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!.
Words could not describe how livid she felt in that moment, as she stormed her way to work. She had been so angry, she didn't trust herself herself to drive so she opted to leaving her car parked outside some cute boutique cafe and walked despite the high heel of her booties. Gwyn felt like her time had been wasted, she dressed up for nothing, and the only good thing she got out of it was an 8£ organic chai latte with coconut milk. Her phone buzzed loudly, work both wondering where the young woman was and if her morning 'date' had gone well. Fishing it out of her backpack while managing to not spill her scrubs or latte to the ground, Gwyn was quick to start passionately typing away with purpose: UGHS I WAS CATFISHED. That bish had a dog on her profile, so I thought there was common ground. She fessed up to it being a friend's dog that she borrowed. Last time I swipe right on a profile with an animal involved. Be there soon.
Maybe it was just as well that confession had come out quick. Gwyn didn't like to waste her time with other woman who felt the need to lie about that sort of thing. What if she wanted a dog like months into the relationship to share? THEN WHAT?! Could have been awkward. It was enough to scare the young woman off of app dating for a bit. She needed a break from this. Free food and chai lattes were great, but it was getting far too exhausting. Plus, it took her away from her Uncle Orion, and due to poor planning on her part, it cut into her work time and wasted vacation hours. Shaking her head, the young woman vowed that she, Gwyn Alice Knight, witnessed on November 8th, would no longer date for a significant time and there would be no girl, no pretty face, that could make her change her mind. The fiery vow added a bit ompf to her step now, no longer was she reeling from her anger but confidence. And that new found confidence should probably get her ass to work pretty soon.
Gwyn had caught sight of the time, traveling by foot really was making her start to cut it close, "Fuck, fuck, fuck fuckity fuck." She muttered to herself, quickly stashing her phone. Blue eyes looked to her surroundings, taking in the lay of the park land to see where her anger had carried her. Not too far off course, but her travel would be faster if she cut through the Skate Park. It would probably be early enough to where it wasn't littered with people and their skate boards. After all, cutting through there did not mean skirting around the grounds, it literally meant cutting through the middle of it. The flat part of course, the young woman wasn't about to slide through a bowl. Quickly, she picked up the pace and headed on her way. As she entered the Skate Park, Gwyn paid no mind to the fact that there were actually several skaters around and she was about to ruin their day by accident. It didn't take long either, for Gwyn made it only maybe a few feet before obliviously stepping into the path of a skater like a deer into a fast moving car.
Harley walked through the high street with her skateboard tucked safely under her arm, opting not to roll along the pavement as it was still busy with the morning rush from the school run and businesses opening. The blonde let out a tut as she passed by the overly crowded starbucks filled with people eagerly waiting for their daily dose of caffeine. The coffee machine in her dorm kitchen was terrible and she had decided to grab a cup here on her way to the skate park until now. There was no way she was going to wait in that line, not when it would cut into her precious skate time. She only had a short window before she needed to get back in time for class.
Usually she wouldn't have skated before uni but her class schedule didn't match up with the clocks going back. By the time she had got to the park after class it was already pitch black outside and the lighting wasn't the best. Plus she didn't like wandering through the park alone in the dark. Reaching the park, she finally put her board down and kicked off with her right foot, directing the board towards the skate area. She rolled down a small hill, letting the board pick up speed since nobody was around - or so she thought. A leggy blonde - who looked like she could be strutting across a runway - stepped into her path causing Harley to slam her foot down a little too hard as she tried to slow her self down gradually.
"Shit!" The force of her foot hitting the ground caused her to jolt but she somehow managed to narrowly miss the woman as she turned the board sharply before she flew from the board. She felt her body connect with the grass and instinctively rolled to minimise the damage from the impact. The blonde took a few seconds to compose herself then sat upright, holding her wrist to her chest for a second when she felt a slight twinge. Her pale eyes darted up to find the tall woman to see if she was alright. "Are you okay?"
"Shit!" The words were loud and close, so close, that Gwyn actually stopped dead in her tracks as someone flew right past her, with just enough distance for her latte to be knocked down to the ground. The clattering of a skate board following suit. For a moment, the young woman was stunned. Her heart beat racing in her chest at the thought that she was nearly taken out by a fucking state boarder. She could have met a fate just like her latte. Anger built up. Never mind that she was on the skateboarder's territory and was the one at fault, she didn't have time for that logic. The young woman turned sharply, rounding on where the skateboarder had landed. For a few seconds, there was just this sprawled body on the grass and a mess of platinum blond hair. Gwyn gave pause and then the other young woman shot up now, siting up quickly and holding her wrist to her chest, "Are you okay?"
Those pale blue eyes melted Gwyn as soon as they made contact with her. Her anger at nearly being taken out vanished and she had forgotten all about the latte that she had just dropped. The girl before her was beautiful with her squarish face and strong jaw line, those pale blue eyes that peered from messy, wavy hair. Earth to Gwyn, fucking answer the girl. Her thoughts snapped her back to the present, "Thanks to your superhero moves there, I am unscathed. I can't say the same for my latte but that's fine." Her blue eyes dropped to the girl's wrist, watching how she was holding it some what gingerly. She took a few steps towards the girl now before squatting down before her, managing to keep herself perfectly balanced and firmly planted in her heels, "What about you though? Are you hurt?" If only she had been a people nurse instead of an animal nurse, she could have actually saved the day. Maybe she still could, "I'm Gwyn by the way." Okay, maybe it was overkill already trying to get a name out of the girl, but if fate was kind enough to have her crash right here, she wasn't about to let her get away without an introduction.
Harley’s pale blue eyes studied the woman’s face, bracing for a verbal attack as she caught sight of the angry look, which for some reason soon vanished. "Thanks to your superhero moves there, I am unscathed. I can't say the same for my latte but that's fine." Her face broke into a smile that turned into a grimace a few moments later as her wrist began to ache. Her eyes drifted to the puddle of coffee surrounding a paper cup on the floor nearby then back to Gwynn. ”Sorry about that.” It had been an accident but that didn’t stop her from feeling a little bad. She watched her come closer, blocking the sunlight as she crouched down, giving Harley a better look at her. "What about you though? Are you hurt?" Distracted by how beautiful the woman in front of her, she had momentarily forgotten about the pain in her wrist until her attention was brought back to it. ”My wrist hurts but It’s probably just a sprain.” She brushed off the injury as she went to stand up. ”Harley. Can I replace you’re latte?” She asked, still feeling bad for making Gwyn drop hers.
Gwyn cocked her head, watching the girl's smile turn from brilliant to a shade of grimace. Her blue eyes dropped to her hands, and noticed how she was holding her wrist. Hopefully that was the culprit of the girl's sudden look verses anything that may have just happened between them in those few fleeting seconds. As the thought processed through the young woman's mind, Gwyn knew she had to rein it in. Now was not the time to start obsessing over some pretty girl who nearly pancaked her. That started after the girl walked away and she had her number.
She waved the other blonde off at her apologize, "Please, it's just a latte." Well, it was an 8 £ latte, but that was a devil's detail she wouldn't bring up to this cute skateboarder. Speaking of her, she had a name now. Harley. The sort of name that could roll off a tongue in a good way, "Harley." Gwyn repeated now, doing just that, "Cute name." Nearly forgetting that the poor girl mentioned that her wrist might be strained, but neverminded that her wrist was hurting, "How about we get that latte and then I take you to wherever you need to go to get that wrist checked out." Since even though Gwyn was a 'nurse' per say, she figured dogs and cats were different from humans, "May I help you carry your...board? Skateboard?"
"Please, it's just a latte." The blonde let out a breath of relief when the leggy woman waved off her apology. Strangers always had the potential to kick off in a situation and she really wasn’t in the mood for someone to have a bitch fit over a spilt drink but Gywn didn’t look like the type to do so. "Cute name." Harley’s stomach did a slight flip as she tried to fight the smile that curved her lips. Damn her weakness for a pretty face. Knowing her bad luck with women, the other blonde probably didn’t even bat for the other team. "How about we get that latte and then I take you to wherever you need to go to get that wrist checked out." She glanced down at her wrist again, having momentarily forgotten about the pain. ”Honest it’ll be fine.. I’ll ice it and strap it up when I get home and see how it goes.”
She’d had her fair share of injuries over the years and knew her body’s pain threshold. If the pain didn’t subside after a night of painkillers, she would probably go and get it checked out the next day. She would not let a stranger waste their time taking her to the medical centre. "May I help you carry your...board? Skateboard?" Harley bumped the tail of the board with her foot and caught the nose in her hand as it lifted up. ”I’ve got it. . thanks though.” She said, tucking the board up under her good arm. Although she kept her boards in pristine condition – they were her babies- the wheels had taken up a good chunk of mud/grass in her fall and she’d be mortified if it dirtied Gwyn’s not so casual outfit. ”Let’s replace that coffee. .where to?” And maybe find some painkillers along the way.
Gwyn couldn't decide if she was really certain that just icing it up was the best plan of action, but there was no point in arguing, "Alright, you know your body best." She relented now, she knew when to pick her battle with cute strangers and she wasn't willing to be cut loose just quite yet. Besides, Harley here clearly skated a lot, not just by her assemble, but by the way she had moved to avoid crashing into Gwyn and how to land, even if that hadn't been her plan. A sprained wrist was probably nothing. Blue eyes watched the other young woman now go and retrieve her board without even bending over, "Wow, you really are a pro." Gwyn teased with a smile, watching her.
At the prompting to go get the coffee, she had to mull over where to best go. She wasn't sure where Harley lived, and would feel bad about walking her off in the opposite direction. Gwyn settled for downtown Hickstead, it wasn't too far away from work for herself, it was near just about everything else, so she figured Harley wouldn't have too hard of a time getting home from there. And while the skateboarder was playing tough girl, there was a pharmacy near by incase a pit stop was needed, "Let's go to Lavender Moon, they should be quiet at this time since the morning rush is over." She gestured for Harley to follow her lead as she started to walk, "So...are you at the skatepark often?" Small talk, while painful sometimes, was always the best way to go at first, especially since Gwyn already found herself keenly interested in figuring out whether Harley swung her way, "It's just that I've never seen you around before, and I am very guilty of cutting through here a lot on my way to to work."
"Alright, you know your body best." She offered the blonde a small smile. ”Trust me, this isn’t my first sprain.” And it probably wouldn’t be her last. "Wow, you really are a pro." She turned her face a little as a faint blush tainted her cheeks at the compliment. ”That was the dream a long time ago” She said, returning the smile. There was a time when Harley had been on track for the Olympics but that had crashed and burned when her parents had decided to move countries. "Let's go to Lavender Moon, they should be quiet at this time since the morning rush is over." She nodded, following Gwyn’s lead and walking alongside her. She passed by the café multiple times but had never been inside as it had always seemed busy.
"So...are you at the skatepark often? "It's just that I've never seen you around before, and I am very guilty of cutting through here a lot on my way to to work." She angled her head a little to look at Gwyn. ”Yeah pretty much every day. .depending on the weather.” She always found herself getting antsy if she couldn’t get on her board at least once a day, even if it was just to make her way around campus. Winter was a pain in her ass. ”I usually don’t go until after uni but I’ve been spending a lot more time at the indoor skate park in the city. .I hate skating in the rain.” She said, her lips pulling into a small grin. ”Where do you work?”
She caught just the faintest flush of pink appear on the blonde's face, and Gwyn quite frankly, wanted to dissect what it meant. Was it because she was pretty? Or was it simply because it had been a compliment? If only interrogation was acceptable, "Why is it a dream ago?" The young woman asked Harley curiously, "Why isn't it one now?" Honestly, she knew nothing about regular sports, let alone x sports, so anything could have been lost on Gwyn that might have been obvious to a more knowing person, "Unless you don't want to talk about it. I am a stranger after all," the young woman mused outloud, before blue eyes looked back to Harley, a sly smile painting across her pink lips, "But I swear I am not dangerous."
It was a rather bold statement, perhaps too bold, especially for only meeting a girl literally five minutes ago - but Gwyn was curious, too curious, to see where this girl swung. Perhaps she should dial it back though, otherwise this might be a painfully long walk to Lavender Moon and that was only a few blocks away. Blue eyes still watched Harley curiously though, their gazes meeting as the other blonde looked up at her now: "Yeah pretty much every day. .depending on the weather. I usually don’t go until after uni but I’ve been spending a lot more time at the indoor skate park in the city. .I hate skating in the rain.” Gwyn smiled now, "Ah. I'll keep a better lookout then in the future. And I can see how the rain would get annoying if you're actually in it." She herself did not mind the rain, but she liked watching it from the window with a nice cup of tea in her hands.
When Harley inquired about her work, Gwyn was a little surprised. Perhaps she was not the only curious one then, "Oh! I am over at the Hickstead Animal Hospital. I'm a vet tech and animal nurse," she replied, "Huh, I guess those are both the same now that I think about it." If she could throttle herself for rambling, Gwyn would have done it, "And when you say Uni, are you over at Hickstead University?"
"Why is it a dream ago?" She blinked, her mind going blank briefly as she hadn't expected the blonde to be interested in her comment. "I was on track to go to the olympics when I was a kid but shit happened and it wasn't meant to be." She said with a shrug of her shoulders. Moving to england at twelve had put a spanner in the works. The move had caused a whole host of personal problems - mostly being bullied and gaining anxiety from joining a new school which hadn't left her in the headspace to compete. Skating had and always would be her way of escaping but the pressure of winning along with everything else just got too much.
She had been bitter about it for a few years, blaming her parents for a while until she eventually got over it. Well mostly. "Why isn't it one now? Unless you don't want to talk about it. I am a stranger after all," She smiled at the taller woman. "Skating's the love of my life but now it's just something I do for fun. . to keep me sane." She didn't know why she telling Gwyn but sometimes it was easy to talk to strangers. "But I swear I am not dangerous." She caught the sly smile and her own turned into a soft smirk. "I think I'd still talk to you even if you were." The words came into her head and out of her mouth before she could stop them. Attractive women seriously made her lose her ability to think and act normal.
"Ah. I'll keep a better lookout then in the future. And I can see how the rain would get annoying if you're actually in it." She nodded. "I mean, I love listening to the rain if I'm all cosy inside but being wet and cold isn't for me." And now she was over explaining herself. "Oh! I am over at the Hickstead Animal Hospital. I'm a vet tech and animal nurse," Harley smiled brightly at that. "Okay you have a cool job." She had a cat that lived at her parents house since the dorms didn't allow pets. "And when you say Uni, are you over at Hickstead University?" She nodded again, unsettling a few strands of blonde hair with the motion. "Yeah, I'm a student there. Computer programming." She would have elaborated but she didn't want to put her new acquaintance to sleep.
Blue eyes watched Harley as she blinked, clearly caught off guard that she had picked up on the comment. Gwyn merely smiled though, hoping it would engage the blonde to share with her, which she did: "I was on track to go to the olympics when I was a kid but shit happened and it wasn't meant to be." The young woman knew there was a story there, but not a story to be pushed on the first day of what might be many more to come. She cocked her head slightly, her smile gentle and warm yet it still carried the hint of a flirt, "Well, I can't say I'm entirely sorry, mainly because now I get to have coffee with you rather than see you on the telly and simply day dream." Okay, perhaps more came tumbling out than she meant, but she kept a straight face and kept walking.
Only time would tell if Harley Mckinley would go running for the hills, but at least for now, the young woman remained put. The problem with walking with both a beautiful and curious girl though was that Gwyn still had to keep her eyes peeled to where she was walking. After all, it was one thing to be distracted with her phone and take a tumble with no witnesses, it was another thing to be distracted by a girl and take a tumble for her to see. Thankfully, the young woman managed to keep her wits about her as Harley spoke, detailing what skating meant to her, "Nothing wrong with doing something you love even if it is just for fun." Besides, didn't that just make it more fun? Blue eyes watched Harley's face now, from lighting up about skateboarding to catching Gwyn's minor flirt, and Gwyn watched how that delightful smile morphed into a soft smirk, "I think I'd still talk to you even if you were." Bingo. Laughter bubbled out of Gwyn, "Well, good thing you like to live dangerously. I think I like talking to you."
Everything was going rather smoothly, and Gwyn knew they were approaching the shop now. It was tempting to stall, to keep them walking, but even the young woman knew that was being desperate and well, she really needed that coffee. Harley's rain comment couldn't help but to keep Gwyn's smile lifted, "Awh, well, guess you and I have some things in common then. Rain. Fireplaces. Cozy blankets." Never before though, had Gwyn had her job been called 'cool'. It was a little surprising to hear, but Gwyn knew that she might be biased by the bad days at work . As for Harley, she confirmed her University status and then named her major. Her eyebrows arched, "Atheltic, cute, and smart? My my Harley, you're a triple threat," Gwyn said with a smile, "And here we are. Lavender Moon. Best lattes around." With that, she pulled the door open and beckoned her in, "Have you been here before?"
