xp_logs | Sam's favorite girls...

x-cannonball.livejournal.com posting in

Tuesday, late afternoon/early evening

Sam takes Alison's hand gently, grinning out from under his black cowboy hat as
he leads her up to the stables. "Y'know, I still don't get why you're
afraid of horses, Al...they ain't gonna hurt you!"

Alison shakes her head, keeping a firm grip on his hand to keep him from
seeing that hers are shaking. "They're just... big. Really big. And it's
not like riding a bike - they have minds of their own I'm sure," she
adds, giving him a wry look. "But I want to try at least."

"That's the spirit!" He laughs lightly, giving her hand a quick, light squeeze.
"And they're so amazing because they do have minds of their own. And
they trust you, and you have the ability to guide them and put them at
ease," he breaks off. "I'm rambling. Sorry!"

She grins up at him, hiding her worry by poking him in the ribs lightly.
"Hey, I'm hardly one to say anything there, Sammy," she declares as they
walk in the stable, "being the one who never stops talking usually."

He shrugs and winks at her, and waves at Paige with a big grin as they
enter. "Gee! C'mere! Got someone for you to meet."

Paige laughs from inside one of stalls that she had been inspecting and
peeks around. "Coming, brother darling!" She dusts off her hands as
she walks out, pulling straw off of her jeans.

Sam runs up to her, pulling Paige into a tight Guthrie!Hug before
dragging her over to where Alison stands. "Paige, this is Alison, my
best friend. Alison, this Paige, my best little sister." He rocks back
on his heels between the two, and looks pleased as punch.

Alison chuckles at Sam's expression, smiling at him fondly as he looks
from her to Paige and back again, obviously expecting both girls to
develop an instant friendship on sight. She stretches out a hand towards
Paige in greeting. "Pleased to meet you, Paige. I have to say, Sammy was
right. The family resemblance is striking."

Paige's smile never falters, but her eyes darken at Alison's words. She
takes the offered hand, squeezing so firmly as to almost be painful. "I
believe the correct response is, the pleasure is all mine?" Paige
replies.

Sam furrows his brow. "Hey! Watch it, Gee, Al hurt her hands..."

Alison has indeed paled slightly from a handshake which otherwise she
wouldn't have minded, and winces slightly, withdrawing her hand while
trying to hide a pained expression. "It's ok, Sunshine," she leans on
Sam's arm briefly from pure habit when talking to him. "She couldn't
know."

Paige's smile fades. She hopes they'll assume it's for the pain she has
inflicted on her brother's friend. "I'm sorry, I should have noticed.
I just wouldn't expect those with hand injuries to offer them for a
shake. I'm really sorry."

Sam smiles, either not picking up the tone in Paige's voice, or refusing
to believe it's anything other than genuinely apologetic. "'Sokay, you
didn't know." He looks around at the horses, pleased that he's got his
two favorite girls with him. "So. Alison! Which beast d'you like the
best?"

Alison crosses her arms, raising an eyebrow at him with a mock stern
look. "My darling Farmboy, you're stuck with a city girl as a best
friend, remember? All I can tell you is that they've got four legs. And
are bigger than I am." Her look turns briefly to pleading. "Pick for
me?"

Paige digs her short nails into her palms to keep from speaking, looking
over at the pony in the corner who in her opinion is probably the only
equine that this girl can handle.

"Umm..." Sam looks around, eyeing the docile, bomb-proof pony in the
last stall on the end of the row. "I think good ol' Sugar Plum is the
best. A Beginner's pony if ever there was one. We'll graduate to a
higher class mount once you get the hang of it."

She nods at him, ignoring the feeling of trepidation at the thought of
riding and wondering why again she said yes to this - and curses herself
out mentally as she remembers it was the damn icons that distracted her.
She waits as Sam walks towards the horse's stall, looking towards Paige
briefly and wondering at her sudden silence - clearly something is
bothering her, though Alison isn't sure what.

Paige follows, resting her elbows on the stall sill. She turns her head
to smile reassuringly to Alison. "You really don't have anything to
worry about, this one's sweet. All the school horses are." She fumbles
around in her pocket, offering Alison a piece of apple. "How about you
become her new best friend?"

Alison takes the apple uncertainly, although willing to try - at this
point, just walking in the stable was a pretty big hurdle crossed, or so
she thinks. Following Paige's careful instructions to the letter, she
lays her hand out to present the treat to the horse while avoiding any
possibility of being accidentally bitten. The apple slice is delicately
picked up by the mare, causing Alison to smile faintly, both in relief
and in slowly growing calm around the animal. "Thanks," she says to
Paige, hoping that she was imagining the young girl's earlier discomfort.

Sam smiles warmly at Alison and Paige, assuming that they're going to
become fast friends: Obviously, if he loves them both, they're bound to love each other!