fh_trips | Loisaba Conservancy, Kenya [Tuesday Daytime]

"Well, I would be safe. You would be too" Kurt said somewhat awkwardly. "I mean. I'd try and grab as many people as I could... but if I just had one chance to port away..."

He was trying to say he would make sure you were safe if he only had the chance to save one person, Libby. He wasn't doing the best job at it... But that was what he was trying to say.

Oh, Libby definitely followed, and even if the sunburn on her cheeks probably did a good job of hiding the faint blush that sprung up from the unexpected pleasure of knowing that someone wouldn't let you just be trampled into a pancake by a rhinoceros, the soft grin on her face was a bit less subtle. Then she had to bite her lip a little as she told herself that it was a very bad idea to suggest that they really could probably try to get a shot like that. She was just imagining the rush of it, the excitement...

...it was obviously far too dangerous to even attempt, and they might even get in trouble for it, too, but it was pretty incredible to think about.

"Well," she said, with a nod of gratitude and another smile, "thank you, Kurt. I appreciate that you wouldn't let me...or," she ducked her head and laughed a little at the ammendment, "anyone else, for that matter!...get trampled into a pancake."

"Well, if any animal does start to charge, I will make sure to snap a few pictures before we port to safety" Kurt said with a laugh, trying to act as if he was not at all serious about the photos.

"Besides," he continued, glad the flush on his face wasn't as visible as it felt. "Wouldn't be much good for a future member of the X-Men to let people get trampled by wild animals on a school trip, right?"

It just stood to reason, really, if an animal was going to charge and you did have the ability to port out of the way in the last second....why...it would almost be a shame to not at least try, right? A real wasted opportunity!

"I can definitely see," Libby chuckled a little, "how that could probably be a mark against you there, so that makes it official. No getting trampled by wild animals."

It was the least they could do!

Kurt smiled and nodded and then lifted the camera to snap a quick picture of Libby with the sprawling African scenery behind her. He paused for a moment then gave her a somewhat sheepish grin as he held up the camera.

"Ummm group selfie pic?" he asked shyly.

The big grin that the request got was probably all the answer Kurt needed, but Libby was still going to throw in, for good measure, "Only if you send me a copy."

"Aye, of course!" Kurt said with a grin. "Soon as we get back to the lodge! We can exchange photos and catch up with what everyone else has been doing today!"

"Perfect plan," Libby said, nodding and grinning just a little awkwardly, looking at Kurt expectantly to sort of lead the charge, especially since her selfie experience was pretty limited. She'd only ever had her first one after she'd met Zo not too long ago!

Kurt lifted the camera and leaned in, shifting a little closer to Libby as he snapped off a couple of photos.

"Hey! We didn't even break the camera either! he said teasingly with a grin and a laugh.

Libby leaned in, hoping it was close enough that she was in the frame okay, and gave a big smile as Kurt took the pictures. She was tempted to ask to see them right away, but the excitement of waiting until he sent them to her stopped her. She tucked her long hair behind her ear and went to respond, but what came out instead of words was a wide-eyed gasp, one hand reaching for Kurt's arm in excitement as the other one pointed.

"Kurt! Look!" she whispered excitedly. "Isn't that a ~~conveniently appearing~~ rhino right there?"

They might have to break away from the group just slightly to get a shot of it, but it would be too good of ~~a self-fulfilling plot device~~ an opportunity to miss!

Kurt was about to start scrolling through the pics to check them out when he looked up and towards where Libby was pointing.

"No...way..." he said in amazement as his eyes went big at the sight of the rhino. It really was like it just ~~oh so conveniently~~ appeared out of no where. Just for them!

"Come on, Libby" he said in a hush whisper as he nodded away from the group.

Libby bit her lip a little again, passing a glance over her shoulder, feeling that surge of rebellion in her, knowing they probably shouldn't, but...they might not get another chance! And if the rhino had shown up just then, clearly, it was some sort of sign. Maybe God had sent them the rhino!

So she turned back to Kurt with an eager grin and a nod, crouching down a little as if that would help them be more sneaky as she started to creep forward. "Let's go."

Kurt gave a silent nod as he crept ahead, leading the way. "I don't think anyone's seen us" he whispered, and then without really thinking about what he was doing, he reached one arm back behind him to reach for Libby's hand to lead her along. As he did, they made their way away from the group, aiming for a taller patch of grass so they could sneak away easier and get closer to the rhino.

With her heart absolutely pouding from the rush of adreneline that came from both the thrill and threat of potentially getting caught and of getting close enough to the rhino for Kurt to get a good picture, Libby took his hand and squeezed it tightly. She held her breath as they continued to creep closer, not wanting to make a single sound, trying to remember what she'd overheard here and there about hunting and keeping quiet in the woods. It definitely hadn't noticed them yet; at this rate, this shot was going to be amazing!

Kurt lead them on slowly, his own natural ability to be light-footed serving them well. He slowed down as the got to the edge of the tall grasses and he reach up with his free hand and pulled back the grass. His breath caught in his throat as they had gotten a lot closer than he had thought they would be able to. ~~entirely too close really~~ Staring and blinking in awe for a moment he then gently tugged Libby closer so she could peer out as well.

Even with Kurt's awed reaction, Libby was not prepared for what she saw when she managed to lean in close to him and followed his gaze through the grass. The gasp left her before she could hold it back, and her hand flew to her mouth to cover it a little too late. And her hand over her mouth was probably the only thing stopping her from actually gushing something out, but, thankfully, practically miraculously, she was able to hold the words back.

Kurt held a finger to his lips and gestured fervently as he grinned at Libby's reaction despite himself. He leaned back over and peered back through the grass, glancing between Libby and the rhino several times.

A moment or two of gawking later he remember the camera and slowly lifted it and started snapping off some photos, glad he remembers to set the shutter to silent mode before they had headed out that morning.

Libby had both hands on her mouth now, as if for extra protection, but the more she looked out at the rhino, the more she thought about how close they were, out here in the bush where there were also lions and elephants....it was almost almost too much to process! Without even realizing it, she started to lean forward a little; her hand reached out for Kurt's shoulder to steady herself, shifted her position to try and get even that much closer...

Which, of course, meant her knee went pressing into the ground....and into the oh-so-inconvenient twig that happened to get caught in between the two.

Her heart stopped. Her eyes somehow managed to get even bigger.

Oh, shoot.

Oh that was not good! Kurt's eyes went wide as well as he looked at Libby and then to the Rhino.

"Oh Verdammt..." he muttered as he saw the rhino's ears fold back against its head as it turned facing them, giving a snort of alarm.

"Libby..." he said still trying to stay calm and quiet as he could. But it was too late, the rhino was spooked and started to charge. "Run!" he shouted as he jumped to his feet, dragging Libby with him as he turned to run, silently cursing the tall grass that blocked his view at that moment.

"R-run?" asked Libby, her brain simply not able to keep up with this sudden turn in events, gawking over at the rhino and not fully processing what was happening until she felt her arm being tugged by Kurt. It wasn't exactly her proudest moment, maybe; it was hard to really be brave when there was an actual rhinoceros charging after you, but she let out a little shriek as she scrambled to her feet to run after him, willing her legs to move faster, praying desperately for salvation in the very rea and immediate sense of the word!

Kurt kept running, making sure Libby was keeping up beside him. Glancing behind them quickly, Kurt shifted direction and turn to the side, pulling Libby along with him as he did.

"Trust me!" he called out as the rhino seemed to gain on them with that change of direction. But it also brought them out of the tall grasses where Kurt could see ahead clearly.

"Hold on tight" he yelled as he wrapped an arm around Libby, pulling her closer as he got ready to port away.

Boy, was Libby sure feeling glad she ditched her usual long skirt for a pair of pants for this excursion! Not that they were doing her that much good, because she really wasn't much of a runner at all, and if it weren't for Kurt pulling her along...

She felt her feet tangle up in each other as he changed direction, made the terrible mistake of looking back to see where the rhino was, and then before she could even think to scream, she felt herself being pulled into Kurt and stared wide-eyed at him while her brain caught up and she remembered, that's right! The plan! And not knowing what else to do, she closed her eyes and clung onto him tightly and prayed that God at least would make being turning into a pancake by a rhino quick and painless...

Muttering a quick prayer of his own, Kurt fixed his eyes on a spot as far ahead of them as he could. Then taking a deep breath, he held it and then ported out of sight, just as the rhino picked up speed again, charging through the wisps of black and purple smoke that was left where they had been a second before.

A few seconds later the two popped back into existence a safe distance away from where the rhino went charging past. They managed to roll into a another patch of tall grass. Kurt held his breath for a moment, not hearing the sound of the beast charging at them any longer and let out a ragged sigh, his heart about to beat out of his chest.

He looked over at Libby laying beside him, wanting to make sure she wasn't hurt and also worried about how she would handle the teleporting as it usually threw most people for quite a loop when they weren't used to it.

"Libby! Libby, are you alright?" he asked, a look of deep concern on his face.

Libby hit the ground with a faint grunt, rolling onto her back and feeling like she couldn't even move, as her mind seemed to be racing with the erratic beating of her heart. She stared up and saw only vast blue sky overhead, and thought for a moment that, hey, being trampled wasn't so bad after all. She barely even felt anything, except maybe her stomach almost dropping to her feet and an odd dizziness even though she was laying perfectly still.

But then she heard Kurt calling her name, and she blinked, and turned her head, and there he was, and she realized she wasn't trampled at all, he'd managed to port them out of danger, just like they'd planned...

...and then she just started laughing and wasn't sure she could stop.

Sure, it was probably some sort of trauma response to it all, but she was laughing and couldn't help herself.

"That was...amazing!"

But it wasn't over yet, so she did stop long enough to push herself up on her elbows to look around to find where the rhino had gone.

"Is it safe?" she asked, confirming that it was with her own two eyes. "We're in the clear?"

Kurt looked at Libby for a moment, convinced she was ok, despite the odd nearly hysterical laughing. Kurt rolled over onto his back and sighed, trying to get his own breathing to slow down as well. And eventually he started chuckling himself and soon he was laughing along with Libby.

"I... think we're good. I don't hear it anymore" Kurt said as he slowly rolled and stood up, motioning for Libby to stay down. Standing up to full height, Kurt was able to see over the grass and quickly scanned the area.

"I don't see it anywhere. I... I think we are in the clear." Kurt turned to look back to Libby as he held a hand down to her. "You're sure you are ok? Not hurt?"

Loisaba Conservancy, Kenya [Tuesday Daytime]

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