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OMG IVORY ! IS THIS AN EFFORT SHOW ENTRY ??? Yeaaaah ! I got over my horses little art block woohoo /o/

So here are my bois in the RSF PRIDE SHOW 2022 !

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Show : Rising Star Farm's 2022 Pride Show [OPEN]
Class : English Showcase - Dressage
Horse : Shooting Star IHS • 10 Y.O
Rider : IHS Staff - Matthew Barley • 35 Y.O

Story :

/!\ WARNING - LONG STORY /!\
This story have been co-written with the loveliest of all Acetoma who wrote for her characters

“Hey, Matt ! You did great, the run was pretty cool.”
When he heard the voice of his groom for a day, the IHS read head turned to his colleague with an annoyed face. He walked his horse to come nearer then sighed.
“That’s exactly the kind of moment where I noticed our dressage level difference, Aoi. This run was way below my standards.”
He sighed as he dismounted Star who was now making a huge yawn. The tired stallion launched a bored look at his owner who was glaring at him.
“Yeah, you can be tired when I see how lazy you were !” Matt said to the palomino with reproach in his voice.
“Lazy ?” Aoi asked with a surprised air. “He didn’t look lazy in the arena, he was pretty active. As your run, you said it was below your standards, well I don’t think so. You’re way too strict about yourself, Matt, you know that ?”
“Yeah, as I know how delightful you are with yourself, Aoi.” Matt answered with a cold voice. The French Japanese dressage rider pouted to these words even if he stayed quiet. After all, Matt wasn’t wrong at all… He was lacking a lot of seriousness these last weeks. The fact that he and Caelyne were fighting everyday was one of the main reasons, but the groom was aware that his colleague would not accept that as an answer.
“Anyway” Matt’s voice raised again, “Yeah, Shoot was lazy. He was way under my leg when I usually don’t need to push him to make moves. But I guess he just wasn’t in the mood… We’ll see the results later.”
Matt shrugged and stroked his stallion’s neck as they were reaching the truck. Once there, He lend his reins to Aoi.
“Can you take care of him for me ? I’m thirsty as hell and would kill for a lemonade right now. I’ll have a look at the bar, do you want anything ?”
Aoi nodded his head positively.
“Yeah, a can of coke please. I’ll untack and brush your boy, don’t worry.”
Matthew slightly smiled at his colleague for the first time of the day and started to walk away in the direction of the bar, as he took his phone out of his pocket to type a text to let Cae update about how the show was running. All was going smoothly, but as the older rider of the stables, he was kinda feeling that he was responsible for the four persons who were here, including him, Aoi, Nao and Vitany.
—--
"What did you want again?" Nikolas scratched his head as he looked down at the Vet Tech manipulating the Black Tobianos leg with a huff, "Nikolas! ugh, I said water-"
"Sorry!Sorry! It's hard to take drink orders for four people, including myself-- ugh, three waters and a Sprite for Iris." Nikolas groaned, "And I want a..." Nikolas shook his head, "Water is fine." he started to head off, looking down at his feet as he walked and counting on his fingers the drinks he needed to get from the bar area, as he walked he ran into someone, he didn't know who as he was trying to remember the orders, a quick glance over and they hadn't fell down, great, "Sorry" it was a quick mumble as he started toward the bar again...3 waters and a....?
—-
As he was walking to the bar, Matthew wasn’t really paying attention at all, because he provoked a thing when he first send a text to Cae which he was not expected at all and which was now taking all of his mind : a text monologue from his boss about how he was supposed to take an extra-care of Nao - God, what does this kid do to their boss for her to be so maternal with him ?? - and to have a look at Aoi because according to the late days - about which Caelyne had written no less than 3 paragraphs in one text - things were not going really well between them. He loudly sighed as he was busy writing an answer to his concerned boss, trying to reassure her the best as he could while he was mumbling about how upset he was to live in a equestrian sitcom. He was so busy answering that the redhead didn’t see the man coming and launched a surprised “Ah !” when he bumped into him. His phone dropped on the floor because of the light shock and Matthew suddenly raised his head and was about to shout out of anger at the man who was already walking away when he heard his voice which sounded… Really familiar. He paused and let the information proceed to his tired brain.
“W-WAIT !” he shouted instead of the harsh insult he was going to throw first and grabbed his phone before reaching the guy and poked his shoulder.
“Nikolas ? Is that really you ?”
Did Matthew think for a second that he was maybe mistaking the guy with this cute bearded guy from before ? Nope. Because if that was him, he was feeling way too happy to meet him again to think correctly.
—-
"hm?" Nikolas glanced behind him at the red-haired man poking him, he grinned at the familiar face, the orders floating away from his mind near immediately, "Matthew! Hi! Yes it's me I'm here with my brother and his students, ah Jun-Seo is here too!" he rambled excitdly, "It's really good to see you again I didn't know you where here! How is star? did he heal well? was Jun-Seo right?" as Nikolas continued to interrogate Matthew wityh an excited air his partner in Crime popped up from his work checking the horses, "All done, All safe." He grinned, proud of himself, as he turned to leave the stall he spotted a very handsome man from afar caring for a very pretty horse...may as well offer some..help.
"Hey Handsome need your horse checked for a competition? then can I check you out? y'know as payment for the horse?" Jun-Seo confidently lifted his lanyard as if the stethoscope around his neck didn't give it away, "I'm a vet tech-vet in training~"
—-
Matthew grinned back at Niki. It was him ! He was really glad to see him again and totally by chance ! Well, as the two men were chatting from time to time via texts, Matthew was aware that Niki was grooming at a show these days and Niki was supposed to know that Matthew was himself in a show but as they never told each other which one it was… The luck was total.
“Yeah, it’s been a while ! Heh, as you see I am ! How could I miss this show ? That’s not everyday that a show were we can shamelessly show who we really are is organized, after all.”
He gave a soft smile to the guy. He kinda.. Missed him, even if he’d have died than admit it. Their first date some weeks ago was really nice.
“Star is doing really nice and yes, Jun-Seo was right ! He recovered after a few days in his pasture with his friends. So, you, how are you doing ?”
He paused to think for a second. He suddenly wanted to spend the rest of the day with him, but...
“Have you some free time now or are you busy ? ‘cause I was thinking that it would be cool to spend some time in a good company…”
Meanwhile, Aoi was quietly untacking Shooting Star. He was whistling, totally unaware of his surroundings, when he heard a voice aside. He turned to land his eyes on a small man, certainly Korean according to how he was looking. He made a polite smile, ready to decline the third hit on attempt of the day when the guy said he was a vet-tech. Aoi looked at him with a strange look. The guy was good-looking but heh… He was a guy… And Aoi was straight.
“Hey, thanks for the offer but this lovely guy just finished his turn and he’s perfectly well, as I am.” he paused. “Aaaaand I’m sorry but I can’t really give you what you’re looking for. I’ll disappoint you.”
Why didn’t he clearly say that he was straight and not interested ? No fucking idea. But he didn’t feel like he had to do anything… But he maybe should have to.
—-
“Oh sure! let me just get some drinks for the crew Lukas already went so it’s just the students now but i’ve watched them in practice and they’re pretty good~ knock your socks off and all that” Nikolas chuckled, “It’s good to hear Star is healthy again, I’m doing fine, I’ll be competing soon at Pemberley Park again, maybe we can meet up there too?” the brunette offered to the redheaded man, “Is there something you want to do after I make my delivery by the way?”
Meanwhile Jun-Seo’s grin had gotten bigger, “eh what do you mean? You aren’t good at such things…or you think I’m too much to handle?” the weasel like smile tugged his lips more “or are you a 금사빠 (person who falls in love easily) ? eh?” The small man laughed and patted Star, “Hello my darling, did your stone bruise heal properly? the sexy redheaded man let you rest?” his attentioned turned to the horse before him as he lifted his leg to check for himself.
—-
Matthew nodded in approbation and started to walk in the direction of the refreshment stall.
“Oh yeah ? Who are they ? I’m asking myself if I see them in the dressage arena…” the redhead said with a smile. “He definitely is, at a point he became nearly lazy… His holidays in the pastures didn’t make him really active, you see ?”
He paused when he heard the Pemberley Park name.
“Oh, yeah, I intend to try my luck again with Star too… Let’s hope he’ll not get hurt before our run this time ! And yeah, I’ll be really glad to see you over here again…”
They reached the stall in a matter of minutes which looked like seconds in Matthew’s eyes. This guy’s company was definitely great.
“What would you say about dinner in a restaurant nearby, then some drinks in a bar or in my hotel ?”
Aoi grinned back to the young man. “Too much to handle is definitely a way too low estimation I guess… I’m sure you’re even harder to handle than you even think.”
The man said with a teasing voice. And it was kinda honest, as he found this guy really ballsy to come to speak to him like that. That was for sure not a woman's usual behavior… He smirked at the young man’s Korean word and its meaning and let out a small laugh.
“Aaaand maybe I fall in love easily but not with men… To be honest, you’re not really my type as you are… Well, a guy.”
He then raised an eyebrow when the guy approached the stallion with no manners and took his hoof.
“Hm, did you know Star and Matthew ?”
He guessed that the sexy redhead was the dressage rider because, well, Matthew was not the kind of person to let anyone other than himself ride his own horses, so…
“I don’t know what happened to him before but he did his run perfectly today apart from the fact that he was a bit tired according to Matt, so I guess he recovered correctly.”
He said as he shrugged.
“But please have a look, even if it seems like you don’t really care about my permission~”
Aoi said the last sentence with a more teasing voice than reproaches in it, but it was, well, the truth. This guy had no manners at all.. And he could be considered lucky that Matthew didn’t come back right away.
—--
“Iris Reyes, she’s on a Palomino Zlesdin and Cedric LeBlanc, he borrowed one of the older lesson horses because he was super nervous so Lukas thought maybe he should compete as a novice to get used to the atmosphere.” Nikolas gave Matthew a smile, “Welll, I can understand him, he had some Vacation days and maybe feeling a bit behind but he’ll cheer up, Lukas had to train Fame for a few days to get him back into Rythem for this show but I know Fame enjoyed his break, he was studded out a couple times so we’ll be getting a couple of Fame foals soon I think one was an Embryo Transfer with Absolut from IHS actually!”
Nikolas grabbed the drinks and paid, he waited for Matthew to get his own before continuing, “Me too, and sure if you have any good movies I’d be really interested in watching those with some drinks!” the brunette cheered, he really liked Matthew company as well and was excited for the rest of his day now.
As for Jun-Seo he laughed at Aoi’s teases, “I certainly am, and is that so? It’s a shame but I understand~ If you’re looking for a partner in crime to scout out company I’d be happy to join and find something for myself.” as he glanced over Stars hoof and sat it down he turned to Aoi again, “Matthew~ yes I know them both, I’m the one who told Matt about this handsom guy’s injury in the first place, he had a stone bruise, nothing major. Being off work for a while might make a horse a liiiitle lazy but it’s nothing training and routine can’t fix in time.” Jun-Seo shrugged and wrapped his arms around the pale stallions neck, “you’re so cute starrr~ I’d add you to my repertoire but you are not for sale but 행쇼~ (Lets be happy~) you are in good beautiful hands~ yes you areeee~” as Jun-Seo finished coddling the horse beside him and grinned at Aoi, “Im like pretty sure Matthew would attack if I was near his golden prized pony but when he’s away…” Jun-Seo gave Aoi and wink and hugged the horse again, “Anyway, do you wanna go together later or no?”
—-
Matthew takes a few seconds to think about the description of the two riders… The palomino Zlesdin was absolutely telling him something as the IHS was supposed to get a foal from him, but he didn’t remember having noticed the other one’s run… He smiled anyway to the cute man who was walking beside him. He softly smiled at Niki and let a laugh escape his lips when he spoke about how understandable Star’s state was.
“Yeah, but I think he was really only lazy, I mean I didn’t bring him back to the showgrounds just like that without serious training before… But he has the right to have his days too. I’ll see the results anyway.”
Matthew took his lemonade with a kind word for the refreshments stand employees and opened his bottle. He took a sip and his smile enlarged when Niki spoke about the movies and all.
“Hm, the hotel has a good repertoire of movies as far as I remember… You really like watching movies, don’t you ?”
He said with a charming voice.
“Would you like me to help you with your drinks ? I can free one of your hands by taking some of the drinks and so take your hand on mine.”
It was kind of a ballsy offering, especially according to how… Slow… Their relationship was evolving according to absolutely anyone else apart from these two, but Matthew was feeling the urge to get a bit closer to the man… And well, which better place than this one to try this kind of thing ?
Aoi smiled back at the guy.
“Hm, I wasn’t expecting to find a drinking buddy here, but why not, that’s a good idea… As Matthew seems to have found someone with who he can spend the night, as my little brother hate me annnnd the last person is a party-killer, I guess I have no choice than accepting your offer if I want to have a bit of fun tonight~”
He then made a kind of annoyed face when he see the young man starting to hang at the stallion’s neck.
“Yeah, you’re really lucky that Matthew is not here, if so, he’d have kicked your ass for sure.”
He sighed as he shrugged. Anyway, I have nearly finished to take care of him and just need to put him in his stall…”
He made a stroke himself on the horse’s neck.
“Oh, I just realized I didn't tell you my name… I’m Aoi Maida.”
—-
“I think he’ll do pretty good, he looked great out there to me, I was uh…too focused on his rider for it to really count though.” Nikolas admitted and quickly moved along, “Oh! yes I was training almost always in dressage so I didn’t get to watch them…even when I had free-time I’d rather let Lukas watch the TV since it was such a luxury but now I can watch them whenever I wish! it’s pretty cool.” Nikolas rambled with passion, “Do you like them as well? if you don’t want to watch then we can find something else to do” Nikolas added with a small grin, “I’m sure it’ll be fun if I’m with you so…” at Matthews offer Nikolas raised an eyebrow he didn’t quite understand but that was Nikolas, always a bit dense…
“Of course, If you like!” Nikolas handed the redhead some of the drinks and held his free hand, this was nice! he always held Leons hand…and Leon would yell at him but atleast they didn’t get lost!
“yeesh Little brother hates you eh? must have done something baaad My little brother adores me I can’t get rid of him-well i moved to America but he’ll surely find me soon” Jun-Seo groaned as he removed his arms from the stallions neck, “Naww finee, I’ll see you another time Star, stay handsome and a lady killer!” Jun-Seo planted a small kiss on the horses nose before spinning on his heel to face Aoi again, “Park Jun-Seo~ Acetomas Vet…tech….for now! Im studying and shadowing as we speak soon I’ll be Dr. Park.” the small man said with confidence and a nod to boot, “So is Matty coming back yet?”
—-
Matthew let a soft smile take place on his lips when the man made the innuendo.
“Hm, I see, it's hard to concentrate when something better is catching your look, right ?”
He said with a teasing voice.
“Ah, don’t worry, I like movies too, it’s just I don’t usually watch a lot of them… But I’m totally willing to watch more, and if that’s with your company.”
He answered with a nice air and smiled more when he took his hand.
“It… It Felt nice. And I’m sure I won’t lose you like that.”
The redhead added as he put a kiss on Niki’s hand.
“Let’s give these drinks to your colleagues, so ? I may have to change my clothes before our date though. Would you mind if we stay a bit at the hotel before dinner to let me shower and change my clothes ?”
He asked without any innuendo at all… Even if it didn’t look like it.
Aoi let his eyes space into thin air for a few when Jun-Seo told him that he might have done something bad for Nao to hate him. He loudly sighed before answering.
“Kinda, yeah… Let’s say that the lack of reactions is sometimes as painful as words. I’m not really proud about that by the way.”
He said with a colder voice than before. His relationship with Nao was still a touchy subject…
He smiled anyway at the young man’s presentation.
“A future vet doctor, so ? How cool. You need to tell me more about that…”
Aoi loses his smile when the Korean spoke about Matthew, without really knowing why the fact that this gay man looking for another gay man was irritating him so much. He shrugged mentally. He was just looking for a drinking buddy after all.
“Well, I thought he would, but he seems like he crossed paths with an acquaintance. I see him in the distance walking away, so I guess he won’t come back for some time.”
He said with a less cold but also less warm voice than before.
“Sorry, it seems like your main target will not be there yet.”
He added with a teasing voice.
—--
Nikolas could feel the heat rise to his cheeks when the beautiful redhead before him planted a small kiss on his hand that was intertwined with his, “Well..uhm…yeah lost…” he stuttered and shook his head trying to gather his thought, “Oh yes sure we can do that!” Nikolas blurted out, rushed.
“Naw he found Nikolas, guess Matty is unavailable to flirt with today…it’s fine! we can go drink then” Jun-Seo cheered, “Yeah totally, Being a vet is something I wanted to do forever so….I finally started my actual Vet courses so in a few years who knows” the small man grinned up at Aoi, “Shall we get ready to go?”
—-
Matthew made a soft smile to the bearded man and squeezed his hand gently as they were heading to the Acetoma stables quarters.
“Nice, we should hurry then, I feel kinda dirty in my riding clothes.”
He said without releasing Nikolas’ hand despite the fact that they were getting closer to the place.
“Oh, do you need to stop by your hotel too ? I was acting a bit selfish by talking about myself but if you need to do things before I kidnap you for this date, well, don’t hesitate to tell me.”
Aoi smiled at the young man and nodded to approve the idea of going to take a drink. To be honest, his relationship with Caelyne was really… Really… Strange. Like, they are close, then she acts like the coldness itself, then acts cute and romantic, then takes some distance again… And they were currently in this kind of down moment… Aoi was even asking himself if they were a couple at all so… Drinking appears like a kind of necessary thing to help to clear his mind.
“Well, I hope you’ll succeed in your studies then.”
He simply answered the future vet with a smile, trying to hide the dark thoughts which were crossing his mind.
“Have you a bar nearby in mind to go to ?”
—--
"No i'm fine" Nikolas answered simply followed Matthew happily like a loyal pup, he stopped once they got to his group, taking the lead, handing out the drinks he managed to remember, and explained where he was going, a black haired man a bit taller than Nikolas watched Matthew with a cautious gaze, "You sure Niki… ? You don't know him that well… "
"I'm positive, Lukas" Nikolas waved his hand, "Matthew is nice! He wouldn't kill me."
The man, 'Lukas', rolled his eyes in a manner that told everyone there he'd dealt with Nikolas's attitude all of his life, "Yeah well, text or call if you need me and don't get wasted we have a plane tomorrow okay? Pemberley. "
" I know I know Pemberley jeez" Nikolas nodded with an annoyed huff, "Alright Matty im free, let's go!"
Jun-Seo grinned at the mention of his studies, "Thanks- ah a Bar? There's a small one nearby, perfect to scope out potential partners, let's go there! "
—--
Matt made a smile to the named Lukas which was supposed to be reassuring.
“Don’t worry Mr, I’ll bring him back here in the morning. And no, I will not kill Nikolas, or only because of my boring attitude.” he said with a calm voice. He then smiled to the sunshine who was Niki and extended his hand to him again.
“Perfect, then let’s go. I can’t wait to take you to this restaurant.”
He commented as he started to gently drag away the Acetoma rider.
Aoi smiled back at the Korean man.
“Well, perfect then. I just need to quickly change my clothes and I’m all yours…”
He paused.
“As a drinking buddy of course. I hope there’s some charming straight women over here, even if I’m not sure to be in the right place to hit on one tonight.”

—
Nikolas grinned, “Ooh im excited let’s go!” he followed Matthew along like a puppy stumbling after its owner, he was what you could say infatuated at the moment with Matthew.
Nikolas didn’t take his eyes off him as he walked to the room, he stopped at the door though, “I’ll wait for you” he grinned, atleast he was polite…
Jun-Seo raised an eyebrow and grinned at Aoi, “All mine huh? I like that thought, but Don’t worry sweet cheeks, I won’t pick you up unless you want me too~”
The smaller man laughed and started heading off in the direction of the parking area, “I’ll meet you there!”
—
Matthew couldn’t help but grinned all along the way to the hotel room. Yeah, this guy who was following him without any glance away was definitely too cute. Cute things weren’t usually Matthew’s, but he… Well, he couldn’t explain why, but he touched his cold mind in any way. He stopped and looked at Nikolas with a surprised look.
“Are you sure ? You’ll be more comfortable waiting in the room.”
He paused.
“Don’t worry, nothing will happen to you, I won’t touch you.”
“Well, I hope so !” answered Aoi with a more serious air he would have liked to. He then nodded his head and went to his own car.
“Okay, let’s meet soon there.”
The French Japanese man drives quickly to his hotel to take a quick shower and gets ready for the evening. He couldn’t say why, but he was kinda excited about it. Strange, as he wasn’t so willing to go drinking since he was with her… He decided to not think about it a lot and headed soon to the bar.
—-
Nikolas shook his head, “It’s fine really, I’m not worried about you touching me, I can wait out here uh I hear its the gentlemanly thing to do?” Nikolas wasn’t sure, Lukas had been googling things about dating and relationships recently and he had decided to take a peek, just in case he met Matthew again, he leaned on the wall across the door of Matthew room, “I’ll wait for you!”
Jun-Seo got ready and headed to the bar nearby already choosing a table with a good view of the scene and the entrance, he went ahead and ordered, might as well start the party who said he had to wait for Aoi?
—
Matthew slightly smiled to the man.
“Okay then, as you prefer Mr Gentleman, I’ll not be long.”
He just said before putting a quick peck on Nikolas’ cheek and entered his room, without any more look at Nikolas to not let the urge to simply kiss him take the most of his actions.
As said, he didn’t take too long and quickly returned outside his room in a more casual outfit.
“I’m ready, shall we go ?”
He asked as he extended his hand to Nikolas.
Aoi arrived some minutes after JS and reached the table where the guy was.
“Hey, you could have waited for me~”
He said as he sat next to the Korean man, noticing that the man, despite his gender, was really good-looking.
“Have you ordered for me or do I need to order for myself ?”
He added with a bright smile.
—-
"Sure" Nikolas grinned and took Matthews hand, "you look great, you sure you don't mind going on a dinner date with a scraggly looking guy like me?" Nikolas teased as he gently squeezed Matthews hand he hadn't felt this way about anyone not even Leon though he did crush on the meaner redhead… perhaps redheaded men were his type? He didn't feel like this toward Evie either… maybe it was the attitude as well he enjoyed. But Matthew was nicer than Leon. He smiled again and headed for the restaurant, excited for his date.
"I haven't, mostly cuz i dunno what youd wanna drink~" Jun-Seo held up a hand to waive over the waiter and gave Aoi a sly grin, "so hot stuff do you see anything interesting? The waiter has been giving me eyes~ i think i have one biting the line."
—
Matthew grinned back at the man.
"Of course not, you look perfect. If you wasn't good looking enough, I wouldn't have invited you in the first place."
He answered as he started to walk in the restaurant's direction. And his statement was pretty honest. He was maybe not looking like that in the first place, but Matthew was the kind of guy who was according a lot of importance to physical appearance… but maybe Nikolas was an exception and he was too captivated by him to even realizing it. They soon reached the restaurant where Matthew had booked a really nice table in a quiet place.
"Please take a seat." He said as he pulled the seat for Nikolas. His turn to be the gentleman.
Aoi nodded in understanding for the reason why the young Korean didn't order for him. He gave his order to the waiter then looked around them and sighed. There were some attractive women for sure, but they were obviously not attracted to men…
"Hm, I'm afraid that's not really my day… I don't think these beauties are looking for me."
He said before taking a sip in his drink. He then took a look at the waiter.
"Hm, not bad but I'm sure you can look for even better~"
He added with a teasing voice.
—-
Nikolas listened to Matthew and laughed mostly to himself, “Kind of looks like the pro-rider is taking the stable hand out on a date doesn’t it?” Nikolas nodded a thanks to Matthew as he sat down and his eyes seemed to follow him to his own chair, he just couldn’t stop looking at him…
“So, did Star do well? or did he stumble a bit? Fame, my brothers horse was a little clumsy coming back to work but he was really eager. I think he’s better now.” Nikolas leaned in toward matthew in a friendly manner, “I could tell you werent so happy with your run but don’t worry Star will be back to normal soon an injury major or minor can throw any horse off their mojo, I remember when Squid- ah wait…maybe you didnt want to talk horse here sorry…” the bearded man leaned back into his chair and looked away from his date, embarrassment had set in.
Jun-Seo laughed at Aoi’s comment, “Really? I don’t see anyone as good, thats interested in me anyway” he gave Aoi and wink and turned to look around the bar, “Hmm seems like some of these ladies brought their girlfriends…You may have to wait until someone new comes in.” Jun-Seo took another sip of his drink and motioned for another he was obviously ready to party, “Do me a favor, if I get hammered and can’t find anyone to go home with get me a cab and I’ll pay you back next time I see you.” the korean man asked Aoi with a playful tone as he scoped the crowd out again, “No real luck…nothing I like really, Black haired guys with mucles~ the best thinggg ever~”
—
Matthew let out a light laugh to the man’s remark but said nothing as he just shook his head to show his desapprobation to it. After Nikolas’ placement, he sat too and let his eyes wander on his partner’s face once again. Yeah, really cute. A slight smile took place on his lips when Nikolas started to speak about the horse's topic. Wherever riders were, that could only be the main topic in the end, right ?
“Don’t apologize, we are riders after all so it’s pretty normal to speak about the subject which fills most of our lives. Well, to answer you, I wasn’t really happy about my run, but it’s more because of me and my overestimation of my horse’s abilities after an injury. I know that he’ll be back on track soon but I really thought that I had trained him more correctly than I really did. I guess my expectations were too high, nothing so bad. In the end, he did pretty well.”
He simply answered. His perfectionism always played tricks on the rider and his vision of himself, so, he was pretty used to it now.
“What happened to Squid ? That’s the beautiful chestnut brindle stallion you’re riding sometimes ?”
He asked Nikolas showing his interest in the topic. The waitress came soon after to take their orders.
“Yeah” started Aoi with a slightly bitter voice “I hope a beautiful miss enter this place before you being kidnapped by this waiter, or the end of night will be looong for me.”
He paused as he took another sip in his drink. He launched a playful look at the korean. He was pretty funny and Aoi had to admit that his company was nice… As his physic. For a man.
“How am I supposed to send you back to your hotel if I didn’t even know your room number, hm ?” he asked Jun-Seo with a teasing voice. “Would I be obliged to take you in my own room then ?”
This joke was only a joke. Or at least, it was what Aoi was trying to convince himself. He was straight after all. Fully straight.
“Oh, what a shame, it seems like I’m the only muscled black haired man around, sorry for you~” he continues. The alcohol was clearly starting to make an effect on him, but at this point, it was still only teasing… Was it ?
“Wow, their cocktails are pretty nice~”
The man said nonchalantly like he wasn’t trying to hit on Jun-Seo. Because he wasn’t. Nope. He wasn’t.
—-
“I see!” Nikolas listened the Matthew’s explanation, “That makes sense, Sometimes I overestimate my horses to but I know they do their best for me, I’m sure Star will get there.” Nikolas glanced over the menu then back to Matthew, “Oh! he’s actually Lukas’s horse. When he started training he sprained on of his rear legs for a bit once he was healed it took him a bit to get going again but now he’s competing and i’m really proud of him!” Nikolas leaned forward again engaged in the conversation, “I used to ride Fame too, he’s a great horse, so is Star. I’m sure with you as a trainer he’ll be one of the best.” he looked over the other man in front of him, his date, and couldn’t help but grin, he’d gotten lucky to attract such a handsome guy after all, he turned to the waitress to order quickly so he could get back to coversating with his partner for the evening.
“Haha~ my room num-wait YOUR room, are you hitting on me?” the man was already tipsy but it didn’t look like it was hindering his ability to drink at all…
“Well aren’t you full of yourself~” Jun-Seo teased and put a hand on Aois shoulder, “You def are my type buuuut you only like girls so don’t tease me so much kay?” he was already mumbly, “ that ‘s-unfair.” he looked back at Aoi, “Jus’ in case, you arent taken are you? cuz I don’t entertain men with partners. it’s a rule i have after all…” he huffed, “singlessss only~”
—--
Matthew smiled at the assumption of the man.
“Yeah, Star is a pretty voluntary horse, he always does his best…”
He answered softly. The dressage rider was perfectly aware that this horse was really valuable because of that : the stallion had a very good character but enough blood and energy to show off a lot and the St-Georges skills capacities… His value was about a lot of money. Matthew already got a lot of offerings for his palomino horse, but never accepted even the awfully higher one…
“Oh, you had the luck to ride the famous Selle Français stallion of your brother ? I’ve seen him in action once, he’s really talented…” he paused, taking a few seconds to admire the man he had in front of him. To be honest… He wasn’t his style at all. He was usually more attracted to smaller and cuter men… But he couldn’t say why, Nikolas had caught his eyes the last time at Pemberley. And since, he couldn’t really get him out of his mind. He took his order quickly too to continue the conversation.
“By the way, I was asking myself : do you own a horse by yourself ?” he asked without malice in his question. “I mean, you seem to ride a lot of your brother’s horses, so I was wondering if you were owning one.”
Was that a way to learn more about Nikolas ? Of course it was.

Aoi blushed instantly when Jun-Seo made the assumption that he was hitting on him.
“Of course not, I'm not– !”
The tall man smiled at the Korean man when this one put a hand on his shoulder. He should have leaned back to avoid the man’s touch. To confirm that he was straight and really not open to anything with this guy, even small touches. But maybe because of the alcohol, he didn’t and even more strange his body does the exact opposite. He leaned forward to move a bit closer to the Korean man.
“Unfair ? What’s unfair ? To have the beautifulest man around and not be able to touch him ? Heh- yeah what a shame~”
He continues to tease the young man with a voice clearly affected by alcohol.
He paused as Jun-Seo asked him if he was taken as his mind sank a bit in his own thoughts. What was he supposed to answer ? He wasn’t sure about it himself… After all, he and Caelyne had something between them but they never formalized anything, so… He… Kinda was ?
“I– I am, of course.” he answered with a hesitant voice.
“If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be here in the first place…” he said again, trying to kinda convince himself. Oh, and whatever. She was not here. She was always hesitant. He never even had the impression to be in a real relationship with her, so, whatever. He turned again to Jun-Seo.
“But why does it matter ? I’m supposed to be straight, am I ?” he asked as he dangerously leaned really, really close to the korean, barely touching him and holding this position for some seconds before leaning back, the glass he was reaching on the table in his hand with a smirk.
—--

“Oh Yea, Fame is really nice. My brother trained him well, I dunno who owned him before but they laid a great base and Lukas built on it.” He smiled at Matthew’s question, “Nah not really I haven’t found one that called to me to buy…though Squid is super close. He’s a great horse I really like him too.” Nikolas grinned, “and you? do you own star or does the stable? I swore I thought you owned him yourself but, I wasn’t too sure.” Nikolas leaned in a bit more just to get a better view and hear Matthew more, he wasn’t sure why but he was really enjoying this moment more than most…
Jun-Seo flushed and groaned, still ina drunken stupor, “don’t tease meeee” he laughed, and laughed, then chuckled, and giggled he’d barley heard what else Aoi had said, “ah so you’re single? cool-ah” Jun-Seo snorted at Aoi’s closeness, “Realllyyyy? why’re you so close to me theeen~” he teased Aoi back, honestly a bit curious, “Im starting to question you…cuuuuz you’ve been flirting with me and hadn’t even noticed those pretty ladies that came in at the bar-” Jun-Seo made a half assed attempted to point toward some new women at the bar, “Am i prettier?~”

—-

“Oh I see~” said Matthew as he noted in a corner of his head that if in the future they started a relationship, a good dressage horse would be an excellent gift for this man. It was maybe too soon to think about this kind of thing but… Matthew was really crushing on Nikolas. So why not ?
“I do own Star, but the stables have the priority to buy him if one day I decide to sell him and they’re prior too to make foals out of him.” he simply answered with a soft smile. “But I don’t think I’ll sell him one day. Even if he takes a lot of value later.”
The English man took his glass and raised it.
“Should we make a quick toast ? To the luck to have meet you again.”
He said with a charming smile, hoping that the sweetness of the situation was working well to make Nikolas feel at ease in the redhead’s presence.
Aoi smirked at the drunk Korean words. He looked over his shoulder to notice that indeed, pretty women had entered the bar… But the small man was definitely more interesting, for plenty of different reasons :
He leaned again to put a firm kiss on the man’s lips.
“Yeah. Way more prettier and attractive than hers.”
Even if he was a man. Was it because of the alcohol ? Or because Aoi was feeling especially alone these days ? Or because he wanted to try something else ? Or because this guy had awakened something… Deep in the French rider’s mind. Anyway, he had no idea at this time, but a thing was sure, he had liked the kiss a lot. So much so that he leaned to kiss the Korean again.
“Do you think it’s just about teasing anymore ?”
He asked with a playful tone, just to be sure that Jun-Seo was not totally against going further.
—-
Nikolas grinned and raised his glass to Matthews, "I hope we can do this again too… It's nice to see you, Matthew. " Nikolas looked into the redheads eyes. Maybe he had a type… redheads always caught his fancy, especially the fiery ones like Leon, however there was something Matthew had that Leon just didn't… a spark.
"Are you by chance dating anyone, Matty?" Nikolas didn't know why he asked, it just felt right…
Jun-Seo laughed but it was extinguished by the kiss he flushed a pink color, "what was that?~" he hummed and when Aoi kissed him again he returned it with a bit more force and placed his hands on the sides of Aois face, he stared at Aoi again before a grin appeared "mm no but … " he laid another on Aois lips, "Lets go back to my hotel and continue.. if you want?"
He was now a bit more sober and Aoi seemed receptive to trying something new, it was okay right?
—-
Matthew softly smiled at the man’s words. Well, at least the feeling was shared. He took a small sip in his glass and almost spit out the liquid when he heard Nikolas’ question.
“Uh– By chance ?” The use of this word kinda disappointed the redhead, because of a slight misunderstanding. He was so used to its French equivalent (chance meaning luck) that he understood it that way and started to feel a bit sad. Was he hoping that Matthew had someone and so nothing would happen between them ? He lost his smile for a second before answering.
“No… I’m not. I don’t do dates with other people if I’m in a relationship. Is that bad news ? Oh, maybe you have someone you like already ?”
He asked, kinda afraid by the answer of his question.
The energy the Korean put in the answer of his second kiss, followed by his own kiss finished to convince the French man that he made the right choice. Even if that was a man and if he was supposed to be straight… It had the attraction of the unknown and some mystery.
“Sure…” he answered in a breath before kissing Jun-Seo again. “Wait a minute.”
He said as he stood up and took his coat in the direction of the bar to pay for their drinks. He came back in a hurry and extended his hand for Jun-Seo to take it.
“We can go now. Show me your way.”
The last words he said was interpretable by many meanings, and Aoi just waited to know which one the Korean chose to understand.
—--
“Huh?” Nikolas looked up from pouring himself something to drink, “Ah not really I mean…I kind of like you.” Nikolas smiled at Matthew seeing wrong at stating nothing but the obvious, “I was just gonna ask if you wanted to..go out if you were free but maybe I’m reading too much into these dates?” Nikolas was a shade of red he couldn’t describe, with a smile at him Nikolas took the redheads hand.
Jun-Seo smiled when Aoi came back, “I’ll be glad too~” he took the frenchmans hand and began to lead him out of the bar and toward his room, it was the night he did show Aoi his way and what a performance it was…one to remember for both of them.
—-
Matthew stopped for a second when he heard Nikolas saying that he was liking him. Did he hear what the man said correctly ? He stayed quite a bit more, afraid that he’d have misunderstood. But the following words of Nikolas erased instantly the redhead’s doubts. He had heard correctly. “YES– I mean”... he paused before continuing to answer, realizing how confusing the yes might have sounded.
“I mean no, you’re not reading too much into these dates and yes I want to go out with you.”
He answered more clearly after a bit of time to calm his excitement down a bit. “I’m free and I like you too… If not I wouldn’t have asked you for two dates, don’t you think ?”
The dressage rider says as he leaned to put a gentle stroke on Nikolas’ cheek.
“Wow… I am happy…”
Matthew added with a huge smile. “What do you want to do… After this dinner ?” he asked, secretly hoping that their ways would not separate just after. He now had a boyfriend, didn’t he ? And a sexy one… Lucky him. It was going to be a long-distance relationship but… It wasn’t enough to worry the redhead about the bright future of this relationship.
—-
Nikolas grinned, did he just get a boyfriend? Yes, he thought it had been so long and the last person he dated… well… she did not appreciate Nikolas's affections. It was a mutual breakup though, and ended well; they soon became friends and she found herself to be Aromantic not long after, he was happy for her of course! Nikolas turned his focus back to Matthew, enough about Olivia.
"After dinner?" Nikolas hummed in thought, what could Matthew possibly want to do? He had the perfect idea! A real show stopped for the ages, "whatever you want i'll follow, i'm not picky at all" perfect.
What Nikolas didn't expect was it would lead to a wonderful experience with his new boyfriend, something he wanted to keep as a tradition in fact when they were together, a movie night, "humm that Movie was awesome, right Matty? I'm so tired now tho… maybe i'll text Lukas and tell him I'm staying with you, if thats ok? It'll be like a sleep over!"
—-
Matthew smiled at the man when he answered that whatever he’ll do, he’d follow him.
“Perfect.” Did he have an idea in mind ? Of course. Was it unusual for a first night ? Well… Kinda ? As soon as the diner was finished, Matthew grabbed Nikolas’ hand to take him to his hotel room. There, he offered him to… Choose a large variety of movies which ones he wanna see and so, they started their movie night. In the end, they were quietly cuddling on the room’s sofa when Nikolas said that he was tired and wanted to sleep… There. The Englishman blushed slightly when he thought about sleeping with his new boyfriend, but he was aware that nothing else than sleeping would happen. He was not the type to do sheets dance the first night. He was a young man with old-fashioned manners…
“Yeah, it was a good movie. And of course you can sleep here, Niki. I prefer that than knowing you’re going back all alone to your hotel. I’ll give you a t-shirt for the night.Text your brother and go to sleep.” he said while putting a kiss on Niki’s forehead, then woke up to get a shirt from his luggage, then changed his own clothes before slipping in the bed beside Nikolas. There, he grabbed his boyfriend in a tight hug and quickly fell asleep, even if his chest was a little heavy about the idea of letting him go and going back overseas the next day…

PART 1 WORDS COUNTER : 8149 words :'')

Matthew, Aoi & Star belongs to me
Nikolas, Jun-Seo and all the other characters belongs to Acetoma

------------------------------
Art (c) by IvoryHillStables / (c) NellaesArts
All Rights reserved
Reference (pose & anatomy) - Sketched, but NOT traced : Oldenburg - Guns And Roses by Christiane Slawik
Proof of the autorisation to use her stock : Equine Photographer Copyright Rules *PROOFS ADDED*
Softwares : Paint Tool SAI & Photoshop CC 2020
Tool : Pen Tablet Monitor - Huion Kamvas GT-191

Description
OMG IVORY ! IS THIS AN EFFORT SHOW ENTRY ??? Yeaaaah ! I got over my horses little art block woohoo /o/

So here are my bois in the RSF PRIDE SHOW 2022 !

---------------------------

Show : Rising Star Farm's 2022 Pride Show [OPEN]
Class : English Showcase - Dressage
Horse : Shooting Star IHS • 10 Y.O
Rider : IHS Staff - Matthew Barley • 35 Y.O

Story :

/!\ WARNING - LONG STORY /!\
This story have been co-written with the loveliest of all Acetoma who wrote for her characters

“Hey, Matt ! You did great, the run was pretty cool.”
When he heard the voice of his groom for a day, the IHS read head turned to his colleague with an annoyed face. He walked his horse to come nearer then sighed.
“That’s exactly the kind of moment where I noticed our dressage level difference, Aoi. This run was way below my standards.”
He sighed as he dismounted Star who was now making a huge yawn. The tired stallion launched a bored look at his owner who was glaring at him.
“Yeah, you can be tired when I see how lazy you were !” Matt said to the palomino with reproach in his voice.
“Lazy ?” Aoi asked with a surprised air. “He didn’t look lazy in the arena, he was pretty active. As your run, you said it was below your standards, well I don’t think so. You’re way too strict about yourself, Matt, you know that ?”
“Yeah, as I know how delightful you are with yourself, Aoi.” Matt answered with a cold voice. The French Japanese dressage rider pouted to these words even if he stayed quiet. After all, Matt wasn’t wrong at all… He was lacking a lot of seriousness these last weeks. The fact that he and Caelyne were fighting everyday was one of the main reasons, but the groom was aware that his colleague would not accept that as an answer.
“Anyway” Matt’s voice raised again, “Yeah, Shoot was lazy. He was way under my leg when I usually don’t need to push him to make moves. But I guess he just wasn’t in the mood… We’ll see the results later.”
Matt shrugged and stroked his stallion’s neck as they were reaching the truck. Once there, He lend his reins to Aoi.
“Can you take care of him for me ? I’m thirsty as hell and would kill for a lemonade right now. I’ll have a look at the bar, do you want anything ?”
Aoi nodded his head positively.
“Yeah, a can of coke please. I’ll untack and brush your boy, don’t worry.”
Matthew slightly smiled at his colleague for the first time of the day and started to walk away in the direction of the bar, as he took his phone out of his pocket to type a text to let Cae update about how the show was running. All was going smoothly, but as the older rider of the stables, he was kinda feeling that he was responsible for the four persons who were here, including him, Aoi, Nao and Vitany.
—--
"What did you want again?" Nikolas scratched his head as he looked down at the Vet Tech manipulating the Black Tobianos leg with a huff, "Nikolas! ugh, I said water-"
"Sorry!Sorry! It's hard to take drink orders for four people, including myself-- ugh, three waters and a Sprite for Iris." Nikolas groaned, "And I want a..." Nikolas shook his head, "Water is fine." he started to head off, looking down at his feet as he walked and counting on his fingers the drinks he needed to get from the bar area, as he walked he ran into someone, he didn't know who as he was trying to remember the orders, a quick glance over and they hadn't fell down, great, "Sorry" it was a quick mumble as he started toward the bar again...3 waters and a....?
—-
As he was walking to the bar, Matthew wasn’t really paying attention at all, because he provoked a thing when he first send a text to Cae which he was not expected at all and which was now taking all of his mind : a text monologue from his boss about how he was supposed to take an extra-care of Nao - God, what does this kid do to their boss for her to be so maternal with him ?? - and to have a look at Aoi because according to the late days - about which Caelyne had written no less than 3 paragraphs in one text - things were not going really well between them. He loudly sighed as he was busy writing an answer to his concerned boss, trying to reassure her the best as he could while he was mumbling about how upset he was to live in a equestrian sitcom. He was so busy answering that the redhead didn’t see the man coming and launched a surprised “Ah !” when he bumped into him. His phone dropped on the floor because of the light shock and Matthew suddenly raised his head and was about to shout out of anger at the man who was already walking away when he heard his voice which sounded… Really familiar. He paused and let the information proceed to his tired brain.
“W-WAIT !” he shouted instead of the harsh insult he was going to throw first and grabbed his phone before reaching the guy and poked his shoulder.
“Nikolas ? Is that really you ?”
Did Matthew think for a second that he was maybe mistaking the guy with this cute bearded guy from before ? Nope. Because if that was him, he was feeling way too happy to meet him again to think correctly.
—-
"hm?" Nikolas glanced behind him at the red-haired man poking him, he grinned at the familiar face, the orders floating away from his mind near immediately, "Matthew! Hi! Yes it's me I'm here with my brother and his students, ah Jun-Seo is here too!" he rambled excitdly, "It's really good to see you again I didn't know you where here! How is star? did he heal well? was Jun-Seo right?" as Nikolas continued to interrogate Matthew wityh an excited air his partner in Crime popped up from his work checking the horses, "All done, All safe." He grinned, proud of himself, as he turned to leave the stall he spotted a very handsome man from afar caring for a very pretty horse...may as well offer some..help.
"Hey Handsome need your horse checked for a competition? then can I check you out? y'know as payment for the horse?" Jun-Seo confidently lifted his lanyard as if the stethoscope around his neck didn't give it away, "I'm a vet tech-vet in training~"
—-
Matthew grinned back at Niki. It was him ! He was really glad to see him again and totally by chance ! Well, as the two men were chatting from time to time via texts, Matthew was aware that Niki was grooming at a show these days and Niki was supposed to know that Matthew was himself in a show but as they never told each other which one it was… The luck was total.
“Yeah, it’s been a while ! Heh, as you see I am ! How could I miss this show ? That’s not everyday that a show were we can shamelessly show who we really are is organized, after all.”
He gave a soft smile to the guy. He kinda.. Missed him, even if he’d have died than admit it. Their first date some weeks ago was really nice.
“Star is doing really nice and yes, Jun-Seo was right ! He recovered after a few days in his pasture with his friends. So, you, how are you doing ?”
He paused to think for a second. He suddenly wanted to spend the rest of the day with him, but...
“Have you some free time now or are you busy ? ‘cause I was thinking that it would be cool to spend some time in a good company…”
Meanwhile, Aoi was quietly untacking Shooting Star. He was whistling, totally unaware of his surroundings, when he heard a voice aside. He turned to land his eyes on a small man, certainly Korean according to how he was looking. He made a polite smile, ready to decline the third hit on attempt of the day when the guy said he was a vet-tech. Aoi looked at him with a strange look. The guy was good-looking but heh… He was a guy… And Aoi was straight.
“Hey, thanks for the offer but this lovely guy just finished his turn and he’s perfectly well, as I am.” he paused. “Aaaaand I’m sorry but I can’t really give you what you’re looking for. I’ll disappoint you.”
Why didn’t he clearly say that he was straight and not interested ? No fucking idea. But he didn’t feel like he had to do anything… But he maybe should have to.
—-
“Oh sure! let me just get some drinks for the crew Lukas already went so it’s just the students now but i’ve watched them in practice and they’re pretty good~ knock your socks off and all that” Nikolas chuckled, “It’s good to hear Star is healthy again, I’m doing fine, I’ll be competing soon at Pemberley Park again, maybe we can meet up there too?” the brunette offered to the redheaded man, “Is there something you want to do after I make my delivery by the way?”
Meanwhile Jun-Seo’s grin had gotten bigger, “eh what do you mean? You aren’t good at such things…or you think I’m too much to handle?” the weasel like smile tugged his lips more “or are you a 금사빠 (person who falls in love easily) ? eh?” The small man laughed and patted Star, “Hello my darling, did your stone bruise heal properly? the sexy redheaded man let you rest?” his attentioned turned to the horse before him as he lifted his leg to check for himself.
—-
Matthew nodded in approbation and started to walk in the direction of the refreshment stall.
“Oh yeah ? Who are they ? I’m asking myself if I see them in the dressage arena…” the redhead said with a smile. “He definitely is, at a point he became nearly lazy… His holidays in the pastures didn’t make him really active, you see ?”
He paused when he heard the Pemberley Park name.
“Oh, yeah, I intend to try my luck again with Star too… Let’s hope he’ll not get hurt before our run this time ! And yeah, I’ll be really glad to see you over here again…”
They reached the stall in a matter of minutes which looked like seconds in Matthew’s eyes. This guy’s company was definitely great.
“What would you say about dinner in a restaurant nearby, then some drinks in a bar or in my hotel ?”
Aoi grinned back to the young man. “Too much to handle is definitely a way too low estimation I guess… I’m sure you’re even harder to handle than you even think.”
The man said with a teasing voice. And it was kinda honest, as he found this guy really ballsy to come to speak to him like that. That was for sure not a woman's usual behavior… He smirked at the young man’s Korean word and its meaning and let out a small laugh.
“Aaaand maybe I fall in love easily but not with men… To be honest, you’re not really my type as you are… Well, a guy.”
He then raised an eyebrow when the guy approached the stallion with no manners and took his hoof.
“Hm, did you know Star and Matthew ?”
He guessed that the sexy redhead was the dressage rider because, well, Matthew was not the kind of person to let anyone other than himself ride his own horses, so…
“I don’t know what happened to him before but he did his run perfectly today apart from the fact that he was a bit tired according to Matt, so I guess he recovered correctly.”
He said as he shrugged.
“But please have a look, even if it seems like you don’t really care about my permission~”
Aoi said the last sentence with a more teasing voice than reproaches in it, but it was, well, the truth. This guy had no manners at all.. And he could be considered lucky that Matthew didn’t come back right away.
—--
“Iris Reyes, she’s on a Palomino Zlesdin and Cedric LeBlanc, he borrowed one of the older lesson horses because he was super nervous so Lukas thought maybe he should compete as a novice to get used to the atmosphere.” Nikolas gave Matthew a smile, “Welll, I can understand him, he had some Vacation days and maybe feeling a bit behind but he’ll cheer up, Lukas had to train Fame for a few days to get him back into Rythem for this show but I know Fame enjoyed his break, he was studded out a couple times so we’ll be getting a couple of Fame foals soon I think one was an Embryo Transfer with Absolut from IHS actually!”
Nikolas grabbed the drinks and paid, he waited for Matthew to get his own before continuing, “Me too, and sure if you have any good movies I’d be really interested in watching those with some drinks!” the brunette cheered, he really liked Matthew company as well and was excited for the rest of his day now.
As for Jun-Seo he laughed at Aoi’s teases, “I certainly am, and is that so? It’s a shame but I understand~ If you’re looking for a partner in crime to scout out company I’d be happy to join and find something for myself.” as he glanced over Stars hoof and sat it down he turned to Aoi again, “Matthew~ yes I know them both, I’m the one who told Matt about this handsom guy’s injury in the first place, he had a stone bruise, nothing major. Being off work for a while might make a horse a liiiitle lazy but it’s nothing training and routine can’t fix in time.” Jun-Seo shrugged and wrapped his arms around the pale stallions neck, “you’re so cute starrr~ I’d add you to my repertoire but you are not for sale but 행쇼~ (Lets be happy~) you are in good beautiful hands~ yes you areeee~” as Jun-Seo finished coddling the horse beside him and grinned at Aoi, “Im like pretty sure Matthew would attack if I was near his golden prized pony but when he’s away…” Jun-Seo gave Aoi and wink and hugged the horse again, “Anyway, do you wanna go together later or no?”
—-
Matthew takes a few seconds to think about the description of the two riders… The palomino Zlesdin was absolutely telling him something as the IHS was supposed to get a foal from him, but he didn’t remember having noticed the other one’s run… He smiled anyway to the cute man who was walking beside him. He softly smiled at Niki and let a laugh escape his lips when he spoke about how understandable Star’s state was.
“Yeah, but I think he was really only lazy, I mean I didn’t bring him back to the showgrounds just like that without serious training before… But he has the right to have his days too. I’ll see the results anyway.”
Matthew took his lemonade with a kind word for the refreshments stand employees and opened his bottle. He took a sip and his smile enlarged when Niki spoke about the movies and all.
“Hm, the hotel has a good repertoire of movies as far as I remember… You really like watching movies, don’t you ?”
He said with a charming voice.
“Would you like me to help you with your drinks ? I can free one of your hands by taking some of the drinks and so take your hand on mine.”
It was kind of a ballsy offering, especially according to how… Slow… Their relationship was evolving according to absolutely anyone else apart from these two, but Matthew was feeling the urge to get a bit closer to the man… And well, which better place than this one to try this kind of thing ?
Aoi smiled back at the guy.
“Hm, I wasn’t expecting to find a drinking buddy here, but why not, that’s a good idea… As Matthew seems to have found someone with who he can spend the night, as my little brother hate me annnnd the last person is a party-killer, I guess I have no choice than accepting your offer if I want to have a bit of fun tonight~”
He then made a kind of annoyed face when he see the young man starting to hang at the stallion’s neck.
“Yeah, you’re really lucky that Matthew is not here, if so, he’d have kicked your ass for sure.”
He sighed as he shrugged. Anyway, I have nearly finished to take care of him and just need to put him in his stall…”
He made a stroke himself on the horse’s neck.
“Oh, I just realized I didn't tell you my name… I’m Aoi Maida.”
—-
“I think he’ll do pretty good, he looked great out there to me, I was uh…too focused on his rider for it to really count though.” Nikolas admitted and quickly moved along, “Oh! yes I was training almost always in dressage so I didn’t get to watch them…even when I had free-time I’d rather let Lukas watch the TV since it was such a luxury but now I can watch them whenever I wish! it’s pretty cool.” Nikolas rambled with passion, “Do you like them as well? if you don’t want to watch then we can find something else to do” Nikolas added with a small grin, “I’m sure it’ll be fun if I’m with you so…” at Matthews offer Nikolas raised an eyebrow he didn’t quite understand but that was Nikolas, always a bit dense…
“Of course, If you like!” Nikolas handed the redhead some of the drinks and held his free hand, this was nice! he always held Leons hand…and Leon would yell at him but atleast they didn’t get lost!
“yeesh Little brother hates you eh? must have done something baaad My little brother adores me I can’t get rid of him-well i moved to America but he’ll surely find me soon” Jun-Seo groaned as he removed his arms from the stallions neck, “Naww finee, I’ll see you another time Star, stay handsome and a lady killer!” Jun-Seo planted a small kiss on the horses nose before spinning on his heel to face Aoi again, “Park Jun-Seo~ Acetomas Vet…tech….for now! Im studying and shadowing as we speak soon I’ll be Dr. Park.” the small man said with confidence and a nod to boot, “So is Matty coming back yet?”
—-
Matthew let a soft smile take place on his lips when the man made the innuendo.
“Hm, I see, it's hard to concentrate when something better is catching your look, right ?”
He said with a teasing voice.
“Ah, don’t worry, I like movies too, it’s just I don’t usually watch a lot of them… But I’m totally willing to watch more, and if that’s with your company.”
He answered with a nice air and smiled more when he took his hand.
“It… It Felt nice. And I’m sure I won’t lose you like that.”
The redhead added as he put a kiss on Niki’s hand.
“Let’s give these drinks to your colleagues, so ? I may have to change my clothes before our date though. Would you mind if we stay a bit at the hotel before dinner to let me shower and change my clothes ?”
He asked without any innuendo at all… Even if it didn’t look like it.
Aoi let his eyes space into thin air for a few when Jun-Seo told him that he might have done something bad for Nao to hate him. He loudly sighed before answering.
“Kinda, yeah… Let’s say that the lack of reactions is sometimes as painful as words. I’m not really proud about that by the way.”
He said with a colder voice than before. His relationship with Nao was still a touchy subject…
He smiled anyway at the young man’s presentation.
“A future vet doctor, so ? How cool. You need to tell me more about that…”
Aoi loses his smile when the Korean spoke about Matthew, without really knowing why the fact that this gay man looking for another gay man was irritating him so much. He shrugged mentally. He was just looking for a drinking buddy after all.
“Well, I thought he would, but he seems like he crossed paths with an acquaintance. I see him in the distance walking away, so I guess he won’t come back for some time.”
He said with a less cold but also less warm voice than before.
“Sorry, it seems like your main target will not be there yet.”
He added with a teasing voice.
—--
Nikolas could feel the heat rise to his cheeks when the beautiful redhead before him planted a small kiss on his hand that was intertwined with his, “Well..uhm…yeah lost…” he stuttered and shook his head trying to gather his thought, “Oh yes sure we can do that!” Nikolas blurted out, rushed.
“Naw he found Nikolas, guess Matty is unavailable to flirt with today…it’s fine! we can go drink then” Jun-Seo cheered, “Yeah totally, Being a vet is something I wanted to do forever so….I finally started my actual Vet courses so in a few years who knows” the small man grinned up at Aoi, “Shall we get ready to go?”
—-
Matthew made a soft smile to the bearded man and squeezed his hand gently as they were heading to the Acetoma stables quarters.
“Nice, we should hurry then, I feel kinda dirty in my riding clothes.”
He said without releasing Nikolas’ hand despite the fact that they were getting closer to the place.
“Oh, do you need to stop by your hotel too ? I was acting a bit selfish by talking about myself but if you need to do things before I kidnap you for this date, well, don’t hesitate to tell me.”
Aoi smiled at the young man and nodded to approve the idea of going to take a drink. To be honest, his relationship with Caelyne was really… Really… Strange. Like, they are close, then she acts like the coldness itself, then acts cute and romantic, then takes some distance again… And they were currently in this kind of down moment… Aoi was even asking himself if they were a couple at all so… Drinking appears like a kind of necessary thing to help to clear his mind.
“Well, I hope you’ll succeed in your studies then.”
He simply answered the future vet with a smile, trying to hide the dark thoughts which were crossing his mind.
“Have you a bar nearby in mind to go to ?”
—--
"No i'm fine" Nikolas answered simply followed Matthew happily like a loyal pup, he stopped once they got to his group, taking the lead, handing out the drinks he managed to remember, and explained where he was going, a black haired man a bit taller than Nikolas watched Matthew with a cautious gaze, "You sure Niki… ? You don't know him that well… "
"I'm positive, Lukas" Nikolas waved his hand, "Matthew is nice! He wouldn't kill me."
The man, 'Lukas', rolled his eyes in a manner that told everyone there he'd dealt with Nikolas's attitude all of his life, "Yeah well, text or call if you need me and don't get wasted we have a plane tomorrow okay? Pemberley. "
" I know I know Pemberley jeez" Nikolas nodded with an annoyed huff, "Alright Matty im free, let's go!"
Jun-Seo grinned at the mention of his studies, "Thanks- ah a Bar? There's a small one nearby, perfect to scope out potential partners, let's go there! "
—--
Matt made a smile to the named Lukas which was supposed to be reassuring.
“Don’t worry Mr, I’ll bring him back here in the morning. And no, I will not kill Nikolas, or only because of my boring attitude.” he said with a calm voice. He then smiled to the sunshine who was Niki and extended his hand to him again.
“Perfect, then let’s go. I can’t wait to take you to this restaurant.”
He commented as he started to gently drag away the Acetoma rider.
Aoi smiled back at the Korean man.
“Well, perfect then. I just need to quickly change my clothes and I’m all yours…”
He paused.
“As a drinking buddy of course. I hope there’s some charming straight women over here, even if I’m not sure to be in the right place to hit on one tonight.”

—
Nikolas grinned, “Ooh im excited let’s go!” he followed Matthew along like a puppy stumbling after its owner, he was what you could say infatuated at the moment with Matthew.
Nikolas didn’t take his eyes off him as he walked to the room, he stopped at the door though, “I’ll wait for you” he grinned, atleast he was polite…
Jun-Seo raised an eyebrow and grinned at Aoi, “All mine huh? I like that thought, but Don’t worry sweet cheeks, I won’t pick you up unless you want me too~”
The smaller man laughed and started heading off in the direction of the parking area, “I’ll meet you there!”
—
Matthew couldn’t help but grinned all along the way to the hotel room. Yeah, this guy who was following him without any glance away was definitely too cute. Cute things weren’t usually Matthew’s, but he… Well, he couldn’t explain why, but he touched his cold mind in any way. He stopped and looked at Nikolas with a surprised look.
“Are you sure ? You’ll be more comfortable waiting in the room.”
He paused.
“Don’t worry, nothing will happen to you, I won’t touch you.”
“Well, I hope so !” answered Aoi with a more serious air he would have liked to. He then nodded his head and went to his own car.
“Okay, let’s meet soon there.”
The French Japanese man drives quickly to his hotel to take a quick shower and gets ready for the evening. He couldn’t say why, but he was kinda excited about it. Strange, as he wasn’t so willing to go drinking since he was with her… He decided to not think about it a lot and headed soon to the bar.
—-
Nikolas shook his head, “It’s fine really, I’m not worried about you touching me, I can wait out here uh I hear its the gentlemanly thing to do?” Nikolas wasn’t sure, Lukas had been googling things about dating and relationships recently and he had decided to take a peek, just in case he met Matthew again, he leaned on the wall across the door of Matthew room, “I’ll wait for you!”
Jun-Seo got ready and headed to the bar nearby already choosing a table with a good view of the scene and the entrance, he went ahead and ordered, might as well start the party who said he had to wait for Aoi?
—
Matthew slightly smiled to the man.
“Okay then, as you prefer Mr Gentleman, I’ll not be long.”
He just said before putting a quick peck on Nikolas’ cheek and entered his room, without any more look at Nikolas to not let the urge to simply kiss him take the most of his actions.
As said, he didn’t take too long and quickly returned outside his room in a more casual outfit.
“I’m ready, shall we go ?”
He asked as he extended his hand to Nikolas.
Aoi arrived some minutes after JS and reached the table where the guy was.
“Hey, you could have waited for me~”
He said as he sat next to the Korean man, noticing that the man, despite his gender, was really good-looking.
“Have you ordered for me or do I need to order for myself ?”
He added with a bright smile.
—-
"Sure" Nikolas grinned and took Matthews hand, "you look great, you sure you don't mind going on a dinner date with a scraggly looking guy like me?" Nikolas teased as he gently squeezed Matthews hand he hadn't felt this way about anyone not even Leon though he did crush on the meaner redhead… perhaps redheaded men were his type? He didn't feel like this toward Evie either… maybe it was the attitude as well he enjoyed. But Matthew was nicer than Leon. He smiled again and headed for the restaurant, excited for his date.
"I haven't, mostly cuz i dunno what youd wanna drink~" Jun-Seo held up a hand to waive over the waiter and gave Aoi a sly grin, "so hot stuff do you see anything interesting? The waiter has been giving me eyes~ i think i have one biting the line."
—
Matthew grinned back at the man.
"Of course not, you look perfect. If you wasn't good looking enough, I wouldn't have invited you in the first place."
He answered as he started to walk in the restaurant's direction. And his statement was pretty honest. He was maybe not looking like that in the first place, but Matthew was the kind of guy who was according a lot of importance to physical appearance… but maybe Nikolas was an exception and he was too captivated by him to even realizing it. They soon reached the restaurant where Matthew had booked a really nice table in a quiet place.
"Please take a seat." He said as he pulled the seat for Nikolas. His turn to be the gentleman.
Aoi nodded in understanding for the reason why the young Korean didn't order for him. He gave his order to the waiter then looked around them and sighed. There were some attractive women for sure, but they were obviously not attracted to men…
"Hm, I'm afraid that's not really my day… I don't think these beauties are looking for me."
He said before taking a sip in his drink. He then took a look at the waiter.
"Hm, not bad but I'm sure you can look for even better~"
He added with a teasing voice.
—-
Nikolas listened to Matthew and laughed mostly to himself, “Kind of looks like the pro-rider is taking the stable hand out on a date doesn’t it?” Nikolas nodded a thanks to Matthew as he sat down and his eyes seemed to follow him to his own chair, he just couldn’t stop looking at him…
“So, did Star do well? or did he stumble a bit? Fame, my brothers horse was a little clumsy coming back to work but he was really eager. I think he’s better now.” Nikolas leaned in toward matthew in a friendly manner, “I could tell you werent so happy with your run but don’t worry Star will be back to normal soon an injury major or minor can throw any horse off their mojo, I remember when Squid- ah wait…maybe you didnt want to talk horse here sorry…” the bearded man leaned back into his chair and looked away from his date, embarrassment had set in.
Jun-Seo laughed at Aoi’s comment, “Really? I don’t see anyone as good, thats interested in me anyway” he gave Aoi and wink and turned to look around the bar, “Hmm seems like some of these ladies brought their girlfriends…You may have to wait until someone new comes in.” Jun-Seo took another sip of his drink and motioned for another he was obviously ready to party, “Do me a favor, if I get hammered and can’t find anyone to go home with get me a cab and I’ll pay you back next time I see you.” the korean man asked Aoi with a playful tone as he scoped the crowd out again, “No real luck…nothing I like really, Black haired guys with mucles~ the best thinggg ever~”
—
Matthew let out a light laugh to the man’s remark but said nothing as he just shook his head to show his desapprobation to it. After Nikolas’ placement, he sat too and let his eyes wander on his partner’s face once again. Yeah, really cute. A slight smile took place on his lips when Nikolas started to speak about the horse's topic. Wherever riders were, that could only be the main topic in the end, right ?
“Don’t apologize, we are riders after all so it’s pretty normal to speak about the subject which fills most of our lives. Well, to answer you, I wasn’t really happy about my run, but it’s more because of me and my overestimation of my horse’s abilities after an injury. I know that he’ll be back on track soon but I really thought that I had trained him more correctly than I really did. I guess my expectations were too high, nothing so bad. In the end, he did pretty well.”
He simply answered. His perfectionism always played tricks on the rider and his vision of himself, so, he was pretty used to it now.
“What happened to Squid ? That’s the beautiful chestnut brindle stallion you’re riding sometimes ?”
He asked Nikolas showing his interest in the topic. The waitress came soon after to take their orders.
“Yeah” started Aoi with a slightly bitter voice “I hope a beautiful miss enter this place before you being kidnapped by this waiter, or the end of night will be looong for me.”
He paused as he took another sip in his drink. He launched a playful look at the korean. He was pretty funny and Aoi had to admit that his company was nice… As his physic. For a man.
“How am I supposed to send you back to your hotel if I didn’t even know your room number, hm ?” he asked Jun-Seo with a teasing voice. “Would I be obliged to take you in my own room then ?”
This joke was only a joke. Or at least, it was what Aoi was trying to convince himself. He was straight after all. Fully straight.
“Oh, what a shame, it seems like I’m the only muscled black haired man around, sorry for you~” he continues. The alcohol was clearly starting to make an effect on him, but at this point, it was still only teasing… Was it ?
“Wow, their cocktails are pretty nice~”
The man said nonchalantly like he wasn’t trying to hit on Jun-Seo. Because he wasn’t. Nope. He wasn’t.
—-
“I see!” Nikolas listened the Matthew’s explanation, “That makes sense, Sometimes I overestimate my horses to but I know they do their best for me, I’m sure Star will get there.” Nikolas glanced over the menu then back to Matthew, “Oh! he’s actually Lukas’s horse. When he started training he sprained on of his rear legs for a bit once he was healed it took him a bit to get going again but now he’s competing and i’m really proud of him!” Nikolas leaned forward again engaged in the conversation, “I used to ride Fame too, he’s a great horse, so is Star. I’m sure with you as a trainer he’ll be one of the best.” he looked over the other man in front of him, his date, and couldn’t help but grin, he’d gotten lucky to attract such a handsome guy after all, he turned to the waitress to order quickly so he could get back to coversating with his partner for the evening.
“Haha~ my room num-wait YOUR room, are you hitting on me?” the man was already tipsy but it didn’t look like it was hindering his ability to drink at all…
“Well aren’t you full of yourself~” Jun-Seo teased and put a hand on Aois shoulder, “You def are my type buuuut you only like girls so don’t tease me so much kay?” he was already mumbly, “ that ‘s-unfair.” he looked back at Aoi, “Jus’ in case, you arent taken are you? cuz I don’t entertain men with partners. it’s a rule i have after all…” he huffed, “singlessss only~”
—--
Matthew smiled at the assumption of the man.
“Yeah, Star is a pretty voluntary horse, he always does his best…”
He answered softly. The dressage rider was perfectly aware that this horse was really valuable because of that : the stallion had a very good character but enough blood and energy to show off a lot and the St-Georges skills capacities… His value was about a lot of money. Matthew already got a lot of offerings for his palomino horse, but never accepted even the awfully higher one…
“Oh, you had the luck to ride the famous Selle Français stallion of your brother ? I’ve seen him in action once, he’s really talented…” he paused, taking a few seconds to admire the man he had in front of him. To be honest… He wasn’t his style at all. He was usually more attracted to smaller and cuter men… But he couldn’t say why, Nikolas had caught his eyes the last time at Pemberley. And since, he couldn’t really get him out of his mind. He took his order quickly too to continue the conversation.
“By the way, I was asking myself : do you own a horse by yourself ?” he asked without malice in his question. “I mean, you seem to ride a lot of your brother’s horses, so I was wondering if you were owning one.”
Was that a way to learn more about Nikolas ? Of course it was.

Aoi blushed instantly when Jun-Seo made the assumption that he was hitting on him.
“Of course not, I'm not– !”
The tall man smiled at the Korean man when this one put a hand on his shoulder. He should have leaned back to avoid the man’s touch. To confirm that he was straight and really not open to anything with this guy, even small touches. But maybe because of the alcohol, he didn’t and even more strange his body does the exact opposite. He leaned forward to move a bit closer to the Korean man.
“Unfair ? What’s unfair ? To have the beautifulest man around and not be able to touch him ? Heh- yeah what a shame~”
He continues to tease the young man with a voice clearly affected by alcohol.
He paused as Jun-Seo asked him if he was taken as his mind sank a bit in his own thoughts. What was he supposed to answer ? He wasn’t sure about it himself… After all, he and Caelyne had something between them but they never formalized anything, so… He… Kinda was ?
“I– I am, of course.” he answered with a hesitant voice.
“If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be here in the first place…” he said again, trying to kinda convince himself. Oh, and whatever. She was not here. She was always hesitant. He never even had the impression to be in a real relationship with her, so, whatever. He turned again to Jun-Seo.
“But why does it matter ? I’m supposed to be straight, am I ?” he asked as he dangerously leaned really, really close to the korean, barely touching him and holding this position for some seconds before leaning back, the glass he was reaching on the table in his hand with a smirk.
—--

“Oh Yea, Fame is really nice. My brother trained him well, I dunno who owned him before but they laid a great base and Lukas built on it.” He smiled at Matthew’s question, “Nah not really I haven’t found one that called to me to buy…though Squid is super close. He’s a great horse I really like him too.” Nikolas grinned, “and you? do you own star or does the stable? I swore I thought you owned him yourself but, I wasn’t too sure.” Nikolas leaned in a bit more just to get a better view and hear Matthew more, he wasn’t sure why but he was really enjoying this moment more than most…
Jun-Seo flushed and groaned, still ina drunken stupor, “don’t tease meeee” he laughed, and laughed, then chuckled, and giggled he’d barley heard what else Aoi had said, “ah so you’re single? cool-ah” Jun-Seo snorted at Aoi’s closeness, “Realllyyyy? why’re you so close to me theeen~” he teased Aoi back, honestly a bit curious, “Im starting to question you…cuuuuz you’ve been flirting with me and hadn’t even noticed those pretty ladies that came in at the bar-” Jun-Seo made a half assed attempted to point toward some new women at the bar, “Am i prettier?~”

—-

“Oh I see~” said Matthew as he noted in a corner of his head that if in the future they started a relationship, a good dressage horse would be an excellent gift for this man. It was maybe too soon to think about this kind of thing but… Matthew was really crushing on Nikolas. So why not ?
“I do own Star, but the stables have the priority to buy him if one day I decide to sell him and they’re prior too to make foals out of him.” he simply answered with a soft smile. “But I don’t think I’ll sell him one day. Even if he takes a lot of value later.”
The English man took his glass and raised it.
“Should we make a quick toast ? To the luck to have meet you again.”
He said with a charming smile, hoping that the sweetness of the situation was working well to make Nikolas feel at ease in the redhead’s presence.
Aoi smirked at the drunk Korean words. He looked over his shoulder to notice that indeed, pretty women had entered the bar… But the small man was definitely more interesting, for plenty of different reasons :
He leaned again to put a firm kiss on the man’s lips.
“Yeah. Way more prettier and attractive than hers.”
Even if he was a man. Was it because of the alcohol ? Or because Aoi was feeling especially alone these days ? Or because he wanted to try something else ? Or because this guy had awakened something… Deep in the French rider’s mind. Anyway, he had no idea at this time, but a thing was sure, he had liked the kiss a lot. So much so that he leaned to kiss the Korean again.
“Do you think it’s just about teasing anymore ?”
He asked with a playful tone, just to be sure that Jun-Seo was not totally against going further.
—-
Nikolas grinned and raised his glass to Matthews, "I hope we can do this again too… It's nice to see you, Matthew. " Nikolas looked into the redheads eyes. Maybe he had a type… redheads always caught his fancy, especially the fiery ones like Leon, however there was something Matthew had that Leon just didn't… a spark.
"Are you by chance dating anyone, Matty?" Nikolas didn't know why he asked, it just felt right…
Jun-Seo laughed but it was extinguished by the kiss he flushed a pink color, "what was that?~" he hummed and when Aoi kissed him again he returned it with a bit more force and placed his hands on the sides of Aois face, he stared at Aoi again before a grin appeared "mm no but … " he laid another on Aois lips, "Lets go back to my hotel and continue.. if you want?"
He was now a bit more sober and Aoi seemed receptive to trying something new, it was okay right?
—-
Matthew softly smiled at the man’s words. Well, at least the feeling was shared. He took a small sip in his glass and almost spit out the liquid when he heard Nikolas’ question.
“Uh– By chance ?” The use of this word kinda disappointed the redhead, because of a slight misunderstanding. He was so used to its French equivalent (chance meaning luck) that he understood it that way and started to feel a bit sad. Was he hoping that Matthew had someone and so nothing would happen between them ? He lost his smile for a second before answering.
“No… I’m not. I don’t do dates with other people if I’m in a relationship. Is that bad news ? Oh, maybe you have someone you like already ?”
He asked, kinda afraid by the answer of his question.
The energy the Korean put in the answer of his second kiss, followed by his own kiss finished to convince the French man that he made the right choice. Even if that was a man and if he was supposed to be straight… It had the attraction of the unknown and some mystery.
“Sure…” he answered in a breath before kissing Jun-Seo again. “Wait a minute.”
He said as he stood up and took his coat in the direction of the bar to pay for their drinks. He came back in a hurry and extended his hand for Jun-Seo to take it.
“We can go now. Show me your way.”
The last words he said was interpretable by many meanings, and Aoi just waited to know which one the Korean chose to understand.
—--
“Huh?” Nikolas looked up from pouring himself something to drink, “Ah not really I mean…I kind of like you.” Nikolas smiled at Matthew seeing wrong at stating nothing but the obvious, “I was just gonna ask if you wanted to..go out if you were free but maybe I’m reading too much into these dates?” Nikolas was a shade of red he couldn’t describe, with a smile at him Nikolas took the redheads hand.
Jun-Seo smiled when Aoi came back, “I’ll be glad too~” he took the frenchmans hand and began to lead him out of the bar and toward his room, it was the night he did show Aoi his way and what a performance it was…one to remember for both of them.
—-
Matthew stopped for a second when he heard Nikolas saying that he was liking him. Did he hear what the man said correctly ? He stayed quite a bit more, afraid that he’d have misunderstood. But the following words of Nikolas erased instantly the redhead’s doubts. He had heard correctly. “YES– I mean”... he paused before continuing to answer, realizing how confusing the yes might have sounded.
“I mean no, you’re not reading too much into these dates and yes I want to go out with you.”
He answered more clearly after a bit of time to calm his excitement down a bit. “I’m free and I like you too… If not I wouldn’t have asked you for two dates, don’t you think ?”
The dressage rider says as he leaned to put a gentle stroke on Nikolas’ cheek.
“Wow… I am happy…”
Matthew added with a huge smile. “What do you want to do… After this dinner ?” he asked, secretly hoping that their ways would not separate just after. He now had a boyfriend, didn’t he ? And a sexy one… Lucky him. It was going to be a long-distance relationship but… It wasn’t enough to worry the redhead about the bright future of this relationship.
—-
Nikolas grinned, did he just get a boyfriend? Yes, he thought it had been so long and the last person he dated… well… she did not appreciate Nikolas's affections. It was a mutual breakup though, and ended well; they soon became friends and she found herself to be Aromantic not long after, he was happy for her of course! Nikolas turned his focus back to Matthew, enough about Olivia.
"After dinner?" Nikolas hummed in thought, what could Matthew possibly want to do? He had the perfect idea! A real show stopped for the ages, "whatever you want i'll follow, i'm not picky at all" perfect.
What Nikolas didn't expect was it would lead to a wonderful experience with his new boyfriend, something he wanted to keep as a tradition in fact when they were together, a movie night, "humm that Movie was awesome, right Matty? I'm so tired now tho… maybe i'll text Lukas and tell him I'm staying with you, if thats ok? It'll be like a sleep over!"
—-
Matthew smiled at the man when he answered that whatever he’ll do, he’d follow him.
“Perfect.” Did he have an idea in mind ? Of course. Was it unusual for a first night ? Well… Kinda ? As soon as the diner was finished, Matthew grabbed Nikolas’ hand to take him to his hotel room. There, he offered him to… Choose a large variety of movies which ones he wanna see and so, they started their movie night. In the end, they were quietly cuddling on the room’s sofa when Nikolas said that he was tired and wanted to sleep… There. The Englishman blushed slightly when he thought about sleeping with his new boyfriend, but he was aware that nothing else than sleeping would happen. He was not the type to do sheets dance the first night. He was a young man with old-fashioned manners…
“Yeah, it was a good movie. And of course you can sleep here, Niki. I prefer that than knowing you’re going back all alone to your hotel. I’ll give you a t-shirt for the night.Text your brother and go to sleep.” he said while putting a kiss on Niki’s forehead, then woke up to get a shirt from his luggage, then changed his own clothes before slipping in the bed beside Nikolas. There, he grabbed his boyfriend in a tight hug and quickly fell asleep, even if his chest was a little heavy about the idea of letting him go and going back overseas the next day…

PART 1 WORDS COUNTER : 8149 words :'')

Matthew, Aoi & Star belongs to me
Nikolas, Jun-Seo and all the other characters belongs to Acetoma

------------------------------
Art (c) by IvoryHillStables / (c) NellaesArts
All Rights reserved
Reference (pose & anatomy) - Sketched, but NOT traced : Oldenburg - Guns And Roses by Christiane Slawik
Proof of the autorisation to use her stock : Equine Photographer Copyright Rules *PROOFS ADDED*
Softwares : Paint Tool SAI & Photoshop CC 2020
Tool : Pen Tablet Monitor - Huion Kamvas GT-191