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!.
Cal didn’t quite know what made him pull up the apprenticeship idea. Maybe it was because he knew there weren’t enough people that were interested. Engines for boats weren’t as interesting as cars, at least for those in the engineering program in the local schools. But the marina surprisingly had a good number of applicants. So far, only Aria was able to do it this time. Which was better than nothing. Others were interested, but their universities didn’t consider him an applicable place or scheduling conflicts.
So far, Aria was proving herself to be handy. Granted, there were times that she needed some guidance from Cal or Christian. But she took direction well. Seeing that she had worked on a few of the smaller vessels – it was time that she sees a larger boat. There wasn’t anything wrong with it, but just have her work on an inspection. Cal had looked it over himself, but he wanted to see what she could see herself and if they lined up.
He called Christian as well, as he was able to take Aria through areas that Cal could go through again. It hurt him too much last time. His body was still healing and feeling achy, despite it being months. His eyes looked at his watch. They had a few minutes left before he would call them.
The new semester had brought a bunch of changes for Aria Martin, but none had been quite as unique as scoring the apprenticeship at the Marina. Boats were defilingly different from motorcycles and cars, but she didn't mind. She liked to learn new things, she liked a challenge, and most importantly, nobody from the stupid clique roamed the Marina. Every once in a while, someone would appear, like Bambi Pelner did earlier in the year to rent herself a yacht, but that had been a front office thing, but an Aria thing - so it worked out for her just fine.
The guys had been nice - Caleb, Christian, heck, even Perry. They treated her fair, and put up with all of her curious questions. Ivey worked there too, and she was pretty nice. It was shocking to think that she had arrived at Hickstead with Bambi in tow, but that was a subject that Aria respectfully tried to not pry into. The only annoying part about the Marina, well other that smell of the bait shop, was that the young woman was convinced she was surrounded by classically attractive men and yet...she felt nothing. There was nothing there in her mind, no day dreams, no sighing when a guy in a thin white work shirt got wet, even the muscles did nothing for her.
No, Aria was more distracted when Perry's sister visited to talk to him, or sometimes even Ivey, and this simply annoyed her. This wasn't right, correct? Isn't that why Lyssa Marshall broke up with her? They had to keep it secret? To any one else who might have known her situation, they probably would have pointed out to the Aria that the popular girl simply did not want to be seen dating a simple minion, it was a status and class thing. Love did not conquer all. Sighing, Aria pulled up to the dock now, and killed the motor to her Suzuki GSX, and removed her helmet, shaking her hair out. This is dumb, Aria. At least she was working with Caleb and Christian today, the two 'hottest' men. She'd study them again, just like she studied everything that they threw at her boat related.
Kicking the stand out, she got off and headed down the steps and into the sanctuary of the Marina. The only other peaceful place on this earth. Near the end, she saw a big ass yacht, as well as Caleb Dorsey standing near it and studying his phone. There was no way the young woman was late, Aria made sure of that, "I'm here on time, Old Man. You can put your phone away," she said jokingly now, as she sidled up next to him, chocolate brown eyes staring wide eyed at the sheer size of the thing, "You, me, and Christian are tackling this today? Don't tell me it was recently used for a rental party..."
i'll sleep when i'm dead ☠︎︎ ☠︎︎ ☠︎︎
thanks aofie!
Nineteen . Student - Technology & Design . Confused (LGBTQ+) . Single Former Minion & Current Social Outcast
It was Christian's turn to take the kids to school. The morning was hectic as Juniper had spilled maple syrup on her favorite shirt. He threw it quickly in the laundry pile and, after some convincing he pulled another shirt over her head. He was late, but everyone was out the door and into the car. Ama had left for work early as wedding season was starting to be upon them.
With three screaming children in the backseat, he was ever so thankful that they were now old enough to run into the school themselves. His eyes glanced as the large school door closed behind them, leaning his head against the head rest of the car seat. School runs were typically stressful when he did them. He shook his head and drove off towards the marina - knowing that Memphis would be waiting for him.
The twenty-five minute drive dragged on. People were driving slow due to an accident on the road, which slowly made the patient man frustrated. It felt like forever before he pulled into his usual parking spot and got out of the car - heading towards the main building.
On his way there, he noticed Aria was also close by. The new trainee was a fast learner from what he saw so far, so he wondered why Memphis needed both of them. "I'm also here, sorry. School run was a bit hectic this morning but I'm ready whenever you are." He nodded to both of them, taking a moment to settle down before work would begin.
Cal chuckled at her comments. “No, no it’s privately owned. Brand spanking new. Just in came in for some maintenance.” Cal would’ve added more but Christian also just showed up. “Oh, no worries. I know that can be ab it hectic.” He knew that children could be a menace when it came to school or just leaving the house. But the fact Christian had triplets made Cal wonder what his household was like. Granted, Cal had met Ama – and she seemed to have everything run like a tight ship.
“I have already gone through this vessel, but I will not share what I saw and noted,” Cal started. “I want you to do an inspection on it, Aria – with Christian’s help. It’ll be good practice to see what your eyes can pick up. I would go with you myself, but my ribs are still hurting, and going through once is enough for me. So let’s get a clipboard with the right paperwork and we can begin. Let’s say…in ten minutes.”
When Cal said that the yacht was privately owned, the teenager just stared at him before looking back at it and letting out a whistle, "Rich people," she muttered under her breath. Watch it belong to somebody's 'daddy' from the University. Ughs, the thought made her want to gag. The annoyance probably played across her face - but thankfully, Christian St. Croix arrived just in time to distract her, at least mentally.
Brown eyes looked over the hulking man, tanned with a scar and completed with a man bun. She should find him hot, she should want to jump his bones and yet...nothing, "Hey Christian," Aria greeted causally with a smile before turning her attention back to Cal with his fancy ass clip board and he soon dropped a bomb on her, "Me?" she gawked at him, well, at least she had Christian, and there wasn't much arguing that she could do. Cal and Christian had been willing to take her on since she refused to work at the mechanic shop after she discovered Dei worked there.
"Right..." she said, looking at the other man now, "Well, I'm ready when you are." Aria could already feel herself puffing up, to make herself look big and strong rather the wirey twig she came off as. She could take on some stupid yacht with Captain Beefcake here, "I'm sure we can be done in five. Perry said that Elodie might stop by with cookies." Oh yeah. Aria Beck was feeling confident and ready to take on the world.
i'll sleep when i'm dead ☠︎︎ ☠︎︎ ☠︎︎
thanks aofie!
Nineteen . Student - Technology & Design . Confused (LGBTQ+) . Single Former Minion & Current Social Outcast
Christian nodded, he knew not all employers were forgiving about him being late. “Thanks, so a brand new boat huh? Any clue whose it is?” There were several wealthier people in Hickstead now so it was hard for him to tell. “Hello, Aria. Long time no see.” He smiled, Aria was someone he didn’t know too well yet but the younger woman seemed nice enough.
As their project was explained to them, he raised his eyebrow. This wasn’t something that was often asked of him to do - though he was ready for the challenge. He watched Aria as she took in what was about to happen. “It really won’t be that bad, we’ve got this.” He sounded more confident than he felt, but four eyes were better than two. “Okay, let’s go see this boat. Elodie always brings the best cookies but it’s not a race. We should get this done right the first time.” Food was always something that tempted him, but those cookies could wait until they were done.
After turning to Cal, he spoke again. “And where is this fancy new boat? I believe we are both ready to begin.” He quickly glanced at Aria, who really looked ready.
Had Cal known that cookies and food were involved, he would’ve made the work a bit more tedious. But he wasn’t that awful. At least, he hoped not. But he was happy that Aria and Perry seemed to be getting along. If anything, Cal was feeling pretty good about the younger people in his crew. They all had something going it seemed, but they were their best selves at work. For the most part. There were times he had to play a stern dad, but there weren’t any major complaints.
“Excellent.” He led the pair to the yacht, sitting pretty. “This here is a Lurssen Ace, a lovely 85m motor yacht. It’s one of the smaller models of the company. Still quite luxurious. The owner just wants to make sure everything is spiffy. I found two things that have concerned me, but I will not tell you what they are. Do you want to start on the upper level, or work bottom up?”
Aria couldn't help but to frown at the large man's words: "It’s not a race. We should get this done right the first time.” The teenager wasn't sure if she entirely agreed with that statement. Brown eyes glanced at Christian curiously now, her lips twisted in thought, "I get it's not a race, but...surely, we can't be insanely slow either. What if we have multiple boats in a day?" Aria realized there might be more to it, that he was probably pumping the breaks since this was a test that she needed to pass and, well, it was a yacht that she could only touch because she was a mechanic in training. If she fucked it up, she'd be out of a job, and Aria supposed whoever owned that yacht would make sure she'd never work again.
A loud whistle escaped her when her big brown eyes laid rest on the Lurssen Ace, "Oh. To be rich." She muttered now, to no one in particular. As Cal prattled on about it, Aria was beginning to wonder if she made a mistake by picking the marina over the garage - cars and motorcycles were easy, boats...well, maybe not so much. But Aria, classic Aria, didn't believe that she could be outsmarted by the mechanics of a fancy yacht, nor would she allow such a situation cow her brain, "I feel like bottom - that's where the engine is," she said confidently, before looking at Christian, "Yeah?"
i'll sleep when i'm dead ☠︎︎ ☠︎︎ ☠︎︎
thanks aofie!
Nineteen . Student - Technology & Design . Confused (LGBTQ+) . Single Former Minion & Current Social Outcast
Christian nodded, it was an expensive boat that they would be working on. He knew his boats pretty well by now - not only due to being in the Navy back home. "Alright, that should be easy enough. That's a pretty nice boat, don't see many of those on the waters." He turned over to face Aria who seemed to be wanting to get going.
"Yes, but if you go too fast you could miss something. I understand the pressure because I was new once too." Granted, it was a few years ago now but he had his Navy experience to thank for that. He chuckled softly when he heard Aria whistle, wondering if she had ever seen a boat like the one they were to be working on. "I agree. If we were all rich I don't think we'd be working. Though, I love my job. Don't get me wrong." He gave Cal a smile - truly lucky to have a wonderful boss like him. The coworkers were pretty decent too, though sometimes they annoyed him.
As they approached the boat, he had a glance at the exterior first. It was something that tended to be overlooked, though the boat seemed in excellent condition. "Yeah, let's start there. Did you want me to hold the flashlight while you have a peek at the engine?" He always carried one in his pocket at work, just in case he was needed to work somewhere dark. Christian began making his way down towards the engine.
“Awesome, you two take it safe and slow. I don’t need anything being broken on either of you or the boat!” Cal was happy he could sit on the bench with his notes, looking like a suave owner of something. He was lucky when people needed an extra hand on the fancier vessels. Made him happy to his patrons trust him. Meant more money for him and his staff.
