Minion? Who could refuse. (Lottii/Open)

[Sync]

The painted mare followed her mistress at an almost painfully slow speed. It was Brooke's second day, the horses had been sent to Britain a while ago and came out of quarantine the day before Brooke herself arrived. Her mother was due to arrive in a week too, she just had a few more things to do in Australia. So Brooke had free reign for at least a week. Until she bumped into her cousin that was. Her head tilted thoughtfully as she and April continued on their way toward the pastures. As much as she had heard of Jay since arriving, she'd already done a little digging, she was yet to see him. But of course, he was as good at staying hidden as she was. There was no doubt in her mind that he knew exactly where she was, and was just planning on springing up when she least expected it. Touché Jay. Touché. she thought with a chuckle, running her fingers delicately along the painted neck of April.

Checker whined suddenly from Brooke's other side, obviously feeling neglected, so she stooped down to ruffle his large audits affectionately. "S'matter baby boy?" she cooed, scratching behind his audits. April was content to stand still for a second, managing a not so sneaky mouthful of grass. Checker seemed to be deep in thought for a moment or two, before swiping his tongue over her chin. She chuckled and kissed the top of his head. "Love you too." she grinned, and then straightened up. "C'mon misses. I have two hungry stallions I still have to attend to. You'll have the whole day to eat as soon as we get to the pasture." Around the animals, there was no trace of the Brooke that showed around people. Add even the quietest of people into the equation, everything changed. The college was going to find that out soon enough.

Brooke finally managed to drag April into the pasture, where she immediately rolled and then settled into a long, peaceful day of fattening herself up. Brooke sighed, she knew she'd have to sort out some sort of healthy eating regime for the mare. But she was so adorable that you couldn't help but spoil her. At least it wasn't affecting her health. Yet. Shaking her head in dismay, she called Checker to her side and they set off toward the Stallion barn. Locus had settled in almost instantly, or so the barn manager said. Brooke had to admit, he did look right at home when she went to see them yesterday. Quincey on the other hand, wasn't as amused with his new abode. He'd put up a big fuss when anyone except Brooke came near him, and despised the male grooms even stepping one foot toward him. Brooke had had to make it very clear for them not to work with him and wait for her to arrive. Locus was fine though. In fact, he'd already made friends with his neighbour and two of the grooms. Two out of three wasn't bad.

She strode into the stallion barn confidently, her tiny 4'10 frame moving with elegance only achieved after years of dancing. A few eyes found their way latched onto her movements, and she'd be lying if she said she didn't enjoy it. Checker, evidently wasn't impressed with the attention directed at his mistress. As two males took a step toward her, his jowls twitched and he bared his teeth slightly at them. They looked at the Shepherd questioningly before backing off. Apparently they liked to keep their hands intact. Brooke chuckled at the over protective canine, which in turn alerted two handsome stallions of her arrival. First, a Buckskin cranium was thrown quickly over the stall door. His soft hazel oracles alight with pure happiness as they fell on his mistress. A whinny echoed in the barn as he let rip his greeting, and he began to toss his cranium in pure excitement. Brooke laughed gleefully, truly delighted by his reaction to her. She adored Locus, even if he still had a long way to go in his training. He was an adorably natured stallion who could easily be a gelding with his temperament. There wasn't much not to adore.

Not long after Locus had given his greeting, another cranium made an appearance. This time is was chestnut in colouring, with a narrow blaze running right down it, stopping just before it hit his velvet lips. His greeting wasn't as enthusiastic as Locus's. In fact, you could barely call it a greeting. With a toss of his head and a slight snort, he glared at his mistress accusingly. The expression clearly read "Where the heck is my breakfast?!" Brooke rolled her eyes and took a step toward the aggravated Quarter horse. "Lovely to see you too Quincey. Don't worry your Royal Highness, your meal shall arrive shortly." she put on her best posh English accent, which you had to admit was very good, and courtesied for him. It helped having a mother who was one damn good Drama teacher. Quincey tossed his cranium arrogantly as Brooke entered the stall to grab his bucket. She did the same with Locus, but lingered to give him some well deserved attention. Locus was very fond of having the area between his shoulder blades scratched, and Brooke obliged to do just that. After the equine was well and truly relaxed, Brooke danced from the stall and Checker was close on her heels.

She found the feed room quickly, a groom had pointed it out to her yesterday. Letting herself inside, she made Checker sit outside the door and he obliged instantly. Scooping out the feed quickly and adequately, she was soon on her way back toward the stalls. The stallions now both had their craniums hanging over the stalls, Locus patiently and Quincey.. Well not so patiently. In fact, she knew his hoof was scraping the stall door and occasionally slamming against it in his haste to have his feet. She placed Locus's bucket into his stall which he immediately dove his head into. He had enough manners to wait for her to place it on the floor though. Then, slowly she closed the stall door just to annoy Quincey. He slammed his hoof into the door again and she whirled around to glare at him. "That's enough you hooligan!" she shouted at him, causing his oracles to widen in surprise. When she rose her voice with him, he knew he was in trouble. Slowly, but surely, he backed away from the stall door and allowed her inside. "That's better." she grumbled, placing the bucket down in front of him. He waited for her to leave before beginning his meal, eying her nervously as he did so. He knew he was in the dog house. Now it was a matter of how long he would remain there. Checker returned to his mistresses side and she began the odd jobs she'd neglected yesterday, like putting the rugs over the high walls of the stall and sorting out the grooming kits. Boring, but they had to be done.

[Lottii]

Anna sighed as she left her brother's office in the stallion barn. The news hadn't exactly been good, her grandmother had been taken into a residential care home - which they'd all known was coming - but her grandfather had just been diagnosed with Alzheimers. As the owner of well over fourty horses and a well-known training yard, it was going to have a massive impact on his life. Apparently all of the horses were to be sold off. For now, that meant Anna had the agonizing wait of finding out if that included the three horses she had with her at college. Because technically, they were still under the ownership of her grandfather, and there was no way he would just give them to her, that wasn't the kind of person he was. He was fair, but everything had to be earnt. She was thankful that Ed actually owned his horse, her brother's first paycheck from his job at the college had been the first installment.

Already she was making plans in her mind to go up for a visit, perhaps see if there was a promising youngster on the yard that she might be able to afford. Her mind desperately did calculations, certainly no chance of buying any of the horses she had with her, but quite possibly enough for a three or four year old showing talent. The other option of course, was to look at something that needed major work. The thought of losing her horses hadn't quite sunk in, and she planned to keep it that way.

Looking around, Anna spotted one of the new students who had come with an instant reputation. Jay's cousin, she was rumoured to be even worse than him. Might as well talk to her. No one else seems to dare. Anna put on a confident mask, but really she was quite a sheep, just following what she was told. A shudder passed through her as she remembered her encounter at the party. A small burst of anger flared up in her, but it died down as she reached Brooke. "Hi, I'm Anna. You must be Brooke, my brother mentioned you owned the two new stallions." She offered a hesitant smile, aware that if Brooke was as bad as she was rumoured to be, she wouldn't stand a chance.