{SCE} Sólo Un Paseo a Caballo

[Nico Martell]

The only real benefit of being shoved out into the woods without technology and expected to cook food on your own (Nico had never eaten so many burnt meals in such a short period of time) was that most of the people who Nico either liked or tolerated had been shipped off with him. Both his roommates were on board, as was Lucy, who'd helped him out of a jam once. Then there was Selina Taylor , who he'd had that especially charged first meeting and awkward "we're not going to sleep together" encounter with. Hey, at least they were... something.

Nico wasn't going to overanalyze that.

What he was going to do was see if he could get her to go along for one of the "approved activities." So long as they did something on Legrange's list of activities, they wouldn't get hounded or have too much staff arguing. And Nico had heard that there was actually stables on the school grounds, and he figured that a horseback ride would be preferable to half the stuff that they could be doing.

First though, he had to get Selina. Which was now he was now near the main camp, prowling through and looking for her. It was fairly early in the morning, just after breakfast and before everyone took off to do who knows what, so Nico was hoping to catch her before she went off to do something.

Ah, he thought he heard her. Nico came around to take a look, moving cautiously, not wanting to create yet another awkward incident if he could help it.

[Selina Taylor]

    Selina was mentally running through the prepositions she could remember and was actually quite satisfied that she’d memorized the list, but she didn’t realize she had been speaking out loud. Her written English had been suffering since coming here and she was trying to keep up with her studies despite the setting. She then heard something behind her and turned. “Ah, Nico. ¿Que tal?” she asked in mild greeting. “Quieres algo?” she added with a grin. Selina hadn’t really had any chance to talk to him since that night, and she was interested in getting to know him when they weren’t worried about police or drunks. She was actually happy to see him, which was interesting, because that didn’t often happen.


    Someone in this godforsaken wilderness trip that she could tolerate, and even enjoy being around wasn’t something she’d take for granted. He was also the only one she knew, even if they’d only met for a night. Selina had honestly been hesitant in approaching him, as she’d wondered if she’d scared him away or offended him in some way, but the fact that he’d approached her instead gave her slight hope that she hadn’t made too awful of a first impression. He certainly hadn’t seen her at her best. The fact that a trip specifically for troubled students was a better place for the two of them to socialize than downtown Kalispell wasn't lost on her, but then again she’d take what she could get.

[Nico Martell]

It still felt a little odd hearing someone speaking Spanish without some sort of god-awful accent. Nico had, of course, grown up hearing it around the neighborhood, so it wasn't as though he couldn't respond easily enough. He also recognized that Selina's accent definitely differed than his, though not in the ways that usually screamed enemy to him. As if that shit mattered out here.

He chuckled at her question, letting out a sigh before actually responding: "Este lugar es una mierda," he pulled a slight face, but then nodded. "Si, wanted to know if you wanted to try one of the 'approved activities,'" which so deserved air quotes. But he knew that the more of those they did, the less people, especially the female that seemed to rub Selina the wrong way, would be on them.

Though Nico still couldn't believe the idiocy of having to talk about approved activities and act like they were children or something. Then again, he supposed that this was for all the "troubled" kids. Hell, he and Selina had obviously been trying not to get in trouble. Which just made this feel a lot more like stereotyping to him.

[Selina Taylor]

    Selina laughed at his reply and nodded, “Claro.” Then again, she hadn't truly expected this place to be like the Hamptons... though that would have been nice. “Which of those suspicious activities were you thinking about?” she asked with a teasing smile. Selina hadn’t even looked at the approved things they could do yet… perhaps she was just lazy, but she hadn’t truly thought much about how she’d actually spend her time here. Part of her was rebellious against the entire idea of the camp, so that was also contributing to her reluctance to explore her options.

    Selina was interested in whatever had caught his attention and she found herself potentially looking forward to doing something here. Her anger against the teacher had left her for now, as she wasn’t the type to dwell on things that she couldn’t immediately deal with. It probably had something to do with her coping mechanisms and how she dealt with trauma, but she wasn’t going to focus on that right now either. Selina almost smiled at her own train of thought, but kept it to herself.

[Nico Martell]

Nico had to laugh slightly, adding a shrug. "Well, apparently there's a stable?" he said, raising a brow as he finished, half turning in the direction he'd heard it was in. He jerked his chin that way. "Figured that animals would probably be better than dealing with people, and if I phase, I won't end up drowning or something."

Which would be a distinct possibility with most of the aquatic activities. The last thing Nico wanted to do was end up in the middle of a lake and find out that he was phasing straight through the canoe or whatever into the water. Knowing his luck, he'd phase right out of his lifejacket too. At least a horse would probably just keep going or Nico would end up doing the centaur thing.

There was also the added benefit of the stable being a fair distance from the camp, and they'd be getting on horses, which would put them even further away. That struck Nico as the next best thing to heading home, really.

[Selina Taylor]

    Selina nodded, “Sounds good to me,” she agreed with a smile. She’d always liked the idea of horses. Not that she’d ever ridden one… except for that one time that her rich friend had invited her over to their house, but that had been way back before high school. “And you’re right… you might be trampled by a horse, but at least you won’t drown,” she responded with a laugh.


    “Though, I do know CPR,” she added with a grin, “Just in case you lose your breath.” The smirk she sent his way wasn’t innocent in the slightest. Selina then started walking towards the stables and glanced up at him, “The lake here is quite beautiful, perhaps we can ride by it,” she then offered in a completely platonic tone. She wasn’t so cruel as to tease a man too far right before he was going to ride a horse.

[Nico Martell]

Oh, right, Nico had forgotten about how his body had a tendency to react around Selina. The little horny guy in the back of his mind (that most guys had in spades) was reminding him quite loudly that he'd already had a chance with this particular senorita and he'd opted not to do so. If she made the offer again, he definitely wasn't going to be stupid enough to say "no" a second time.

for now, he nodded, smiling slightly, glad that she was willing to at least go along. Though he probably would have just gone on his own, if only to check out the stables and be away from people for a bit. "Could end up one of those half horse guys," Nico said, pulling a face at the image. Then again, he supposed that some girls liked that sort of thing. It didn't really suit what he had in mind.

Speaking of mind: his went right back to that horny guy as Selina made her comments. Nico smiled slightly at that, lowering his head. "I'm game for it if you are," he offered, adding another nod. "Seems as good a way of wasting time as any." Why no, it didn't seem as Nico was capable of not acting casual even when the horny man was banging the getting laid march in his head. He kept moving too, figuring that they should probably get on horses sooner rather than later.

He definitely needed the distraction.

[Selina Taylor]

    Selina laughed, “Then I could ride you instead, I suppose.” She wasn’t attracted to the idea of centaurs in the slightest, but her dirty mind couldn’t seem to resist the innuendo. Americans had seemed to be weirdly uptight about sex ever since she’d gotten here, but she’d just shrugged it off and moved on so far. She appreciated her own humor, and sometimes, that was all that mattered.


    Selina then grinned at him and nodded her agreement, “I’m up for just about anything that gets me away from here for a while.” Away from her thoughts and the camp and the people… she needed that. Besides, she liked horses, even if she wasn’t experienced with them. They were cute, in a sort of large and graceful sort of way.


    She then saw the stables in front of them and glanced at him, “Do you know much about horses?” she asked, suddenly feeling slightly awkward at her own ignorance. “I haven’t really been around them much,” she offered with a much less confident air than she’d had previously. Shit, she hated admitted to not knowing something, but she figured it was better to be honest now than to pay for her pride later in some sort of freak accident.

[Nico Martell]

Nico had to smirk slightly at the comment, though he supposed he really should have seen it coming. Wasn't like either of them had been all that subtle when it came to sexuality and so forth. Though now Nico knew that Selina wasn't dealing with high stress crap, which again, gave that little horny guy some more fuel for his rampaging.

"Tell me about it," he said in agreement, adding a sigh. "This is just the sort of shit I was hoping to avoid here."

It seemed almost unfair. he agreed to do whatever they told him, let them drag him out to the middle of no where Montana, and yet he still got lumped in with the troubled kids. Such a massive amount of bullshit. If it wasn't that Nico did genuinely like most of the people along for the ride, he'd definitely complain. This wasn't his environment, to say the least.

Which sort of answered Selina's question. He let out something that would pass for a laugh: "not really," he admitted, "but it can't be that hard, right?" He shrugged and then stepped closer to the stable, looking around for someone they could talk to about getting some horses. At least they knew the school would cover it: that bit had been in the oh-so-fun orientation they had to suffer through.

[Selina Taylor]

    Selina nodded, “Yeah, me too. And here I thought I’d been doing pretty well,” she admitted with a wry grin. Apparently her past was determined to catch up with her no matter how far away she got from Chile. It almost seemed self-defeating to hope for anything to have changed. But horses. Horses were good… Sort of.


    Selina glanced at him doubtfully when she found out he was as clueless as she was, “Right,” she agreed with a slightly sarcastic grin. “Just don’t blame me if we end up thrown into a tree,” she teased. Another part of her was relieved that she wasn’t the only one who didn’t know what she was doing. Selina didn’t mind though, as part of her agreed with Nico. Horses seemed nice enough in general, and surely they’d had inexperienced riders here before.


    If only someone helpful could just materialize out of thin air. That would be great. Selina absently wondered what the staff at the park had been told, and whether or not they were aware that their new customers were troubled mutant kids… That could be an amusing chat, especially if they didn’t know. Selina glanced at Nico, “You think anybody would be further inside the stable?” she asked.

[Nico Martell]

Nico had to let out another slight chuckle at Selina's comment. It really did seem as though the two of them kept being thrown together. He wasn't sure if he should be okay with that: it almost felt like he was being categorized or something, like, "here's the two Hispanic kids, let's make sure they hook up." But on the other hand, that was part of why they had so much in common and, well...

Selina was hot.

Nico held up his hands as she teased about being thrown into a tree. Yeah, he definitely could see that happening somehow, and he definitely wouldn't blame her. Though they'd actually have to find--

"There's someone," he said, nodding and pointing. Sure enough, a smiling, middle-aged man approached them with too much bounce in his step. He already started guessing that they were from "that fancy private school" and if they could just show some id then he could get them saddled up. Just let him know how much experience they had.

Nico left the talking to Selina, digging into the pocket of his jeans for his card, ready to show that as soon as asked.

[Selina Taylor]

    Selina decided she quite liked it when Nico laughed. He was handsome when he smiled like that and she didn’t mind telling him, but the “someone” they’d been waiting for showed up and she decided to stay quiet for now and wait to see how this all turned out. Selina hated the way her entire body stiffened when the strange man got within a ten foot radius and she hated the way her thoughts became disjointed and how hard it became to focus, but she’d done this before and she could do it again now.


    Selina eyed the guy warily and pulled out her ID as well, showing it to him briefly before putting it back in her pocket. When Nico didn’t speak up, she felt like hitting him, but she smiled at overly energetic staffer instead, “Hi, we have next to no experience with horses and were wondering if you could help us out,” she offered. Selina didn’t do small talk, particularly not with middle-aged white men. She was briefly proud of herself for sounding so normal and unaffected, but she knew this was probably just the beginning. Hopefully it wouldn’t take too long though.

[Nico Martell]

Yeah, Nico probably should've talked. He could practically feel the urge to hit rolling off Selina, which made him sigh and nod along. The guy was at least friendly enough about it, directing them toward a pair of "right gentle horses" that would serve them both just fine. They were used to easy riders, and there were a few paths the young 'uns could take that would be pretty enough without having to deal with too much work.

Gah, Nico felt like hitting the guy. instead he nodded and, after glancing over at Selina, offered up some actual words: "We were thinking of riding near the lake." This got the old man nodding, and he pointed to a map outlining some trails. There was one they could take, pretty darn easy, that would lead them right around the edge of the lake. Real pretty, and romantic too.

Nico just let out a sardonic laugh at the romantic thing before heading toward one of the two horses offered. He paused before them, eying one then the other. Then he turned to Selina, pointing: "Got a preference?" one was a stallion, the other a mare. The mare had the reddish color that some called roan, and already seemed to be bowing her head gently. The stallion was a large white that seemed to be splotched with grey, which made him look old, which he probably was. He looked sturdy enough, as far as horses went. According to their helper, both were "right gentle animals" after all.

[Selina Taylor]

    Selina was happy Nico spoke up, and felt slightly bad for wanting to hit him earlier. She belatedly realized he could have as many issues talking with this man as she did. Selina was distracted from her train of thought when the man called them young ones and almost laughed at his infantilization of them. She could probably flip him and teach him some respect, but she was really trying to stay away from violence unless it was necessary. Still, the idea held its appeal.


    Selina let out a brief chuckle at the man thinking they were looking for something romantic, but ignored him in favor of looking at the horses. Selina glanced at Nico before she nodded to the mare, “I’ll take the gentle lady, mi amor,” she replied with a wink. Who was she to deny romance? Not that the man she was mocking would understand her anyway, but he might be able to pick up the gist of it.


    The mare was gorgeous though and Selina found herself growing somewhat fond of the creature already. She walked up to the horse and gently held her hand out for the horse to nose and so it could get used to her scent.

[Nico Martell]

The Spanish quasi-pet name nearly had Nico blushing. He didn't want to react too much, seeing as the man apparently didn't understand Spanish. Nico did have the urge to say something snide in Spanish, but the guy didn't seem to be racist or anything: just maybe a bit sheltered. He'd said or done nothing to really act like he disliked them for whatever reason.

So, the stallion for Nico. he walked over to it. The horse barely moved as Nico approached, and the young man found himself looking at it a little more closely than he would have normally. A tail flick caught Nico's attention and he nearly sighed with relief, nodding as he pulled back. Then it was move a little further down the line, prepare the saddle as best he could.

The guy was moving forward, helping Nico first getting settled and nodding and complimenting Selina on trying to get the horse to know her and all. He also offered to help get her up: "Reckon you two might be city folk an' not know a whole lot about getting on. Easy enough when you're up there," he said with a friendly smile. Nico tried not to look like the idea of being helped onto the horse by this guy sounded about like accompanying a mother clothes shopping.