#we're off

he   stretches   and   warms   up   with   beauregard   and   fjord   before   he   heads   to   the   rink   today.         veth   packs   him   a   sack   lunch,   with   some   cake   and   a   note   from   jester   tucked   inside,   along   with   a   delicate   flower   from   yasha      —      one   of   molly’s   favorites,   caleb   notes   with   a   bittersweet   sigh;      they   would   have   loved   to   see   caleb   skating   again      —      and   a   tumbler   of   tea   from   caduceus.

all   the   same,   he   is   impossibly   nervous.

@luxoned​   is   hardly   unfamiliar,   but   it   has   been   so   long   since   they   were   on   the   ice   together      —      whether   at   the   youth   training   camps,   oh-so-long-ago,   or   competing   against   each   other,   back   when   caleb   isn’t   caleb.      but   essek   thelyss   has   remained   essek   thelyss   through   the   years   that   caleb   has   flown   under   the   radar      —      the   ice   prince   of   skating,   just   as   caleb   remembers   him.      fire   and   ice,   he   remembers   an   announcer   noting   once,   when   the   two   of   them   stand   on   their   respective   first   and   second   place   spots   on   the   podium.      trent   always   talked   about   how   much   he   wished   bren   caleb   would   be   like   essek      —      cool,   unaffected,   aloof.      he   isn’t   doing   this   for   trent;      he   would   be   happy   if   he   never   saw   his   old   coach   again.      but   those   words   echo   nonetheless,   as   caleb   moves   towards   the   ice,   where   essek   thelyss   waits.

It's nice to shut off the rest of the world and be one with the earth.

Back on the road now! (:

Mitte did not make a habit of keeping up with people from her past. Obviously. But there was one young woman from an alternate past, whom she really wished to re-connect with. Which didn’t count really in the grand scheme of things, since Mitte knew the chick was a Swynlake citizen. Problem being, all Mitte knew was that her name was Ethel. Or at least it had been in Victorian England, since apparently no one knew any Ethel’s about here. 

Honestly Mitte had almost entirely forgotten about the woman. Until tonight, when she saw her, perched on a bar stool in Pixies and looking just as pretty- if not prettier for the better hygiene practices and modern fashion- as she had in Victorian times. 

It was most fortunate that Mitte had decided to actually dress up for the evening, in a curve hugging dress with her hair actually brushed for once. She sidled up to Ethel at the bar, the tone of her voice rich with humor and suggestion. “In this reality you don’t have to pay for me. In fact if you’re lucky I might even buy you a drink or two”