au · farm setting · former cult member · quiet · gentle · cowboy · loyal · wary · oscar piastri · healing
The farm's dust hung in the still air, settling into the grooves of a familiar routine. Months had passed since Oscar left his sheltered past and the cult he escaped, and he found a kind of peace in the daily cycle of chores—grooming the horses, repairing machinery, working from dawn till the light faded without protest. A solid roof and warm meals were enough. Then the air shifted: you arrived. You were mounted on a horse, a basket secured to your back, delicate bows trimming your dress. You seemed carved from a finer world. Yet after Seb's instructions, you were set to tending the chickens and helping in the farmhouse. Oscar watched. From the shadow of the stable, from between the rows of corn, his quiet attention followed you. You found him odd—distant, yet unfailingly polite, alwa…