Too Much Down Time [Cavvy/whoever]

[Ripley]

Too Much Down Time

Ripley weaved her way through the pasture, carrying her sandals in one hand and her long black skirt in the other. Her wild, auburn curls hung down her back until the wind grabbed at them with its greedy claws. She breathed in the air, shivering as the cool chill filled her. She loved a good summer storm and there was definitely one on the way. The dark black clouds that loomed overhead were gorged with rain as they had been since the Mother Goose Stakes at The Wire.

Awestruck had finished third behind Adrasteia and Quick Silver--a daughter of BBS's own Mr. Hat and Clogs. Her performance had been strong and much better than her fourth in the Acorn Stakes. Next time out in the Coaching Club American Oaks, Ripley hoped for more. At ten furlongs, Awestruck would be in her prime. She had the class, the stamina, the ability to navigate the classic distance and the determination to nail down that elusive Triple Tiara leg win. Currently, True was passed out in her large box stall, buried in the thick bedding of shavings Justin and Malcolm had laid out for her. She wasn't exactly wiped out from today's race, but she was taking care of herself. In three days, she'd be ready to get back to work for the longest leg of all.

Ripley heard a skittering of hooves and lifted her head cautiously. The members of this pasture were not the kindest sort, nor the most self-aware. The eleven weanlings flitted near the gate, nickering and snorting for their dinner. Ripley smiled. Horses were the best creatures to have around if one wanted to maintain a routine.

There was a loud bugle across the way, its tone deep and demanding. Ripley did not have to look to know that In Front had arrived or that his sire would be right behind him in his nearby pasture. Much to Ripley's delight, Touch Up's higher, more melodic neigh sounded in the distance. She shifted her wary gaze from the weanlings to the sound of the thundering hooves.

Touch Up ran with his neck bowed toward the fence, his heavy body rippling with every strike of the ground. His eyes blazed when In Front met him step for step. Both horses were extraordinary individuals, their powerful frames almost identical if not for In Front's height advantage and thin blaze. In Front was the only direct descendant of Touch Up who possessed his musculature. Reports from KC Racing and Valkyrie Stable did mention that both of In Front's youngsters were massive in size and very strong.

A snort from directly behind Ripley had her spinning around to face her sneaky attacker. The filly jerked her head back, her eyes rolling to show the whites of her eyes. "Easy girl!" Ripley said, her voice shaking. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

A little fear was healthy though, Ripley thought. Fallen Angel, a daughter of The Unicorn and The Devil's Hourglass, needed fear or she would become overreaching and out of control. She was a moody thing already. Nippy, bratty. She was essentially the boss of the fillies in the pasture, including the other two Touch Up lined girls. Her narrow face and sharp eyes were far too belying for a weanling. She tilted her head to the side and stretched out her neck to nose at Ripley's shoes. Ripley wiggled her hands, causing the filly to twitch and roll her eyes in fright. "I don't need a chunk taken from my hand mind you. Especially when I have company coming over!"

Ripley stepped away from the filly when the light to the yearling and weanling barn flashed on. Angel's head shot up as if she'd heard the flicker of the light switch and she whirled on her dainty hooves in a blink of an eye, abandoning Ripley like last night's hay. "Pardon me for not being more interesting," Ripley grumbled. She took advantage of the distraction by skirting off to the edge of the pasture and ducking through the slats. When she was safely on the other side, Ripley noted that Angel had pushed herself to the front of the group and was now chasing Straton and Bel Fuoco away.

The sons of Anodyne and Firebird were not the boldest bunch of colts when it came to Angel's clear ferocity, athletic though they were. The bay and chestnut huffed at the filly, but quickly distracted themselves by tugging on each other's mane. Ripley rolled her eyes and circled the fence just in time to meet Brookson, Malcolm and Maggie. Three sets of eyes analyzed her useless footwear and waving skirt with such disdain that Ripley couldn't stop her laugh. "What? I worked hard enough today."

"Yeah... okay," Malcolm sniffed. He walked into the pasture, two lead ropes dangling from his arms, and promptly grabbed two weanlinsg. "Angel, be nice... Army quit it!"

Ripley shuffled away to avoid the two bay weanling fillies and their annoyed handler. Brooks grabbed her hand as he walked by on his way to snag Eva and Riot who were attempting to shove their way out of the pasture. Just as Ripley was about to ask if she could help, a pair of headlights drew her attention. Landing was here. They could commiserate on losing to SOPS together over beer, burgers and dogs.

"You guys got this?" Ripley inquired as she pulled the gate shut. Five disgruntled colts argued on the other side as their filly counterparts were led to the barn for dinner. Silent Game asserted his dominance and charged the gate, screaming impatiently in Ripley's ear. Hey!" she shouted back.

"Yeah," Maggie called over her shoulder. "Go greet the enemy before he sees our prized horses."

Ripley walked off with a scoff at her friend's joke. Landing was not the enemy as much as Malcolm liked to think so. She lifted her hand in greeting, a smile on her face.

[Cavallo]

There was no denying it, a night off was needed all around. With the stress of all the classics going on, sometimes you just needed to remember that the horses were horses and people were people and BOTH needed a break. Nick had received Ripley's text about a hangout and he'd forwarded it to the staff. There'd been a buzz of excitement as Nick announced that once basic tasks were done, the skeleton crew was going to manage and everyone else could have the night off. It was well deserved and to be completely honest, much needed. But first, they needed to wrap up for the day.

Nick stared down the bay daughter of Fashionista and Cryin' Out Loud. She had that haughty look in her eyes as she waited at the end of the lunge line for Nick's next move. Stiletto Allure had taken a break at the end of April and she was more than feeling her oats with the extra rest which was just what Nick wanted out of the four year old, but destructive habits was not something he was wanting to encourage. He was just about to send the filly for one more lap when Adele's voice pierced through his concentration and he paused as Still snorted and tossed her head impatiently in the round pen.

"Nick you need to wrap up or we're going to be late!" He rolled his eyes and would have kept pressing the filly, but Jaime stepped into the ring and took the lunge line. "Go NicK I got things here. I doubt my cousin would want to fraternize with me. I can finish up with Stil here and oversee things. Nick raised a single eyebrow in the Irish man's direction, but Jaime just gave him the blank stare that meant he wasn't discussing anything else. Nick knew better than to try and argue with the stubborn man. He knew it had to be a family trait. "Fine you all win....I'm going!"

He thought he heard his assistant trainer chuckle, but he was already gone and walking out of the pen and through the barns. He slowly made his way through the barns as horses were turned out for the night and some where brought in. He cut through the three year old barn and poked his head into Uno's stall. The lumbering colt was happily munching on some of his hay lazily. He'd come out of the Preakness in great shape and no worse for the wear, but the few days of rest were well warranted before he hit the tracks again. Night Visions gave him a mean side-eye as he looked in on the Night Stalker son, but he wasn't motivated enough to leave his hay either to nip at the intruder and Nick smiled at that. He checked in on the resting fillies too and with his mind at ease made his way up to the main house and hopped into the shower. He was clean, dressed and ready to go in ten as he pulled on some worn jean and a simple black t-shirt. He shot out a text to the crew to see who was coming as Adele and Ethan both replied.

He shot a text for them to meet him at his truck in five as he gathered his keys and wallet and made his way down stairs. He reached the landing and checked everything out in the mirror there. Satisfied that he was at least decent, if not simple, but most importantly for tonight that he was comfortable. He checked his watch and walked out the door locking it and looked to see both Ethan and Adele laughing and talking as they made their way from the staff lounge area in the main barn. Both looked, relaxed and eager and he couldn't blame them, what wasn't there to be excited about a night to do nothing for once. He unlocked the truck and as everyone piled in Jaime walked by with a more calm looking Stiletto Allure. "You worked her good." Jarime shook his head.

"Of course I did. No go annoy my cousin for me and get out of here." Stiletto followed Jaime willingly into the barn where she was more than likely about to get a thorough rub down. He felt bad that Jaime didn't feel like he could come and he knew he had his reasons and knew better than to press him about it. It seemed things were going smoothly enough between Adele and him, so Nick wasn't about to upset a good thing they had going.

He hopped into the truck and once everyone was buckled in they made their way over to BBS. Country music played softly on the radio as the three of them shot the breeze and talked about everything under the sun. Nick and Adele were prying Ethan about some of the yearlings and how they were progressing. Being halfway through the year, Ethan had his hand full with twelve yearlings, more than IRS had ever had before. There had been some unexpected reclaims added to the number, but from what Ethan was sharing him and Aiden between the two of them were getting the job done.

"Divination is a moody little thing, but I think I've finally got her figured out. She's a free-spirit that one and I don't want to break that in her, so we're going slow, but she's smart as a whip. I can't wait to see what you all do with her next year." Nick smiled and Adele got that hungry-eyed look. He knew there'd be some quibbling over next year's rides with some big names coming up. One of Mastermind's firstborns and El Sol's last foal ever were set to race next year and any jockey with an eye for talent should be able to see that the Y17 juveniles had a lot to offer and a lot to take a jockey to the top.

They dialogued some more about the up-and-comers as they finally pulled into BBS's drive. Adele sat forward in the front seat and looked ahead to see Ripley waving. She returned the gesture as Nick parked his truck off to the side and out of the way as the three of them unloaded from the cab. Nick smiled at Ripley and met her halfway with Adele and Ethan flanking him on both sides as they made small talk with one another. He had a cooler full of ice cold beers and hard liquor drinks ready to go as a peace offering and a contribution to the night's festivities.

"Hey Ripley, thanks for inviting us over. We really needed a night off."

"You can say that again," Adele teased as she left Nick's side to hug Ripley. She knew "touchy" stuff wasn't her thing, but she also knew Ripley would get over it. She stepped back and smiled and looked about. She carried her own little package of some seasoned hamburgers to add to the hot dogs. "Where we grilling at and who's tonight's grill master. I could eat a whole cow right about now." Ethan just shook his head and nodded a simple greeting to Ripley. Relaxation, good food and times were just moments away....

[Ripley]

Oh Shiznit... Ethan

Reese peeked around the corner of Ripley's cabin-style home, a spatula in one hand and a plate in the other. She'd been waiting to start the grill forever. Her stomach grumbled furiously at the thought of food. Awestruck wasn't the only one who'd needed rest and a big bucket of food. The uncooked drumsticks and wings beckoned for her to place them on the fire and eat them, but niceties still existed... Although, it was just Intrepid Racing's staff that was coming to visit. She didn't see what the big deal was. Landing or Adele were over here every flipping weekend or Ripley and Brooks were over there. Just because she'd actually decided to stick around this time because a) she was starving, no one else could grill for shit and c) she wanted to hear about Uno, didn't mean they should have scheduled events.

Ripley was the boss though. Boss of Battle Brook. Boss of the house. Boss of the grill even though she stunk at grilling. Reese crossed her arms over her chest and would have stepped out to aim her annoyed gaze at her boss, but she saw headlights and that stopped her in her tracks. Something held her in place as Ripley walked up to the car like she was in a movie--hair loose, shoes hanging in her hands and a smile on her face. Relaxed, but not really. Ripley wasn't a relaxed woman by nature.

A flicker of nerves held her in place as three doors opened on the obviously IRS vehicle. Three... doors...

Nick and Adele were the first to greet Ripley. Adele even went so far as to give Ripley a hug. Reese would have smirked at Ripley's dismayed expression, but she was too preoccupied with the third visitor. Screw him.

Annoyance and anger ripped through Reese so quickly that she lost her grip on the empty plate and it fell to the porch with a crash. Smashed glass covered the porch and her bare feet. Embarrassment flushed her cheeks a bright tomato color and she ducked down just as her peripheral vision caught Ripley pointing her way. Screw her too.

Ethan Marino did not belong here... at all. His presence had not been requested. The yearling trainer unnerved her with those ridiculous blue eyes and reminded her that she may or may not have slept with him a year ago. She couldn't remember for the life of her so she'd avoided him since, quite successfully as well. It was easy when he only seemed to live and breathe IRS. Loyalist to the core.

She heard the thump of feet on the back porch and bolted into the house for a broom.

Malcolm thumped his way up the side steps and stopped at the sight of the mess and, beyond the mess, Landing and Adele. He went to wave to his wife, but just as they started walked to the deck, his arm was encircled by two heavy hands. "What the hell, Reese?" he hissed as she dragged him clear into the house.

"What the hell is right!?" Reese snarled. Malcolm crossed his arms, recognizing that the woman was totally flustered and nervous. "Why is that man here?"

"Because Ripley and my wife think I need to befriend him?" Mal replied.

"Not him!" Reese snapped. She peered around the door and went pale when Ripley, Brooks and the IRS crew marched onto the deck. "Ethan!" she exclaimed loudly.

Malcolm laughed and patted her on the back. "Because I invited him, silly."

Reese stared balefully after Mal as he skirted around her and marched right up to her maybe/maybe-not one night stand.

"What happened, Reese?" Ripley gasped as she nearly stepped onto a shard of ceramic.

"Sorry," Reese sighed as she skulked out of the house, broom in hand to clean up one mess and hopefully avoid another.

[Cavallo]

Thoroughly Amused.

He straightened his blue v-neck, that hung comfortably over his trim frame, legs ensconced in his black fitted jeans as he stepped out of the truck. He'd known about the little "get-together" before Nick had announced it. Adele had clued him in on it, saying Malcolm was interested to chat. Who was he to turn down a friendly invitation from a trainer he respected. He'd only thought briefly about the sassy Reese, whom he'd rescued from her tequila comma one night and never heard from again. She obviously thought something had happened from the daggers she threw his way with her eyes as she man-handled Malcolm and then scurried to clean up the broken plate pieces.

He had tried to catch the small jockey at the tracks the first few months after she just upped and ran out of his house, but then time went on, things got busy and as the year dragged on he got more and more involved with the blossoming yearlings. With twelve yearlings and thirteen weanlings he was the definition of busy and the need to catch an elusive jockey suddenly faded from his mind. He wanted her with an amused expression on his face, something that he was sure was going to piss her off, but at the same time he felt was warranted. She knew where to find him if she'd really wanted to talk, but it seemed that avoidance was her technique and only God knew what she had cooked up in her head of what had happened between them. You had to admit...in a way, it was extremely amusing. Especially, since nothing had happened between the two of them besides Ethan trying to keep the woman's hands to herself. He wasn't into the whole take advantage of a woman thing. It really wasn't his style. But he also wasn't about to put his hands on her when she started stripping into his house like she owned the place. He'd averted his eyes to the best of his ability, but come on...he's not a monk.

He checked just enough to make sure she'd crashed properly (which she did into his bed) and not drowning in vomit. He covered her up, took the couch and then when he woke up...gone. Just like that. The weeks following, getting a hold of her was like trying to catch the wind. He wasn't dumb. He knew she was avoiding him and eventually after making his attempts...he gave up. A guy can only do so much, but today was an exception. She was cornered and he couldn't help, but take some small satisfaction at the deer in the headlights look.

"Let me help," He stated as he reached out in front of everyone for either the broom or the dustpan and looked at her all calm and serene. Let her reject his help. He was bound and determined to find some way to finally resolve this. Tonight. Whether she liked it or not.