[Mirror Lake] Ice Skating (Darren) (Cheshire)

[Berus]

26th Spring, 511 AV

Berus panted heavily as he stretched, his nearly non-existent leg muscles whining about his choice to run to lake rather than walk. His breath filled the chill air with warm bursts of steam before the wind, which was rather weak today, finally overwhelmed it and made it surrender to the ever cold atmosphere. Of course, the poor panting bard continued to spread his rebellious breath as he laboriously attempted to catch his ever retreating breath. He crouched down, legs spread so as to stretch them as far as they could go, as if he was about to pounce upon his breath like a predator on an unsuspecting white rabbit.

Today was a pristine day by Talderan standards; the breeze was cool and the snow was thick, yet the new flakes from the sky were sparse and one could travel outdoors without their cloak and still feel relatively comfortable. Berus decided to adopt that today, ditching his blue, hampering cloak so that he could move about more freely. Even without his encumbering cloak the jog proved almost too much for his admittedly untrained body and nearly was his undoing. However, now that he had arrived at the Mirror Lake he was certain he could recover enough to still come out best in the coming contest.

He finally rose up to his impressive height and cast his sparking green eyes about. The lake before him was incredibly smooth and, as its title suggested, seemed as if it were a giant mirror. The ice was completely solid all the way through, quite a peculiar miracle that Berus heard was due to the imaginative use of Morwen’s powerful gnosis. Berus thought it odd that he had visited the place so few times in all of his life and never once had he stepped out onto that ice.

Today, he would rectify that.

And he would do so for no better reason than to win a five gold miza bet with Darren Whitevine.

Berus whirled on the spot, awaiting his opponent’s footsteps. Yesterday, in a drunken stupor, they had made a bet that the one who could learn to ice skate fastest and complete the quickest lap would receive five shiny gold mizas from the loser. It was high-stakes and very silly bet, yet it was one on which Berus was determined to collect his due.

This is gonna be fun.

[Darren]

Jogging along practicing his horse stride Darren made his way to Mirror Lake. He woke up a bit later then he wanted and found himself heading to the park in a rush. Either way it was gonna be a good warm up for him. He knew that Berus himself was probably going to prep himself and possibly try to learn a bit without him. Cursing at his weakness to alcohol, normally he wouldn't find himself drinking but he found himself drinking alongside Berus. Probably to help cheer him up after Fight Crew and possible tease him for a bit. "Tck, it's what I get for taunting him after. The guy is probably a bit peeved still that I tried to bury him not too long ago," He said seeing Berus across the lake. He looked at him and grinned, he saw that he was still bruised from his debut. He's probably still sore also he thought as he greeted Berus. Berus had a inspired look on his face Darren noted as he shook hands with him. Hmph, It's always fun to crush people's hopes underfoot he thought as a somewhat dark smirk appeared on his face. Options started to run through his head, not that one destined to be the best could lose to one such as Berus in a simple gamble. Alright I can always throw him at a snowbank, I can also tie his laces together or loosen them when he's not looking, possibly use flux to increase my speed if I get the hang of this skating thing, and finally I can beat Berus and take his wager money in the end he thought as he looked at Berus, ...and give it back to him as his prize. In anticipation of the event he fixed his gloves taking a look around the circuit they are about to do before he turned back to Berus. Darren then, playfully punched Berus's shoulder to see how sore he was from Fight Crew.

[Berus]

Berus shook hands with Darren, smiling broadly. Though he seemed calm and happy on the outside his thoughts were whirring with activity and his blood boiled with anticipation. Just wait till I get the big lug out on the ice. He may be good on land but once he’s sliding around my agile little form will have the advantage! Revenge for that whole mass burial affair will be so sweet… I’ll just come up behind and BAM-

Smack! His thoughts were interrupted as Darren playfully punched him on his sore shoulder. The punch was weak but Berus, already not the strongest of men and not even in the greatest condition after the recent bout with the fight crew, found himself stumbling as he attempting to keep on his feet. His shoulder hurt, though more from the sore muscles not enjoying the hit rather than any serious injury.

Determined not to show weakness and topple his sort-of-rival, he straightened with only minor wincing and refrained from rubbing his poor assaulted shoulder. Cheerfully, and with only a small hit that he was in pain, he taunted Darren, “Try that again when we’re out on the ice and you’ll fall on your face! I look forward to collecting those coins from you today, my friend!” He considered sticking his tongue out but just barely suppressed the childish urge.

No doubt about it; today is going to be fun!

Berus whirled about and used his right hand to shade his eyes from the sun. He looked off across the lake a moment then muttered to himself, “So where’s our teacher…” He realized his behavior might be a little too eager and quite a bit juvenile but he could hardly care at the prospect of his first ice skating trip and the opportunity to get revenge for Darren’s grave prank.

His excitement was tempered with confusion as he turned back to face Darren again, however, and his words quickly explained it. “I err.. I don’t know where we go to get lessons. Do you?” He smiled sheepishly as his lack of knowledge in the lake was exposed.

[Cheshire]

In the small cabin off of mirror lake Aldin sat quietly on a stool across the counter from his twin sister Savina. She was keeping herself busy by quietly writing out the expenses and income they had gathered over the past few days. Aldin on the other hand was not kept as interested. He was a smart man. There was no doubt about that at all. He just didn't have the mind to keep up with the expenses, or at least he claimed he didn't. "Sis, are there any lessons lined up for today? I am bored out of my mind." Savina's eyes looked up from her charts and papers only to flicker an annoyed shade of green. "There is one lesson at the moment. Two young men, a Snowsong and a Whitevine." Aldin nodded, his eyes turning a light blue. "That stinks, I hoped it would be a couple girls. You know what I mean Vina?" Savina meerly shook her head and looked back down at her papers. "They will be here soon. How about instead of thinking about girls you do your job?" Savina was a kind woman at heart but when she was doing business she made sure everything was kept professional. Outside Aldin scanned the lake for his prospective students. He was dressed lightly, at least for a Vantha. He wore loose coat and pants along with a pair of skates slung over his sholder. His job was not the most masculine in the city but he liked it. Mostly for the chance to have clumsy women lose their balance and cling tightly to his clothing. He let out a small chuckle at the thought as his eyes caught the pair of men at the edge of the lake. He jogged over to their side and held out a hand. "Hello new recruits. I'm Aldin Coolwater and I will be you skating teacher today." His eyes glowed a warm purple as he spoke, silently sizing up the two Vantha. He already had an idea about who would be the faster learner. He placed a finger on his chin and looked at the two men. "Okay, Snowsong and Whitevine. I'm going to take a wild guess to say neither of you have skated before, correct?" He could tell that neither were big skaters by the fact that they didn't own skates, or at least didn't bring them. "Reguardless, we are going to need to get you some skates. My sister takes care of that. She is the genius twin. I am meerly the good looking one." An obvious hint of joking nature hung on his words. "Come on, it's not that far of a walk to the cabin. As the three of them walked Aldin kept up his stream of commentary. "So troops, what are we looking to learn today?" He did not expect the boys to learn anything to complicated. Most men just wanted to learn enough to skate with their sisters or girlfriends. "I'm willing to teach just about anything. You can't find a better teacher except Savina, my sister. She doesn't teach much though."

[Darren]

"No idea" Darren replied as he looked around the area. He didn't know who was who in the area, and to him it looked like everyone in Avanthal knew how to skate. The only time he came to the area was usually to try out fishing for once but soon found that even if you carved out the top area of ice it just freezes over the very next day. That was a very disappointing day he brooded over as he also found that there weren't anymore fish in the lake. Thankfully what looked to be a very casual looking Vantha came over to them. He gladly shook his hand to introduce themselfs, "I'm Darren Whitevine and this is Berus Snowsong. Nice to meet you Aldin." Darren replied as he took in the figure before him. It looked that he kept himself in decent health and liked what he did, something one can respect he thought. "Yes, haven't skated until today. And we are having a little competition to see who would pick up ice skating faster." Darren explained. Darren's senses suddenly picked up when Aldin led them to the cabin. There was something notable about the man, perhaps it was his joking nature or his comment of being the good looking one that caused Darren to tense up. Either way, by the time they finally reached the cabin he knew what was the cause of this. This man...is a player! Or at least a very confident pervert he thought as he looked at his instructor with a grin. A sense of reverence to his instructor overcame Darren as he nodded furiously at the man's question. "Yes master instructor! Teach us everything you know, so that one day we might be able to do the same!" He shouted in a tense, disciplined position.. He looked at Berus giving him a pleading look. He wanted to convey to him that they must learn absolutely everything they can about this man. For he is... Darren thought looking fiercly at the CoolWater, A man's man!