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!.
"That sounds too simple. Give him money with some spray on it, and then what.. call the police?" Mik quirked an eyebrow. Okay, when she said it back to him like that, it sounded way too simplistic and like some stupid movie plot. It would have been easier to explain if he had the likes of his saddle and the reader for the dots on him so he could show her. "In short, yes, that's the plan... Well, more I go to the police and tell them that a large sum of money went missing from my vehicle the night I was attacked." His brows rose again though as he pulled a face, it sounded dumb!
His brows shot up as she burst into tears, and he dropped to the ground beside her, ignoring his ribs at the moment, and pulled her against him, kissing the top of her head. "It's okay, love." He soothed as he rubbed her back. "We'll get through this. We could both leave this place behind, move somewhere new, start over again." Of course, them both running away wasn't going to sort out their current problem, but it would at least put it aside for now.
She glanced at him, not wanting to sound negative about his idea but it felt far too simple for that to work - after everything that they had tried, everything that she had done to get rid of him, if that was all it took she would feel such a fool. Granted, she didn't have several thousand pounds to spend on this kind of plan, but if it had meant getting rid of him she probably would have found it somewhere. "In short, yes, that's the plan... Well, more I go to the police and tell them that a large sum of money went missing from my vehicle the night I was attacked." So really, it wasn't quite as simple as she made out. "We'll need to know where he takes it. If he fucks off and disappears, he'll still win - he'll have taken the money and be long gone." She didn't know his hide outs anymore, it had been too long.
Amber didn't expect him to comfort her, she thought he probably would, because it was who he was, but she didn't feel she deserved it, and a small part of her was still considering running out - which would be easier if he didn't hold her. But of course he did, and suddenly he was there beside her. She let him pull her in, though she felt she shouldn't, it was too hard to resist. "It's okay, love." She sniffed and tried to take a breath. "It's not." She argued. It wasn't okay, this was all just bullshit. "We'll get through this. We could both leave this place behind, move somewhere new, start over again." She shook her head, "No, the idea was that I left, not you."
"We'll need to know where he takes it. If he fucks off and disappears, he'll still win - he'll have taken the money and be long gone." It was on the tip of his tongue to say that it was only money, but he knew those words would just set her hackles up again, and he didn't want to do anything to send her running now that she seemed to be calming down. "We could continue with the wonderful movie plot and have him followed?" He suggested, only half joking.
"It's not." He pressed his lips against the top of her head, knowing that trying to convince her that it would all work out just wasn't worth it, not while she was in his arms. "No, the idea was that I left, not you." He hummed his agreement. "If you left though, who would make sure I take care of myself?" Amber had been such a big part of his rehabilitation after the attack, she'd made sure that he took it easy, had been cross with him, and rightfully so, when he pushed himself. "How about I go make us a hot chocolate and then we go to bed? If you still feel you need to go in the morning..." A good dose of sugar right now seemed like a great idea.
"We could continue with the wonderful movie plot and have him followed?" She was so in a muddle, she didn't know if he was joking anymore or not. She didn't think he would, given her last response to him cracking jokes. "That would mean having to bring someone else in on it.. he'd notice if it was one of us." Plus, she didn't have a car, so she'd have to borrow one or use Mik's anyway. She bit her lip. "Is getting a tracking device possible? And putting it in the bag?" She knew that also might be too much of a movie thing, but she felt like surely it was something Mik might be able to pick up. He seemed to know about this whole money trick too.
She felt him kiss her head again, but not argue. She probably wouldn't accept it right now anyway, unable to help but argue back. "If you left though, who would make sure I take care of myself?" She gave a small shake of her head, "You're a g-grown ass m-man." She hiccuped, "Y-you'd be fine." She didn't make a comment about him only having her around to look after him, she knew that wasn't true. "How about I go make us a hot chocolate and then we go to bed? If you still feel you need to go in the morning..." The tears slowed as she started running out of them, and she scrubbed at her face before giving a slow nod. Maybe it was going to be better to sleep on it, and then she might be able to leave when he wasn't home.
"That would mean having to bring someone else in on it.. he'd notice if it was one of us." He gave her a soft smile. "Did you know I was being shadowed when I first arrived here?" Sure, he'd run away from his parents, but his bodyguards had trouble not being what they were, and no one paid attention to the regulars at the bar, as long as they didn't cause trouble. "Is getting a tracking device possible? And putting it in the bag?" He thought about her suggestion and nodded. "We could attach one to the stacks, as well as putting one on the inside of the bag." Then again, if the bag was ditched, they could relocate the bag and still track the money.
"You're a g-grown ass m-man. Y-you'd be fine." He rested his chin on the top of her head and gave a tiny nod. "Yeah, a grown ass man who would have ended up back in the hospital if you hadn't been here. You keep me grounded. We keep each other grounded." He didn't need her to look after him, he'd been doing that all his life. Her presence stopped him from being so tunnel visioned when he wanted to do something. Life wasn't just about what he wanted anymore.
He kissed the top of her head again as he shuffled back a little and closed his eyes before pushing had hands against the floor and standing up, biting back a hiss as his ribs protested. "I'll be right back." He grabbed the packet of painkillers from his bedside table and headed into the kitchen to make the drinks. At least he could make these without having to think about what he was doing and it just all went together with ease, topping the drinks with whipped cream and marshmallows.
"Did you know I was being shadowed when I first arrived here?" She shook her head, "No, I didn't know." Refraining from adding 'why would I know that?' They had not known each other then, having become friends over time during work shifts, before things progressed to the odd run together and then hanging out in general. It showed how much he must have relaxed in the town, if he had known he was being tailed, but her ex had managed to get the jump on him. "We could attach one to the stacks, as well as putting one on the inside of the bag." She nodded, a little blankly as her emotions were spent, feeling drained and somewhat hopeless as her mind began to empty. She didn't know what more to add to his idea and so, did not speak further.
She felt a slight weight on top of her head, and she didn't want to admit it was comforting. She wanted to be wrapped in Mik, to not have to think about leaving him anymore. "Yeah, a grown ass man who would have ended up back in the hospital if you hadn't been here. You keep me grounded. We keep each other grounded." She swallowed at his words, true for her that he kept her grounded, on a good day, but she couldn't help but feel like nothing but turmoil and trouble for him. "It's my fault that you were even in the hospital, Mik." All of it was her fault, and it couldn't be denied. Whether Tristan was a grown man who made his own choices or not, she had brought him into their lives - Mik's life.
Amber felt his absence as he left, but she didn't make a motion to move. "I'll be right back." She nodded a little, shifting to bring her knees up to her chest instead, and then wrap her arms around them for comfort. Maybe it seemed juvenile to sit there, but she didn't want to move yet, it felt like admitting defeat. She was supposed to have left, and she couldn't even get that right.
"No, I didn't know." Mik smiled and shrugged. "Shows they were doing their job properly then." Now, if he'd continued letting them be his bodyguards, then he wouldn't have been attacked and things would probably be a little different right now, and he'd probably still feel as suffocated as he did while growing up and his mother was sure that he needed his shadows.
"It's my fault that you were even in the hospital, Mik." He pressed his lips together, knowing that telling her not to blame herself was not what she needed right now, nor was the comment about all the time he got of work. "I'm alright though." He said softly.
Once he'd finished making the drink and heated up the brownies, he arranged everything onto a tray and headed back to the bedroom. He placed the tray on the ground beside where she was sitting and then grabbed the blanket from the end of the bed, shook it out and placed it over her shoulders. "I'm going to go and have a shower." He kissed the top of her head before he grabbed a clean t-shirt and sweat pants and headed into the bathroom for a quick shower, so he'd at least smell clean. "I'll need to go and have a talk with Moses." He said as he came out, towel drying his hair. "If nothing else, I need to make sure he's not buying into anything that's being said about me."
"Shows they were doing their job properly then." Amber would have smiled if she was in a better frame of mind, but she got what he meant. A part of her wondered if it was another thing she didn't know about Mik, but she dismissed the thought - he'd been more honest with her than other people, and she knew that to be true from what they knew about his past and his family. She couldn't imagine having bodyguards, she felt like her ex had been suffocating enough, controlling enough - perhaps that was similar to how Mik had felt, being watched all the time.
She knew he wanted to argue, she could see it, but she was so tired of arguing, and she was tired of running - she was tired of her past always coming back to bite her in the ass. Just tired. Maybe it would be easier for her to give up, to roll over and let whatever happened to her, happen. "I'm alright though." Yes he was, but it didn't make it any better, or any easier to accept; it should never have happened. It felt like no time at all had passed but at the same time hours before he returned, a tray suddenly on the ground beside her. She felt like she was stuck in some kind of half dream, deep down knowing it was the exhaustion of the emotions and everything that came with her, her mind shutting everything down.
"I'm going to go and have a shower. I'll need to go and have a talk with Moses. If nothing else, I need to make sure he's not buying into anything that's being said about me." She nodded vaguely. "I'll make sure they know it's because of me." She wouldn't let him lose his job for this, if she couldn't leave, then she'd shoulder the blame - even if it meant losing her job. She didn't realise the weight around her shoulders was a blanket until she went to move. She managed half the mug of hot chocolate before she had to give in; even that chocolatey goodness couldn't fix the vast knawing hole in the pit of her stomach, and she put it aside and rose. She didn't make it far, though her eyes looked to the door, she couldn't do it. Berating herself for being a coward, she slipping beneath the cover of the duvet instead, still fully clothed, and curled up on her side.
"I'll make sure they know it's because of me." Mik smiled softly and nodded, knowing that telling her it wasn't her fault was going to nothing right now, but he'd make sure to mention that she was in no way to blame, when he spoke to his bosses.
Since his chocolate drink had cooled down while he was in the shower, he used his finger to childishly stir the cream into the liquid and quickly downed it, before taking the tray back to the kitchen and filling the mugs with water so that they could be dealt with properly in the morning. Making sure the oven and everything was off - even if nothing had been used - he flicked the lights off and returned to the bedroom.
He Paused at the door as he watched her for a moment, trying to work out the perfect thing to say that might help sooth her mind, but his mind was completely blank. Anything he could come up with sounded cliché, or could be taken as condescending. Shaking his head, he flicked the lights off and headed over to the bed. "I think this is the time when I'm supposed to say some crap about going to sleep, and that everything will look brighter in the morning." He slid under the duvet, wanting to pull her against him, but held that urge in check. "I love you." He said softly.
The bed felt cold as she curled up under the covers, it felt weird for some reason - perhaps because usually they went to sleep together, or on the nights they didn't when one was working, the other would slide in and wake them up pulling them close. They rarely fought, nothing more than the odd tetchy snipe at each other after a stressful day, or a domestic about washing and tidying up. This hadn't even been an argument but Amber was a tidal wave of emotions still, despite being exhausted by them. They swept her this way and that, pulling her from angry to despairing to upset and couldn't decide where to settle. She felt ashamed for trying to run, for try to run out on Mik after everything, for giving in to her ex, but then angry that she hadn't done it when she needed to, and then upset that she hadn't, upset deep down that though she knew Mik wanted her to stay, he hadn't said it. Stay. She'd do anything for him really, even that.
She heard him return, felt the change in the room. Her back was to him but her breath hitched, wondering if he might now be mad at her for what she'd done, like earlier. She'd never seen him mad before. Another day, another time, she might have pulled him to the bed for it instead, but not today - the mood wasn't there for that. Her eyes felt dry and gritty despite the well of tears that clogged her throat. Why wasn't he coming to bed, was he going to sleep in the spare room? Perhaps she should have instead. It felt like an age until he came over. "I think this is the time when I'm supposed to say some crap about going to sleep, and that everything will look brighter in the morning." If she could have, she would have laughed, but it wasn't in her. She bit her lip, somehow doubting that anything would look less bleak in the wintry morning life. "I love you." It nearly broke her again, those words, and she had to swallow hard twice before she could find her voice to respond. "I love you too," She croaked, clenching her eyes shut tight against the sudden onslaught of more salty tears. She wanted him to hold her; so tight she couldn't escape, but he didn't. She hated it - the not touching, but she couldn't bring herself to turn around and close the gap, so tensely caught in her fixed fetal position.
Mik didn't want her to leave, ever, but he couldn't tell her that, especially when he'd already said that she was free to leave whenever she wanted to. "I love you too," He gave a soft smile. "I know." He said as he ignored that nagging voice in his head that was telling him to keep his distance, and he closed the gap between them, wrapping an arm around her waist as he tucked her head under his chin. "Sleep." He whispered. "Now it's my turn to keep watch over you, like you've watched over me since I got out of hospital." The pills had dulled the pain that had been in his chest, and even with the hot shower, he was now wide awake.
He drew in a breath and blew it out, wondering if he'd ever be able to draw deep breaths again, but pushed that thought to the side as his thoughts turned to more pressing matters, like the woman he was holding. He knew that she blamed herself for what was happening, and he could understand her emotions, he just needed to work out how to convince her that they were stronger when they worked together, and that he didn't hold her responsible for anything that was out of her control. Him being attacked was because of his own stubborn pride, which he had been lectured for, and now always had one shadow when he left the flat. His lips twitched with a grin and he wondered if now was a good time to tell Amber that she now had a shadow at night, he needed to make sure she was safe too, as he wasn't sure what he would do if she were attacked like he had been, and Neil's job was to make sure that nothing happened to her when she was going too and from work.
"I know." She heard him say, though she knew he knew - she was going to leave for him, she wasn't doing ti for herself. She wouldn't care so much if she didn't love him more than anyone she'd loved before. She was relieved when he reached out to her. She shifted back toward him, wiggling into his arms, her back pressing against his front. She curled her arm over his, drawing him closer. "Sleep. Now it's my turn to keep watch over you, like you've watched over me since I got out of hospital." She wanted to, but also she didn't. She was scared to see what would come in the morning, if she might be able to go through with leaving and if not, what to do with herself.
It took her time to drift off. Even secure in his arms, she still felt the anxiety and the high emotions of her evening thrumming through her. Her blood was up, her heart still pounding, her limbs finally began to relax one by one and at some point her eyes closed. She woke what felt like only a couple of minutes later, but it was at least a couple of hours. She hadn't moved, though that didn't surprise her - she hadn't wanted to move from Mik's arms, afraid to be without them. A yawn escaped her as she blinked open her gritty eyes and shifted, stretching out her muscles a little. She knew she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep now, her brain began to buzz back and forth almost immediately, trying to figure out what to do. Even the morning light hadn't fixed anything for her, and she rolled carefully, not wanting to stir Mik as she rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling.
Mik smiled and kissed the back of her head as it turned out that he had made the right decision and she pulled him closer rather than moving herself away, and he was so pleased that they were able to cuddle again, rather than having the worry of him hurting himself keeping that gap between them.
Sleep had been a bit of a hit and miss, as Mik's mind refused to rest as he tried to work out how he was going sort of the issues with his jobs, without implicating Amber in any way, and trying to work out if he should out himself. He had a feeling that by the time this whole thing was over, Tristan would probably let that cat out of the bag as his swansong. The more he thought about it, the more he was liking the thought of people knowing who he actually was, he could even ask Naomi if he could instruct young riders. He didn't want to give up his current job at the barn, but he'd love to be able to mentor young riders.
His eyes flickered as he felt her weight shift, and he silently watched through his lashes as it seemed that Amber was trying her hardest not to wake him. "Did you manage any sleep?" He asked softly as he gave her a kiss on the cheek.
She had assumed he was sleeping. Throughout her disturbed sleep of being in and out, she had heard his deep and even breathing, and felt the stillness of him tucked into her side and had assumed that he was out. She'd wanted him to be asleep, she hated the idea that she'd given him a restless night. He still needed to rest, he was still healing and he didn't need this on top of everything else. She'd thought she'd known the change to him when he was asleep - it was something you tended to pick up when you slept beside someone every night. You got to know their patterns, and the difference between them being asleep and not. Maybe not, either that or she had managed to wake him by shifting - she felt his gaze on her before he spoke.
"Did you manage any sleep?" She turned her head to look at him, feeling the well of yesterday's emotions rush up to meet her when she looked at his handsome face. She shoved them back, expelling what she could with a heavy sigh. "I slept a little. Did you?" She asked, glancing at the appearance of slight bags under his eyes. Maybe not. She raised a hand from under the duvet and touched his cheek gently, shifting again to roll onto her other side so that she was facing him, peering at him with her head still pressed against the pillow. Her lips turned down at the corners though as those thoughts that she couldn't get rid of kept bumping the front of her brain. "What are we going to do, Mik?"
When he'd first started on the competition circuit, Mik had learned the art of cat-napping and while he knew that it would hit him hard when the lack of proper sleep caught up to him, he was refreshed enough to be able to handle the day ahead of him... as long as no one used really long words, or expected him to hold intelligent conversations.
"I slept a little. Did you?" He shrugged, as best he could while lying on his side. "On an off." He said honestly. "There was a lot going on in my head, so I let them fight it out. The battle was epic." He smiled as he turned his head to kiss her palm. "What are we going to do, Mik?" He pursed his lips. "How about we get up, I cook us breakfast and we work out a game plan, then I'll head to the barn and you can come back to bed?" Coming back to bed after breakfast sounded like an excellent idea, however, he needed to turn up at the barn every day. "I wonder if Naomi will allow me to do any heavy lifting today.
He stretched as he pushed the covers back and sat up, leaning down to give Amber a kiss. "I still think the idea of setting him up would be the best way." After all, that was the way they dealt with rats, catching them in a really big trap. "What do you want for breakfast?"