,, she loves it here ''

The sun was bright in the sky above the rescue. Sunny, warm, and a stark contrast to the night before. Casey lapped at his mug of coffee. He was exhausted, having listened to Charlie blabber all night about her plans for the mare, now lovingly nicknamed “Gazpacho” for the time being, though he couldn’t complain too much. He was used to her ambitious ideas at this point. She had been so hyped up about her plans that she had gotten up and went out to the barn before the sun even rose.

Now that he was a little more awake, Casey trudged through the backdoor of the ranch house and down the still-mucky dirt path down to the barn. He wasn’t sure what to expect. Charlie was… unpredictable when it came to new prospects.

Charlie was out in a small paddock with Gazpacho. She was freshly bathed and dried off, her mane and tail brushed out and silky with a sage-green bow tied to her tailbone. Charlie perked up when she heard Casey unlatch the gate and enter the paddock. She grinned,

“Hey, Case,” She greeted, then gestured to Gazpacho, “Spent all morning getting her tidied up.”

“I see that,” Casey hummed thoughtfully, doing a little walk-around of the two, “She’s… A lot more orange in the sun.”

“Right?” Charlie snickered, loosely wrapping Gaz’s lead around her paw, “She wasn’t a big fan of the bath at, like, four in the morning, but she did well.”

“Mm.”

“I taught her a trick,” Charlie’s voice had an almost playful smugness to it,

“Did you?” Casey looked back at Charlie, his tail flicking with subtle interest, he nodded towards the mare, “Go on then. Show me.”

“Watch and learn..” Charlie turned to face Gazpacho, who angled her head to look down at the feline. Positioning herself in front of the horse, Charlie held up her paw near her cheek, “Point.”

There was a second’s pause before Gazpacho lazily lifted a fluffy hoof off the ground, pointing ahead at nothing in particular. Charlie giggled gleefully and looked back at Casey, “See? Isn’t she so talented?”

Casey, despite his blank expression, was greatly amused by the pair. He nodded, “Very.”

“I have another trick,” Charlie’s gaze returned to the horse, though was cut off by a little protest from the other cat,

“Woah, woah.. How long are we going to be out here?” He questioned, his tone lightheartedly teasing.

“Oh, hush, I only taught her the two. Just be quiet for a second.” She waved him off playfully, whiskers twitching as she refocused herself on Gaz. The pony snorted in agreement and flicked her tail as if backing up Charlie’s words, the little bell on the bow jingling softly. The orange feline straightened up and grinned, “Spin!”

A moment passed. Then another. Gaz’s brown eyes stared blankly at Charlie. Charlie stared back, her grin turning subtly awkward. She tried again, “Spin?”

Blank stare. Casey chuckled faintly under his breath, covering his muzzle with his paw to stifle his grin. Charlie waved a paw, brushing off the trick-refusal with a little smirk, “Needs work. She knows it, she’s only being stubborn.”

Gazpacho nudged Charlie’s shoulder with her snout, “Oh, hold on..” She muttered and dug in her back pocket and revealed a carrot, “These are her favorite,” She commented, waving the carrot so Casey could see it. He rolled his eyes affectionately, watching the mare munch on the carrot. Charlie seemed so… proud. Her eyes seemed to sparkle, all because this mystery mare had trusted her so much. Charlie finally sighed and turned to face Casey, fiddling with Gazpacho’s lead,

“I think we should keep her, Casey..” She suggested, ears pricked and tail swishing. Casey knew he had to choose his words carefully…

“I think she’d be a wonderful addition… But we don’t know if she belongs to someone or not,” He hummed, voice a little more gentle than usual,

“But look at her!” She protested, “She’s so happy… She loves it here.”

“I just don’t want you to get your hopes up, Charlie.”

“I won’t…” She sighed and squeezed her paws around the lead in her hands. Casey watched her for a heartbeat before he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her, patting her back and feeling her relax a little. No words were needed. Until Casey snickered,

“She spun.”

“What?!” Charlie scoffed, whipping her head around to look back at the horse. Gazpacho was just standing there watching the two. She looked back at Casey in confusion,

“There she goes again.” Charlie swatted at him with a snort,

“You’re just messing with me, jackass.”