color me crazy [open]

[gideon james hale]

Gideon set down his bucket of shampoos, conditioners, and sponges in the wash stall before checking that the barn was empty one last time. There had been some kids tacking up in the aisle earlier, but if he was lucky he would be finished and have Dragon put away before they got back. It was all clear now though, and that was what really mattered.

The walk to her stall seemed to take forever. It didn't help that he stopped to double, and then triple, check the syringe of ace was still in his pocket. Hopefully he wouldn't need it, but if anyone brought a horse in while they were in the wash stall it was better to have sedatives on hand.

Dragon was obviously excited to see him. She was whinnying before he even reached her stall. In true Dragon form the Buckskin mare circled and neighed until he slid the door open and stepped through. Immediately she charged for the sliver of opening, stopping just inches away from knocking Gideon over. He grimaced; this should be fun.

The halter went on easily. Dragon loved to go out so teaching her to take the halter had been easy. Getting it off once you got where you were going was a different story though. Standing still so he could fix the chain over her nose was also an adventure but she seemed to be in high spirits today so he only had to smack her once to get her to behave.

Before he opened the door Gideon turned back to look at his high strung mare. "Dragon." The horse stilled momentarily to prick her ears at him, as though she were listening intently. "It's just a bath love, you've needed one for days. There will be no breaking of cross ties. Understand?"

Most people said that horses couldn't understand English, or any other human language. Gideon disagreed. Maybe they didn't understand the meaning of full sentences but they had always seemed aware of what he was saying anyway. For her part, Dragon simply shook her head at him and nosed him toward the door.

Gideon chuckled quietly. "Okay, okay." He slid the door all the way open, shoving Dragon back as she tried half-heartedly to bolt past him. She knew the drill. The walk to the wash stall took half the time it had taken him going the other way. It only took a moment to line the mare up and clip her in but as soon as he went to take the chain off Dragon shot backward into the wall and then bounced forward, snapping the cross ties and nearly running Gideon over.

He simply rolled his eyes at her and stuck her back in the cross ties. This was not the first time he had been glad the cross ties had velcro on them. The silly mare settled down almost immediately and he was able to set her chain aside and start hosing her down. Bath day were such fun.


OOC: Open for anyway :)

[Tobin Shae Kelly]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 450px; height: 200px; border-left: #3579DC 3px dashed; border-right: #3579DC 3px dashed; background-color: #D1D1D1; border-radius: 2em; -moz-border-radius: 2em; -webkit-border-radius: 2em;] [atrb=width,440] - -tobin shae kelly ;; our pasts collide Tobin Kelly held a leather lead rope with both hands behind her back. The other end was connected to a rather tired Cheers; she was actually dragging her back hooves on the concrete aisle. Toby knew the mare wouldn't try any funny business, so hadn't even bothered to clip the chain over her nose. With Brody that was a must though. There already was a horse and older looking boy occupying one wash stall, so Toby tightened her grip on Cheers and led her down to the furthest one away. That way the other horse couldn't reach Cheers with any part of her body, legs, teeth, or tail. And if the horse was dangerous, the boy would tell her something, right? Whenever someone had to get Bro out of a paddock Toby told them to watch out. It was safer like that. The pair entered the wash stall and Tobin quickly hosed the mare, who had managed to already have a grass stain on the side of her barrel. Why did greys have to be so luring? Seriously. What about having to bathe a horse almost every day was appealing in anyway? Because they were flashy, and caught the judge's eye, Toby thought. Now the soap. Tobin had bathed the mare thoroughly the day before, so she planned on just washing the stain out. She set to work quickly, ignoring anything else the boy and his horse were doing. Maybe not paying any attention to them was the reason that she was now laying in a heap across the aisle way with a busted lip. original template created by hay shay @ caution 2.0 /// altered by tippy @ caution 2.0

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[gideon james hale]

Maybe this would be a good day after all. The horses in their stalls were quietly munching on hay, or napping, and all Gideon had left was to wash Dragon's tail and then rinse her. He dipped his sponge into the bucket of soapy water one last time and rubbed it over Dragon's already sudsy back. "That's my good..."

He trailed off as the mare's muscles tensed beneath his fingers. Gideon dropped the sponge and took one long step up to her face. Dragon was already tossing her head and snorting as he slipped the ace from his pocket and slid the needle-less syringe into the side of her mouth.

By the time he had shoved the empty syringe back into his jeans pocket Dragon was pawing the rubber mat beneath her. A quick look into the aisle showed him why; a student was bringing her mare out for a bath. Gideon waited until the pair were safely in their own wash stall before he unclipped Dragon.

It was safer to leave the hormonal mare in her stall until the wash stalls were empty again, or at least until the ace really kicked in. It wasn't ideal to let the soap dry on her skin but it was better than having her injure someone's horse.

Of course to get to Dragon's stall they would have to pass by the other mare. At least it wasn't a gelding. Dragon had a fit every time she got within fifteen feet of a gelding. Gideon positioned himself so he was between his mare and the other two, then reached up and wrapped his fingers around her halter, just for good measure.

"Heads up!" Gideon wasn't sure whether the girl had heard his warning above the noise of the running water. A moment later he got his answer; just as they reached the other horse the girl crossed around in front of her. It was one of those times that everything is moving in slow motion just for that moment.

Dragon lunged for the mare, Gideon shoved her bodily around so that she couldn't reach either horse or girl, but as he did so the big Warmblood turned so that her haunches slammed right into the girl. Screw trying to keep these snobby rich kids happy. Gideon tossed Dragon into the first empty stall he saw.

As soon as he had latched the door securely he turned and jogged back over to where the girl was still on the floor of the aisle. "Oh my God, I'm so, so sorry! Are you okay?" The English accent he had been trying to get rid of for ages was coming back in full force as he panicked. He reached a hand down toward her. "Do you want some help? I am so sorry."

[Tobin Shae Kelly]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 450px; height: 200px; border-left: #3579DC 3px dashed; border-right: #3579DC 3px dashed; background-color: #D1D1D1; border-radius: 2em; -moz-border-radius: 2em; -webkit-border-radius: 2em;] [atrb=width,440] - -tobin shae kelly ;; our pasts collide Toby could taste the blood that was running off her bottom lip. It distracted her from any other pains she may have had, which was good. Focusing on one thing was better than everything. Oh, here was the boy that was washing the other mare. She ignored his questions, and made a puzzled look as he reached out his hand. Oh, right. She was on the ground. Toby took his hand and pulled her small self up, walking quickly to her mare. Cheers pranced on the rubber mats, pinning her ears at the other mare, who had exited her view. Toby stroked her grey neck and turned to the older boy now. "It's fine." She answered his first question, keeping her eyes on the mares'. Cheers finally quit dancing and went right back to her lazy position, letting her ears rest backwards. and cocking her left rear hoof. "It was my fault, I wasn't paying attention. But Cheers is fine, so its all good." In the process of calming the mare down she had completely forgotten about the blood on her lip. Now it was running down her chin, but her happiness about the wellness of her own horse distracted her from anything wrong. original template created by hay shay @ caution 2.0 /// altered by tippy @ caution 2.0

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[gideon james hale]

Gideon was relieved when the girl let him help her up. It was a bit surprising that her first thought was for her horse though. The impression Gideon got from most of the kids at White Oak was that all they cared about was winning and money. This girl seemed to genuinely care that her horse was safe, not just for practical purposes.

He shook his head at her when she tried to reassure him. "No. It's not fine." Gideon shot a glance toward his still circling horse before looking back at the girl. "I should have aced Dragon before I brought her out of her stall but I thought the barn was empty..." He trailed off uncertainly, hoping she wouldn't think he was trying to blame her.

"It was my fault. I apologize, and I'm glad you and your horse are both okay." There. Short, simple, and to the point. He really needed to stop this babbling thing. "Oh, and, sorry, but you're bleeding."

Gideon touched his own lip lightly, where hers had split. Then, in an effort to shake off some of the awkwardness, "You have a very pretty horse. Shut Up and Smile, right?" Unthinkingly he reached forward and brushed his knuckles underneath of the mare's nose, inviting her to sniff his hand.

"I saw her in some magazine. Talented hunter, if I remember correctly?" Gideon's eyes stayed on the horse as he spoke, though the words were obviously directed to her owner. His own mare was loudly objecting to his attention being elsewhere but Dragon could deal.

After a moment of silence Gideon realized he hadn't told the girl, Tobin Kelly, if he remembered from the magazine, his name. "Sorry, I'm Gideon Hale." He shot her an apologetic smile without taking his gaze from the gray mare. Cheers, he reminded himself.

[Tobin Shae Kelly]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 450px; height: 200px; border-left: #3579DC 3px dashed; border-right: #3579DC 3px dashed; background-color: #D1D1D1; border-radius: 2em; -moz-border-radius: 2em; -webkit-border-radius: 2em;] [atrb=width,440] - -tobin shae kelly ;; our pasts collide Were they really going to argue over who’s fault it was? Toby still thought it was all her, but she didn’t say anything. Her first interaction at school with someone other than Caden ending with an argument? No thank you. She listened to his explanation, genuinely interested about anything having to do with his rambunctious mare. Ace, hm, she’d never had to use that. She knew Brody was crazy, and potentially harmful at times but never enough for her to have to sedate him. Tobin mocked his movement, moving her own hand to her lip and bringing it down to see blood. “Right.” She took a clean towel from her bathing bucket and dampened it using the hose before dabbing at her lip. Usually she’d just wipe it off on her hand, or shirt at least, but something told her that would be frowned upon. At the mention of her horse’s name she brought her eyes off the rubber mats and up to the boy’s, the cold towel still on her lip. Tobin nodded. “Thanks.” She pat her mare and threw the towel off to the side for her to throw in the wash later. Cheers’ ears pricked as she heard her name, and she tried to walk forward. Tobin laughed. Usually when the mare heard her show name she was at a show winning something, and walking forward as it was mentioned was sort of a habit now. Tobin’s jaw clenched as the boy brought up Talented Hunter. Yep, Cheers was on the cover. But Tobin wasn’t riding, Caden was. It was one of the few shows that the girls had swapped horses since it was just a ‘C’ show. Their trainer thought it improved skill, so any little show they went to, they didn’t ride their own horse. Sure, Tobin agreed with the method, but one of the few times her horse gets on a magazine, she wasn’t riding. Now she knew what his accent was. English obviously! How hadn’t she picked that up before? Anyway, he introduced himself as Gideon. “I’m Tobin Kelly, but you can call me Toby.” Should she ask a question to keep the conversation going? Nah, if he wanted to keep talking, he would. She didn’t care really, she’d much rather be exercising Kelso, or Brody. No, she needed to stay here and talk. original template created by hay shay @ caution 2.0 /// altered by tippy @ caution 2.0

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[gideon james hale]

Gideon just stood there as the girl cleaned herself up, feeling more than a little bit useless. The horse seemed friendly at least, and he was relieved to be able to scratch her lightly beneath her forelock. As he spoke her name the mare took a step toward him and Gideon couldn't but chuckle.

The sound prompted a whinny from Dragon, who hated anyone else being the center of attention. The call reminded him that she had been silent and relatively still for several minutes though, and that it might be safe to bring her back out. As long as they kept at least one wash stall between them and the other pair, that is.

"Well Toby, it's a pleasure to meet you, and your horse." He gave the mare one last pat on the neck before stepping back. "What's her barn name, by the way? So I don't keep confusing her into thinking she should be working." He grinned.

While he waited for her to answer Gideon walked slowly back to the stall he had banished Dragon too. She seemed to have settled down nicely. Two CCs of ace does that to a horse. The thought made him chuckle. Anyway, she needed to be rinsed. It only took a moment to clip her chain back on and lead her carefully past the other mare and into the second wash stall over.

They were far enough away that Dragon couldn't cause any damage but close enough to Gideon could still carry on his conversation. If Toby wanted too, that is. He turned the hose onto the lowest setting so that it was just trickling out instead of gushing loudly, and proceeded to run it lightly across Dragon's broad back.

[Tobin Shae Kelly]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 450px; height: 200px; border-left: #3579DC 3px dashed; border-right: #3579DC 3px dashed; background-color: #D1D1D1; border-radius: 2em; -moz-border-radius: 2em; -webkit-border-radius: 2em;] [atrb=width,440] - -tobin shae kelly ;; our pasts collide Toby's head whipped around at the whinny of the buckskin mare. She had almost forgot about the horse as she had been more concerned about her own mare and then her lip. She was still looking around the corner for the other mare when Gideon started talking again. As he was she picked the hose up from the ground and pulled the handle, forcing cool water out of the end and onto the grey mare. She pranced for a split second before standing still again. "Cheers. I call her cheers." As she turned to him she was greeted by a grin, and awkwardly tried to smile back. She made sure the hose was pointed more toward Cheers' back end so she didn't get the boy wet. That would be bad. Toby focused back on her mare while Gideon grabbed his now tired horse and put her in wash stall. He picked up the other hose and resumed what he was doing before. Silence. Should she break it? She wasn't a silence-breaker kind of person, and honestly didn't care to talk about anything other than horses. Or school. Speaking of school, she needed to finish that biology report. At first glance, Tobin could be considered shy. But she's actually the opposite, a rather confident girl who had only one goal, and it would not be ruined by 'friends' or 'fun' or God forbid, a boy. That was why someone who knew Tobin would be rather shocked when words actually escaped from her mouth. Sure, they stayed on a safe topic, but still. "What grade are you in?" School. Tobin Shae Kelly liked that. original template created by hay shay @ caution 2.0 /// altered by tippy @ caution 2.0

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[gideon james hale]

Gideon nodded once, over his shoulder, as Tobin introduced her mare. "Well hello then, Cheers." He gave the horse a quick smile before turning back to rub his hand over his own mare's back. There was still some soapy residue left in her coat so he ran the hose over her one more time.

"Well," The words were tossed over his shoulder again, "I guess I should introduce my holy terror here." He gave Dragon's shoulder an affectionate pat. "This is Dragon, or the Mare of Mass Destruction, as the grooms have taken to calling her." Gideon couldn't help but chuckle every time he heard the title.

The big buckskin tossed her head and let out an almost absentminded whinny in response to her name. Gideon set the hose down and wiped his wet hands on his jeans.

As he was doing so Dragon decided she no longer wanted to be wet. It was typical of the mare to shake like a dog after a bath, but she usually waited until Gideon was out of the way. Not today though. Payback for giving his attention to Tobin's mare, probably.

When she was finished Gideon looked as though he had been attacked by a sprinkler; his white shirt stuck to his chest, and his hair had new spikes in the front. "Dragon!" The boy sounded more amused than annoyed though.

A moment later he realized Tobin was talking to him. Oh, right. It was true that Gideon still looked high school age, and he didn't usually mind. But it always managed to embarrass him when people thought he went to White Oak. "Um." He turned toward her, still wet and looking slightly sheepish.

"I don't actually go to White Oak. Well, I did. But I graduated last year. And they let me stay on as a groom. So really I just work here."

[Tobin Shae Kelly]

Toby kept the water running along Cheers' back as she tossed her head over her shoulder to look at the mare. She was pretty, for sure. Toby was never to fond of the dangerous type of horse, since she was barely 5'3" they were too hard to handle. She was strong, but her skinny, petite frame could only control so much. Take Brody, on and off the ground Tobin had troubles with him. Usually if he needed to be schooled seriously she'd get Caden to ride him.

Toby lips curled into a Toby-like smile, which to most was hardly a smile at all, as she heard the sound of water droplets shaking onto Gideon. She heard a slight 'um' from behind her and turned to face him, making sure the hose had stopped spraying water. Cheers lifted her head and stomped impatiently, the cool feeling of water on her back had felt good! Why stop?

Whoa, Dragon really got him, he was soaked in droplets from his waist up. "Oh." Tobin thought for a second. He never would have to go home. That would be amazing, not having to ever see the rest of the Kelly's. Well, she would go see Cody, of course.

"I'd like to stay here, never go home." Toby said as she turned back around and leaned over to grab a sponge. "Ever." She muttered slightly under her breath. Tobin didn't care whether the boy brought up something about her family. She didn't care as long as she wasn't associated with them. That didn't offend her anymore. It was the truth. Many people could be hurt by rumors, but Tobin could be hurt by truth.

[gideon james hale]

Gideon nodded. Yeah, staying here had been like a dream come true at first. It was what he really needed at the time. The barn, the horses, the work that kept his mind off of his life.

After a year of catering to the whim of the rich kids who went here Gideon was a little over it though. It was nice to live so close to Dragon, and he really enjoyed working with the other horses. But too many of the kids here reminded him of himself a couple years ago.

As soon as he had enough money to get full custody, and fly Juliet home, he was leaving. He liked the job though, so he would probably find something like it. Maybe something closer to home so his sister could babysit while he was at work. Charlotte loved her niece, so she wouldn't mind if he didn't pay her a whole lot.

Gideon was so lost in his own thoughts that it took Dragon poking him in the back with her nose to bring him back to reality. And just in time to here the last word slip out of Tobin's mouth, like an afterthought.

At first he thought he'd heard her wrong; she was being awfully quiet, after all. But then he remembered where he had heard the name 'Kelly'. Oh, right. Gideon didn't know a whole lot about the Kelly's, he tended to avoid tabloids, but there were some things that made it into even the regular newspaper.

"Things are that bad at home, huh?" His voice was quieter now, and obviously sympathetic. "I came here to escape my life too." He turned back to Dragon as he spoke and started scraping the water from her back in long strokes.

[Tobin Shae Kelly]

"Yeah," she mumbled in response to his question. Toby shouldn't have to go into detail, her 'private' life really wasn't so private. "It'd always been-" Tobin searched for the right word. "Unenjoyable." The brunette still had her back to the boy, scrubbing away at Cheers' barrel. "But ever since the baby came its been unbearable." It wasn't Cody's wrongdoing. It was Reese's, for having a baby at sixteen. And even then with the luxurious financial situation the Kelly's had, it wouldn't be too bad, but it was the emotions that were harmed. Their names in the media on a daily basis, plus the stress of rehab and therapy for her parents caused extreme strain on the family. Toby remembered when the Taylors invited her to stay for the summer show season when she was six. Even at such a young age she was ecstatic.

Tobin wanted to hear his story, she did. But she wasn't going to pry for it, she would let him start talking about it. The girl picked up the hose from the ground and sprayed the suds off of her barrel. She went over the section four times, making sure no soap was left. That would make for an itchy mare, yucky.

After rinsing, she used a small towel to rub the area dry. Well, half dry.

She clipped the leather lead line underneath her halter, then undid it, looking across to the other mare. Even if she was a little dazed, you never knew what could happen. Tobin fastened the chain over Cheers' pink nose. The mare threw her head up in response, Tobin had almost never used the chain on her before.

Tobin lead her quickly and quietly passed the buckskin mare and Gideon to get to her stall. Once there, she unsnapped the leather halter and returned back to the wash stall to get her stuff. She went slowly, waiting for Gideon to say something. She didn't want to be rude and just walk off. And a conversation seemed like a nice thing right now.

[gideon james hale]

At the mention of 'the baby' Gideon inhaled sharply. That was a little too close to his own story. Instead of responding he leaned forward and pressed his forehead against Dragon's still soggy side, using her sturdy strength to push away the memories that threatened him.

It took only a few deep breaths, but when he looked back over his shoulder she was gone. Oh crap, had he scared her away? Gideon sighed. Oh well, it had been nice while it lasted.

He turned back toward Dragon to clip her chain on again and saw the back end of the gray passing through a stall door. Oh, so that was what she was doing. He grinned at himself, feeling stupid. All her stuff was still here so she would be coming back for that anyway.

Gideon left his still sleepy mare in the cross ties while he cleaned up the wash stall, so he could wait for Tobin to get back. As she was finishing getting her stuff together he finally unclipped Dragon and led her out.

As they passed Tobin by he paused and turned toward her. "Sorry, that brought up some...personal memories." He looked down at his hands which were fiddling with the lead rope, before glancing back up. "Walk with me?"

A sudden tug on the rope from Dragon signaled that he couldn't wait for a response, but he did start off slow so that she could easily catch up. Maybe Tobin would understand about Juliet and that whole situation, but he didn't really know her well enough to talk about it right now.

[Tobin Shae Kelly]

The mention of Cody brought up personal memories? That was scary, how many stories like hers did this boy have? Tobin furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. Usually she wasn't a big fan of sharing life stories, but his seemed interesting, and if they were relateable, what was the harm in sharing hers too? He seemed kind, and not judgmental like most others.

She stood up quietly as he asked if she would walk with him, and followed until she was on Gideon's left shoulder. Away from Juliet. Not that the mare scared her, but being in between a handler and horse was dangerous, and obnoxious, really.

"What's going on with you?" She looked more at his shoulder than his face, considering he had a few inches on her five foot two frame. It was such a simple question, but coming from her it meant the world. Tobin never asked about other people thinking she would come off as nosy. A simple 'nothing' from Gideon at that question would crush her.

The only sounds were two pairs of boots and a horse clip-clodding down the barn aisle. His answer was yet to come, but that was understood. Summing up your life and problems into a few sentences probably took some thinking.

[gideon james hale]

The question caught him by surprise. Had the comment about personal memories not been clear? He glanced over at her to try and see if she was just trying for gossip. Tobin looked genuinely interested though, and not in the 'OMG, his life must suck' type of way.

Gideon sighed. She looked so innocent and content, just walking down the aisle with him. It made him hesitant to burden her with his problems. Not to mention she was virtually a stranger. But she had mentioned something about a kid herself...He shook his head slowly.

"It's....It's complicated." He glanced back over at her expectant face. Jeez, she really wanted the whole story, didn't she? Gideon led Dragon into her stall, turning her to face him before slipping her halter off. The mare shook her head and turned away to munch on her hay immediately.

"Well," He started quietly, "The short version is this; my mom died when I was young and I tried a lot of different stuff to escape the pain." Gideon had his back to her as he spoke, so he wouldn't have to see the revulsion, or pity, or whatever unpleasant emotion his words were provoking.

"I ended up with a pregnant girlfriend. When my dad found out he shipped our whole family off to Connecticut; me into rehab and my sister to a big empty house." The boy's fingers were twisted into Dragon's mane, his knuckles white from the force of his grip. "I've met my daughter once; when Charlotte snuck me back to London on her own dime for Juliet's first birthday."

There was so much more to the story than that, but if she wanted more she would have to dig. Gideon turned back toward her slightly, not quite looking at her but not as uninviting as his previous stance had been.

"That's why I got this job; I need my own money to get custody of my daughter from her crack addict mother, because my father is too petty and cheap to care about his own grand-daughter."