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Description
First place and grand champion

Story - Darren's P.O.V
  Whoever had decided winter horse shows were a good idea was a dickhead. It wasn't even that cold out but there was a vicious breeze blowing about and a dampness in the air that started to claw its way through my clothes right down to my bones as soon as I got out of the truck. The sun was already starting on its short trip back down towards the horizon and I didn't waste any time to round the trailer and lower the ramp. I led Neo out, the stallion dancing beside me nervously as his ears swiveled every which way to pick up all the sounds, then tied him to the side of the trailer and went to go retrieve his brushes. Rush was still in the truck, sorting out the last few papers before he went to get registered and pay, and I was in charge of grooming and tacking up Mr. Antsy-pants. Thank God his mane and tail had already been braided and Rush hadn't left me in charge of that hellishly impossible task for someone with two left hands.
  One would think that after having been to numerous large competitions Neo would be fine at a smaller-scale schooling show but apparently not, huh? He was dancing around all over the snow-covered ground, getting his perfectly clean legs all clumpy with the white stuff that was making my toes feel like ice cubes in my boots, his nostrils flared as he let out an occasional whinny. It didn't matter though. I didn't have much tacking up to do since Rush had decided to enter the special bareback class for this month – apparently he had nothing more constructive to do than drag Jesse, Neo and I through England in the cold – so the stallion could squirm all he wanted. I wondered whether Rush was really ready for this kind of competition without any real bareback training but shrugged the thought away, deciding not to stress over stuff like that; he was a good rider, he'd be fine. Apart from the fact that he'd fallen flat on his face together with Neo at the Moors Hollow jumping show not so long ago.

  “Kid, you're staring off into space,” Jesse's voice dragged me back to Earth and I quickly looked over at him with a sheepish smile.

  “Sorry,” I chuckled, right away continuing with brushing Neo so he would be sparkly clean.

  “Naw, it's fine to be daydreamin' bout your prince on his buckskin appaloosa,” Jesse winked. I shot him a wry look. Rush was already on his way back from the registration office, wearing his blue jacket and a red scarf and hat, and he stopped by us before sorting out his starting number, receipts, and the likes.

  “Imma' go get myself some coffee. I'll get you a cup as well, Darren,” Jesse decided and I could hear a mischievous tone in his jolly voice as he tipped his cowboy hat to me teasingly before hobbling off to find a drinks stand. There was a long, looong silence.

  “How often have you gone bareback?” I eventually asked Rush.

  “Excuse me?”

  “You know, a bareback show.”

  “Oh. A few times, way back when.”

  “Aren't you worried?” I asked, looking at him over Neo's back.

  “About what,” he responded without raising his eyes to meet mine as if he was in denial, focusing on fastening his starting number on his back.

  “The competition. You haven't ridden bareback a lot lately either...”

  “And?”

  “Well... you did fall-.”

  “Don't even fucking mention it, I'll smack you into next week if you say it.”

  “-flat on your face with Neo not too long ago at that show,” I concluded with a sheepish smile. He glared at me.

  “That was fucking stupid of me, yeah? Keep rubbing it in if you will,” he growled. I knew he'd been bitter about it then, though I hadn't realized it was still going on, and I sighed while resting my arms on Neo's back as the stallion started to calm down and munch of the small bit of hay hung up in front of him to keep him occupied.

  “Small mistake, Rush, move on. Everyone messes up sometimes,” I reminded him, but all I got was a dissatisfied tongue click.

  “I don't need you to tell me what and what not to worry about, Witten. You fret about your own riding issues and I'll deal with mine,” he responded dryly as he walked around Neo to go to the truck and grab his tall riding boots, reaching over to jab me in the chest sharply. I caught his hand just as he was about to pull it away, looking at him quietly. A few seconds of a very awkward silence ensued.

  “What are you doing,” he finally asked, peering at me. I glanced down at his hand, surprised at my own actions, but couldn't bring myself to release it.

  “Let my hand go.”

  I didn't, unmoving.

  “Darren, would you let go?”

  He jerked his hand out of my grip sharply a few moments later, grumbling to himself as he walked to the truck and crawled onto the backseat, disappearing from sight. I stared after him with large owl-eyes, still in a disbelief of the stupid act I'd just done.

  “Smooth.”

  Jesse's voice nearly made me jump out of my skin and I let out a grunt, right away surprising Neo and causing him to pin his ears back nervously. I turned around sharply to face the man, who held out a steaming cup of coffee for me.

  “Thanks,” I muttered while taking it, wrapping my hands around it and blowing on it without meeting the amused brown eyes looking at me.

  They made my skin prickle uncomfortably though, until I finally grumbled, “That was pretty fucking stupid of me, huh?”

  “Yeeeeeep.”

  “Please slap me or something,” I groaned, rubbing my forehead. Alright, so maybe it'd been clear as day that I had a small crush on Rush – though nothing more than that – and maybe it probably didn't matter all that much that I'd just grabbed his hand and held it like it was my greatest desire, but it was still dumb. I would've been able to dismiss any accusations by his boyfriend as assumptions before, but now...

  Jesse chuckled with a shake of his head and patted my back, soothing, “It'll be alright, kiddo. He'll probably forget about it.”

  Great. Yeah, that made me feel so much better. He was right though and I nodded silently while turning back to Neo, knowing I had to hurry up to make sure he was ready on time for Rush to hop on. Jesse leaned against the truck as he sipped his coffee, eyes watching the relaxed ebb and flow of horses and riders and people and dogs, and we didn't say anything more to each other. Eventually, Rush slid out of the truck again.

  “Alright,” he said grumpily, “And this time, I won't fuck up. It's time I won something again.”

  “Leg up?” I asked him but he shook his head, taking Neo's reins and easily jumping up onto the stallion's back like a spring, making him stand still as he took adjusted his seat and shortened the reins.

  “Good luck,” I said, almost scared of looking at him now. He turned his gaze down on me.

  “Thanks,” he responded before walking Neo away, and I could swear his voice sounded softer and more gentle than I'd heard it before.

Word count: 1,283

Show: SVI Schooling Show
Class: Bareback (special class)
Horse: SEA He's The One
Rider: Oliver Chancey Trace

Artist's note: Well, this drawing only took me ages... and it wasn't even done on time I've been managing to get a bit of work done on it every day while we've been here in France and Italy, thankfully, otherwise it would've been probably been put into the dusty unfinished pile.

Tools used: Intuos pen and touch and Medibang
Time: Too long
References:
Warmblood by wakedeadman (partially traced)
lda.lowes.com/is/image/Lowes/P…
candycanefence.com/image/cache…
www.sawyoo.com/postpic/2015/12… (traced)

Description
First place and grand champion

Story - Darren's P.O.V
  Whoever had decided winter horse shows were a good idea was a dickhead. It wasn't even that cold out but there was a vicious breeze blowing about and a dampness in the air that started to claw its way through my clothes right down to my bones as soon as I got out of the truck. The sun was already starting on its short trip back down towards the horizon and I didn't waste any time to round the trailer and lower the ramp. I led Neo out, the stallion dancing beside me nervously as his ears swiveled every which way to pick up all the sounds, then tied him to the side of the trailer and went to go retrieve his brushes. Rush was still in the truck, sorting out the last few papers before he went to get registered and pay, and I was in charge of grooming and tacking up Mr. Antsy-pants. Thank God his mane and tail had already been braided and Rush hadn't left me in charge of that hellishly impossible task for someone with two left hands.
  One would think that after having been to numerous large competitions Neo would be fine at a smaller-scale schooling show but apparently not, huh? He was dancing around all over the snow-covered ground, getting his perfectly clean legs all clumpy with the white stuff that was making my toes feel like ice cubes in my boots, his nostrils flared as he let out an occasional whinny. It didn't matter though. I didn't have much tacking up to do since Rush had decided to enter the special bareback class for this month – apparently he had nothing more constructive to do than drag Jesse, Neo and I through England in the cold – so the stallion could squirm all he wanted. I wondered whether Rush was really ready for this kind of competition without any real bareback training but shrugged the thought away, deciding not to stress over stuff like that; he was a good rider, he'd be fine. Apart from the fact that he'd fallen flat on his face together with Neo at the Moors Hollow jumping show not so long ago.

  “Kid, you're staring off into space,” Jesse's voice dragged me back to Earth and I quickly looked over at him with a sheepish smile.

  “Sorry,” I chuckled, right away continuing with brushing Neo so he would be sparkly clean.

  “Naw, it's fine to be daydreamin' bout your prince on his buckskin appaloosa,” Jesse winked. I shot him a wry look. Rush was already on his way back from the registration office, wearing his blue jacket and a red scarf and hat, and he stopped by us before sorting out his starting number, receipts, and the likes.

  “Imma' go get myself some coffee. I'll get you a cup as well, Darren,” Jesse decided and I could hear a mischievous tone in his jolly voice as he tipped his cowboy hat to me teasingly before hobbling off to find a drinks stand. There was a long, looong silence.

  “How often have you gone bareback?” I eventually asked Rush.

  “Excuse me?”

  “You know, a bareback show.”

  “Oh. A few times, way back when.”

  “Aren't you worried?” I asked, looking at him over Neo's back.

  “About what,” he responded without raising his eyes to meet mine as if he was in denial, focusing on fastening his starting number on his back.

  “The competition. You haven't ridden bareback a lot lately either...”

  “And?”

  “Well... you did fall-.”

  “Don't even fucking mention it, I'll smack you into next week if you say it.”

  “-flat on your face with Neo not too long ago at that show,” I concluded with a sheepish smile. He glared at me.

  “That was fucking stupid of me, yeah? Keep rubbing it in if you will,” he growled. I knew he'd been bitter about it then, though I hadn't realized it was still going on, and I sighed while resting my arms on Neo's back as the stallion started to calm down and munch of the small bit of hay hung up in front of him to keep him occupied.

  “Small mistake, Rush, move on. Everyone messes up sometimes,” I reminded him, but all I got was a dissatisfied tongue click.

  “I don't need you to tell me what and what not to worry about, Witten. You fret about your own riding issues and I'll deal with mine,” he responded dryly as he walked around Neo to go to the truck and grab his tall riding boots, reaching over to jab me in the chest sharply. I caught his hand just as he was about to pull it away, looking at him quietly. A few seconds of a very awkward silence ensued.

  “What are you doing,” he finally asked, peering at me. I glanced down at his hand, surprised at my own actions, but couldn't bring myself to release it.

  “Let my hand go.”

  I didn't, unmoving.

  “Darren, would you let go?”

  He jerked his hand out of my grip sharply a few moments later, grumbling to himself as he walked to the truck and crawled onto the backseat, disappearing from sight. I stared after him with large owl-eyes, still in a disbelief of the stupid act I'd just done.

  “Smooth.”

  Jesse's voice nearly made me jump out of my skin and I let out a grunt, right away surprising Neo and causing him to pin his ears back nervously. I turned around sharply to face the man, who held out a steaming cup of coffee for me.

  “Thanks,” I muttered while taking it, wrapping my hands around it and blowing on it without meeting the amused brown eyes looking at me.

  They made my skin prickle uncomfortably though, until I finally grumbled, “That was pretty fucking stupid of me, huh?”

  “Yeeeeeep.”

  “Please slap me or something,” I groaned, rubbing my forehead. Alright, so maybe it'd been clear as day that I had a small crush on Rush – though nothing more than that – and maybe it probably didn't matter all that much that I'd just grabbed his hand and held it like it was my greatest desire, but it was still dumb. I would've been able to dismiss any accusations by his boyfriend as assumptions before, but now...

  Jesse chuckled with a shake of his head and patted my back, soothing, “It'll be alright, kiddo. He'll probably forget about it.”

  Great. Yeah, that made me feel so much better. He was right though and I nodded silently while turning back to Neo, knowing I had to hurry up to make sure he was ready on time for Rush to hop on. Jesse leaned against the truck as he sipped his coffee, eyes watching the relaxed ebb and flow of horses and riders and people and dogs, and we didn't say anything more to each other. Eventually, Rush slid out of the truck again.

  “Alright,” he said grumpily, “And this time, I won't fuck up. It's time I won something again.”

  “Leg up?” I asked him but he shook his head, taking Neo's reins and easily jumping up onto the stallion's back like a spring, making him stand still as he took adjusted his seat and shortened the reins.

  “Good luck,” I said, almost scared of looking at him now. He turned his gaze down on me.

  “Thanks,” he responded before walking Neo away, and I could swear his voice sounded softer and more gentle than I'd heard it before.

Word count: 1,283

Show: SVI Schooling Show
Class: Bareback (special class)
Horse: SEA He's The One
Rider: Oliver Chancey Trace

Artist's note: Well, this drawing only took me ages... and it wasn't even done on time I've been managing to get a bit of work done on it every day while we've been here in France and Italy, thankfully, otherwise it would've been probably been put into the dusty unfinished pile.

Tools used: Intuos pen and touch and Medibang
Time: Too long
References:
Warmblood by wakedeadman (partially traced)
lda.lowes.com/is/image/Lowes/P…
candycanefence.com/image/cache…
www.sawyoo.com/postpic/2015/12… (traced)