Sometimes all it takes is... (open)

[Carlos Rodriguez]

"Vamos, nina." The boy said as he led the mare into the roundpen and closed the gate behind him. Them. The mare jumped slightly as the gate closed noisily and snorted butterflies. Her owner simply gave her a look before latching the entryway. Carlos planned on lunging and groundwork with Lirio that afternoon. It was a weekend and he had nothing to do otherwise. Well, he could have ridden Lacera, but he'd chosen not to. The Spanish boy knew he really needed to work with his younger mare.

The boy unclipped the lead from her halter and dropped it to loop over the roundpen panels, with the lunge-line he'd brought just in case he needed the thirty-foot line. He picked up his lunge-whip and flicked it at the ground at the mare's back legs, letting it snake through the sand of the arena footing. "Go, a la izquierda! Lejos!" He spoke to the horse loudly, flinging his arm out and pointing left. The mare fled.

She was light on her hooves and she almost seemed to float around the arena as she made circles at a trot, then a canter when the whip flicked again. Carlos waited, ocassionally flicking the whip lightly to keep her pace up. He was waiting for her ear to lock onto him, for her to pay him more attention and forget about the outside influences. It was windy that day, and he knew it would take a while.

[paperlily]

"Why do you insist on making everything a fight....? A soft spoken voice sighed in dismay alongside the lean and powerfully built golden bay gelding who was tugging at the fine leather reins that were fastened to the snaffle bit in his mouth. The one holding them on the other end, a pale young man with angel like blonde hair and blue eyes, occasionally getting his arm yanked when the mount would serge forward in a bad temper. Reminding his handler who was really in charge in this jaded relationship.
The boy, Theodore had been trying desperately to get Michael to cooperate with him in the indoor arena in an attempt to get him some exercise and to practice some reining. But what had been wishful hoping turned out to be harsh reality when the gelding refused to listen to his riders commands. The whole situation ending in Theo landing in the sand on his stomach after Michael eventually got frustrated and threw the boy from his back. Leaving him sore and his black breeches and gray button down covered in a layer of dirt. Now all he could do was lead the horse back to his stall crestfallen and give him a good rubdown and some fresh water. There was no point in trying again with Michael in his current mood.
Theodore has so much hope in his ill-mannered horse. He had already come so far from where he had been when they two originally met, but there was still a horribly long road left to travel if Theo was going to have any true control over the gelding. Let alone for him to be able to compete with him. Then again, as Theo put a pause on his disappointment he thought about it. Maybe he had just grown soft after having his Maria to ride for so long. The Andalusian mare, his pride and joy, was such an easy, elegant and obedient horse to ride. You almost didn't have to give her any directions she was so well behaved while he was in the saddle. Thankfully though, Theo didn't have enough time to start to really doubt his equestrian ability. Because as he led Michael past the round pen the gray dapple mare being lunged by the other boy about his age caused him to stop in his tracks, much to Michael's disgust. She moved and yielded to the boy so easily, her movements smooth and fluid unlike Michael's stubborn and shy jerking. The boy was wonderful to watch as well, his confidence showing in his work.
Watching the pair made Theodore forget what he was supposed to be doing, leaving him to stand there and gawk like a child at the zoo.

[Carlos Rodriguez]

Carlos wasn't aware of how much time had gone by. He guessed maybe half an hour, as his mare was trying to slow, breathing hard, and sweating... even in the cool of the day. She still wasn't paying him as much attention as he would have liked, though... Sure, now and then she'd lock her ear onto him and do as she was supposed to and yield to him, trn on a dime and go the other direction, but more often than not, he could just tell that she was resistant to him. It may have looked as though she was paying him all the attention in her body, because she was yielding but it wasn't because she wanted to, it was because he ws making her. The flicked back ear, the snort, the slight hesitation before a turn and the head-tossing were all signs of her resistance...

The boy growled softly under his breath as he flickethe whip again, asking for a turn to the inside before stepping forwards and demanding it. Carlos hadn't been expecting outside influences to distract the mare so badly, though, and he had to leap to the side when the dappled grey horse bolted forwards and nearly ran through him. Her shoulder caught him in the chest, even with him scrambling to move aside, and sent him flying back to land in the sand and dirt of the round-pen.

"LIRIO!" Carlos lost it and yelled, his usual soft tones harsh. Carlos wasn't a yeller, and it was th first time he'd ever raised his voice to the mare. He cursed several times in his native language as he picked himself up from the ground and dropped the whip, moving towards the mare who stood at the side of the pen, staring in his direction. All of her attention was on him now, as she had never heard her owner's tones so loud, and as the boy moved to the mare, her head rose, ears pinning defiantly before pricking one up uneasily. The Lusitano didn't know quite what to think, and was a bit nervous now. Her breath still came in short bursts, tired as she was, and sweat dripped from her coat.

Carlos sighed. He knew getting upset did nothing and pushed the anger away. He was very glad that his ribs had healed up completely, as he only felt a faint twinge that wasn't even a tickle from his side. The teen left the lungewhip where it had fallen and approached the mare, catching sight of the other teen and his horse standing, watching. "Oh..." He said, tones once again soft and highly accented. A faint hint of red appeared on his face and he glanced away, then back at the other boy. "I did not realize we had an audience." He said softly, feeling very self-conscious that the other teen had witnessed his mare run him over almost. Carlos was very glad, though, to note that his speech had gotten a bit better.

[paperlily]

Tossing his head and shying when the gray dappled mare bolted Micheal side stepped, and came to something just short of a rear with a startled, high pitched whinnie. He almost managed to yank his lead from Theo's grip, but thankfully the boy was quick enough to grab at the rope with both hands and hold the gelding firmly in place before the already bad situation had the chance to get worse and turn into a catastrophe by Micheal escaping and running off, possibly even hurting someone if they happened to get in his path.

Offering his horse gentle and soothing words Theodore stroked his bay neck, trying to be of comfort to the startled animal. He was able to calm him down so that he was no longer pulling defiantly against the lead, but he was still on edge and watching Lily carefully, and Theo was doing the same with Carlos.
He was worried at first that his class mate had gotten hurt when his mare clipped him, but he was able to heave a sigh of relief when he saw Carlos get back up onto his feet without much trouble. Although, now that Theo's mind had the chance to get a grip on what had just happened, the voice in the back of his mind told him that he should leave before he was confronted by the other.

Theodore realized that it had been his fault that the dapple mare had gotten distracted and acted out. Maybe she had gotten upset, or maybe Micheal in his high strung mood had caused her to to react in such away, or maybe even frightened her. Either way, he knew that if he had just minded his own business and continued to walk by in the first place that things probably would have been fine.
Guilt clutched at his heart, turning him a sickly, chalky shade of white as he turned away and tried to leave just before Carlos spoke up. With a flinch he had no choice but to face the Spaniard with his head slung low in apologetic submission.

"I'm so sorry....." he mumbled softly, unable to make eye contact as he scuffed his feet together "I didn't mean to distract her... a-are you hurt?"
Theo muttered with a thick German accent, unable to think of what else to say or ask as he waited for Carlos to blow up and yell at him for being to stupid and ruining his training seassion.

[Carlos Rodriguez]

Carlos took a few moments to clip a leadrope to Lirio's halter and rested a hand on the sweaty coat. He could feel the mare shaking, but wasn't sure if it was from fatigue or fear. Lirio was a bit skittish at the best of times, and Carlos knew that she had never heard him yell before and loud noises did get her in the past. He slowly stroked her neck and scratched behind her ears, and after a few long moments, he was rewarded by a gentle nudge in the side as the mare seemed to realize that he wasn't about to kill her and slowly relaxed, though her heaving gasps for air didn't slow. Carlos rested a hand against her side, counting heartbeats, and looped the lead over the sleek neck, tying it off and releasing the mare to wander around the pen.

Lirio moved off at a small push from her owner and traveled the inside of the pain, staying near to the rails until she arrived at Carlos's side once more. Once more, she ignored him and stared over the top panel of the roundpen, stretching her nose out as far as possible, trying to get closer to the gelding. A second later, the mare squealed, slapped the ground with a hoof, and spun around to trot around the arena before stopping and squealing again, rearing in the middle of the pen and spinning, kicking up dirt and leaving Carlos standing and staring at his horse. He'd never seen her react to any horse that way.

The boy shook his head and turned back to the other in time to see him pale. Carlos couldn't help but feel bad, and, with another look at his nutcase of a younger mare, he left her where she was still acting like an idiot in the middle of the pen and chose to exit the roundpen before she did actually hurt him in her temper tantrum… or whatever she was having.

"It is fine." He said as he left the pen and approached the other boy, pausing a few feet away to study the other. "She has not been listening to me, anyway." His voice was clipped with his accent, but at least he was understandable, and he didn't accidentally revert to Spanish very often anymore. Though, Carlos still hadn't gotten all the abbreviations and the english 'slang' down pat, so he didn't even try. The teen tilted his head slightly to meet the other boy's eyes. It was obvious the other felt it his fault for everything, and while that may have been true, Carlos also felt at though the 'wreck' had long been coming. Lirio had been disrespectful and not too happy from the start. "I am not… hurt."

Inside the pen, Lirio was still acting like an idiot, though she was now just trotting around, pawing air, and hanging over the roundpen panels alternately. Carlos glanced back at the mare and watched her tracks, I wonder if she's in heat…?

[paperlily]

Unsure of how to respond to the mare Michael froze with his ears drawn back and his tail swishing rapidly from side to side when she stretched her neck over the fence, her nose coming within just a few inches of his own. The gelding wasn't great with other horses, he had grown up seriously lacking in socialization and because of it he didn't always know how to handle himself around his own kind. He jerked back from Liro, possibly thinking that she was to bite him, but he didn't seem to take much offense to the action seeing as he didn't try to retaliate or cause any more trouble for his handler.

In fact, even as the mare went on a rampage in the round pen, making herself look like a fool to anyone passing by, he was oddly interested in her. Michael had only eyes for the dapple mare, acting as if Theo had simply ceased to exist as he pawed heavily at the ground and bobbed his head repeatedly. Answering her squeals with a low snort and a half neigh that sounded almost as if it had been a question.

Black in human reality, Theodore's eyes had gone the size of saucers while Carlos made his way closer and away from his horse. He contemplated running away, wondering if maybe he was going to get decked for causing the older boy so much trouble. But when Theo's pale blue eyes met with Carlos' brown he decided against it. Instead he only ducked his head further and fidgeted with the lead rope in his hands. His voice coming out soft and whispery and his accent that he worked so hard to cover up slipping out along with a bit of German.
"Entschuldigen Sie bitte..." he muttered another apology "I should have minded my own business and left you be..." finally working up enough courage to actually look at the other Theo slowly scanned him up and down, his cheeks going from ghostly pale to dark pink.
He was rather handsome with his mused dark brown hair, his lovely accent and the little bit of scruff on his chin, even though the poor thing was covered in sand and dirt from almost being trampled and looked a bit tired.

It coaxed a little smile from Theo's lips before he realized what he was doing and firmly shook his head, averting his eyes and staring down to his feet again.
"M-may I help you bring her back to the stable?....She looks like she could use a rub down and some time to cool off...."
that is, if Liro would even allow herself to be caught at this point. Theo figured helping Carlos would be the least he could do to make up for interrupting him.

[Carlos Rodriguez]

That's it… This is her way of embarrassing me… Carlos chose to ignore his idiot of a mare and tried to tune out the sounds of her squeals and hoofbeats, but when they all stopped and a low nicker emitted from her tones, Carlos whipped around. Lirio seemed to have calmed now, standing right by the fence, a close as she could get to it, head stretched out as far as she could get it, nickering… no, whickering towards the gelding. The Spaniard's eyes widened and he buried his head in his hands, turning back around to face the other boy, hoping the mare would leave and go to the other side of the roundpen. He now knew her problem. In her mind, she'd found a boyfriend. note to self, do not pasture her with geldings… especially this one… He thought, almost groaning in frustration. If she acted like that towards geldings once he got her riding well… he was in for hell. Dios, ayúdame…

Carlos tactfully chose to not mention or even draw attention to Theo's nervousness, though he did wonder about it. It wasn't like he was going to do anything to the other. He didn't understand the other language, nor did he knew which language it was, but in that moment, Carlos felt more than a hint of relief. At least he wasn't the only one who slipped up with other languages anymore. "No, no it is fine." He said softly, as he rarely spoke in overly loud tones like many of the students did around the academy. He'd grown up with his grandparents, and his grandmother in particular had made sure that he never raised his voice louder than need be. Only as loud as you need to be, but never softer than you should be' had been the words she'd spoken to him enough to have him memorize.

Carlos took a few moments to tug the tie from his hair and attempted to redo it, though it came out messier than before. He mentally rolled his eyes and retied his hair back regardless. He needed a brush, but for now, it would do. He disliked being anything less than clean, though… and right now, he definitely wasn't too clean, covered in sand and dirt… Raising a hand, he wiped his arm over his face, removing some dirt and wincing upon feeling a hint of a sting from his jaw. Gently, he touched the spot, glancing at his fingertips as he pulled away. No blood, not cut then. Must have somehow hit myself…. He looked back at Theo, eyebrows raising upon spotting the red in his face. Carlos glanced away to hide the flush that he felt rising in his face, looking to his mare, noting that she was pacing in the round pen.

He shifted slightly, hearing the dirt and small gravel crunch under his boots as Theo's question flew through his mind. Carlos swallowed slightly, nervous all of a sudden for some reason or another. "Uh, yeah… I would not mind…" He said after a minute. He wasn't shy, just soft-spoken… at least, that's what he tried to tell himself. While he was a person who would speak his mind, Carlos was also a person who struggled to fit in. Being both shy and outgoing, in a way, made for an interesting mix. "I will get her… Um…" He started to move, once again, towards the roundpen, but paused, "Will you be willing to help? I think… Lirio had found herself a boyfriend in your gelding… she thinks…" Carlos took another step towards the pen, but quickly stopped so fast he nearly stumbled over himself, "Donde están mis modales!" He exclaimed, forgetting or not realizing that he had just done what he'd been striving to stop doing, slipping into another language randomly, "I am sorry, you do not know my name… I am Carlos."