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[atypical_echo]

What it says on the Tin

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[heydrb]

[...]

That guy? He owns a ranch.
One of those fancy resort types.
Needs help with the horses.
Think I'm gonna take it.

[atypical_echo]

A ranch?
That's not just a job you randomly take up, Damien. Do you even know the first thing about horses? Or living out in what would have to be the middle of nowhere?

headcanons ahoy! lmao

[heydrb]

It's not that random.
My uncle had horses.
I grew up in the middle of nowhere Nebraska, Mark, I'll be fine.

Re: headcanons ahoy! lmao

[atypical_echo]

Wait you grew up in Nebraska? Your uncle had horses? Damien that stuff is so cool! You could have told me that before!

[heydrb]

[Fuck.

It's the only thought in his head when the message comes in. He can picture the look on his face, that mild-hyper tone in his voice when he gets excited about things.

Mark shouldn't be able to be this cute over a fucking text message.]

I didn't think about it...
I mostly try not
Nebraska was practically another lifetime.

[atypical_echo]

[Damn right that's the look on his face right now. It's adorable. You have to believe me.]

Yeah, so was life before the AM for me. Doesn't mean that all of it was bad.

[heydrb]

Yeah, I know.
It’s just the ones that stick out the most are the bad memories.

I know I wasn’t always miserable, but… it’s hard to remember what it felt like.

[atypical_echo]

Did you at least like horses?

[heydrb]

Yeah, I love them, they’re really fucking cool animals, man.
Chill as hell unless you give them a reason not to be.

[atypical_echo]

Well maybe that will be good for you too.

The ranch guy letting you stay there? Taking care of horses is a serious time sink, right? If so, getting a dog might be easier.

[heydrb]

Yeah, he's got a set of cabins for staff that's separate from the guest cabins. He said if I wanted a room, I had one.

It'll be better than the B&B I've been at. That shit's expensive.

[atypical_echo]

Damn that's pretty nice. I mean, don't let yourself get manipulated into never being able to leave, but sounds nice.

[heydrb]

I'm pretty sure it's not the Hotel California of ranches, but I'll be careful. Promise.

[atypical_echo]

Good. Oh, send me pictures of horses.

[heydrb]

I will.

[atypical_echo]

Thanks. As for me... I think I'm slowly adjusting. To being, you know. I might start looking for work again.

[heydrb]

Yeah?
That's great, Mark. You should.
You deserve something that'll make you happy.

[atypical_echo]

I don't know if I can find happiness. I might be a touch too broken.

[heydrb]

Something like it, then.
But I don't think you're too broken for happiness.

[atypical_echo]

Yeah, Joan tells me that too, but I don't really know.

[heydrb]

If you think that I can start over and figure out some kind of life for myself somewhere, why the hell wouldn’t you think you could?

[atypical_echo]

Because unlike you, I can't just walk away from all the things I've done and use that as a place to start from anew. I can't walk away from everyone else.

[heydrb]

You make it sound like it was easy for me. That any of this is.
It's not. It never is.
I've done this more times and in more places than I care to count. It's never a clean break from one chapter into the next.

Besides your sister, what's really keeping you in Boston?

[atypical_echo]

My friends. Sam.

[heydrb]

Sam could go with you and there’s like a million ways to keep in contact with people these days.

What good is that city to you after everything it’s taken from you and done to you?