Open Unsteady Giraffe

[Eris Athanasiou]

Could Eris have taken this opportunity and sneaked off outside, perhaps even into the forest? Yeah, but she was only going to be a first year attending her first ever Yule Ball once in her life so it would have been a waste to do that. Walking into the Great Hall she peered at everything around her, considering what she wanted to do before ultimately deciding on trying her luck on the ice. Eris had a great balance and though she'd never ice skated before in her life, it really could not be that hard?

Walking towards the skates she took a pair in her size before walking over to a seat so she could put them on. As she began lacing them up she thought about the boots she'd forgotten to bring over to the school with her. Aunt Sofia had put some weird charm on them so they didn't get muddy, because the woman HATED mud, had she taken those boots with her she'd saved herself from that point loss earlier in the year. Not that it really mattered. Once laced up Eris attempted to get up but turns out balancing on the blades was a tiny bit harder than it looked and she was left looking like an unsteady newborn giraffe. But hey on the bright side she hadn't fallen, she was just wobbling a little with each step.

 

[Hudson Triss]

Hudson wasn't sure about this whole idea of attending the Yule Ball, but it seemed like everyone was going, and his parents had gotten him a nice set of dress robes so he figured he'd better attend. The first year found himself near the skating area after wandering around for a bit and decided to try it out. He had skated a few times before, but he was never very good at it. Hudson tied the laces tight and managed to push himself out on the ice, laughing as he went the slowest pace he possibly could without falling. "I'm doing it!" he exclaimed to no one in particular.

 

[Eris Athanasiou]

Eris finally made it to the ice, without falling down mind she add, her eyes shot up as someone exclaimed with glee something. She watched as another first year seemed to be doing quite well on his skates. "Show off..." She muttered to herself as she held onto the side of the rink for dear life, her legs still wobbling and threatening to give out. This whole thing was ridiculous but she couldn't give up now, no way. She would be good at this too, if only to prove herself she could do it. Letting go of the side with a strong push forward the first year took a sharp inhale, prepared to either kiss the ice or feel her behind smack down on it, but neither did happen. Instead she looked up at the boy that had exclaimed just before as she glided towards him at an alarming speed, oh... "Um, CAN YOU DODGE?" She yelled at him with alarm in her voice because she realized if he didn't dodge they were going to collide. Eris didn't know how to stop her legs from gliding forward. Merlin, how did the brakes work on ice.

 

[Hudson Triss]

Hudson kept going slowly across the ice, one foot in front of the other, with the least amount of grace. He had not moved very far when a girl yelled something about dodging and he looked up at her, panicked, as he had stopped on the ice and wasn't sure he could get going again. "Can you not stop?" he questioned, trying to move his feet to get going again in an almost comical way. Finally, he moved himself far enough out of the way so he wasn't in the girl's direct trajectory.

 

[Eris Athanasiou]

Eris watched with no small amount of relief as the boy moved away from her course, because no she wasn't able to stop. "I don't know how to? Maybe I'll stop on my own eventually before colliding?" It was more of a hopeful question than a statement as she kept going forward. She could swear someone had jinxed her skates because he speed didn't seem to be decreasing, quite the opposite actually.

 

[Hudson Triss]

Hudson thought for a moment as the girl realized she couldn't stop and remembered something his dad had taught him. "Oh! I think you're supposed to use your toe to stop. You like, point it at the ice and it helps you stop." He wasn't sure if that was exactly right, but it seemed like someone should help the girl from faceplanting or running into someone.

 

[Eris Athanasiou]

Eris pursed her lips together, contemplating for a moment if she should try what the boy had instructed her to do. She attempted it. Pointing her toes, or more accurately just her whole foot, at the ice and it did stop her. However it managed to stop her too quickly because she'd done it just slightly wrong and now she was left trying to rebalance herself so she wouldn't eat the ice for a snack. By whatever string of luck was carrying the first year tonight she managed to gain her balance, just about. Turning to the boy she gave him a smile. "Thank you, that was close I have never actually ice skated in my life and figured it couldn't be that hard...." She explained before waddling his way like a penguin, every now and then throwing a bit off balance and having to steady herself.

 

[Hudson Triss]

Hudson held out his hand incase the girl needed help, feeling a little awkward about doing so. But he wanted to be nice. "You're really brave for never skating before and then trying to skate here in front of all these people. I'm Hudson, by the way," he said, trying to keep his own balance as he stood still on the ice. He decided to move his feet a little and started going around in a slow circle as he continued to talk to the girl. "I wish I could do fancy tricks."

 

[Eris Athanasiou]

Eris shrugged at the wording brave, maybe stupid would be more accurate or at least irresponsible, given all the horrid ways this could still end. However lucky for everyone around her Eris' wasn't too bothered by that fact right now smiling to the boy she nodded and instead of taking his hand to sort of hold onto she shook it. "I'm Eris," she told him, having finally found her balance on the ice. "I mean staying up alone should be considered a fancy trick and then doing that," she gestured to whatever black magic his feet were doing, moving without it looking like he was five seconds from taking a chomp of the ice. "I don't think I could even attempt to move and make it look that smooth." The brunette frowned a little, she'd seen winter Olympics from the telly once and had no idea how some of the athletes jumped and spun on ice and then someone told her there was no magic involved. Yeah and Merlin was just a silly street rat.