparable. Said pair were currently straining over their stall doors to greet one another, and then Charlie when she came into view. They'd already seen Finn today, so he was old news. Charlie nodded her answer to Finn's question before skipping forward to fuss over the two equines.

Carlo, who was busy nibbling on the end of Charlie's pony tail, now had a bright yellow head collar sat snuggly on his cranium. Charlie leaned lazily against her pony's shoulder as she waited for Finn to finally wrestle Fever's head collar onto her. The stubborn, mischievous mare always managed to make it a game, much to Finn's dismay and Charlie's amusement. Eventually, Fever relented when she decided that she actually wanted to get out into the pasture. Her sleek black coat was covered by her deep purple winter rug, made to shield her from the harsh autumn weather. After a few brief days of sun, the cold had returned and began to mercilessly freeze the students, teachers and animals of Park Equine College. Like Fever, Carlo also had a rug on. His was a light blue, which contrasted nicely against his greyish pelt. "How are things with Colbie?" Charlie asked conversationally as the pair and their steeds made their way from the yard. She chuckled when she saw the dreamy expression take over Finn's handsome face, but rose a brow when his expression darkened with sadness. "I'm not 100% sure where I stand with her, Charl." he murmured, looking thoroughly depressed. Charlie rolled her eyes, reaching out to pat Jock on his cranium when he appeared from behind a near by bush. "That's because you haven't bothered to ask her!" Charlie exclaimed, exasperated with telling Finn the same thing over and over again. She'd lost count of the times she'd told him to man up and just ask out the object of his affections.

"You become a bumbling fool around her, Finn. I don't think you could make it any more obvious that you like her. She likes you too, I have it on good authority." A grin over took her expression at his inquisitive glance. Tapping her nose, making it obvious that she wasn't going to share her sources, she thought back to how she found out. Being as spectacular as she was at staying hidden, she'd managed to hear Colbie talking to another highly respected student in the school, Jay Robinson, about her affections toward Finn. She also knew that Finn had a few admirers that he had no idea about, but that was a story for another time. The quiet female yelped suddenly when she felt a foot stomp on her own. At first, she thought it may have been one of the horses but it appeared not to be. Especially when Finn started to spurt apologies at her. "Charlie! I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going!" Finn rattled off, pulling Fever to a halt who was looking at her owner with a look of dismay. It was a well known fact how clumsy Finn was, he only had to rattle off a few of his injuries to prove so. He also had a tendency to inflict said injuries on others, and Charlie was slowly becoming used to the fact that she was to suffer many more injuries in his presence. The girl tried to put her weight onto her foot, but found herself hissing in pain. "Can't walk on it." she whimpered, pivoting to face Finn unsteadily. "Oh Charlie, I'm sorry." he offered again, his cheeks flushing in embarrassment and anger at himself for hurting her. "I'll give you a piggy back! But you'll have to hold the lead ropes as we go." He suddenly grinned, handing her Fever's lead rope before crouching down.

Charlie laughed happily as Finn straightened up, hooking her elbows over his shoulders to keep steady. With a lead rope in each hand, and two confused but happy equines at the sight of their laughing owners, Finn and Charlie set off, with the two horses framing them each side and Jock bounding excitedly up ahead. Other students gave the group varying glances as they passed, some curious, others amused and a few disapprovingly. The latter came from a few teachers that were passing by, but they did nothing to stop the antics. Especially seeing that the horses were perfectly content and weren't playing up. They soon came to a stop outside Fever and Carlo's shared pasture, and Finn grew contemplative. "Well, this will be awkward." Finn murmured thoughtfully, wondering how he could manoeuvre Charlie onto the fence without injuring her again, and still managing to keep a hold on the horses. He span suddenly, nearly over balancing, and backed up toward the fence. Carlo moved out the way just quick enough, looking a little startled by the oncoming form of Charlie and Finn combined. "Have we hit the fence?" Finn asked when he heard Charlie's quiet, 'ooft'. "Yeah, just a little bit." she chuckled, rubbing the tender area on her back where she'd caught the fence. Lifting herself a little, she placed herself carefully onto the top of the fence. Balancing with ease, the girl handed over the lead ropes to Finn to let them into the pasture. She busied herself with checking out her foot, pulling off her boot and sock to check for damage. There was bruising already beginning to flourish. "20 feet radius next time we turn the horses out." She told Finn distractedly, oblivious to his laughter as she traced the bruising carefully. At least it had occurred by accident, not how she usually used to receive bruises at the hands of her parents.

[Onzy]

Colbie was not having a good day so far. It was one of those days where all she wanted was to be back in the Outback, chasing cattle, teasing her brothers and come home to her mother’s lemonade. The smell of the desert had nothing on the cold and damp of Europe. It was a clean smell, and she could fill her lungs with everyday if she could. The summer at home had made her realise how much she actually missed it. School was fine, her popularity had ensured for that, and there was hardly ever a challenger to her title anymore. She was beauty and brains, and could have any guy she wanted, but she really wanted Finn. If anything, she had confessed this towards Jay, and he had pretty much affirmed that Finn did like her as well. It helped being popular, knowing these things made life either much harder or much easier, depending on how it was worked.

At the barns that afternoon, Colbie spent some time with the horses. The western horses pretty much all had riders, except one or two, but she gave enough love and attention to all of them. That moment, she was at Misty’s stall, stretching the mare out and basically doing horse massage. The mustang mare had gotten herself caught in the fence about a year ago and broke her front left leg in two places plus tearing some ligaments and tendons. The recovery process had been a long one, and now the mare was almost back in her old shape. The only real reminder was the scar on her leg when her winter coat grew out and the stiffness when standing still, after exercise or the cold. “You are going to have to teach her new rider that,” she heard behind her.
“Oh hey Jasper. I know, but he never seems to be around,” she answered with a smile. For a few more minutes Colbie conversed with her instructor before saying goodbye.

Now it was time to fetch Flash from the paddocks. She loved the gelding and his erratic nature, but Doug gave her the smoothest ride. Doug didn’t give her a complete work out by making her chase him around an entire pasture, but Colbie was becoming Flash-smart. The bay gelding’s favourite treat was sugar cubes, so if she waited long enough, then the gelding came to her and she offered him a cube as a reward. It had taken a few months, but the gelding came to her quite willingly now. The weather had taken a turn for the worst and the town was in the middle of a cold snap. The wind was icy and held menace in its sting. Colbie was wearing jeans, long sleeved flannel shirt in blue and denim jacket. Her cowboy boots were coated with a thin layer of mud and dust, and she had her tan coloured Stetson on and a pair of sunglasses shaded her eyes from the glare. Deerskin gloves stuck out of her back pocket and a cotton lead rope slapped gently against her leg as she walked.

The pastures for the school horses weren’t that big, but they were big enough when a horse had to be chased down. Standing by the gate, Colbie’s keen eyes searched for her bay gelding. When she was at the academy in the states she had imported all four her horses, but they were ranching horses, and before she moved to the College, she had sent them back for the life they were made for. It was a better choice actually. Whistling to Flash, she saw the refined head go up and then back down. So it was going to be one of those days. She pulled herself onto the pasture fence and looked up the path way. She saw Finn and Charlie further up and she raised her hand in greeting. Why did she have to see him now? He made her insides feel funny and she had rebuilt her composure during the summer. Being teased by your brothers about being in love did something to a girl.