life does not always give lemons [red w/lochlan!]

He would have liked to say that he spent a fair amount of time with his horses in between his his career and attempts to forget. He spent the majority of his leisure with them, choosing their well-being over a social life any day. But the reality was, there wasn't enough time in the world for his two bratty mares, and that was saying something considering he could slow things to his hearts content. The key word there being 'could'.

He'd not touched his abilities with a ten foot pole for quite a few years for due reason, the same reason in which he spent the majority of his time at work, to forget. The further he could get from his past the better, and if that meant acting as a human then so be it. But unfortunately that meant just that – being human. Even if it meant it waiting through his horses temper tantrums. The filly, Quil, was the worst of the three, understandably. Just verging on the edge of three the little bitch of a horse thought it was her god given right to boss everyone around, including him. Groundwork seemed simple enough, right?

It started off normally, with a good grooming. He’d brought the filly up from the field to tie her to a support beam in the barn – god knows the animal would break crossties. By this point in her growth she’d nearly reached her full height, and much to his dismay, all of the strength of a full grown horse but half the training. It was not as if he’d let her do what she liked for the past several years.. Not on purpose at least. Regardless she got her way.

He begun dragging a brush over the filly’s curly coat, more or less ignoring the others in the barn. The faces were all more or less white noise to him, there weren’t many that had anything to say to him anyways. It wasn’t long before Quil grew quickly bored, tossing her cream colored head sky high to jerk against her restraint. ”Goddamn it Quil don’t you dare.” The man grumbled immediately, eyes filling with vague interest towards the scene, which he’d all ideas was about to grow worse. He reached a massive hand over to yank on the leadrope in which tied her but soon became distracted by the movement by his pocket.

He dropped his hand and turned curiously, hazel eyes focusing upon the black horse. ”Hello to you too.” The man found a brief, nearly inaudible chuckle rise in him before he grabbed a spare horse treat from the pocket to offer to the stallion. It was then he noticed the woman, gaze trailing over to watch her as she begged the animal to move. She was beautiful, that was for damn sure. His jaw parted for several moments before snorting with light amusement, ”C’mon now, I’m not that b-“

His statement was cut off with the shrill and all-too-familiar whinny of Quil, blaring loudly above his head in order to address the stallion on the other side of him. Lochlan turned back to the adolescent horse to see her struggling against her halter now, pulling backwards in a desperate attempt to free herself. ”You’ve got to be kidding me.” The pinto filly rose her tail and lashed it furiously in defiance but within seconds discovered she wasn’t capable of escaping and cast the man a near-glare. The man rolled his eyes and returned his attention back to the blonde now that his horse wasn’t trying to bust the barn down. ”You’ll have to excuse her.. you know teenagers.”

Despite his appearances he was a compassionate man at heart, and although often paying no mind to his impulsive speech he couldn't stand to watch somebody's discomfort. A desperation such as this womans' only brought out that side of him that wasn't often used, especially with his career of choice. His face fell from all signs of humor rather quickly given that he assumed it was him that had upset her.

"What? No, you don't have to apologize." He insisted quickly in an attempt at reassurance, now paying no mind to the horses as he watched her carefully. Being guilt-ridden by nature he found a guilt quickly settle in him as he watched her impatience to leave. "I wouldn't be here if I found the horses offensive in any way..." It was a good thing too because the obnoxious filly behind him soon squatted and relieved her bladder right on the concrete walkway.

The man groaned in exasperation and quickly moved out of the way, venturing closer towards the horses front end. When he returned his attention to her he noticed her attempts at fleeing and that said attempts were ultimately futile. In a strange way it was satisfying as he didn't quite want her to leave, he had to make amends for whatever he thought he had done. "You don't have to go, I'm not going to hurt you." The words slipped out before he had a chance to collect them and he paused momentarily. She was not some sort of prey animal. Damn it. He drug a hand over his face and as his eyes refocused on her he noticed a fearful expression.

What was she so terrified that he was going to do? Knock her upside the head with his brush box? Order his bitchy filly to pee on her shoe? He hardly had an aggressive bone in his body and that was one he only preferred to use in the work place, comparatively speaking to the rest of the population he was probably one of the better choices for company. His expression softened significantly as he released a relaxing breath. "I'm sorry if I scared you somehow." He glanced down at the womans stallion as it's muzzle brushed his leg and he smirked a bit. "What's his name, Light?" A hand descended to gently push the animal away before producing another treat for him. "Well, I'm Lochlan and this is Quil.. she's obnoxious and I'm a bit rough around the edges but I promise we're not all that bad."

The guilt he felt in the matter relieved itself significantly but his concern for the woman did not, especially so after his words didn’t relieve her stress any. In fact it seemed to increase as the seconds grew on. A knot of sympathy formed in the man’s chest as his eyes roamed her saddened features. What was she so worried about? Although her words reassured him he still couldn’t help but feel responsible for the matter.

”Sienna, it’s nice to meet you.” He replied gently with a tense smile. It was almost odd to use the more sensitive side of himself, it was one he’d nearly forgotten about as the drama filled weeks rolled on. It wasn’t exactly encouraged to act like a teddy bear while shoving around drunken men. Not much of any positive emotion was required for his job, perhaps that’s why he found such a connection to it, it required little thought.

Hazel eyes wandered from the woman to watch her horse cautiously so that he wouldn’t stray too far off, the last thing he wanted was to cause the stallion to flee the barn and get hit by a car. Seeing that he was occupied he reverted his attention to Sienna and his own horse, slowly lifting a hand to drag it down Quil’s neck. But her next words made him freeze. His blood ran cold as he quickly glanced over at the blonde, the nasty realization flooding him and making his heart sink. ”H-hurt you?”

The man’s brow knit and his own dull eyes attempting to search hers but finding them covered as she hid from… what he wasn’t sure. ”I-I’m not going to hurt you.” He took a step backwards in case she believed him to be aggressive in any way, his jaw clenching as he watched her closely. ”Is somebody..”

He looked over her head now, dragging his eyes over the barn aisle as if some evil lurked nearby, searching the pathetic human that would dare lay a hand on a woman. Or this one in particular. She was just so… broken. His voice dropped now so that roaming ears wouldn’t find interest in overhearing. ”Are you being hurt?” He didn’t care if he didn’t know the woman, but he did care about the fact she was on the verge of a mental breakdown and he’d only given her his name. He wanted to help, needed to help in some way. ”I’m sorry I have no business..asking that.. I don’t know you from atom… I just want to help you..”

He wouldn’t know what was ailing her but he did know that he could relate, the memories and fear of the past attacking his every move, attaching itself to his every thought so that nothing but the fear remained. Although his was of the different sort, not a fear of someone but something; death. And more precisely, what it left him with. The terrible memories resurfaced every night while he slept and brought the sorrow to the surface, his loss, and what he’d ultimately face again if he let himself go to that extent. So he would remain to his self, go about his job and hope that one day the past would escape him. Though perhaps this woman had a different idea on her mind?

Dallas The name was not all that common and rang a faint bell in his head, images of his workplace flicking before his eyes. A stripper maybe? Sure as hell sounded like it. The truth was he didn’t gave a damn who it was but what that person had done to the trembling woman in front of her. Her words were little more than babble to him considering he hadn’t a clue as to what was going on her mind. Nonetheless it was important babble; he listened intently to her as she confided in him, though one thing never quite made sense. Deserve it?

He grew silent as he attempted to piece together the pieces of her words. Was she trying to discount her own abuse as her fault? The man didn’t know if he was more surprised by that or the fact that such a pretty woman had been so badly damaged in the first place. His brow furrowed further before he eyed the shorter, and panicking woman. But nothing but concern filled his eyes as he glanced about the barn another time. Was this normal for her, did she normally collapse into a heap at the mention of this particular person?

”Hey.. you’re alright.” He replied soothingly, leaving his impatient filly who was now pawing noisily at the wall. But no mind was paid towards her, the blonde was of much more importance to him at this point. ”This.. person..she isn’t going to get to you here.” Though he wasn’t even sure himself, who the hell was it? How was he supposed to know where she’d show up? His teal eyes caught sight of her moving towards her bag and the impulse to help filled him, luckily his brain talked him out of moving forwards before he could manage to scare the poor woman further.

Her voice reached his ear again and he felt his tension fade as he sat on the edge of a nearby tack trunk, sparing her more than enough room should she chose to flee. ”Insane? I just met you, who am I to judge your sanity?” He snorted lightly. ”But this? You’re not crazy.. you’ve just been caught in a bad situation is all.” His own memories flashed before his eyes but not of his pain but of his childhood, days spent tussling with others not for the enjoyment or the aggression but to protect others.. and this seemed to be a similar situation. ”I know you don’t know or trust me,” A sigh left his massive frame as he leaned to rest his elbows on his knees, eyes never leaving her. ”But I’m here to help you if you need anything.” But in all honesty, as he watched the poor damaged woman, he wondered how it was possible for her to get along with everyday life, could he really feel right about leaving her to fend for herself in this state, especially with some abuser looming about?

He was a kind man at heart but nobody came without some baggage and he was no different. He had his moments, days, weeks even; although preferring to keep his buried underneath alcohol. Already she had revealed (what he had assumed to be) a sensitive topic and he’d not uncovered anything of who he was, but perhaps it was best this way. He had no indication that they would progress anything further than acquaintances and he wasn’t about to dig up his problems just for the reassurance of a stranger. Even if he did find this particular stranger to be rather cute.

Now that the womans panic had fled he relaxed significantly, although still eyed her warily as if she were about to go into another episode, it was only a natural response. It wasn’t exactly his fault he was hard-wired to care. Her hair color, of all things, certainly didn’t help. It was like a plague, these memories, resurfacing with every little thing and one of which was hair color; blondes specifically, it was always the blondes. Just interacting with the woman set him on edge as his thoughts threatened to take a dive. But at the same time it was like a weakness, he was unable to ignore a woman in pain. His eyes dulled as he drug a hand over his facial features.

What would happen if something happened to her in his presence? ”Nice to meet you, Sienna.” He replied with a small smirk, a small gesture that quickly faded to his normal solemn expression. Learning that an innocent woman had been tortured wasn’t exactly something to be pleased about on top of an already placid demeanor. ”Don’t apologize, it’s not your fault… I understand.”

He flicked his eyes back to the dark horse as Sienna took her attention from him, now that she had calmed he took several moments to study the animal although he wasn’t necessarily the most knowledgeable horse person in the world, hence his filly’s awful behavior. ”I’ve been meaning to get Quil off of the property recently.. I don’t know, I thought it might be good for her..” He returned his attention to Sienna somewhat hesitantly. He wasn’t a necessarily shy guy but last thing he wanted to do was upset her further. ”Mind if I follow along?” The man stood and strode back to the Curly mare that chewed on the nearby stall door. He lightly shoved the filly’s velvety nose away and chuckled when she pinned her ears at him.

”I promise she’ll behave.” He reassured Sienna, although the devious glances Quil sent the lot of them showed otherwise. ”Well, I guess I can’t promise anything but I’d like to hope she’s able to act civil for an hour or so…” He cast a glance over his shoulder. ”That is, if you wanted company.. I don’t want to intrude.“

The man felt a smile touch his features as the woman agreed, and was that a sigh of relief? It was as if he was pleased to be able to keep an eye on the damaged woman. He had only known her a full five minutes and she had already pulled at his heartstrings. Could he really be blamed for wanting to show her that not all humans were the devil reincarnated?

Hazel eyes watched as she left for the stall before turning to his own horse and grabbing a brush to finish off what he had started before the woman’s episode. He drug the brush over the palomino’s curly coat and he snorted as the cloud of dust filled the air – damn filly had probably rolled before he’d gotten her out. ”Must you make everything difficult?” He asked with a sigh.

Before long the man had settled on clearing the area for the saddle and left the rest, he couldn’t be bothered, especially if they were just heading to the beach. He allowed his mind to wander as he grabbed his saddle and bridle from the tack room and easily slid it up onto Quil’s back, although not without some squirming involved. ”Quit it before I give you something to squirm about.” He threatened in a nearly inaudible growl. He tightened the girth quickly and easily on the all-purpose saddle and slipped the bit into the filly’s mouth.

He turned to check if the woman had finished with her own horse and discovered she had already left the barn, to which he promptly followed. The filly required a bit of coaxing to make her way out of the ‘safety’ of the barn but eventually obliged. He threw the reins over the horses head and gripped them tight as he mounted, Quil bracing against the metal object in her mouth and swishing her tail but receiving only a laugh from the rider. Why did he even have mares again? Oh right, because they were rescues. He ran his fingers lightly through the horses mane before allowing her to walk off.

Although his expression of amusement quickly faded as he caught up to the blonde and listened to her words, it was quiet out and her shaky voice rang clearly through his mind. He frowned deeply and set his reins in one hand as the filly eagerly paced along beside the stallion. ”Damn.. I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.” He apologized, turning to focus on her after surveying the environment as if somebody was going to waltz up and terrorize the poor woman further. ”This woman sounds like a bitch…you don’t deserve any of that.” The man glanced down. ”Well, she can’t get to you here. I guess you don’t really need a ‘babysitter’ but, I’m here and I wouldn’t be opposed to giving her what she has coming to her, if she tried to lay another hand on you.”