Welcome to Choteau, Montana, in 2018. What was once only a small city focused on fossils, has now started to turn into an equestrian mecca. Everyone still knows everyone, so the question remains, what will you become?
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Age: 15Gender: Male Online: May 8, 2018 5:30:26 GMT
Alias: ChrisMoney: $ Posts 5
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Sam was fidgety.
Well he was almost always fidgety, it came with the ADHD after all. But he always got especially so when moving placements. He’d barely sat still for five minutes on the car ride from the home he was staying at (And glad to be out of) to the new one in the same town, occupying his time with mental car games as they drove.
As usual his social worker Maggie hadn’t really said anything about the placement. So as usual he felt that nervousness that you always felt when you faced uncertainty. He’d lived with everything from deplorable monsters to saints at this point.
But when they hit the farm, he got excited. An actual farm - with animals. It was the first time he’d been around them a great deal since he’d left placement thirteen. So he’d only gotten a bit more hyperactive as Maggie noted she figured she’d like that.
Now that they were on the approach to the door - Sam was a bit more nervous again. He clutched his trash bags of belongings tight, and tried to breathe and brace himself for whatever opened that door. The wait was always the hardest, and this would be no different.
Maggie only offered him a small warning: ”Don’t talk their ear off, Sam.”
As usual, Sam only gave a half-hearted smile. “Yes, Maggie.”
With no promises though, of course. As his social worker gave a loud rap on the door.
Post by Kristian Magnussen on May 5, 2018 13:56:14 GMT
It was Ivarr's idea. Children were not Kristian's forte, and it was only after much assurance that this wasn't an infant but a teenage boy that didn't need diapers changed and liked animals. Kristian was still somewhat skeptical as to how well he'd be able to parent, but it couldn't be that much worse than five dogs, a horse, and a whole bunch of goats. As a sort of apology, he got a few cashmere goats.
The dogs were the first to notice a car driving up the lane. Embra went ballistic trying to claw her way out the door and chase the car. The two shelties shoved their way in and pressed paws and wet noses against the glass to get a better look. Desmond just joined in because everyone else was barking so therefore, he had to join in. And Merlin. He just stood and wagged his tail with the happiest and goofiest grin possible.
There wasn't even a doorbell installed because the dogs served as enough of a doorbell. An automatic one that didn't shut up. "Embra! Callie! Jackpot! Merlin! Go to your kennel!" Kristian hollered as he came towards the door. It was nearly impossible to be heard from over the barking, but the shelties and the border collie all sprinted back towards their crates in the mud room. Demond lay down briefly and was met with a very stern reminder. "Desmond. Go to your kennel. Now." He waddled off at a much slower pace. Merlin meanwhile continued to stand at the door, otter tail a blur of happiness. After rather physically pushing the lab to the side to get the door, Kristian could finally greet their new charge.
"Hi, sorry about the dogs. Come in, Ivarr will be down soon." He led them into the living room with its soft leather couches, large window overlooking the back of the property, and an overall rustic and country feel. "I'm Kristian, by the way. Ivarr's partner. Can I get you anything? Coffee? Tea? How was the drive? Hopefully it wasn't too hard to find this place."
Hey, babe, who is it? Heard the dogs anyway, hard not to
The first message was likely as not a clear sign as anything that Ivarr had got distracted and forgotten that they were even having someone around, never mind something as important as their new charge. Either way this was followed by a second text message shortly after.
Shit! Clean forgot! Foster child and social worker, Sam right? I'll be up from the workshop shortly xxx
None the less it didn't take him too much longer to actually come into the house proper, even if the jeans he had on had a few rips in them, were well worn in on the knees and even had some oil staining, with the sleeves of his flannel shirt rolled up, a t-shirt underneath. Equally his hair was mussed, and he was totally oblivious to the grime on his face smudged in across his cheek, another bit on his forehead, and he was busy trying to clean a mix of oil and grease off his hands with a rather grimy rag, that he quickly stuffed in the back pocket of his jeans as he arrived at the lounge, eyes sharply scanning to check that yes he'd guessed right, or at least remembered right, and that no they weren't about to get stormed by the bad guy (tm).
He had at least arrived just in time to grab Merlin's collar before the chocolate labrador could launch forward in a burst of energy to say hello to both the social worker and the kid, a slight growl in his throat and the snap of his fingers bringing the over enthusiastic dog to pay attention to him, and the chocolate brown dog to sit smartly, tongue half lolled out still having that goofy grin on as he raised his fist across his chest. To give the labrador credit other then the slight twitches indicating how badly he WANTED to move, the holding out of an outstretched palm had him staying frozen in spot....something he ruined as he slid into a down having decided that a sit stay was just WAY too much effort to maintain. He glanced quickly to Kristian giving a slight sheepish smile trying to decide whether to sign or write, the fact that as he glanced around he didn't spot a pad of paper, though there was a pen present, meaning he had to give another sheepish shrug to Kristian, working quickly to sign, relying on him to act as interpreter.
"Apologies for my lateness, I lost track of time, I'm Ivarr, I'll assume my partners already introduced himself," he glanced over to him again letting his eyes take in Sam quickly, trying to gain as much information as he possibly could with their new charge. Because that was one thing he was good at... in a way. Didn't let you get the accurate read on the fact your-- he clenched his jaw slightly as he swallowed, making himself relax once he'd quashed that voice in his head. Now was not the time to think of something like that.
Post by Sam Prior on May 6, 2018 5:44:17 GMT
via mobile
Age: 15Gender: Male Online: May 8, 2018 5:30:26 GMT
Alias: ChrisMoney: $ Posts 5
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Sam lit up a bit more at the sound of dogs.
If there was one thing that Sam liked, it was dogs. Though he could hear their names being called. And while he was a bit disappointed he did keep his spirits up with the thought of having them around. Honestly there were days he felt like he liked animals like them more than people.
He followed Maggie inside when Kristian did let them in. Immediately, he went against what she had first said - no surprise there. “Sounds like you have a lot of dogs! That’s awesome! I haven’t been in a place with dogs in a long time,” he then added - rather exuberantly. “What breed are they? The last time I was in a home with one it was a basset hound, and-.”
”Samuel!” Maggie stopped him short of his tangent. And for his part Sam went quiet, knowing he did have to be “proper” for the most part. Some people didn’t like overly enthusiastic kids. “I’m sorry Kristian, he tends to get nervous and overexcited. I’m Maggie, Sam’s social worker.”
She nudged him a little and Sam managed to reply. “Sorry, I’m Sam. It’s um.. Nice to meet you.”
As they entered the living room, Sam made an attempt to be a bit quieter. This was somewhere around his twentieth placement after all - and he’d scare off potential foster parents before. ”Oh it was quite easy, beautiful property by the way. Reminds me of my grandparents old farm, years ago,” Maggie noted. ”I could perhaps go for some tea. And no soda, Sam.”
Sam frowned knowing she’d caught him before he could start. “I guess I could go for a water,” he managed before looking around. “But it is really pretty out here. You guys must own a lot of land...”
Once Ivarr came up, Sam straightened a bit more. It wasn’t the first same-sex couple he’d been with, in fact he’d stayed with several great ones, so he didn’t really show any surprise. What he was surprised by however was the use of sign language, and the translation.
With a smile, he decided to sign back. Something he’d learned to do when one of his brother’s was little - given the boy had been deaf. ”That’s ok. We just got here.” he noted. Not sure if the man was deaf, but just in case... At least he’s know he could understand.
”I don’t believe he’s deaf Sam. The county told me he is... Selectively mute? Is that how you put it?” Maggie questioned - having read over the file before placement of course. ”Samuel knows some sign language himself - though his knowledge comes from his childhood. One of his brother’s, Timothy, was born deaf.”
Sam gave a slight cringe at the mention of his brother but added. “I’m not perfect at it. I was really young. But I can read a lot of it,” he explained - hardly wanting Maggie to be the one talking solely for him. He liked her - but sometimes she just didn’t know a ton about him. “.... Sorry though, I didn’t mean to sssume anything.”
Setting his stuff down, he took a deep breath. Taking in the scenery yet again. This was certainly bigger and prettier than he’d been expecting. But he definitely didn’t know a whole lot going into it. So there was that.
While Maggie was concerned about Sam coming off as too enthusastic, Kristian worried that most people didn't like be swarmed by five dogs. Nor did many people appreciate having a Border Collie stare them down because new people obviously needed to be herded somewhere. And between the two men, Kristian was actually the less social one. He nodded quickly in understanding and shook the social worker's hand. Merlin was happy to tag along, and Kristian had all but given up on trying to put real manners on the dog.
In truth, Kristian almost preferred the enthusiastic kid who could talk a million miles a minute over the extremely subdued and possibly fearful one that walked into the living room. A lot of people found his height intimidating, but he really wasn't that scary. If anything, the most intimidating thing about both of them was being ex-military. "Thank you, Maggie. It's ten acres, but most of it is either pasture or ungroomed wilderness. And I'll get the hot water started."
The kitchen was just in an adjascent room, but it offered a brief moment of respite as he powered up the Keurig and grabbed a glass from the cabinet.
You owe me more goats
He texted Ivarr quickly while the water heated up. The cashmere goats were his personal project. Thanks to some of his cousin's connections, Kristian knew a spinner in South Dakota that was happy to process and sell premium American cashmere yarn. While cashmere goats in China and Mongolia were ruining the local ecosystems, people were still willing to pay a premium for family farm raised goats. By limiting the size of the herd and carefully maintaining the land, it was a reasonably sustainable venture.
It took only a couple of minutes for Kristian to return with a glass of water for Sam, a ceramic mug with piping hot water for Maggie, and a tea box tucked under one arm. Kristian personally was more of a coffee drinker, but the tea box was always kept stocked for guests with a decent variety. Green tea, breakfast tea, earl gray, chamomile tea, mint tea, lemon tea, cinnamon tea, and blackberry tea.
Ivarr finally came down a few moments later looking like a car mechanic. It was in such stark contrast to Kristian's more formaly dress shirt and slacks. He waited for Ivarr to finish signing before launching into the interpretation verbatim or as close to as possible given the slight grammatical differences between English and ASL. Even after a few years, Kristian still wasn't at the point where he could interpret in real time. Besides, he wasn't a professional interpreter. Just Ivarr's boyfriend. And it took absolutely every fiber of self control to keep his jaw from dropping when Sam signed back, albeit in a less fluent fashion.
"Selective mutism, yes. Ivarr can hear just fine, but he doesn't speak. Reading sign language is a more important skill than producing it, so you should be fine." And maybe add a silent jump for joy that Kristian wouldn't be stuck as interpreter every time Ivarr wanted to communicate with his new foster son. The explanation was more just in case Sam didn't know about selective mutism. Most people didn't, and he left out the fact that it was trauma induced. Some things about both of them were better left unsaid.
"Samuel--do you prefer to go by Sam or Samuel? You'll have plenty of time to get to know our dogs. If you'd like, you can help feed them dinner tonight. We also have a herd of goats and a horse. So, I hope you like animals because we've got quite a few. You'll have your own bedroom and bathroom, and if there's anything that isn't working or needs to be changed, let us know. We do have some house rules. Ten o'clock is lights out, and Embra, the border collie, does wake up around six-fifteen. Breakfast is at seven, and the animals are always taken care of before people. No swearing in the house, and you have to finish your homework before play. Don't smoke, do drugs, or consume alcohol on the property. That extends to any friends you invite over, too. You'll be expected to do some chores around the house and the farm, but you'll have several days to get settled in first. And if you don't know how to do something or don't know where something is, please say that you don't know instead of guessing. Ivarr and I do not mind helping you. There's a binder in your room with all the house rules and a schedule written out, so don't feel like you need to memorize this now. Ivarr, am I missing anything? If not, should we start the house tour?"
There was a lot to take in for both parties. It was almost strange to write down rules and a schedule for what had become part of the routine of life. There was also a list of all the dog commands as words, hand signals, and whistle signals. Information about each dog, some background on Ivarr and Kristian, and some information about the farm in general. Kristian, even managed to take a week off of work to help Ivarr get Sam settled in.
Ivarr smiled as the kid signed back, relieved that it would be one less thing for Kristian to have to contend with. Of course his focus off Merlin the labrador decided that staying laid down was boring and he moved to bound over first to Maggie, and then over to Sam, sitting in front of him tail wagging, eyes focusing just looking for a fuss.
It... unfortunately didn't take long for Merlin to decide that he wasn't getting enough attention and to rear onto his back legs, at least being gentle with putting front paws on the kid, still wearing that goofy grin, tail still wagging easily.
Just to add to things Desmond, who'd heard stuff moving in the kitchen also decided to come waddling out, wriggling his butt eagerly at the new visitors, at least not borking. No one else was barking so he saw no need to bork and it was so much energy. He did however leap up onto the couch, making a splat on it. And promptly pretended he had no idea about how to get down, ignoring Ivarr's gesture.
With a soft huff Ivarr looked over at Kristian, refocusing back in on the conversastion just in time to hear the question of if he had anything else to add, and giving a shake of his head. There was plenty, but overwhelming their new charge was likely a very bad idea, and besides that's what the binder they'd prepared was. Then he suddenly remembered something.
"It may not be always something you can avoid, but try not to make me jump,"He signed slowly, hoping Kristian could quickly come up with a reason why, given while yes ex military, he wasn't technically allowed to acknowledge it, and while yes he'd been a civvie for some time... some things it was rather hard to get out of the habit towards.
Welcome to Choteau, Montana, in 2018. What was once only a small city focused on fossils, has now started to turn into an equestrian mecca. Everyone still knows everyone, so the question remains, what will you become? 
