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!.
Brooke stifled a yawn as he poured some coffee into the cup on the counter top. he'd had a terrible nights sleep and was in desperate need of a caffeine kick before his shift started at the station. while he waited for the coffee to cool down, he scooped some biscuits into the dogs food bowls and filled up their water. he'd managed to take them for a quick walk this morning but he'd have to take them for a long one after work. if it wasn't raining today, he would have let them stay outside for the day. he picked up his coffee and glanced at the clock, if he didn't leave now he'd be late. he practically downed the coffee, partially burning his throat in the process then placed the cup in the sink. after grabbing his lunch from the fridge, he pulled on his coat, picked up his keys and headed to work. parking outside the station, brooke stepped out of the car and made his way inside, signing in as he passed the front desk. he walked over to his own desk and dropped down into his chair. today was going to be a long day.
"You may as well quit fighting, girlie. You're coming to the station." Blaise growled, refusing to give him an easy time, even as he slammed her against the side of his police car and yanked her hands behind her back. Stupid really, she'd gotten careless and complacent and had broken into the wrong home. The kind of home which had bloody hidden cameras, which had managed to catch her face as she'd run off with the family crown jewels. They'd caught up with her pretty quickly in the rundown hostel she was hiding out in - sadly all she could afford, even with all the hidden cash stash, and she'd given them a run for their money. The taller one was out of breath, the fat one wasn't even in sight yet - probably having a heart attack back at the hostel.
She didn't bother to say anything in her defense, no doubt they'd use it against her if she did - she'd played these games many times before. She let them shove her into the back, awkwardly trying to rearrange herself into a slightly more comfortable position, as much as possible with her hands stuck behind her back. He'd done the cuffs too tight and they cut into her skin, her shoulders screaming a little already. Asshole. Just because she'd head butted him. They weren't far from the station - she was kind of disappointed it wasn't Brook that arrested her, he could use her cuffs on her any day - but she guaranteed he wouldn't find it so funny.
They grabbed her arms and unceremoniously pulled her from the car, shoving her between them as they entered the station and man handling her across to the reception. "Yeah alright, I got it." she growled through gritted teeth as the pissed off tall one gave her another shove, this one a little harder than necessary and she nearly stacked it. That'd be fun - if she fell like this she had no hands to save her fall. She'd experienced it before. Broken noses sucked. "Got ourselves a live one, folks." the fat one announced proudly, puffing out his man boobed chest as he got the receptionist to start on the paperwork.
Brook stifled a yawn and ran a hand over his face as he filled in the ridiculous amount of paperwork. Since his promotion, for the past year he'd felt like all he did was paperwork. When he was on shift, part of being a detective sergeant was to oversee of all the constables on duty while the inspector ran the whole station. he had to allocate the different cases to constables which also meant a lot of paperwork. he hated paperwork. it was boring and time consuming. he looked up when one of the receptionists stopped at his desk, placing a coffee down. "you look like you could use this." brook smiled and thanked her before lifting the cup to his lips to take a sip. he had a serious coffee addiction. it was getting out of hand.
feeling the coffee kick in, he got back to work and closed a couple more cases, only looking up from his desk when he heard a voice echo across the station, through his open door. he rolled his eyes and leant back in his chair as he watched the officer standing there proudly. what an idiot. he was new to the job and clearly had mastered the art of what not to do when bringing someone into custody. he wasn't surprised when he saw who his partner was. brook had weeded out most of the dodgy cops in the station but some were harder to get rid of. the taller cop was already on a warning for using excessive force when it wasn't necessary. he finally clocked the cuffed blonde, groaning inwardly and looking up to the ceiling when he realised who it was. why couldn't she stay out of damn trouble. it was almost like she enjoyed getting arrested.
"this is your final warning, stop boasting about your arrests, people are trying to work and quite frankly, no one gives a damn." He said, as he made his way over to them. He wasn't in the mood to be dealing with irresponsible new recruits. "And you should know better, you're already on a warning, clean up your act and start being the mentor you're supposed to be." he said, unimpressed. He didn't like pulling rank but he wasn't running a creche. He needed men he could rely on, not idiots who thought it was a game and a way to bully people. "i'll handle this, go and take you're lunch." He said, dismissing the officers after getting the key for blaises' cuffs. He asked the receptionist to bring the paperwork to his office once she was finished before motioning to blaise to follow him to his office.
Of course it had to be a day he was working this shift. She rolled her eyes so hard they almost rolled into the back of her head. What did she expect really though, considering he seemed to eat, sleep and breath his job, of course he would be here. If she didn't want to be seen getting caught doing this stupid shit then why do it in his town, she was almost asking for him to find out - almost. She bit back the sigh, ready to face the music he was about to preach at her as he stalked over. She stared right at him, rather than avoiding him. She would not be seen with her tail between her legs like she knew she was in trouble, she would stand loud and proud and keep rolling those damn eyes of hers until they hurt.
"this is your final warning, stop boasting about your arrests, people are trying to work and quite frankly, no one gives a damn....And you should know better, you're already on a warning, clean up your act and start being the mentor you're supposed to be." Okay, so she had to appreciate the royally ass spanking the idiots just got for their stupidity. It felt nice for once to have an officer on her side, normally they all treated her the same. The second they knew she had a rap sheet she was scum to them, they didn't even bother asking why. It was why she didn't trust them, they never tried to help her. Apart from this one. This one was weird, and different and confusing and made her feel upside down. She wasn't sure if she liked it yet or not.
"i'll handle this, go and take you're lunch." Blaise twisted her head to watch them stalk off, wishing she had a hand free so she could give them a little wave, instead all she could go for was a smirk and blow them a kiss, which they didn't seem to appreciate. Her gaze fell back on Brooke, wary of his reaction, whether he'd give her the 5th degree or just sigh and give her that look he had. The one she liked to think was reserved just for her these days. "Can you at least loosen the cuffs before you spit me up and chew me out? Tweedledum and tweedledumber have overdone it a little bit." she said, wiggling her hands a little as she tried to get some semblance of feeling back into them.
Brooke rolled his eyes and shook his head, making a slight face when she blew the two coppers a kiss as they walked away. "You just can't help yourself can you. ." Why did she have to put him in these situations. He felt some stupid urge to protect her yet his loyalty to the job put him in a conflicting position. Sighing, he loosened the cuffs before leading her back to his office. "Sit down Miss Turner" He said, more of a demand than a request. He disappeared for a couple of minutes to get the paperwork from the front desk. Coming back into the room, he closed the door behind him and took off her handcuffs then sat down in his chair and had a quick flick through the file. "breaking and entering, theft, assaulting a police officer." He said listing off the offences from today. Nods slightly and looks back at her "Someones been busy." Places the folder down and suppresses a sigh. "You're looking at jail time here Blaise." He tapped his fingers on the desk as he thought. She just had to go and make his day difficult. Why did she have to get bloody caught.
"You just can't help yourself can you. ." Her eyebrows rose slightly, giving her a haughty look at didn't look right on her face. She'd never had enough money in her life to be haughty, and she probably never would. The rate she was going she'd either be dead or in jail in five years time. She had a wonderful outlook on life, but at least she wasn't delusional. "Nope. They earned it." She smiled at him without humour. This was and always would be a sore spot for her, police and the way they treated her. She couldn't help it, and even with this guy who was nice to her and helped her, it was hard not to be an asshole to him. Seeing that look in his eyes, that one that said he wanted to firmly shake her, gave her a stupidly sick enjoyment, whilst on the other hand it just made her feel guilty and empty. Talk about conflict.
At least he loosened the cuffs, that was nice. "Sit down Miss Turner" The use of the surname. Her eyebrows furrowed, wondering where this was going to go, she wondered if it might be fun - perhaps not. He looked stern and serious, the not-so-fun version of Brook. She hated complying to people, particularly police, and she sat somewhat sourly, trying not to look too bitter. She peered around the bland room as she waited impatiently for his return. There was nothing in this room that even showed some sentiment of Brook, it was weirdly void of anything personal - interesting.
Handcuffs now off she rubbed her sore wrists, sighing as she winced at the spots where they'd rubbed her skin raw. That would scab - lovely. "breaking and entering, theft, assaulting a police officer....Someones been busy." She shrugged and looked at him without expression. "So many houses and so little time." she said, looking bored. "You're looking at jail time here Blaise." She looked at Brook with a blank face, but inside was turmoil. She knew she was building up a decent rap sheet every time she got caught, and every time she didn't the stain on her soul grew darker. She'd never get her child back, despite how everything she was doing was for him. It wasn't working, and she didn't know how to fix it. She sighed, jail certainly wouldn't help her. "Wouldn't you love that?" She was trying not to be a bitch but it was the only thing that came naturally to her these days.
Brook observed the blonde's wrists for a moment as she rubbed them, his forehead creasing with a frown when he saw where the cuffs had made her skin red and painful. It made him want to find the copper and knock some sense into him. Asshole. He resisted rolling his eyes at her comment about being busy and looked at her with a blank expression. His lips closed together, setting his mouth in a hard line as his eyes narrowed slightly. "The last thing I want is for you to end up in jail." He said, honestly. Yes, she was a pain in his ass but didn't want to see her locked up. Deep down he knew she wouldn't be breaking the law if she didn't have to. A sigh escaped his lips as he surveyed his office, his mind calculating ways of how he could help her.
He'd only moved into the office after his raise but he hadn't bothered 'furnishing' it. It was his place of work not his house. Besides it wasn't like he had anything sentimental to put up anyway. There was no way in hell he was about to put up any family pictures, he didn't even think he had any home and he definitely wasn't to be the guy to have pictures of his dogs on his desk, as much as he loved them. "Look. .i'll try and get the assault charges dropped out of self defence but I don't know about the others. ." He said, his blue eyes flickering to hers.
She caught his glance and looked away, releasing the grip on her own wrists so he'd stop staring. She felt uncomfortable, seeing him watching with that weird concerned little crease between his eyebrows. It was odd to have someone care, even a little tiny remote bit - she didn't exactly know what they were to each other, but she was slowly learning that there was something there that made them care, weirdly, about each other, in a messed up tangled kind of way.
"The last thing I want is for you to end up in jail." Her eyes flickered to his, confused, uncertain. She didn't know what to make of things when he said stuff like that. What did it mean, was he being serious? She frowned slightly, not sure what to say. After a few moments of awkward silence she let out a tiny sigh, a little release in breath. "Neither do I." she admitted. She'd probably last okay in there, and it wouldn't be for that long, she'd get out on good behaviour within a few months for sure, but it would be another black spot on her way to getting her son back.
She chewed the inside of her cheek, a habit of hers for when she was thinking her way out of a tough situation. "Look. .i'll try and get the assault charges dropped out of self defence but I don't know about the others. ." She watched him warily, her eyes trying to search his, keeping herself carefully contained from letting too much emotion out. "why do you want to help me?" she had to ask, she was a thorn in his foot for sure, why did he care? What did he get out of this? She just screwed him around and played games and got into trouble and made messes that he went around cleaning up... and now he was trying to help her? She didn't understand, and she thought maybe she wanted to figure it out this time.
As his own thoughts raced through his mind, trying to figure out a way to get her out of this mess, he glanced up and caught Blaise lost in her own thoughts. Her question caught him a little off guard and his mind scrambled to come up with an answer but he couldn't find one. "Honestly. .I don't know." He said, with a small shrug of his shoulders. It was a question he probably should have asked himself a while a go but he'd pushed it to the back of his mind, like he did with most things when it came to his personal life.
He usually didn't care much for relationships, not after the breakdown of his family. Of course he loved hanging out with his friends but when it came to his love life, it had been one disaster after another. The women he'd been with were never fully happy in their relationship. His job always came first and they didn't like that. He didn't blame them though, while he was working his ass off to climb the ladder, he hadn't been around much and when asked to pick between the two, his work always won.
Now this arrogant blonde sitting in front of him had him thinking of how he could help drop her charges without risking his job too much. It didn't make sense. He was conflicted about his feelings towards her. They'd spent a few passionate nights together since they had met and he'd enjoyed every second but then she had to go and do something like this and it snapped him back into reality. "Do you want a coffee or anything?" He asked, feeling the sudden urge to put some space in between them.
She tilted her head to try and gain a better read of him as he thought over the question. She didn't know if he'd answer it, or if he did, whether it would be honest or not. It would be easy to make up some bullshit just to fill the blank - because I want to, because I feel I have to, because I'm bored... easy ready-to-go kind of answers that they'd both know were shit, but they'd just accept it, shrug and move along. Just as she thought he might not answer at all, he did that thing he occasionally did and surprised her again. "Honestly. .I don't know." accompanied with an awkward shrug. She frowned, her fingers tapping against the table without conscious thought. What the fuck was that supposed to mean? She wanted to drill him, make him explain that. How can he not know, or was it that he didn't want to say. Did it mean something? Did it mean nothing? Understanding men was harder sometimes than solving a bloody rubix cube.
Blaise wisely, for once, kept her mouth shut. Of all the times she had nothing to say, it was apparently now. She couldn't ask him for more clarification, this wasn't the time or place to start asking for answers like that, and she didn't know if she wanted to hear it, whatever it was, but sitting here, not caring about her charges, more intrigued by the man charging her, was making her restless. "Do you want a coffee or anything?" Disappointing. She thought he might have something more interesting to say. "Yeah, alright." he knew how she drunk her coffee, a weird piece of information but it was true. It almost freaked her out to realise she knew how he liked his, and other odd and familiar mannerisms like that. "there are things I can't tell you." she said bluntly, knowing at some point he would start his own series of questions. Circling back to why she did this, what she gained from it. Not much sadly, but her life was set on a different path to his. Her eyes watched him carefully for his response, waiting for that typical 'you can trust me' bullshit the cops always enjoyed spewing in times like this. She couldn't though, she'd made those kinds of mistakes before.
It surprised him when she didn't give one of her usual responses, instead just keeping quiet. He'd left her speechless for once, which was interesting. Nodding to her request for coffee, he slipped out of the room, leaving the door open, figuring she wouldn't be stupid enough to try and leave. He walked into the little staff kitchen and switched on the coffee machine. While he waited, he grabbed two mugs from the cupboard and placed them down on the side. He made Blaise's usual go to then poured his own coffee into a mug, adding a splash of milk and a teaspoon of sugar. He hadn't really picked up on the fact he knew how she liked her coffee, it was just something he remembered without trying.
He picked up both the cups in one hand and headed back into the room, his stomach dropping slightly when he finally noticed her raw wrists. He clenched his fists without realising, the mugs banging together as he did. He gritted his teeth and swore under his breath as some of the coffee spilt onto his hand, scalding it. He placed the cups down on the table and wiped the back of his hand on the side of his pants, ignoring the throbbing that came from the red blotch on his left hand. He looked up at the sound of the blonde's voice, his eyes finding hers as he spoke. " I'm not going to force you to tell me anything. .but I'll listen if you do." He said, softening his voice toward the end. He wasn't going to ask her to trust him, he didn't even know if he could trust her and it wouldn't be fair to tell her otherwise.
Her eyes wandered whilst he was gone, it was something she did without thinking - picking up any information she could find and filing it away for future reference. There wasn't much to see, he was careful with his displays, unlike some of the other officers who posted whatever they felt like, making it easier for criminals like her. You might wonder how police work could influence her life, but if you knew where their focus was right now, or where their main priorities were, what kind of things they considered important, it helped to know the kind of person she was dealing with and where the police force's focus was, how much they would bother with a petty theft if they had missing children or a serial killer on the loose. The clatter of mugs chinking announced Brook's return and she switched her attention back to him, leaning back against the chair.
"Careful." she warned, half to annoy him as she saw him spill the coffee. Careless, he didn't seem too fussed about his own health. Not the way some guys liked to take care of themselves. Brook seemed like the type to throw himself head first into a fire to save someone else. Everyone said they'd do that, not many people were genuine about it. She wasn't sure if she liked his gaze on her or not, she shifted under it. He had a way of seeming like he could look right into her, it was intense and it made her feel like she couldn't lie, couldn't hide. " I'm not going to force you to tell me anything. .but I'll listen if you do." Her gaze narrowed slightly, only a little. Not the usual bullshit, he was so different to the other police, it almost made her talk. Almost. She blew out a huff and curls her fingers around the steaming cup. "I don't do this for fun, you know." she burst out, almost angrily despite the fact she wasn't angry at him. "I just. I have to. I don't have any other choice!" She let go of the cup and leant back in the chair again, folding her arms and then uncrossing them. Annoyed at herself. "You think I enjoy this kind of life? Always looking over my shoulder? Beg, borrowing and stealing? Getting hauled in here, manhandled but asshole 1 and 2? Newsflash.. I don't."
brooke supressed an eye roll when the blonde told him to be careful, like he'd actually meant to scold himself on purpose. it was annoying the way she knew how to get under his skin. he was genuinely a hard person to read but she seemed to read him like a book lately. knowing what buttons to push when she wanted a reaction from him. he glanced at the red mark on his hand again, thinking he should probably at least run it under some cold water but he didn't think it would blister either way. Not that he was bothered. It'd just be something else to add to the list of scars/injuries on his body. He sat back down in his chair and wrapped his hand around the mug handle, lifting it to his lips to take a sip as she spoke. He was slightly taken aback by her outburst but he kept a straight face, listening intently. His brows furrowed when she leant back in the chair, seemingly pissed at herself for spilling some information. "I know you don't do it for fun. . you do it to survive." He stated simply. There were very few people who actually enjoyed being a criminal, ending up in and out of jail and they were the ones that deserved to be behind bars. Blaise wasn't one of them. "let me help you then. .for once just let someone help."
She grinned at the look on his face, a slight twitch as if he were holding on to his patience. She couldn't help it, he was so fun to tease. He gave such good reactions and the bitch in her always rose to it. The grin didn't reach her eyes though. This wasn't the best time to joke. Knee jerk reaction to be smug and catty but she really was in some trouble here and she needed to tread carefully.
He frowned and so she frowned, folding her arms with an annoyed huff. She shouldn't talk anymore or she'd tell him something shed regret. None of the cops knew much about her aside from her physical attributes and rap sheet. She was so careful to keep it locked down, it was silly to let this one in. He'd betray her like the rest had. "I know you don't do it for fun. . you do it to survive." This time she held back the eye roll. "well if you know that why not just let me go," it was a nice try but she knew that wouldn't happen.
"let me help you then. .for once just let someone help." she grit her teeth, fingers clenching to fists. He just didn't get it. "You can't help me get my boy back so just leave it alone." ah fuck. She growled and shut her mouth. Congratulations Blaise, you idiot.
brook ignored the grin on her face, not giving her the satisfaction of another reaction. He flicked open the file in front of him on the desk and let his eyes run over it, pointless given the fact that he'd memorised most of it - having read it every time the blonde was hauled in for questioning, which had been a lot lately. he hid a smirk and kept his eyes down when she suggested he let her go. "ha. good one." she always seemed to be caught in the vicinity but never there was never enough evidence to nail her. he lifted his eyes back to her as her voice filled the room. he lifted his brows slightly, he wasn't surprised to hear she had a son but he was surprised she'd finally trusted him enough to say something. he'd had a hunch the first time he'd found a picture of the boy at one of blaise's first hideouts but didn't pressure her about it. his expression softened and he leant forward a little so his elbows rested on the desk. "I can try. .if you let me."
