Hey, all! Thank you so much for reading! Things are starting to heat up now!
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"Are you ready?" Poe asked.
"As we'll ever be," Rey responded as she cued BeeBee into a trot.
Poe stood in the very center of the 'practice' arena, a separate area from the covered arena, that was set off in one of the pastures. It was a full dressage arena, 20 by 60 meters in size, with random letters spaced around the outer edge, and it sat next to a group of cypress trees with a slough sitting behind them, providing some distraction for the horses. It was meant to prepare both horse and rider for actual competition, getting them out of the enclosed training space they often got too comfortable with.
A dressage test required horse and rider to do certain gaits/movements from letter to letter, and that was the only problem Rey now faced with her blindness as she wouldn't be able to see those letters. Today they were testing out how Rey could successfully compete with Poe being her 'letter guide.' He was standing in the very center of the arena, where the invisible letter 'X' was, and he would call out each letter as Rey and Bee neared it, allowing Rey to know where she was in the arena. The tests themselves she would have to memorize, something that had never been a problem for her. The test they were practicing on today was a low-level test, almost a beginner one, and they both knew BeeBee would be very confused by the easy movements, but Poe wasn't about to start big; he wanted to set Rey up for success.
"Turn," he said loudly. There was no sound system out here, so he would have to almost shout in order for Rey to hear him. As she turned the corner on the outside of the arena and neared the open 'gate' at the end, he called out "A!" Rey and BeeBee turned a little too sharp to the left, entering the opening at the end of the arena and facing Poe. They continued trotting down the centerline, BeeBee's ears pricked toward Poe. He could tell the horse was wondering why he was standing in the middle of the arena. Bee's gait slowed a bit as he neared Poe, and he could see Rey scrunch up her face a bit as she gently encouraged the horse to keep going. As they got closer, Poe said "X" and stepped to the side, cane in hand today. Rey halted BeeBee right where Poe had been standing, then dropped her right hand along her thigh, nodding to the invisible judge that would be sitting straight in front of them, right behind the letter 'C.' Bee was giving him a side-eye, still very confused as to what Poe was doing.
After her salute, Rey cued Bee back into a trot. Poe stepped back in the center, turning and watching them carefully. He was not allowed to critique or school either of them while they performed a test; he was only allowed to call out the letters as she neared them. As they got close to the end of the arena, he called out 'C,' and Rey directed Bee to the left. Either she had waited too long to cue him or Poe had called out the letter too late, because Bee got too close to the small white fence surrounding the arena and clipped it with his front right leg. He skipped a bit in annoyance and flicked his tail high. Rey winced, but kept him going.
Poe didn't call out when she got to the corner. This is why he had her practice 10 meter circles over and over again, because then she would be able to 'feel' when the turn was supposed to be, and despite their mistake on the turn at the letter, they made the corner of the arena just fine. Immediately after they made that turn, however, Poe called out "H!" Rey turned left ever so slightly, putting Bee on the diagonal and straightening him out, asking him to trot out with longer strides. Once more, they were heading directly for Poe, and BeeBee looked at him again, his expression irritated now. Poe couldn't help but grin. "X," he shouted, then stepped aside, letting them trot by. BeeBee flicked his tail as they passed, almost as if he was giving Poe the finger. "F," Poe called out, still smiling, watching as Rey sat deep and Bee slowed down to turn right into the corner.
They continued on like this through the whole test, both Rey and Poe figuring out just how close Rey needed to be to the letter for Poe to call it out, giving Rey enough time to respond. Twice more Rey turned Bee too late and he skipped to avoid hitting the fence, kicking out violently one of those times. His attitude made Poe laugh, and even Rey's tight expression relaxed into a smile after that. Finally, they trotted down the centerline one last time.
"X," Poe said as he stepped aside and BeeBee halted right next to him, his ears back and a disgruntled look on his face. Rey let out a big sigh; Poe had noticed her holding her breath more than once during the ride, but as per the rules, he couldn't say anything to remind her to breathe.
"Well, you survived," Poe said. It had been messy and wouldn't have received a very good score if it had been judged, but seeing as it was their first time practicing this, he thought they had fared quite well. They had done everything right, it just hadn't been very pretty.
Rey tilted her head at him. "This isn't gonna be easy, is it?"
"Did you really expect it to be?" he asked her as he stepped up to Bee's head. Rey had dropped her reins and the gelding, knowing the test was done, was relaxed now and started to happily rub his face on Poe's shoulder, getting slobber all over his shirt.
Rey shrugged. "I don't know," she admitted. "I guess I had hoped it would just come back to us both, and it would be just as if nothing had changed." She reached down and started scratching Bee's shoulder. "Silly, huh?"
"You know what?" Poe answered. "I think that once we figure out a good rhythm with me calling out the letters, it will come back to you. You both know how to do this, you just need to relearn how to 'see' the arena. You'll get there."
Rey nodded, her expression a bit lighter now. "Let's get back," he said, then pushed against Bee's head a bit, making the horse turn around so they could head back out of the arena at the gap. As they walked toward the barn, Poe found himself leaning on his cane heavily and began to think about the heating pad in his office. He knew Rey would be fine to untack Bee by herself and groom him, so he could sit for a while before helping her take the horse out to the south pasture for the night. Then he could bring the heating pad with him to the porch so they could sit and talk for a while, something they still did after every lesson.
Now that they were officially dating, they did things most every night together. Movies, dinner, visits to the park, and of course trail riding. Thursday nights, when Rey ate out with her father, were the only nights Rey and Poe hadn't done something together for the last month. Though they weren't keeping their new relationship a secret, they waited until Poe's lessons were done for the day and all the students had left the property before going out. The rumors were unavoidable, but so far there had been no nastiness on the part of Poe's clients or the other residents of Jakku. The fact was, this past month had been amazing.
Once at the barn, Rey dismounted and Poe headed for his office, telling her to give a shout when she was ready to turn BeeBee out to pasture. His back was screaming and he sat in his chair with a groan, closing his eyes as he turned on the heating pad. He thought about taking a pain pill, but he still had to drive Rey home. His mind wandered toward Rey and the brief talk they had had after her lesson on Wednesday. Poe had determined that there should be no second guessing or miscommunication in their fledgling romance, so he had asked her outright if she had any experience with sex; they had done nothing more than kiss and cuddle since their first date, and Poe wasn't going to ask for more until he knew what she was comfortable with.
"I'm not a virgin," she had said firmly, but she kept her eyes averted. "But… there was only one time and… it wasn't good."
Poe hadn't pushed for more, but he wondered now if maybe he should have. Would she open up to him when she was ready, or had whatever happened her first time been so traumatic she was trying to forget it?
"Poe?"
Rey's soft voice made him jerk and he opened his eyes to see her standing in the doorway.
He looked at the clock on the wall and realized more than twenty minutes had passed since he had sat down. "I'm sorry!" he said, wincing as he stood. His back spasmed slightly. "Did you call for me?"
She shook her head. "No!" she said. "I just grabbed my cane and took him out there myself." She shrugged self-consciously. "I've walked that route every day all summer. Bee took care of me."
Despite his discomfort, Poe felt pride fill him. He loved seeing her become more confident and more independent.
She took a deep breath. "Is there something I can do for your back?" she asked suddenly. "Like massage it or something?"
He didn't even question how she knew he was hurting. She had commented more than once that she could tell how he was feeling by the sound of his footsteps. She knew when he was using his cane and how heavily he leaned on it when he did have it.
"I…" he started.
"Massaging helps, doesn't it?" she pressed.
"Yeah," he answered.
"Then let's get up to the house and let me try and help you."
The thought of her strong, graceful hands on his lower back both excited and comforted him. He knew without a doubt a back rub would help relax his painful muscles, but he also knew the woman giving it might cause tension in other parts of his body.
"Okay," he told her softly. "Let's go."
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