12669/Giddyap!

Giddyap!
Date of Scene:	03 September 2022
Location:	Horse Stables
Synopsis:	Jamie and Kitty take a horseback ride along the grounds.
Cast of Characters:	Jamie Madrox, Kitty Pryde

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Jamie Madrox has posed:
Jamie Madrox has many, many skills, but just because he has them doesn't mean they don't require upkeep and practice. Every once in a while, he'll split a dupe off to practice things that are esoteric enough that they aren't needed often, but can still come in useful. Like, for example, horseback riding.

At the moment, one of Jamie's dupes is riding one of Xavier's horses, putting the mare through its paces and letting it challenging him. He's a decent rider, able to perform some stunts, but nothing wild.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde heads out to the stables, wearing jeans and a long-sleeve top. She has on a Chicago Cubs baseball cap as she heads into the stables, walking along the rows of horses. She stops by Blackie and pulls out a sugar cube to feed the black stallion, giving him a pat on the nose before she continues on to her favorite.

"Hey Chestnut," she says, retrieving another sweet treat and offering it to the horse. Chestnut gives a little bob of her head, recognizing readily enough the Jewish girl who rides her as much as she does all the other horses combined.

Kitty sets about getting the saddle on the brown mare with a white mark on her nose, then climbs up into the stirrup with practiced ease. "Come on girl," she says, patting Chestnut's neck and giving the slightest tap of her heels. The horse begins trotting, making their way out of the stable. Once clear of it, Kitty gives a little flick of the reins and Chestnut breaks into a quicker canter as she heads out into the school's large grounds.

Jamie Madrox has posed:
It doesn't take long for Jamie to spot Kitty. He tugs on the reins and redirects the mare, Cinnamon, towards her. Eventually he catches up to her, riding up alongside her with a grin, his hands on the reins.

"Hey there, Kitkat." He drops into a pace that matches her own. "How're you doing?"

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde spots Jamie and Cinnamon on their way over and flashes a big grin over towards Jamie. Doesn't matter if he's a Dupe or Jamie Prime. He's just Jamie either way. "Hey Jamie. Hey Cinnamon," she says to the horse. "Taking her out for some exercise, or riding for yourself?" she asks.

Motioning ahead towards some trees that line a large creek through the grounds, she says, "Was going to head down to the water, let her get a drink and maybe ride along the creek," she tells him. There's a swimming area that the students and staff make use of when they want something more rustic than the swimming pool.

Jamie Madrox has posed:
"Little bit of a, little bit of b," Jamie says with a shrug. "Gotta keep those skills up, but she looked antsy so I let her out for a bit." He pats the side of the horse's neck and then nods towards the creek. "So let's go. You can catch me up on what you've been doing lately." It doesn't matter if he is a dupe, eventually, it all makes it back to Jamie Prime and it becomes an experience he's had.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
The horses hooves clip clop across the grass as they angle over towards the trees that line the creek. "Well, been doing some thinking about career stuff. I was intending to apply somewhere, and had settled on Stark Industries for awhile. But, well I started to second guess it. I think I want to be able to have enough free time to be able to be around the school more often. So, maybe find another contract job like I had with Fisk Enterprises, and JVD Fashion," Kitty explains.

She rubs a hand over Chestnut's neck. The mare is a little frisky, as if happy to be out of the stall. "How about you, what have you been up to?" she asks.

Jamie Madrox has posed:
"Cases, mostly. I've had a few that have consumed my time. Not that I don't have plenty of time but." But big cases do consume resources in that he doesn't have assistants, he just uses his own dupes. Eventually he just tires out from splitting the atom too often, pretty much. "Stark Enterprises is gonna lose out if you don't do that," he says with a grin. "Your computer skills?" He gives a low whistle.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde flashes a grateful smile over to Jamie for the compliment. "Thanks. Well who knows, I might be able to get something with them. Or Wayne Enterprise was the other company I'd been thinking about applying to. If I was in Gotham I might have gone with Wayne. They have stuff here, but not really their center, you know?" she comments.

The girl removes her Cubs cap for a moment, and her scrunchy, ruffling finger through her hair then returning it to the ponytail and donning the cap again. "How are things in Mutant Town of late?" she asks him. "Delivered some stuff over there, food and other items, earlier in the summer. But haven't made it over there lately, haven't been in the city nearly as much."

Jamie Madrox has posed:
"I know you haven't. You usually swing by when you come down." He grins at her and then shrugs. "Mutant Town is Mutant Town. It's not particularly stable and I do what I can, but until the government takes some interest, it's never going to get better. Not unless there's some sort of revolution." He winks at her, because he knows that sounds little too Brotherhood-y of him. But then again, there's a reason why Jamie isn't an official part of the X-Men. He straddles the independence line pretty well.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty's mouth presses in a line at the comment, but she doesn't react to it much beyond that. "Well, we can keep fighting the good fight," she says. Ok maybe a small reaction but in a positive direction.

"Thinking about going to visit Mom for Labor Day," she comments. "Haven't been home in a few months. Maybe take an actual plane this time. Haven't seen Illyana as much lately," she says of the team's resident teleporting expert.

She gives a little click of her tongue and a movement of the reins, speeding up Chestnut to a little bit faster of a trot as they near the path through the trees down to the creek. They emerge from the shade into sunlight again, a sandy little stretch along the water that the student use for sunning themselves or sitting out. There's a rope swing tied to a tree for swinging out into the water, which is deep enough (thanks to a little power use) to be able to jump in without worrying about hitting the bottom there.

Jamie Madrox has posed:
Jamie doesn't mind a little reaction. Everyone has their opinions, after all. He follows her along on Cinnamon until they get to the creek with the swing, smiling. I'm _someone_ would teleport you or something if you didn't wanna take a plane, though I guess you'd probably have to end up flying back," he admits.

"Or we could roadtrip. Just drive over. I can find something to do on the days you spend with your mom." It's not like Jamie doesn't have contacts and people all over the U.S. Spending so much time as dupes all over has a lot of advantages.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
"I woudn't mind that," Kitty says of the notion of driving. "We could hit Cedar Point in Sandusky on the way, or Six Flags in Illinois," she says, "If an amusement park sounds like fun at all."

Kitty taps her Cubs cap. "Could see who the Cubs are playing and make a trip to Wrigley Field," she suggests as another option for something to do. "And of course, you got all sorts of other stuff in Chicago." Not that people who live so close to New York have to go somewhere like Chicago to take advantage of big city options.

The young woman stops at the edge of the water, climbing off Chestnut and tying the reins onto her saddle horn to be out of the way while the horse gets a drink from the creek. The water quality is pretty good. There was an incident years back that the X-men helped deal with a factory upstream, but the water has been good since then as it flows on towards Breakstone Lake.

Jamie Madrox has posed:
"All of those sound pretty good to me," Jamie admits with a laugh. He pulls the reins to stop the horse next to Chestnut, sliding off the horse as Kitty does. He leads Cinnamon closer to the creek next to Chestnut so the horse can take a long drink, turning to look at Kitty. "Plus, it's been a long, long time since I've had some Chicago style pizza that's anything close to authentic."

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty breaks out in a huge grin. "Oh I can take you to some -great- places," she tells him as he mentions the thick dish pizza. "I admit, New York has some great tasting crust. Something to do with the minerals in the water. But I like the thicker stuff," she tells him.

She walks over to where the rope hangs down, reaching out to get it at the edge of the water, then backing up with it, up onto a taller little ledge that the kids jump off of. She runs forward and swings out. Rather than letting go at the end of the swing though, Kitty just swings out over the water then back again, releasing the rope and landing back on dry land. She is wearing jeans after all.

"What kind of toppings?" she asks, as if this is a serious topic.

Jamie Madrox has posed:
Jamie is waiting for her when she swings back and drops to dry land, his hands landing on her hips as he steps up behind her and puts his chin on top of her head. "I like black olives, mushrooms, sometimes meat lovers. It depends. Lots of dupes develop different tastes. It's one of those weird things about having them."

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde leans back against the taller man and grins. "Meat lovers is more my style," she tells him. "Dad didn't like anything on his pizza that didn't move under its own power. While I don't mind veggies as much as he did, there's nothing like a thick crust when it soaks up the juices. Though, no bacon," the Jewish girl says of the toppings.

The horses drink their fill and then linger there, well used to being ridden to here and trusted to stick around without wandering off without their reins tied. "I'm looking forward to it cooling off," Kitty says. It's nice out, in the 70s, but Fall hasn't quite started yet. "Sweater weather and fireplaces," she says with a grin.

Jamie Madrox has posed:
Jamie wraps his arms around Kitty's waist as she leans back and then presses his cheek against her temple. "Yeah. Sweaters and fireplaces are nice. Although I already miss bikini season," he teases. "Not that it has to be too hot to get you into one of those." She wore one in the snow once, after all.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde lets out a laugh. "True. Especially at a ski resort," she tells Jamie. "Well, not too cold for swimming. Not to mention having a heated swimming pool on the premises," she tells him, leaning back into the warm embrace.

She glances out at the trees clustered along the ready water of the creek. "Won't be too long until the trees are changing. Might have to organize a color tour up into New Hampshire or Vermont when the trees are in full glory," she says. "Now that I can drink though, maybe a tour bus for the adults," says the 21 year old with a quiet laugh. "Well, drink legally that is." For her birthday they went white water rafting in Oregon at the Rogue River. Yes, the name was part of the reason it was chosen.

Jamie Madrox has posed:
"I'm sorry I missed the birthday celebration," Jamie tells her with a smile, his arms squeezing her gently. Even though they did have their own celebration afterwards. "we'll make up for it on the roadtrip. Do you want to work up the travel itinerary or should I?"

Kitty Pryde has posed:
"If you feel like it, go for it," Kitty tells him with a grin. "Should I hunt up a vehicle? Could probably rent something nice actually," she says. Having been able to save pretty much everything she's made while working, thanks to room and board either at the mansion or a certain billionaire's penthouse, let her save most of what she made while working earlier.

She pats Jamie's hand and then says, "Shall we?" with a motion to the horses. She heads over then, climbing back up on Chestnut's back. "Want to give her a good run before heading back," Kitty tells Jamie. She gives the horse's neck a rub, the mare giving a spirited sounding neigh and prancing just a bit as if she got an idea of what Kitty is saying.