Standing on the precipice

[Kallistos Rolleston]

After returning his guitar to the case in his room, Kall raced down to the barn to get Jett ready for a relaxing trail ride. Ever time he looked at the black horse, he could picture him in the middle of a story, though as a headstrong stallion, being ridden by one of the protagonists... he would need to think further on it, but not when he was getting ready for a ride.

It didn't take him long to get Jett ready and before too long, he was clipping his helmet under his chin while leading the horse outside the barn. After a quick check of the tack, he swung into the saddle and squeezed the gelding toward the trail. He knew they wouldn't have too long to wait, or that he wouldn't have left Sina waiting too long for them, so he didn't hurry the gelding along, letting him plod along the path, looking at everything around them as they went.

[Sina Aleardi]

Sina left Kall and headed to the barn to get Vaxi groomed and tacked up. After she'd finished, she grabbed her helmet and then led the horse outside. They walked to the trailhead and found Kall there already. She grinned, "Hey handsome. Nice of you to bring Kall along." She asked Derecho for a sit, then removed the dog's leash, which she looped around her shoulders before she swung into Vaxi's saddle, "Ready?"

[Kallistos Rolleston]

Kall pulled a face. "Always such a comedian." He teased. "You should have tried out to be a clown, not a cheerleader."

He took up the reins a little as Jett finally paid attention to the dog and started. "Yeah, cause the dog's been invisible until now." She said with a laugh. There wasn't anymore stress though as the gelding blew out through his nostrils and shook his head before he stood relaxed. "Shall we get on then?"

[Sina Aleardi]

Sina watched Jett's reaction to the dog, and then nodded as it seemed they wouldn't have an issue. "He comes with his own special brand of camouflage." She chuckled, then inclined her head at Kall's question, responding by releasing Der into the brush and pushing Vaxi into a walk. She kept the gelding to one side of the trail so Kall could walk alongside her.

[Kallistos Rolleston]

Kall laughed. "Are you trying to tell me that he's a chameleon?" He was suddenly picturing the dog blending in with any background, and that just made him laugh harder.

He nudged the black horse forward so that they were riding beside Vaxi. "So, how are things, really?" He asked as he rubbed Jett's shoulder when the horse's head shot up as he looked around for the dog; it seemed the horse found it hard to understand how the dog had vanished so quickly.

[Sina Aleardi]

Sina laughed, "Some people think so, and some horses do too, apparently!"

As Kall rode next to her, and asked how things were going again, Sina shrugged, "Mostly under control. I've started thinking about summer plans and my mom still won't let me go backpacking on my own." She sighed and looked at Kall, "You know, I live half a country away from her, I take care of myself, and yet she still doesn't trust me enough to wander around on my own in our backyard!" It was a definite point of contention between her and her mom. "But other than that, just peachy."

[Kallistos Rolleston]

Kall nodded, his artistic mind already at work, fitting a chameleon dog into a story, before he shook his head in amusement at himself.

"Backpacking sounds like fun." He commented, though probably not helpful. He didn't think his moms would be thrilled at the idea of him going backpacking alone either, and he wouldn't have a service dog to accompany him. "Do you have any friends you could go backpacking with? Maybe having another human with you would ease your mom's concerns a little?" Probably another unhelpful suggestion, but he was full of them.

He gave her a bright smile. "Ask your mom if you can come and spend the summer with me instead! Show her that backpacking would be a better option."

[Sina Aleardi]

Sina nodded, "It is. Have you ever been?" She considered his suggestion, shrugging, "No one I really stayed in contact with back home, and I don't know here either." She briefly considered asking Tori, but she didn't know how the younger girl felt about spending a few days in the middle of nowhere - Although, maybe she could consider a packing trip too. Then the horses could carry everything!

She laughed at Kall's next suggestion, "She's already concerned about what shenanigans we'll get up to at cheer camp, I don't know if she'll go for that!" Although there wasn't really anything between her and Kall - They were good friends, and spent a lot of time together, but it wasn't like that. "Unless we drag the whole cheer team and Andie along." She raised an eyebrow at him.

Trying not to bring down the mood with her problems, she turned the question back at him, "Have you sorted out what you're doing with your summer?"

[Kallistos Rolleston]

Kall laughed and shook his head. "I think my moms would have the same idea about backpacking as your mom." He nodded as it seemed that his idea of inviting someone else didn't seem to be a happening thing either.

He laughed with her. "So many shenanigans." He grinned. "I could send her a detailed report if she really wants to know!" He laughed even harder, the biggest things he got up to was playing poker with the guys he shared a room with. "Ooh, turning it into a bonding exercise." He tapped his chin, pretending to think about it seriously. "Now there's an idea."

He shrugged at the question. "I'm going home for a bit, spend some time training with the Dolphins, try and find a new home for Cue." He shrugged again. "Other than that, not a lot really."

[Sina Aleardi]

Sina shrugged, "I guess that's just a parent thing." She shuddered at the thought of Kall sending her mother a detailed report of cheer camp, "She probably wouldn't believe you, anyway." She grinned, "Or you'd go so over-the-top that she'd believe you, but it has no resemblance to the truth."

She nodded at his ideas for the summer, "Lucky you!" She grinned, "That's why you're our noble captain." She paused, "Not lucky about Cue, sorry. I meant the training. I'm sorry you'll be saying goodbye to Cue."

[Kallistos Rolleston]

He nodded, it did indeed sound like a parent thing; to worry incessantly about their kids, especially when that worry wasn't warranted. He returned the grin. "I could send photographic evidence, if it would help?" He offered. There had been various photos taken throughout the camp of training sessions and other group activities, so there would be nothing to get anyone in trouble - photos that he was sure that Sina's mother would have already seen.

He pulled a face, not sure how lucky he really was; training with the Dolphins was grueling, as they were all adults and had so much more stamina than him. "It's the right thing to do for Cue." He said with a nod. "Hopefully my old instructor will take him on at the yard there, then I can visit him when I'm home." He gave her a wicked grin. "And we both know that I only got the captaincy because Derecho turned it down."

[Sina Aleardi]

Sina laughed, "She wouldn't believe you unless you videotaped every moment, and even then it'd be a close thing." Her mom wasn't really that bad - Sina could be dramatic if she wanted to. But it felt that way sometimes!

She didn't catch the look on Kall's face, although she did nod at his words about his steady horse, "That'd be nice, and he wouldn't be in a totally new place." And she could see the quarab being a good schoolmaster. At Kall's assertion, Sina laughed, "Der says you can deal with the new people. He doesn't want that headache." She grinned, "Speaking of, are you ready to start with more newbies next year?"

[Kallistos Rolleston]

Kall laughed, though he guessed his mothers would be the same if he said he wanted to go hiking with a girl, no parental supervision. "Parents, you can't live with 'em, and you can't live without 'em." He sighed.

He laughed, though he wouldn't give up being cheer captain for anything, though he was considering talking to Andie about promoting someone to co-captain. "Bring it on!" He said as he wiggled his eyebrows. "We have another year to whip them into shape before I need to hand over the spirit stick to the next... sucker." He sat deep as Jett danced to the side when there was a rustling in the bushes to their left. "Dude, pull it together!" He laughed at the horse. "I wonder how often this one was ridden outside the arena before he came to me?"

[Sina Aleardi]

Sina laughed at Kall's plan, "Sounds like a good idea. I'll help with whatever you need me to." She had no wish to be the captain of the team, and Kall was far more qualified anyway - But the team thrived if everyone helped how they could. "Will you keep -" Her question was cut off as there was a rustling in the bushes, too slight to be Der, who had no sense of decorum when he was off duty. Vaxi twitched an ear at the noise, then considered Kall's question, "Maybe not. There are people who don't, you know." She grinned, "Strange people."