riding (reece)

[Emmanuelle LaBeau]

It was Sunday once again and Em rolled out of bed with a smile on her face ready to meet Reece to go riding and probably dancing afterwards. She loved the studio, she loved getting back into dancing and bar tending at night. She loved the atmosphere of the dance studio and the new people she was meeting. And she loved getting back into riding. There was a big part of her that had missed riding more than she expected she would.

The day was beautiful and clear. It was warm for this time of year and Em threw on a light zip up sweatshirt and a pair of jeans. She sighed looking in the mirror. She was still sporting a nice shiner from earlier in the week when she got jumped. She sighed heavily. This wasn't the way she really wanted Reece to see her... though she had a feeling it didn't matter at this point anyway. He didn't seem to see her as anything but a friend... and now it looked like his ex.... dance partner? Girlfriend? She wasn't even sure but she was around much more.... or at least she thought she must have been since she hadn't been needed to help with classes.

Em could feel a pit of jealousy forming in her stomach. Maybe she shouldn't go. Maybe she should just forget it and go back to bed....

She continued to get ready though, slipping into her brown riding boots before grabbing her bag and heading down to the stables.

The ever always early Em got there early, which was embarrassing. She really didn't want Reece to think she was too eager or embarrass herself and look like a love sick little school girl... that was the last thing she needed.

She propped herself up against the big apple tree that was now bare staring down at her book while she waited.

[Reece Turner]

Reece was getting quite fond of the girl with the blonde hair now working with them at the club. She was a great distraction and he found dancing with her so much easier than dancing with Celli had become. Reece adored her bubbly personality and her bright blue eyes shining with happiness whenever she saw him. Manny made him feel quite special. She was not only bright and warm and intelligent but a little spark of distraction every time she was around him. After the weekend he'd had with Celli, he needed distraction badly so when Sunday came, he was just as eager to get to Manny as she was to get to him.

The black motorbike pulled up into the dusty parking lot and as always, Manny was there waiting for him by the tree. He set his foot down and pulled off his helmet, shaking out his hair a little before running his fingers through his dark brown curls.
"You make me always wonder whether I'm the one being late. It's not polite to keep a girl waiting you know."
Reece shot her a smile as he turned off the ignition, hung his helmet over the handle bars and dismounted the bike.

He headed toward her and slowly unzipped his jacket sliding it off before moving to lean against the tree beside her so he could peer at what she was reading.
"Anything interesting? I could do with some distractions today."
Reece said softly now that he was by her eyes and his eyes quickly found hers. It was weird to see her eyes. The same color as his own. Beautiful translucent blue. Was this why it felt so incredible to look into his eyes?

All the millions of colors that reflected back...It was beautiful and Reece found himself lost in them for a moment before he quickly dropped his eyes to the ground again.
"Ready to rid then?"

[Emmanuelle LaBeau]

Em found herself smiling like a loon when she heard the distinct purr of his bike. Silly girl. Stupid girl. She found herself far more fond of Reece then she wanted to be and knew that he had baggage. She didn't know a lot about him, even after spending the amount of time she had with him but she still knew there was baggage there. She knew there was more to him then the layers he'd allowed her to see so far. For the first time in her life she felt like she wasn't the one leading a relationship... friendship either. Perhaps it was because he was older. Perhaps it was because he'd so far put up with her weird OCD issues without making her feel ridiculous. Then again when she was with him she didn't tend to be so nuts with the germs.

She chuckled hearing him talking about her making him feel late. "I only just got here." She assured him closing her book and dropping it into her bag as she pushed off the tree to go meet him.

"Nothing particularly." She sighed. "I only really worked on college applications all week when i wasn't at work." She shrugged. She had spent a good deal of the week nursing her body back. Her ribs still ached terribly but she wasn't going to advertise it. SHe shouldn't have be riding horses at all... she probably shouldn't have been dancing either but Em wasn't someone to let physical pain get in the way of her quality of life. She'd rather swallow it down and press on then seem week. Stupid girl.

Her eyes caught his and she felt herself smile again. His eyes really were something spectacular, as beautiful as all his illusions. She blinked away. "Yeah let's go." She said letting him lead the way into the stables.

The smell of the stables was something you either loved or hated. It smelt of the giant animals and hay and things that Em didn't even want to think about let alone acknowledge liking. The scent never did get old though, it was oddly comforting. She smiled seeing the Magic, a beautiful white horse that Em had grown quite fond of and had to keep herself from running to. The horse whinnied seeing her as excited as she was. She couldn't contain herself she sprinted to the animal the rest of the way. "I missed you!" She chuckled petting the horse tenderly as he nuzzled into her neck.

She quickly put on his saddle, his bridal already on. "Ready?" She asked Reece as she lead Magic out of the stable.

[Reece Turner]

Reece had noticed the bruises when she'd come in with when she'd worked during the week but he tried hard not to point them out, like always waiting for the right moment each time. While Manny ran on past him to go get Magic, a horse a friend of his had and that she'd fallen for, Reece had gone to get his equipment from the equipment lock up. He'd never tell Manny but to ride Magic, he'd had to pay Patrick a fifty each time they'd gotten to ride the horse. It was that or have his own horse mate, having been an ex race horse and all that.

Reece wasn't fond of selling Wild Fire Phillip's sperm to Patrick. It just sounded like whoring out his horse and he didn't think that Phil would appreciate being a hustler. He'd gotten to the lock up to get his boots, riding crop and hat along with his saddle and reigns. Phill was good and old enough to be ridden without a bit and with just a tap of the crop or a nudge in the side now so Reece didn't often use the bit on the ol' Phill. When he returned to the stables he found that she was already leading Magic out.

"God you're fast. Go ride her around the pen and I'll join you in a sec."
Reece walked into the stabled to the third hold where Phill's head immediately popped over the door out of curiosity.
"Old man, ready to run?"
The horse watched Reece as he entered moving to the side a bit when Reece pushed at him then Reece gathered the saddle and heaved it onto the hosee's back before sliding the head gear over his head before leading him into the main area of the stable and mounting him.

Reece had never been good at waiting till they were outside to mount. He'd ridden Phillip since he'd broke the horse in. He'd loved his horse, more then anything else.
"Let's go old man..."
Reece simply had to nudge his sides to get the horse to start moving toward the riding pen where they'd get the horses running and jumping and where he'd hoped Manny would be waiting.

[Emmanuelle LaBeau]

"He" She corrected him with a smile as she lead him outside then mounted him. She had no idea that Reece had been paying the owner or even that he really talked to him much. Had she known she would have insisted that she paid herself. She adored Magic though and she liked to think that the horse liked her just as much. He was still rather young, at least compared to Reece's horse and had a spirit like Em's. He liked to run fast and could get wild. He'd taken off on more than one occasion with Em on his back helpless to the horses power. She loved it.

Em waited for Reece and Phil up by the entrance of one of the trails they'd yet to take. It was supposed to be a bit more difficult and they'd worked their way up to it over the past few weeks.

Once Reece had caught up Magic nipped playfully at Phil and Em smiled. "I'm really happy we're doing this today.... I honestly wasn't sure if I wanted to come.... but I'm already happy I came and feeling a lot more... well I don't know." She chuckled. She really didn't know what had gotten into her. She'd woken up on the wrong side of the bed and now was feeling rather bubbly and happy. "I guess it was just not the best week." She shrugged then looked over at Reece. He looked ridiculously handsome on his horse. LIke a knight on horseback straight out of a fairy tale. It wasn't fair.

"You were saying before that you needed the distraction today too... mind if I ask why?" She wouldn't push. If he didn't want to say she could handle that, for now at least. She knew that like all things trust took time to build up and she wasn't exactly someone who opened up herself so she never much expected anyone else to. She could leave it be and just enjoy the day. Though she did hope he told her. Even now he looked.... off to her. But perhaps it was all in her head.

[Reece Turner]

Reece smirked when she corrected him on what kind of horse it was. Stallions that age should not be ridden by girls as beautiful as Manny so it was basically wishful hoping that Magic [what kind of name was that for a horse anyway] was not tempered as most stallions were.
"Probably born into the wrong gender pool hmm?"
Reece whispered so only Phill could hear but the horse remained unaffected while Reece adjusted things double checking buckles.

Reece headed toward the running pen frowning when Manny wasn't there and slowly let his eyes survey the area. He'd told her to wait there for him. The girl sure as hell was on her own planet most of the time.
"Come on, Phill, let's go find 'em."
Reece urged and the horse proded forward at a lazy walk. Finally he thought to look at the exit into the forests which is finally where he found her a half an hour later.

"Thought we were meeting in the pen...You keep disappearing on me I might get clinging."
He said when he arrived beside her, his eyes catching on her bruise once again before he dropped his eyes. Phillip grunted in annoyance at the other horse, way past the age to be annoyed by a young horse and bucked slightly causing Reece to tug sharply on the reigns tightening his grip for a moment before loosening it as he fell into pace beside Manny. He smiled at her words and tilted his head to the side when he heard that she didn't feel like coming today.

"I never get that. Horse ridding is like dancing. I grew up on a horses back and took my first steps on a dance floor. "
He remembered his first horse. An adorable little shetland... what had he called her? Stardust? Or something... His mom's old horse had been Starling and despite Cryssa hating horses, his mom had really loved Star and had been devistated when Star had to be put to rest and then dad got her this amazingly beautiful old tawny stallion and she'd fallen in love all over again.

"I'm glad you came too by the way..."
Reece smiled at her as they headed deeper into the folliage. Reece shook his head when she asked him what he needed a distraction from easing back on the saddle, his eyes fixed ahead of them.
"Doesn't matter right now. It should pass."
He fell silent for a long time before dropping his eyes to the ground to watch his horse walk.

"Are you gonna tell me his name so I can get Anthony to help me rearrange his face...?"
His eyes finally flicked to her. He couldn't hold back anymore. He had to know who had hurt her and why?

[Emmanuelle LaBeau]

Em had been to excited to see her horse (as she liked to call him) to actually listen to Reece. She'd nodded when he told her to wait but her mind was someplace entirely different.

She waited patiently for Reece. Damn it where was he? How long could it possibly take to get on a horse? Had he fallen off? No way Reece was far too graceful to fall off of anything and if he did she was sure he'd land on his feet like a cat and then make it look like that was exactly what he wanted to do before finishing it off with a bow. She chuckled to herself at the thought.

Finally, he found them. "Oh i'm so sorry." She said honestly. "I guess I just got too excited." She said blushing as they walked, taking it slow. It wasn't that she didn't want to ride today.... it was that... well she was having.... she wasn't in control of this relationship whatever it was or what it was going to be and she knew that his ex was around and she'd never had a job that she wanted to keep so bad. She liked this job enough to even stay out of Celli's way which was saying something. Normally Em would have loved a batch of friendly competition. But here the stakes were too high. Not to mention the respect she had for Reece even at the brink of their friendship. She knew a good thing when it was there.

"You probably danced and rode horses before you could even drink out of a sippie cup." She teased though wasn't entirely sure she was joking. She wouldn't have been surprised if Reece had actually come out of the womb tap dancing over to his horse and then going for a ride.

Em nodded when he expressed not wanting to talk about it. That's what she'd expected and she could respect that and wouldn't push. But when he asked about her she frowned. She had a feeling this was coming and he'd let her get away with not saying a word all week.

"It doesn't matter right now." She said repeating what he'd just said. She let silence fall, just the sounds of their breath and the horses hooves on the damp ground below. "I don't know who he was anyway..." She finally said her eyes falling to the ground. "So it doesn't matter."

[Reece Turner]

Reece gave a scoffed laugh when he heard what she said about the sippy cup thing.
"My mom's a devoted dancer and my dad a devoted rancher. Me and my sisters just fell into line I guess, though, Lindsey more then Rebecca except when my mom gave her that look. Rebecca's more daddy's girl then mommies. She's totally into the whole getting down and dirty thing rather then lace and frillies."
Reece hardly realized he was dishing it out thickly to Manny without her even pushing him to do so. He was rather amused at the fact that she wanted to know anyway.

But then the subject turned dark. Reece's fury boiled when he heard what she said and his hands tightened on the reigns.
"WHAT?!"
He screamed out and Phillip yerked in a startled buck forcing Reece to reign the horse in. Reece took two fast breathes and calmed himself quickly moving his horse along.

"Where did this happen? Did you report it? Did you not even get a good look at his face? Why did it happen?"
The jumble of questions just spilled from his lips as he watched Manny with a mixture of anger and concern for her.

[Emmanuelle LaBeau]

Em smiled hearing him talk about his family. It was nice hearing him talk about his parents and the family all sharing similar passions even if the one sister wasn't really on the same page as Reece. Still it was nice to hear that he was at least somewhat close with his family. It made her miss her sisters... she hadn't spoken to Fleur in such a long time and it was starting to upset her. She didn't want to skype with her all beat up though. She didn't particularly want her to know about it at all to be honest. Fluer would probably cause a huge fuss and come up and just stress her out. It wasn't needed.

Em's head whipped to look at Reece when she heard the fury boil and explode. "I... It just.." She became flustered and sighed looking down regaining her words. "It happened when i left the studio last sunday..... Yes I reported it.... no I didn't really get a great look at him.... and I don't know.... he said...." She sighed. He'd told her to be more careful. "He knew i was meta and... i guess he'd been planning to do it for a while since he'd waited for me to be alone... but... it was because i am meta...." She told him afraid to look over at him and his reaction. "I was stupid... i should have been more careful."

[Reece Turner]

Reece felt a pang of guilt when he heard her say that it had happened when she'd left the club. If he'd been there he could have stopped it. If he paid closer attention to Manny he'd have been able to protect her. Reece slumped in his saddle and frowned at the ground. It took him a moment to look up at her again.

"This is your employer talking. You'll take leave from work for the next week, starting today. Me, Lacey or Anthony and Laker will come and pick you up when this week is over. Under no circumstances will you come in to dance practice or practice on your own for the rest of the week. You will take it ease..."
Reece reached in and yanked the reigns from her hands before steering the horses back to where they had come from.

"And you're not riding with injuries. I saw the way you wince when I touch you along the waist and when you have to do the side step you gasp a little. Come on Manny. Look after yourself. You're my main girl now. Let's go.... have some brunch somewhere. Take it easy. Chill... infact. Let's go to my place. I got a few movies we can watch and I can make a killer burrito. "
He was so angry that anyone would hurt her. He needed to take better care of her. He saw traits of Linds in her. He just had to look after her.

[Emmanuelle LaBeau]

"A whole week Reece?" She asked looking at him dumbfounded. She'd been at the studio the whole time after and if she could handle that she could surely handle this week. "Reece... It really isn't that bad." She was still in a lot of pain but she'd drive herself crazy just sitting at Hammel. Her senioritus had kicked in full force and her focus was anywhere but school. She wanted out. She wanted to graduate and be done and be an adult.

"Wait... burrito?" She asked perking up all of a sudden. Mexican food was her absolute favorite. "OK ok.. lets go to your place and eat burritos and watch movies." She agreed but couldn't help going back to the former topic.

"I know I have to take care of myself... but honestly staying at Hammel is just... well it's worse for me then dancing with injuries.... can't i just work though? If not dance can't I at least be there and bar tend or something? Don't make me feel useless for a week Reece... Plus what will you do without me? YOU'LL go crazy! Think about your well being!" She was trying to lighten the mood at little.

[Reece Turner]

A whole week, she whined like a child being told she was grounded and he smirked before nodded quickly.
"That's right. "
He confirmed keeping his eyes on the road. He gave in to Becca cause Becca never listened to him which often got him in mountains of trouble when she made her own trouble. Becca proved that Reece wasn't ready for fatherhood each and every time they had a major argument about things. Lindsey never got grounded because Lindsey never did much wrong.

Reece eyed the girl with doubt in his expression when she mentioned it wasn't that bad. She'd been beaten up by one of the few meta haters here in the community. Normally people were both forgiving and accepting of meta's because of Hammel's efforts to try and integrate the community with meta's but he knew there were many people right across the world that would rather see meta's in institutions where they, as humans, would know that they were safe. They just didn't get that Meta's, once in control of their powers, were useful, valuable assets to the world.

Reece smirked when she mentioned burritos in a more up beat tone of voice and he pretty much thought he'd won. He nodded as they grew closer to the exit of the trials. He'd never really taken a girl home except Aracelli who'd been so much a part of his family that his mother had already searched for wedding venues... which really creeped Reece out and had led to the end of the whole relationship to be perfectly honest. Reece gave a laugh when she mentioned that HE will go mad without her. He finally sighed and slowly shook his head.

"Fine. Take it easy today and let me serve you burritos and make you stay in bed and I'll think about letting you work the shift tomorrow okay?"
Reece tilted his head at the blonde beside him. Once they were out of the trails and back in stable grounds, one of the keepers came up to Reece and he smiled warmly when his reigns were taken from him.

"Neither of them were worked today. "
He mentioned as he dismounted, moving to Magic's side and reaching his hands up to help Manny down.
"I think they could both do with a little hard riding."
He continued over his shoulder.

[Emmanuelle LaBeau]

Em smiled when she'd gotten her way. She knew Reece was smart enough to admit that he'd miss her too much therefore a week was a ridiculous demand to expect of both of them. Not dancing for some time could probably do her a world of good though and it'd be hard for her not to but she knew it was called for considering the condition of her ribs. She was still bandaged up tight under her clothes and the doctor had told her she wasn't supposed to be up and around but sitting still would have killed her faster than hurt ribs.

Em braced herself for dismount not excited for the impact of the ground or Reece even helping her down. That would actually probably hurt. She held her breath and carefully let him help her down. She couldn't help but let out a groan that she instantly regretted but decided to act as if it didn't happen at all.

"We'll be back next week." She told Magic before letting the stable hand take the horses back. She hated letting that horse go. "I really need to save up my money and buy that horse or something." SHe sighed. "It's love... between us you know." She was kidding but only slightly. If Em had ever loved anything it was that horse.

Em followed him to his bike wondering how THIS was going to work now. She didn't have a car up in Vermont and had walked to the stables as they weren't far from school at all. "I don't suppose you have an extra helmet do you?" SHe asked hopeful. SHe didn't really want to walk to Reece's.

[Reece Turner]

Reece knew that being without her floating around the club would be hard. Since she'd started working there, she'd not only attracted loads more people to the club but had become a part of their family. Laker loved her to bits and even Lacey was warming up to her. Reece made it so that she saw very little of Aracelli because he knew how scary things could become and he didn't trust it. Reece smiled at the girl who basically could get him to do a lot just by blinking her pretty eyes. Then again, most of his staff could do that anyway.

Reece winced however, the moment he set her on her feet and he was careful with her from here on in, hovering almost protectively close by. She said goodbye to the horse and mentioned wanting to buy him making Reece wince and shake his head.
"I don't think Patrick's ready to part just yet. "
Unless, Reece got Phill to share his genes to make super strong race horses for Patrick, of course. Reece watched Phillip disappear, lead by the stable hand and half turned back to Manny.

Reece lead Manny back to the back and took the helmet from the handles holding it out to her.
"No, Manny. You're wearing the helmet and I'm testing my luck again with the traffic officers lurking about. "
Reece mounted the back when she took the helmet and mounted the bike shoving the keys into the ignition and revving the engine up.
"Come on. Let's go. We'll be fine. I'm good with the back routes. I promise."

[Emmanuelle LaBeau]

Em knew that her ever owning that horse was a long shot and she didn't expect it to ever actually happen. But a girl could dream...

Em grabbed the black helmet from Reece and held it out looking at her reflection for a moment in the dark plastic. She sighed, her eye didn't look any better there and her hair was even worse. Wonderful. She really needed to look like a sack of horse shit in front of Reece. Oh well, he'd seen her look pretty before and she'd just have to make sure to make herself look extra hot next time.

She looked up at him when he explained he wouldn't be wearing a helmet. WEll that was safe. She sighed, there was no use arguing. "Ok." She said then put the helmet onto her head and climbed onto the back of his bike. She moved in close to Reece and wrapped her arms around him. "Don't kill me Turner."

When the bike started em yelped and wrapped her arms tighter around him bringing her head onto his shoulder. She had never been on a bike before and it was thrilling. After the initial shock Em laughed and couldn't help but enjoy herself. During turns Em let out squeals of excitement and fear. It was scary. But in all the right ways.