Jensen Eliopoulos | Admin | Spencer, Will

"I feel like a clown in these clothes." Jensen adjusted the collar of the rugby shirt he was wearing, skimming the brightly-colored lines of the pattern in the mirror in front of him. Every so often, his gaze flickered to the blond in the center of his hotel room, apprehensive of the havoc he could wreak if left unsupervised.

"The real clown," Will began, almost wistfully, "is the one you put on inside."

Jensen's gaze returned to the man, narrowing his focus on whatever strange pastime the man had picked up in the last few moments. "What are you doing?"

"Bug obstacle course," he replied neutrally, as if it were the most normal thing in the world. He, of course, was sitting cross-legged on the floor in equally fancy clothes, utilizing plastic silverware and trash items to make the aforementioned event possible. While Jensen had opted for a dress shirt under a polo shirt, Will was wearing a dress shirt under a sweater. It was late winter, and the temperatures were more mild in Virginia than they had been in Germany when the pair had left several days prior.

"Of course you are," he murmured. "Has she texted you yet?"

"Not that I've heard. You?"

Before Jensen could respond, a knock sounded on the door. He opened it to find the dark-haired woman, pale blue eyes staring through him in a determined manner.

"What the hell's taking so long? I texted both of you eight minutes ago."

"Lucille," Jensen's face was flat, although not without the slightest hint of emotion in his greeting. He was one of the few who called her by her legal first name, a blatant reminder of who she had been before her success had changed her identity entirely. He did it more to rub it in than to make any desperate measure toward reminding her of what they used to be to one another. It didn't matter now, not to him and clearly not to her. "Please do come in."

"I don't ask for permission," she disregarded his sarcasm, already picking up the trash on the floor and helping Will to his feet. She was dressed in dress pants and a dress shirt, which were primarily hidden by the oversized dress coat she wore over them. Her hair was done, and she was wearing makeup. Jensen couldn't not acknowledge the fact that she looked pretty, though they were all forced into dressing well by Emily, who seemed to be inflicting herself more like a mother than a boss.

Returning to Jensen with Will by her side, the young woman started pushing both boys out the door and down the hallway of the hotel. "Is it true that they were able to get one of the dorm buildings to pass inspection? This whole thing skeeves me out."

"On the bright side, if the roof collapses and kills us, we won't be responsible for the lost cause that is this project," Jensen replied.

"I'm just surprised they were able to get them inspected so quickly," Will added in.

"Your mother is nothing if not persuasive. I'm actually surprised we needed to spend any time in a hotel, although getting approval to remodel and refurnish the main buildings is not going to be easy. I'm sure that we'll wish we'd gotten to spend more time here after a day or two."

Departing Richmond, the three took a taxi into the country toward the farm. Will spent the entire time antagonizing the taxi driver with fun facts and pointless questions while Jensen and Spencer sat in silence, the tension between them growing with each passing second. They hadn't spoken in years, and Jensen wasn't entirely sure whether or not to bring up the past or not. Two hours was not enough time to come to a solid conclusion, clearly, because he was still just as perplexed when they'd exited the vehicle as he'd been when he'd gotten in.

"This place looks like hell," Will blurted out, in total candor. Ivy and moss grew over what seemed to be an entrance sign, while each pasture seemed entirely overgrown and missing chunks of fence. "People still ride here? Where is everyone?"

"That's what we need to find out," Spencer said, walking with a purpose toward the main barn. Surely someone was around who could fill them in on the happenings of the place.

"Whatever Julian's been doing here is not working," Will blurted out again, quickly being shushed by both of the individuals around him.

Heather Storm | 23 | Eventing | Bronze Buckaroo "Eclipse" and The Lovely Marisol "Etria" | School Horse: WO Descendants Of Khan "Khan" | Mentions: Open to Interactions.

Heather managed to find the tackroom on her own, giving their halters a quick clean before putting them away in her locker. The short brunette walked out of the room, looking around before making her way to exit out of the barn as she would be getting back to her trailer to get the rest of her tack out of there first before getting her stuff so it'll be simply out of the way. She knew that she didn't need to reclean the tack again since the brunette has already cleaned the equipment before she left to come here.

She gets to her truck and trailer before opening the tack compartment back up, stepping inside to collect her gear to hopefully put it away in the tackroom on time. She carefully steps back out with a lot of tack in her arms as she starts carrying the gear back inside the barn, making her way back to the tackroom while the pile of her tack is very much blocking her vision. Once she has made it safely back to the tackroom, she unintentionally dropped all of her gear onto the floor since her arms got tired from carrying everything in one go. "Okay, note to self. Use a wheel barrel to carry your things next time.." Heather softly mumbled to herself then opens up her locker before packing all of her tack away since it's not in anyone else's way.

After a while, maybe 15 minutes or more, she gets done putting all of her tack away before shutting her locker door closed then locks it. "There, that's one thing done. Now, to check on Eclipse and Etria to see how their settling before getting my ownself settled in. Hmm, which does remind me...where is everyone?" The brunette said to herself before leaving the tackroom again, heading down the barn aisle to recheck on her two equines again while keeping an eye out for anyone else, another horse or hopefully a human being.

Heather comes around the corner as the brunette goes over to Eclipse's stall first to see how he's doing. The stud would be eating his hay from the hay net before looking over at his short rider with his ears facing towards her, giving a nicker before going over to her as the young woman is leaned against the stall door, she had wondered off into her thoughts before being abruptly brought back to reality when she felt Eclipse's muzzle nudge her shoulder with gentle force. "Hm? Aw, what? Does someone want some attention already?" She jokingly said in a hushed tone before giving the equine the attention he needed as she gently pets his face.

Cameron / M / M: Sameul

“Anytime today, Anytime..”

Cameron’s hazel eyes lock onto the kettle with a strong look of firm concentration, his brows furrowing almost as if by willing the water enough would transfer heat into it quicker. The kettle was of course boiling at its usual rate, but the slight hitch of misplacing his cap had left him much further behind schedule than ideal and this of course was making every part of his morning since an eternity. Hearing the door begin to open, Cam shifts to tucking his hair under that darn cap a little more neatly before letting his hands drop to swivel his mug around in circles.

“Morning.”

Sam glances up as he makes his way into the room, giving Cam a nod of acknowledgement as he made his way to clear some stacked paperwork, squaring up the corners rather unnecessarily. Cam watched his brother, his demeanour was as ever seemingly unfazed but he knew today was different – Today the ‘official’ management team had arrived and it for whatever reason seemed to have all the existing riders a little on edge. Something Cam guessed he’d likely never understand, the unwavering commitment to his horses and distaste for change often left Samuel very tense on days like these. But he didn’t mind, actually quite enjoyed times like these. His brother was reserved but he did know he appreciated Cam’s constant company, even if it was never verbally confirmed. Cam mulled over this as he watched Sam swiftly lift the freshly poured cup to his lips, noticing the way his eyes flicked between the window and the clock. In need of a distraction - that was his job.

“ Ruebelle looks keen this morning – I thought I may take her over the far trail today.”

“ The hill work will do her good. The hair is falling off of her well at the moment, I think a clip is in order -… “

Cam smiled at the thought of any of his brother’s horses being anything but impeccable to look at, listening as he began to discuss his daily routine and the plans for the day. He just hoped this new people wouldn’t disrupt the system too much. Or perhaps just disrupt his brother.

.

Sameul / M / M: Cam, the troublesome trio xD

“Steady – Steady.”

Cam was right, the black mare was incredibly forward this morning. Even upon returning, Sam had watched as his brother guided a rather excitable Ruebelle into the wash bay to hose the sweat off her slicked coat. He noted with a look of fond approval how fine her 15.2hh big boned structure looked currently, a semblance of a smile crossing his lips as she took the hose into her mouth only to splash it back over her rider. She was older now, 16, but he knew that the tendon injury wouldn’t have slowed the mare down – she needed a job and right now that happened to be teaching his brother the ways of dealing with a highly strung animal. Cam often joked when they met how they were so similar in likeness, if it wasn’t for the tail he’d be getting them confused.

He set about his usual routine all morning, the way he had for the last 12 months. Currently he was sweeping one of the many empty stable aisles, a seemingly pointless task with the decrepit nature of the barn – at a glance it seemed possible that with a whisper of a storm would bring the whole thing down. Still it was good etiquette he believed, ingrained into his being from such a young age it had become more of an urge than a thought.

Sam watched from the corner of his eye, seeming not to have even noticed at all as the 3 strangers strode over toward the barns in a rather unsure manner. From first impression they looked a rather odd group of characters to be travelling together, giving a very disjointed vibe. He wondered what it was they were here to do exactly, but he supposed as they approached, he was going to find out.

Heather Storm | 23 | Eventing | Bronze Buckaroo "Eclipse" and The Lovely Marisol "Etria" | School Horse: WO Descendants Of Khan "Khan" | Mentions: Cameron, Sameul, Jensen, Spencer, Will, and Francesca (All Indirectly)

Heather gave her stallion all of her attention before giving her mare the same amount of attention. She gave both a kiss on their noses before walking off, softly whistling to herself as she heads out of the barn to go back to her truck to grab her things but Heather abruptly stopped in her tracks, seeing people on the property as she blinked a few times, not really sure of how to really bring herself to interact but they all seem friendly.

Heather would look over at the direction of where the four instructors are then she looks over to where the other two people are before looking back over at the group, she surely felt very much lost and out of place but it felt better riding here than at her old barn at the moment to get away from someone that she knew. The brunette lightly shook her head to snap herself out of it before resuming to making her way to her truck & trailer to grab her suitcase, hopefully to get herself settled in.

Jensen | Admin | Cam, Fran, Spencer, Will

“Either we were incredibly early or you guys are running late. And honestly neither of those options sound feasible.”

The scene of a curly-haired woman atop a white horse broke the trio out of whatever conversation they had been immersed in, although by the time she caught up to them the group had fallen into a gaping silence as they eyed the horrors of a once prestigious property that had fallen to decay. Will watched the woman curiously, smiling his goofy grin while simultaneously attempting to whisper. And failing.

"Are we supposed to know her?"

The blond turned toward Spencer who stayed silent, a sign of agreement for someone who typically would have taken the first opportunity to best her acquaintance. Jensen was the only one who seemed unfazed.

"Francesca, is it? Pleased to meet you." Of course, it would have helped if he actually appeared pleased. Instead, he was suspiciously eyeing what he classified as a situation, a lawsuit waiting to happen if the large stallion chose to act in any way somewhat resembling a horse. Horse people, he shuddered, the incompetence. He paused for a moment to take his backpack off, leaning it against a nearby fencepost as he skimmed the clipboard he'd taken from inside. As he leaned the object against the fence, the dry-rotted board dropped, collapsing onto the ground.

With concern etched across his features, mirroring that of his peers, Jensen chose that moment to snidely respond to the woman's comment. "It sure is something alright."

Continuing on, Jensen utilized the information he'd gathered from the papers on his clipboard to properly question the young woman. He didn't appreciate her enthusiasm, and he didn't appreciate that she seemed Will's age at most. Although, judging by the way Spencer seemed to be shooting daggers into the woman's sunny demeanor, he wasn't going to be the most difficult one to win over this time. Briefly, her gaze fell off of the woman and followed a dark-haired figure who was running errands in the barn nearby, although after a small noise of distaste for his general aesthetic, she returned her full attention to confronting the blonde with her body language. There were better ways to destroy her career than entrusting the woman version of Will with her success.

"From Spain, six month contract to serve as the team coach?" He wrote a check beside her name, eyebrows furrowing as he saw how few other names were on the list besides hers and theirs. "When I originally talked to Emily, I thought she was going to have the official trainer of this property work with Spencer, Julian, and Will." It was clearly implied that he did not believe she could hold a position as an official trainer of any property, even one this run-down. Then again, why would a farm with less than ten riders and staff even host a trainer? Where would they find one willing?

In the silence of Jensen's verbal accusation and the list of ones Spencer wasn't saying, Will broke the tension with the least pertinent question of the interaction. Somehow, during the conversation, he'd already made his way to the white stallion and had been petting him for nearly the entirety of the time.

"What part of Spain are you from?"

Will | Eventing | Fran, Jensen, Spencer

"Oh, I love Andorra. My parents took me and my sisters skiing there almost every year." He didn't know much about the region other than its landscape. Spencer, on the other hand, seemed to be holding in a snarky remark if the expression on her face was any indication. Will barely noticed it, although he was always confused by the way his friends acted around new people. Both Jensen and Spencer were ice princesses. Ice royalty, if you will.

As the girl slid off the large horse, she landed with a small thud directly in front of Will. She was only inches from his face, and this fact seemed to make his brain temporarily buffer. He had a bright expression in his eyes as he held her gaze, his goofy grin never ceasing as they stood at such a near distance to one another. The only indication he gave of any sort of variance in temperament was the batting of his long eyelashes as he seemed to be attempting to reboot his intellectual functions.

"You're pretty," he finally spat out, boyish charm imminent. Although it was clear there was no angle to the statement, simply a slip of the tongue or the lack of a filter that he never seemed to possess in the first place, both Spencer and Jensen turned to one another, rolling their eyes at whatever the hell was happening between these two.

"Alright, meet-cute's over," Spencer finally spoke, peering over Jensen's right arm to view his clipboard. "If you happen to know which one of the dormitories got the all clear to host people, I'd like to see that. Jensen, why don't you go down to the offices to find the rest of the staff and locate your office. Take Will with you, he can do all the talking."

"Yes coach," Jensen replied, snide comment dripping with sarcasm. He tapped Will on the head with his clipboard, dragging the young man off with him. She turned to face Fran expectantly, icy gaze as cold as ever.

Spencer | Show Jumping | Cam, Fran, Jensen, Will

"Mm, competence." Spencer's tone, combined with a wry smile, indicated that she believed Fran was the last person who should have been speaking of competence. She still wasn't entirely sure how Emily had managed to get her to come to this run-down pit and ride under some instructor she'd never even heard of. She was successful enough in the industry that she could have been running her own clinics and managing her own team, not fooling around with some trainer who likely had a fraction of the expertise she did. Somehow, already, she got the sense that the responsibility of coaching would fall on her shoulders one way or another anyway.

Primarily, the woman walked in silence, following the blonde as she walked with what resembled little to no purpose. At least, it seemed that way to Spencer, who walked directly to her destination without stopping to 'take in the beauty' or feel amusement at the simplicities of a life she'd lived for more than two decades.

"The plan for what?" The response came just as she was beginning to believe that Fran was faking competency in more than one area, and that she was simply taking her on a wild goose chase around the farm in a futile effort to build rapport. It was like being stuck with Will, and if she had wanted that, she would have sent Jensen with Spencer. Maybe she wouldn't have. She still wasn't entirely sure what to make of his demeanor toward her, and she wasn't in the mood for any psychosexual mind games. Not this early on, anyway.

Finally, they arrived on a tall building that had emerged through a large wall of trees. It seemed that the equestrian portion of the farm had been separated from the residential section due to overgrowth, although this was only one building which seemed to have been added as an afterthought. The ones that matched it were in shambles, which she'd seen as the pair had passed them on their way to this one.

"Have you met Kholo? Or Julian, prior to his departure?" Spencer didn't love Julian, but at least he demonstrated some level of competence in the sport. Still, she found him to be far too advertised by whoever was in charge in Germany. It all seemed like an act to her, up until the point where he truly threatened her position as the best American show jumper of their era. Surely if he was as charming all the time as he appeared in the media, he would have secured this property for Stadt by now and she would have arrived to a sleek, modern property with brand new amenities. This was not that.