Log: Skating with P'ax
Who: P'ax, Milani
When: It is a winter afternoon, 14:51 of day 8, month 13, turn 18 of Interval 10.
Where: Lake, High Reaches Weyr
What: P'ax and Milani take a spin and a race around the lake.
The afternoon is stretching towards late over the frozen lake and more than one figure is out there skating. Milani is among them, hands holding a child's hands and skating backwards, demonstrating. "And move your feet /just/ like that," she says with a laugh, moves back a little more, then gently lets go to watch her pupil try a few staggering strokes on his own.
Yyth's landing is heralded by a flurry of snow. When it clears, P'ax is already on the ground, a pair of ice skates slung over his shoulder. He glances out towards the lake where people are skating and smiles. He wipes off the snow on a boulder and sits down on it to exchange his skates in for his boots. This done, he totters out carefully onto the ice, sliding onto it when he crosses the boundary between land and frozen lake. He skates with the practice of someone who grew up doing this every winter. Milani catches his attention as he's making his first loop and he veers to make a sharp turn and come back towards her. "Hey there!"
Milani is still keeping an eye on her small charge, moving slowly, though she has the look of someone very comfortable on skate blades. She looks up as P'ax approaches and smiles back. "Hey P'ax! How's things? Isn't it great it's cold enough to skate?"
P'ax nods his head vigorously, making an easy loop around Headwoman and child to slow his momentum and come to a stop. "I'm excited to finally get to use my skates. I had to bring them up from the Hall when we moved here but I didn't get to use them since." Not that the time seems to have affected his ability. "Teaching a new one?" The child is glanced at.
"You didn't get to use them at all when you were a candidate? Really?" Milani boggles at P'ax a little. "Well, it's one of my favorite things to do all winter. Skate." She smiles at him again and swoops forward as said student bobbles and she offers a supporting hand. "Mmmhm!"
P'ax grimaces, "They were still on the wagon. See, we packed our things up and had them brought over land, but we caught a ride by dragon, so we didn't have a lot when we got here. By the time everything caught up, the eggs were close to hatching anyways and things got a little crazy. As it was, my father's had to sort of... sneak me my things. My mother's still a little mad. Only a little. But enough."
The boy Milani is helping smiles up at her for the steadying hand then takes a breath, tries again, looking stubborn and determined. "Ohh, I see. Shells, still mad after all this time?" She pushes off and skates slowly making a loose loop around her student.
P'ax pushes off to glide slowly after Milani so as to keep the conversation up. "My mom knows how to hold a grudge," he says with a shrug. "Very stubborn woman. She's convinced I broke her heart and disappointed family tradition or something. She'll get over it and come around eventually. And if she doesn't, I really don't care."
"Seriously? A grudge, because you Impressed, instead of Smithing?" Milani just sighs, rolls her eyes a little. "I guess everyone gets uptight about this stuff. Riders want their kids to Impress, Crafters to follow in the same Craft, Holders to marry and settle down to hold and have babies. It's crazy-making."
"We all want something for our children," P'ax agrees mildly, skating off a few feet so that he can make another wide arc, his hair ruffling back with the cold air whipping past. "Have to accept that they make their own choices at some point."
"Well you're preaching to the choir on that," Milani says with a laugh and turns around slowly in a circle so she can keep P'ax in view. "I don't get why people get so hung up on that stuff."
P'ax lifts an eyebrow. "Pressure from your mom to be a rider?" He wonders as he glides towards her, extending a gloved hand towards her when he's within reach.
Milani laughs and shakes her head. "Oh no. Neither of my parents are like that. My mother /did/ want me to do /something/ and I can't blame her for that really. I mean i was almost fifteen and still kicking around the lower caverns doing absolutely nothing but getting in trouble and being a pain in the behind. So she talked me into helping out the headwoman and talked her and the Weyrwoman into letting me try it and hey, you know, 5 turns later, /I'm/ the headwoman."
P'ax grins. "Sounds like a pretty nice story of success, Milani. Dunno, I'm pretty content with what I've got right now. Who knows, though. When I'm 20, maybe I'll start getting somewhere, yeah?" His nose scrunches like he can't imagine that far in the future.
"Mm. Can't really complain. I like my job," Millie says with a little smile and starts clapping as her student turns about on his own and starts heading towards them. "Good job, Barei!" She shoots a look sidelong at the former Smith though. "What, no ambition? Hmm. And you know if your mother is so put out, could always smith on the side. It's an Interval. You'll have time."
P'ax grins. "I know, I can tell. Nice to see you taking a break though. Always have to hunt you down in the caverns when I want to see you." He shrugs. "Well, not that I'm not ambitious. Suppose... it's more a matter of not being sure that I have any aptitude for leadership. If that makes sense. I'm very content to do what I'm told. Probably will, you know, keep smithing. Well, chemicals, at least."
"Oh, I come out and skate almost every evening while there's ice," Milani tells the greenrider with a grin. "So. Now you know where to find me most evenings," she says with a little laugh and nods. "Some people are ambitious for it whether or not they have any talent at it." And she makes another little turn about on the ice.
P'ax chuckles and ducks his head. "Yeah, now I know. And don't think I won't come to find you, either." He watches her for a moment and smiles just a little. "Yeah, know a few folk like that. Not me, not one of those."
"Mmm, I know. Wouldn't have told you if I minded," Milani says with a little shrug of her shoulders and glides over to meet her student. "Okay, now, want to try backwards?" The kid looks up at her uncertainly, then shakes his head. "Nah, this is good for tonigh, Millie. Thanks!" So saying Barei skates unsteadily for shore with Milani waving after him. "A good start," she notes of the lad and skates back to P'ax. "Race?" she suggests mildly.
P'ax watches the boy go back and a slow, sure smile spreads on P'ax's face. "Milani, my dear... you're on." He glances across the span of ice and back at her. "Care to name the terms of the course?"
Flashing P'ax a bright grin, Milani gestures around the lake. "Once around, end where we began." She tilts her head a little. "Ready?"
P'ax nods his head once, sharply. "Ready," he affirms, turning to stand beside her and glancing over at her to wait for a signal.
Skate blades aligned, Millie leans forward a little. "On your marks ... get set ... go!" she gives the signal before taking off. She's pretty fast she is and clearly used to racing.
P'ax is quick after her, and his long strides make it clear he's not giving up that easily. They're pretty evenly matched as far as height goes, and he keeps up with her tenaciously.
And it's down to business. Head down, legs and arms pumping. Milani picks up a little speed, going for broke around the lake's curve.
P'ax saves his speed for the straight-aways, leaning into the curve and planting his feet to zoom around the half-circle and back into the straight again.
There's no looking over from Milani just more and more fast skating and she takes that turn really tightly. Risky. She doesn't lose her balance this time though.
P'ax doesn't beat Milani, but it's pretty close. He turns to the side and skids to a stop when they get back to where they started. He bends over to rest his hands on his knees, grinning at her. "Nice race."
Whoosh. Milani skids over the line they left behind laughing, cheeks flushed. "Fun!" she calls out over her shoulder and glides back around again. "Thanks P'ax. Go again a minute?"
When: It is a winter afternoon, 14:51 of day 8, month 13, turn 18 of Interval 10.
Where: Lake, High Reaches Weyr
What: P'ax and Milani take a spin and a race around the lake.
The afternoon is stretching towards late over the frozen lake and more than one figure is out there skating. Milani is among them, hands holding a child's hands and skating backwards, demonstrating. "And move your feet /just/ like that," she says with a laugh, moves back a little more, then gently lets go to watch her pupil try a few staggering strokes on his own.
Yyth's landing is heralded by a flurry of snow. When it clears, P'ax is already on the ground, a pair of ice skates slung over his shoulder. He glances out towards the lake where people are skating and smiles. He wipes off the snow on a boulder and sits down on it to exchange his skates in for his boots. This done, he totters out carefully onto the ice, sliding onto it when he crosses the boundary between land and frozen lake. He skates with the practice of someone who grew up doing this every winter. Milani catches his attention as he's making his first loop and he veers to make a sharp turn and come back towards her. "Hey there!"
Milani is still keeping an eye on her small charge, moving slowly, though she has the look of someone very comfortable on skate blades. She looks up as P'ax approaches and smiles back. "Hey P'ax! How's things? Isn't it great it's cold enough to skate?"
P'ax nods his head vigorously, making an easy loop around Headwoman and child to slow his momentum and come to a stop. "I'm excited to finally get to use my skates. I had to bring them up from the Hall when we moved here but I didn't get to use them since." Not that the time seems to have affected his ability. "Teaching a new one?" The child is glanced at.
"You didn't get to use them at all when you were a candidate? Really?" Milani boggles at P'ax a little. "Well, it's one of my favorite things to do all winter. Skate." She smiles at him again and swoops forward as said student bobbles and she offers a supporting hand. "Mmmhm!"
P'ax grimaces, "They were still on the wagon. See, we packed our things up and had them brought over land, but we caught a ride by dragon, so we didn't have a lot when we got here. By the time everything caught up, the eggs were close to hatching anyways and things got a little crazy. As it was, my father's had to sort of... sneak me my things. My mother's still a little mad. Only a little. But enough."
The boy Milani is helping smiles up at her for the steadying hand then takes a breath, tries again, looking stubborn and determined. "Ohh, I see. Shells, still mad after all this time?" She pushes off and skates slowly making a loose loop around her student.
P'ax pushes off to glide slowly after Milani so as to keep the conversation up. "My mom knows how to hold a grudge," he says with a shrug. "Very stubborn woman. She's convinced I broke her heart and disappointed family tradition or something. She'll get over it and come around eventually. And if she doesn't, I really don't care."
"Seriously? A grudge, because you Impressed, instead of Smithing?" Milani just sighs, rolls her eyes a little. "I guess everyone gets uptight about this stuff. Riders want their kids to Impress, Crafters to follow in the same Craft, Holders to marry and settle down to hold and have babies. It's crazy-making."
"We all want something for our children," P'ax agrees mildly, skating off a few feet so that he can make another wide arc, his hair ruffling back with the cold air whipping past. "Have to accept that they make their own choices at some point."
"Well you're preaching to the choir on that," Milani says with a laugh and turns around slowly in a circle so she can keep P'ax in view. "I don't get why people get so hung up on that stuff."
P'ax lifts an eyebrow. "Pressure from your mom to be a rider?" He wonders as he glides towards her, extending a gloved hand towards her when he's within reach.
Milani laughs and shakes her head. "Oh no. Neither of my parents are like that. My mother /did/ want me to do /something/ and I can't blame her for that really. I mean i was almost fifteen and still kicking around the lower caverns doing absolutely nothing but getting in trouble and being a pain in the behind. So she talked me into helping out the headwoman and talked her and the Weyrwoman into letting me try it and hey, you know, 5 turns later, /I'm/ the headwoman."
P'ax grins. "Sounds like a pretty nice story of success, Milani. Dunno, I'm pretty content with what I've got right now. Who knows, though. When I'm 20, maybe I'll start getting somewhere, yeah?" His nose scrunches like he can't imagine that far in the future.
"Mm. Can't really complain. I like my job," Millie says with a little smile and starts clapping as her student turns about on his own and starts heading towards them. "Good job, Barei!" She shoots a look sidelong at the former Smith though. "What, no ambition? Hmm. And you know if your mother is so put out, could always smith on the side. It's an Interval. You'll have time."
P'ax grins. "I know, I can tell. Nice to see you taking a break though. Always have to hunt you down in the caverns when I want to see you." He shrugs. "Well, not that I'm not ambitious. Suppose... it's more a matter of not being sure that I have any aptitude for leadership. If that makes sense. I'm very content to do what I'm told. Probably will, you know, keep smithing. Well, chemicals, at least."
"Oh, I come out and skate almost every evening while there's ice," Milani tells the greenrider with a grin. "So. Now you know where to find me most evenings," she says with a little laugh and nods. "Some people are ambitious for it whether or not they have any talent at it." And she makes another little turn about on the ice.
P'ax chuckles and ducks his head. "Yeah, now I know. And don't think I won't come to find you, either." He watches her for a moment and smiles just a little. "Yeah, know a few folk like that. Not me, not one of those."
"Mmm, I know. Wouldn't have told you if I minded," Milani says with a little shrug of her shoulders and glides over to meet her student. "Okay, now, want to try backwards?" The kid looks up at her uncertainly, then shakes his head. "Nah, this is good for tonigh, Millie. Thanks!" So saying Barei skates unsteadily for shore with Milani waving after him. "A good start," she notes of the lad and skates back to P'ax. "Race?" she suggests mildly.
P'ax watches the boy go back and a slow, sure smile spreads on P'ax's face. "Milani, my dear... you're on." He glances across the span of ice and back at her. "Care to name the terms of the course?"
Flashing P'ax a bright grin, Milani gestures around the lake. "Once around, end where we began." She tilts her head a little. "Ready?"
P'ax nods his head once, sharply. "Ready," he affirms, turning to stand beside her and glancing over at her to wait for a signal.
Skate blades aligned, Millie leans forward a little. "On your marks ... get set ... go!" she gives the signal before taking off. She's pretty fast she is and clearly used to racing.
P'ax is quick after her, and his long strides make it clear he's not giving up that easily. They're pretty evenly matched as far as height goes, and he keeps up with her tenaciously.
And it's down to business. Head down, legs and arms pumping. Milani picks up a little speed, going for broke around the lake's curve.
P'ax saves his speed for the straight-aways, leaning into the curve and planting his feet to zoom around the half-circle and back into the straight again.
There's no looking over from Milani just more and more fast skating and she takes that turn really tightly. Risky. She doesn't lose her balance this time though.
P'ax doesn't beat Milani, but it's pretty close. He turns to the side and skids to a stop when they get back to where they started. He bends over to rest his hands on his knees, grinning at her. "Nice race."
Whoosh. Milani skids over the line they left behind laughing, cheeks flushed. "Fun!" she calls out over her shoulder and glides back around again. "Thanks P'ax. Go again a minute?"