Open A Day To Skate

[Sera]

OOCI really hope this is alright and not too scatterbrained. I need to stop typing so late at night. (I actually write stuff n a notebook and then transfer it over, so yeah...) Though she’d never admit it out loud, Sera thought Yousef was really cute. She couldn’t help but smile at him as he spoke. “Eyktol?” She repeated, mostly just to speak the word out loud, but also to try and remember it. When he mentioned feeling uncomfortable, the girl slipped backwards. Luckily, she steadied herself before actually hitting the ice, but not without a bit of strain on her back. The girl winced inwardly, then looked at Yousef with a sheepish smile. But, it didn’t last long. “So, wait… you feel uninvited here?” She asked, her eyes darkening to shades of blue. Sera looked away from Yousef and tried to focus on a few smaller kids skating on the ice. Even though she tried to hide it, to anyone, it would be obvious that she was saddened by his comments. Avanthal was her home. And even though sometimes the place got on her nerves, as well as the people, she always thought that her people were kind and welcoming to outsiders. Not once had anyone ever said they weren’t. ‘How can I make him feel better? He should feel at home here!’ She played with her braids awkwardly, then looked back at him. “Yousef… what would make staying here better?” She asked, her musical voice shaking slightly. As she said it, she realized how she didn’t know how long he’d be around. “How long have you been here anyways?” The questions kept coming."And what do you mean? It wasn't your choice to come here?"

[Yousef]

Telling a citizen of a city that their place felt uninviting is no way to thank their hospitality. Even if he was just speaking his mind. Ugh I’m so stupid! And everything was going well too… “I-it’s not that Avanthal itself that makes me feel uninvited, I mean… Avanthal’s great…” Oh no. Oh no his mouth was on autopilot. “Yeah really great, I mean, um, just look at all the snow.” He gestured accordingly with forced enthusiasm. “Back in Eyktol we only have miles and miles of golden sand and sometimes it gets in my sandals, which causes a really bad rash if you don’t take it off while you’re traveling.” Yousef droned on, but he knew Sera wasn’t paying attention, at least for now. Yousef bit the inside of his cheek as he thought of what to say to Sera, he didn’t want to lie, but he wanted to lighten up the mood. He looked down at his skates and replied “You don’t have to go through all that trouble, I’m doing fine here…” he glanced at her, she was fumbling with her braids as she spoke, it made him want to laugh. She looked like his younger sister, double braids and all. “Look, it’s cold here and sometimes… sometimes it gets to me,” he said slowly, picking his words as to not offend the Vantha “The weather outside is harsh. All snow and cold air, and for someone who’s spent their whole life knowing the sweetness of the sun and sand its… unwelcoming at first.” He noticed Sera’s face fall a bit so he quickly picked up what he was saying, “But you know the one thing our places have in common? It’s the warmth of the people. Avanthal may be cold and filled with snow but the people are warm and kind, everyone keeps a little of that warmth inside them, I see it in their smiles and in their gait. And the best part is they’ve been sharing this warmth with me the whole time,” he smiled at Sera then “and that warmth is enough for me, I don’t need the desert, even the desert would feel cold if the people were uninviting.” He shrugged and ran a nervous hand through his hair, hopping silently that he got his message through. “As for how long I’ve been here… I’d say about nineteen days? I’ve arrived around the last day of Winter.” And as for her last question… Yousef steadied himself on ice, he didn’t like seeing Sera’s upset face, so he turned on his feet. His balance was better than last time, and he began doing circles around Sera, slow careful circles. “And this— whoah!” he missed a skater by an inch, “Er… this is the answer to your last question.” He smirked playfully, he wasn’t about to admit to himself—or to anyone—that he got lost on his way to Wind Reach.

[Sera]

Sera was at a loss of what to say. She didn’t even know how to respond as Yousef continued talking. It was clear that he hand’t meant to offend her. She took his words to heart though. It really did sound that the people were kind to him. When it came down to it, that is what mattered most. No amount of weather could outshine the spirit of a group of people, be it good or bad. So, Sera decided to just forget about the sided comments that were said. Yousef didn’t mean anything offensive by it. She watched as he began to circle her, skating very deliberately around her. “What are you doing?” She asked quietly as he moved, barely missing a nearby skater. It was cute and quite funny. She smiled at him kindly, her eyes returning to their normal stance and then held out her hand. “Well, Yousef, if you really mean what you say, would you like to be my friend?” She had to ask, it’s what she did.

[Yousef]

“What I’m doing?” he repeated, “Well, I was sort of answering your last question…” mumbled the Benshira embarrassed and he slowed down, at least he didn’t have to tell her that he got himself lost. What she said next however, made Yousef smile from ear to ear. “Friend?” he echoed, as though unsure of what he’d heard. But Sera’s face confirmed it, he chuckled, low and heartily then shook the Vantha’s hand. “Of course, of course. It would be an honor.” What a fantastic turn of events. A few chimes earlier all he expected was to learn how to skate, who would have known he’d end up making a friend. Now I have somebody to skate with. He almost laughed at the thought, as if they haven’t been skating this whole time! A group of younger teenagers swiftly passed by them, they were laughing and shouting at each other in Vani. Ah, that looks fun. Yousef thought as he watched them head off, hmn fun huh? An idea lingered in his head as he held the other’s hand. “Hey Sera, how well can you skate?” he said, a playful smirk evident on his face. “Let’s race!” he tugged on her arm excitedly, “Let’s do it! It’ll be fun!”

[Sera]

When he agreed to be her friend, Sera actually jumped out of excitement, a bit off of the ice. She let out a little squeal as she landed and amazingly kept her balance on the skates. Yousef also seemed happy, so Sera decided that NO MATTER WHAT her day was going to be wonderful. “Yay! A new friend!” She exclaimed in Vani! “Oh sorry…” She switched her words to common. “I am so happy!!” Her eyes showed it. A group of young teenagers raced passed them, calling each other silly names and challenging one another. Sera tilted her head to the side and watched. Oh how she missed the frivolous fun kids got into. She wrinkled her nose pondering how she really had grown up, a bit at least. She had a job, was working to support herself, and even dealt with some “serious” issues. But it still didn’t seem like it was too long ago when she had been running around, dancing in the streets and playing pranks on poor innocent people. Suddenly, Yousef broke her thoughts. He was tugging on her arm, giving her a smile, and asking if she wanted to race. Sera’s eyes changed again as she looked at him. It did sound like fun, lots of fun, in fact. Exciting fun! She batted away his hand and nodded. “Alright… You’re on!” She shouted and pushed past him, skating as fast as her legs could push her. Now the fun thing about this, was she was heading straight towards where quite a few people who were skating, slowly minding their own business. And maybe it was childish… but he did ask for a race. And she was determined to win.

[Yousef]

Yousef stared in disbelief as Sera headed off without so much as a warning, the girl merely batted his arms away, accepted the challenge and pushed past him. “Women.” He muttered under his breath as he pushed himself forward, careful not to be too forceful. Yousef knew exactly how competitive women could get and he almost regretted his decision to challenge her. He leaned forward and extended his arms, trying to gain speed, or at least a good pace, Sera was already a few meters away. The wind felt good against his face, chilly but good, it felt great to forget the freezing air for once and just ride it instead. The breeze felt welcoming, exciting and it kept him stroking faster, wanting the rush of the cold air against his face some more. As he approached Sera, he noticed she took the route through a group of people who were skating pretty close to each other. Too close. He thought, he had to maneuver himself around them. Sera had led him to an obstacle, “Sera, you—!” Yousef called out but he was out of breath, part of it from skating the other part from laughing. This girl meant business, she definitely wanted to win, and it amused him in turn. He slowed his pace a bit and made his way though the crowd, apologizing to everyone he bumped and collided with. When he made his way through, Sera was already a lot farther away. He let out a breath of air and bent his knees and pushed as hard as he could, he faltered a bit as he glided and he dipped dangerously low but he caught his balance on the last second. “Sera, that was really unfair of you!” he yelled in a mock-hurt tone.

[Sera]

Sera looked back as she heard Yousef's voice. She dodged a nearby woman skating, who threw a few tainted insults her way. "Gee! Calm!" Sera replied under her breath and slowed to a stop as she watched her new found friend skate between a few people. What he said worried her. She wrinkled her nose. Okay, I might have made a bad choice... She shook her head slightly. Damn it Sera, don't be weird around a new friend! The Vantha skated towards Yousef. Her skates' blades caught against each other, making her trip a bit. She smiled at him a bit embarrassed. "Let's just say I won!" She said with a smirk as she slid past him accidentally, then turned to a stop, facing him. So, she hadn't really gotten the control down for being on ice. "I mean, I did, didn't I?" She stuck her tongue out at him jokingly, trying to pull the attention away from her unsteadiness. With no thought, Sera held out her hand. "So, how about we don't run... er skate away from each other anymore and just skate together. As fun as racing is, I'd rather learn the basics with a friend, not necessarily competing with them." Alright, it might have been a peace offering.

[Yousef]

Well, that got her attentio—ohh—I hope she’s alright. Yousef cringed as Sera barely missed a stranger. The Vantha woman didn’t seem the least bit amused and left saying something rapid in Vani. He bit his lip and gave Sera a sympathetic smile. Yousef carefully placed his left foot down, slowed, teetered and came to a stop. He smiled brightly as Sera made her way towards him, “Let's just say I won!” the Vantha declared in a bold voice. Yousef held back a snort and raised an eyebrow, “You won…? Well that’s hardly fair—” he began, matching her tone then Sera skated right past him, turned around abruptly to face him then continued to insist her victory. He shook his head as small chuckles erupted from him, the girl reached out her hand once more. “Basics eh?” he echoed as he stared at her outstretched palm and he grinned, a realization dawned upon him. “Wait, so, you’re not that good with skating yourself? That’s great! We can learn together!” he clasped his hand around Sera’s and shook it enthusiastically, well, maybe a bit too enthusiastically. “Oh, uh, I mean that in a good way… We can, er, learn together as friends?” he said in an unsure tone, the corner of his lips twitched nervously. “And besides, it’s your birthday, another day older! More room for new experience!” Yousef forced out a laughter just to cover up for his sudden babbling. He scratched his head, faced away from her then said “So, what do we do first?” From a far, a skater does an elaborate jump, lifting herself from the ice, she turned in mid-air then elegantly landed back on the frozen lake. The Benshira stared in awe. “Sera! Did you see that? It’s like she flew!” he turned back to face her, his eyes wide with amazement as he pointed at the skater, “Do we learn to do that? Oh that would be awesome! Can you imagine doing something as amazing as that? We would look so cool won’t we?” his voice trembled with excitement as he made erratic had gestures, like child who received his first toy. Yousef realized this though and he had to bite his lip to stop himself from saying anymore. “I, uh, mean if that’s okay with you. To do that...?” He shot Sera an apologetic grin.

[Sera]

When Yousef took her hand, Sera squeezed it. But then he started shaking it about, a little too wild for her taste. Once she was able to pry her hand out of his grasp again, he had started rambling on about... well a lot. "No, I can keep my balance, and skate alright when I really try, but I'm not exactly too comfortable on the ice." Sera smiled at him kindly, drawing from his energetic personality. But for some reason he seemed nervous. 'Oh Goddess! Was that cause I tried to hold his hand? I didn't mean it as anything like that?' A blush tainted her cheeks. 'Oh no! That must have been why he shook it so much! Now he's just trying to be nice and he's rambling on about anything... What do I do? What do I do?' She wrinkled her nose, trying to change her thoughts, all the while looking at Yousef. She couldn't deny it, he was cute. And as he talked, it made her smile. He was one of those people with a charming personality that just drew people in. Sera felt as if she could listen to his nonsensical ramblings forever. Not that what he said didn't make sense, it did. It just wasn't completely coherent. Or maybe Sera was just too distracted. And then he pointed out a woman who was skating... no not skating, DANCING. She was literally across the ice. Sera followed the woman with her eyes, her mouth open slightly as she watched. "Yes." She replied emotionless as she watched the girl continued to make leaps and bounds across the frozen water. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" Sera turned to Yousef and grabbed his shoulders. "Let's do it!" She giggled and looked back at the same woman. "Let's learn to fly!" She jumped up and down in place on the ice, barely keeping herself standing as every time she landed the skates slipped a it underneath her. "Okay, what do we do, then?" She skated away from him and tilted her head tot he side, studying the woman as she continued her moves. There was one major problem with this spontaneous idea. And that was that they'd HAVE to learn the basics before conquering anything too drastic. Sera related everything the woman did to dancing. Even though there was a lot more to it, that was the simplest was to approach it, in her mind. "Hm..." She looked at Yousef. "See how she braces herself she she jumps and when she lands? That must be difficult, but she makes it look so easy." The girl looked down at her legs. "Maybe we should try something simple, no twirls or twists... or anything too acrobatic." With bright green eyes and daring as expression, Sera waited until she had enough room, and then skated forward. Once she got enough speed she tried to push off of the ice. As her skated left the ice, she knew she had done something wrong. For, she didn't know how to land. She let out a slight scream. When her skates hit the ice, she slipped forward and landed, face down on the ice. Frustration dripped in her voice, "Okay... bad idea." She lifted herself up. "Really bad idea." Her arms hurt. But on top of that, she was intensely embarrassed. Sera looked at Yousef with a sideways grin.

[Yousef]

“Let’s learn to fly!” Sera said as she shook his shoulders a bit, her eyes sparkling with enthusiasm as she did. Instantly the Benshira’s face lit up. He liked that idea, flying on ice and it seemed to suit the Vantha in front of him quite well too. “Yeah! Let’s fly.” He replied with equal enthusiasm, it would be great to feel the wind’s comforting rush once more. Yousef nodded as Sera explained how the girl’s routine worked, he understood as much. It was much like when he tried to glide earlier on, he had to brace himself for skating faster. His skin prickled with excitement as Sera prepared to do a jump, he balled his fists and tried to ignore the slight pang of worry that mingled with his anticipation. You can do it Sera! He cheered her on silently, afraid to ruin her concentration. The Vantha’s eyes flashed a bright green as she lifted herself off the ice, she did it! But her confident expression was replaced with alarm as she was about to land, the Vantha slipped and fell on the frozen lake. Oh no. “Sera! Sera! Are you alright?!” He called out as he hurried to her side, almost slipping himself because of his haste. As he reached Sera’s side she had already sat up, “Okay... bad idea.” The girl grinned humorlessly. “Are you hurt anywhere?” asked Yousef, too worried to pay attention to what the Vantha girl was saying. He took her arm and squeezed it gently, “Any bruises? Oh I’m sorry this is all my fault, can you breath properly? Did you sprain yourself?” Instantly his gaze darted to her feet and looked at it carefully, she could move them at least, no broken bones, I think. Turning back to Sera he continued to prod her with concerned questions, “Do you need to see a doctor? There are people nearby, maybe we could ask them for help? I’m really sorry Sera, I shouldn’t have suggested such a stupid thing. Oh did you break your nose, here let me have a look…” He took off his glove—instantly he felt the prickling chill of the wintry air but ignored it—and he cupped Sera’s cheek, turning her face carefully to his. “Oh, it looks fi—” An odd color flashed in the Vantha’s eyes and at the same time, Yousef realized he was too close. The Benshira colored and reeled back hurriedly, bowing low as he did. He knew he said sorry more today than ever did during the past few seasons, but he said it once more. “I apologize Sera, I just, um, I was too worried. I made a stupid suggestion.” He shifted his weight from one foot to another and fumbled with his buttons, trying to avoid her eyes as he continued, “But um, the good news is that… your nose isn’t broken…”