Alani, Madin, & Nica | Going for a Hike

[xp_loa]

(backdated) The promise of going to Saratoga Spa State Park finally comes true for Alani, Nica, and Madin, who comes prepared following their past.



Alani hadn’t thought anything about inviting Madin to the state park, in retrospect, if she were a different person, she would have told Madin that they’d be joining her and Nica on a trip that had been trying to happen for the better part of a month. But Alani, still famous for steamrolling when excitement got the best of her had assumed nothing of bringing them both, she hadn’t even questioned why the car ride up had only had short conversations that didn’t seem to last long, as she’d been busy keeping the car on the road and idly singing along to the music Nica put on.

Now that they’d arrived at Saratoga Spa State Park, avoiding the museum so she didn’t feel the need to activate her image inducer, she turned around to flash Madin a smile. “Ready for a hike?”

Madin unfolded themself from the back seat and stood, borrowed hiking pack dangling from one arm. "Yeah. I should warn you, though. It's been a year or so since I've done this." The forest itself looked similar to the woods around the mansion: trees they didn't know the names of, with the last leaves still clinging to branches. They reached back into the car to drag out three orange jackets, tossing one each to Nica and Alani.

Nica caught the jacket and shrugged into it. She didn't mention that she was temperature-proof and glowed on her own - it was a nice gesture of Madin's to share. "We've got a lovely day for it, at least?" she commented.

"The universe owes it to us," Alani sighed dramatically as she pulled the jacket on, happy for the added layer to shield her from the elements. Her hair had been braided back and scalp shielded with a baseball cap she'd found in the car. A smile spread quickly as she looked out at the park, not bouncing exactly but overjoyed to be away from the city and in trees again. "You're good, Madin, the most hiking I've done recently was trudging around the city." And training, but there was no reason to comment on that.

"I've got a few extra water bottles in my backpack in case either of you need - or me, thirsty ass bitch extraordinaire."

Madin looked slightly sheepish as they shouldered their pack. "I uh. We did a lot of time in the bush. You know. With everything. I've um. I've got everything in my bag." Where everything meant mylar blankets, a small tarp and food. Just in case. "I'm not packing for an op or a three day outdoor ed hike through the desert but I still brought kinda everything. I didn't think about you being able to fly." They nodded to Nica. "Also, it's deer season and I don't trust civilians with guns. And. Shit! I forgot the bear spray. Are there... bears ... here?"

"No bears, or at least, not enough to worry about - there's some black bears but they don't come near people very often. And with the golf course and the spa and everything, it's too built up for them to feel comfortable. There shouldn't be any hunters, but I agree with you, idiots with guns can't be trusted." Nica had, of course, read up on the park before getting in the car. "But it's still a national park, so while it's an easy hike, it's always good to be prepared."

"And we can always take a harder hike if we so wish because that's how Americans curated their parks." Alani was all bemused smiles as she spoke, eying the area in what could easily be taken for a love for the fresh air. She was checking for others, but it seemed that they were the only people around the entrance. She finally turned her smile onto Madin, surprised at their experience though she shouldn't have been. "Heck yeah, good on ya for being prepared, cuz. I wasn't not planning to camp out but hell, it's been a while, I wouldn't be opposed." She would, America was cold, but if it would make Madin happy she had no arguments.

Madin flushed, embarrassed. "Can you please open the car again? I'll put most of the gear in the boot. We don't need it and it was just habit to bring. I never really did cold weather hikes. It was all desert or like, jungle and savannah and shit. Fucking remote as. Nothing like this." God, they were stupid thinking they'd need a full kit for an afternoon hike when they were almost in the city still. But they were keeping the orange, just in case.

"Out of the three of us, I'm the American, and I've spent most of my life either on Army bases or staying with my grandparents," Nica reassured them. "So being prepared is totally a good idea." She glanced up the trail. "Shall we?"

"Yeah, let's." Maybe if they were moving they'd want crawl under the car and die less. It seemed like there was always a ... gap, with people their age. Too stupid to know not to bring a pack for a hike even.

Alani had made no attempt to remove her own hi-vis, watching the two with a pleasantly neutral expression, though the change in Madin's demeanor had made her suddenly worry that she'd done the wrong thing and wishing she could suddenly teleport. Becoming a teleporter right now would be the perfect time. Nope. Just her luck. "Alright, come on kiddos, let's go tramping through those woods." She offered with a smile, slinging her backpack on as she began to walk. "I know there are trails, but fuck it, let's see where the universe takes us."

Nica opened her mouth to decline - paths were paths for a reason and it didn't seem like a good idea to just ignore them - but then she closed it again. What could happen? And for once she didn't want to stick to the rules. "Okay. let's do this," she said, falling into step behind Alani. Around them, the trees were a riot of colour, fallen leaves thick on the ground below.

Madin fell in behind, keeping up easily despite their pack. "Oh my god," they said after a few minutes. "There's a squirrel. It's so cute."

"Where?" Alani stopped immediately, five years and squirrels still caught her attention. Had she been feeding the squirrels at the mansion? Yes. Would she be stopping? No. "Oh my god, it's tail is so fluffy."

"Um..." Nica looked puzzled. Didn't they see squirrels every day at the mansion? "Yeah? You don't have squirrels in Australia? Or New Zealand?"

"Nah. We keep pet miniature kangaroos but," Madin said, dropping to one knee and pulling a bag of trail mix out of a pocket, scattering nuts and seeds over the dirt. "Come on, little dude. Have a sultana."

"Nope, not a squirrel to be found in New Zealand or Hawai'i," Alani informed Nica as she watched Madin with a wide-eyed wonder and matching smile. "Oh my god, he's coming closer." Were they allowed to feed the animals? Well, too late to worry about that, this was exciting.

Should she mention rabies? Nica didn't want to spoil the first bit of enjoyment she'd ever seen Madin have, but, rabies. On the other hand, it was a state park and a small one at that and she figured the rangers would be on top of any possible cases. "They are cute," she said out loud. "Just be careful you don't let it scratch or bite you." There, that should do it.

"It's a squirrel. Where's the harm? It's just cute as, you know?" Madin tossed another pecan and stood, dusting their knees off. "Let's go."

"Alright..." Alani looked rather forlornly at the squirrel, wanting to give the fluffy little rodent more food, but understanding they couldn't just come all this way to feed wild animals human food and be asked to leave the park. Turning back towards what seemed to be a trail, she next spoke with much more pep than her previous demeanor would imply, brightening almost visibly. "Alright, let's go, gang."

And from there it was easy to get into the groove of walking, leaves crunching under shoes as autumn had settled in. However, never one for silence, of course Alani talked. "Ya know, I never saw fall before coming to America. It's in New Zealand, course, but no fun to visit that when the other island you live on is the same almost all times of year."

"There's more evergreen trees back home and the leaves just drop, you know? Plus all the rain. It's not this." Madin waved expansively at a tree. "Port just had a wet and dry."

"Port?" asked Nica, curious. "Was that down in the tropics?"

"Port Hedland." Madin jumped a tree root and some mud before continuing. "Australia's greatest mining port and home to the mutant rehabilitation centre and under 18 unit. It's in the tropics but on the edge of the desert. We'd do a lot of hiking and stuff - you know? Lots of four wheel driving, multi day hikes out in the desert or along 80 mile beach, that kinda shit." They shook their head. "Like, yeah, it was shit, but we'd head down to Karinji sometimes in the wet to go camping and swimming in the gorges. It was like nothing else up there, you know?"

Alani’s face as she listened to Madin had turned neutral, slowly, unsure but nodding as they spoke. “Makes sense,” she settled on saying. “I used to hike a lot more back home because it was something to do.” Very different circumstances, god she was gonna kick herself if she stopped putting her foot in her mouth. But this did give her names of places to look into. “Thanks for joining us, different but I always liked hiking personally.”

Nica was equally tongue-tied, not wanting to put Madin on the defensive again. "This was a great idea, Alani. Thanks for inviting us," she settled for at last, giving a very slight stress on the last word.

Madin acknowledged that they'd killed the conversation and moved past it. "Yeah, nah. Thanks for organising this. Do you reckon we'll see more squirrells?"

Comments

[xp_outlaw]

This was cute af, y'all. <3