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!.
he watched as she leaned forward and his mouth twitched up at the sides though he did try to keep his demeanor as nonchalant as he could. though he shook his head when she suggested that she would get two rather than one. "oh no, no not two." he said as he leaned forward a little himself, resting his arms on the edge of the table and putting on his most serious face he could. "you'll need three. if you go home without a disgustingly wonderful lobster for ben, he'll give you the silent treatment." he said as he broke out into a grin before he sat up again, the back of his seat resting against his back. he'd been spending months working with her son, he'd been helping him whenever he could and logan actually liked finding small jobs the boy could do on his own. it reminded him of what his own dad had done for him, even though he wasn't ben's dad. he was just the guy working for his mother but he felt bad that ben had lucked out in the father department.
it didn't take long for them to place their orders and the waitress smiled and said it'd be out as soon as it was ready. which was a good thing because as nervous as he was about being on his first date with beth, he was pretty hungry now he could smell the food coming from the kitchen and he couldn't deny the smell was delicious. "i always thought mystery was intriguing?" he said as he lowered one hand onto his lap as casually as he could, taking the edge of the table cloth within his fingertips. "i grew up in a small town in colorado." he offered, wondering just how easy it would be to give her the information or if he'd have to fight his own brain to do it. it had been so long since he'd spoken about home and his family to anyone he wasn't sure how he'd go. "i liked the idea of being a lawyer, almost went to law school but changed my mind." that was easy to tell her, it hadn't happened and he didn't like playing with what ifs because they'd just about killed him when his mother had died. "i come from a military family." not that his parents wanted him to follow them into the force, in fact they'd tried to talk him out of it but he'd done it anyway and he'd regretted it since the day he first deployed. "my turn." he said with a slight smile as he ran his fingers along the bottom of the tablecloth. "what did you want to be when you grew up?"
"oh no, no not two." She raised an eyebrow, feeling her heart flutter a little when he leaned forward, coming closer. She had always felt a little off kilter when he was around her, but she hadn't been sure what it was until the waters had been tested; and shen she realised it was attraction. It had been so long for her since she was attracted to anyone, and every time he was near she felt that surge of adrenaline, that curling of her stomach at the idea of him being so close. "you'll need three. if you go home without a disgustingly wonderful lobster for ben, he'll give you the silent treatment." She chuckled and leaned back too, shaking her head and relaxing again. "I don't think he'd really mind if we didn't bring back lobster, but desert might be another matter altogether," she admitted, though it would depend on what deserts they had to offer.
"i always thought mystery was intriguing?" Bet half smiled and looked away for a moment, "It is up to a point, its always nice to know who you're working with." His story was intriguing, and he rarely gave much away. She couldn't fault his manners or his work ethic but she wanted to know more about who he was and what he wanted out of life. "i grew up in a small town in colorado." She listened attentively as he spoke, nodding slightly to tell him to go on. "i liked the idea of being a lawyer, almost went to law school but changed my mind. i come from a military family." Tidbits, it was what they were. Not a full story, nothing too comprehensive. But at least it was something. "What made you change your mind?" She asked, unable to imagine him as a lawyer. "my turn." She smiled and waited for his question. "what did you want to be when you grew up?" Beth's smile widened, that was an easy enough one to answer. "What I do now. I grew up on the farm, and I never wanted to be anywhere else."
<3 LOGAN JAMES FAIRCLAW | ONE SON (BEN - PREVIOUS MARRIAGE) | TWO HORSES (COPPER & AZTEC)
he grinned a little as she said that ben probably wouldn't like the lobster but dessert would be the one that would get him. he did make a little mental note to grab an extra dessert or two so they could take them back for ben. he couldn't help but feel connected to this kid who he hadn't known all that long but he was firmly growing attached to him. and certainly to his mother. he knew she deserved more than he could ever give her but he couldn't help but want to get closer to her and to learn what he could, do what he could to help her out and to just spend time with her. he'd found it hard to open up to her still, to really let her in but he was trying. she'd managed to get more out of him in the months they'd known each other than most people had in their entire lives.
he couldn't fault her logic on that, it made perfect sense but he'd never been a talker, his sister used to joke he'd been born with a filter that had too many settings. he couldn't deny it, he'd just never been one for opening up. "so too much mystery is bad, i'll remember that." he said with a smile as he twisted his napkin in his fingers lightly. he told her his story, the little bits he'd been able to make himself tell her but he knew it wasn't enough, it was just snippets but he'd tried. there was nothing in his childhood that made it hard to talk about, he just figured it was easier to not talk in case he let something slip that had happened while he'd been deployed, there were just some doors he didn't want to open. "i didn't want to lie. i couldn't bend the truth enough to please my professors so they gently steered me towards the door. it wasn't because they thought i couldn't do it, just that it probably wasn't my calling." he said with something of a grin.
he felt his smile widen as hers did, it was like a reflex because when she was happy he felt happier too. like it was a drug to see her smile and relax a little. she took on so much and did so much and she did it so well, he wanted to help take the stress away from her and when she smiled it felt like he was helping her that little more. it didn't hurt that she was darned attractive when she smiled. "well i can see why you wanted to stay. i've only been here a little while and i never want to leave it either." he said as their drinks arrived to the table. he thanked the waiter before he smiled at her over the glass and he held it out to her, "cheers."
"so too much mystery is bad, i'll remember that." She smiled slightly, "You don't have to go around spilling your darkest secrets, but it's nice to know that your co-worker isn't an axe murder or wanted for grand theft auto." She joked, though she had to admit that his quietness had been an allure and a concern for her at first. She had worried, this strange man from absolutely nowhere, not talking about himself over than his name and that he liked dogs. But it was hard, to let that be enough, to let that in when you had a child to think about, and an ex husband who had broken some of her trust in men. She wanted to know more about him, to figure out what made him tick. The more she'd worked with him, the more things had snuck through, but she didn't know many things about him.
She tilted her head slightly and listened as he spoke. "i didn't want to lie. i couldn't bend the truth enough to please my professors so they gently steered me towards the door. it wasn't because they thought i couldn't do it, just that it probably wasn't my calling." She smiled in response. "There's something to be said for having a calling," she felt like sometimes there was a lot that could be said for fate. "well i can see why you wanted to stay. i've only been here a little while and i never want to leave it either." Beth blushed faintly, it was on the tip of her tongue to say he didn't have to, and not even in a sexual sense but more that if he wanted the job forever, it would always be there for him to have. She didn't plan on going anywhere. "It's just always felt right to me, I couldn't imagine doing something else." She thanked the waiter as their drinks appeared and she picked hers up, gently touching it to Logan's. "cheers.""cheers." She echoed, taking a long drink before she put it back down. "What was it that drove you here, in the end? I don't feel like you really said." She asked curiously - it was such a random place to settle, when he had come so far.
<3 LOGAN JAMES FAIRCLAW | ONE SON (BEN - PREVIOUS MARRIAGE) | TWO HORSES (COPPER & AZTEC)
he smiled a little at her explanation as to why secrets weren't that good and he shouldn't help but raise a brow slightly and lean forward a little, as if he was going to whisper something to her. "well i can promise you, i've never had a grand theft auto charge." he said as he leaned back. he was fairly confident by now that she was aware he wasn't going to murder her in her sleep, he'd had plenty of chances if he was going to do anything untoward to her, not that he would, but they'd been alone plenty since they'd met and he'd been nothing but stable.
he tapped his bottle against hers with a soft clink and smiled across the table at her cheers back. he'd given a little and that seemed to be enough, at least for now. he knew that he could have been a lot more forth coming but he'd never been one for words. he was more of an action kind of person, which truth be told had probably been why he'd been good as a marine. but she wasn't quite finished with the questions, which if he was being fair, he couldn't blame her for. they were here on a date, she wanted to get to know him. it was more touching than he thought it would be but now he was a little bit stuck. did he tell her the truth?
that she'd kept him alive the same night she'd lost someone? that he'd come here to tell her that, to thank her for being the thing that had been his saving grace. then he'd met her. he'd started to get to know her and he knew that the moment he let that slip he'd lose it. he hated lying, he wasn't a liar but he didn't want to risk everything, not when he wasn't sure she'd stay. "when i got home i needed some space, so i picked a spot on my nephews globe and flew there."
Her eyebrows raised as Logan leaned forward, finding herself leaning toward him instinctively, curious as to what he was about to say. "well i can promise you, i've never had a grand theft auto charge." Beth rolled her eyes but gave a small chuckle at that, tilting her head a little. "And what about the rest of it?" She asked, joking - or at least she hoped it was a joke and he wasn't about to admit to having several charges of another sort against him. She leaned back against her chair once again, but the smile remained on her face. She was beginning to trust him, or at least she had more trust in him now than she had when she'd first met him.
Beth smiled as he touched her bottle to his and then took another swig, relaxing further as they settled into their easy going conversation and things began to flow. She was quiet for a moment, as they both fell into a temporarily lull - but it didn't feel awkward. Beth didn't feel the need to talk all the time, and when she was with the right people it was easy to sit and just enjoy each other's company for a while. Though, she had more questions for Logan, and had a lot of curiosity about his life and what had brought him to this little town exactly - and into her life. She glanced at him, waiting for his answer, and as the quiet stretched on she wondered if she'd asked the wrong thing, upset him somehow. A faint trace of almost unease filtered into her gut. "when i got home i needed some space, so i picked a spot on my nephews globe and flew there." Her brows went up again in surprise and she put her drink down. "That's very bold... to just .. pick a place and go?" He struck her as a home bird, as the type to settle roots and stay put, it was odd to her that he's randomly pick Hickstead of all the places. "When you picked this place did you not wrinkle your nose and try to pick again?" She cocked her head as she thought on his words. "Will you go home again to your family, once you've had your space?"
<3 LOGAN JAMES FAIRCLAW | ONE SON (BEN - PREVIOUS MARRIAGE) | TWO HORSES (COPPER & AZTEC)
he chuckled slightly at that and he decided he'd put her out of the misery she was joking about. he knew what her ex was, so he knew that she wasn't totally trusting of men and he couldn't blame her. there were times he was walking down a street and he didn't know if the people walking towards him were friend or foe. "only one arrest in my life." he said as he took a sip of his beer. "but it was more of a show for other kids my age." he would elaborate for her, he wouldn't leave her with that information without at least sharing the rest. "i was mouthing off to one of the local cops at home, who also happened to be one of my dad's best friends. i was sixteen and stupid surrounded by other sixteens and stupids. got the cuffs slapped on me, booked at the station then made to walk home when my parents refused to come pick me up." it had been his first and last brush with the law.
how he'd come to be in hickstead seemed to both puzzle and intrigue her. he hadn't told anyone why he'd picked the town he'd come to call home, there had been no point, at least in his mind it hadn't been much of an interesting story. "it wasn't the first time i'd been to a place without any idea what i was getting myself into." though there had been times when he'd first come that he'd thought his time in the army hadn't prepared him very well for the unknown. "trust me, when i got here i thought it was perfect." quiet, slow, nothing moved to quickly and most of the people were people he didn't have to worry about what they were going to do. the simplicity had been nice. "i don't think so." he had to be honest, he loved his family but he wasn't sure if he wanted to go back to a place he'd felt so unstable, so restless and so out of control. "home wasn't good for me after ..." he cut himself off and shook his head a little. "it just wasn't good for me."
"only one arrest in my life." An eyebrow rose at that, not having expected anything to come out of her joking. At least she couldn't fault him for being honest. There was a tiny part of her that said he could be telling her a partial truth - hiding something else and it seeming like he'd told her everything because he'd said something. She tried not to entertain the thought, it wasn't good to go down that route. "but it was more of a show for other kids my age." She was going to ask him to explain, unsure what exactly he meant, when he did so anyway. "i was mouthing off to one of the local cops at home, who also happened to be one of my dad's best friends. i was sixteen and stupid surrounded by other sixteens and stupids. got the cuffs slapped on me, booked at the station then made to walk home when my parents refused to come pick me up." Beth chuckled at that and nodded.
"I see, so it was a case of teaching you a lesson then," She guessed it was probably a good way to do it, better that way than actually being a stupid kid and getting into proper trouble later down the road. "it wasn't the first time i'd been to a place without any idea what i was getting myself into." Beth took another swig of her beer as she mulled over his words. "Not many people would do something like that." She certainly wouldn't, not without at least a place to stay and a means to live. "trust me, when i got here i thought it was perfect." She could accept that, giving a small nod. "It has a certain charm to it," Beth agreed, it was perfect for her, she loved it here and had no intention of leaving. "i don't think so. home wasn't good for me after ...it just wasn't good for me." Beth noticed the hiccup, something went unsaid, but she didn't feel it was right to push in that moment. There was a time for it, for more truths and deeper understanding, but it wasn't now. For tonight, she was getting a better feel for him, for why he was here, for what he was about, and it was enough for now. She glanced up as she saw the waitress returning. "Just in time, I'm starving."
<3 LOGAN JAMES FAIRCLAW | ONE SON (BEN - PREVIOUS MARRIAGE) | TWO HORSES (COPPER & AZTEC)