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Darkseeker
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Hayden gave him a half smile. "Thanks. I think he'll do well. It seems he's a bit saucier than most horses I get, but I think we'll be ok." As Hayden finished speaking, one of his friends backed a trailer up, and he loaded the silver gelding with few issues. They waited around a bit longer, and after a little bit the auction finished. The group of teens loaded horses, and made payments, bargaining greatly as they could. Once everyone was satisfied with the money and equines, they did a quick head count, and then all the teens clambered inside trucks and other assorted vehicles, chatting and laughing. After much friendly debating, they decided to go back to Silversage and unload the new additions to the stable, and then go out for lunch to celebrate. The drive back seemed much shorter, and Hayden unloaded his new gelding, letting him loose in a small holding pasture, until the barn was fully ready for new additions, and the gelding could be introduced to the other horses without a lot of pressure to get them in quick. The trucks filled again, and they went to the closest burger place. Nobody cared that the food was sub par, they were starving, and knew that the rest of the summer would be full of training. The owners of the place knew about the auction, since they owned a horse at Silversage, so the conversation stayed easy and light.
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Darkseeker
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Sky felt down most of the ride back. Thankfully he brought his ear buds. He put them in and listened to music the whole way back. They went back to the stables then out to eat. He didnt really want to go but he had already commited to this. He still had his earbuds in the whole time, not taking them out a single time. He ended up not getting food. He just sat there kind of observing everyone but zoning out at the same time. He should be happy, he didnt know why he wasnt in that moment. It was his depression, he didnt need to have a reason to feel like this. Thats what his depression did. He did have reasons, but he shrugged them off like nothing. He felt so miserable but he tried to keep it together. He caught himself glancing at Hayden a lot, he couldnt hear anything though, so if anyone tried to talk to him he wouldnt notice unless he was looking at you. His music drowned out everything, which he liked. He loved it actually, it made him feel better.
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Darkseeker
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Hayden's demeanor softened greatly when he was with his friends, because he didn't feel like he had to put up walls. These were people who'd know him since he was thirteen, and he knew that they wouldn't judge him for anything. As he finished up his food, he glanced at Sky for a split second, just because he felt he ought to check and see if the other boy was still there. When he did so, however, he caught Sky's gaze on him. A slight blush danced over his cheeks, and he looked away quickly, finishing his conversation with a friend, and standing up. "I think I'm going to go back to the barn now," he stated, mostly for his friends' benefit. "Gotta figure out what to name this gelding, and what sort of training methods I'm going to use." The main reason he said this was his conscience. He was a rather situationally savvy person, and could tell that Sky had lost all sense of comfort with Hayden's friend group, and he felt bad. Reaching out, he touched Sky's shoulder with a cool expression. "Do you want to go back with me? I have an extra seat in my car." The offer was said in a soft tone, without much emotion. It was sincere, but not pushy or false.
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Darkseeker
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Sky glanced at Hayden, now standing up. He slowly zoned back in before he received a tap on his shoulder. He then took out an earbud and looked up at the boy. He was confused as to why he was wanting his attention. He and Sky had been very tense lately and angry per se. He definitely didn't expect Hayden to willingly talk to him. "Do you want to go back with me? I have an extra seat in my car." His gaze softened a bit as the boy spoke. "Yeah." Sky said quietly then began to stand up. He was even more confused when Hayden had asked that, although he wasn't going to decline the offer. He felt uncomfortable and nervous with the group of people. He then walked with Hayden to his car, leaving an earbud out in case Hayden tried to talk to him. He smiled a bit while getting into the car, just for a second before returning to his very tired resting face. He closed the door and put his seatbelt on. He glanced at Hayden as he got in before looking out the window. Edited at June 8, 2023 05:20 PM by Scarecrxw
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Darkseeker
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Hayden brushed a hand through his hair as he started the car, driving back to the stables in a comfortable silence. He didn't feel like trying to start a conversation since he was so exhausted from the auction earlier. Once back at Silversage, he parked the car in his usual spot, and pulled the key out, and bit his lip, trying to spit out the words he knew he should say. "Um. Do you want to come up to the barn with me? We can see how much training the gelding will need, and you could maybe ride one of the other horses. Unless you're busy, which is fine. You can just drop in whenever you have time." Hayden shifted in his seat, staring at the steering wheel. "I still have to come up with a name for him, so you could help with that too." He slipped out of the car, closing the door behind him, and heading up the dirt path towards the barn.
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Darkseeker
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Sky glanced over at Hayden as the car came to a stop. He then unbuckled his seatbelt as the boy spoke. "Sure." He answers quietly as he got out of the car. Why? He asked himself. He followed Hayden as he walked towards the barn. Sky knew the perfect name for the gelding. Either Storm or Angel. "For the name, I was thinking Angel or storm." He said as he caught up to Hayden. He brushed his hair out of his face and looked over at Hayden.
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Darkseeker
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Hayden walked into the pasture, his brow furrowing at the suggestions, and he studied the proud gelding. "Hmm." The sound was hushed, and he cocked his head, walking up to the equine, who snorted, and stepped back. Hayden shushed the horse, soothing him, and patted his neck. From the pasture next to them, Versailles put his nose over the fence and whinnied. Hayden turned to him, and laughed. "I still love you, boy. But you're trained well. I still have to work with this lad." Versailles still seemed skeptical, and stamped his feet. Hayden rolled his eyes, and walked over to his handsome gelding, running his fingers through his soft, pale mane. "Calm down, you're being dramatic," he teased, rubbing his original gelding's nose. "You're like a little girl." He shook his head, and walked back to the Mustang, who seemed nervous, and furrowed his brow, looking around. "Why are you nervous?" He murmured. "Did something scare you?" The young man didn't see anything that would have startled the horse, so he shrugged it off. "I need to think about a name for you," he said, after a pause. "It needs to be a pretty posh paper name, and then I can work off of that. Or vice versa. If I can think of a nice nickname, I can work a paper name off of that."
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Darkseeker
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Sky followed Hayden into the barn. He looked at all of the horses nervously. He felt weird hanging out with Hayden, but happy in a way. He was quite anxious though. He followed Hayden to the new geldings stall. He looked at the horse and smiled. He glanced at Hayden a bit as he walked over to his horse, he didn't pay too much attention before looking back at the other gelding. He put his head down a bit then pushed hair behind his ear. He began playing with his hands. He looked at his phone skipping a song, he then turned his music up but kept one earbud out. He looked over at Hayden as he made his way back to the mustang. He rolled his eyes when Hayden brought up thinking about names, implying the ones Sky had suggested he didn't like. Edited at June 14, 2023 05:28 PM by Scarecrxw
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