Closed Running into the Past [Meville]

[Lorelle]

Timestamp :: 32nd day of Summer, 513 AV

Winter Snaps. A strange berry to be found only at the Tree Retreat. At leas that is what the dark haired Vantha female is told. The fruit is actually quite unique being round but bumpy in appearance. It is on the larger side being about as big as a human fist. The most interesting and unique thing about it is that it is said it taste different to all those who eat it. Lorelle doesn't know if this is true or not for she can't actually prove it herself. She is only one person, but to her the fruit is most delicious. It is sweet and delicate but has a rough tangy edge to it making it most appealing to the girl's taste buds. Especially right now as she eats a bowl of it in syrup form drizzled over fresh snow.

Lorelle sits in the shop known as Tasty Flakes. She came here needing some space away from her home and her dog who was just driving her insane. That plus she really wanted to try out this shop. She heard rumors that it was really good through the lines of conversation held in the Snowsong hold and well worth the silver mizas it cost.

A sigh escapes Lorelle's lips as she takes another bite of her treat. She savors the taste as it melts on her tongue. Her mind drifts as she lets only pleasant thoughts fill it. So much is going on around her right now. It is the last season before being deemed an Ice Maiden officially and her mother was being rather pushy about the whole thing, not wanting that title of hopelessness to be put upon her daughter. Lorelle is so glad she is finally in her own home. While this is going on, Lorelle is rather worried about her friend Jesslyn. It has been days since she last saw the girl, but the last time she saw her the girl didn't seem to be doing all that great. Oh and if that wasn't all enough, Lorelle's dog, Eva, has been tons of trouble. Lorelle is mad at herself for not being really strict on the training thing before now. With the pup six months now and still as playful as ever she is causing quite the spell of trouble for Lorelle and really anyone her red coat comes in contact with.

Lorelle shakes her head as the thoughts of her troubles and worries start creeping up on her mind again. She pushes the thoughts away, trying to think of simpler times. The memories have a hard time coming to her. She sighs once more before finishing off her snowy treat and slowly getting up. She gathers her white coat and slips it on before exiting the shop and stepping out into the cold air. She starts walking, not really sure where she is going, just somewhere that isn't home.

As she walks, the girl with the purple shimmers in her hair remembers something she hasn't thought about in awhile. Those dark days in her life. Days she has tried so very hard to forget. Days of shame and regret. Well really it wasn't even days, more like a night and the following morning. A shiver runs up Lorelle's spine and it is not from the cold. She pushes the thoughts away and continues to walk until something catches her eye. There is someone in front of her. Someone she knows and is surprised to see. She is so surprised that she finds herself staring.

That blonde hair. The body. It hasn't changed much. Only gotten older. Wide, scared eyes look at him before the panic sets in. The past catches up to Lorelle. Her mind goes into a frenzy of thoughts and her body is ready to run, but she stops herself for knowing that will just make herself more known. She turns her eyes and keeps walking, praying hard that he didn't just see her. She bites her lip as she walks, remembering that night and following morning. She doesn't remember much. Only a name partnered with feeling and the weeks of almost being shunned by her parents. But mostly the name, his name. The one name she knows she will never be able to forget. Meville. Meville Brightshade.

NoteReceipt = -2sm for frozen snow with winter snap topping

[Meville Brightshade]

There were many boring, everyday things that could be easily spiced up when there was a bit of magic thrown into them. While the more intangible, theoretical concept of "magic" certainly could apply, the actual practice of a mystic art done in secret to affect the waking world was more what Meville had in mind. He was, after all, a practitioner of magic. Though he had never really taken the whole idea of projection as a serious business - aside from the incessant warnings about how important it was to keep his physical body safe -, and often he used it to make the mundane more enchanting that what it really was. In the current, Meville had decided he would bombard several stalls from several well placed angles such that an all out war had started. It was all in good fun, of course, but Meville had done his research well. The old man selling various kinds of wood carvings had long been suspecting the young woman three stalls to his right of trying to steal away his grandson. The grandson was, in fact, attracted to the muscular man four stalls to the right, and his continual pining glances were directed at him and not the young woman. The young woman was actually fascinated by the old man's carvings, but because both he and she were peddling wooden products, she only feigned flirting with the man's grandson so as not to appear as though she was there solely for the carvings. All this was observed by the overweight and very loud, middle aged woman who was constantly trying to sell scarves of different colored silks she claimed were imported from Yeheba. She was attracted to the old man, for whatever reason, and found the constant presence of the young woman to be a nuisance as she was much more attractive than she. Using this tangled web of confused relationships, Meville had planted the snowy spheres of discord, allowing for the angsty bunch to harmlessly (ish) express their frustrations through the age-old snow fight. It really was a grand time. Many of the other stalls had joined in for lack of anything better to do. The market was at a slower time, and the proposition of moving time along through the act of tossing hard-packed rounds of snow at obnoxious neighbors was far too alluring for many to pass up. Meville had, of course, physically stayed out of the fight. He had used his projection to instigate it by tossing snow balls from several areas in rapid succession to make it appear as though everyone started at the same time. He continued to do so, making sure to hit innocent bystanders to draw them into the action. It certainly wasn't the first time he'd done something like it, but it very rarely ever failed to entertain him. By the time the fight was self-sustaining, Meville's astral appendages were more than ready to be reattached as he laughed with his comrades in arms as the balls of snow flew left and right. He slipped his astral from back into position. His silvery glyphed arms hidden beneath the sleeves of his jacket. Once everything was accounted for, Meville ducked and dodged his way to slightly more calm area of the market that had yet to experience the thrill of battle. Many of the stalls in the area were void of life, most likely drawn into the brawl Meville had created. He smiled at a few of the older patrons of the market. They were the wise ones who were all too familiar with the chaos that tended to ensue when the impish blonde human was present. The elders responded to his grin with their own eclectic responses. As Meville raised a hand to wave back at one of the few merchants who actually enjoyed him being around, his attention was arrested by the familiar appearance of an approaching woman. His face followed his eyes as they found themselves fixed to the beautiful face of a young Vantha with gentle violet shimmers in her dark locks of hair. She was moving at a slightly above average pace, so he assumed she was either in a hurry or had noticed him first and was trying to avoid contact. It had been several years since their first encounter. Though Meville could still clearly recall the terrible sound of her father's threats shouted in anger, he had, to an extent, disregarded them. After all, he was older, wiser, and happily removed from the feelings of shame and terror he had experienced at the time of his transgression. He let her pass by without saying anything. If she had wanted to talk with him, she would have done so. Though he hadn't known her long, he had gotten the impression she took the liberty to do things her own way when she had the chance. As she moved on, he turned to watch her. There was a slight twinge of regret that pulled at his chest as she moved on towards where he had come. It wasn't as if he were in love with her. No, that was completely absurd. The feeling sprang more from the lost opportunity to better understand the confusing little puzzle that was Lorelle. Every living creature possessing sentience had at least some kind of mystery about them. It wasn't even that Lorelle's had been the most fascinating, or dark, or peculiar. Rather, it was that Meville had caught a glimpse of what it was, yet he had never been given the chance to investigate. Moving towards her, Meville decided he would say something after all. Whether she wanted to hear it or not, he did owe her an apology if for no other reason than he had never said it when he probably should have. His long legs carried him closer and closer as she seemed to speed up. Meville debated upon whether he should have called out or not instead of just trailing her like a stalker. His thoughts were broken as several snowballs were lobbed directly at the young woman. "Oh! Look out!" He dashed towards her in an attempt to deflect the projectiles with his body. A loud yelp of surprise escaped his lips as his foot caught upon a chunk of ice embedded in the snow that sent him toppling over into a mess of arms and legs right in front of Lorelle. The snowballs landed with deadly accuracy right on top of Meville, as if to add insult to injury. He let out a bought of laughter as he pushed himself up off the ground. Brushing the snow off of himself, he greeted Lorelle with a friendly grin. "I haven't seen you in a while." He offered her an apologetic shrug before he continued, trying to get everything out before she spoke. Meville wasn't certain if she wanted to hear what he had to say, so he did his best to do it quickly before she realized she could just leave. "Seeing you now, I realized... I never apologized for what happened." He bit his lower lip, but kept eye contact to perpetuate his feelings of remorse. "I'm so sorry for how things ended up. It was never my intention for any of that to happen the way it did, and I apologize." It was certainly a bit late in its delivery, but Meville hoped it would at least serve to alleviate some of Lorelle's anxiety regarding him. It was a start, at least.

[Lorelle]

To be honest, Lorelle is to preoccupied trying not to look back at Meville to notice all the snowballs coming in her direction. She does pick up the young man's common. The sound of his voice is something she could never forget, no matter how hard she tried to. Everything moves to fast for Lorelle to really react until Meville is at her feet in a heap with snowballs landing upon him. She found this strangely appropriate for the boy deserved, in her mind at least, way more than just that. But the snow was a start. A small one.

The dark haired girl watches as he stands up and cleans himself of the snow, giving her a grin as he does so. She is too surprised really to even more or say anything. Then he is talking. He speaks that same Vani he did two years ago, it just seems as though it has been worked on in these past two years. It is smoother and his words seem to be used all correctly. Though Lorelle doesn't really pay close attention as he is speaking to fast. She can tell he wants to get everything out before she has a chance to say anything.

An apology is what she figures out she is getting from him. She crosses her arms and looks at him, the rims of her irises turning red. "Little late for that don't you think?" she snaps in her currently seething Vani. She sighs and shakes her head, her eyes set on him still. She relaxes her shoulders, finding that she really doesn't have as much anger towards him as she thought. What happened that night was just as much her fault as his. At least that is what she was told over and over by her mother who was sure to make it very clear that Lorelle was to blame for her husband's band on the whole courtship thing she had going on.

"Look Meville," she starts, a bit calmer this time, "I am never going to forgive you, but I am not mad at you. You should know that I guess." Feeling awkward, she turns on her heel to start walking back the way she came and go a different way home to get around him and the ongoing snowball fight. She takes a few steps before looking back at the blonde man. She sighs, feeling guilty. She walks back to him till she is about a foot or so away. "Thanks for taking the snowballs for me," she says with a soft smile, "You're not all bad Meville Brightshade. I wish that night turned out differently, but it didn't and I had the worst rest of the year afterwards. That is what I won't forgive you for. It is not what we, but what happened because of it."

Somewhere towards the middle of that explanation her smile turned into a unemotional line of her lips. She has changed since she last saw him. She has changed a lot, especially inwardly. He may have caused some of it, but not all of it. A sigh escapes her lips as she looks at him with soft purple and silver eyes. She never loved him. That would have been absurd, but she did find him interesting at one time. She almost wishes things would have turned out differently and she would have gotten to spend more time with him. Almost.

She thinks before breaking down inside. She really doesn't want to go home to her empty home with only her dog as company. "What are you doing today Meville? Normally I would avoid you, but frankly I am trying to avoid other things more and I need a distraction," she asks, trying to keep her voice even and steady without a trace of emotion in it, "What do you say? Want to do something with the girl you need some major forgiveness from?"

[Meville Brightshade]

He hadn't really had any sort of idea how she would respond to what he had to say. The rather biting remark regarding his untimely delivery of condolences long over-due was to be expected, though Meville had to admit he hadn't been. He really hadn't been expecting anything, so everything that happened was, more or less, out of the blue. He offered her a grimace as the words took their sting upon his slightly exposed conscious. Why had he never said such things to her when everything had happened before? It wasn't as if he'd been paralyzed by fear (though that certainly had a bit of bearing upon it), so why? He let the question hover in the back of his mind as Lorelle let out a sigh that took with it the majority of her rigid demeanor. Her next words were a little confusing. Meville had been practicing his Vani since that night (though not specifically because of what had happened) and understood the words she said but not their meaning. For a moment, he thought he'd just imagined the negative "not", yet that would have made the delivery of what she said absurd or at least peculiar. The first part, however, was understood completely. The one thing Meville had been expecting was her complete lack of forgiveness. She was going about it in a strange way, yes, but that didn't change the fact that she held what happened between them against him. She was right, to be sure. If he'd just kept his nose out of her affairs everything would have been... Different. As she wheeled around to head back the way she'd come, Meville stood there with a puzzled look on his face. Was that it, then? He'd thought they'd at least... Well, he hadn't really expected anything so he wasn't entirely sure what'd he'd thought they'd at least do, but it didn't change the fact he was a little bit disappointed. She hadn't yelled or cried or tried to kill him. Though none of those scenarios were very plausible, at least they had been interesting. She just decided to turn around and leave after assuring him she wasn't "mad" but there would be no forgiveness. He thought about calling out for her to stop, but he didn't really know what to say. After all, she'd cut the conversation short. Unless he was going to throw himself back into the snow and beg for her supposedly unattainable clemency, there wasn't really anything for him to say. Fortunately, Lorelle seemed to feel the brief exchange of words to be worthy of a few more as she let out another, more exasperated sigh before turning around once more to return to a comfortable conversational distance. He nodded along with her explanation where it was appropriate, taking in what she said and evaluating it for what it was. She made perfect sense this time, and the "mad" statement was no longer so cryptic. He hadn't really considered what kind of hardships she might have had to endure after their single night of drunken passion. In fact, he hadn't thought about it at all past the first few days of pussyfooting around the Snowsongs. His repercussions had ended when he'd decided to steer clear of her hold. Hers had, apparently, endured long after the fact. ""It was the least I could do. The snowballs, I mean." His grin faded as hers had when she had been explaining her feelings regarding him. "I won't apologize anymore then." Meville's voice was soft. His Vani wasn't poetic or lyrical like Lorelle's, and his vocabulary, while more than enough for conversing, wasn't quite extensive enough to speak as he usually would. It was enough to get the point across. There was no point in him expressing any more remorse over what had happened. Both he and Lorelle understood the event had occurred, but it was in the past now. They could only move forward. Her last bit brought Meville's customary grin back to his face, lighting up both his eyes and his cheeks with merriment. "Why Lorelle. Are you suggesting I'm not as bad as you thought?" He laughed before she had a chance to respond, shaking his head. "I'm joking. I would enjoy distracting you from the less attractive things in your life." The shouting behind them swelled as several more people entered the fray. "And anything to earn a more appealing light in your eyes is something worth my while."

[Lorelle]

Lorelle gives him a small smile as she gets an agreement from him. She is actually, much to her surprise, quite relieved that he agreed to her proposition. Her distaste for the idea of going home was starting to grow worse in the chimes it took him to answer her. "Great," she says with a pleasant smile and liquid golden eyes. She looks back at the snowball fight and gives a small laugh. She rolls her eyes playfully before looking back to Meville. "I am not sure, but now that I am really paying attention, that just seems like something you would start," she says with a smirk.

She gives a small laugh and a shake of her head. With the roll of her eyes she turns and starts walking away. She turns after a few steps and looks at Meville with raised eyebrows. "You coming?" she asks in her unpracticed common. She has not been working on her common as he has been working on his Vani. It isn't as important for her to work on the common language as it is for him to work on his Vani. She doesn't live in a place where she runs across many people who don't speak her language. Or at least, she hasn't run into that many people. That is aside from Meville. In a way the common language is just a reminder, a link to him. Not exactly she has ever wanted. All that isn't to say though that she has forgotten what she knew back when she first met him. She is still able to have a sort of normal conversation in the language. It just isn't as easy for her to think about, she actually has to think about each word which she doesn't have to do with Vani.

Lor gives him a look that almost challenges him to follow her before she turns once more and starts walking again. She isn't sure if he is really going to follow her, even though he did say he would accompany her today. Whether he goes through with it or not though is completely up to him. Lor prefers it that way, to give him a choice. Either back out or go through with what he said. Or at least implied.

Sighing happily, Lor tilts her head up towards the sky and takes in the cold air. She enjoys the cold air against her face and the touch of Syna's light against her face. She isn't sure where she is going or taking Meville, but she has decided that they will eventually turn up somewhere. Hopefully wherever somewhere is won't be unfamiliar. Sighing, Lorelle turns back to the path ahead of her and continues to walk on. She has decided to ask the blonde human what he would like to do, that is if he has in fact decided to follow her. If he has decided against it, than she will figure something out. Either way she has made up her mind not to go home. Just the decision not to go home has brightened her day some. She walks with a real jump to her step. It is quite evident that she has brightened since she was trying to avoid Meville seeing her. Still, she probably would never admit it though if it were brought up. She just isn't that kind of person and she has found a way to like it that way.

[Meville Brightshade]

Lorelle's smile was certainly unexpected, even when he hadn't been expecting anything that was something that took him completely off-guard. Apparently she really wasn't mad at him any longer. Unless she were a very convincing emotional liar, it seemed as though she actually wanted to spend a little time with him. It was odd, but he felt a little swell bolster his ego ever so slightly. Most times, he was the one to initiate any sort of social contact. It was a strange feeling to be on the receiving end of such advances, but it carried with it an exciting tang. His only response to her playful accusation was sly grin and wink. The snowball fight had mounted to an all-out war. Had he not made the decision to spend time with Lorelle, he certainly would have had no issues sitting back and watching the utter chaos he had created. His distracted thoughts were pulled back when Lorelle asked if he was coming or not. Shaking himself out of the daze with a slight side to side motion of his head, he waved a hand and hurried to fall a half-step next to her's, as was customary for one who was following another. Meville wasn't entire sure what he felt as he moved down the path with the young Vantha. He wasn't afraid or filled with a caution derived from his past wrongs, rather there was a lightness in his chest, as if a weight long forgotten had suddenly decided to both reappear to him and take its leave all the same. She too seemed different from how she'd been before. It wasn't really something he could place exactly, but he noticed it in all the little things about her. For one, she seemed to easily flow from one emotion to the other while still maintaining a fairly controlled appearance overall. The fact she'd used Common at all was interesting as well. It wasn't as if she couldn't understand his Vani like before, so the only reason she would have used it would have been to express her willingness to communicate with him. Perhaps he was thinking it over far too analytically. There were far more Vani speakers than those fluent in Common, so it wasn't entirely uncommon for a Vantha to practice Common with someone who was fluent in both languages (though in this particular case, Meville was at a conversational level at best). Either way, he couldn't help but smile to himself at how strange it was to hear her beautiful, lyrical voice sound out the fairly cut-and-dry syllables that consisted of his native tongue. Lorelle was much like a child who was just told she would be receiving a large quantity of sweets within the next couple chimes. It wasn't a complete transformation, of course; but her foot landed and rose with a light bounce while her smile lit peacefully upon her lips. Her mood had certainly been raised by something, be it her company or just the knowledge that she was avoiding whatever it was she wanted to avoid. Meville, ever the effervescent young man, followed suit, allowing his arms to swing in a content and lazy fashion, letting his feet fall into rhythm with hers, and grinning all the while. When she asked where they should go, Meville bit his lower lip in a brief moment of thought. "I don't know. Were you planning on going somewhere you've been or not?" To him, it mattered little where they went or what they did as long as Lorelle was available for conversation. The lack of alcohol made conversation a much more likely outcome of their impromptu outing, though he was sure she was still a bit wary of him and her own responses to whatever he might say or do. Meville wanted to do whatever she wanted to do to keep her spirits light and her mind distracted from their mutual past. Plus, it wasn't as if Avanthal lacked interesting things to do, especially in the part of the city they were currently at. True, he had effectively shut down a small section of the stalls, but aside from that there was plenty to do. Most of it didn't even cost Mizas, though there was plenty that did. "I'm not very picky. Anything is exciting in its own way."

[Lorelle]

Lorelle didn't have to wait long after her question spoken in Common to hear Meville's footsteps beside hers. A bit of a smile brightened her face a little bit more as she heard them. It meant that he was actually going to go through with his words, something she hadn't been fully expecting but hoping greatly. She walked a chime or so before deciding to finally speak and ask her question. "So Meville, anything you would like to do?" was her question that was soon met with a reply.

He doesn't seem to care what they do and he has left it up to her. Lorelle shrugs at his question. "No, I was going to go home, but obviously I am not doing that now," is her reply. She looks down at the ground in thought. There is plenty that they can do, but she just doesn't know what she wants to choose. Plus he has pretty much left it up to her which makes the decision harder for her to make. She doesn't want to make a wrong move and drive him away. She is that desperate for a distraction right now. This is a fact she doesn't let herself think about for it really does scare her.

That night two years ago had been a very low point in her life. It drove her away from a lot of things in her life. But it also did her some good for it drove her towards other things. Not all good, but she dealt with the hand she was given. She however, never thought she would want to see, much less talk to or interact with Meville ever again. Now though, she has found herself in such a state that she is willing to interact with the person who has, quite literately, accompanied her creating what she refers to as the lowest point in her fairly short life span.

Anyway, all that aside, Lorelle looks towards Meville and let's all that slip from her mind for the time being. It is not important enough to acknowledge past being wary to not let him get to close to her or to steer clear of any drink that could put her in a drunken state. Not that this is something hard to do, she hasn't had much wine or really anything like it since that night. "Why don't we go ice skating? I bet we could get some laughs out of watching each other trying to stay on our feet," she suggests the first idea that pops into her mind with a small laugh ringing in her voice.

The last time Lorelle went ice skating was with Jesslyn, one of her few friends. It was the first time they met and defiantly an experience for Lorelle. She had never met a blind Vantha before and that changed with meeting Jess. Now though, Jess has been rather down. It is a whole story that Lorelle doesn't really try to think about, yet she can't help think about it as Jess is one of the only people she actually worries about. Yet, Lorelle isn't thinking about that now. Instead she is thinking about trying to find something to do with Meville that will be fun and keep her mind off of her life for a little bit. Even if that does mean she has to take a couple falls and risk injuring herself.

[Meville Brightshade]

As with everything that had left Lorelle's lips since the beginning of their dialogue, her response was surprising. It wasn't such a strange activity really. Many people in Avanthal would head to Mirror Lake and skate away the day when they had the time to do so. He couldn't help but smile at how very quaint it was. They hadn't seen each other in two years after a veritable falling out, yet now they were going to go ice skating together. He had to admit, he liked the idea. Meville had never been ice skating before, which was a little strange for a resident of the Avanthal. The fact Lorelle didn't seem to be too confident in her abilities meant she wasn't the world's greatest skater either. "That sounds interesting." He offered her a playful grin as they adjusted their trajectory to head towards the lake. Their strange encounter had left him at a loss for words. Supposedly they'd cleared the air, and Meville didn't really feel much of a pressure to say anything in particular. He was curious about what she was avoiding, but decided it was best not to bring it up as he was the distraction. It would have been in very bad taste to discuss what she was trying to forget for the time being. As they moved through the snow, Meville reached out and picked some up, nibbling away at the handful as he eyed the few people they passed. It was a relaxed day in the city. There wasn't even much of a snowfall, and the sun glinted against the frozen precipitation making it sparkle and glimmer. It was all just so ideal, Meville couldn't really let it continue. Balling up the snow, he casually tossed it at the back of a head in front of them. The man quickly turned around with a look of surprise that quickly changed into annoyance. He rolled his eyes, muttering "children" under his breath and quickened his pace. Meville reached out and picked up some more snow to suck on. "So have you skated before, Lorelle?"

[Lorelle]

Meville was a child. Or well really it is more like he is acting like one. Throwing snow, trying to cause a disturbance in the peace. It is actually quite annoying. Especially when Lorelle is included in the comment of the Vantha man Meville made his prey. Lorelle looks over at him after the man walks away at a fast pace and gives him a disapproving glare. He asks a question though so she decides not to say the comment that is rolling around in her head. "Yes I have, not much and not much that I can remember, but I went skating with a friend just this past spring. Not exactly the best experience as we both fell quite a bit, but it was still fun," she explains.

She looks around at the snow some more as a silence settles between them. She isn't fond of silence. Well she is most times, but not right now. Now it is just making her uncomfortable. So she thinks about what she should try to strike up a conversation about. When her mind draws up a blank, she mentally panics a bit. She starts wondering if this was really a mistake and she shouldn't have asked him to distract her today, but she soon pushes the thoughts away. A distraction is just what she needs and she knows that. She just now has to make it work and actually have herself be distracted.

"So Meville, it's been two years, what has happened to you since then?" she asks, and then realizing she is asking without giving she adds, "Not much has happened with me, I grew up. I got a dog, I moved out, I work at the library, so yeah not much." She gives her short answer, not wanting to get into super deep details. She really doesn't want a ton of details from him either, she just wants to ask to get a conversation rolling. The silence has tired her.

[Meville Brightshade]

Lorelle's disdain at his childish antics was rewarded with an innocent shrug from Meville. The peacefulness had to be stopped. It just didn't seem to fit with what they were doing. In fact, what they were doing didn't seem to fit with what they were doing. The whole idea was absurd, and that was why Meville was rather determined to perpetuate it. He could count on one hand the number of times a young woman he had slept with in a drunken stupor wanting to spend a day out with him after the fact. Of course, the actual circumstances were far more complex than a simple jest, however the fact still remained Lorelle was willing to give him a chance. A chance for what exactly, Meville wasn't sure. Friendship? Certainly not romance. That ship had sailed a long time ago. Fortunately for both of them, each seemed to be putting aside the cargo that should have been on said ship. It gave the two of them the possibility for something between them, whatever social label. "Then you'll have to teach me the proper way to fall!" His chilled lips parted into his usual warm grin as images of the young woman splayed out upon the icy rink came to mind. A chuckle bounced out of him as he returned to munching on his snow. The cold spread through his mouth, coating it in a gentle numbness. It didn't taste like anything special, which was good seeing as it had to potential to be filled with gods knew what. He was rather wrapped up in his examination of the snow through taste to really notice the silence all that much. When he didn't have anything in particular to say, Meville simply didn't say anything. Idle chatter came to him when he found it necessary, but seeing as he was already absorbed in his contemplation of the frozen mass in his hands, when she spoke again he gave her a slightly startled glance before blinking it away and listening. Her question and answer that followed were greeted with an interested frown. "Very ah... Condensed." He shook his head, chuckling slightly at how seemingly uneventful her life was. She appeared to not really want to discuss her personal life. Meville didn't have much of a problem steering clear from her particulars in her past. It wasn't as if what she had done the past years were completely uninteresting to him, but rather they weren't interesting to her. She seemed to want to talk, just not about herself. "Well, my father died last Winter. I have a job at the Warrens. I've recently taken to juggling..." He bit his lower lip and gave her an apologetic wince. "I don't have much either." Meville's brow knit together, "About that first thing you said..." He raised the corner of his right brow, "I think I forgot to do that. Growing up." Meville winked and chuckled to himself, biting into his mound of snow. The frost had numbed his fingers which felt like soft pieces of ice against his nose. "Do you think it's worth it? Growing up, I mean." He dropped the half-eaten mound, scooping up another off of a wall they passed by. "I can't decide. It just seems so... dull."