Welcome to Hickstead, home to both Seven Oak Stables, and Blue Acre - two rival stables. Both offer opportunities for their clients to reach the highest level of excellence. Each stable differs from the other, so choose wisely and never forget, loyalty is everything... Meanwhile as the stables battle it out, there's trouble brewing at the university. Be careful, if you don't pick a side you may get caught in the cross-fire...
This is an chilled out rpg with a super friendly and relaxed atmosphere! Remember to sign up with your characters full name in all caps and don't forget to do your claims! Thank you and Welcome, we've been established since 10th March 2009 but unfortunately have had to close guest view of our boards due to multiple sites ripping off our hard work, such a shame! Come chat to us in Discord before joining if you like!.
Lily sighed as she twisted in the bathroom mirror to try and get a better look at the blossoming bruise. Of course it had to be in such an awkward place for her to check. Adonis has always been a handful, and he still was now in is older age. His temperamental attitude had usually just equated to being feisty under saddle with the occasional face pulling, but a recent stint of stable rest had sent the horses' crank meter off the charts. The stable hands no longer handled him on her request after three of them had almost lost fingers, and she wasn't interested in risking their limbs, but even with her the animal had tested his limits more than usual. She had decided to take him out for a walk for the first time in a week - knowing that he was likely to do something stupid, she'd clipped on a lunge line and used his bridle, thinking a bit of grass would settle him and hopefully keep him interested enough not to be too much of a prat, she'd led him the short walk across the courtyard to a patch of grass for him to hand graze.
He had been doing really well until a horse in one of the small paddocks nearby had decided to find the world exciting and shot off with a buck and a fart, spooking Adonis. Lily had been a little lax on the rope, having been lulled into a bit of a false sense of security by his calm, she managed to grab the line to hang on to the horse as his head went in the sky and he began showing off some impressive airs above ground. She'd thought she had him under control until the kick. It caught her off guard - his legs had been going in all directions but after a buck he suddenly spun and aimed his ass toward her rather than away like his previous bucks, catching her in the back. She'd managed a ninja move to avoid taking the brunt of the kick but it still hurt like a bitch, and then just as she'd stumbled, he'd yanked forward and she'd hit the ground, refusing to let go of the rope and proceeding to be dragged onto the gravel a fair few metres before her feet had found purchase and she'd been able to brace against his weight and stumble into a half run, bearing down on the lunge line until Adonis had stopped.
It had probably set back his recovery and she hoped it had been worth it for the bugger. Her family weren't on the yard at the time and she was glad not to have to deal with that, waving off the concern of the stable hands that were around and a couple of liveries who came to investigate, taking the prancing moron back to his stable and finishing up the yard before she limped home. She was hoping to hide it from Luke, like she'd done in the past. She knew he hated seeing her hurt and she hated having that age old conversation of why she still liked horses and would be going back tomorrow, but he'd caught her so many times trying to patch herself up and he always gave a sigh, sat beside her and started wrapping the bandages regardless. With her shirt lifting and being place-held by her teeth, she could just about see the injury on her back. The bruise there was nothing she could do for, but the gravel had scraped some impressive angry grazes down her back and she knew she needed to clean them. He would see them eventually - unless she never planned to be naked in front of her husband for the next few weeks - but if she could at least make them look less awful.... she flinched as she managed to twist her arm awkwardly around to rub the antiseptic against one of them.
luke stretched as he walked up the front steps to the house he shared with his wife and her family. he whistled a tune softly to himself as he unlocked the door, spun his keys around his finger for a second before he gently dropped them into the bowl at the front door. with so many sets of keys in the house, it was sometimes hard to keep track of, but it meant there was never a shortage of cars to grab in an emergency. he'd just been into town to run som errands and he'd come back to see if lily wanted to grab a late lunch while they were child free. claire was at school, the twins were at daycare and slade had been stolen by ranger so he could take them on a walk around the park when luke had left to run his errands. he was planning on showering before he made his way over to the barn to see if his wife wanted to take advantage of their child free status and he kicked off his shoes at the bottom of the stairs as he walked up them.
he didn't know who was home at the moment but with the amount of people who lived in the house, it wasn't unusual to have someone in the house at all times. in fact it was a bit of a rare occurance when they were all out at the same time. he scrubbed his hand over his face as he grabbed a towel from the hall cupboard, not able to remember if he'd hung his up that morning, and he headed into the room he shared with lily. he tossed the towel on the bed as he started to tug his shirt off but he stopped as he heard someone moving in the bathroom. he frowned a little because it was his and lily's bathroom, the perks of being married to the woman who owned the house, they had their own. no one in his family would be in there, unless they had a good reason or one of the kids had snuck in but it didn't happen often.
he stopped trying to take off his shirt and he walked towards the door, looking into the bathroom and more than shocked at the sight he saw there. his wife was there, her shirt held between her teeth as she tried her best to twist to put some cream onto one of the worst looking graze down her back he'd ever seen on her. "lily! what the hell happened?" he exclaimed as he hurried over to her and he touched his hand gently to the top of her shoulder, not game to touch her anywhere else in case she was hurt in other areas. "did you fall?" he asked her quickly but gently, not able to help jumping into the mental checklist he did with the patients he dealt with at work. he wasn't a paramedic but he had more than basic first aid training and the sight of his wife in pain was enough to make him remember his training.
TWENTY FIVE | STUDYING LAW/FIRE FIGHTER | LILIANA HONEY WHITE-COLE CLAIRE WHITE | 4 ROSE WHITE | 3 FELICITY WHITE | 3 SLADE WHITE | 1
She thought she heard the sound of a door, but as she paused and cocked her head, she didn't hear anyone call out. Generally, people called when they walked in - with so many in the house it was common courtesy to let the rest of the troops know someone had entered. Not that there were too many accidents, but at some point they'd all walked in on each other in less than a desirable state of affairs. Sometimes, as much as she loved her family, the idea of a cosy cottage with just her, Luke and the kids was tempting as hell. But then they'd have a family meal, and the love of her family would swamp he all over again.
Naturally, Luke managed to creep up on her. Usually she saw him coming, he wasn't exactly light on his feet or good at hiding with his tall stature. But now he'd caught her red handed; well shit. "lily! what the hell happened?" Lily turned and let the shirt fall from her teeth with a sheepish grin, "Hey hun," She tried to placate him with a smile and a soft sentiment. "Uhh, my secret boyfriend got a little over excited?" She tried to crack the joke, hoping that it might soften the sight of her back. She smiled at the gentle touch of his hand on her shoulder, knowing he was worried about where was okay. "did you fall?" She shook her head. "Not exactly.. Adonis got a little keen and took me gravel skiing..." She bit her lip, "It's really not that bad, I swear. I just.. need some help cleaning the rash, please?" She asked, holing out the cloth to him.
he saw the sheepish grin cross her face and normally it would have been enough to make him smile back at her but he couldn't help but worry about her instead. he'd seen the grazes and he wanted to know where else she was bruised or hurt. he'd long given up trying to understand the families connection with horses but it always worried him when she came home injured. he'd seen some bad injuries, in their own family, that had come from riding and it scared him to no end that one day it could be lily or one of their kids when they got older. "tell me you cracked him a good one in return." he said, a little drily but playing along with her joke. once he had his hand on his shoulder, he felt a little better. he knew it was stupid but there was something so important about touch to him, knowing she was close enough for him to help, especially when she was hurt or ill, he didn't want to be far from her side.
"i suppose if i told you to let leo or logan work with him instead of you, you wouldn't listen right?" he knew there was no point, lily was who she was and he loved her just as she was but he couldn't help but worry about one of the horses hurting her. to him, her brothers could take it so much better than she could. not that he'd ever tell her that straight, she'd probably cut him down at his knees for it. he reached out and took the cloth from her, nodding a little as he lifted the hem of her shirt gently back up so he could see the wound. "where else are you hurt?" he asked quietly as he worked on cleaning the graze on her skin as carefully as he could.
TWENTY FIVE | STUDYING LAW/FIRE FIGHTER | LILIANA HONEY WHITE-COLE CLAIRE WHITE | 4 ROSE WHITE | 3 FELICITY WHITE | 3 SLADE WHITE | 1
Her gaze searched Luke's for a moment, expecting to see him smile like he always did when she gave him that look. He didn't though, and she bit her lip, the expression fading after a moment. She knew why - having grown up with him, Lily knew every look on his face, every nuance in his expression - he was worried. It was why she'd tried to hide it in the first place, she had wanted to avoid this. Now, she had to try and make a joke about it. "tell me you cracked him a good one in return." The joke eased the tension and she felt she was a little bit forgiven with those words. She relaxed slightly and smiled again, a slight wrinkle of her nose, "Sadly not, by the time the dust had settled, he wouldn't have known what the telling off was for. You know, him and Leo have that in common," She chuckled slightly, though Leo pretending not to know what he was being told off for was definitely more an act.
"i suppose if i told you to let leo or logan work with him instead of you, you wouldn't listen right?" Lily gave Luke a look, but it quickly softened as she reminded herself where the words were coming from. A place of care and love, of not wanting to see her hurt - the same way she felt whenever she saw something was wrong with him. "Sorry, but no. He's my horse, and I'm not pregnant, so I have no reason not to see him through his rehab. I won't ask someone else to handle him." She had handled worse before, but she didn't want to tell him that and make him worry more. She released the cloth over to him; at least he would be able to reach places she couldn't and it wouldn't be so awkward. "where else are you hurt?" She tilted her head slightly, catching the quiet of his voice and unsure for a moment if he was hiding frustration in the tone. A small shake of her head, "No, it's just my back." She said honestly, turning her face slightly to look at his. "It's not that bad, I promise."
he knew that hadn't been a fair question to ask her but he'd had to ask it anyway. he hated seeing her hurt, even if it had been from an animal that she loved as much as he knew she loved adonis. it would be like her asking him to let someone else go into the fires to pull people out, it was his job and he was going to do it. but it didn't stop him from worrying about her and fussing over her when she did get injured, he never would. she was his wife, it was his job to do it. "i know lils, i do." he said, softening his voice slightly so she knew it and he didn't really expect her to have said yes. it was just a question he'd needed to ask, because he'd not forgive himself if he hadn't and something went wrong. "adonis probably listens better ..." he said in response and he smiled a little as he clasped his hand around the washcloth when she let him take it from her fingers.
he felt some of the tension leave his shoulders as she reassured him that it was just the scrape on her back and he nodded his head slightly, pressing the cloth against it gently so he could continue cleaning it for her. even with her assurance that it wasn't as bad as it looked he didn't really believe her, he knew it had to hurt somewhat more than she would let on. it was a trait of her family after all. he reached his free hand to touch her chin as she looked at him. "i'll believe that in a few days." because by then he'd have forgotten the shock of seeing her in the bathroom, the anger that she'd been hurt and it would just be a healing wound. "come into the bedroom and i'll go get the stuff to dress it properly." he said as he finished cleaning what dirt he could see.
TWENTY FIVE | STUDYING LAW/FIRE FIGHTER | LILIANA HONEY WHITE-COLE CLAIRE WHITE | 4 ROSE WHITE | 3 FELICITY WHITE | 3 SLADE WHITE | 1
She got it, she really did, she knew how it would feel to see him injured from something he loved, even if it wasn't something that had happened to them. Luke's hobbies didn't have a penchant for that kind of trouble, she wasn't going to count his gambling issue, she didn't regard that as a hobby. It must be difficult, she got that, but this wasn't just a hobby for her, it was her life, it was the thing that had saved her all those years ago. She loved Luke, she had always loved Luke, and she always would, but she loved horses too, there would always be moments when they hurt her or something less desirable happened, as was liable to occur with animals in general, it was something Luke had to understand, even if he didn't like it. "i know lils, i do." She relaxed a little at his words, feeling the tension between them ease enough that she knew it wasn't about to turn into an argument. She really didn't need to add that on top of her issues with the damn horse and her scratched up back.
"adonis probably listens better ..." Lily have a small chuckle at that, raising an eyebrow at him over her shoulder as the washcloth was carefully handed over. "I think most of the animals do," She teased, but it was soft, no harm in the joke. She knew he was being gentle but she couldn't help the wince all the same. It would need to be properly cleaned and that meant it was going to hurt. She worked hard to hide every wince, every hint of pain as Luke worked, for his sake. She didn't want to make this anymore of a deal than it already was. "i'll believe that in a few days." She looked up and met his gaze as he held her chin. She didn't have anything to add to his words though, knowing there was nothing she could say to ease his worry in that moment that she hadn't already. "come into the bedroom and i'll go get the stuff to dress it properly." Lily nodded, leaving her top off to make life easier, she turned back around. "Okay, thank you, love." She said gently, placing a hand on his cheek and reaching up to kiss his nose gently.
