Sitting in the Rain (Open)

[Illu]

Dave let the horse go without almost realising he hadn’t said goodbye yet. It was too late, Jason had already plucked the reins from his pathetic, temporarily brain-dead self he all he managed to do was pat the horse reassuringly on the neck as it passed after his head caught up with him. Being left standing with Alex was not altogether reassuring. The expression on the other man’s face was more one of puzzlement and Dave had to resist the sudden urge to punch him in the face to smack that look right off. Alex hadn’t actually done anything to deserve it however, so it was more likely Dave just wanted to lash out at someone. It was understandable somewhat, having a companion of 14 years ended in such a fashion tended not to bring out the best in people.

Yeah, he couldn’t watch.

When the stranger tied the geldings head down it felt like passing the point of no return. The gun was raised and with an expression of wretchedness Dave turned half around and scrunched his eyes shut so that he didn’t have to witness it. As the gunshot rang, somewhat muffled from a distance by the rain, Dave to jumped while his heart simultaneous dropped to somewhere around his midriff.

That was it then.

The sense of loss that suddenly crushed upon him was expected, but not the magnitude. He had to fight the urge to howl in anguish. He wanted to say thank you to Jason, for doing what was necessary, but Dave couldn’t bring himself to vocalise the words to the man who had just shot his long time partner in the head. All he could really manage was a nod.

[Ann]

Alex only managed to look more confused as he was told rather gruffly to look after the man with the injured horse. What exactly was he supposed to do? As far as he could tell there was nothing wrong with the man, sure he looked a little miserable, understandable given the circumstances, but he was otherwise in perfect health. Alex gave a little shrug and hovered near to him, trying to look like he was indeed doing all the looking after that was needed.

By the time Alex realised what was happening it was way too late. He only made it half a step towards the man with the gun before the shot rang out, sound loud and clear even through the torrential rain. He visibly flinched, watching wide-eyed as the horse slumped lifelessly to the floor. To add to the slightly comical look of shock his jaw dropped. Eventually he found his voice. ”You shot the horse!” He said, voice still disbelieving despite all the evidence that the horse had definitely been shot, like the bullet wound in it’s forehead.

He turned to the man who had owned the poor deceased animal. ”He shot your horse!” Alex repeated, voice rising with increasing hysteria. Why wasn’t he protesting? He’d just let an apparent stranger take his horse and shoot it! Why wasn’t he punching him in the face? Actually Alex could see why he might not want to try and punch him. He looked very unpunchable, especially while he was holding that gun.

”What? Why?” He pointed uselessly at the dead horse, face twisted into an expression of utter horror. He was standing in the company of horse murderers who went around shooting animals for no apparent reason. Alex would have put money on the fact that the man with the gun was the type to kick puppies just for fun. Part of Alex wanted to get the hell out of there and go crawling back to Beatrice and his old job where at least the shootings happened for a reason even if it was an immoral one, but he owed it to the poor dead horse to uncover this conspiracy. He’d hopefully get a nice exclusive in the process.