Riding Home (ATTN:Chasing)

[Nicole]

Kleido had a nice set of gaits, her movement feeling like floating and looking like it too. Riddler had the same qualities, but he also had that showman attitude. Kleido had professionalism at the age of 4. The bay mare walked relaxed, her ears twisting every now and again, trusting her rider. She was about the same size as Legend, another 4 year old filly beside her.

"She's come a long way very nicely." Claire remarked of the cremello filly beside her and her bay. She had energy and good forward movement, really, why hadn't he started showing her more? She was farther ahead than Kleido was and yet Kleido had shown at least in four shows. "How has she done in shows?" She asked it this way, maybe she'd get more this way rather than by simply assuming. "She ought to be doing well I would think."

Kleido gave a snort, her head raised a little. Claire looked up and watched a pair of two doe leap through the forest ahead of them as they approached the course. Kleido's muscles tensed ever so slightly, but she continued to walk. "Good girl." Claire said softly, encouraging the mare. She had to try to get a little more energy in the mare, more than just her obedience. Maybe if her competitive nature came out she would look better.

[Chasing]

Chasing nodded, "Yes she has but then I've done nothing but work with her for two years", he explained. Legend had come a long way. All the emotions Claire had left him with when she left the Hills had gone into turning Legend into a superb competition horse. Except she had never competed and it didn't take a genius to figure out that Claire was curious about why Chasing wasn't competing on her or why she hadn't even hit the show circuit. Truth to tell he didn't know either really. His old friends called from time to time wondering when Legend would hit the circuit, they'd all seen her sire and Cali's other foals were already showing to some extent, why not Legend? And for that matter why not Saint? Saint had placed first in every cross-country competition Chasing had competed on him in, though he couldn't win dressage to save his life and barely got around a show ring.

"She hasn't done", he took a deep breathe and let it out, "I'm retired remember?". Now t hat they were free of the outbuildings and pastures, he gave Legend her head, letting her merge into a smooth trot to warm her up. Her paces were still ungangly and rough as if she had some length to put on or some weight to put on. Time and work would smooth them out. "Retired means not competing anymore".

[Nicole]

Claire kept up with Chasing once he took Legend to the trot. She hadn't even had to ask for it. Kleido's ears pricked up and she collected herself before beginning to jog, her strides naturally long even at the collected trot. Claire sat the smooth gait and looked at Chasing as they drew even once more. Something must seriously be bothering him. He loved to compete, or at least he used to. It must have been Cali still, after that it was as if he had lost his heart to ride competitively.

"A horseman never really retires." Claire remarked. "Baer isn't very dramatic." She wanted to make him spill, but they were grown adults. Anything she did would be simply childish. "So why don't you tell me what has happened with you? Why are you really not riding?" Claire asked. She sat there on a trotting horse, the course slowly coming around towards them. Would he tell her anything? She didn't know, but she figured he might say a little something. "I know you reasonably well to know something is up." Claire said as she urged Kleido into a true trot, the mare snorting.

[Chasing]

He looked over at her and shrugged. That was the truth. Part of him did not want to compete but every time a competition was on the television or it appeared in a magazine it had his full attention. He missed it so much but he'd been out of competition for so long he doubted he could get back into competitive shape. And then there was the unknown variable, he didn't know why he was no longer competing. He just woke up one day and decided not to. "Baer ought to be retired", Chasing muttered as Claire caught up to him. "Four years in New York haven't changed him at all". Baer had been great friends with Chasing's grandfather and while Chase might be piqued at him, they were friends as well.

"Nothing has happened to me. I am just existing", hiding was more like it. He wasn't afraid of competing he just lacked any enthusiasm for it. His muse was dead, it had been dying when Cali was put down and had completely died when Claire left. He just wanted to relax and enjoy his farm now, without worrying about competition. "And Claire, let's be honest you don't know me half as well as you think". He hadn't meant to say that and he regretted it, the moment it was out but he locked his lips against an apology that ached to come out. He'd never been able to put up an employer/employee line where she was concerned but he did now. That lessons was four years to late in coming.

[Nicole]

"New York is a fast-paced place, but it never changes anyone unless you let the bug bite you." Claire remarked. She had lived in New York while she was in college for about five or six years and then these past two. The place was nice in some parts, gorgeous in others, and frightening wherever the buildings towered over you. It was as she had heard: if the place doesn't get your heart, you'll go anywhere you want. "Oh really?"

She didn't know him, did she? Everytime she thought she did she was proven wrong only to be proven right. It was like a circle. In the end, she was usually more right than wrong and she was sticking to her guns. Still, even though Chasing liked to push and prod people, he didn't like it being done to him. Claire decided to respect him that much and give him his space. Really, what right did she have to poke him anyway?

"So be it, but something is bothering you and can't just be my coming back. This is something that has been bugging you longer than my leaving and returning." Claire was fairly confident that it was still Cali that held Chasing back. He didn't want to get close to a horse like that again, but then he refused to compete all out unless he did connect with a horse. Chasing didn't know how to let go. "Are you afraid of getting attached?" She asked.

[Chasing]

The bug would never bite Baer, the man had skin like a suit of armor. Chasing could count the times on one hand that he had seen Baer sporting a bruise and he'd only need one finger at the most. Chasing shrugged at her 'Oh really', he believed himself to be above and beyond most people's understandings but if one took the time he was an easy person to get to know and understand. And as she had already figured out, it wasn't hard to discover that something was wrong him. Chasing just didn't have it in him to be introverted and purposefully mean, it just wasn't a part of his natural charisma and charm.

"So it's been bugging me for what three years? Since Cali died?", he retorted with a snort. Truthfully if he had to admit it, it had been bugging him since Thomas died but he wasn't about to tell her that. Claire had never met his grandfather, she didn't know what Chasing had been like before Thomas had died, she'd only seen the after effects when he'd gotten himself back together. "Why couldn't it be about you? Maybe I thought you'd never come back and I prefered life that way. Not everything stems from Cali", he retorted as they trotted a well-worn trail to the top of a hill.

He paused Legend on top of the hill, glancing down at the barn. This was one of the hills the farm was famous for, it's riding purpose to impart stamina to horses. Continuing on the trail would bring the rider face to face with the middle of a cross country course, since this hill happened to be to wooded for a jump. Still you could see the barn and a hint of pasture from the vantage point. "I got attached to you didn't I?", he finally answered her question, knowing it wasn't an answer, and turned Legend back to the trail.

[Nicole]

"I never said it was Cali." Claire said with no hint of emotion to give her away. All she knew was that after that horse died he had changed. If it was from something else, anything else at all, it would be from another death. Most likely his grandfather's. She let him accuse her. Sure, maybe it was, but she never used that excuse on him. SHe didn't think he'd come back, let alone for her. When he did, she was still rather broken and when she fixed herself, he laid claim on her and then cracked her up again.

Claire was quiet a moment before they reached the hill. "Maybe it is, but it took two to do that and I was hurt too, you know." She defended herself a little. Really, she didn't have the heart to argue over the past and their relationship. For her it was over and done with and she didn't want to got back to those days. "I don't think it is though." She reined Kleido in and the mare stood quiet as they looked down on the farm. "If it was, you'd be more abrasive I think, or working harder to get to me."

She followed after him on Kleido, keeping up easily by just urging the quiet mare on. "There's more to, there always is with you." Claire remarked and then added, just as a guess on the fly, "So who's the girl?" And to herself added, 'this time'.

[Chasing]

On that one Claire didn't know nearly enough. Why should he be abrasive and work harder to get her back? She had made it clear two years ago they were through, he should have stayed in Germany with Illie, at least she had been predictable and he could deal with her. He couldn't stand her but he could deal with her, as opposed to Claire who he loved to distraction but couldn't deal with. God above he did still love her but he wasn't about to open that Pandora's box again. No sirree, Adrianna was a much better choice, especially now with Claire having inherited her grandmother's farm. Chasing wasn't about to go giving his heart to someone who would leave him twice. He wasn't the type, or at least he was praying he wasn't the type.

"Always more?", he looked insulted and then chuckled. "You'd think I was a woman, always being so complicated and such. I'm a man Claire, there is never anything more than what is on the table. Or at least anything more than what a few drinks and chocolate cake couldn't fix". Chocolate cake, his one true vice, he laughingly hated his grandmother for giving him the recipe. It had been his habit for years to always have one cake in the fridge at the house and at the lounge. "The girl? Who says I've got one?", he asked her, "Maybe I've got a man", but he couldn't keep a straight face over that and sighed, "Adrianna. She's the new veterinarian in town, or rather she's not so new now".

[Nicole]

Oh yeah, he'd deny it up and down. Chasing was too stubborn to ever admit that he was hiding something on the inside. She sighed a little and rolled her eyes. Let him be that way, she hardly cared. She was just doing the favor that Baer asked of them and sort things through. Maybe he didn't want to even try, but she would and she'd do it her own way just like she always would. She let it lie that way and just kept up, at least Kleido was able to stretch her legs a little today.

Claire accidently blurted out, "You always have a girl." It was too late to take it back. It was relatively true, too, so she wasn't about to apologize. Even when he swore up and down that he loved and she was the only one, he had been with other women, not one, but two she knew of and likely more that she didn't. Without fidelity, Claire couldn't stand the hurt Chasing put her through. It was why she wasn't going to be more than a friend and employee this time around.

"It's good, she must be really nice. I should let her know that she has nothing to be afraid of from my being here." Claire said to cover up her mistake of blurting out a thought. She was sure everyone in the area hated her and blamed her for Chasing's mood and demeanor, but really it wasn't her fault. No one blamed Chasing for Claire's workaholic behavior when he was off galavanting in Europe. "I wish the two of you luck." She said earnestly and smiled warmly. They would need it, or rather Adrianna would if she wanted Chasing to stay put.

[Chasing]

"Do not", he muttered under his breathe. Why he had went a whole two years before asking Adrianna out on a date, they'd only been together for six months or so even now. How did that equal always having a girl? She made him sound like a womanzier and his southern sensibilities were offended at the very notion. He'd been completely faithful to her in their relationships. He hadn't started dating Illie until she found him in Germany two months after he left Georgia and Claire. Totally uncalled for it was.

"She's not the type to get jealous", he replied over his shoulder, turning in his saddle to look at her. And then, in what had become classic Chasing, was knocked from his saddle by an offending tree limb. This was the guy who could ride every horse he'd ever been put on to a stand still, regardless of what Baer had insinuated earlier in the day. He fell off horses of course but it was international news when he did, or it had been up until after he quit competing.

He lay there on his back contemplating the offending tree limb until Legend came to sniffle his face, a quizzical look in her eyes about why he was laying on the ground. Her reins trailed down her necked and looped over one ear as she lowered her head to inspect him. "Shoo", he told her, pushing her nose away so he could sit up. "What about you? You got a girl?", he asked her, before climbing to his feet and dusting his jeans off.

[Nicole]

Claire just smiled to herself. Just about any girl Chasing mixed with got jealous when a girl he had been with came around. She did. If this one didn't even bat an eye to it, then kudos to her. She'd shake her hand, buy her a drink, and leave well enough alone. She shrugged and relaxed a little in the saddle, still not enough to for her to be considered slouching. She was about to remark about the tree, but it was too late and she just snickered.

"Are you all right?" She asked, leaning over a little to peer down at him as Legend came over and shadowed him. "Good thing you took to wearing helmets on trail rides."

Claire laughed at him, "You wish." Her laughing faded and her face hardened a little. Really, she would have liked to, but it was too complicated. She had been engaged. Her parents had started telling family and friends, and when it was called off she knew that it had been a bit embarrassing. No one said so, but Claire could feel it. Her smile gone she said, "I really haven't tried to find someone and who wants to date the former fiancee of the great Chasing March? I'm a branded woman." She laughed coldly. Chasing had scarred her in more than one way and it was still all on her head.

[Chasing]

He glared at her as he gathered Legend's reins and climbed back on the filly. "Last year I had three concussions from falling, it was either get a helmet or get a new head", he told her, settling himself into the saddle. His grey shirt was now unbelivably filthy, covered in dirt and sticks, but Chasing never seemed to care about his appearance. And he bought his clothes dirty anyway, if his clothes were stuck in a vacuum they would still get dirty.

He gave her a look as he circled Legend around her horse, "I find that very hard to believe, I don't see brands unless it's your grandfather's nose", he told her than gave her a boyish charming smile. "If you are taking it that hard why don't I just make you my wife? Then no worries", he shrugged. Then before she could answer he let Legend have her head, along with a kick, and the filly took off in a ground eating gallop. She'd never say yes anyway, he just wanted to make her uncomfortable like she had been doing to him. Tit for tat.

[Nicole]

Claire shook her head. Like an incourageable child, he was. He had to learn the hard way. She had always worn her helmet except for when she rode western, but that was a style. Chasing had to wait until three concussions in one year before he learned better, and that was in his late twenties. At least he relented to riding with a helmet now. He was being a smidgen safer than he was before.

"Ha ha, good joke." Claire made a face at him and settled back to rearranging Kleido's mane a little. He might not believe it, but it was truth. Oh, she had world's of respect, but he personal life suffered dearly. Professionally she had made it in the horse world. If she wanted a normal personal life, she probably should look elsewhere than where she worked. That was a hard thing to do, there were seldom anyone who understood the dedication of a horseperson. "Really funny Chasing, I'm not going to enter that world of hurt a third time, I'm not going to let myself be hurt by you again!" She shouted after him as he rode off.

She wasn't in the mood for this. Claire rubbed her nose and shook her head. "Get a hold of yourself, Claire." She whispered to herself. "Come on, Kleido." She started the mare up and brought her to a nice extended canter and followed the dust trail. She wasn't going to go chasing the man again. It wasn't worth the effort or the tired horse. It was a relaxing canter, nice with long strides, not too bad considering Legend was galloping headlong. Not healthy for her. "Best catch up a little." Claire urged Kleido into a hand-gallop and managed to coax it out of her.

[Chasing]

Chasing had just dismounted from Legend and was sitting on top of a log jump between two pines waiting for Claire. "Chasing me are you?", he asked, swinging his legs in the air in front of him. Legend stood patiently at the jump, resting after her gallop. It hadn't been a long gallop and it had been all downhill so she wasn't breathing very hard. "You should give that habit up Claire", he admonished her, sliding off the jump. He bent down and picked a piece of grass, sticking it in his mouth to chew on it.

"I figure from here we can either ride back towards the farm up hill, or downhill towards a pond. There are six jumps uphill and seven downhill, not to mention the pond", he gave her a smile, "I prefer the downhill", he told her climbing back up on a Legend who gave a sorrowful look at being used. "And Legend isn't quit up to the uphill jumps yet", he added with a shy grin as he backed her away from the jump. He turned her to face Kleido, "well?"

[Nicole]

"I've never been chasing you, you just happen to be in my way. Usually you are the one doing the chasing, Chasing." Claire said in reply as she approached. Kleido snorted and shook her head. She really preferred to trot, it was in her genes to do that because it was what she did best, still, if Claire asked it of her then she would do it. The mare stood quiet and recieved a nice warm and hearty pat from Claire.

"I get to pick the poison? I really don't care, downhill since it's what you want." Claire said with a shrug, being very indifferent to it all. She scratched her wrist, tugged at her jacket sleeve, and gazed over the course. Kleido had done more arena jumping than cross-country she admitted to herself. Still, Kleido wasn't much for refusing. "Kleido can do them, but I don't mind missing those."

She turned Kleido around and brought her into a nice trot, "You always like leading, best get to it." Claire told her.