A Day Out

[Andrea Valentine]

She winked again. "I'll bet I can outdo you!"

Looking ahead, she could see that the trail was coming around to an end and it was almost time to turn back towards civilization. At least they still had the ride back, and the untacking and washing off afterward. "We should do this again. Like, once a week, weather permitting. Since we don't see each other often enough as it is." she said with a laugh.

[Katherine Lorelia]

Kitty giggled. "No bet. I don't trust you not to win." she responded lightly, flicking her hair back over her shoulder as she eased Pride around in a gentle curve to face back in the direction that they had come from. Such a shame that this ride couldn't go on for ever.

"Of course we don't." she returned, straight faced. So far as she was concerned, she could never spend enough time with Andrea- the girl was a permanent source of cheerfulness and optimism.

[Andrea Valentine]

"Oh, you're right. I never lose!" She said, leaning forward a bit and scratching RJ's thin mane. The mule seemed to follow Pride's lead in taking the gentle curve.

She realized that Kitty didn't take her little joke as a joke, something that she hadn't been sure about at first but was now endearing and uniquely Kitty. Chase didn't get all her jokes either but that was because he didn't have a personality. Kitty didn't get them because she was adorable. Andrea would have to remember to give her a hug when they got back.

[Katherine Lorelia]

"And don't I know it..." Kitty muttered with mock irritation, although the impression was somewhat dispelled by the broad smile on her face. God, she really didn't know what she'd do without Andrea. The girl always managed to put a smile on her face, and she'd like to hope that it was mutual. She was so glad that she'd ended up sharing a room with her- especially when you considered some of the alternative options, because Kitty had definitely got lucky with the brunette. Sharing a room with Liana Mars would have been intolerable after about a week, especially with her little nocturnal problem.

"Race you back?"

[Andrea Valentine]

Andrea giggled when Kitty agreed, but she knew it wasn't exactly the truth. She'd come in last at competitions more than a few times. But rather than let that upset her, she chose to flash a mischievous grin.

"I'll race you, sure. But don't underestimate RJ just because he's a mule!" She counted down from three and nudged RJ into a canter. The mule was less than excited, but he did as he was told.

[Katherine Lorelia]

Kitty's grin only grew broader as the other girl giggled. She wasn't nearly as bitter as she pretended, of course- in fact she wasn't bitter at all; she was not the best rider in the world - far from it - and so she had to accept that she would lose every once in a while. The thing was, in the Irish girl's opinion, that you didn't necessarily lose just because you hadn't won. Losing was a state of mind.

"Sure you don't want us to give you a head start?" Kitty teased in response to the brunette's warning- she had no intention of underestimating the mule; certainly not with Andrea on his back. No, she made sure to set off at exactly the same time as her roommate, and she had to wonder as she urged Pride into a canter whether she should have asked for a head start herself.

[Andrea Valentine]

RJ pinned his large ears but that didn't phase Andrea for a second. Sure, he had an attitude sometimes, but he was harmless. Inevitably, he fell behind the tall, long-legged gelding. Andrea didn't count herself out just yet! RJ had a smaller frame than Pride. She kept nudging him along and tried not to let herself get too competitive.

[Katherine Lorelia]

Kitty hummed softly, leaning low to the gelding's neck and urging him on gently down the track, though being careful not to push him too hard- for one thing, the ground wasn't too level and she didn't want to risk a fall, and for another, she knew very well that Andrea had a minor disadvantage and she didn't want to leave her miles behind because, as good as both mule and rider might be, at the end of the day Pride still had longer legs. The breed was famed for it.

[Andrea Valentine]

She was tempted to push RJ even harder but thankfully remembered herself before doing so. This was hardly the time or place to get that competitive. The mule seemed to appreciate it when she eased off a little, but of course, he didn't repay her by going any faster. In fact, he probably slowed down a little, but at the end of the day, Andrea couldn't be mad at him. He was lucky he was cute, she liked to say.

[Katherine Lorelia]

Kitty whistled softly to the gelding as they rounded a corner, leaning to one side in order to help him balance. She loved riding around the trails at speed; there was nothing better than the feel of the wind in her hair and the horse between her legs, so far as she was concerned. Noting that she couldn't hear the hoofbeats of the mule so clearly, the Irish girl twisted in her saddle to glance behind her. That was her undoing. Just as she did so, the grey stumbled in a pothole, and, unbalanced already, the blonde toppled neatly out of the saddle.

[Andrea Valentine]

Inevitably, RJ fell behind Pride. Andrea was neither surprised nor disappointed - her competitive nature had faded out by then and at that point, she was just enjoying the feeling of a galloping horse. Or mule. But all of a sudden the galloping didn't seem like such a good idea. Before she really had time to figure out what had happened, Kitty was on the ground with RJ fast approaching. Without thinking, Andrea cried out and pulled his head to one side, probably harder than she needed to. It threw him off-balance and with a snort, he twisted sideways. That meant that he didn't run Kitty over, but Andrea lost a stirrup when he turned and found herself slipping out of the saddle. She grabbed at his sparse mane to no avail and hit the ground in due time. RJ ran a few more strides before slowing to a trot and finally stopping and turning his head around a few feet down the trail. His ears swiveled toward the girls.

"Ow," Andrea muttered, rubbing her elbow, "Kitty, are you okay?"

[Katherine Lorelia]

Kitty was clumsy; this was a fact well known by almost everyone who'd ever met her. And yet when she was in the saddle, she seemed to somehow gain a grace and elegance which she would kill to possess all the time- though not literally, because the blonde was not a killing kind of girl, and, even if she had been, the disadvantage of her size would probably have prevented her from ever doing so in any case. But grace was not enough to keep one off the ground, she had discovered on multiple occasions, and as she fell, she landed reflexively in a curled position. For a moment or two, she fought for breath, and then looked up. To see a mule charging towards her at full speed.

The Irish girl could not in all honesty have said that she was scared- she didn't have time to be before all of a sudden, RJ had passed her and she found she had company on the ground. "Um... Well, I'm not saying I couldn't benefit from a massage and a hot bath..." The blonde winced as she turned her head to one side and then the other, feeling a knot in her neck. "But I'm definitely still in one piece. You?"

[Andrea Valentine]

"Oh, couldn't we all?" she replied, dusting herself off. "I think I'm alright. My elbow's going to bruise, though." She rubbed at it again and rose to her feet. "Anyway, I think that's enough adventure for today." RJ was still watching the girls patiently. Andrea strode over to Kitty and held out her hand to help her up. "Let's get back."

[Katherine Lorelia]

Kitty giggled a little unsteadily, flexing her back gently. Ooh, that was going to be sore later... "Maybe we need a spa day." she suggested enthusiastically, taking the other girl's hand and pulling herself springily to her feet before pulling the brunette into a brief hug. "There are some great ones back in Ireland." A bit of a long journey, she would concede if pressed, but then it had been ages since she'd seen her parents...

[Andrea Valentine]

Andrea gladly returned the hug and grinned. "In that case, I'll start looking at plane tickets." she half-joked. Ireland didn't sound so bad, from what she'd heard from Kitty. Of course, she was probably a biased source, but Andrea really didn't care. She was young and full of wanderlust. What was wrong with that?

But, for now, "Let's get our noble steeds and head back, yeah?"