Walk on ice (Open)

[Lino Vidal Cartagena]

He could hear it crack.
He could see it, and it wasn't a matter of him being heavy. No, Lino was a charming young man whose steps were similar to those of babies. His hair wasn't though.

It fell over his shoulder, still. There wasn't any wind to move any of the loose strands over his eyes, either. He was forced to push them aside, his icy fingers meeting his forehead for a second. He stopped.

Considering how cold the weather was, and how inappropriately dressed he was, his skin wasn't as cold as your everyday human would've been. There weren't any everyday humans around him, so we'll settle for halflings.
He was a flamehalfling, that was the difference.

The white bracelet, his controller, slipped down his arm as he pushed away his fiery red hair. Well, it was russet, but it stood out more given the bland colors that he was surrounded by.

The light blue of the frozen lake, the different shades of green from the trees, the brown bark, and of course, the sky, that seemed rather, white. It wasn't necessarily cloudy, no, but the usual blue wasn't there. He looked up, staring.

He wasn't his usual self this morning, no. He was calm, as if he was effected by the serenity of the location, for once. He could feel the ice through his blue converse. The white laces weren't tied. He didn't know how to, or rather never bothered trying. He didn't intend to trip, either.

Yes, his hair definitely stood out. Even his olive complexion appeared to be blending in. Slowly he took of the tee shirt he'd been wearing, throwing it on the ice. Now it was clear that the tight jeans he'd been wearing had fallen below his waist, slightly above his hips.

He touched the band-aids that were wrapped around his body for a moment. He'd gotten into a fight and broken a rib, along with of course a couple of cuts and bruises that he hadn't bothered treating. Those were over his right arm. He exhaled, loudly, as he pressed his fingers against his ribs, not as gently as he should have. He lowered his gaze for a moment, looking at the white that covered his body.

A snicker started to form on his lips. What was he doing? Getting soft?

No, Lino didn't intend to stop fighting aimlessly, nor to start actually training.

He felt weak when he'd pressed his fingers against this band-aids. He shouldn't have.

Moving once more, he fiddled with the pink bandage that was on his right cheek. Some girl had gave it to him after the fight, and he'd actually used it.

His steps were light, slow, though they were getting faster. Then, when his speed had reached that of running, he let himself slip, sliding across the lake and then laying down.

Cold.

The icy coldness wrapped around him felt refreshing.

[Haruka Fukuhara]

It might have been cold and windy and icy and everything, but it sure as hell was not boring. Well, not out here anyways. Haruka had once again grown bored of being indoors and snuck out - again. Instead of going to the track as she normally would, she hiked all the way down to the lake, taking a mild interest in leaving deep bootprints on the ground. Since the avian halfling had taken an alternative route, she failed to notice that there was someone else who was already at her planned spot.

The halfling paused, looking around the forest with mild interest. The tree bark was half covered in green, the dark brown ridges barely showing through in the sheer expanse. She, on the other hand, was perfectly visible, wrapped up in a black coat, a long red scarf almost trailing onto the snow behind her. Her breath billowed in a small cloud as she exhaled, temporarily vying the sharp amber eyes invisible. Even though it was cold, Haruka was still wearing a skirt, thin legs protected by a pair of dark gray leggings and ankle-length boots. She still wasn't cold though.

Unprotected hands pushed the black sweatband up to her brow, keeping hair from falling into her eyes - she needed a haircut soon. The sweatband served a second purpose - keeping her powers at bay. Not that Haruka would mind being able to talk to birds; she was just bound by school rules. As annoying as they were, she didn't like the consequences of breaking the rules. Purposely wandering around without some sort of controller on was considered the worst crime in Styrewood.

Pushing the thought aside, the girl traipsed back to her original intended destination - the lake. As expected, it was frozen over, the normally ever-moving expanse halted by a layer of ice. The days were getting colder and there was no doubt that soon the ice would be thick enough to go ice skating.

And talking about ice skating, there was some red thing sliding towards her. Haruka's eyes flicked towards the figure, watching as he slid - obviously not in control of his movement - and lay on the cold ice. Now that wasn't smart. The halfling had at least that much sense in her. He looked heavier than she was, yet the ice wasn't breaking. It meant she could get onto the lake, right?
Hopefully Nekonny wouldn't find out about this. He could kill her.

The avian halfling put a gentle foot onto the ice, adding her other one once it showed no signs of wear. She didn't bother announcing her presence to the other person and instead half slid and half walked across the ice. It would be nice to ice skate soon. Unabashedly she made her way over to the other person, "your shoelaces are untied," Haruka informed him, allowing a slight smirk to come across her features as she stopped a distance away. It might not have been too close but she could see the pink band-aid from here. And it amused her. A lot.

[Lino Vidal Cartagena]

"Eh...Unless you intend to tie them for me, love, I don't give a fuck," Lino spoke, calmly. He pushed himself up, struggled to push himself up. As he merely slid closer to the other halfling, he crossed his legs, looking at her with increasing interest. He knew her, didn't he? Yes, she was doubtlessly one to be getting in constant trouble; those were the only kids that he actually bothered trying to remember.

"Hmm...Haru..." he said, not bothering with a questioning tone as he simply tilted his head to one side, eyes look up at her expepctingly. He rested his elbows on his knees, the palm of his icy hand against his cheek. "Hello,"he smiled weakly.

Lino was greatly doubting himself at the moment. He didn't recall any blows landing on his head, or face. The only thing that came near his eyes during the previous fight was a knife, which had been the reason that he had the pink bandage on his cheek. Luckily, the fight had been ended not too long after weapons were drawn out.

He examined her. She was sane, which wasn't as comforting as he though it would be. That was probably because he wasn't holding onto his own. Lino really didn't know what he was holding onto, or what he was, or at least what he considered himself to be. He'd assumed that most considered him a delinquent, careless, and lacking in sanity.
His eyes, lingering, held onto her figure, refusing to drift away elsewhere.

What did he want, a cold? That was the only logical reason for someone to be sitting on a frozen lake, shirtless. No, for Lino, warmth and coziness were but means to keep him tamed. Well, not only him... Though that was somewhat contradicting comsidering the way he was acting at the moment; Slightly restless, though still calm. He was just tired, exhausted.

He ran his free hand through his hair, letting out a feeble sigh. [color=Pink "What brings you here, love?"[/color] he inquired, lips curling into a smirk.

[/color][/font]

[Haruka Fukuhara]

"Eh...Unless you intend to tie them for me, love, I don't give a fuck,"
Haruka shrugged, she herself rarely bothered to lace her shoes more than once. She preferred just slipping in and out of them; it was much simpler that way. And even now her boots didn't have laces. The smirk grew wider as she saw the male struggle to get to a sitting position, the ice obviously not helping the case. However, he hadn't so much as shivered even though he was out here for... well, she didn't know how long he had been out here for. But longer than she had been.

"Hmm...Haru..."
Green eyes met amber ones and she nodded, "Haruka," she replied, "I don't care which you call me." Normally she wouldn't have made such an offer, but he just seemed to be one of those people that she got along with - not necessarily without fight. If one didn't fight, they generally didn't get to look all beat up or anything. Being one of those very troublemakers, Haruka knew who was one and who wasn't. "You?" She asked, bending down herself, hugging her knees to her and resting her chin atop them. Haruka wasn't in any means good at paying attention to anything other than her interests.

It often got colder in Japan so the cold didn't daunt her at all. Her legs were sufficiently protected and she didn't really care much for the cold. She was light and the ice didn't look like it was going to crack any time soon. The other had definitely been in a fight and though ice helped sometimes, going around topless in such weather was probably not a smart idea. Actually, it wasn't at all. It took Haruka a while before she finally figured that he was staring at her. "What is it?" She asked softly, not bothering to beat around the bush.

[Lino Vidal Cartagena]

"Lino...or V," he replied, shrugging slightly.
His eyes had fallowed her as she sat down, curiously.

There was a long silence, one that he for some peculiar reasaon enjoyed. Lino assumed that he'd finally start appreciating sleep after this encounter; he wasn't too fond of his actions, a little too gentle with words, eyelids struggling to part from one another and eyes all too focused on her.

Lino had never been one to maintain the same focus for more than a minute, and that wasn't merely because he was easy to distract. He's always a variety of problems when it came his eyes, and this was simply one of them. He was staring, wasn't he? Before he'd managed to shift his attention, she spoke.

"Nothing," he replied, shrugging his shoulders once more. He didn't intend to lie, not that he ever did. "Just...looking," he added, rubbing his eyes lightly. The palm of his hand rubbed against his cheek, the bandage. He could feel the tip of his lips curve into a smirk.

"They took care of all the serious injuries, but they didn't bother with the small cuts, -well, aside from some alcholol- So when I came out this little girl said that I should put a bandage over it. So she gave me one, saying that it was pink and colorful, would brighten my day. I just wore it," he explained, struggling to raise his voice higher than a mumble.

He didn't know why he was telling her this. He didn't know why he put the bandage on, either. Usually, if he were to say something, it'd be about the actual fight, not the dull part that came after it.

Sighing, he looked back at her once more.

[Haruka Fukuhara]

"Lino... or V."
Haruka nodded, deciding after a moment that she would call him V. It was shorter and easier to remember. She could at least remember the name of her fellow troublemaker - especially since they could be spending some rare detention or another together.

Now that she was closer to the ice, she poked it with a finger, leaving it there and letting the cold seep through her skin and numb the appendage. She couldn't feel the cold through her skirt of the soles of her boots yet, though it was probably only a while until they would invade.

As Haruka looked back to the other male, she noticed that he looked a little off - subdued. He didn't seen to have the life around him that most troublemakers had, though the ice was probably getting to him. When it was too cold, she had been told that one felt like going to sleep. For all she knew, this could be happening to V right now. But he didn't seem to be complaining from the cold. His speech was perfectly fine and he seemed to move alright too. Haruka grunted at his explanation, tilting her head in question as she saw him smirk.

She grinned at the explanation though; it sounded exactly like what some of her classmates would do. She would - of course - never let them do that to her. "I never go to the nurse," Haruka told him easily, "unless... I pass out," she added thoughtfully. "Brighten your day," she mumbled with a smirk. What airheads.

"Does it hurt?" Haruka asked out of the blue. "Do you need that much ice to make it ok?"

[Lino Vidal Cartagena]

"Hm...I really don't enjoy walking around with broken bones," he commented, eyes meeting hers for a brief second before shifting his gaze elsewhere. He leaned back once more, slightly pushing himself back as he stretched out his legs, arms extended behind him.

He looked up a moment.
"Hurt? Yeah..."he grinned as he faced her once more. "It always hurts, -no matter how many times I've experienced it,-but I don't think I'd manage without it..." he added, lifting his gaze once more. "Wouldn't manage without it," he mumbled, letting out a weak chuckle.

Lino was the type that needed the constant pain. It was the same way those depressed kids needed to cut themselves to stay alive. Well, Lino would do that, but he wasn't necessarily depressed, simply lacking in motivation, greatly. Besides, there wasn't much to do at school. He didn't attend class that often, so between detention and skipping, there wasn't much to do other than fight.

Sure, there was sleep. Sleeping was always an option, but Lino had a hard time doing it and generally didn't want to. Lino wasn't necessarily a fan of music, either, but he had means to staying up. He always did, and probably always would.

"But...I'm not out here because of it. I just...felt like it," he assured her, pushing himself forward and hugging his knees as he closed the distance between them. "I don't want to ease the pain, or make it ok," he said, still grinning, eyes no longer as hazy as they had been.

"So, what brings you here, love?" he asked casually, pushing himself back once more.

[Haruka Fukuhara]

"Broken bones?" Haruka repeated, adding a questioning tone to that. Broken bones were definitely no fun - especially if it was a leg. It generally made one unable to play sports or move around like you wanted. She herself had experienced plenty of broken bones before but hated the experience. Maybe going to the nurse was justified then. Haruka herself didn't shift her position like her companion did, still watching him idly.

She tilted her head as V said that he couldn't do without the pain, "you're one of those type of people," Haruka said. And since she herself had always wondered about that and no one was here, she could ask. "Why?" Haruka asked, interest showing in her voice. She herself preferred the excitement of sport and definitely couldn't do without it. Sports were her life - without it she'd probably die in this school. Or maybe not, since fighting was a pretty close second too. But no... her father might find out and then she'd be in a lot of trouble. Trouble with her dad was never good.

Wasn't it cold lying down like that on the ice? Wouldn't his body heat melt the ice? Or was it too cold and he was going to get hypothermia soon? V wasn't shivering though, he didn't actually look cold. Haruka wasn't... she was wrapped up warmly in her coat. She followed his figure as he scooted closer, quite unaffected at the moment - she was confident that she could fight her way out if it came down to it.

V liked pain. That's what it seemed like to Haruka at least. He was purposely letting himself out on the cold without much protection and he said he didn't want to make the pain go. It was a strange concept to her but she didn't mind it so much; people were different and she was no one to judge being one of the only girls who enjoyed fighting.

"So, what brings you here, love?"
She didn't know what it was with that 'love' thing but didn't bother bringing it up. Haruka shrugged, "I was bored," she answered simply. "It's too early to ice skate," she added, drawing her nail over the ice, eyes flicking from her finger up to her companion.

[Lino Vidal Cartagena]

Lino simply shrugged. Haru must've broken something at some point, and there wasn't much to say when it came to that. Broken bones were no fun, but that didn't make him the least bit more careful.
If he wanted to be careful he'd abandon fighting and move onto self injury.
He winced as his fingers met the ice once more, tapping gently.

He didn't lift his gaze, hearing her question. Haru sounded curious. He supposed there wouldn't be any harm in giving her an answer lacking sarcasm.
"Well, I really don't like being classified, ye know what I mean? Makes me feel...less unique," he grinned, still not looking up.

He placed his palm against the ice with a shiver.
"Hm...I don't see the point of living, so I generally feel like I'm skimming through life...Don't care much..." he said, voice raised just above a mumble. He faced her.
"Well...you feel pain, don't you? I mean, if you can feel pain, you can feel other things, emotions," he paused. "I generally don't care much about emotions, either. I don't believe in emotions, so all that's left is pain," he concluded, somewhat unsure.

"But it's not like I go around cutting myself or assasulting someone and being their punchingbag," he smirked, eyes not drifting away from hers. "I fight back, usually," he added, eyes meeting the ice once more.

He lifted his hand, pressing it against his cheek as he looked at her lazily.
A shiver.
"I don't see why you can't skate...If the ice brakes, it brakes. If it doesn't, it doesn't," he shrugged, no sarcastic tone to it whatsoever.

[Haruka Fukuhara]

"Well, I really don't like being classified, ye know what I mean? Makes me feel...less unique,"
Haruka shrugged and mumbled an apology, "you're the only one like that I know so far," she added, "if it helps." Haruka was generally bad with human interaction - the main reason why she got into a lot of fights. That and she just wasn't very good at appeasing others. She noticed that he wasn't meeting her eyes though.

But V shivered - he was cold after all. But it seemed to be only when his hand was touching the ice. Strange. It wasn't like the rest of his body was completely protected like hers was. Haruka looked up sharply as he said that he didn't see the point to living, "You don't care about living?" She asked, a slight edge to her voice. That was the one thing she wasn't comfortable with; dealing with people who were "dead". Haruka enjoyed getting into fights - not killing people.

She nodded when asked if she felt pain. She felt emotions too, but that was a different thing. Emotions were easy to block out if she wanted to block them out. But when she scrutinized him further, V looked like he was doubting himself. Haruka sighed and rested her forehead on her knees for a moment. "I felt like that before," she admitted quietly. That was actually a couple of months ago when she was still living with her father.

Haruka scooted over for a short moment, flicking her senior's forehead, "pain is something that you feel with your skin," she then jabbed his chest with the same finger, "emotions are something you feel in your heart," she explained. "Was what I was told. Someone told me I was escaping pain from here," she prodded his chest again, "when I got into fights back home." Not that she really cared, but it was still something that she was told. Haruka wasn't the type to 'look for love'.

"People who don't fight back are not fun," she commented as she withdrew a little bit. Haruka tapped the ice again before looking back at V, "one problem." She held up the finger that she had used to tap the ice, "I forgot to steal skates." And she had left her own back in Japan. One simply couldn't skate properly without ice skates.

[Lino Vidal Cartagena]

"Don't worry about it," he smiled weakly at her apology. He hadn't been offended whatsoever, it was just habit for him to find the need to make a remark about every thing he heard. Helped him get into fights, anyway.

"Not necessarily..." he replied, somewhat sheepishly due to her tone of voice. "I've fought to keep on living since I was a kid, and quite honestly, I don't feel the need to keep on fighting," he explained, rather bluntly at that. This conversation wasn't helping at all; just made him doubt himself even more, which definitely wasn't a good thing. Definitely.

Lino looked up, noticing her sigh. He remained silent, somewhat predicting a lecture, or something like it.
He didn't resist as she came closer, simply listening to her words thoughtfully.
Her words weren't too far from fight, but he wasn't convinced all the same. Heart? Emotions weren't something the Lino understood, thus he tried to rid himself from most of them.
Pain was simpler, pain was simple, and Lino didn't see himself thinking contrariwise when it came to the whole concept.
He'd think over her words elsewhere, something for him to do in detention perhaps.

He simply nodded as a form of acknowledgment, he really had nothing much to say when it came to this.

Lino shrugged at the mention of the problem. "What else is there to do out here?" He said, slipping some before finally getting back on his feet. He held out his hand to her.

[Haruka Fukuhara]

"Don't worry about it."
Haruka shrugged, the matter easily forgotten. To her there was no point holding grudges; just another thing to get into a fight over. Except she didn't exactly feel like fighting right now so she didn't point it out.

Her mother had told Haruka once that people sometimes didn't want to live and as such committed suicide. V seemed to think that he didn't want to live but he wasn't committing suicide just yet. But life here at Styrewood wasn't much - if at all - a challenge to survive. Everything was free here, which was one of the reasons why her father had basically just dumped her here. "Were you dumped here too?" Haruka asked, noticing that he didn't necessarily mention his parents. Maybe he had grown up alone? Maybe that was why his hair was long. Longer than hers had ever been.

"If there's nothing to do in life, why would there be anything to do in afterlife?" Haruka asked randomly. What you did when you lived apparently affected what you did after you died. So if one did nothing, then afterlife would be boring, wouldn't it?

V also seemed to trust her since he didn't flinch or anything when she came close. Maybe it was that instinct that people had that allowed them to sense whether or not others wanted to hurt them. Even if she was someone who liked to fight. But at least she had gotten that little speech out of her - she could always go back to spend summers with her mother... sometimes. Nekonny didn't like visiting during the summers though; and that left her bored.

"What else is there to do out here?"
Haruka shrugged, smiling in amusement as she saw him getting to his feet with trouble. "If you tied shoelaces it would be easier?" She offered, taking his hand and pulling herself up without much trouble. Boots generally had more grip than converse did after all. "I don't know," she answered his question truthfully, taking a few experimental steps before speeding up and sliding like she was going to slide tackle someone. "I don't plan," she said with a grin, looking back from where she was lying on the ice. That had been fun. But what she didn't notice was that the ice was thinner there and it was cracking minutely.

[Lino Vidal Cartagena]

"Mother dropped me off and never came back," he answered with a shrug. He wasn't much of a hater, really. He had only spent 4 years with her, not consecutively, but all the same. He could only speak for one year, though, that was the only time with her that he'd remembered. And when he met her, he wasn't all too surprised; it wasn't as if he had that high of expectations.

Lino thought a moment about her question, as random and unexpected as it was. "If that's the case, then so be it. Your fault for neglecting you own life," he replied, casually. From what he'd heard, or been taught at some point, god wanted to be worshipped. So if you spent your life doing nothing, then you deserve nothing. Simple as that, to him.

Lino smirked at her remark. "Back to that, are we?" he knew it really wasn't that bad of an idea, but he lacked the motivation to try, or even ask her to. Yes, he didn't have any problems whatsoever with blaming lack of motivation.

He watched her as she slid, smirk not fading. He fallowed after her, his own words echoing in his mind; if the ice brakes, it brakes. He wasn't one to worry, but the thought had crossed his mind. He remembered the ice cracking when he first came, but it was the same as a scratch against glass.
All the same, he liked the feel of the wind against his skin, and the risk of falling in did nothing but increase the excitement.
"Always on the attack," he teased as she slid across. He stopped a couple of steps away from her, twisting around in a circle to brake.

One thing they had in common was their lack of planning; if the ice were to brake, it would brake.

[Haruka Fukuhara]

"Mother dropped me off and never came back."
Haruka shrugged, "father dropped me off at the airport. I don't want to go back," she replied. They were basically in the same boat; ah well, here was someone she could spend breaks with if everyone else was out with their families. Other than Nekonny of course, but he had a boyfriend now and would probably spend less time with her.

"You have a few more years to live," she told him easily, "this school doesn't allow people to die." That was the general impression that she got anyways. Besides, schools always wanted to do well so they wouldn't want anyone dying in school and giving them a bad reputation.

Although the ice was hard, Haruka was used to the pain and didn't make a sound as she hit the hard surface and began to slide. She lay there on the ice for a while, hair splayed out as much as it could under the headband as she tilted her head back to look at V, seeing him upside down. "Yes," Haruka replied easily, grinning, "I can tie them for you later," she promised. He had said earlier that he wouldn't tie them, right? Haruka didn't often insist on things, but when she did she could be persistent.

"Always on the attack."
Her grin only grew wider as V slid as well. "yes. I don't like playing defense," Haruka agreed easily. It was easier to shoot rather than block goals. With that she stood up, gently shifting her weight and getting up easily. No doubt it would be easier to slide with ice skates but she would have to make do.

[Lino Vidal Cartagena]

Lino nodded weakly.
So they had both been abandoned in Styrewood? He didn't know if that was comforting or not; it didn't have to be, though.
Being Lino, he didn't necessarily have many friends; what he did have were aquaintances and people to spend the night with. Lino had also been that type of guy. He didn't mind the fact that the rumors were usually true when it came to him, or the whispers that he natutally disregarded when he passed by.

He knew that some didn't necessarily like being seen around, because that way those same rumors would circle around whoever walked by his side. Lino didn't mind that either; what happened in bed happened in bed, he wasn't the type to spread rumors that weren't directly tied to him.

All he needed was someone to perhaps share a cigarette, and spend the night; no more no less.
Of course, there were some that he actually remembered, such as Alex; he wanted to hold hands and walk all over the place with him, and do it anywhere. He was exciting, careless, and alive.
There was also Ellie, also one that spent more time with him than others. Her only problem was the fact that she found the need to get some emotion out of him.

Lino could deal with hate, not love.
Him and Haru would probably just remain one level before friends; she was someone to talk to when there wasn't anyone, which was more than often; someone to talk to when he had enough of his short relashionships and too many injuries to fight anymore. The equivilant to that time would be now.

"That's good to know," he commented sarcastically at the mention of the school.

He sighed as he looked down at her. Really, why were the laces so important? "Much later," he answered with a grin.
He wasn't going to resist her incomprehensible need to tie his shoes; no harm in it anyway.

He watched as she got up, slightly tilting his head. "And what is it that you play, love?" he inquired, pushing his hair back as it continued to block his vision.

He slid slightly with every step taken, eyes flicking between her and his laces. He didn't intend to trip; that was the plan from the moment he stepped on the ice. He took a quick glance at his shirt; he'd retrieve it later.