What I've Done (Anthony)

[Adrienne Dionas]

Adrienne slowly walked along the isle of stalls with a piece of paper in her hand. It had her horse's name on it and the stall number on it. She didn't want to be here, but she was because of her father. It hurt to be in here. It reminded her of her mother a little too much. She'd been to every single one of Adrienne's competitions back in her riding days. She looked to one horse as it poked it's head out the stall then walked down the aisle looking around before she found the horse she was looking for. She was certainly a beautiful creature.

She jammed the paper down into her pocket and then reached a hand out to the mare and stroked the soft velvety muzzle. "Aren't you a beauty." She murmured as she reached for the lead rope hanging from the door. She clipped it onto the halter of the horse and then slowly lead the mare out. She grunted and stomped a large hoof irritably, and Adrienne just stroked her cheek gently. "Come on. You know you want a good grooming." She said softly as she slowly eased the mare out of the stall, large hoofs clopping against the cement flooring.

Adrienne smiled gently and led the horse over to the grooming area, where you could also wash the horses down. She clipped on the cross ties to Calliope's halter and then slowly walked around her, skimming her hand over the soft suede like sorrel pelt that laid over the muscled mare beautifully. She then picked up a curry comb and slowly started to brush away the dirt and straw. The mare must have been rolling around in her stall earlier. "Now see, it's not so bad." Adrienne said smiling gently, as her blue eyes turned to Calliope's head. The mare was trying to reach to Adrienne, but the cross ties made it a little difficult so she gave up her attempt and let her large ears swivel as she listened to Adrienne talk.

[vanlouden]

anthony marke van louden.
*{.{ contemplating all the things you've never said }.}*

Having evaded the staff, Anthony was now perfectly content. He was sitting alone, aside from the horses that remained in their stalls and this was how he preferred it. Alone, being the only human around. He liked it that way and wished everyone would just leave him alone. He didn’t want to learn how to care for a massive creature. He didn’t want to learn how to ride one either. He was perfectly fine without being around the smelly creatures, but they tried to force it on him anyway. So what if he was addicted to cocaine? So what if he’d fought with his father a few times? And the deal with the rape… that just didn’t happen no matter what anyone wants to think. It was a misunderstanding and his foster parents were just eager to get him out of their house. Now they had their wish and he was out of their house, glad to be, but he’d rather be there than here. There he had few friends, a reasonable access to drugs and he had his alone time. He felt like someone was always there while he was here. He couldn’t get drugs of any kind without getting in trouble and he didn’t know anyone. He refused to know anyone.

He’d been sitting up here for an hour, actually surprised that no one had found him hiding away in the dark corner on one of the beams above one of the few empty stalls. He’d been fighting with his allergies ever since he got here because he’d fallen off the beam when he climbed on earlier and landing in the bedding, whatever it was made of, had helped him very little. He had a large bruise under his clothing on the right side of his back where his body connected with the floor after falling off the beam. Now he was sore and he couldn’t breathe right. He kept sneezing and he kept having to pull out his hanky to blow his nose. It was horrible and the horse in the stall across from the empty one under him snorted and pawed at the ground when he sneezed like he was being told to get out. However, that just made him roll his eyes. He shifted on the beam, stretching his long, slender legs out and pulled at his shirt a bit, getting the clingy material away from his ribs.

A girl walked in then, going over to the horse which seemed to be hers. He watched her carefully, not daring to speak as she spoke to the horse, clipping in with two ties and getting out a brush to run over its body. He watched silently, but was not interested in any way what so ever. He didn’t care about horses or how to take care of them. They didn’t matter to him and he didn’t matter to them, and yet... He was supposed to take care of a horse named Bruce? What the hell? Did they really expect him too? What would they do if he neglected the horse? He didn’t know, he didn’t want to know.

Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by the horrid tickling sensation is his nose. He raised his hands to his face and when the sensation left he breathed softly outward through his lips and again was attacked. He sneezed violently, throwing himself enough off balance to almost fall off the beam again but he caught himself with his hands. A horrible pain in his palm caused him to let go though and with a yelp, into the straw he went, all the golden pieces sticking to his all black clothed body, and more sneezing following. He hurriedly tried to get out of the straw to get the splinter out of his bleeding palm.


•• words 634
•• mood angry, sick, uncomfortable
•• stats done

[Adrienne Dionas]

Adrienne started to softly hum to keep Calliope calm, and it seemed to work. She was just content with grooming the horses for now. She didn't want to ride. Riding would mean memories, and certain memories were best forgotten. No one seemed to understand that. At least no human being. She looked at Calliope in thought as she started to comb through the lightly colored, thick mane on the large horse. "No one, except you guys seem to understand." She said softly patting the mare's neck. As if sensing the girl's feelings, the large mare gave Adrienne's arm a gentle nudge.

She always thought horses were the best friends you could have. They had their own special personalities, almost as if they were actually human. Their natural grace always seemed to intrigue her as well. How can an animal so large be so graceful and elegant. Her thoughts were interrupted from the loud sneezed. In that instant, Calliope spooked and let out a loud shrill whinny and started to yank at the cross ties nervously, tossing her head roughly. "Whoa! Steady, girl." She said trying to sooth the mare.

She let out a mean snort and tossed her head again stomping those large hooves of hers. It made Adrienne glad that she had steel toed riding boots on at the moment. Especially when the mare's hoof stomped dangerously close to hers. She looked up at Calliope and soothed the mare to a calm state before she realized what had just happened. Somebody had fallen off one of the beams. She left the now somewhat calm creature and wandered over to the guy that was currently crawling out of the straw. "Are you okay?" She asked hesitantly as she watched him cautiously. She winced when she saw his palm though. That definitely had to hurt.

She didn't make a move to help. She'd learned over the years that if anyone wanted help they would ask. She didn't see how her father couldn't seem to get that picture though. She'd made it clear that she didn't want any type of help, and yet, here she was... At this 'fine institute' stuck having to take care of a horse when it was the last thing she'd ever wanted to do.

[vanlouden]

anthony marke van louden.
*{.{ contemplating all the things you've never said }.}*

The shrill sound of the horse’s cry was heard, and not avoided. It rang his ears and made his clench his teeth. He listened to music twice as loud as the creature who cried out but the sound he was hearing wasn’t pleasant to him. He soon heard a voice, calming the horse, but a snort and a stomp followed. He chose to stay within the stall, standing in the middle. His body of five nine standing in the middle of the stall, the fingers of his right hand curled around the wrist of his right as he was bent over a bit, cringing at the pain in his hand. He wanted it out, his hand was bleeding and it hurt like a bitch to have the splinter inside his skin. He didn’t know if he could do it though. It would hurt badly and he’d hesitate. He needed someone else to do it, but he didn’t want to go back to the staff because they would not be pleased with him since he’d been hiding from them. He knew they would help but he’d be forced to some horrible activity that it supposed to better him for natural human contact when he’s returned to the normal human world. Well fuck all of them. Maybe he doesn’t want to be normal; maybe he doesn’t want to meet other people. Maybe he doesn’t want to have to live with his life revolving around a stupid horse that he doesn’t even know one thing about.

He shot his eyes toward the door as he heard someone speaking, that same voice that he’d heard before, only this time the voice addressed him, or he assumed it was addressing him. He didn’t know really, there could have been another person around, because it was highly likely. This place, even though he’d not once heard of it before he’d been sent here, was crawling with ‘students’ over this vast land that was used by the institute. His brown, almost black eyes looked up at the figure he could see closest. Her long black looking locks were draped down at her shoulders and framed her slightly pale face but he beat her in the pale contest since he was sick. She was thin bodied and looked like she mind be dressed for riding while he did not, and obviously wasn’t going too. He clenched his teeth slightly to bite back an insult. Was he ok?! Did he look ok?! No he wasn’t ok. He wanted to tell her how stupid she sounded when she let such an obvious question pass through her lips. He didn’t say anything though, just by sheer fact that he needed to calm himself. He was already angry about the hay and being sick and the splinter, he didn’t need to fight with someone too.

“I’ve been better.” he retorted, his voice was deep but almost sounded breathless. It wasn’t that he’d had the wind knocked out of him or that he’d been scared, but his throat was tight and he was tired of hurting all over. He leaned his thin body against the wall, cringing as his back stung, but brushed it away as he moved his eyes from her feet to her face again. “How are you with blood?” he asked curiously, his eyes gazing at her in a serious way. He was not asking to be weird; he was speaking of his palm. Blood wasn’t quite dripping off his hand yet, but it was pooling in his palm around the pretty good sized splinter. He kept his palm up and explained his questioning a little bit. “I could use your help… this hurts pretty fucking bad and I don’t think I can pull it out myself.” As he spoke he was thinking a multitude of things that he could have been talking about, but his eyes found the only logical reason to use words in such an odd phrase. He sucked in a breath before letting it out, trying to calm himself. He tightened the grip of his fingers around his wrist and watched her carefully, hoping she’d say yes. It would be quick, or so he hoped and he wouldn’t even move. He’d keep his back to the wall if that made her more likely to say yes.


•• words 720
•• mood sick, uncomfortable, annoyed
•• stats done

[Adrienne Dionas]

Okay, so that was a somewhat stupid question. After all, he did just fall off one of the beams. He didn't look so great either. He was really pale. Almost as if he was going to be sick. It kind worried her a little. She watched as he looked her over. She shifted uneasily. She didn't like being looked over like that. Obviously he was well enough to asses her looks. She hadn't had much human contact with anyone other than what little friends she had left, and her father.

She looked down at his hands and held back the gasp when she realized he was bleeding. Had he really hurt himself that much? She didn't mind the blood so much. She had never really been the easily sickened type of person. She wasn't sure why, but whatever. She glanced to Calliope and made sure the mare would be okay there by herself for the time being before she looked back to him. She walked over to him and took his hand. She studied the splinter for a moment in thought. She'd had plenty of splinters in her life from climbing rails at the stables back home. It was in pretty deep, and it would take a little digging out to get to where she could get it.

She looked back up at him through those oddly colored violet eyes in thought. "It's in pretty deep. I'm going to have to dig it out with something." She said as she thoughtlessly wiped his blood off her hand onto her jeans, which had a number of other stains from past use on them. They were starting to wear out, so they serve well enough for stable and riding jeans. She rummaged through the purse that was slung over her shoulder and across her torso for a moment before she pulled out a travel sized nail kit and pulled out some teasers. She was always prepared for anything, digging splinters out of you hand included. She pulled out a couple of band-aids to before she looked back up at him through those oddly colored eyes.

"It's going to hurt." She informed him as she took his hand and looked at him expectantly. She waited for him to give the go-ahead. She was always hesitant when it came to pulling out splinters. Especially ones that were dug in deep like this one, and even more so when it wasn't her she was digging the splinter out of.

[vanlouden]

anthony marke van louden.
*{.{ contemplating all the things you've never said }.}*

He supposed that the blood wasn’t uncommon for him. He could trip, scrape his knee and he’d ooze blood like no other. He’d always been a bleeder and the blood he had no was not surprise to him but anyone else would think it was really weird. He didn’t know why he bled so easily, but he always had and it worried his doctors but he swore to them that he felt fine when he was bleeding unless he didn’t stop the bleeding, then it was usually pretty bad. However, he was sure he’d stop eventually. He watched her look form the horse to himself. He guessed maybe to make sure the creature would be ok standing there, but he hoped she’d help him. He could never do splinters, even when he was younger he’d always needed help getting them out. She walked over to him and he stood still for her, not even moving his fingers as she took his hand. He watched her examine his hand, hoping she’d be able to get it out.

He looked back at her face as she looked up at him with her violet eyes. For a second he was caught by them but he nodded as she said it was deep and that she’d have to dig it out. “That doesn’t matter, as long as you can get it out. I’ll be thankful.” he said, holding his wrist tightly, watching her dig through her purse to get some tweezers and band aids. He didn’t flinch at the sight because it was very familiar to him. He ran his tongue over his top set of teeth and bit his lip gently, watching her take his hand again. He sighed softly as she said it was going to hurt and he expected as much. “Whenever you’re ready, I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.” he tried to laugh there and lighten everything but he really couldn’t do it. He clenched his teeth, the muscles flexing in his jaw as he did this. He was as ready as he would truly ever be because the longer this took the less ready he was going to be. He didn’t say he trusted her fully and completely, but he hoped she could do this. He’d be eternally grateful because she was practically his savior in this moment. He couldn’t have asked for any better luck because he was sure that most people wouldn’t have wanted to help him with this.

Besides, how many people were lucky enough to carry around something like that nail kit? Most people wouldn’t be allowed to get their hands on something like that because it could quickly turn dangerous with that in their hands. He personally wouldn’t do much harm with it. Maybe he’d threaten someone so he’d be able to get out, but he would not kill anyone. He’s hit people before without caring, but he didn’t have enough mind to kill someone. That would cause him too much grief, too much worry about sentencing. It wouldn’t be fun at all and who wanted to be locked up in a cell with a bunch of other murderers anyway? Murder wasn’t worth whatever people thought it was worth. So what, it rid a few more people from the earth, that didn’t mean you would feel comfortable again. There would always be people that you fought with a didn’t like, it didn’t mean they had to die.


•• words 574
•• mood anxious, pained, hopeful
•• stats done

[Adrienne Dionas]

She didn't miss the surprise in his eyes. Her eyes always caught people off. Most actually thought they were contacts, but nope. They were her true eye color. It was a genetic mutation that her mother had carried. She learned about it several years back during a biology class on genetic mutations. It came from albino genes. The gene that carries the red eyes of an albino fuses with the blue eyed gene and causes violet eyes. Her father of course was the one that carried the blue eyed gene. She nodded her head gently and chewed on her lip for a moment before she looked down at the splinter.

She moved the tweezers to his hand and hesitated a moment before she dug it in and slowly and carefully worked the splinter up to where she could reach it. She actually felt herself wince as she carefully worked the splinter to the surface. She brushed the blood away thoughtlessly wiping some of it on her jeans as she took the tweezers and carefully plucked the splinter from his hand. She pulled out a little package and ripped it open. She looked up at him as she opened up the cloth."Hydrogen peroxide. It's going to sting a little." She informed him as she looked back down at his hand and started to wipe at his hand where the splinter had been and watched as the fluid pussed and fizzled over the wound.

She then took out a dry pad and wiped it away before she opened the band-aid and peeled away all the excess paper and junk before she carefully pressed it onto his hand. That would slow down and stop the bleeding after a little while. She looked back up at him as she wiped away his blood on her hand. She reached up and brushed some of the hay away from his shirt. She couldn't help that. It was a little OCD and she didn't mind so much. She liked tidiness when it is possible. She took back her hand when she realized what she was doing and looked up at him as she backed away. "Sorry, I have little OCD moments." She said before she stepped back towards the stall door.

[vanlouden]

anthony marke van louden.
*{.{ contemplating all the things you've never said }.}*

He clenched the fingers of his other hand as she dug the tweezers into his skin. He hid his dark brown, almost black eyes behind his pale eyelids and sucked in a breath, holding it in his lungs. He had to fight curling the fights of his hand that she was holding and digging the wood out of. It hurt, just as much, if not more than he’d expected, but she was not at fault. He was at fault for having sat up on the beam in the first place. Was he stupid? Yes, probably. However, that small fact didn’t stop him from doing it anyway. He didn’t open his eyes at all while she worked and he kept in his curses, as well as his breaths. He took a breath twice, if not one long one during the time she dug it out and when he finally felt the splinter out he opened to his eyes to watch her rip a package open. He gripped his wrist, looking at the hole in his palm from the piece of beam that had been removed from his hand. He cursed at himself way under his breath so his foul language wouldn’t be heard. It hurt like no other, and he regretted sitting up there. He nodded and bit his tongue inside his mouth as he watched the sanitizer clean his wound. It stung a little bit, but it was no comparison to what it had felt like having the splinter dug out of his hand. “That’s not that bad…” he murmured quietly, more to himself than her as he felt better. It stung, sure, it would sting for a few days until his body realized that hey, that was a hole in his palm and then it would heal, hopefully.

He breathed out again, having held a breath that he didn’t even realize he’d been holding as she’d used the wet pad to clean his skin. She dried it off and then pulled out a band-aid that would hopefully stick to him long enough for it to mildly recuperate. She stuck the adhesive pad into his palm and the tape on it stuck to his skin. The material of the pad was soft against his sore hand but it hurt to clench his fingers into a fist. However, he guessed he shouldn’t be doing that anyway. He watched her hand as she brushed some hay away from his shirt. He had not said anything to her though; he would have brushed it off himself anyway. She backed away from him and he felt like just by watching her do it, he’d scared her. She spit out an apology and backed toward the stall door. He stayed against the wall, carefully brushing more off. He finally just removed his shirt and shook it.

“It’s alright. I’m allergic to the shit; I shouldn’t be in here anyway.” he said with a smirk, shaking his shirt out. Yes, he was exposing his extremely pale torso, the skin was more pale then his face only because it got less light, but it made him look sicker. His body was thin, and not thin like, ‘yes I ate but I have a fast metabolism’ but thin like ‘I didn’t eat before I came here and now I can’t stomach all the food they force down my throat’. He has had a lot of trouble eating because before the drugs were enough to keep him going and now he had to eat at least two meals a day and it was too much for him. He couldn’t stomach a whole bowl of cereal, let alone two full meals. His rubs could be felt through his skin along with some of the bones in his back. The large bruise of his back from when he’d fallen off the beam the first time was a darker purple now, not just a lit blue. Some spots in the purple were dark blue, but he didn’t bother to hide himself from her. He was injured and sick looking, but he swore he wasn’t contagious.


•• words 683
•• mood sore, calm, relaxed
•• stats done

[Adrienne Dionas]

She didn't mean for him to think that he had scared her. She felt kind of like she had given off that vibe, but she couldn't help it. She really wasn't the social butterfly she used to be. She was so used to keeping to herself, that she hadn't thought about it at first. She licked her lips gently as she scratched the back of her head, tangling her fingers into the dark blackish mass of hair she had.S he watched him as he brushed away some more of the hay off his shirt then just took it off.

Her eyes widened in surprise at the pale skinny body that stood in-front of her, but she forced the surprise back and just took in his appearance. She actually had to hold back a surprised gasp. Her eyes looked over the pale skin and bones torso he had. She had seen the effects of drugs, and now it was quite obvious what had brought him to Willow Brooke. The loud shrill whinney and a loud thud that Adrienne recognized as a hoof against the floor of the grooming area made her snap from he staring gaze that was looking over her body. She threw a glance over her shoulder and backed up poking her head out of the stall making sure Calliope was okay. She looked back to him as she leaned against the stall door.

He looked so sickly, and it kind of un-nerved her, but she didn't let it show. She just didn't understand why anyone would want to do that to themselves. To their bodies. To her it was abuse of yourself. She chewed on her lower lip for a moment before she looked back up to his face through those thoughtful violet eyes. "I'm Adrienne." She said softly looking into those dark practically black pools. They made a tingling chill run down her spine, but she didn't show. She had become quite well at hiding her true emotions.

[vanlouden]

anthony marke van louden.
*{.{ contemplating all the things you've never said }.}*

He didn’t look at her as he focused on picking the straw off his clothes. He was very careful when it came to getting the pieces off of the black shirt but knew that he wouldn’t get them all off. He kept his eyes down, not wanting to see her face as she saw him. There was always a shocked reaction to his body, didn’t matter who it was. The counselor woman had freaked out when she’d given him a hug even though he told her to stay away. She’d wrapped her arms around him in a gentle hug and he’d never seen anyone move as fast as she had when she jumped away from the embrace. She obviously hadn’t realized he was as skinny as he was and that look on her face… He felt like a leper with how fast she’d left him standing there alone. Yes, he knew he was probably a shock to look at or to touch when one thought he was full bodied. However, he hated the thought that just because he was skinny that people had to shove food down his throat. OK, so he was skinny, so he didn’t eat a lot. That didn’t mean he wasn’t tying to eat. He had a waffle this morning with very light syrup and butter. He was trying at least.

The whinny stirred him from his concentration and he stepped to the side, further away from where the horse was. He wasn’t a fan of horses, and probably wouldn’t ever be. They were huge and loud and kind of intimidating, but he would never admit such a fact. A thud followed and he looked up from his shirt, his black eyes watching the creature outside in the ties. His eyes shifted to her then, and he drew his shirt in closer to his body and hung it on his arm, still picking at the hay as he stood in the corner of the stall. He raised his eyes once more to find her looking at him while she leaned in the frame of the door. He wondered what she was thinking as she looked upon him. Was she disgusted? Could she figure out why he was here? He only wondered that because he didn’t doubt that some people wouldn’t be able to make a connection. For some reason, he didn’t know what; he gave her a little more credit and figured she might have been able to put two and two together. He wondered if she was more or less comfortable around him now that she probably knew a major reason he was here. She hadn’t yet backed away and returned to her horse so he figured she might not be more or less comfortable, but she was at a state that she didn’t leave him completely alone. His eyes, set back in his head gazed toward her, finding her violet colored eyes that greatly contrasted his nearly black ones. Hers had depth and could easily attract someone while his eyes appeared depthless. You couldn’t tell the difference between his pupil and his cornea.

He watched her curiously as she spoke her name. He pulled his shirt back on so they could both keep their sanity and parted his lips in soft speech. “Anthony, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” He meant what he said, she’d saved him from his own clumsiness and she hadn’t left him yet so that was ok. “Who’s the one behind you? It seems quite anxious, being left alone.” His eyes shifted from her to the horse as he mentioned it. He hadn’t been around his own horse yet, or any other ones. The closest he’d been to one in his whole life was right now.


•• words 626
•• mood curious, nervous
•• stats done

[Adrienne Dionas]

She didn't leave him alone because she figured that's exactly what everyone did when they realized how skinny he was. She wasn't like others though. Sure she didn't see why someone would want to treat their body in such a way, but she wasn't one to judge people because of it. If they wanted to abuse themselves like that then so be it. That was their decision, and there wasn't anything she could do about it. She watched as he plucked hay from the shirt. She looked down at the scuffed up riding boots she wore in thought and to keep from staring at his horrible condition.

She looked back up to him meeting his gaze. Those deep dark pools interested her a little. To the ordinary eye they had no depth. They were only dark and black. Almost cold, but her observant eye took in every little detail. They may have seemed cold and uncaring, but there was something there. She just couldn't quite put her finger on it." Like wise." She said tilting her head slightly.Her attention went to Calliope as she looked to the Mare then up at him.

The large bulky mare let out another softer, beckoning nicker and shook her head causing the brownish, cream mane to fly around in the air for a minute. She looked back to him and smiled weakly as she stepped out of the stall to the mare. "This would be Calliope. And she's just still a little jittery after that little spook you gave her." She said softly as she ducked down under her neck and reached for the mane brush and started to comb out the mare's thick mane. "Horses are the true best friends you can over have." She said looking over to Anthony as she combed through the thick mane. The temperamental mare nudged as Adrienne's elbow affectionately. She looked to the mare and stroked her velvety nose gently. "You can tell them anything, and not only will they understand how you feel, but they'll keep your deepest darkest secrets." She said looking back to Anthony with a warm smile as she continued to comb through the thick mane of the dark sorrel mare.

[vanlouden]

anthony marke van louden.
*{.{ contemplating all the things you've never said }.}*

It wasn’t that he wanted to look the way he did. He didn’t one day go out, but come cocaine and say ‘I’m gonna use so much of this that I look like a skeleton after a year.’ No, that was not the case. Getting that high, that rush, was like a new side to life. He couldn’t be forced to do anything that he didn’t want to do, he could zone out thousand times easier, and he felt free. He didn’t worry about anything when he felt the way he did. Now granted, the side affects of using and after the high weren’t that great, and this was known but yet he’d continue to use because he’d felt like he needed it. He knew he looked really bad on the outside, being so thin that you can see many of his bones without any problems and he didn’t feel any better on the inside, you just couldn’t see how bad it was. He hadn’t intended to get the way he did and sometimes he wished he could look normal again, but it didn’t help when people were forcing him to eat. When he was high he never had to eat aside from getting the extreme munchies where he binged junk food. Now he couldn’t eat a whole meal without puking because they forced him. This morning he’d eaten a whole waffle with light syrup and light butter. He was trying to eat and luckily he’d snuck out with a group so he wasn’t forced to eat anymore. If they’d let him try then he could do it, but they insisted on helping.

He stepped a little closer Adrienne stepped out of the stall and toward the horse. He didn’t get a lot closer, but a little was better than nothing. He still wasn’t fond of horses because he was against being forced to do things and he was being forced to take care of one, or so that’s what it seemed but he was winning that battle. He crossed his arms over his chest, now having his shirt on, he was careful of his bandaged hand. He shook his head from his face, gently running his fingers through it to find a few more pieces which he threw to the floor in annoyance, but stood quietly, hearing her speak the answer to his question and more. “Well, tell her I’m sorry. I didn’t exactly mean to sneezer and fall off the beam.” his dark eyes drifted up to find the beam which he’d fallen from. He supposed he was glad that he hadn’t hit his back again. Twice in one day would have probably killed him, or come pretty damn close because it’s not like he had a lot on him to protect him. He kept his arms crossed over his chest, standing a fair distance from the creature as she spoke and combed out her hair. He didn’t understand why someone would befriend a huge, not so pleasant smelling creature but he didn’t object her idea. He let her have it.

His dark eyes returned to the mare, watching her nudge her elbow and in return Adrienne rubbed her nose gently. “Well I’d hope so. They can’t talk so that’s a good thing…” There was disbelief in his voice as he spoke. He wasn’t thinking that a horse could talk and tell your secrets, no. He wasn’t stupid, a little slower than most, but he was not stupid. He was just being closed minded today and didn’t let him grasp the good concepts of actually going to find his horse. He didn’t see any reason too. It was unwanted work for a creature that probably wouldn’t even like him. He didn’t know the first thing about horses but from what he seen, he didn’t think they were all that impressive. However, he was a hard one to impress. It took a lot to get him to try something new. There had to be proof of why it was such a good thing and you had to get him interested. So far, the attempts of the staff had not worked when it came to getting him interested about getting nearer to a horse than this. He was not willing to do it because they expected him to just start interacting without telling him the first thing about it. Plus, it didn’t help that he didn’t like any of the staff. They weren’t doing a very good job of being friendly to him.


•• words 753
•• mood uninterested, skeptic
•• stats done

[Adrienne Dionas]

She looked to him and smiled softly as she looked up to the large creature. "You hear that, big girl?" She asked sweetly as the horse's ears swiveled between the two conversing. "He says he's sorry." She told the mare as she cupped Calliope's muzzle in her hands. She smiled as she the mare gave off a soft nicker and nuzzled Adrienne's soft hands. Adrienne just smiled softly and scratched under the mare's chin for a moment before she set down the comb in the basket that held the grooming supplies. She then pulled out the hoof pick and skimmed a hand over he mare's bulky, muscular thigh down to her hoof. She took the hoof between her legs and started to clean it out.

She looked up at him and smirked gently nodding her head. "Exactly one of the points that makes them the perfect friend. They do have their own way of communicating though." She said as she cleaned out that first front left leg and then carefully moved to the back left. She glanced at him under the large body and thought for a moment as she cleaned out the hoof with a known gentleness then moved on to the right back hoof carefully and gently patting the mare's rump to let her know it was only her. "You can tell them absolutely anything and not have to worry about it.And in return they show their love to you."

She could understand to an extent why he would do drugs. The high. That's what made it so great. Riding at one point had been her drug, and then when her mother was killed she'd purged herself of that. She glanced to Calliope in thought. She would have to eventually ride her here at Willow Brooke. She wanted to put it off as long as possible though. She wouldn't admit that she did miss it. The staff would just force the idea of riding on her more and more, and she just ready. She missed the wind in her hair though. The whip of a horse's mane against her face. Riding made her fell invincible. Like she could soar like a majestic bird. She missed that feeling, and the excitement of it all.She just wasn't ready though. She skimmed a hand along the suede like coat and down her front right leg to pick up her front right hoof and rest it between her knees so she could clean it out.

[vanlouden]

anthony marke van louden.
*{.{ contemplating all the things you've never said }.}*

He watched her clean the dirt out from the horse’s feet and silently wondered to himself how it didn’t hurt. It was a little comfortable when he dug the dirt out from under his fingernails when he was bored, let alone using a metal pick like thing to dig it out from the creature’s feet. He crossed his arms and leaned himself against the wall, watching her through the bars, not wanting to get any closer. He rested his chin against his arms and just watched her quietly. He didn’t have any desire to help her to get any closer then he was, but he supposed he wondered a few things about the animals. He didn’t ask though, he just let his dark eyes wander over the horse’s body and over Adrienne as she worked quietly, still talking with him as she worked. He made sure to reply to her since she had helped him. He nodded at her comment.

“Yeah. I’m guessing by that horrid loud noise she made earlier that she was a bit scared.” he said with a cringe, not having enjoyed that. “I mean, I listen to music louder than that but god…” he said, shaking his head a bit, but brushed his hair back away from his eyes as he rested his chin against his folded arms. Having a somewhat short body of five nine, leaning against the wall wasn’t any trouble at all. Rather comfortable if he might say so himself. She looked up at him from practically being under the horse and he was glad to be standing where he was. He didn’t know if he could deal being underneath the heavy creature. He’d end up scaring it and it would trample him into the dirt. He nodded as she spoke of being able to tell it anything, and getting love it return. “That’s kinda nice… It would be like having always having someone to talk too, who never judged.” he said with a shrug, his words trailing and dropping off a little, shifting his eyes away a bit as to avoid any look that he might receive. He’d never had anyone to talk to that never judged. The only person he’d ever had was Liam, and Liam’s mother and father hadn’t liked him. They’d known about the drugs and they had known what their eyes saw when they found the two of them in Liam’s bedroom. They saw what their eyes had been waiting to see since they’d found the drugs. They saw a reason to get him out. They saw a way to kick him out and rid him of their house. He shook his head slightly, casually letting his eyes look around as he thought. He didn’t say anything for a moment, just thought.

After having been quiet for a time that seemed like forever, he shifted in the stall again, keeping himself behind the bars almost as if that was where he was meant to be. He wasn’t supposed to get too close to anyone. He watched her for a second before speaking softly. “How does that not hurt her feet? Picking at them like that…?” This was one of many questions he could ask, but he didn’t ask any more in that second. He just asked one, thinking that she could explain since she looked like she knew what she was doing. He stayed very quiet, his dark hair having fallen into his eyes as he leaned against the wall with his chin on his arms. He shifted his feet beneath him, cringing internally as his back ached for him moving to such an uncomfortable position. If his back had a mouth it would be bitching like no other, that’s how bad it was hurting right now. He sighed softly, cursing himself as he waited to see if she’d answer his question. He didn’t really mind the silence but right now it was eating away at his mind because he was thinking of so many things that he didn’t want to be thinking about.

•• words 676
•• mood wondering, curious, uncomfortable
•• stats done

[Adrienne Dionas]

She looked up at him and laughed gently as she stroked the mare's neck affectionately. She examined the hoof for a moment noticing she had a little pebble in her shoe. She carefully scraped it out, causing only momentary discomfort, but that didn't stop the mare from flattening her ears and letting out a disgruntled snort at Adrienne. "Oh, hush you." She said as she went back to scraping out the dirt and mud that was caked between her shoe. "They make all sorts of noises according to how they feel. When their angry or upset, they have that shrill whinnying sound, and when they're content or trying to sooth, they have a soft comforting nicker. Then there's everything between." She said as she stood and stretched for a moment letting her back pop a little before she set the pick down in the bag and reached for a bit of bug repellent.

She looked to him for a moment and nodded her head in agreement to him. "They most certainly don't judge." She said softly as she stroked a hand down the white blaze along her head. "They just know a good person when they see them." She said as she stroked down that wide white blaze in thought. She brushed soft kiss over her forehead as she stroked the mare's cheeks. She could feel the mare sniffing at her pockets and she smiled gently as she pulled out a sliced up apple. She held it in her flat palm so that those large teeth couldn't harm her hand.

She looked up at him as she listened to Calliope munch along on them contently. She looked down at Calliope's hoofs. She chewed on her lip for a moment in thought trying to think of how to explain it. "It's the same thing as a finger nail. If you scrape it too hard, it will hurt, but that doesn't happen very often. Not even with beginners. You're supposed to clean their hooves of each day. In case there is a stone or pebble wedged in under the shoes." She explained as she started to unhook the mare from the cross ties. She fed the mare another apple before she slowly eased the mare out of the grooming station and circled her around for a moment so that they were turned the right way. She looked to him and smiled gently. She was pretty dwarfed by the mare. She actually needed mounting blocks to get on unless it was a pony, but she used to ride horses more than ponies.

"Which horse did they assign you?" She asked curiously as she stood there. She was kind of curious. He obviously didn't know hot to take care of a horse, so she automatically made the assumption that he was a beginner student. Calliope reached her nose to the back of apples and lipped the bag impatiently. Adrienne frowned and gave her another before she looked back up to Anthony.