crashing and burning {open}

[AURORA RIGBY]

There was something strangely therapeutic about ice skating.

Waking up that morning had been a chore; it’d taken twenty minutes to crawl out from underneath the blankets and another fifteen to get out of bed and another ten to get into the shower. Not even the water, at its normal scalding to help rouse her, was helping with her lethargy. Afterwards, she’d sat down for a bowl of oatmeal and a cup of tea. The sweetener did nothing and she very nearly dozed off, waking seconds before her face met her breakfast, thanks to a group of noisy students out in the hall. Wondering why she didn’t have that sort of energy, Aurora Rigby went about cleaning the dishes and making her bed. She dressed in her warmest clothes and headed out, hoping the chilly January weather would invigorate her.

Sure enough, the moment she’d stepped outside, the icy air nipping at her nose and ears shocked her awake. The burst of energy brought with it a surge of ideas: what to do for the day, where to go, when to eat lunch. Surprisingly enough, a plan stood out enough to her that she knew exactly what to tell the cab driver when he pulled up to the curb. “Central Park, please!” He merely grunted in response, evidently not full of liveliness like she now was. Aurora texted her mother, not realizing how excited she probably sounded after using five exclamation points and a smiley face. She couldn’t be blamed, though. It had been ages – ages – since she had last been ice skating.

You’d imagine that someone who lived in a cold enough state all her life would go all the time, but it hadn’t crossed her mind often enough. Now that she knew that a place like Wollman Rink existed, right in Central Park, not at all far from school, Aurora resolved to go as often as possible before spring rolled around and it was turned back into a large swimming pool. How a girl brand new to New York City knew this would seem confusing enough, unless of course you gave her some well deserved credit. Aurora had done huge amounts of research before moving to the concrete city, and more reading than sleeping on the flight over. She knew as much as she could without learning the city through actual experiences.

It felt like a long walk from where she was dropped off to Wollman Rink, but that just as easily could have been her thoughts going a mile a minute and her body not being able to keep up. In much too much time, Aurora was finally in a pair of rented skates and out on the rink. Initially, she clung to the wall, wary of slipping and falling. The grace she’d earned from dance lessons helped immensely, though, and soon enough she was out with all the others who knew what they were doing. There was something strangely therapeutic about ice skating. There was hardly a thing on her mind and all she found herself thinking about was not falling and just how nice this was – when she very abruptly crashed into somebody.

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outfit; obvi not in boots now and her coat is probably
hanging up in a locker as i assume it's warmer indoors
notes; i kind of left it hanging at the end there for you to do as you'd like! let me know if i need to change anything & thanks to whoever posts here!!<3

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[EDGAR BROOKE]

Eddie Brooke was preparing for the worst.

Okay, so maybe he wasn't really great about learning his lesson. Honestly, he was more about teaching one, but that was difficult to do sometimes, especially when he made these stupid deals that he kept losing. The first and worst one resulted in him getting paint literally everywhere that wasn't totally covered by his clothing. He had to take like three showers to get the paint gone because it had already dried by the time he got to actually go back to his room. He was covered in the most paint, too, because he was less flexible and would be the one to fall down first almost every time.

This time, he figured he would prepare. The deal itself didn't matter to him at that moment, what did matter to him was the fact that, if he lost, he would have to participate in some sport or physical activity of Stella's choosing. And she wouldn't choose until he lost, and probably wouldn't tell him until the day of. So he was very secretly practicing for any possibilty he could think of, just so he wouldn't make a complete fool of himself.

Today, though, that's exactly what he was doing, but it was okay because Stella wasn't going to be there.

He had already practiced soccer, and basketball, and running in general, and hurdles, and everything he could accomplish by sneaking things from the athletic center to his room (which he always returned). But there were things that came to mind that he couldn't practice within the privacy of his own room. One of them being ice skating.

He didn't think Stella would really pick ice-skating, but it was a possibility and he had never been ice skating in his life. Maybe his mom took him once, a long time ago, but he couldn't remember so basically he never went. And it was something that seemed exceedingly difficult, so he had to go to Wollman Rink to practice just in case.

When he got there, he really just looked lost. He had never been here and he had never been ice skating and - ice skates. He needed ice skates. Eddie found the booth where he could rent them and keep his shoes until he was done (luckily very obviously labeled) and checked out a pair. "Where's your girlfriend, kid?" the man at the booth said, and Eddie just kind of shrugged and walked away. He didn't know to answer questions like that and it certainly wasn't the man's business.

After telling himself to be a man way too many times, he stepped out onto the ice carefully. It was hard enough to walk on the regular ground with these things. Zipping up his jacket (it was a little chillier than he expected), he began to skate.

Miraculously, he didn't fall. It was way easier than he expected. Not that it was fun at all, but it was easy. Wow, he probably looked like an idiot, skating all alone, even if he was doing particularily alright. It was getting easier and easier until all of the sudden he felt something warm and relatively human impact him and he grabbed the wall so they wouldn't fall over. Once he regained his balance, he turned to face the wise guy who thought it was okay to knock over a Bostonian when he saw that it was most definitely a girl. And she was pretty even though he preferred red heads. And familiar.

"Um, I... I'm sorry. Are you okay?" he asked, genuinely concerned after he calmed down. Wow, he was so embarrassed. Why was he even here? What was he even doing with his life right now? "You uh... Aren't you that new girl at Baum?" Eddie, you idiot. You could have pretended not to be associated with her in any way and just skated away a little less proudly than before after you made sure she was okay. "I'm kind of new to this, sorry." Shut up, Edgar.

[/justify]

{ outfit minus shoes }
{ i'm sorry i had too much fun with this idea }

[AURORA RIGBY]

Oh jeez.

Oh no, oh dear, oh my.

All she’d wanted was a relaxing day of ice skating. Was that so hard to ask? She’d been doing alright, too. Hadn’t she? Maybe not as alright as she thought if she was ramming into people. Then again, it could’ve been their fault, right? Oh no! That was horrible. It wasn’t fair to automatically place the blame elsewhere. Fixing her hair so that it fell just right and wasn’t in her face, Aurora looked to see who’s skating she’d interrupted. At least she could be grateful that she hadn’t fallen, and that he hadn’t either. At least they were both on their feet. There was absolutely nothing familiar about the boy in front of her, but that wasn’t surprising. She hadn’t been in New York even a month, and she didn’t really have the time to worry about meeting new people.

She was shaking her head before he’d even finished apologizing. “No, oh my goodness! It wasn’t your fault at all, please don’t apologize.” Aurora crossed one arm to hold the opposite wrist. “I haven’t skated in years, I should know better than to not watch where I’m going.

[/color]” Wasn’t that a general rule? To always watch for other skaters so things like this didn’t happen? Her heart skipped a beat and her suddenly going cold had nothing to do with the ice. This kid knew her? Oh god, no. This was exactly why she went out and did things away from the school! So she wouldn’t be embarrassed and made fun of during her first semester – her first quarter even!

Aurora forced on a sweet smile and she nodded. “Yes, that’s me.[/color]” She held her hand out to shake. “I’m Aurora. And you are…?[/color]” His apology came with a reason this time, and once her hands were free, she clasped them together and grinned widely. “Are you really?[/color]” If there was one thing she’d always wanted to do, it… well, it wasn’t teach somebody how to ice skate. It wasn’t like he needed teaching, anyway. Just… refining. It had always looked like so much fun in the movies, one person helping another to skate. It was something she’d actually have liked to do with Jackson but… well.

“I’d be happy to help you![/color]” She paused then, rethinking her excitement. They had only just met and she had no idea who he was (only that he went to Baum) and she definitely had no idea if he even wanted to be here. Despite having been skating well enough for them to hit each other, he seemed a bit… lost? “If you want, that is. I’d also be happy to leave you alone, if that’s what you’d prefer.[/color]” Aurora took a step back, careful to keep herself up. It wasn’t until she’d backed up that she realized how close they’d been, and she felt a pang of guilt at the idea that she might have been invading his personal space.

“I can, uh… I can just leave you be.[/color]” Honestly, she felt she’d be perfectly okay, no matter what he chose. She’d be alright skating on her own, though, admittedly, she’d be terrified of running into anymore people. If he decided he’d spare time for her, then it could be fun to skate with somebody else, never mind that they’d just met. She really wouldn’t know until she shut up and gave him a chance to talk. It might’ve been the most she’d ever said to a complete stranger. Goodness, why was meeting new people so difficult?

notes; i love it!! thank you <333
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[EDGAR BROOKE]

It was kind of dumb of Eddie to mention school. What if she thought he was the kind to spread rumors? That he'd tell everyone how horrible at ice-skating she was and humiliate her! Or, equally as bad, what if she was the kind to spread rumors and she would tell everyone how horrible at ice skating he was at ice skating and humiliate him!? What if she knew Stella and would soon tell her about this? Stella would never let him live it down, not ever.

Or maybe he was just blowing things way out of proportion and none of those things were true. "Haha, I haven't skated ever," he admitted witha shrug. "I wasn't really watching where I was going either, it's fine." He wasn't sure if that was another apology or an acceptance of her apology, or both mashed together. But he continued on, trying not to get distracted by her eyes that were definitely not brown but still kind of really pretty.

"Edgar. But this is the 21st century, so Eddie, I guess." That was how most of his introductions went, which was fine. The only time he didn't include the 'Eddie' part was when his mother was introducing him to someone, or she was there. Edgar was such a precious name that it doesn't need to be shortened, hon'. But whatever, she wasn't here, so he could be called Eddie as he pleased. "Um, do you like Baum so far?" he asked, though it was cued and half-hearted, as he figured she was tired of that question.

"Oh yeah, I uh..." No, he would not admit why he was here. No way. "It just seemed kind of fun, so I wanted to learn how." Yeah, that was a lie and anyone who could catch on to anything would know that he was hiding something. But that something was to be locked away in a lead box until futher notice. She could still have met Stella in however long she as at Baum.

Yeah, he totally needed help! his face rose as if to accept, but fell as he realized that it would probably drop his levels of masculine appearances to rock bottom if he were to accept. When she took a step back, he... well, he actually hadn't even noticed how close they were. This was getting really awkward, and Eddie didn't like to make meetings awkward. he answered neither question, because he was so confused and overwhelmed with all the confliction and just...

"Uh, we could just skate together. To make sure we don't bump into anyone else," he finally said, just as she was about to leave. he could really use the help, but he didn't want to admit it, and skating alone had been boring. Oh God, he hoped she didn't think he was flirting with her. Eddie didn't even know how to flirt, and if he did, he certainly wouldn't with someone he just met! That would make things weird and uncomfortable, obviously. So even if she was really pretty, he totally wouldn't flirt or whatever because that was not the proper way Edgar Brooke did things.

[/justify]

[AURORA RIGBY]

Aurora was picking at the clear polish on her nails, and suddenly wishing that she’d worn gloves. While she thought it might help her to stop fidgeting, she knew she’d only end up picking at a loose thread. The funny thing was that thinking of her fidgeting made her realize she was doing it and she actually did stop, clasping her hands together and doing her best to stand still. She needed to work on her balance, anyway, and what better time to do it than on ice skates? “Oh? What made you decide to start, then?

” People who’d never skated before usually didn’t come alone for their first time. Maybe he did have someone with them, and they just weren’t on the ice yet. Either way, they were passed the awkward apologies and she was glad for it.

She laughed a little at his introduction. “Edgar is nice. What do you prefer?[/color]” That was what mattered, of course. Aurora, having only had one nickname her entire life, preferred people she’d just met to call her by her full name. For all she knew, Edgar preferred being called Eddie. Though from experience, people liked to be called by the name they first introduced themselves by. The second option was just that: a second option; things that came first were usually the ones liked better. She definitely picked up on the question being rather unenthusiastic. It made her smile a little, figuring that he knew she must’ve been tired of the question. “It’s my first time at a private school, but I’m liking it a lot so far. Thank you for asking.[/color]” She’d practically perfected the answer by now.

Aurora blinked, wondering why he would lie about his reason to come ice skating. She half wanted to ask him about it, but she knew that he must’ve had good reason. Besides, they just met and it wasn’t her place to meddle in his business. If he wanted to tell her, he’d tell her. “It is! Once you get the hang of it, it’s really fun to spin in circles around people.[/color]” She glanced out at everybody else on the rink and saw a couple of skaters who obviously knew what they were doing, making jumps and twirls. “Not that they usually appreciate it…[/color]” She smiled a bit sadly and shrugged; it wasn’t her fault people couldn’t laugh at it. “Like I said, I’m happy to help.[/color]”

She was subconsciously inching away to give him his space. From what she’d learned so far of New Yorkers, they didn’t like being bothered. Edgar taking time to answer was probably his way of telling her to get the hell out of his face. She sort of doubted that, though, as he seemed polite enough. Still, you could never know with strangers. Any minute now, she’d back off and leave him alone. Oh, thank goodness. She thought he’d started to properly ignore her even being there. “That’s perfect![/color]” She tried to not notice how eager she’d sounded, given that she’d just been thinking it earlier. “Besides, during something with another person is always much better than doing it alone,[/color]” she added nonchalantly, carefully getting herself moving on the ice again ,smiling, quite happy now.
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