♥ Starr Ranch ♥ 1x1 ♥ Remake/Continuation ♥

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Esmeralda hesitated and frowned. It was taking them a long time to come - longer than she would have thought necessary for two people to put their clothes back on.

Had they heard her? Had she maybe been mistaken about where they were?

Nothing for it, she thought wearily. She'd have to go back.

Turning Sahara (and being rewarded with an annoyed snort), Esmeralda asked the mare for a canter and headed back the way she'd come.

~

Roman glanced back at Kahlilia's question. "It doesn't matter," he replied shortly. "Don't worry about it." He returned the hug she gave him, and ran a hand lightly over her hair before accepting the shirt and tugging it back on.

He swung up onto Phoenix and turned when he heard Kahlilia's whisper. "Are you--" And then, yeah, there was that son of a b***h again and you'd think he would learn.

Nudging Phoenix, he made his way to them. Phoenix didn't much like being pushed in between the other two horses, and showed his displeasure by shoving Benvolio to the side and baring his teeth at Lady. She might have been a mare, but that wouldn't stop him from making it very clear who was in charge if she didn't obey the warning and back off.

"I wouldn't know," Roman replied coolly to Xavier's words, perfectly at his ease now that he was between Xavier and Kahlilia, "never having been pregnant. And if you were, that falls under things I didn't want to know. Come on, Lily. We ought to get back."

With Xavier out of his mind again - he'd won the original fight, but now that he was his normal self, he would rather not fight again unless Xavier kept pushing - he gestured back towards the stable.  

[minus infinity]

Upon the shove Kahlilia and Benvolio had received from Phoenix, the horse shifted his weight to keep from swaying and the girl held fast to the horse to maintain her balance. She knew what the purpose of the shove was, but that didn't stop her from getting startled and almost losing her balance.
Kahlilia was still leaning forward towards Benvolio's neck in a strange attempt to hide (and maybe in a belated attempt to regain balance) when she heard Xavier give a dismissive snort to Roman's statements and say, Las chicas, estúpido. Well, he kind of mumbled it to himself - but either way the girl didn't know what he was saying. In the two years of foreign language required for her to graduate high school, she had chose German - she was one of the many people that needed to be reminded that just because Germany's history had its dark points it didn't mean the language was terrible.
So what had Xavier just said? She could take a guess as to what estúpido meant, and maybe what he had said beforehand - but she couldn't be sure. Finally, though, she sat up straight and looked at the two men beside her. Xavier's glare had returned to Roman and his mare pawed the ground in what looked like nervousness more than anything. To her, the mare wasn't at fault as much as the rider was - well, but couldn't she have resisted in some way if she had wanted to? In Kahlilia's perspective, trying to defy Xavier meant instant death. Or something similar. How did this mare feel about him? She glanced at him while he wasn't looking at her - one of his legs looked... off? Maybe when the two men had been fighting he had injured it. Oh no, did one or both of these men have the capability to break legs? For goodness sake, what had happened before she had arrived? She looked from one man to the other again but eventually turned Benvolio to follow Phoenix and Roman back to the barn - she'd have to go slower, she had a feeling that when she started riding again the pain would return. And right she was, but suddenly there was a different kind of pain. What the hell?
As Kahlilia had started walking Benvolio back to the barn, Xavier had come up behind her and pulled her hair. He had taken a huge clump of it in one of his big hands and pulled - hard. Benvolio neighed when his rider almost lost her balance again because of the sudden jerking motion, and stopped in his tracks. Xavier let go of her after giving her hair a good pull, so the girl sighed and pushed Benvolio to a trot - she would get over the pain in between her legs, she wanted to get away from Xavier. Now.


Well, Xavier had pulled one of the oldest pranks in the book - pulling a girl's hair and scaring the hell out of her in turn. She had almost fell down off her horse the way she had suddenly tilted back and tried to correct herself in a very awkward looking way. Now as he pushed Lady to a canter back towards the barn, he easily passed the lovers and almost ran right into Esmeralda. Ay chica, he said to her, What are you doing back here? How many times would he be running into this girl today? Was there no escape from her?
Well, right now there certainly wasn't. So right now he just had to live with her sharp tongue and the way she looked when she knew she had hit her intended target. Maybe for now at least, maybe just until lunchtime. And what would happen then? He didn't think any of them had talked to Shannon anytime recently. Wasn't it time they did? Xavier pushed Lady into a trot back towards the barn, deciding that when the other two caught up he'd rather not still be there.
And it was in fact a few moments, a couple of minutes, before the steadily trotting Benvolio caught sight of Sahara and tossed his head at her. What the motion meant was anyone's guess, but Kahlilia assumed it had something to do with the way she had reacted to Phoenix and completely ignored him a little earlier in the day. At least he seemed to be disregarding what had happened a little later now. Maybe that was progress?
Hi Esmeralda, Lily squeaked to the other girl. Did she know what had just happened? She'd heard her calling to them a little earlier, just before they had rushed to get dressed again. What would she think? The talk the dark-haired girl had given her flitted through her mind and Lily bit her lip. The blood on her face was gone, but the bottom of her white shirt was smeared with the red of it. Both girls were old enough to understand what it meant, so what would they do now?

( OOC / Inspiration = dead at the end of this post. xD I'm getting tired, does it show? )

 

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Roman merely looked amused at Xavier's mumble. He knew he'd won if the other boy couldn't even say it aloud.

Though he didn't notice Xavier's kindergarten tactics since he was ahead of Lily, he did notice that she wasn't with him. He slowed Phoenix, waiting patiently until Kahlilia rejoined him.

Once she did, he fell behind her so that he was between her and Xavier until the idiot went off his own way. When he did that, Roman sped up to ride beside her.

"Are you all right?" he inquired after a moment, talking about both the things that happened...

And then they ran into Ez.

Oh, s**t.

~

Esmeralda slowed the mare as she saw Xavier. Her eyes immediately narrowed and she wished for a more colourful way to beat him into a pulp. "Aside from looking at an idiot?" she asked calmly. "Nothing much. Checking in on my brother and Lily. Making sure they heard me. And apparently they did," she continued, spotting them a ways away.

Her smile was lazy and just a little bit cruel. "And you? What were you doing, aside from not what I asked and instead getting in the way of people who have a deeper connection than sex?"

Of course she knew - she'd known as soon as she'd seen him coming from the direction of the pond.

With a flick of her fingers in the parody of a wave, she moved her horse past him. "C'mon, big boy," she said over her shoulder. "You've proven yourself to be just as petty and childish as you can, so you can head on back to the barn now."

And she asked Sahara for a canter until she ran into the others.

As she slowed down and lifted a brow at them, she heard Lily's squeaky hello. "Hey," she replied. "Just coming to make sure you heard me when I was calling you earlier."

She saw the blood on Kahlilia's shirt - that much was obvious from her quick glance at it, then her more pointed look at her brother. But she didn't say anything about it. "Let's head back, kay? Hey, big brother, go ride point."

Roman frowned at her, but obliged. Once he was riding a little ahead of them, Esmeralda glanced at Lily one more time, smiled faintly and said, "You'll want to soak that shirt. And also, you'll probably want a bath after. It helps. C'mon, let's go get lunch."  

[minus infinity]

( OOC / I gotta tell you my inspiration must have committed suicide after I sent you all those ideas last night. So once again, Infinity will procrastinate posting for our two roleplays - but I absolutely promise I'll have them by tomorrow, and I'll try not to have them be crappy in the process. xD Oh goodness. I'll talk to you tomorrow! )

 

[minus infinity]

Kahlilia didn't actually speak, but had looked up and given a faint nod when she heard Roman's voice asking her if she was alright. In all honesty, she wasn't sure herself. Her rational mind was still recovering from what had happened and she wasn't thinking very clearly, almost like a thick fog had wrapped around her mind and wouldn't leave. She was both thoughtless and thinking too much; when would her pain go away? It hurt so bad. And normally she loved and enjoyed Benvolio's energetic attitude, but right now she had to slow him to a walk to at least keep the pain at a constant level so that maybe--
It was right about then that the two of them saw Esmeralda and Lily squeaked out her awkward greeting. Now she was walking Benvolio beside Esmeralda with Roman and Phoenix slightly ahead of them, trying not to make what was already obvious even more so. She was surprised when Esmeralda talked to her, in a gentle voice she hadn't expected. Well, what had she expected - a cold shoulder and a deadly glare? Maybe. She turned to look at the other girl, grateful for the empathy she was receiving. Thank you, for everything.
Because she kept Benvolio at a steady walk, it was a little while before Lily even saw the large red shape of the barn, but eventually there it was. Xavier had been ahead of them, hopefully he was out of the barn by now. When she had seen the two men in the direct aftermath of the fight, it was almost like they could have smelled the fear on her. And then ... they ...
The girl patted her paint horse gently as they approached the barn, getting slowly closer. She couldn't shut off her thoughts but she couldn't make herself concentrate either. What a strange feeling it was.
Anyway, when Lily finally felt they were close enough she dismounted with a wince and clenched teeth. Dang it! Was there blood on Benvolio's saddle? Looking closely, she was able to realize that there wasn't - thank goodness, she really didn't know what she would have done if there had been. How did one wash a saddle, anyway?
With a shake of her head to dismiss her thoughts (although it was mostly useless) Lily led Benvolio into the barn and did what she normally might do - untacking and putting away Benvolio's equipment, and then putting the horse back in his stall. By now there was certainly the given she didn't feel as good as she usually might. It didn't hurt as much simply walking, but the pain was definitely still there. Before she left the barn completely, though, Lily wanted to check on 'her trio' one last time - Benvolio, Kelly and little Ariel. Ben, for some reason or another, seemed to prefer cuddling over sulking about the previous events. He nuzzled her shoulder, eliciting a faint giggle from her and a hug. Before going to the two girls, she quickly made sure he had enough food and water - he did, along with oats she now periodically sneaked in. She had promised herself she would break the habit, but she didn't. It wasn't that bad, right?
Kelly was occupied with a couple of oats of her own, but Ariel made a cute baby-like noise and stumbled a bit awkwardly towards Lily. This time Lily did giggle, even despite all the stress and tension that had been occurring today. The two petite girls snuggled, with the occasional whicker from Ariel. As long as she was here, Lily might be okay.

___________________________________


Xavier had sped Lady into a canter again when the three others had joined together - he didn't really want to be around for whatever might happen. And at least he had a head start now. His leg still hurt, and he'd be damned if they were there when he had to go through the suddenly humiliating process of dismounting. He just about had to drag his bad leg off Lady's back, and it looked as awkward and humiliating as it felt. So in that thought, he nudged Lady to go a little faster. Goddammit! Why was it that they had to have the advantage over him every single time, like they already knew his every fault? Who the hell did they think they were? His thoughts were slipping into irrationality and he couldn't stand it. But how could he keep his rational mind now that anything and everything had happened that could? Xavier shook his head, and Lady tossed her head right back. Oh, they were approaching the barn now and he couldn't see the others just yet. Good.
Just in front of the entrance to the barn, Xavier slowly went through the aforementioned humiliating process of dismounting. Ow! Dammit! El dolor! He was glad Lady stood where she was, with only the occasional shifting of her weight brought on by Xavier's. He patted her a few times before the eight-minute departure was complete, then slowly led the mare back into the barn. The mare was sweaty. Xavier thought back, trying to remember what Summer had told him - during the time she had been at the ranch she had needed to teach him quite a few things about horse care. Nanina had too, way back in the beginning ... how long ago had it been since he had seen her last?
Finally he remembered, and with a sudden snap of his fingers with the memory that made Lady snort at him, he did what he was supposed to. Vaguely comforted by the thoughts of Summer guiding him as she taught him, Xavier left the barn afterward. He remembered how he had thought being in a silly love-triangle (or whatever that all had been, Xavier still only had vague ideas) was one of the worst things that could happen - well, think again! That damn other girl ... why did he still not know her name?
Then she had come in. The prank had been enough to drive him over the edge, but then she ...
He could hardly even think about her without getting angry again. He ran his hand through his messy black hair as he approached his room. Now that it had finally been cleaned out, he could go back in and not feel sick - but there was still that ugly memory. He had finally put his shirt back on, but now as he stood in front of a mirror in the half-bath he swiped the hay and small grass particles off that had remained. He didn't inspect his leg, he knew there wouldn't be much outer injury - it was all on the inside, and it hurt! So he quickly ran a brush through his hair (how long had it been, again?) and left the boy's cabin again to head towards Shannon's house. But his thoughts were still on Esmeralda.
Esmeralda had called him a boy. Esmeralda tricked him into almost having sex with her. They had been so close, and then ...
Xavier was still angry at himself for having been such a fool, to believe that what she was doing was sincere. God knew there was close to no sincerity left in him to begin with. As he drew ever closer to the cottage-like house, Xavier thought about Esmeralda. His teeth gritted, his hands curled into fists.
Mine or not, there will be damnation.

 

[SilentShadowDreamer]

((OOC: I find it amusing that Kahlilia is almost as afraid of Ez as she is of Xavier. It's like she thinks Ez is Roman's jealous ex instead of his sister. XD))

Esmeralda smiled a little and patted Kahlilia's shoulder. "Don't worry about it," she said. Then she sped up to ride beside her brother for a few minutes.

They didn't talk. They didn't have to. They understood each other. Esmeralda's mildly reproving stare, Roman's quietly concerned look, her eventual understanding smile and shrug. His tired smile at her. Yeah, they understood what they were talking about.

Then she dropped back again and rode with Kahlilia in silence until they reached the barn.

She was finished with Sahara quickly enough - obviously the mare was in top shape; she'd barely sweated at all. The grooming was done fast, and Esmeralda quietly slipped out of the barn to leave her brother and Lily alone.

They would find something to talk about, she was sure.

Tossing back her long black hair, Esmeralda made her way to the cottage. She slowed her stride a little when she saw Xavier ahead of her once again. Then she shrugged to herself. They were practically right outside Shannon's door. What was he going to do, try to strangle her again?

Casually, she sauntered up beside him, and then past him. She didn't glance back at him. At the moment, she didn't feel the need to fight with him. Poor Shannon had enough to deal with without knowing how much the rest of them hated this particular 'bad boy'.

So thinking, Ez walked into the building, not bothering to acknowledge Xavier at all. "Hi, Shannon!" she called brightly. "Brought everyone back!"

~


Roman looked quietly over Phoenix one more time. The stallion looked relaxed and at his ease, nibbling contentedly on some hay that Roman had put in his stall for lunch. Deciding that the horse should stay indoors for now, at least until he'd eaten, Roman went to check on Kahlilia, who he found with Kelly and Ariel.

"How's she doing?" he asked, feeling a little awkward. The subtext of the question, of course, was How are you doing?

Putting his hands into his pockets, he offered quietly, "If you don't want to go to lunch, I can get some food for you, if you'd like." He meant well - she seemed so afraid of Xavier that he thought it would be best to give her the option, even though it kind of hurt him that she didn't think he could protect her from that idiot.

It didn't matter. It shouldn't matter.

Yes, it did.

Waiting for her reply, he shifted a little on his feet. It should be obvious that he was just as awkward and embarrassed and unsure of how to go on as she was.  

[minus infinity]

Kahlilia was stroking Ariel's cute little mane when she heard Roman's voice and looked up. Ariel was doing just fine, being her cute baby-like self, and maybe Lily would be okay as long as she paced herself. I think we'll both be okay. She knew well enough that Roman could protect her from Xavier, but the awkwardness she was feeling was something else entirely. Lily was in love with the man standing in front of her.
Having been bent down to cuddle with Ariel, the girl slowly stood up and began to twirl her hair nervously. Her hair was tangled near the ends, she was flushed (well, not like that wasn't unusual for her) and she generally didn't look like herself. Her green-blue gaze had been turned away as she thought for a moment or two, but when she felt her mind had cleared at least a little she looked back up at Roman and said softly, No, I'll come with ... I ... um ... need to change first ... so if I'm late ... A whicker from Ariel stopped her from finishing her awkward sentence, and Lily couldn't help but smile - even though this time the motion didn't reach her eyes as it usually might. Absently she stroked the foal's nose, thinking about how Ariel was their baby in an astonishingly real way. She loved the horses as a mother would her children, but right now as her rational mind struggled to regain itself Lily didn't realize the full extent of the way her thoughts were tending. It was only for a second that a click of fear registered through her, but it quickly left like a forgotten thought. Was she just tired? She knew it happened after ...
Gently, she put her hand (the one without the now dried blood on it) on Roman's shoulder. She wouldn't deny that in her sudden fit of hormones and lust, she had enjoyed what had happened between them. After all, hadn't that been her goal that day as she teased him relentlessly? There was just that uncomfortable blank afterward where she didn't know what to do now. She noticed that Roman was probably feeling the same as she was, she had heard it in his voice and saw it in the way he was standing. She was in love with him ...
Kahlilia briefly looked back towards Shannon's house in the distance. Esmeralda and Xavier (shudder) were probably already there. How long would it take her to change, and would Shannon be mad if she was late? She had never found out about the pranked room, but did she sense something was up? After a moment when her gaze returned to Roman, her eyes glinted with fear and she looked very shy as she said, Should we go now then?

_______________________________________


Xavier bristled when he felt another presence nearby. His walk was a poorly concealed limp, and whoever it was behind him would be clearly be able to see that. And even worse, when he briefly looked behind him he saw that it was Esmeralda. He didn't really think he wanted to talk to her right now, but if she started anything at least Shannon would be there to act as a referee. But wait, didn't that mean he was weak compared to the girls? He had already lost a fight, but he wasn't about to lose another one. He didn't think his sanity would be able to take it - but wasn't it already at stake being so close to this girl, having run into her one time too many today? And why were there only questions? Xavier had to snap out of it. All he'd been doing for the entire day was asking himself questions, and it was obviously getting him nowhere. What was wrong with him?
Suddenly he heard Shannon's voice, and slowly limped into her kitchen. The silver-haired woman was wearing an ear-to-ear smile and was telling Esmeralda something. She walked over by Xavier when she had finished talking and gestured to the table, telling him to sit down, so he did. And then he saw a chicken. Not on the table, by his feet.
He wasn't sure what to think of this guest, because in truth he had never really interacted with chickens that weren't plush dog toys beforehand. This chicken didn't make an artificial squeaking noise, either - the chicken was clucking, and it sounded like she was ready to carry on an in-depth conversation. Xavier looked around then and noticed that they were missing the other two - where on earth were they? And did it truly matter if he cared about that? Maybe.
______________________________________



Shannon opened her door wide when she saw two of her campers coming towards the house. Hi there! Come on in! Shannon had finally gotten everything done and she was in a good mood because of it. Maybe for now, at least - how were the four campers doing? She let the two of them in, and then suddenly realized that they were missing two. Where are the other two? she asked, her gaze flicking from the boy to the girl. She hoped they wouldn't be late, it would be a shame for all of them. Were they at least on their way? Shannon tilted her upper body to look out the window and gestured to the two that were here to please sit down. When the others did come, she needed to talk to them about some things that had been going on. And for goodness sake, just to see them again and talk to them. Last she had seen any of her campers was the night of the storm, and that was just the two of them that came over offering to help bring in the cattle. And those were the two she was waiting on right now. With a small sigh, she picked Kitty up and held her close as she waited. Where were they, anyway?

 

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Esmeralda smiled, and it was a real smile for once. She basically ignored Xavier as she replied easily, "I told them. But they'd been riding for a while - I think they wanted to be sure their horses were comfortable before they came in. They'll be along."

She had an easy charm to her when she wanted to, and her cheerful explanation left little doubt that of course that was the way things were. Anyone who knew her well, of course, would have immediately decided to check on this themselves - Esmeralda was always at her most charming and believable when she was telling the most outrageous lies.

But Shannon didn't know her that well, most likely.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" she inquired, wandering into the kitchen to see if there was anything left undone. Like hell she wanted to sit with Xavier while she waited for her brother and Lily to come back from the barn.

~

Roman smiled a little at her words. "Good," he said, looking a little more at ease now. His own thoughts were much more tumbled and tangled.

Yes, he'd made a mistake. Wasn't quite sure how to fix it. But Lily didn't seem to be too mad at him, so maybe it wasn't that bad? Maybe it would be an easy thing to do.

He knew they wouldn't be able to go back. She'd seen the worst of him, and he'd taken something that he could never return to her.

But maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

He smiled again, a little more naturally this time, and lightly touched the hand she'd put on his shoulder. Though he was still uncertain of his footing, he thought he'd be okay as long as he didn't start to babble. "Yeah. Tell you what, I'll walk you to your cabin, and then I'll go on ahead and let them know that you'll be along in a few minutes - I'll say you wanted to clean up or something. Then Shannon won't be too worried." He stepped out of her way so that she could exit the stall, and almost tentatively, he offered a hand for her to take if she wanted.  

[minus infinity]

Kahlilia couldn't have been mad, or she didn't think so at least. Right? For the most part she was only confused and a little scared. Maybe that would pass with time, or so she hoped.
Lily wanted to hug Roman again, but did that mean she was being too clingy? And why did she just think something as obscure as that? She shouldn't have cared. But she did.
Roman was outstretching his hand to her; for a second she looked confused. Her eyes flickered from his hand to his face to her hand, and back again with a sense of hesitation. There was no going back. Lily might be in love with him.
No, she was almost sure.
She took his hand.
There was no going back.
Her gaze fell on their hands just for a second, just to see. Just to know it was real. That she was really here with him right now.
And she was. A faint smile curled across her berry lips, just enough to give her eyes that light like the sun rising after a storm. Maybe, just maybe they would be okay. Maybe everything would be alright. Very slowly, almost like she was just now realizing how to walk again, she began to go towards the girl's cabins. She looked down at her feet as she stepped, maybe wondering if her feet were about to give out on her and collapse into a puddle underneath her. She felt almost detached, and yet she was so aware of every little thing it almost made her head hurt. Momentarily, she looked up at Roman. She had been his for that point in time, and she had never wanted the moment to end then ...
She didn't regret it. She looked back down at her feet again, wondering - what would become of them now?

______________________________________

Xavier was sitting silently for the time being, observing his surroundings as though he had never seen it before. The room was fairly small but had an enveloping sense of coziness (almost suffocating in Xavier's point of view) that reflected itself off the furniture in the cinnamon painted room. There was the large, dark cherry wood table in the center of the room where he sat in an old-fashioned dining chair, and even the room smelled suffocatingly homely - the room smelled of apple pie and something else he wasn't entirely able to identify.
And then there was the chicken again.
Shannon had been talking to Esmeralda, which he hadn't been paying much attention to, but he was jolted back to the present when there was very close clucking. Well, hello again.
They stared at one another with a sort of curious boredom for a short while, then Kitty decided she would rather hang out with someone more interesting. This time, Xavier knew he heard Shannon laugh just a little. For now, he took that in stride. What else was there to do? It was almost too quiet, too calm
(the calm before the storm)
as they waited for Roman and Kahlilia. Trying not to ask himself why (he was through with questions right now), he remembered for a flitting second that Esmeralda had referred to the smaller girl as 'Lily,' and that was pretty much the only name he knew now other than Shannon. 'Thumbelina' sounded like a better fit for the girl, he thought. He could stick with that. He wouldn't dare asking himself why he didn't know any other names right now. Maybe one of these days he might ask, but after fighting and having almost-sex it sounded a little too awkward.
So what to do for now?
Maybe he could live with being quiet for once while they waited. It was when they were all here that he could start up the real trouble again.
And as though to confirm his thoughts, Xavier heard a cuckoo-clock chiming in the distance.
______________________________________



Shannon's gaze flickered over Esmeralda briefly, hoping she was right. It was true she didn't know her well enough to detect whether or not she was lying, but there was always the benefit of the doubt, right? However, after studying the girl momentarily the older woman smiled slightly and told her, Well, they better have a darn good excuse if they decide to come late for dinner. As she talked she petted Kitty's maple brown feathers, as an evil dictator might pet a cat during an old scary movie scene. But then she set the hen down, who made a beeline towards Xavier for some reason. Shannon found herself laughing as Xavier reacted to the guest, but then remembered Esmeralda had asked her if she needed help with anything. Yes, maybe just finishing everything up before the other two came in - but what exactly was it, again?
Well, just set out some water and see if there's enough silverware out there ... unless I remember anything else that is your duty, cabin girl. Another faint smile appeared on her somehow age-resistant face as she referred to this one as a 'cabin girl', and then she walked back towards the stove to try and remember what she might have been missing, if anything. Now what was it, again? She just hoped she would remember before something burned or caught fire.

 

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Esmeralda beamed at Shannon, pleased with her new 'title'. "I doubt they'll be late for dinner. We're all starving teenagers, after all," she said lightly before scooping up the water jug. "Yes, Captain!" she added, complete with salute.

She left the water jug on the table and counted silverware fast. Yeah, it was all there. She couldn't help feeling kind of wearily pleased with the day - in the weeks since the storm and that horrible, horrible night, she'd been nothing but miserable. Today, she was...better. Yeah, better. She was going to be okay.

Glancing around, she frowned. Where were the water glasses? She'd better go get them.

Turning around, she headed back into the kitchen and hunted around for a few minutes. She emerged again with glasses balanced precariously in her arms, and juggled them for a few minutes while placing them.

Throughout all of this, she didn't even look at Xavier more than she had to.

~

Roman walked with her in silence for some time, deep in thought. Though he couldn't know it, his thoughts and Kahlilia's were running along the same lines.

What would happen to them now? Their friendship was over. It was gone, and there was no going back to that. He danced uneasily away from the idea of love, but what remained then was...awkwardness that would never go away.

So what was he supposed to do?

Friendship gone. Love still too new and frightening for him to accept it.

He'd have to take it a day at a time, that was all.

He walked her to the girl's cabin and smiled at her. "I'll go tell Shannon that you're just changing and you'll be with us in a minute," he said, gently teasing. "Don't make me a liar."

There was a hesitation - what did he do now? Eventually he took the safe route, and just gently squeezed her hand before letting it go. "I'll see you there," he said. Then he turned away and headed down towards the ranch house.

Upon opening the door, he gave Shannon an easy grin and completely ignored Xavier. "Honey, I'm home!" he called, and Ez immediately retorted with, "Like we could miss you."

Laughing, he came in to join them. "Lily's on her way," he told Shannon. "She just wanted to clean up a bit first."  

[minus infinity]

Kahlilia stood up on her toes as the two of them stopped in front of the girl's cabin, although she was unaware of it until Roman let go of her hand and she stood back on her feet to balance herself. She looked up at him. What had she been waiting for, anyway? ... She was sure that she loved him, but she also still at least had to remember what Esmeralda had told her. How could she have been so foolish? It was simply luck that the other girl hadn't chewed her out upon finding them the way they were earlier. If that sort of thing ever happened again, her friends could be gone just like that. But ...
'Bye,' she mouthed to him a little too late, he had already turned away by then. And so with a slight bit of hesitation, Lily turned the other way and went into her cabin.
As soon as she had closed the door behind her the girl slumped against it and wished she could cry for all the confusion she felt, but she almost felt too sober to do so. Instead she got naked, again. Again. What a thought.
Cleaning herself up as much as she could for now, Lily changed into the first outfit she saw, which was a short strapless black romper. The little one-piece had a sweetheart neckline, and briefly Lily's hand went to her collarbone. She shivered a little, thinking about how he had nipped her there. She had pounced on him just shortly after, and then ...
Lily's hands shot up to pull her hair to rouse herself from her thoughts. Ow! Well, that had certainly worked. She had tied her hair in loose pigtails that hung over her shoulders and tapered to an end near her bust, and when she pulled her hair the blue bows she had used to tie her hair up fell by her feet. That was another two minutes as she fussed with her hair (and why was she suddenly more fussy about her hair than before?)
But finally she decided that she needed to go get lunch and show Shannon that she was in fact alive and well. Sort of, at least.
___________________


Xavier either tensed or flinched when he heard Roman's voice, he didn't know which. But either way, it wasn't anything good. He didn't look at the other man, the growing tension with both of them in the same room was enough to know that maybe it should stay that way. For now he was waiting for the tardy Lily to arrive until he started trouble. And maybe when Shannon wasn't looking ...
Shannon still looked kind of worried, probably because she was still missing one of her campers. Xavier still wasn't sure what he thought of all this, ... or what 'all this' meant. He just knew he couldn't ask himself questions or appear weak, for right now. His leg still throbbed with pain, but hopefully by the end of lunch he would be able to walk normally again. Hopefully by the end of lunch he would leave with his sanity still intact - but neither were for sure.
_________________________________________


Upon hearing her cuckoo clock chime, Shannon was able to realize that it was noon - and with the late start to lunch she hoped Esmeralda was right about dinnertime. When the clock in the living room stopped chiming, Shannon said lightly, Yeah, I must have just forgotten. She was starting to get a little worried, even though she did believe what Esmeralda had told her. What horse was that brother of hers assigned to, anyway? She couldn't really remember writing him down with a particular horse when he had arrived, the day Esmeralda was injured. Said injury had caused so much chaos that such a mundane thing had completely slipped her mind.
And then she heard the door open and heard a male voice calling. She looked up. Yes, there he was now - looking like he probably had to duck underneath her door to come in. Both men here at her ranch right now were so tall she lightly wondered what they thought of ceiling fans.
The other man didn't look very happy to see Roman but Shannon couldn't hide a chuckle or two the way the brother and sister duo interacted when they saw one another. Now if only she and her siblings had kept up contact.
Well look who finally decided to show up, she said lightly. Haven't seen you in a while. Sit down.
In fact, last time she had seen him was the night of the storm when he and Lily came to offer to bring in the cattle. Where was Lily? Oh, Roman said she just needed to clean up a bit. Shannon smiled. She remembered how close they seemed (standing close together, very in tune with one another mentally) the night of the storm and wondered if there had been any hook-ups on her ranch. She had to hold back a chuckle at that thought.
What she didn't know yet was that her campers didn't really feel like joking around right now.
In a good mood, Shannon hummed softly as she brought out some celery with peanut butter. Can it be that it was all so simple then? Or has time rewritten every line? Whats too painful to remember we simply choose to forget, so it's the laughter we will remember.
Can I recruit one or two of ya'll to help me bring lunch out? And that means you, mister. She pointed to Roman at that and winked teasingly, feeling more relief than concern now that she knew she'd finally see her campers again for a little while. But at the back of her mind, she still wondered what was taking Lily so long.

 

[SilentShadowDreamer]

((OOC: So cruel. Get me all excited when I see that you posted in Heaven, and it's just a bump. D8!))

Esmeralda laughingly protested, "Hey, I thought I was the cabin girl!" She shook her head at Roman. "Walk in the door and suddenly you're stripping me of my title already."

After his response, she gave him a pointed look; she knew perfectly well that his desire to make her go sit had nothing to do with wanting to bring out the stuff from the kitchen alone and everything to do with what he would consider a 'delicate' condition. To hell with that.

But his pointed glance back informed her that no, she wasn't going to win if she tried to argue with him right now. Especially because arguing with him would require airing all her secrets in front of Shannon. Who would probably send her home if she knew. And the last thing Ez wanted was to go home.

So she stuck her tongue out at him and plopped cheerfully into a seat - but one that gave her at least one seat's space from Xavier.

"It's because I'm a man," Roman replied lightly. "Apparently it is our duty and honour to do the fetching and carrying when a lady asks us to." He grinned at Shannon. "And the lady did ask me to. So go sit down, little sister. Let me go drag things out of the kitchen." Walking into the kitchen, he proceeded to stack entirely too many covered dishes on top of one another and bring them out, somehow miraculously avoiding dropping them as he spread them across the table.

After another trip, he'd basically cleared the kitchen of anything Shannon had cooked for lunch, and was kneeling down and playing with the clucking, pecking Kitty. "You're lucky you didn't end up as lunch if you're hanging around the kitchen all the time," he informed the hen. "One day Shannon will realize she forgot to buy groceries for lunch, and then where will you be?"

What on earth was taking Lily so long? Had she managed to get lost between the cabins and Shannon's house or what? Maybe he ought to go fetch her...

But no, he was being ridiculous. She was cleaning up. After seventeen years of living with his little sister, if he didn't know how long it took for a woman to be ready when she said she was going to 'clean up', he'd spent his life with his head in the river.  

[minus infinity]

Random Ranch Fact of the day #3:

-spins around-
There is progress on the Summer-Chris territory!
I finally got off my a** and PMed Wolf - she said she'll think over roleplaying her characters (or giving them over to us) and get back to me. So yay!
That is all. xD

 

[minus infinity]

Xavier rolled his eyes hearing Roman's response to his sister, but thankfully did nothing else until the door opened again and a scantily clad Lily walked in. With a slight lifting of his hands, he was a nanosecond away from uttering a loud wolf-whistle just to cause trouble when Shannon beat him to it. He could never say he was attracted to the mouse of a girl, but it seemed the easiest way to get to the other two. Right now Shannon was disregarding the way they were interacting for the most part--
Lily tripped on her clunky boots (damn girl still probably had to wear children's size shoes) and ran right into him, bumping him from the right side. Xavier responded by giving her a surprisingly gentle push back over and she regained herself in one of the most awkward ways he had ever seen; it was then that he decided to let out a loud wolf whistle. She was trying to pull up her top as he did so and she immediately found a seat away from him. Shannon was so far feeling lighthearted, whether that was good or bad, and laughingly told the flushed girl something Xavier didn't pay attention to. Either way, he probably shouldn't have for some reason or another. Blaire always told him to go away whenever she needed to have whatever 'girl talks' were.
Shannon sat down then next to him (because none of the others were, actually they looked like they were even huddling together) and told the four of them that she needed to talk to them in a surprisingly serious tone, but then lightened back up by saying But we'd better have lunch first.
Xavier didn't know if he was hungry or not right now, his mind wasn't exactly on something as trivial (for him) right now. However, he obediently passed a large bowl of salad to the next person over (Esmeralda) without a word to the others, at least not yet.
_________________________________________


Shannon smirked at the siblings and just shook her head, even though her lighthearted demeanor faded for those few moments when she saw Roman trying to balance everything. Hold on there Jethro, She had told him, and with that Kitty uttered a sudden loud cluck. Roman was playing with her after setting everything down, and Kitty was pecking in what sort of didn't look like a playful way anymore. Kitty, be nice ... yep, this girl just lives on the edge of danger every day. As she gently reprimanded her gregarious chicken her voice took on a surprisingly motherly tone - her only children were her animals. Kitty continued to peck and cluck at Roman despite the warning, or at least until he sat down. Then she looked disappointed, like a child being left behind by their parents when they had to go to work. But then, acting once again like a child, Kitty went into a frenzy of clucking and walked towards the door when it opened again and Lily came in, looking a little nervous. Shannon picked Kitty up before the hen decided she wanted a taste of the boots Lily was wearing, but then she looked the younger girl up and down and told her that Honey, I hope you're not planning on going riding in that. Ever hear of saddle burn? Lily giggled nervously, and before Shannon knew it the tiny girl had tripped all over Xavier as though she were a rock star's crazed fan. She could have sworn she heard the boy growl, but then she arrived to help the flushed girl up from her awkward position. It's only been four weeks of camp, honey, relax your hormones. You hear? Lily had flushed even more, if that was possible, and soon sat down close to the siblings and hid her face in her hair. Shannon smiled and took the signal that the teens were ready for lunchtime, so she sat down too with a small sigh. Kitty stayed by Roman, as though she wanted to be played with again, but she was usually no interruption during lunchtime unless of course she was given treats. Then she went crazy.
I need to talk to ya'lls, Shannon said as she took her attention off of Kitty and looked each of the four teens in the eyes. But we'd better have lunch first.
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Kahlilia walked slowly, working on breaking in the brown cowboy boots she hadn't even put on since the first week here on the ranch. She fiddled with her loose pigtails, she adjusted her boots and she pulled up the top half of the romper as not to reveal what she wasn't already. Well, at least she had put on sunscreen (and also a little lip gloss.)
She reached the door and pursed her lips together briefly to taste coconut. Why was she being hesitant? ... She opened the door and squeaked out an amazingly awkward hello as she came in, her boots loosely clicking. Kitty, having walked over, looked a little too interested in her boots, but right about the time she was bracing herself for a painful peck on the toe Shannon bent down and picked her up. She saw Xavier's eyes on her as she came closer, and she tried not to look at him. She might turn to stone if she did.
Giggling nervously at Shannon's reaction to her choice of outfit, Lily was about to sit down when she lost her balance and tripped right onto Xavier. Hell of all hell! She froze, her mind not forming so much as a coherent thought until she felt Xavier push her. Shannon helped her up after an amazingly awkward show of Lily gasping, jumping away and pulling up the strapless top of the romper she wore; Shannon laughing gently. Then Lily found a spot far from Xavier and hid her face in her hair, embarrassed.