♥ Starr Ranch ♥ 1x1 ♥ Remake/Continuation ♥

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Esmeralda's dark eyes were full of amusement throughout the entire scene. "Okay," she replied when she heard Shannon's request. Though she wondered what it might be about, she wasn't too concerned. She never was - she was an incredible liar.

Tucking her dark hair back behind one ear, she accepted the bowl from Xavier, took a little, and then passed it on to Lily, who seemed to have set herself between the siblings so as to have as many people between her and Xavier as humanly possible.

Though she had to wonder about that, she put it down to embarrassment - Xavier was an a**, and Lily was too gentle to put him in his place. Brushing aside her hair again, since it seemed determined to get in her face, she picked up the next dish. She thought it was some meat thing - maybe a meat pie of some sort, but just the scent of it made her stomach lurch unpleasantly, and she quickly handed it off to Roman to distract him from what had happened.

Roman's reaction to Xavier pushing Lily back from the table was quite different. His eyes narrowed and a very soft sound - not quite a growl, but pretty close - came from him. Shannon might not notice, but Esmeralda did, and she shot him a quick glance before pushing a pan of something in his general direction. He accepted it and the unspoken warning together, and took some of the meat pie inside before passing it on to whoever was next.

When Lily had walked in in that...thing, he swore he'd felt himself nearly swallow his tongue. Luckily he'd been able to correct his facial expression and rein in his shock before anyone else had noticed it.

Why the hell did she have to pick that particular outfit? Was she trying to kill him?

Once Lily sat down, Roman schooled his features back to calm and gave her a somewhat easy nod before turning his attention politely to Shannon so that she could tell them what she needed to talk to them about.  

[SilentShadowDreamer]

((OOC: Bumpeh. >.> <3))  

[minus infinity]

Revival post!

 

[minus infinity]

Xavier didn't hear the growl because Lily was practically on top of him when it happened, but he did know the other man wasn't happy about it. Well, it wasn't exactly like he was either. Resisting the urge to dust himself off afterward, he watched Shannon without comment as she decreed her orders of business. The new filly was a fatty, he knew that - the same thing had happened to him. You go into the barn and there would be Ariel begging for a treat like she was starving. He'd also known it had been any of those three, who practically acted like the filly's biological parents, who were the culprits. Obviously, he excluded Shannon and himself (if he had done it himself he would have remembered, for God's sake) so now he had confirmation - which was good, one less thing to dwell on, no matter how far in the back of his mind it might have been. (Sometimes, even tiny matters like that could be the straw that broke the camel's back ... not like he would know or anything, though.)
The next order of business surprised him: Shannon had remembered to write down the horses everyone was assigned to except for Roman. Huh? Xavier honestly didn't remember much, or didn't really care enough to, recall the circumstances in which Roman had arrived on the ranch. He hadn't been there when Esmeralda got herself a concussion and had only heard about the injury once before - from Esmeralda herself, of course.
If I wasn't ready, I wouldn't be here.
Wasn't that what she had said? Something like that.
He continued to watch and listen without comment, not feeling he had anything to say now that he'd embarrassed Lily enough to piss herself and probably set the other two off well enough. He might say he was proud of himself for his accomplishments, but that wasn't necessarily true - there was still so much more in store.
It was when the third order of business came that he would be rocked to his very core.
_________________________________________


First order of business.
Shannon took a sip of the vanilla tea she had made for herself before continuing. That, and I'm sure you all know about our pretty filly Ariel ... name generously donated by them two. With another sip of her tea Shannon briefly gestured with a flick of the hand towards Roman and Lily, Lily who tilted her head to the side. Who on earth has been spoiling her? Rather than scolding or reprimanding in tone, Shannon was laughing. It was simple, really, Shannon loved to laugh like a teenage schoolgirl. And now they knew. Ya'lls, I come in there and she's pokin' her head out lookin' for treats like a kid in a candy store. Shannon heard Lily giggle very softly at the comparison, and smiled a little. Hadn't she heard one of the boys growl just a minute ago? She glanced at both of them quickly. Giggling was definitely a much better sound. One of ya'lls ... Shannon looked at each of the four campers with a mockingly serious gaze,
(Judge Barklee presiding)
Makin' my filly a fatty.
And then the tiny girl wearing that tiny scrap of clothing bit her lip and looked away. A sign of being guilty, if anything else. Shannon took a third sip of tea and raised one eyebrow at her campers playfully. Well, now she had the answer to that question, but she still had many more. She might have given Lily some playful remark about how she was sentenced to twenty five years to life for giving Ariel a few extra pounds to work off, but the girl had been so completely embarrassed by both her remark about her outfit and then falling all over Xavier, who still looked slightly uncomfortable, that she decided she shouldn't and moved on to the next thing.
Second order of business. Kitty clucked, and it was like how when someone wants to get attention they clang their spoon against their glass or something like that. Roman, Shannon was proud of herself for remembering their names even though she barely saw them, but when there were times that she might forget she much preferred to nickname them - like when she had called him Jethro a bit earlier. What horse are you assigned to? I never got the time to ask you, 'specially the way you came onto the ranch in perfect time to save Cabin Girl here (again with the nicknames) so it always just slipped my mind. You chose a horse? Or should I say, did a horse choose you? Shannon chuckled softly, remembering that the latter was how she had become acquainted with Dancing Dolly. Just like Phoenix did, Dancing Dolly had a pretty extensive little life story of her own - Dancing Dolly was her oldest horse and Phoenix was just Phoenix. He was a force to be reckoned with, that grumpy old man. Before Roman would answer her and shock her with his news, she wondered briefly if they had seen him around often. Usually he might be pretty elusive, but some of the mares were starting to show signs of being in heat and that was a cue for Phoenix if there ever was one. Hmmm ... we've got ourselves Shadow and Thunder, them mares Summer and Chris left behind, and StarStruck and Zira and Kelly ... well, she's still gotta be with her baby. She looked at him thoughtfully, done talking only for a moment. In the meantime, Kitty too felt just as talkative as her owner was. She clucked on and off like a young child might, pausing maybe to think about something or another and then starting up again on something that might be completely and utterly different than something they said before. She had been bathed last week, but still wasn't quite ready to forgive Shannon for being submerged in a bucket of warm water close to lunchtime ... so she hung around Roman and Esmeralda and Kahlilia instead, who in trying to avoid Xavier were at some distance away from Shannon as well. Couldn't she please have some treats? Some lettuce would do just fine, sure, but corn would be heavenly, thank you! Shannon was noticing this, and tried to get Kitty to come over to her once or twice with a beckon and a whistle, but when the chicken refused she spoke again. This time, she addressed all four of them.
I haven't seen ya'lls in what seems like forever. Tell me, what's been goin' on? Any more threats to sue? Any more injuries I should know about? Still watching them with a mix of curiosity and playfulness, she sipped her tea once more. Hopefully they didn't feel like they were under interrogation or anything. She certainly didn't want to chase them off.
__________________________________________



Well, that was it then. Lily had finally been caught sneaking treats to her little trio of horses (well, or at least one of the three) and would have to stop ... or, at least, try and cut it down. She knew enough that she didn't want to make the horses really start gaining weight, sure, but ... jeez, she wouldn't say she couldn't help it, but ...
Oh, whatever. Stop blushing and stop biting your lip and be a good girl. Lily shifted slightly, looking at Shannon with blue-green colored cautiousness. Could she tell she had given herself up, and that she was no longer ... innocent? Could she tell that she had betrayed a friend, and that she was completely and hopelessly in love (whether or not she was ready to admit it)?
Lily listened to Shannon's second order of business, trying to escape her thoughts as pointless an effort that might already be, remembering that Roman had never told Shannon he had assigned himself to Phoenix (or vice versa), but hadn't he been planning to the night of the storm? But she knew it hadn't happened that night, either, because of how everything suddenly just became a blur of rain and trying to get the lowing, slightly reluctant cattle back in. Yes, she remembered, he hadn't told her yet. Lily wondered in the back of her mind with faint amusement how Shannon might react to the news.
In the meantime, she took a sip of water. With the hand that had been washed of the blood that had been on it, but not completely clean. She couldn't feel that way. Esmeralda had told her to take a bath and that she would, but would it be enough?
Stop that, her parents might have said to her. Stop thinking that way. You're our little girl, and we love you. There's nothing anyone else can do about that.
Oh, jeez. She had barely talked to her parents in the last week. Startled by the realization, she patted her lap stupidly as though to find a phone, but because the clothing she wore bore no pockets there was none. Her phone was in her room, turned off because she couldn't find her charger yesterday and her phone was about to die on her. She had found it this morning ... and she needed to call her parents! How could she have forgotten?
Because she'd tore all her clothes off like a banshee. Because she'd seduced her best friend mercilessly. Because she'd engaged in premarital sex even though before she left and in the years before her parents had made sure she knew that premarital sex could and would land her in some seriously hot water. And that she was. Why hadn't she listened to them? Was she a whore, a slut, a harlot? Was she Kahlilia, her parent's baby girl, or someone else now? Lily took another sip of water, trying to quiet her thoughts again. Sometimes when she needed to cut her worries short, she would tell herself shh out loud, but there was no way she would do that right now. She had done enough to humiliate herself in the course of one day.

 

[SilentShadowDreamer]

The flash of amusement in Esmeralda’s eyes as Kahlilia blushed and looked away couldn’t be denied. She thought it was adorable – she hadn’t been giving the little filly any treats, because that could only end one way, but she absolutely spoiled her rotten with attention whenever she got the chance. She couldn’t seem to help herself; the little foal’s absurdly oversized ears and silly long legs brought out all the maternal instinct she was trying to repress. The creature was just too damn cute.

Not that she was going to fess up, of course. Attention wasn’t going to get a filly fat. Spoiled, maybe, but not fat.

When Shannon turned her attention to Roman, the mildly awkward look on her big brother’s face sent Esmeralda into a silent giggle fit. He noticed, and gave her a pointed stare that only made her shoulders quiver more. Watching her brother stare uncomfortably at his plate, Ez’s eyes twinkled mischievously, but fortunately (or unfortunately) Shannon moved right along before Esmeralda could tease him about it and get him to say something.

It was only then that Esmeralda began to worry at all. She – and Lily – knew that Phoenix adored Roman. They’d seen him ride the big stallion, seen the easy and uncomplicated affection between the two of them. If Roman could keep control of Phoenix when there was a mare flirting with him, then clearly they worked just fine together.

But Shannon didn’t know that. What if she said that Roman couldn’t ride Phoenix anymore and that he had to choose a different horse? Looking at Roman with new eyes, she could see the nerves under his discomfort. That was what Roman was worrying about, too, she realized. He was afraid that Shannon wouldn’t give him a chance to explain the difference that he was making with Phoenix and would say that Roman had to pick a different horse.

So when Shannon moved on to the next order of business, Esmeralda leaped right in. “Oh, you know, just been the usual,” she said, her voice just a shade too bright. “Riding all the time, making the foal fat, never doing a lick of work,” and there she winked, knowing Shannon knew as well as they did that they were still doing the chores, “partying in the barn all night. Your neighbours hate us, by the way, and are threatening to sue if they don’t get invited to the parties from now on.” Esmeralda was clearly just on a roll here. “Um, hmm…I’ve still made it my summer’s ambition to find a real unicorn, but Roman assures me that’s not going to be a thing because they only live in Australia.” Flashing a grin, she asked lazily, “Anything else?”


~

Roman appreciated Esmeralda’s brief example of levity – it had been awhile since she’d gone cheerfully snarky instead of angrily sarcastic, and it was nice to see that she hadn’t been totally changed by the…problem. He knew he shouldn’t think of it like that, especially when she was clinging to it so hard after what had happened to Dev, but she was only seventeen, damn it, and that was too young. What was she going to do?

Pushing a hand through his hair, he agreed casually, “Can’t say as there’s been too much excitement since Summer and Chris left. I’ve been keeping an eye on little Miss Accident-Prone there,” and Esmeralda stuck her tongue out at him childishly, making him smile, “so there haven’t been any problems. Also, Ez, I demand to know why I haven’t been invited to these barn parties.”

Hearing Esmeralda laugh made him relax a little. She was still his baby sister. Nothing had changed that much, if she could still laugh when he made fun of her. “Obviously you haven’t been keeping too close an eye,” she teased right back.

Putting on his best dignified expression, Roman replied loftily, “I am above such petty things as watching your sillier moments, sibling.”

As Ez collapsed into giggles, Roman turned back to Shannon’s earlier question. “Actually, ah, I was going to talk to you about it earlier, but one thing after another sort of came up and I never had the chance until now.” He shrugged sort of helplessly. “I’ve, ah, been working with Phoenix since the first day I got here – he kind of chose me while I was wandering the paddocks. He’s a great horse, and I think he’s really coming along.” Taking a moment to read Shannon’s expression and feed a few corn kernels to Kitty, he looked a little hesitant and then continued. “If you’d like, I can work him at some point while you’re around so you can see for yourself how he’s doing.”

He didn’t have to look at his little sister to know she approved – if Shannon would only take the time to see just how well Phoenix was doing, she would have to let them keep working at it. Roman didn’t want to choose another horse; he didn’t want to leave Phoenix to revert to what he’d been when Roman had arrived at the ranch. That stallion could be so much more than just a stud horse, and he wanted to be there to see it happen. Hell, he wanted to be the one to help make it happen.

But he couldn’t do it if Shannon refused them the chance.

At least, not openly.
 

[minus infinity]

If Esmeralda's voice became a shade too bright, Shannon didn't really seem to notice. Or, if she did, she said nothing about it. What she did see were a few nerves among the teens, and wondered about that before the topic changed again. She enthusiastically played along with the banter for a bit when the subject did change, telling the four campers that Unicorns can disguise themselves as regular horses, ya know, and also telling Roman that there were such things as girls-only parties, but he might not want to know about those. Or do ya? Lily actually had to cover her mouth to keep back an eruption of laughter (not to mention possibly spilling water everywhere) and Xavier gave a soft chuckle, and Shannon beamed. Seeing all four of them in good spirits was great, and of course she herself was too. She felt nothing short of a maternal instinct for them, and wanted them to have the best time possible while they were here. That was why, had she become aware of the various rifts and the dangerous situations they were getting themselves into and would be again in the future, she would have acted just as an actual mother would. With protection and punishment.
Although she wasn't sure she had the heart to kick anyone off of her ranch, if anyone was in any danger at any time she knew she had to do anything and everything possible to keep them safe. Four pairs of parents (five before Nanina had left) were trusting her with their children, and she didn't want to have to break a promise.
Well, she actually already had - considering all of the accidents that had gone on already. She didn't want to think about the horrible way Chris and Summer's parents had reprimanded her like a little girl when they found out Chris was injured. The thinly veiled insults still stung a little.
So when Roman fessed up, it was actually safety that first came to mind. Phoenix's previous owner had told her that the stallion had bit, even though she never had confessed to the circumstances in which he did. Biting wasn't the worst of it, though.
She could see that Roman was tall enough to ride her tallest and generally most fussy horse, and seemed to have the stamina as well. But what about Phoenix's fear of the hose, and how violently he reacted when it was aimed at him?
Roman, she said to him, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Lily flinch in the fear that she might tell him to re-assign himself to another horse. All of the maternal instinct Shannon felt was in her eyes - it was usually there, yes, but as soon as Roman had confessed the particular glint had become visibly brighter. It was worry, concern, and apprehension. It was a lot of things. Should she tell them Phoenix's story, how when just about as soon as he was old enough to be away from his mother he was sold?
The buyers were the ones who told Shannon that he bit. It was also in this family that he acquired his fear of the hose. The woman had a very large family, and when one has multiple small children it's hard to keep track of all of them at all times.
Her oldest, barely ten, decided to bathe Phoenix with the hose in the yard.

When Phoenix started to become too wild, probably by other borderline abuse tactics by her children but which had never been admitted to by the woman, he was sold to Shannon. At a price far too cheap for the kind of horse that he was. Shannon still had bitterness for the woman even after all these years, a glowing fire in her core that wouldn't cease until the entire house burned down. Phoenix had trust issues from the past as well as the violent fear of the hose, but if Roman had looked past that then Phoenix truly was a prince of a horse.
Much as she hated to admit it, Shannon herself had taken a long time to get past Phoenix's exterior. It had taken Phoenix a very long time to trust her, as well. She looked at Roman now, and thought for a long while in which the tension could be cut with a knife. Maybe if she could see Roman interact with Phoenix for herself ...
I'd like to see ya'll interact with him, Shannon said finally. Is tamorrow okay? Even though she was actually being serious, Shannon's accent remained. It was just as much a part of her as her now silvery hair, and no matter what mood she was in it was just as prominent.
How had Phoenix been behaving himself around her campers, she wondered? She looked up from her plate, eyebrows raised, when Lily suddenly provided that she had been on Phoenix, too. Then, when Lily retracted the statement by admitting that Roman had been there, too, Shannon finally laughed. It seemed Phoenix was coming around - she still wanted to see for herself, though.
_________________________________________


Lily didn't know what to do except giggle once the topic of unicorns came up, mentally relieved at being let off the hook for the time being about the treats. Still, it might be a while before she saw an apple or carrot and not think to herself that it would make a nice treat for the horses.

When Roman finally told Shannon that he and Phoenix had assigned themselves to one another, her gaze flicked from one to the other to gauge their reactions. She saw Roman's nerves, saw the maternal instinct in Shannon's eyes and felt her own nerves as well. The three of them - Ez, Roman and herself - knew how attached the two had become, and them having to be separated would just be traumatizing. For both of them.
So to say she was ecstatic when Shannon gave a tentative "maybe" a bit later was probably an understatement. Deciding to underscore the proof of Phoenix's progress, she blurted out, And I rode him too!
When Shannon and Xavier both raised their brows at her, even though Lily wasn't aware of the latter, she blushed and retracted her statement slightly. ... Well, Roman was behind me. But still. Shannon finally laughed again, after what seemed like a very long time, and Lily smiled a little too. She hoped that Shannon would be able to see the connection between Roman and Phoenix 'tamorrow' - it was certainly visible enough to her.
__________________________________________



For the most part, or at least so far, Xavier largely stayed out of the conversation. And the cuckoo clock stayed silent along with him in reply.

But the sudden and complete tension that resulted out of Roman confessing to Shannon surprised even him. There was only the occasional cluck from Kitty, who was begging corn kernels from the Three Musketeers, the clink of Shannon's tea glass and the long silence. It was uncomfortable, to say the least. Obviously Xavier had seen Phoenix before, and obviously he knew horses could easily do a number on people, but he could tell that there was something else Shannon wasn't telling them. Along with the unmistakable maternal instinct in her eyes, there was some kind of old bitterness too that Xavier couldn't help but wonder about. He knew a lot about bitterness.
When Shannon finally did speak again, there seemed to be some kind of collective breath in the room. And then there was Lily, telling Shannon that she had been on Phoenix too. He raised his eyebrows at her just as Shannon did, not so much this time as to cause trouble but to express a mild disbelief. Because to be honest, once he had fallen he hadn't seen much of what had happened with Roman and Lily. There had been no words spoken, and only a limited sight of them - because he had been on the ground. He had been relying on a hunch for the most part when he had talked to Esmeralda, even though it was mostly true.

Shannon laughed at Lily's statement, and Xavier found he was happy to hear the sound. Whatever was being planned here was clearly a good thing, and for once he decided to stay the hell out of it. He could always wreak havoc later.

 

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Esmeralda had to work hard to keep herself from jumping into that long, terrifying, painful silence with her own explanations and recommendations and insistence. Shannon had to at least give Roman the chance, she just had to—how could she refuse to allow Roman to keep working with Phoenix when they got along so well and Phoenix was getting so much better so quickly? They were just perfect for each other. That horse, Esmeralda would have insisted, needed her brother. That horse needed someone who had the time for him; Shannon obviously didn’t have the time for a troubled, temperamental stallion when she had a whole ranch to run, but aside from chores and occasional trips to town, Roman had little to do. And Phoenix loved him. Shannon had to let them work together.

Thankfully, it turned out that none of the speeches she’d half-prepared in her mind were necessary, but just because Shannon had agreed to at least watch Roman with Phoenix didn’t mean that they were guaranteed the next step. She also knew that Roman wouldn’t want to wait now that he had that sliver of an opening, and even if he would, she wouldn’t; knowing her brother, he’d worry himself sick over the course of the night. So it was probably best if he…

“Well,” she heard Roman say slowly, as though he were thinking hard about what he was about to ask, “if you’ve got a free hour tonight, maybe that would be better. Get it figured out today, one way or the other.”

Yeah, that was about what she’d thought he would say; it wasn’t like her brother to want to put things off, especially things that were as important to him as Phoenix was. Because the horse was important to him, she had known that from the first time she watched them working together. Part of her wondered fretfully what he was going to do once they had to leave; she knew how hard it would be for her to leave Sahara, and she had the assurance that the mare was happy and content and enjoying her life, unlike Phoenix, who had been withdrawn and angry and just nasty to everyone until Roman came along.

But that was months into the future, and now was now.

Sparing a glance in Xavier’s direction, she was surprised to find him looking thoughtful, for once, and gazing at Shannon instead of any of the rest of them. She didn’t think she’d ever seen him look as though he was actually using the brain that (she assumed) he had. For a moment or two, she waited, positive that he was going to try and find some way to ruin it for them; why wouldn’t he, when they were clearly so happy and he spent so much of his time trying to ruin everything?

To her surprise, again, he didn’t. She wasn’t sure she liked being repeatedly surprised by someone she didn’t like very much. She’d have to figure out what was going on in his head, because she was not about to let him get one over on them—that he wasn’t acting like she’d expected meant that he had to be thinking up something nasty, right? Sure. Well, maybe he was, say, a nice person deep down who had simply taken some wrong turns and wasn’t intentionally being an a*****e.

…Yeah, right. Just the idea made her want to snicker.

No, he was thinking up something, and Esmeralda decided it was her job to figure out just what it was, before he did something to ruin this. She would not let him ruin this.


~


Roman wasn’t entirely sure he was breathing until Shannon came back with her response. He could have sworn he was tracking her every thought as she thought it—she was thinking about Phoenix, some part of the horse’s life that was still cut off from him. When he had the time, he determined, he would ask Shannon about what had happened to his—to Phoenix. (It was getting more and more difficult not to think of Phoenix as his horse, even though he knew that this was only a transient summer, that once he left, he would likely never see the stallion again.)

But that would have to wait until Shannon agreed to Roman working with this horse; it had to wait until he and Shannon both knew he had a right to be interested in Phoenix’s past.

When she said the words that meant he had a chance, he let out a quiet breath that he had only just realized he was holding. “Thanks,” he said laconically, not entirely sure how else to respond to that. She was giving them a chance, which meant that he had to make sure Phoenix understood that. One chance. When she came to watch them, he was going to have to make good.

Phoenix had never given him much if any trouble, but he had never been as tense as he was sure he was going to be when Shannon was watching them and making her judgement. What if Phoenix thought he was afraid rather than nervous, started to think there was something to be afraid of? He didn’t know. Maybe there was some way to explain to the horse; hadn’t he thought that it was almost like Phoenix understood him sometimes? The horse was so smart that Roman wouldn’t be in the least bit surprised if he understood at least some of what people were talking about when they talked to him. But if it wasn’t so, if Phoenix freaked because he was nervous, he wouldn’t have another chance to prove them to Shannon. He had to make good and he only had the one shot, and now he was thinking in circles.

If he let these thoughts keep building up this way, there was no way they were going to manage to impress on Shannon that they needed to stay together and work as partners. He’d have to give up Phoenix and pick another. He wasn’t entirely sure he would be able to stay at the ranch if he had to do that, and he knew that Phoenix wouldn’t understand why he’d been abandoned.

A glance at Lily told him that yes, he would stay, he’d have to stay, but it would hurt.

So when Shannon suggested the next day, he came back with a different request. It would be like ripping off a band-aid; no matter what happened, if they did it now, they’d get it over with and he wouldn’t have any more time to build it up in his head. If the worst possibilities happened, then he would just have to deal with the fallout. “Well, if you’ve got a free hour tonight, maybe that would be better. Get it figured out today, one way or the other.”

He didn’t want to presume, but he also wasn’t sure he could deal with waiting as long as that. Trading quick looks with his sister, he saw the pride in her eyes and the slightest hint of a nod; they knew each other well enough that she probably knew what he was thinking about.

Tense and quiet, he waited for Shannon’s answer.