...When you just can't fall back to sleep// (OPEN)

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Hazy yellow blue light flooded through the spotless window who's curtains still hung lamely at it's sides. She had forgotten to draw them to a close before falling asleep last night. But, that was the last thing on her mind. She had worked with Dakota for fourteen whole hours yesterday, and now she was suffering. Her back ached, her toes were blackened with bruising and her oracles heavily rimmed with purple bags. Although Dakota would never intentionally hurt Scar, he was extremely clumsy and didn't have a clue where to put his feet. So, it was obvious she was going to get trodden on, and she was now all but immune to it. Her thin limbs flew out into a painful stretch, a groan slipping through her pink lips. She wished a million times over that she had pulled the curtains closed, but now the sunlight had woken her from her six hour slumber, there was no turning back. She decided she would go to the reserve, it was situated in town and wasn't so far that she would have to get a ride. Her still sleeping body was hoisted out of bed, a wince making her recoil slightly as she stood. A stumble to the left, knocking her thigh against the bedside table. She clamped her hand over her cursing lips, glancing to her room mate who was thankfully still sleeping. Her other hand clasped her throbbing leg, the first hand dropping to collect up some shorts and a shirt. Her sneakers were picked up along with her back. She would change as she made her way through the dormitory. Nobody would see her anyway, not this early in the morning. She finally made it out the door, casting a look to her unmade bed, making a mental note to make it when she arrived back.

She shrugged off her pajama top, replacing it with the clean shirt she had picked up before leaving the dorm. Her shorts had already replaced the bottoms and all that was left now were the sneakers. Her hands expertly threaded a flower into her tousled red locks. She made it out of the dormitory unseen, planting herself gently onto the front step of the building to place the sneakers on her bare feet. She took a moment to sit on the cold stone, her eyes closing as she sucked in the fresh, already slightly humid, air. She finally gathered the strength to shove herself onto her two feet and set off toward the reserve. As she walked through the lanes and into town, she smiled shyly to early risers jogging or walking their dogs. She pondered to herself, as her stiff limbs carried her awkwardly toward the reserve, whether she should get a dog. Many of the students at the academy had one, and she did like the company of the creatures. Although she had her four equines, they couldn't come into her dorm with her, could they. A dog could. She would be able to cuddle it when she was down, or if she was worried. It was sounding better and better in her mind. She spent the rest of her walk debating what breed she should get.

She finally reached the reserve, startled how quick the time had passed. She had been up at half five, it was now six forty. Her aching body was screaming abuse at her, begging her to sit. She stumbled painfully toward a large patch of grass which was shaded by a large oak tree. She would need the shade when the sun began to rise fully. The scorching weather wasn't her favorite. Being a red head meant she burnt easily, and it wasn't an attractive look. She didn't fancy being a beetroot for the next few weeks. The female lowered her self carefully onto the springy emerald stalks, she had the perfect view of the greeny blue waters ahead. The sun danced on the surface of the liquid, showing the refection of the rising ball of flames. She gave a content sigh, her muscles reducing their fury with her. She let the drowsy wave sweep over her, forcing her heavy eyelids shut. She didn't sleep, she just drifted aimlessly between the land of the awake and the not so awake. Her favorite place.

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^{TAG - anyone!
WORDS - seven-one-eight
NOTES - this is what happens when I'm tired, my posts involve sleep, or lack of.
OUTFIT - click?!
TUNES - rainbow veins , owl city.
CREDIT - template by MUNZTAR * of caution 2.0}

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Rolling his eyes and grinning as Owain once again eagerly bounded up to him, tail wagging hard enough to fall off, big doggy smile firmly in place, and dropped his stick at his feet, Lee obeyed the pleading eyes of his dog, reached down, and threw it again. With a happy bark, the English Setter took off after the thrown missile, leaping along and almost managing to bowl over a woman and her Pekingese in his excitement. With an apologetic wave to the woman, Lee wasn't surprised when she made no big deal of it: walking your dog here tended to get you used to being disturbed by the pets of other people. Only a couple of days ago Lee had found himself being enthusiastically knocked over by three Great Danes who'd decided he looked like a good person to sit on.

Why anyone would want three Great Danes, he had no idea, but presumably they had a very large house. Strolling along slowly in the general direction his dog had vanished he wodnered whether he'd have to find a new object to throw for him - Owain had never been particularly good at this whole fetching-the-stick business, tending to get distracted at a moment's notice, or chew the chosen stick to pieces the first time he retrieved it. It was why Lee had never bothered with balls for him: sticks were far easier, and there was no problem if they got dropped into a river when Owain forgot what he was doing with them.

His dog had managed to sprint off a good distance while Lee had been exchanging commiserating glances about the insanity of their pets with the owner of the Pekingese (who appeared to be trying, and failing miserably, to climb a tree for reasons known only to itself), so he paused to scan around him, frowning slightly as he decided on the most likely direction of Owain's vanishing. Stifling a yawn - he'd had quite a late night, yesterday, fixing up a few things around the barn until he'd quite lost track of time - but Owain demanded his early morning run, and so he got it. It was the least Lee could do, really, when he spent so much of his time now working in the stables. All of this not living with the family, having to make his own way and save up enough to send a decent amount back to said family was more difficult than it looked.

Finally locating Owain, Lee winced. His dog appeared to be staring curiously, head cocked on one side, at someone lying under a tree, with that expression on his face that Lee just knew meant he was about to go make friends. And, sure enough, an instant later and the Setter had jumped forward a step, with a friendly woof and a brightly wagging tail.

Apparently, they still needed to work on this whole manners thing.

Picking up is pace, Lee reached the pair just as Owain was deciding to get up-close-and-personal, and managed to restrain the dog, with a sharp, "Owain, stop!" from actually leaping upon the person, who turned out to be a girl about his own age, whom he was fairly sure he'd seen about the school and stables.

"Sorry," he apologised, as Owain, with some reluctance, backed up a bit to stand just slightly in front of him, "I'm afraid my dog has absolutely no concept of personal boundaries." Said dog beamed happily, panting in his typical dog-grin, and kept up his tail wagging.

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She drifted between her two worlds for a good twenty minutes before she was awoken by the warming sun. She straightened up, still not fully there, looking over the now more blue hued waters. She glanced to her left when she felt a presence. A smile broke out over her face, a canine was sat to the side of her with a beautiful long coat covering his lean frame. She smiled at the pretty canine. Hello boy. she addressed him when he barked. She could see the friendly expression on his features so she wasn't worried. He began to bound toward her and before she could ask him where his owner was, he appeared. She looked up to see a boy, around her age, looking down upon her. She looked down instantly, her shy emotion taking over every other one. It's okay, He did no harm. she said softly as the canine's owner apologized. She couldn't help but chuckle at his second statement. He's too cute to be angry at. she smiled at the dog, she had fallen in love with the breed. She pondered on whether to get one of them as a companion, but what were they? Do you mind telling me his breed? I'm debating whether to get a dog myself. she said, finally looking up to the boy. She sort of recognized him from around the academy, but had never spoken to him. Scar didn't make the effort to speak to many people, she preferred to stay in the background. I'm Scarlett Williamson by the way. she said quietly, diverting her gaze back to the floor. She wondered how she could have said so much, well what was a lot for her, after just meeting him. She smiled shyly, her blue oracles holding a slight sparkle.

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^{TAG - sepia!
WORDS - three-oh-oh
NOTES - sorry for the terrible badness of this post.
OUTFIT - click?!
TUNES - rainbow veins , owl city.
CREDIT - template by MUNZTAR * of caution 2.0}

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Phew. Dog-lover. That made things easier; and, Lee had to admit, Owain usually did try to bother people who would like him, rarely attempting to make friends with people who disliked dogs. Maybe he should put some more trust in his dog's judgment. Responding to the friendly tone of the girl, Lee relaxed, and Owain took his cue to make friends again, bouncing over and giving her a good friendly lick on one arm, before diving off on some urgent errand.

"He's an English Setter," he replied in answer to her question. "They're usually pretty energetic dogs who need quite a lot of care and attention, but are intelligent and easy to train as long as you're very positive with them." He glanced after his dog - who was now returning - with a fond smile. "And, sometimes, he can be as daft as a brush."

As though to prove his point, Owain reached them in a final bound, and proceeded to drop a well-gnawed stick in front of Scarlett (not, Lee noted absently, the stick they'd first started off with) before looking at her with pleading brown eyes. "I'm Llewellyn Anwell" he introduced himself, following Scarlett's example of going for a full name, "But call me Lee," and trying to mentally match her up with a horse. Horses, he'd found, were often a very good way of identifying people. "And this is Owain," he added, though she'd probably picked up on that already.

"I have to say, if you have the time, I'd really recommend getting a a dog. They always manage to... liven things up." Especially, he added mentally, when you had an opinionated cat as well, who was quite unsure about the worth of a dog, and so tended to provoke confrontations, from which the cat would safely leap up onto a table, and smirk at the dog trying to get to her, very smugly. "But they do need love and attention," he felt the need to caution, hoping that she wasn't the sort of person to buy a dog, then abandon it as soon as the novelty wore off.

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She smiled at the dog when he gave her a lick, and then chuckled as he darted off on what seemed to be a mission. She looked up to the boy as he described his companions breed, she nodded at how he described them. Well, they seem like the perfect breed for me, but I'm still not sure whether to get something big or little. Especially with Paddy around. The last part of her sentence was directed more to herself, Her Akhal-Teke had a foul attitude most of the time, and how he would react around dogs would be uncertain. Her other three would be fine, but Paddy was unreliable. The equine was deathly afraid of men and hated most other horses. Her chest pulled up into a silent sigh and her knees came up to her chest. A smile broke out over her face when she saw Owain, Her heart melting at his adorable expression. Her frame shuffled forward to scratch behind his floppy ears, grinning at the canine. It's lovely to meet you Lee, and you Owain. she told him, eyes still on the dog.

Lee then began to tell her the pro's of getting a dog, she found herself nodding along with his words. But his last sentence make her pull a face, of course she would shower one with love an attention. She kept quiet though, and looked up at him. Then she recognized him properly, he wasn't a student. He was the groom. Her mind pondered why he wasn't studying and instead working at the academy. She didn't push it though, some people just didn't like to reveal things like that. She didn't like to talk of her past and she wasn't about to open up to a stranger, he probably felt the same. What are you doing up so early then, Lee? she asked quietly. It was only seven thirty, much to early for herself. She would have to get back to the academy soon though. There were classes and working with Mimic and Desire, whom had little done with them since she arrived a couple of weeks ago. She had been busy with Dakota, who was still acting up, and Paddy who was screaming abuse at any human passing by him. She rolled her oracles as she thought of them.

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^{TAG - sepia!
WORDS - three-eight-seven
NOTES - this is WUBBISH! )':
OUTFIT - click?!
TUNES - rainbow veins , owl city.
CREDIT - template by MUNZTAR * of caution 2.0}

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"I've always preferred larger dog breeds," Lee admitted, with a slight shrug. "Chihuahuas have never really managed to inspire much emotion in me." His younger brother, in fact, insisted on calling Chihuahuas and others of their ilk 'rat dogs', and was convinced that they weren't real dogs at all. Lee suspected that this might be somewhat genetic, as his mother had always firmly stated that the bigger the dog, the bigger the heart. But he was mentally digressing, here, he realised, and he pulled his mind back to the conversation as he realised he was being asked a question.

"Walking him," he said, with a nod down towards Owain, who was leaning into Scarlett's ear scratching looking very pleased with himself. "I try and give him a good runaround every morning, or he'd drive my cat completely up the wall." Sensing he was being talked about, the dog looked up, then nudged the stick he'd dropped with his nose. Lee took the hint, bending down to pick up the rather flimsy toy - he suspected it was only going to last one more good fling - and tossed it, carefully ensuring he wasn't going to brain anyone with it. Owain took off in delighted pursuit, ears and tail streaming out in the speed of his run.

Lee shook his head fondly after the dog - then remembered who Scarlet was. Or, at least, who her horses were, which - to him, anyway - was far more important (certainly his very good memory always seemed to kick in better for horses, anyway, Lee being able to memorise facts and appearences after the briefest of looks, which was why he usually associated riders with their horses, rather than the other way around).

"Ah, you're the person who owns Dakota, the mule, aren't you? I was rather surprised to see that a student here owned a mule." He knew, of course, that she owned three other horses, too, but they were of a - for lack of a better word - more 'normal' variety of animal for Blue Ridge. "He seems to have a great deal of... attitude." Which was probably putting it lightly, but Lee figured he was onto a safe conversational topic, here. It was very rarely that anyone wouldn't want to talk about their horse - or mule, in this instance.

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She nodded, yet she always had a soft spot for the smaller structured canines. Not Chihuahuas, she agreed fully with Lee's views on those. But, she had always grown up around Jack Russell's a favorite breed of her mother. Her lips pulled up into a smile when he spoke of walking Owain, and then chuckling when the dog perked his ears as if he knew he was being spoken about. She watched as Lee threw the beaten up stick, which frankly looked like it was about to fall apart, and then looked down when he announced he knew her mule. She groaned quietly, of course he knew Dakota. Where ever she went, people remembered Dakota. Yes, he was a mule, and had the classic mule attitude problem, as Lee had just pointed out. He hasn't bitten you or stepped on you, has he? she asked nervously, it was his favorite trick.

Scar was just glad that Lee hadn't mentioned Paddy. If Lee thought Dakota had an attitude, boy he needed to meet Paddy. The male hating cremello despised anybody who passed, and all other equines for that matter. Yeah, Dakota does have an attitude problem. He's also clumsy, lazy and very, very pushy. she told him, a hint of a smile showing on her face. For all his faults, Scar did adore the chestnut mule. He may be a pain in the backside, but he was HER pain in the backside. Her eyes cast down to her feet, the bruising hidden by her sneakers, and chuckled. Any other horse, or mule, that had done that to her would have been shouted at. Yet, Dakota got of scott free. The thing was, she had to accept the un-coordinated gelding. He was just getting older, and more set in his ways. There was honestly no changing him. Have you got any horses? she asked, interest marring her vocals. Although she was shy, she did like to learn about others. Horses always had someone talking, they seemed to be everybody's life support at the academy.

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^{TAG - sepia!
WORDS - three-four-two
NOTES - short, but it'll do.
OUTFIT - click?!
TUNES - rainbow veins , owl city.
CREDIT - template by MUNZTAR * of caution 2.0}

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"Oh, no," Lee reassured her with a shake of his head. "He tried when I was cleaning out his stall once," and, in retrospect, that was the only time he'd had to clean out the mule's stall, as (presumably) Scar did it herself most of the time, "But we reached an understanding after a little while." As in, Lee had spoken very firmly and sternly to the horse, and growled at him every time he'd tried again. Dakota had, sort of, gotten the message after a while, though Lee could tell he was just looking for the opportunity to do it again.

"Sounds like a challenge," he commented, noting the smile that showed on her face as she described Dakota's faults. Ah, a true horse person. then. "But interesting. The fact that mules are thought to be stubborn definitely isn't an urban myth. What are you trying to do with him?" His tone was genuinely interested, the dedicated horse training part of his mind coming to the fore.

"Oh, no, though I am hoping to maybe pick up a young horse at the upcoming auctions that I can train up." The dates for those auctions had been carefully written onto his calender, Lee having decided soon after arriving at Blue Ridge that bringing on a young horse would be a good idea: both satisfying, and the beginning of building up some reputation for himself when - if - he sold the horse on. He wasn't planning to work as a stable hand for the rest of his life, after all - he wanted into the horse training business. "I'm currently riding any of the Academy horses that need it, giving them a bit extra training, or just exercising them. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the school horses, I have to say."