Limitations

[Katherine Lorelia]

There was a moment or two of awkward silence as the blonde tried desperately to work out whether or not it was acceptable to laugh, failed to reach any definitive conclusion, and compromised with a kind of half-giggle which petered out quickly and which probably made things worse, rather than better.

The awkwardness only increased as Kitty flushed bright red, with a definite fit of giggles this time. That was a compliment, right? In any case, she was taking it as one. "Thank you so much!" she exclaimed brightly. "It's so nice of you to say so..."

[Caspian Collins]

Cass gave a soft smile. "You are allowed to laugh when I make jokes at my own expanse." He said. "Sometimes it tends to break the ice - which I can do with my leg, makes a good hammer at times. Or, like this, it makes everyone awkward."

He laughed as Kitty's face flamed up at the compliment, he now knew to either layer the compliments on until she got used to them, or to not use them at all. "It's the truth, dark hair would not go well with your complexion."

[Katherine Lorelia]

The blonde nodded, a smile spreading across her own face. "I, uh... Didn't want to..." But it was no use; for once in her life, she simply couldn't find the words to express what she wanted to, and rather than her usual tactic of just trying all of them, she thankfully took the opportunity of his next joke, at which she allowed herself to descend into the giggling fit she'd fended off the first time.

She only flushed further as the boy elaborated, burying her heated face in her hands for a moment or two. When at last she managed to extract herself, she sent a sunny smile in Cass's direction. "Well... You're not so bad yourself."

[Caspian Collins]

Cass grinned, though decided to hold off on the joke about how well it acted as a golf club, because that might be pushing it too far.

He couldn't help the smirk as she hid her face behind her hands, and then shrugged at the returned compliment. "I tell you, it's tough when you're this good looking." He replied with a straight face. He sat up as he swiveled on the windowsill so that he was sitting facing her, legs hanging down. "English or western, Miss Kitty?" At least he guessed she rode, that did seem to be the highlight of attending this school.

[Katherine Lorelia]

Giggling again, the blonde shrugged, although she had to wait until shed recovered enough of her breath to speak before she could offer any comment in return. "I guess I wouldn't know." Kitty most assuredly did not consider herself amongst the world's great beauties, and she was quite content with that; her talents, so far as she was concerned, were in other areas. And besides, it seemed to her that people who were pretty tended to be less pleasant to other people. Kitty could never have lived with herself if she had been such a person. After all, other people were vitally important. ]"I ride English- not a lot of Western riding goes on in Ireland." She flashed a sunny smile on the boy. "How about you, Mister Cass?" And then a look of mortification spread over her face. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry- do you, or...?"

[Caspian Collins]

Cass practically fell over laughing when Kitty just seemed to be falling all over her words. "Would you like some help out of that hole you seem to have dug yourself into for no reason?" He asked, still chuckling away. Since you asked, I ride English. I was an eventer, until a few years ago. Slick and I now focus mostly on dressage, because it keeps the parental units happy." He wanted to get back into jumping though, and without either parent observing his every ride, that might be a possibility while he was here.

[Katherine Lorelia]

Kitty flushed even more deeply, a sheepish smile on her face. "Thank you," she murmured, grateful for the escape route- she didn't doubt that she would have gone on to make even more of a fool of herself than she had managed already, not that that was exactly an unusual occurrence. She perked up, however, at the mention of eventing. "Oh, I love eventing!" she exclaimed brightly. "I do showjumping mostly, but it's good to do different things, isn't it? Dressage is difficult, though; I can never remember everything that I should be doing..."

[Caspian Collins]

Cass smiled and bowed his head to her thanks, the last thing he wanted was to make her feel uncomfortable around him, it would make life at the school even more difficult if that was the first reaction people had to him. Life was a little easier when he met new people on horseback.

He grinned at her comment on dressage. "The idea is to have a horse that already knows every test inside and out, then you just let the horse do his job while making you look good." Sure, the rider needed to know the test too, but there was nothing wrong with having a horse who could remind you what came next if you had a sudden case of amnesia. "We should head out on the trails at some point." He had told his parents that he wouldn't hack out without a buddy, and he'd keep his word on that, mostly.

[Katherine Lorelia]

Kitty bit her lip, considering the point. She wasn't sure that such a horse would be a particularly brilliant all-rounder, and the blonde thought that she might just go insane if she was stuck doing nothing but dressage for the remainder of her existence. Besides, it didn't really sound like actually riding. And Kitty had spent a long time arguing with people who claimed that riding wasn't a sport on the basis that 'you just sit there and the horse does all the work'; she didn't really feel that she could justify involving herself with that kind of animal. "Hm," was as far as she was prepared to go on that.

However, she was far more willing to agree with his second point. "That definitely sounds like fun!" Kitty was a big fan of the trails, and she enjoyed the opportunity to just ride, without having to worry particularly about technique. "I'd love to show you around... Unless you've been already?"

[Caspian Collins]

Cass arched an eyebrow at the rather non-committal answer. "I get the feeling that you're more the work together, riding is a partnership, kind of person." He said with a smile. "Which is good, it's the way I like people to be. As they are less likely to treat their horse like a machine." those were the people the world could have less of.

He grinned at her next words and clapped his hands. "Awesome! No, I haven't seen much of the place, outside the barns and arenas." He shrugged. "Slick, my horse, likes to get to know the lay of the land first." And neither of them knew the trails so he wasn't willing to venture out on them alone for the first time, and until now, he really hadn't had the opportunity to suggest that someone ride out with him, without him inviting himself out on someone else's ride.

[Katherine Lorelia]

"Of course riding is a partnership!" Kitty returned, aghast at the very suggestion that things could be otherwise. "I'd look pretty stupid running around in a showjumping arena without a horse, wouldn't I?" Especially since her height was notable chiefly by its absence and so she would never stand the slightest chance of making it over a jump without some form of equine aid.

The blonde nodded, smiling brightly. "Well, it's always great to have company!" If there was one thing that she loved more than riding (which was debatable) then it was people, and the opportunity to ride with people was a form of Heaven for Kitty. "You'll have to let me know when you're free, and we can go out on... Probably the flatter trails to start with?"

[Caspian Collins]

Cass couldn't help but chuckle as the image of someone running around a showjumping arena trying to jump the fences without a horse popped into his mind. "Have you seen the You Tube clip of dressage without horses?" He frowned as he tried to think of what it was called, but came up blank. You could probably find it by searching dressage without horses."

He nodded in agreement, it was nice to have company, sometimes. "As long as the company treats me like the competent rider I am." He said with a grin. "Doesn't worry me what trail we go on, I'll probably put studs in Slick's shoes because of the weather anyway."

[Katherine Lorelia]

The Irish girl shook her head, blonde hair flying everywhere as she did so. "I mostly watch YouTube for the music," she confessed- Kitty had never found anything else that was particularly interesting on the website, but then, perhaps that was just her. And she'd clearly been missing something, by the sound of it; that video sounded as though it could be highly amusing, and she made a mental note to go and look it up at the first available opportunity.

"I promise not to babysit you," the blonde affirmed with a grin. She couldn't resist the temptation for just a little teasing, though. "And if you're a good boy, I'll buy you an ice cream."

[Caspian Collins]

Cass gave the girl a withering look, narrowing his eyes for effect. "And what if I can't have milk, what would you buy me then?" He asked, resisting the urge to stick his tongue out.

He grimaced slightly as he once again adjusted the way he was sitting, his leg was really beginning to rub, so now might be a good time to excuse himself, and head back to his room, but he was also enjoying the company. "Do you have big plans for when you finish school?"

[Katherine Lorelia]

Kitty shrugged. "Uhh... I don't really know, to be honest. An apple, maybe? They're good for you!" She grinned, sticking her tongue out at the other student. "Although, knowing me, I'd forget and get you the ice cream anyway." It was far too cold for ice cream. How had they got onto this subject?

Oh yeah... She'd brought it up.

"BIG plans," she confirmed, nodding seriously. "I'm going to open a therapy centre for young people to work with horses. How about you? Olympic showjumper?"