Cross Thoroughbred Racing Facility

[Story]

<sub>Alexander shrugged one shoulder as if it wasn't really a bother. "It's not that bad." His head was spinning, making his stomach churn again. He ignored it. "If you want to spend time with Fitz, feel free to." He was leaving it up to Skya. If she so desired, she could take care of the big roan colt. Otherwise, Alexander would do the task. His hand stopped and he squinted. The vision in his right eye was still a bit blurred, leaving him with such limited vision, seeing as his left saw nothing at all, that he was growing twitchy. "You are doing...well?" It was an awkward attempt to start a conversation. He'd barely talked to her lately. Hell, he'd pretty much cut off all connections. He talked to Jessie only about his medication and pretty much spoke only to others when he was first addressed. And it was all to avoid doing what he'd done to Skya. He couldn't get over the remorse for what he'd done. The betrayal he'd seen in her eyes, the fear...it bothered him.

Aiden barked out a laugh suddenly. "I've given thought to that, yes. I've proved time and time again that I can't do relationships. I'm too busy with office work to hold a relationship. I can't meet the needs of any girls. I'm too busy with the horses and keeping this place running. It doesn't matter. There's nothing out there for me but this facility." He said and fell silent as he considered the question about Shadow. "I think he's still down south. Florida or Georgia, most likely..."

"I'm not good at judging temperature. I'm always freezing myself so everything feels warm to me," Adam pointed out quietly. "He's got a lather of sweat, dry and fresh, on his neck. Does that help?" Adam inquired as he led the bulky Thoroughbred closer. "He was a bit agitated earlier but he has been since he returned to the facility earlier this summer...he had a rough time when he was stolen and he came back changed."</sub>

[Horse]

_{The vet nodded slowly in acknowledgment. "Alright, so, yeah, I think this is definately colic. I've seen enough cases... We need to keep him on his feet, obviously, and keep him hydrated in hopes of flushing the mass in his intestines. Has he been drinking?" The vet inquired quietly, patting the stallion on the neck and checking his front leg to see if he was hot. He indeed did feel a little hot, and the vet's eyebrows furrowed for a moment as he straightened.}

[Deleted]

_{Skya's motherly instinct took control of her and she put Culver in his stall with feed in record time, barely patting him on the neck before reuniting with Sasha and Fitz. "Uh, yeah. I guess. Busy busy with BamBam and Culver." She spoke quickly, smiling a soft smile before she nodded dismissively to him. "Oh, real quick, did you get back on him after you fell? I don't mind taking him for a short ride if that's the case. Nothing better to do." She shrugged her shoulders and bit her lip, scratching the roan's cheek. Even if he hadn't gotten back on, remounting Fitz after this much of time wouldn't really teach him much, but eh. She hadn't really done more than pet the colt in what felt like centuries, he was Sasha's responsibilities and she had her horses to care for, going out of her way for a joy ride unneeded on a horse someone else worked with already didn't seem necessary. Her horses were enough saddle time and ground work for her.}

[Story]

<sub>"I do not know if he has been drinking...I brought him in to his stall, figuring the agitation was just him...I went in but someone called me out because he was...as he is now." Adam said quietly. "He doesn't trust enough to be coaxed to drink," He admitted. "He had a brief colic two months back...he wouldn't drink when I tried to get him to. This isn't tied to when he colicked last time, is it?" Adam looked nervous, unexpectedly. What if something really was wrong?

"Just to ride back." Alexander responded quietly, glancing down. "I do not know if that cooled him down sufficiently..." He admitted. "I was dizzy and I think riding was not the smart idea." He let out a sigh, irritated with this setback. He wasn't supposed to be weak like this. He rubbed at his eyes, muttering something in his native tongue that probably was the Russian equivalent of the popular "Life's a bitch" phrase. He shifted and glanced back. "BamBam is doing well then? I know Culver has been doing jumping." He'd gone to one of the shows to see him come in second, but he hadn't shown himself to Skya. Again, he was trying to stay at a distance from everyone.</sub>

[Spotify]

_{Ever took her time to reply,"You just haven't found the right girl yet."she said at last. She couldn't think of any thing else to say and so her silence returned. The jockey stared at the mare before her and sighed,"You have more than this facility. You have friends that care for you and more importantly you have the love of all of these wonderful creatures."she gestured at Frayed Heart. She loved that name. A smile touched her lips as glanced at Aiden once more."I wonder how he likes the heat."she said referring to Shadow. She had never really met the horse, she had just known him by his name plate and the occasional pat on the nose as she passed him by on her way to her horses or the tack room.}

[Story]

_{Aiden stared at Ever for a long moment. "I appreciate the effort to cheer me up, but there's nothing wrong with me. I don't think there's anyone out there for me, nor will I have the time to look. It's fine. I don't think I want to deal with a relationship anymore. I had enough with...with Skya. She's better off with Ethan." He muttered, not realizing the whole love triangle thing going on with Ethan, Skya, and Ever. He shifted and shook his head. "I don't have friends either, nor family. Mom's some anxiety-riddled lady that can't bear to see her son anymore, Dad and my grandparents are out of the picture." Correction: His father was dead. He hadn't ever made friends at school, and he doubted anyone could count him as a friend at the facility. "Shadow is probably making the most of the sun and the mares." He guessed.}

[Horse]

<sub>The vet's expression was thoughtful for a moment. "Then it'd be best to hook him up to an IV, just to keep him hydrated and what not." The vet paused as his gazed flickered to the distraght jockey. "It might be tied, it might not... It's hard to tell at the moment." He spoke calmly, evenly, as it sort of soothe Adam. "I'll go grab the line from my truck, I will be right back." At that, the vet hurried out to go and grab some more supplies from his truck.

Sadie studied Adam for a moment, taking note at how nervous he looked. She strode over quietly and grabbed his hand, giving it a faint squeeze. "Hey, it'll be alright." She said quietly, studying his features for a moment. She hoped that Zeph pulled through. Loosing a horse that was close was awful.</sub>

[Deleted]

_{Bellamy had ran a hose down the aisle, oblivious to the commotion going on farther down in the barn, and she was refilling Summerdreaming's water bucket. The dark bay filly currently was turned out in the pasture, so she was left to just her thoughts as she worked in silence. Her dark brown hair fell loose over her shoulders and down to the small of her back, though she had angled it so that it didn't get in her way. After filling the bucket, she carefully made a pinch in the hose so it wouldn't spray water as she wound it back to its place and shut off the water. Bell then grabbed a wheelbarrow and filled it with her filly's portion of hay, wheeling it back down the aisle and unloading it in Su's stall. After she finished preparing her horse's meal with her grain, she lazily leaned against the empty stall, her gray eyes traveling down the aisle. Her eyebrows crinkled at the sight of the vet, and she watched Celestial Zephyr with concern for a moment. If she had known Adam better, she might have approached, but she didn't, so she stayed in the background, needing to wait a bit longer before she could bring her filly in from outside.}

{It's good, my muse was gone and I fell asleep last night without replying, sorry.}

[Deleted]

_{"Yeah. I think I'm going to wait an extra year until I start BamBam in racing. Wait until he's three. And yes, Culver has. Been in quite a few, he's living up to his potential. There are plenty more ribbons to win left though." She smiled with pride, looking around before she stepped up to Fitz. "Does he need to be fed?" She quizzed, biting down on her cherry-red lip before glancing in the Russian's way. This small-talk was needed to rebuild their relationship, and she understood this. Normally such general and uninteresting conversation wouldn't be of her interest and she would speak as little as possible until nothing was left to be said, but oddly she was enjoying this little bit of talking they were doing. It helped, surely. Hopefully.}

[Story]

<sub>[Mmkay.]

Adam allowed Sadie to join him, squeezing her hand briefly before loosening it to return his grip to the lead rope. Celestial Zephyr halted, refusing to follow. He was hurting. Why did they make him keep walking? His nose flared and he pulled back against the lead. "C'mon, pal...this will help." He insisted softly to the stallion. "Just keep moving. The vet is here to help..." He was mainly afraid of losing Zeph. If, for some reason, keeping him from breeding would keep him from colicking, Adam would allow that. Breeding the stallion was not important to him. There were other horses to breed to. Zeph was just another horse. Sure, he'd won some big races, but there were horses with as much heart as him. "You just need to rest, big guy..." He murmured, running a long-fingered, pale hand over the stallion's thick, sweaty neck.

"Thank you, Skya, but I can do that." Alexander said quietly, standing up. "He has a race in four days. It is scheduled to rain, which is good luck. I do not know if I will be good to race by then. Would you ride Fitz?" He understood if she was reluctant to. "If not, I probably can do race..." He wanted to talk to Jessie first about his medication's side effects like passing out, as he'd done earlier.</sub>