Open Ice, Ice, Baby

[Juniper Veritas]

It was almost time to go home, thank Merlin. But before they'd be able to go home for the holidays there was a ball, Yule ball. Juniper had worn a blue dress for the occasion and had found some flowers to put in her hair too. As she walked into the Great Hall her eyes widened as she took it all in. She had to admit that the decorations were beautiful and she'd never really seen snow before so the first thing she did was crouch down and touch it. "Oh," she breathed out at the odd sensation. There was so much she could do but as her eyes landed on what looked like maybe ice? She made her decision. She was going to ice skate. She'd never done that before. It could turn disastrous, but she wanted to try. Hurrying over the first year found skates in her size before sitting down to put them on, how did one put those things on? Looking around helplessly she tried to look at the other students and how they were doing it. They were lacing them up, how tight was she supposed to do them though?

Out of Character:

also yes i didn't know what to name the thread so I'm going with that

 

[Zeke Baros]

Zeke hadn't asked a date to the ball since there was no one he actually wanted to ask, and he wasn’t about to gamble the night away stuck with someone whose idea of excitement was slow dancing and kissing, yuk! Or even worse, they had nothing to talk about and simply sat in silence all evening. No, he was happy just doing his own thing and that started with ice skating apparently. He wasn't an experienced skater by any stretch, but he did own a pair of boots and laced the skates like he did his boots. He noticed a kid from his class watching him do it and nodded in her direction. "Need some help?" He offered. She did look like she needed it.

 

[Juniper Veritas]

As she was caught staring Juniper's eyes widened and she pursed her mouth into a tight line. Would it be embarrassing to say yeah she needed help because she wasn't used to this type of shoes and they were kind of hard to lace up anyways? Maybe but since he'd offered so nicely.... "Please? They are kind of um tough and hard to lace up..." She said awkwardly. In her defense the thickness of the leather needed much more strength to lace tightly than she currently possessed! Maybe that was a sign she shouldn't go on the ice... but she was too curious not to try it.

 

[Zeke Baros]

Zeke gave her a nod and thought about the logistics of how he was going to help her. He couldn't reach her laces when wearing skates himself so he decided pretty quick that instead of doing it for her, he'd give her instructions instead. "Okay so pull the boot up and lace up to the top. You want it tight as possible yeah?" He explained, "They need to support your ankle." In the meantime, Zeke had to work out how he was going to get on the ice. He carefully stood up and kept his balance by holding onto the railing for now.

 

[Juniper Veritas]

Juniper followed the instructions the best of her ability. They needed to support her ankles, hopefully there would be no ankle snapping today... Fueled by that idea she put all her might into lacing them up as tight as she could. After her first one was done she gave a small sigh of relief and then moved onto the other. It took her a bit but she did it eventually, only to realize that she now had to get to the ice. Looking to the boy that had given her instructions before she gave a soft shrug and followed his lead on holding onto the railing, it felt weird standing on blades like that. She had to take the hem of her dress and tie it up so it wouldn't get caught. "Thank you, for um helping me out and sorry for staring..." She said softly to the boy hoping he'd hear. Juniper hoped she didn't look as she felt: A penguin waddling forward.

 

[Zeke Baros]

Zeke took so long getting onto the ice that it looked like he was just waiting for Juniper. Which if anyone asked him, is exactly what he’d say he was doing because why else would it take him several minutes to get onto the ice and be clinging to the railing for that time? "Oh, huh, no worries." He answered when she thanked him. Once on the ice he started to feel okay. Like he was balanced which made him feel confident.

He glanced back at Juniper, he was okay with her staring. “Hey watch this,” he said, like he was about to do a trick. Then he pushed off from the railing. His arms flailed but his feet stayed pointed straight ahead and he glided forward. Well, coasted really with enough momentum to move a few inches before he stopped completely. But he didn’t fall on his arse so that was a win.

 

[Juniper Veritas]

Juniper held onto the railing for dear life as she got onto the ice. She was sure if she let go she'd fall. Her head snapped towards Zeke as he told her to watch something he was doing. Her eyes widened as he pushed himself off the railing. Her heart leaped in fear that he'd fall and hurt himself but instead he just kind of moved forward a little bit before stopping completely. A giggle escaped her mouth before she slapped one of her hands to cover it but she was still laughing. "That's nice make sure to do plenty of that for the both of us. This railing will be my best friend tonight I fear." She old him after she'd removed the hand from her mouth, so it wouldn't get muffled. Moving on the ice even with the railing as support felt far too unsteady for her, but then again she wasn't sure how to move on the ice.

"Am I supposed to just like... walk? Or how do you move forward, walking feels a little... odd?" Juni mused looking back down at her feet trying to figure out what to do. Zeke had pushed off the wall to move like that, she wouldn't. If she did she'd fall. Probably. Most likely. Like she had almost done at the flying class. The way the other kids were doing it too looked very weird... Kinda pushing their feet forward, but how did they stay upright?

 

[Zeke Baros]

Zeke was completely still with no momentum to get himself going again. He was balanced like this, but he felt like if he tried to move even just a little bit, then he would fall, and he really didn't want to fall. He twisted a bit when Juniper laughed but he couldn't turn around properly because that would involve moving his feet, and if he moved his feet, he'd fall. Ah. And she was asking him how to skate. “I have no idea. I can’t move.” he admitted, “This is fine. I'll just stay here now. Just bring me snacks in a bit. Okay?"

 

[Juniper Veritas]

Juniper laughed again as Zeke said he had no idea how to move. Seemed like they were in the same boat then. She considered his words about her bringing him snacks in a little bit then tested the ice, yup still slippery. Juniper kept testing, letting go of the railing for a bit and feeling far too wobbly, but she'd come here to skate not just hang onto the railing. Pursing her lips together Juniper pushed herself off the wall and towards Zeke, trying not to collide with him and luckily for both of them she didn't. "Sorry no snack delivery but at least we are stuck here together now." She said with a grin as she tried to still balance her wobbly stance. "I take it you aren't a pro at ice skating either?" She asked giving him a glance once she found balance again, though she kept sending mental prayers to Merlin that she'd not lose her standing.

 

[Zeke Baros]

Zeke was undecided if what Juniper just did was very brave or very stupid, but either way she had done it and now she joined him stuck on the ice. "Oh hi!" He said, he could see her properly now that she was in his eye line. Zeke was telling his legs to move so he could go somewhere but they weren't listening. He wanted to skate, but it seemed he didn't want to fall even more. "No, no I'm a pro. Can't you tell?"

 

[Juniper Veritas]

Juniper wasn't sure what to do now so she just looked at everyone around them, some of whom skated like pros some who seemed just as awkward as her on their skates. Letting out a small giggle again Juni looked at Zeke, who much like her was very much stuck in place like a real pro. "Yes, absolutely a pro." She said with a smile. Juniper spied more on students who seemed to know what they were doing and pursed her lips together. "Okay, I am going to try and move. If I fall promise not to laugh at me?" The Hufflepuff said, trying to keep her voice serious as she raised her pinky finger. "Pinky promise on it." She said, her serious act falling apart as she smiled brightly.

 

[Zeke Baros]

Zeke would normally laugh his head off at someone falling on the ice, but since he was now at risk of being one of those people it wasn't so funny. He bet people were already laughing at him remaining motionless on the ice but he didn't really care. He nodded and stretched out his hand to pinky promise on it. "Can you reach?" Zeke suddenly had an idea, "If you grab my hand then I might be able to pull you to get momentum." It was ambitious, but worth a try he thought. If the people around them could skate then it probably wasn't that hard once you get going.

 

[Juniper Veritas]

Juniper's smile widened as he pinky promised on it, pinky promises after all were still a very very valid transaction. You didn't just break one you swore on that. Junipers eyes that had started to wander already returned back to Zeke, brows furrowed in confusion at his words until he further explained. "Oh okay," She said before grabbing his hand. "If you push me over though, I'll..." She started just in case the boy decided he wanted to push her over but let's be honest there weren't many threats she would or could make... "I'll feed your Herbology pumpkin to Pumpkin." She finally stated, remembering they hadn't shared herbology together and forgetting that he didn't know about her cat so she was just threatening to feed his pumpkin to another vegetable...

 

[Zeke Baros]

Zeke had not been thinking about pushing Juniper over, but her absurd threat meant he was now considering it. He inched his hand a little bit away as he held it out, so she would need to stretch that little bit further to get it than before. "Yeah you can trust me." He said, trying to sound reassuring.

 

[Juniper Veritas]

Juniper reached out further as Zeke's hand seemed further away. It seemed a tad too far away so she had to really reach for it now. He said she could trust him though so Juniper reached a little further only to be put of balance and start stumbling towards him. Her legs were slipping, desperately trying to stay up but as the fate would have it the ice was too slippery and all Juni could do was yelp on her way toward Zeke hoping he could dodge before she took him down with her.

 

[Zeke Baros]

Zeke couldn't move out the way, he hadn't figured out how to do that with skates on.

 

[Juniper Veritas]

Juniper shamefully collided with Zeke, effectively sending them both towards the ice. Maybe she’d feed herself to her cat, once the shock of the moment wore off.

 

[Zeke Baros]

Zeke couldn't keep his balance when they collided and fell backwards, landing on his arse which would likely bruise. He started laughing at the whole situation though. "What was that? You were supposed to grab my hand!" He said between laughs.

 

[Juniper Veritas]

Juniper was startled out of her state of shock by the laugh. She quickly scrambled off of Zeke she'd landed on, her cheeks flaming up at his question. "I'm- I-..." She started, still a little bit stunned but then she, too, began laughing. "I'm so sorry, I tried? But then your hand, it was too far and I lost my balance." Juni got out after her laughter calmed. Oh thank Merlin he didn't seem angry with her. "I'm so sorry, I didn't hurt you did I? I was hoping you'd maybe dodge but, oh Merlin I'm sorry that was embarrassingly clumsy." Burying her face into her hands, still laughing but trying to hide the embarrassment written all over her face in red.