War and Peace

At the question, she grinned up at him "Whatever you're doin'! I wanna help" whatever he wanted to do she wanted to do it with him, she'd begun imprinting on the stockman during her time with him and by this stage was mimicking what he did. With her usual somewhat sunburnt cheeks their bright red, she'd have to tell Killian when he visited next that she was being allowed to stay on the farm with the horsies. If Mr. Julian didn't want to do anything then she could go off and do something else to keep herself occupied there was always something to explore and investigate.

Looking up from little Renee, the original Renee's face lit up seeing him, standing up from the swing to hug him firmly, it was beyond soothing to lean against him and be enveloped by his presence, the private quiet worry in the back of her head going quiet now he was back. "Welcome home" it meant a lot for him to say that she was beloved of the children, as she loved them so very much, as much as she loved their father. There was nothing like being held by Killian again, during their years of separation it'd been all she wanted, like this they were safe from the world and nothing could touch them.

Very aware of the boy and his needs, the girl moved out of the way when he went to sit without really needing to think about it, she’d discovered recently that with some people she could key into them and adjust herself to be what they were most comfortable with. The lack of guitar concerned her somewhat, he needed it, being without it was similar to her being without Zali who was currently disguising herself as a dog relaxed and curled up in the sun appearing fast asleep. Perking up when he gave his opinion Dani chewed on the inside of her mouth thinking through things a little “Do you have to play on your guitar? What if I could loan you one while you’re here so you don’t have to risk anything happening to yours?” yes okay she was manipulating her words a little to make it seem like she didn’t know what was going on with the woman she’d met the last time she’d hung out with Jory. Still having every intention of plotting some unpleasant things to make the woman go through, naturally being careful to make sure Jory didn’t get caught in the aftermath, “Just because I can’t play and I’d like to hear it on the guitar, no pressure” Her shadows could get their paws on a guitar through theft or she could ask her father figure to get her one to share with Jory, it wouldn’t be as good as his real one she understood that but a temporary one hopefully was better than not having one at all right? Either way the choice was up to him, with a hand either side of her hanging onto the lip of the fountain her gaze was purposely watching the scene around them instead of focusing her gaze on the curious boy beside her. He was a bit like a kicked puppy, sensitive to pressure from body language and eye contact and seemed to need a bit of space in order to cope and breathe, most shadow masters were possessive by nature and the boy was rapidly becoming ‘hers’.

Claire had stood there stock still watching the mare make her way around the paddock, obviously thrilled that she’d been allowed to help the war veteran, shrugging the leadrope she still held over one shoulder the girl nodded in understanding “Okay!” pulling her wide brimmed hat down onto her head more firmly she trotted over to the mare in dusty jeans and a plain T-shirt that had a faded emblem on it, there was still peeling skin on her nose from where she’d last been sunburnt, and the amount of sunscreen on her alerted Rose to the childs presence far before the noise of her little feet securely housed in second hand jodhpur boots. “Hello pony!” Stopping and respectfully offering her hand for the mare to sniff, she didn’t move until rose lowered her head and sighed, allowing the girl to clip the leadrope to her halter, surprisingly quiet with the girl which in Roses mind made sense. It hadn’t been children that had hurt her, it’d been adults and even as a human she’d never hurt a child and she certainly wasn’t prepared to start now. Allowing herself to be lead up to the obstacles, Rose dutifully smelled and investigated them occasionally licking and chewing, by the end of the process and she’d been lead back to Jules, the feisty red mare put one leg at rest after shaking herself out and yawned widely making Claire giggle. “She’sh yawning really big!” yawning a couple more times and with a noticeably softer expression on her face rose closed her eyes and sighed surprisingly peaceful and looking very different to how she’d been like when she’d first arrived on the farm.

Watching the way, he was with his children always made her smile a little, having long believed that he would be a fantastic father and was pleased to see that her feelings had been right, at times things were more difficult than she let him know. It felt often that she was intruding upon his time with his children, that adored him so and needed him far more than she did. After all she was an adult and had the ability to paint to get by, but selfishly she couldn’t bring herself to leave, telling herself that the children needed some kind of a kind parental figure whenever he left to do his work. Leaning her head against his shoulder, blue eyes closed, a gentle breeze gently picking up strands of her hair and brushing them back. He needed to get back to the house and sleep, the black rings beneath his eyes concerned her, believing he shouldn’t have to work himself to the bone so after a few minutes of him cuddling with his kids Renee got up nimbly “Come, its time for lunch and you need a proper sleep in a bed, not under a tree” she’d finally gained weight again and looked closer to the way she’d been before the war had separated them every day, looking at him with an expression of genuine love and affection everything that was missing in Rochelles face she extended a hand to him offering to help him up despite the fact that she still seemed so fragile.

Allowing herself to be put away, Rose watched Jules intently over the fence, once the small child was busy she let herself out of her paddock and wandered over to nudge him quietly. It had taken her a good fifteen minutes to find him once she’d made up her mind, understanding that he was hurting she found herself softening towards the gentle man, although she was never going to be an easy mare she knew what it was like to hurt and be sore. Sighing softly she moved to lean her head against him quietly closing her eyes, her tail swishing to flick a fly that had landed on her side, the brat at least was busy with the cruisy bay gelding currently falling asleep while she enthusiastically brushed him. Not saying anything she just stood there, hoping that he understood what she was trying to say without using words, that although she wasn’t very good at it she fully intended to offer some kind of comfort.

He didn’t have to deal with it all alone, even though he’d been doing it on his own for a long time, she sighed softly when he leaned his head onto her neck, not moving a muscle apart from her tail when flies landed on her. She hated flies, staying quiet and ignoring the babbling she could hear from the noisy child finally she chose to speak her thoughts, albeit quietly and softly instead of the harsh tone she usually used when speaking to others. ‘You don’t have to deal with the pain alone you know,. Warmth helps, and knowing someone else gets it’ covered from nose to tail in old scars that made her look more like a paint than a solid chestnut most days, she knew what it was like to ache, to be stiff and more. There was a reason why she hated the cold and got shitty in it, it made everything hurt so much more and she hated getting cold, thankfully it hadn’t gotten too cold here yet, it was the middle of summer, summer was good apart from the flies but she could deal with those she had a thick mane and tail perfectly designed for getting rid of those disgusting rats with wings.

The red mare just snorted to herself and didn’t say anything else, her father had once told her that everything happens in its own time, which as a reckless headstrong child had irritated her because why couldn’t things happen now? What she would give to turn back the clock and go back to those days of being free, truly free, alas now she was stuck as an animal with no way turning back to what she once had been. The worst part of what had been done to her was the fact that special care had been taken to make sure she remained mostly human on the inside, sure part of her was an animal but ninety percent of her thoughts and processes were still human which had been a large part of her snide refusal of the grey stallions interest. She’d had a fairly good relationship with her father, he had always understood the wild unruliness in her while her mother had been a lot more concerned about Lachlan and herself not terrorizing the village that they were a part of. Then the war had happened, she’d gone in place of her brother without question, he was so sensitive and quiet that he would not have coped, she’d been taken prisoner and changed, put to work and forced. For so long she’d been forced and forced that she’d decided that she would no longer be forced and that was when things had gone from fair but hard to cruelty. If anyone thought she was going to be forced she was more than ready to tear them to pieces, the ball of anger and resentment always in her stomach churning, stewing and ready to flare up into an inferno at any given moment. Here at least the ball had gotten smaller and it was easier to relax, or at least try to, shifting her weight and continuing to ignore the lisping child in the background she put a foot at rest, working through some of her own things and winding up yawning widely.

Happy there with the horse, the little girl chatted merrily away to him, looking up when Julian spoke, she didn't argue giving Ned one last pat she fiddled with the rope wanting to have a go at undoing it herself. Rather pleased once her tiny fingers had undone the knot, she lead the horse over to Julian, not seeming at all bothered by the fact that the animal was so much larger than she was. At her heels was a puppy with ears far too big and paws that seemed humorously too big for the legs they were attached to, her soul shadow had been studying the dogs and had decided that it was a good form to take for now. Unsure exactly where Ned lived, the girl looked up at Julian with expectant eyes, waiting to be told where to take the gentle animal while the pup at her heels gave a couple of hesitant wags of its tail still a little wary around the stranger.

The question earned a shake of her head "no. Daniella has been taking care of her whenever she gets too out of line, it drives Rochelle crazy that she cant control her or tell her what to do" an amused smile graced her lips. Unable to help the quiet giggle, it was unkind of her to giggle at that, but itd been a little satisfying to watch Rochelle powerless.

Perking up when she was allowed to 'help' she took ned back to his paddock and closed the gate before trying to take the halter off, the gentle gelding, in the end, lowered his head to make it easier for her. Leaving the paddock and spending some time fiddling with the gate until she was able to do the latch, she trotted back to the adult with a big smile on her face the puppy still at her heels. Seeming to fully believe that she was being helpful, well at the very least she was trying

Rather happy with the praise, the small childs face lit up in a big beam, crouching down to pat the small jet black pup that had unusual green eyes that matched her own, Claire perked up at the suggestion and dashed inside managing to remember to take her shoes off before entering the house. Fetching the entire bag out of the fridge and carrying it back, hurriedly putting her feet back in her shoes she returned to his side and offered the bag to Julian not expecting to be allowed to give them to the horse herself. The little black pup had remained at her heels without question, and now sat next to her studying the horse that was watching them.

Watching how he fed the horse, she accepted the pieces and she offered them to the horse the same way that Julian had showed her, unable to help her giggle when the horses lips and whiskers tickled the palm of her hand as the gentle animal took the carrot pieces from her hand and crunched them. Curious as to why the horse liked the orange vegetable she picked out a carrot and tried it herself, not having had access to a great variety of food growing up she could occasionally be a little wary of new foods but the obvious enjoyment of Spotlight eating was encouraging. Discovering that the carrot tasted good and was nice and crunchy she polished off most of it before offering the last bit to the pup at her side that quite happily took the piece and devoured it. Wondering if it’d be okay she hesitated before reaching up to touch Spotlights nose gently, surprised at how soft and velvety the skin there was she stroked the nose quietly.