Two of Hearts (Open)

[Miranda Florin]

Miranda finished polishing Aros' coat to a gleaming shine, then stepped back to take a look at him. She had decided that two horses to start under saddle were too many, with her courseload, and luckily, Kent had been good enough to find a friend near Mineral Wells to take on the appaloosa, someone who Miranda knew trained their horses well enough. Her brother would be coming to pick up the horse, and Nox, any minute now. As she thought of the cat, she looked down at the cat carrier sitting at her feet. The academy had shot Nox's nerves a bit too much, and the cat always looked stressed out. She had decided that a calmer place would be better for him, and the cat would be moving back home, to live in the barn at the Florin ranch.

Before it was time for Kent to arrive, Miranda wandered down to Harr's stall. The gelding had been worsening in condition, wasting away, almost, and while Miranda had been doing everything she could for him, nothing seemed to be having enough of an effect to combat what the gelding had contracted, which seemed to be proving itself just a factor of age. The gelding was still the same, so Miranda left him and walked back to Aros' stall, carefully rubbing his forehead, whispering to the horse.

[Aspen Kayla Smith]

Aspen had some time on her hands to head over to White Oaks barn to check on Bali. She hasn't had much time to really spend much time with the Morgan. Besides during classes. Yet she should really take the horse on a trail ride some time. Just not right now, since she's a bit busy this week. She sighed at the thought as she regretted herself from getting so worked up on trying to fit in. It's better that she just worry about Bali's happiness and still keeping a calm mind, not that she didn't care about her horse. At least it's a good time to maybe feed the mare and later clean out the stall if she made good use of her time. She will figure it out when she gets there.

As she spotted the barn in view she wrapped around her thin, yet warm Autumn coat. She really didn't like her winter coats, all puffy with goose down and such. It's like dressing up as a giant marshmellow. She shivered at the image of her being a big, white, plush marshellow as she entered the barn. She walked down the aisle of horses and glanced at each stall. All the horses were magnificent in different perspectives. She was glad to have interest in these graceful animals, even if their personality was different. She found Bali's stall and got a whicker towards her appearance at the horse's stall, surprised to see her owner. She grinned as she spotted a girl walk by and over to this lovely Appaloosa. Aspen happened to walk by as she gazed for a second at the horse the student had. "Lovely horse you have there.." She commented with a light, yet friendly grin towards her.

OOC: May I join? (:

[Miranda Florin]

Miranda looked up from where she was tracing circles through Aros' fur, thinking of how head shy the gelding had been, and knowing to appreciate the time that he was allowing her to touch his face, although it would take a long time for him to extend the same trust to anyone else. She was faintly aware of another person in the barn, close to Aros' stall, but hadn't really focused on the other person, preferring to enjoy her last few minutes with Aros. As the girl spoke up, though, Miranda turned towards her, slowly, so that she didn't spook Aros away from her, "Thank you." She looked at the gelding, who had neatened up considerably since she had first seen him. The rain rot had been gone, and his coat was sleek and glossy. She had gotten the gelding's hooves trimmed, which had taken a lot of patience, but now, he was the picture of health... As long as one didn't get too close and notice how shy the gelding still was. "I just hope he'll look as nice when he gets to his new home." She rubbed a flat hand along the gelding's neck, glancing at the cat carrier in the stall, making sure that it was still there.

[Aspen Kayla Smith]

Aspen knew the girl must be a student, obviously. If she was boarding her the horse here, she must be. 'Yeah, smart thinking there, Aspen..' She thought to herself as she pretending to roll her eyes towards herself in her imagination. She glanced back over to the student and her gelding as she replied with a predictable thank you. She gave a nod as in 'you're welcome' back to her. The horse was actually quite handsome. She gave a light smile towards the pair before listening to the girl speak up once more. She nodded to let her know she was listening. Not spacing out, like she would normally do, once in a while. "Ah... Home sweet home." She commented with a short, yet sweet, kind of laugh.

It kind of reminded her of her own hometown and how it wasn't really home sweet home later on in her life's history. Don't want to go down that rode again. She just brushed it off before deciding to introduce herself to get rid of the awkward silence from a few short minutes ago. "I'm Aspen, by the way.." She added. It may be a moment too early to introduce herself already, yet had to bring up something to get rid of the awkward moments.

[Miranda Florin]

Miranda smiled grimly at the girl's words, "At least I hope so, for his sake." While she had managed to form a tentative connection with the gelding, she knew that he would be far better off with someone who could focus their time and efforts onto him, and only him. As the other girl introduced herself, Miranda smiled, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Aspen." Just as she was about to ask what horse the girl had been visiting, to stimulate the conversation a little bit more, Miranda saw her brother walking towards them. As he approached them and stopped a few steps away from them, Miranda smiled at him and walked over to give him a hug, "How was your drive over here? I'm so glad that you made it! How was the clinic?" She knew that her brother had attended a clinic north of Kentucky, and had changed his route to stop by the school on his way back home. She stepped back and smiled at Aspen, "Kent, this is Aspen. Aspen, this is Kent, my older brother."

She watched silently as Kent turned to the other girl, smiling, and held out his hand, "It's wonderful to meet you, Aspen." It was clear that he was surprised at the introduction, but Miranda didn't mind at the moment. Anything to ease the awkward silence that had been between the two girls before her brother had arrived. After the formalities, Kent turned to look at his sister, "I'm fine, I'm glad that I arrived safely too, the clinic was great, and Tango and I learned a lot." He looked towards the gelding whose stall they were standing by, "So, I'm going to venture a guess and say that this fellow is Aros?"

[Aspen Kayla Smith]

Aspen gave her a reassuring smile, trying to make her feel better. At least a little. "At least I hope so, for his sake." She knew if the horse was going back home. The home must obviously be a ranch of some kind. Where else would you keep a horse then? Seems like an interesting topic to discuss or think about. 'Not now! Later..' Duh, how stupid can she be at the moment. She got back to reality again when the student spoke up once more. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Aspen." She nodded and wanted to reply, but hasn't learned the girl's name yet. She'll find out the name maybe later on during their short conversations. She knew the girl was going to ask her something, but she already spoke up first. 'Great, Aspen.. Guess you spoke up too early.' She thought, frustrated at herself.

She heard the sounds of footsteps approaching them as a boy, older then the both of them, came up to them. She looked over and gave a friendly grin towards the stranger. She watched lightly as the girl swung her arms over the the boy. She knew that she must know him. She listened to their conversation, just snooping slightly since the conversation was like just right up front. She gave another light, but friendly smile towards the boy, Kent, as he was introduced to her, learning that he was the student's older brother. That explains it all now. She shook his outstretched hand and replied. "It's nice meeting you too, Kent." She kept her light smile as he replied to his sister's questions. She then got curious about him working at the clinic. She worked as a student at the small animal vet clinic herself. Obviously different. "If you don't mind me asking, what clinic do you work, or visit, at?" She asked curiously. Just wanting to start some other conversation.

[Miranda Florin]

Miranda watched the two of them interact, smiling, as she rubbed a hand along Aros' strong neck. As the girl asked Kent about what clinic he worked at, Miranda used her other hand to stifle a giggle. She was the one to work at an actual vet clinic, being a large animal vet student, but Aspen wouldn't know that. Her brother, however, simply smiled benevolently, "I attended an eventing clinic up in West Virginia with my mare, Tango, in the hopes of getting a bit of a leg up for the circuit." He grinned easily, "At least, it helped me a lot. Tango didn't need it, of course, she's wonderful that way, but she did it all anyway." He waved the concern away, "Unlike some people I don't have a problem admitting that my horse is far better at what we do than I am." The mare had been trained by their parents, so of course, she was a wonderful mount. Kent glanced down at his watch, then, obviously deciding that he had a bit of time to talk with the girls, he asked, "What horse were you visiting, Aspen?" He turned to his sister, lobbing a question her way as well, "And how is your Untameable, Mir?"

Miranda rolled her eyes at her brother's question to her. "Fingal," she started, stressing the name, "is doing fine. He's actually stopped in his pacing, and when the Valarian hits him, he's even looked interested in me once or twice." She turned to Aspen, grinning, "Fingal is one of my 'projects' at the moment, I'm a large animal vet student. He was left in the yards and I found him in the morning, a few months back."

[Aspen Kayla Smith]

Aspen glanced over to the Kent's sister as she stifled a giggle. She didn't know if it was the wrong thing to ask or what, but it's already out there in the open. So she can't really take it back now. "I attended an eventing clinic up in West Virginia with my mare, Tango, in the hopes of getting a bit of a leg up for the circuit." As the boy starting to answer her question. His time at the clinic sounded very interesting. She continued to listen as he continued to add on to the topic. She nodded and added a grin to show that she heard it all, not trying to zone out. Unlike how she was last time. She gave a short, but light chuckle at his comment about admitting how his horse is better than him. Her thoughts popped up as he asked about the horse she was visiting.

"Oh, I was just visiting my own horse. Balsamo, er.. Bali.. Which is her barn name.." She stumbled upon her words slightly. Not knowing what's going on in her head. "Excuse me as I'm a bit clutzy in my thoughts at the moment.." She gave a kind of embarrassed grin to the pair before moving on with the subject. 'Great first impression, goof..' She thought, frustrated once again. She listened as he asked his sister about this untameable horse. 'Mir'. Probably part of the girl's nickname. She didn't know what the rest of the name was, but she'll figure it out.

As Mir replied to his comment. She heard the horse was Fingal, hearing some of the stress put on the name. She wondered what was so bad with the horse. She then grinned back as she understood that she was a vet student. "Cool, I bet it's fun to work as a vet student and work with different large animals, guessing horses most of all to be specific." She replied to her comment with a light smile.

[Miranda Florin]

Kent smiled as the girl answered his question, nodding as though he understood totally. Miranda watched the way the pair of them interacted, jealous as always of her brother's people skills. He had the personality to be the most popular boy of the school, but also the face that showed everyone that he cared about them, and only them, at the moment that he was talking to them. She stayed out of the conversation, listening as Kent replied, "That's quite alright, you probably weren't coming in here looking for an inquisition." He turned back to his sister, pausing as the girls talked on about Fingal. At his sister's correction, he rolled his eyes, but gave in without another word.

Miranda smiled and shrugged at Aspen's answer, "It's fun at times, sometimes it's really nerve-wracking, though." She nodded, "It is mostly horses, though." She nodded at Aros, "Like this guy, here."

At the mention of why he had come, Kent seemed to decide that he should start moving on again. He stepped forward and offered his hand to the gelding, who tossed his head and backed away. Kent snorted with laughter, "Miranda, you didn't tell me that he was scared of everyone too." He glanced at Aspen and hurried to explain, "Since I was passing by anyway, Miranda asked me to transport this crazy guy to his new home, because she gave up on him."

Miranda rolled her eyes and shook her head, then picked up the gelding's halter from the hook next to the gelding's stall, smiling, "He just isn't as quick to trust as any other horse." She held out the halter to the gelding, and had it buckled securely within a matter of seconds. She glanced at Kent with an I-told-you-so smile, then grinned at Aspen, "Is it alright if I load him up? He knows something is up, and I don't want to keep him tense too long." She opened the stall door and pulled the cat carrier out, dumping it into Kent's arms, "Don't worry, Nox still trusts you a bit."