Equine Ballerina [Sebastian Stan AU]

Chapter Fourteen

I reached up to pull down my sunglasses as I walked out of the food tent, heading over to the stables to get both horses ready for the afternoon riding session. I was mentally hoping Jacob would at least be co-operative like he had promised Luke, but deep down I knew he would probably be just pretending. Which was alright by me, as it meant I could at least get my job done, which was primarily to train the actors and the horses for this film. I kicked over some of the rocks on the path, thinking over my morning so far.

Over lunch time Sebastian had sat with Carol and Terrance, probably going over the plan for the next few weeks, and working on parts of the script, I knew the writers were still working on some final scenes to be submitted. They had been checking in with Luke about what they could work with in terms of the horse's abilities.

'Joss' I heard someone call out so I spun around, seeing Sebastian came running up behind me. 'I'm so sorry about that, Terrence wanted us to go over some last minute changes in the schedule and wouldn't stop rambling on' 

'It's ok, we don't have to eat every meal together' I laughed lightly, 'besides we both are here firstly for work right?'

'True, but I am glad I came down here for more than just work' he said, reaching over to take my hand in his, 'mind if I join you back in the stables' he asked.

I felt my cheeks start blushing and tried to look away, before he squeezed my hand to get my attention again.

'Sure, we have some time before we are meant to be down in the arena, everyone is still finishing up lunch anyways' looking down at my watch, we still technically had half an hour schedules for lunch, but I had wanted to get the horses ready without the help or presence of Jacob.

We both ended up walking hand in hand back over to the stables, each of us smiling and taking quick glances at the other, I enjoyed how comfortable we could be around each other, not even needing words at times, the silences between us were never awkward or annoying.

We headed into the first row of stalls in the stable, and I quickly reached over to grab a halter for Soldier, giving him a quick pat as his head popped out over the stall door. I turned to face Sebastian, holding out the halter, 'want to give it a go?'

He shook his head tentatively, 'you're the expert here Joss' holding his hands up in a small protest to being thrown in the deep end.

'You said you wanted to learn more, and what better way to start then learning how to catch your own horse' I said, laughing at his reaction, 'besides he is contained in his stall, you just have to jump in and slip this over his head'

' you're not going to let me get away with saying no are you' he laughed, reaching over to take the halter in his own hands, starting to fiddle around with the leather pieces in his hand. He walked over as I opened the stall door for him to slip in.

I tried to hide my small laugh, as he walked up to Soldier hesitantly, reaching out to give his neck a quick pat, 'good horsey' he mumbled, taking a step forward so he was positioned next to his head.

He quickly tried to place the halter on, but within a few seconds Soldier had already knocked it off, snorting in the process, causing Sebastian to jump back at the sudden noise. I covered my mouth as a loud chuckle left my lips. I slipped into the stall behind Sebastian who was now shaking his head at his own failed attempt.

I reached out to give Soldier a reassuring pat on his cheek, before reaching down to quickly grab the halter laying in the straw. I turned to face Sebastian, about to pass him the halter again, when I realised I should have probably offered to show him first before he attempted it.