Nocturne knew he was considered picky when it came to what he wanted out of weather. He hated the middle of the summer when it was sweltering hot and the humidity tried to kill but he liked it being hot enough out that he could enjoy a good ride on his bike or hiking through the forest with Piglet and Pooh. It stood to reason that he would enjoy winter for it being decidedly less hot and humid but the dead of winter could freeze a guy's balls off if they weren't bundled up right. Yet, he could admire the beauty of freshly fallen snow or the way ice coated the bare branches of trees and bushes. He even enjoyed what were deemed winter activities like skating and snowboarding.
It was the skating that had captured his attention that afternoon. His skates were dug out of the closet and brought to the park that hosted an ice rink for the public to use in the frozen months. Sometimes the rink was near to being called deserted and he could skate more freely with tricks and spins but when it started to fill in then it was simply a matter of going with the flow and skating in a large loop of the perimeter.
Given the time of day with classes done for the day, Noct was starting to see more skaters come out. A part of him adored seeing the little tykes taking their wobbly first steps on ice but they also posed as hazards to watch out for. They weren't the reason for his decision to start winding down but they added to it. Noct stopped working on the minor footwork steps he had learned years ago and the most basic of jumps and spins as more people started to come out and he took to the basic laps with only the occasional hop.
On one of the passes along a side that saw some people milling about—usually parents that didn’t want to skate themselves—Nocturne thought he spotted someone vaguely familiar. He spun around to skate backwards for a moment to give himself another glance at her face to confirm he’d seen it before and then place it. She was bundled up but the toque didn’t hide all of the pink hair that spilled free and the coat didn’t completely mask the slender frame. The rink wasn’t anywhere near crowded enough to hinder him skating against the flow and Noct worked his way back to where the young woman stood.
“Skittles!” Nocturne came to a stop and leaned against the waist-high barrier that separated them. He never got her name out of their first meeting but he didn’t mind and likely wouldn’t have used it anyway. Skittles suited her thanks to the pink hair and how skittish she was initially. Had that changed at all? He’d find out soon enough.
“All laced up and--” Noct further leaned over the board to check her feet and frowned when he saw boots instead of skates. Skittles wasn’t carrying any either but maybe she was simply checking out the crowd before renting a pair from the stand on the other side. “Are you going to join in or just be a voyeur?”
It was the skating that had captured his attention that afternoon. His skates were dug out of the closet and brought to the park that hosted an ice rink for the public to use in the frozen months. Sometimes the rink was near to being called deserted and he could skate more freely with tricks and spins but when it started to fill in then it was simply a matter of going with the flow and skating in a large loop of the perimeter.
Given the time of day with classes done for the day, Noct was starting to see more skaters come out. A part of him adored seeing the little tykes taking their wobbly first steps on ice but they also posed as hazards to watch out for. They weren't the reason for his decision to start winding down but they added to it. Noct stopped working on the minor footwork steps he had learned years ago and the most basic of jumps and spins as more people started to come out and he took to the basic laps with only the occasional hop.
On one of the passes along a side that saw some people milling about—usually parents that didn’t want to skate themselves—Nocturne thought he spotted someone vaguely familiar. He spun around to skate backwards for a moment to give himself another glance at her face to confirm he’d seen it before and then place it. She was bundled up but the toque didn’t hide all of the pink hair that spilled free and the coat didn’t completely mask the slender frame. The rink wasn’t anywhere near crowded enough to hinder him skating against the flow and Noct worked his way back to where the young woman stood.
“Skittles!” Nocturne came to a stop and leaned against the waist-high barrier that separated them. He never got her name out of their first meeting but he didn’t mind and likely wouldn’t have used it anyway. Skittles suited her thanks to the pink hair and how skittish she was initially. Had that changed at all? He’d find out soon enough.
“All laced up and--” Noct further leaned over the board to check her feet and frowned when he saw boots instead of skates. Skittles wasn’t carrying any either but maybe she was simply checking out the crowd before renting a pair from the stand on the other side. “Are you going to join in or just be a voyeur?”
