Blue Sky Ranch

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Such Small Hands

I think I saw you in my sleep, darling,

I think I saw you in my dreams you were Stitching up the seams on every broken promise That your body couldn’t keep. I think I saw you in my sleep. I thought I heard the door open, oh no, I thought I heard the door open but I only heard it close. I thought I heard a plane crashing, but Now I think it was your passion snapping. I think you saw me confronting my fear, it Went up with a bottle and went down with the beer and I think you ought to stay away from here There are ghosts in the walls and they Crawl in your head through your ear. I think I saw you in my sleep, lover, I think I saw you in my dreams you were Stitching up the seams on every mangled promise That your body couldn’t keep. I think I saw you in my sleep.

[blue-ranch]

Storm in a Shotglass | Blue and Karen

[seakissedwine]

The crisp night air felt a little too cold against her skin. A moment passed as she debated if she should start wearing a jacket instead of her purple vest, but pushed the thought aside. She’d already left the inn with her duffel bag tossed on her bed. It’d be too much work to go back and sift through the clothes. Right now, after a long day’s worth of travelling, she needed a drink. 

It wasn’t hard to find the bar. Following the paved paths, she first headed close to the town square, then continued a little ways north. Walking in she was first greeted with a rush of warm air carrying a musty smell mixed with alcohol. 

Glancing around she noticed a lot of the patrons were cheery and a bit boisterous. As expected during that time of night within a bar. However, her eyes caught a blue pair sitting at the bar. For a moment Karen froze. He looked so familiar… 

Intrigued, Karen made her way to the bar and stood by the stool next to the man. Glancing at the man, she noticed it wasn’t the person she thought he was. The bartender then asked if she’d like anything.

"A glass of red wine, a zinfandel," Karen replied, taking a seat. 

Karen sat facing the man, “You’re not related to a Gray Green, are you?” 

[blue-ranch]

Damn. Though his back was turned to her, there was no mistaking the steady footfalls headed directly toward the bar... and him. I am definitely not in the mood to deal with any sort of woma-- Suddenly he was surrounded by the smell of perfume as the girl seated herself right next to him, settling in for a drink.

He captured the sigh that attempted to push out of his throat with a clench of his jaw as she turned to him and began to engage a conversation. 

"Uhh," Blue barely took a moment to think about the question, "No. Never heard of him." What kind of a question was that? He stared at the counter. "Sorry." He tailored the word onto the end of his sentence, like an afterthought.  He popped his cap off of his head and ran his fingers through the revealed copper curls, clearing his throat at Duke as he served up the girl's drink.  Catching the drift, Duke refilled Blue's shot glass, shooting him a look that he couldn't quite decipher. 

[blue-ranch]

Storm in a Shotglass | Blue and Karen

The creaky wooden stool groaned under the weight of the farmer as he settled himself into his safe place, the Moonlight Cafe's bar. His tired legs were relieved of their duty, but his mind and his chest were heavy like a storm cloud just before the rain. He had come to drink until he couldn't feel the weight anymore, though he had never been able to escape it before, he was sure as hell going to try. 

He motioned to the bartender, who served him up the usual whiskey. For a moment, the stiff smell of the alcohol gave him pause as he thought of his father who always reeked of it. A quick swig of the stuff banished the memory effectively. Blue had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that today wouldn't end well. It never was a good day on the anniversary of his mother's death, and today had been fairly decent so far. It only meant that tonight would end in disaster.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that it would be because of his drinking, but the figurative iron chains around his neck urged him to order another drink. Duke was turned to another customer though, so Blue fiddled with his glass as he waited, but damn he was thirsty. Letting out a dejected sigh, his crystal eyes scanned the cafe. 

He was here all the time, but he felt like he never actually saw the place. It was old and dusty, but still cheerful with all the regulars... besides himself.... and a new face who just entered the bar.

A woman with harsh green eyes that he mistakenly made contact with before turning back toward the bar, hoping she hadn't noticed. He hunched over the bar, tapping his rough fingers against the glass, making a soft steady beat out of the hollow sound it made. 

[vves]

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I reserve my right to feel uncomfortable reserve my right to be afraid. I make mistakes and I am humbled every step of the way. I want to be a better person. I wanna know the master plan. Cast your stones, cast your judgement, you don’t make me who I am.

[blue-ranch]

Sweet Relief | Blue & Maya

[failedbaker]

What a jerk. 

A rare scowl appeared on Maya’s face as she watched him turn his back on her. Who does he think he is, going around talking to people like he knew what was what! Since when was he the boss of anyone?! 

"List here—!" She stabbed a finger in the man’s direction, about to say his name, but stopped short when she realized she didn’t even know what it was. Her finger drooped and the outstretched hand came back in to smack herself in the forehead. How did this happen? Here she was, in a foreign town, arguing with a stranger who was most likely a local.

Over a snow cone. 

She was the jerk. 

Maya’s gaze trailed after him. Thankfully, he hadn’t decided to leave the beach yet so she didn’t need to run after him. (And she would have, if she had to.) 

"I’m sorry," Maya said, a bit softer. "For real this time. I shouldn’t have yelled at you. I’m not actually mad, there were just some other things bothering me." She bit her lower lip. "You’re right, it’s silly to cry over a snow cone. What I meant was that you shouldn’t dismiss other people’s feelings so quickly! Something insignificant like a snow cone can mean a lot to someone else. So just—" She tried to figure out a way to explain it, but this kind of thing never came easy to her. She knew she was right, though!  

"I’m sure you have stuff that you’re sensitive about that wouldn’t make sense to strangers. My point is not to assume things and don’t be mean. If it’s really nothing, trust me, the person will realize quicker than you think.” A slight blush tinted her cheeks, rightfully embarrassed, but she needed to get this point across. 

[blue-ranch]

Maybe he had assumed too much by hoping the girl would leave him alone. Her whiny snap that accompanied the cliche finger point of blame that was so often conjured up in arguments had him sorting out his words to prepare a back fire. Was this chick for real? She's going to yell at him for something that wasn't even his faul---

Her sudden change of tone softened the clamp on Blue's jaw, and hearing her admit that he was right satisfied him more than he should be proud of. Her words were true, though he still thought she was acting childish over a simple snow cone. He knew he shouldn't be mean... Was he being mean? He hadn't meant to. Things just sort of fall out of his mouth that way. 

" If it’s really nothing, trust me, the person will realize quicker than you think.”

A smug smirk pulled at the edge of his mouth, "S'that mean you realize that you were actin' like a brat?" He let out a ghost of a laugh, "Sorry." He had to force the word out, almost. "I didn't really mean to be snappy. I guess we both have more on our minds than the other knows... And I'm sorry about making you drop your stupid snow cone, too."

Blue broke the short moment of eye contact that he could manage, and changed his focus to the sandy waterfalls running between his fingers. "I'm pretty invisible to most people." He had been overlooked and ignored a lot of his life, being physically invisible to people didn't seem so far fetched sometimes.

[blue-ranch]

Sweet Relief | Blue & Maya

[failedbaker]

The man’s voice seemed to bring her back to reality. Well, the reality in which mourning a snow cone either meant that you were four years old, or you had a couple of screws loose in your head. Maya blinked back her tears, not about to cry in front of stranger, but his words seemed to ring with the same tone she heard a million times before. She could see it all over his face. He probably thought she was too sensitive, or weak, or some kind of crybaby. Maya was usually rather polite to strangers, but she would not stand him being so snappy at her!

“But it’s sad!” she insisted. It was always the same phrase, too. ‘It’s not the end of the world, Maya!’ She crumpled the paper cone into a ball in her hand and pouted at that man. He had red hair with light blue eyes. His pale skin freckled in the sun, which by the by, looked far too pale for the summer. He either stayed inside all day or dressed like it was winter year around. Either way was pretty weird. There wasn’t anything else really remarkable about him, except for maybe his hat, which looked mighty easy to swipe off his head if he continued being a butt. She crossed her arms, feeling bold.

“I’m allowed to be upset when sad things happen! Does there always need to be some kind of catastrophe?!”

[blue-ranch]

Blue managed to mask the hard eye roll by closing his eyes in disbelief. "Sad?" There was a hint of a cynical smile to match the way he scoffed the word at the girl.  The crease in his cheek disappeared with the trace of a smile he had as he shook his head. She must've had quite the cushy life if losing a snow cone was sad. Blue was honestly a little jealous. 

"Inconvenient, maybe. But sad? No way. Ya ever heard the expression, 'don't cry over spilled milk?" He cast his eyes down at the short girl, noticing that she was definitely younger than him... but she couldn't possibly be so immature.

"Well, don't cry over spilled slushy." He turned his back to her, his sympathy quickly running out, and made the short trip out of the sea foam. He pulled his flannel back over the silky under-armor type shirt he always wore, pulling on his hat to protect his translucent eyes from the bright sun. His feet were all sandy, though, so he couldn't pull on his boots to escape the girl entirely. But maybe he had offended her enough that she would leave him alone.

[blue-ranch]

Sweet Relief | Blue & Maya

[failedbaker]

Flowerbud village was… well, disappointing seemed like a harsh word. But for a village named Flowerbud there was a shockingly few amount of flowers actually around. Sure, there were some in windows and in the little beds that lined the square, but if your whole town was named after flowers, Maya would expect there to be a lot more! She practically begged her father to take her with him when he said he had business here, and now look at her. No flowers, no buds, and no idea what she was going to do for the rest of the day. 

At least she had a beach.

And more importantly, a snow cone. 

She bit into the shaved ice with her front teeth without so much as a flinch, sucking out the sweetness and letting the compact ice melt in her mouth to keep her cool. Syrup was smeared on her face and colored her lips and tongue an unnatural candy-red. Her pink dress fluttered in the sea breeze as she made her way down the shoreline; it was pretty, she’d give it that. The ocean seemed so inviting with it’s misty waves, and the sky so hard and blue it looked like it could be shattered with a stray baseball flying through the air. 

Maya stared out passed the sand and the white sails of a nearby boat. The horizon looked so clear, so near. It was easy to imagine why some men thought it was the edge of the world out there. 

Perhaps Maya should have been doing less imagining, however, and more paying attention to where she was going. She let out a small yelp of surprise when she bumped into something solid. A person, she vaguely realized as she stumbled back a few steps. Though the sand was uneven she did manage to catch herself before she fell.  

Her snow cone wasn’t so lucky.

The rest of her scoop tipped off her paper cone with a sloshy plop. Maya watched with horror as a wave road in and carried off her treat with the same expression a wife might wear as she watched her sailor husband get lost to sea. 

“No!” Maya cried out, but it was far too late. It was nowhere to be seen. She looked down into the cone, her voice coming out in a whimper. “The best part was getting to drink the melted ice with the extra syrup…” She then looked up at the stranger, her lower lip quivering. “And now it’s gone forever.” 

[blue-ranch]

The sunlight flickering across the waves reflected across the farmer's face like freckles of golden light. Like angel kisses, as his mom used to call them when he was young. Huh. Why would I remember something like that now? He wondered to the waves, hoping the ocean might give him an answer from it's deep waters. The particularly large wave directed the sunlight in such a way that it was cast upon Blue's icey eyes, blinding him temporarily.

Rubbing his rough fingertips over his eyes to disperse the floating imprint of the sun, he wasn't aware of the approaching girl. She bumped into him off guard, almost sending him right into the salty sand. Something very cold landed right onto his bare foot, which he recoiled from, still surprised by the sudden company. He had just started to digest what happened and began to collect his words to kindly tell the woman to watch where she's going when she let out a shriek that rattled his ears.

His eyebrows knit together incredulously as she spoke, the woman acted as if she were twelve years old! Still, the tears bubbling behind her eyes filled Blue with guilt. Not for the snowcone, that was her own fault, but for almost yelling at her. He finally managed to pulled his dry lips apart,

"Geez, you can get another one." His sentences were short and precise, "It's not the end of the world."

[blue-ranch]

Sweet Relief | Open

Yesterday's scorching weather refused to let up, but luckily for Blue he found some free time off of work to cool off today. Laying in bed with three fans going was just as unbearable as working in the heat, though, so he had forced himself out of bed. Fiery bed-head hair concealed under his standard cap,  he set out to find something to do. He couldn't stand lazing about, it made him restless. 

The sun beat down on his worn hat as he trailed along the path, heading south. Heat penetrated even the wooded canopy to the south of the river, and the mosquitoes brought no relief in the shade. A frustrated groan escaped his throat as he swatted a pest away, stepping out into the fields that made up the southern farm of the village. A salty breeze caressed his sun burnt cheeks, tempting him closer to the sandy banks.

Maybe a dip in the ocean would be just the thing he needed. He began to unlace his heavy boots and pulled off his red flannel, leaving on his undershirt. The feel of sand between his toes was awesome. Why hadn't he been to the beach yet this summer? 

He felt like Huck Finn as he rolled up his blue jeans, revealing pale shins. He couldn't care less about it though, the only thing he was concerned about was the way the shallow waves felt against his skin, and the gleam of the sun off the water's surface.

[blue-ranch]

Dare: Ask two people out on a date.

"I wasn't raised that way." Blue could never play a woman for a fool, it just didn't feel right. "'Sides, I ain't good at goin' on dates anyway, even with just one girl."

[blue-ranch]

Truth: Do you have any guilty pleasures?

"What can I say? I like to drink. Must've got the thirst from the old man."

[blue-ranch]

Truth: What was your first kiss like?

Ice blue eyes peered from underneath the slits of Blue's eyelids. Kissing seemed to be a popular subject today, but this request didn't seem so far out of left field. He sighed in defeat, wracking his brain for the memory. "Well, frankly it was awful." He admitted, thinking of the girl with the french braid and post-lunch peanut butter breath. "8th graders aren't too talented at that sort of stuff. But I remember feelin' like a million bucks anyway."

[blue-ranch]

Dare: Kiss the next person who posts on the dash

"What? No way." Blue practically spat. "I ain't got no business kissing anyone."

[blue-ranch]

[blue-ranch]

The Dog Days | Dia & Blue

[gildedfrostflower]

"It is. But how long have you been out here…?" She felt a small pang of worry, he could be dehydrated. Dia wondered if he would stop and get water. She wanted to offer him the handkerchief so he could use it later, it would be better than if using his sleeve. Clean cloth and whatnot. She just held it in her hand, not sure if she should offer it.

"You should probably get something to drink." It felt like her voice was being swallowed by the heat. It was curious to know if he could even hear her. Dia waited, hoping he would get water. If not… well she would make herself get him some. It wouldn’t feel right if she just let this be.

[blue-ranch]

Blue's lips pressed into a thin line as he cautiously considered the girl's concern. He had seen her around town, but he didn't even know her name. Why would she want anything to do with a sweaty dude in the field? Whatever. 

He took a couple steps toward the fence, and the girl that stood beyond, running a finger between the flesh of his damp neck and the collar of his shirt as he did. "What's it to you?" his expression was neutral, if not tired, but his words came out sharper than expected. Not quite nails... more like thumb tacks.Though he sort of appreciated the apparent concern the girl had with his hydration levels, he wasn't quite sure if he liked being told how to take care of himself from some stranger.

He remained guarded, but his frown softened. "I was about to take a break, anyway." He hesitated, but he knew it was the polite thing to do. "Wanna come in and have a drink? You don't look particularly cool out here, either."

Okay so maybe that wasn't so polite, but he tried.

[blue-ranch]

[blue-ranch]

[blue-ranch]

The Dog Days | Dia & Blue

Blue had been doing his best to labor through the end of the day until a bead of sweat dripped off the end of his nose, diverting his attention from the hay bale to the oppressive heat of the afternoon. Huffing out a tired breath, he straightened from where he had stooped to set the hay. Long and lazy yellow sunlight flooded the field with late afternoon haze, leaving the surrounding village swimming in a strange river of heat rising from the dusty roads. 

Blinking his eyes didn’t assist the mirage-looking buildings become any clearer. Resigned, he couldn’t help but taking in another gulp of air. Lifting his hat off of his head revealed damp ginger curls that clung to Blue’s head. He quickly unglued them by running his hand through the field of orange hair before placing his hat back on.

Man, it is so hot today. Even the animals seemed overheated, retreating into the barn’s shade. Fantasizing about a cold glass of water, Blue ran his sleeve across his face to wipe away the sweat beading on his forehead and cheeks, and when he brought it away from his face he swore he saw something emerge from the heat-swimming village. He squinted to see who was walking on the cobbled path that ran along the ranch…

[gildedfrostflower]

To say that the weather was miserable was nothing short of a understatement. It was blistering, and yet Dia chose to take a walk without a parasol. Not that she had one anyway. Her head felt like it was on fire thanks to her dark hair and her shoulders and cheeks were already turning a darker shade of pink. She passed the familiar ranch and she noticed a man out in the fields.

He was drenched in sweat and he looked more than a bit tired. She hesitated by the fence, wondering if he was alright, and he seemed to notice her. Her instincts told her to go ahead and go back to walking, but her legs were unwilling to carry her anywhere. Dia reached into her dresses pocket she grabbed her handkerchief. 

Oh good goddess, what was his name? She knew she heard it before, but what was it? She twisted the handkerchief in her grasp as she came to the conclusion of just calling out to him anyway, “Are you ok? You look overheated!” 

[blue-ranch]

A thick layer of heat hung between him and the stranger, a girl, he determined from the way they moved... But that didn't last for long, they had stopped. Blue readjusted his hat on his head again, trying to figure out if he should greet them or not... too late, she had made the decision for him when she called out.

Taking a dry gulp, he swallowed the frog in his throat. "Yah," he tested his voice, which came out surprisingly smooth considering how thirsty he was. The word seemed to be sucked up by the blistering heat before it crossed the field of grass. "Just been workin'." He assured the girl.

"It's pretty miserable out here." He stated the overtly obvious. He had to work, but what was this girl's excuse for being out in this heat? He wondered.