Deviation Actions
Description
Wowowow they got first! 
"The crow is an omen of change. Because they represent ancient magical laws and wisdom, (...) the crow sees our soul self."
--Darren's P.O.V--
Dark clouds were crowding the sky ominously overhead as Rush and I walked across the grass from the designated parking lot to the Stonehenge circle itself, the air heavy with the threat of rain and the wind tussling my hair. The three of us – Jesse, Rush and I – had arrived much earlier than we were supposed to in order to take in the sights of the landmark since I'd never been to see it, although Jesse had decided to stay with Louis instead and sent the two of us off together. Rather cheekily so, I should add. Rush stuck his tattooed hands in the pockets of his jeans as he took in his surroundings, sauntering slowly just a few steps ahead of me, and I glanced around as well in order to avoid staring at him and making things awkward if he did happen to turn around.
“You ever been to Stonehenge before?” I eventually asked nonchalantly, bringing my eyes back onto him.
“No.”
Ever since our trip to Italy I'd noticed our 'friendship' – yes, I believe I can call it that now, as fucked up as it might have been with him cussing me out all the time – had grown strained and he had stopped responding to pretty much all my jokes, teasing, and even conversation-starting attempts. Although I'd never realized how dependent I was on his company, as grumpy and tough as it could often be, I was starting to feel more lonely by the day. It was almost like I was back home. I sighed heavily, stopping, and crossed my arms.
“Rush,” I said as he continued walking on, not even looking back at me to see why I'd stopped, “I think we need to talk.”
“Do we?” he responded, although his voice was dry with a hint of sarcasm – but at least he did stop, turning to look at me.
“Yep. You've been giving me the cold shoulder ever since Italy, I thought we were cool after what happened. Do you want me to apologize for it or something?” I grumbled, furrowing my brows, then added before he had a chance to reply, “I'm sorry, geez.”
“You've got nothing to apolgize for, just shut up about it,” Rush grunted sharply, turning to walk away again, and I felt my temper flare up like a fiery tongue of sparks leaping out of a fire burning bright at the easy dismissal. I reached over, grabbing his arm and pulling him around roughly so he was facing me again.
“Don't fucking tell me what to do,” I growled dangerously, scowling at him. He looked back, for once not daring to come back with a bitchy answer as I stood there, somewhat towering over him at my height and gripping his arm tightly. For a few moments we were both completely silent, my breathing heavy as I internally scrambled to get my blazing temper under control again, then I let go of his arm slowly.
“Sorry,” I mumbled by the time I'd settled back down again, the prickles that had been running across my skin fading away and leaving me slightly embarrassed at my outburst. Only slightly though.
“It's fine,” he said, shaking his head, “I didn't want you to apologize about Italy, it wasn't your fault.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, opening it before offering for me to take one.
“No thanks, I don't actually smoke,” I chuckled, holding my hand up in refusal. He raised an eyebrow but said nothing, pulling one out and resting it between his teeth lightly in order to light it, and I watched him dig through his other pocket to find his lighter.
“You should quit,” I told him when he let out an irritated growl because he wasn't able to find it, puffing, and he looked at me with impatience flashing through his grey eyes.
“No shit,” he grumbled.
“I used to be a functioning alcoholic, yknow,” I responded to fortify my point, “Life became a whole of a lot better when I eventually did quit drinking.” Rush looked up at me in surprise, the cigarette nearly falling from his mouth, and he stopped searching for his lighter entirely as he peered at me for a few moments. I smiled sheepishly, clutching the insides of my pockets tightly in order to keep the brewing nervousness in my gut at bay. I'd never openly told anyone about my past drinking problems before, although some of my family had been well-aware of it at the time, so this was a whole new step into a scary new world for me. Maybe Rush wasn't even the best person to tell, but it was out there already now and there was no way I could take it back.
“I know you don't uh... particularly enjoy life. Or at least, it doesn't seem like you really do,” I started awkwardly and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't keep my eyes from flicking to his arm, despite the fact that he was wearing long sleeves, “Maybe it'd help if you stopped smoking.” To my surprise, he chuckled rather than cussing me out, as I'd expected him to do.
“Alright,” he agreed easily, “Just your luck you're going on this crusade when I don't have my lighter.” I let out a grumble.
“I'm just saying,” I muttered, “You can do whatever the hell you like and I won't try to change you, you're perfectly fine just like this. Apart from the damage you're doing to your health, of course.” He said nothing in response to that and I looked at him curiously, wondering why he didn't have some kind of witty comeback for that.
“Heh,” he eventually huffed, “Then do you have a light?” I sighed.
“Yep, just for you,” I responded with a disapproving headshake, pulling out the lighter I kept on me in case he ever forgot his and holding it up for him. Again, he arched an eyebrow up, clearly judging me this time.
“The fuck?”
“What would you do without me, huh? I take such good care of you, it's almost like you have a personal butler.”
“... Just light my damn cigarette, and don't fucking burn me,” he grumbled and I cupped my free hand around the end of his cigarette, snapping the cap of the lighter open so the flame jumped up and danced in the breeze elegantly. I nearly held my breath as I held it up against the cigarette, my hands so close to Rush's face they brushed his cheeks, and I nearly forgot to pull them away after a few moments. He took a long drag, cheeks hollowing and eyes closing contently as his burning need for a smoke was satisfied, and I watched quietly. It was so obvious he was addicted that it couldn't have been any clearer had he written it across his forehead in sharpie, but I said nothing about it. It wasn't my place to, after all.
“Have you gained some weight?” I eventually asked, tilting my head as he blew out a stream of smoke, and he looked over at me sharply as though I'd just said the devil's name in church. For a second I could swear I saw fear flash through his eyes, but I eventually decided it was probably just my mind playing tricks on me.
“What makes you say that?” he huffed, still watching me intently.
“I dunno, you're looking better than usual.”
“Get the fuck outta' here, you lying coquet.”
“Hey, don't call me that. And I'm not lying,” I responded grumpily, running my fingers through my wind-swept hair to push the loose strands from my face, “Seriously, it'd be good for you to put on some more pounds, y'know. Not just for your appearance either.” He snorted then huffed softly in amusement while taking another drag of his cigarette. I watched silently in confusion as he continued to chuckle for what seemed like a rather long time for something that hadn't even been a joke, then I suddenly realized that maybe his shoulders were shaking and he was looking down like that because...
“Dude, are you crying?”
“Fuck off, you asshole,” he responded, although his voice only came out in a whisper, and I hesitated before glancing around to see whether anyone was watching us, standing across from him for a few awkward moments. Eventually, however, I sighed and stepped over to put my arms around him and pull him close in an attempt to comfort him, running my hand across the shaved side of his head. What did it matter if someone saw us? His body was surprisingly small and frail in my arms and it shook, even though he didn't make a sound apart from the occasional sharp breath.
“Shh,” I murmured softly as I tried to soothe him, rubbing his back, and without thinking I pressed a caring kiss against the top of his head, feeling rather shaken up by the fact that he of all people was crying, “Was it something I said?”
“Just shut the fuck up and don't tell Jesse about this,” he muttered softly once he'd caught his breath again, one hand clamped around my shirt so tightly his knuckles were white, “And don't kiss the top of my head again.”
“Alright,” I chuckled, feeling strangely honoured that I'd suddenly gotten to see this new side of him that actually made him seem kind of human, and that I'd found out he was capable of more than grumpy swearing. We didn't move for a few moments, then he pulled away and took another drag of his cigarette, looking down so I couldn't see his face. I twiddled my thumbs silently for a few moments, then eventually let out a nonchalant 'hmmm'.
“Soooo.... if I can't kiss the top of your head, does that mean I can kiss you anywhere el-.”
“Don't even go there,” he responded dryly, his good ol' grouchy tone of voice coming back, and I grinned brightly.
“That's not a no though.”
“Just be quiet already,” he muttered, turning to walk back to the trailer in order to get ready for his class, and I nearly skipped after him just because he hadn't openly refused me. That small little thing made my entire week a hundred times better than I could have imagined it would be.
Word count: 1,743
Next...
Show: Stonehenge Dressage Event - Grand Prix CDI4* OPEN
Horse: SEA Lucky's Warszawa
Rider: Oliver Chancey Trace
Music: Star Sky (Instrumental) by Two Steps from Hell
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Artist's note: I TRIED SO HARD ON THIS I saw the images already submitted by FeatherCandy, MelonHeadGirl and RilayaBelacqua were amazing but then I was too stoked about this show to give up
Plus I refuse to go down without a fight 
So hopefully I won't get last T-TI felt so lost in the background because I wasn't able to rely on my trusty trees to make it interesting, so it looks a little empty... Might end up editing it before the show deadline.
AND YES, THE STONES WERE 100% PAINTED BY HAND
Tools used: Intuos Pen and Touch and Medibang
Time: LOL let's not
References
Dressage stock 5 by ByMelody
i.imgur.com/9CN6W7G.png?1
i0.wp.com/www.lifeandall.org/w…
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia…
farmette.ie/wp-content/uploads…
www.irishhorsesociety.com/hors…
www.collective-evolution.com/2… (quote is from there)
