Skating lesson for Saul... on Defense Against the Dark Arts

Briony

June 22, 2007 1:26 AM

Skating lesson for Saul... by Briony

It was Friday and Briony sat in her dad's office finishing lacing up her white ice skates. When she was done she pulled down the light blue leg warmers. Entering into the main portion of the classroom, she gingerly stepped onto the ice and took a few long strides. This rink was substantially larger than the one in class had been. It took up most of the classroom with only about a foot border of walking space around it. All of the desks had been moved for the occasion. If she was going to teach Saul, then she was going to teach him properly. Besides, skating in one's shoes wasn't nearly as much fun as real ice skating.

Pushing off to pick up speed, Briony could feel her muscles tensing, enjoying the movements. She did a few three turns, one of the easier steps before going into one of the more difficult ones. When she was younger, they had lived near a year round ice rink, where she could go every day and did. She missed it and was always reminded of just how much when she went with her father for their annual trip, just as she was being reminded now. If she could do anything in the world forever, she thought this would be it. She could feel the adrenaline pumping through her veins. The surreal feeling washing over her. The rest of the world was gone and there was only this. She went around a little longer, doing various small jumps, before pulling one leg up over her head, holding onto the skate to perform a Biellmann spin and releasing to top it out into a sit spin. Coming back up, she dug her toe into the ice to stop, fairly pleased that she was still flexible enough to perform the action.

Feeling hot, she did a few laps to cool down before getting off the ice to wait for Saul. She went back into her dad's office to get some water. He was sitting at his desk, working on lesson plans. She gave him a smile. Her dad hadn't been happy about the lesson, only because it was his daughter spending time with a boy. Of course, it was a good thing that her dad didn't know what she really thought of Saul. Otherwise, this lesson wouldn't be happening. But with some mild puppy eyes and an assurance that they were just friends, he had relented. After all, who was he to deny a student the opportunity to learn to skate? He had even agreed to conjure a pair of skates for Saul to use for the lesson. Water now in hand, she took a few sips. Now, all there was to do was wait.

0 Briony Skating lesson for Saul... 0 Briony 1 5

Saul Pierce

August 30, 2007 2:04 PM

That last line was probably bad luck by Saul Pierce

OOC: Sorry, I really didn't mean to make you wait this long. BIC:

Saul had been excited about meeting with Briony to ice skate ever since she suggested it. Now that the time was nearly upon him, he was even more so. He practically bounced the entire way from the Pecari entrance in the Gardens to the DADA classroom, the handful of people he'd talked to on the way probably thought he was on something because he was twice as Saul-like as normal. He thought he might have told Echo something about the fate of water near Mickey's dog when asked where he was going. Or maybe he had quoted Shakespeare. He really couldn't remember exactly. Judging by Echo's expression, he probably hadn't made any sense.

That was okay, though, because he was going to learn to ice skate.

Reaching the DADA classroom, he entered with a deeply indrawn breath of excited anticipation. For a moment, his blue eyes went wide as he took in the rink that had taken over the room and his lungs stalled as he forgot to even breath for a moment. Then his eyes lifted and found Briony and he broke into a wide grin. "Hey, Briony, this is great. Your dad is so awesome." Which, admittedly, wasn't anything he would have ever said before today, but such a transformation of the room could only have been done with the DADA professor's permission and most likely his help. Saul certainly had had enough trouble getting his tiny bowl of water to freeze. But Briony hadn't seemed to have any trouble with the spell, so just in case she did freeze the room herself, he added, "You are so awesome, too."

He noticed the shiny blades on her shoes and pointed, suddenly worried because this was ice skating and he didn't have any skates. Simon could have transfigured him some if he'd thought about it before now. "I probably need a pair of those, right?"

1 Saul Pierce That last line was probably bad luck 82 Saul Pierce 0 5

Briony

August 30, 2007 3:04 PM

Good thing, I'm rather patient by Briony

Blue eyes wandered to the boy that had just walked in. He had actually come! Getting up, she greeted him, "Hi. I'm glad you could make it." She didn't say anything about the statement about her father, but a thoughtful expression came to her slightly freckled face. Her dad really was great.

Of course, the next words out of his mouth made her blush. She tilted her head away, hoping he wouldn't notice. Of course, her hair normally would have hid the state of affairs, but unfortunately at that moment it was tied back. She shifted slightly in her skates, hoping he wouldn't notice. She would be mortified if he knew she liked, liked him. He probably didn't like her like that and it would probably just ruin the friendship if he knew.

She was thankful when he noticed the skates that she was shifting around in, "Yeah, my dad said he would transfigure a pair of his to fit you. I'll go get him."

Walking to her dad's office, she popped her head in, "Dad, Saul's here."

A wane smile touched Drake's face. She was growing up so fast. With a sigh, he got up, grabbing a pair of his old skates and came out to the main room. "Hello, Mr. Pierce. You'll be wearing this pair of skates," he greeted, holding up the pair. They were black and red, a little worn, but the blades had been sharpened not to long ago. The only thing that needed done was to fit them to Saul's size. "What is your shoe size?"

0 Briony Good thing, I'm rather patient 0 Briony 0 5

Saul

September 04, 2007 9:42 AM

Very good thing. You're awesome. by Saul

Oh, good, he wasn't expected to have skates of his own. Saul grinned in bright greeting at the professor he had - until pretty much just now - been a tiny bit afraid of. But any guy, no matter how scary they wanted to appear, couldn't be all bad if they lent out their classroom and old skates to their daughter's friends.

"Uh, size ten, I think," he answered the question, lifting one foot into the air and looking down at his canvas high tops doubtfully. Normally, when he needed new shoes, he said, "Mom, I need new shoes," and new shoes appeared in his tent sometime the next day. There were no brand names on them, and he honestly wasn't sure if they were bought or made. If they didn't fit, somebody would magically adjust them until they did.

But 'ten' sounded like a good number, and he was pretty sure Uncle Greg said his boots were a size ten and they mostly fit Saul when he had to borrow them. Those might have been adjusted to better fit Uncle Greg, though. "Shoe size doesn't really mean a lot in my family," he admitted.

1 Saul Very good thing. You're awesome. 82 Saul 0 5

Briony and Drake

September 05, 2007 11:37 PM

Back at ya :P by Briony and Drake

Drake nodded, as he sized the skates to a ten. "The size will serve as a guideline. Here put them on and we'll see if they need to be made bigger or smaller. It's really important to have the right fit with skates to ensure ankle support. Otherwise, you'll risk doing damage."

A bright smile shone on Briony's face. Her dad was the best in her view. He might have seemed like an angry, dark man, but he was rather nice and caring.

Once the skates were all fitted, she gave a grin at Saul, biting her lip slightly in excitement. "Ready? Oh, and don't worry, they should feel awkward to walk in off the ice."

And then a look at her dad of Go away. Drake gave a wane smile before heading back to his office. Little girls grew up much too quickly.

0 Briony and Drake Back at ya :P 0 Briony and Drake 0 5

Saul

September 06, 2007 10:12 AM

Excellent by Saul

Saul got to his feet and nearly fell over as all his weight was put on one single line per foot instead of distributed over his whole feet. Fortunately, there was Briony to grab onto and he kept from falling flat on his face. Again.

"I have no Seer's talent," Saul commented wryly, "but I foresee a lot of falling in the next couple of hours." Walking was weird in the skates, but it wasn't far to the nearly room sized rink. Between him and Briony, they got him onto the ice without taking a spill until he was actually on the slick surface of frozen water. He was glad of the gloves he'd borrowed from Michael or his hands would be freezing right now as he got his feet under him and carefully straightened himself back upright.

"Okay," he said, once he was precariously balanced on two feet again, "What do we do first?"

1 Saul Excellent 82 Saul 0 5

Briony

September 07, 2007 1:15 PM

Lesson 1: Don't fall by Briony

Briony had to agree with Saul's fortune. It was plain to see that he would probably be sore later from falling, but she hoped he wouldn't let it deter him. Once one got the hang of it, skating was really fun.

Once on the ice, Briony put a little distance between them and hoped he wouldn't fall just standing there. "All right. In order to glide on the ice, you want to move one foot out on the ice at a time, like we were doing in class. However, this time, you don't want to have your foot go straight out, but curve a little out. Here, I'll show you, watch my feet."

She did a little demonstration in front of him, then turned around and skated back to the spot. She held out her hands. "Your turn. I'll support you while you learn to balance."

0 Briony Lesson 1: Don't fall 0 Briony 0 5

Saul

September 10, 2007 6:29 PM

Easy for you to say by Saul

OOC: I'm assuming Drake had figure skates, not hockey ones BIC:

"One foot at a time," Saul repeated, putting action slowly and carefully to the words as he imitated what Briony had just done. He managed to glide forward about half a step when his back foot caught the toe pick on the ice and he abruptly spilled with no further warning. His knee jammed hard into the ice and the heels of his hands took brunt impacts as well, though they fortunately kept his face and chin from hitting the cold ice.

He rolled over to sit on his butt and looked at the skate at the far end of his legs where they stretched out in front of him. "Is there some reason why the skates are all pointy and grabby up at the front there?"

1 Saul Easy for you to say 82 Saul 0 5

Briony

September 11, 2007 10:32 PM

Re: Easy for you to say by Briony

OOC: Good assumption.

BIC:

Briony hands automatically went to cover her mouth. She knew that falls were inevitable, but for Saul it seemed harsher to her. "Are you okay? You may want to put ice on your knee later." She gave a little laugh at the irony of it, but she suspected that it would be sore, if not somewhat swelled, later.

'Is there some reason why the skates are all pointy and grabby up at the front there?'

Glad he wasn't hurt, she explained a little more about figure skates, "They're called toe picks or toe rakes. They're used for jumps. If you were comparing a figure skate to a hockey skate, you would also notice that these blades are thicker and mounted whereas hockey skates the welded to the boot and the blades are thinner to allow the player to be faster and for stops. Actually, if you want, I could show you. I could have my dad transfigure a pair to show you."

That's what he had done when he had been teaching her to skate. First, they had to go through all of the theory, which had been really boring at the time since she had been so young. Then, she had been allowed on the ice, but wasn't allowed to try jumps or anything. It had taken a long time forever to get to where she was now with it. It was unfortunate that when she had started at Sonora, she had let it go, save for midterm break.

0 Briony Re: Easy for you to say 0 Briony 0 5