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 hoped he was putting up something of a good front. he wanted this date to go really well. after all he'd been attracted to her from the first moment he'd stepped foot onto the property she owned. but being in public wasn't a strong suit of his, at least not at the moment. it hadn't been since he'd come home and the civilian world had thrown him for a loop and into a spin. he was much more at home in the wide open spaces, the quiet of the country and with mostly dogs for company. beth was the first person who had managed to become that important to him that he found himself craving her conversation. he was just afraid he'd never have enough things to say to her, he'd never been much of a talker even as a child.
"oh so your a ketchup girl? well i don't know about this .." he joked a little as he glanced around at them, a habit he'd brought home with him that he'd never been able to break. being on alert and ready for anything that could come at him. "although i am partial to mayonaise on chips." he said as he waited for her reaction, normally that freaked people out when he told them that. "hopefully they have a cow each." he said as he leaned back into his chair as he raised his hand to wave the waiter over so they could order.
he didn't do very well in crowds. not that this was a very big crowd they were in but it was still more people than he was comfortable with. but for some reason, he felt more relaxed than he normally did in places like this. the only difference was that he was here with beth and he was going to give her the credit. she was this calming presence for him and while they were still new, he was going to run with it because she was the first person who had allowed him to feel some sort of normalcy since he'd come home.
"ketchup? oh no. BBQ sauce all the way." he said with a light grin as he folded the menu and set it to the side of the table. if they were getting steak, chips and beer then he didn't need to look at the menu anymore. he was glad she'd offered to eat the same thing as him, though he'd have been fine if she'd wanted something fancier. he'd just been worried about the sort of food they might have, it wasn't like he had any fancy tastes. he was happy with meat and veg. "lets do it. we'll see if they cook a steak as well as they dress a table." he said as he watched her with a smile.
he didn't plan on letting ben drive himself into any trees. the last thing he wanted was that kids injuries on his hands, plus he had a feeling that ben would just think anything like that was cool and he could see him trying to replicate it, not because he would misbehave but because it was adventure and excitement and sometimes the temptation of those two things made any consequence worth it.
the drive was both really quick and really long. he wasn't the most talkative person at the best of times but he was worried about saying the wrong thing. normally he didn't care what people thought of him, he said his piece and that was it. what they thought was what they thought but beth? she was different. he wanted to keep her captivated with his words, he wanted to have deep and meaningful conversations with her, to get to know her down to her soul because he craved that knowledge. he craved being close with her but he was afraid of pushing her too fast and too hard, they both had their pasts and he was sure while they were both attracted to each other, they frightened each other just as much. because it meant putting faith in someone else.
once they were in the restaurant and having taken their seats, he took a moment to take his jacket off so he could shrug it over the back of the chair. the more layers he had on the more restricted he felt and tonight wasn't a night to feel restricted, he didn't want to give off any feeling like that to beth, lest she think it something to do with her. "do you think they'd judge if i ordered steak, chips and a beer?" he said with a smile as he glanced at the menu so he didn't stare nervously at her.
there was some twinge of regret that he hadn't asked her in advance if they could bring ben along. as bad as it sounded ben was a buffer for both of them. someone to talk to to break ice, someone to talk to when things started feeling to intense or someone to use to brush off certain feelings. plus there was also the fact he didn't want to make ben feel like he was only interested in getting to know his mother. he couldn't imagine anything worse for a kid than to see someone growing closer to a parent and feeling like they were being pushed to the outer. he thought as they walked to his truck, that if he and beth were going to figure anything out between them and make sense of what he was feeling for her, they needed to spend some time without that safety of someone else in the room.
"i'll leaving him at home up to him tomorrow." he said with a slight grin and a little twinkle in his eye. "maybe i'll let him drive that old tractor around for a little." he said as he climbed into his truck and pulled the door closed. the drive to town didn't take too long and he was glad that it didn't seem too awkward between them, that's something he found with first dates, no matter how well you knew a person it always felt .. a little odd when you moved from regular conversation to date conversation. he pulled up at the restaurant and jumped out of the car so he could walk around to open her door. "allow me, ma'am" he said, trying to put on his best southern drawl and failing miserably with a grin.
he smiled as he watched her press her face towards the flowers so she could smell their scent. she looked amazing in the light that was coming from the house behind her, the soft glow highlighting the shine to her hair, the pink tinge on her cheek and the flecks of colour in her eyes. he felt a soft smile growing on her face as he watched her, nodding quickly when she ducked inside to put the flowers in some water. he took a step back from the door so she'd be able to walk out of it without hitting him and he rubbed his palms against his thighs for a second. he didn't want to duck inside and run the risk of seeing ben. he was probably settled with his sitter and if he walked in they'd get to talking and before he and beth knew it they'd be sitting on the couch with a pizza with ben. he hadn't known him for very long but there was something about being around ben and beth that made him feel calmer, more at ease with himself.
he held his hand out to her when she came back to the door and said she was ready to go. "yep, lets go." he had a reservation at a place in willowbridge, the bigger town close to hickstead because tonight he wanted to do something nice, dare he say it a little bit fancy because he was sure he knew beth well enough to know that she'd never take herself out to somewhere like that. her attention, focus and money went into the kennels and making sure ben had what he needed and wanted and he doubted that she took any time for herself, well not as much as she should anyway. "ben okay with being left at home?"
if there was one thing that made logan nervous it was dates. and this date especially was doing wonders to his nerves. he didn't know why, he'd dated before, not exactly countless times but enough to know what was probably going to happen tonight but it felt different with beth. he wanted it to be amazing, he wanted it to be perfect and he wanted everything to go off without a hitch. she'd already had one idiot in her life and he didn't want her to think that she was taking a chance on another one. he climbed out of his car, straightened the jacket he was wearing and grabbed the small bunch of flowers he'd gotten her. it was a simple bouquet but he was certain that's what she'd like. she wasn't the flashy kind of girl and while there was nothing wrong with flashy, logan preferred the simple.
he ran his hand through his short hair as he made his way up to the door. he wished they were taking ben along with them, he'd become fond of the boy that had taken to helping him out some days and he had to admit it was nice to be looked up to. but tonight was about him and beth. things were happening, feelings were stirring and they both deserved the chance to find out what they really were. hopefully they'd be able to bring ben on their next date. he lifted his hand to knock on the door and then he took a step back to wait for her to come to the door. when it opened he had to take a quick breath and it took a heartbeat for a smile to spread onto his face. "hey, you look amazing." he said as he stepped forward, holding out the bouquet for her. "here, these are for you." he said, taking in her face. she had always been a picture to look at but there was something different tonight.