WWW: Ice, Ice, Baby

[Event !]

Please enjoy two fun facts:

First, the pond on campus doesn't ice over enough to hold a teenager's weight.

Second, that doesn't stop some people from going out there after it snows.

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Devyn had begun to notice something around his second year at Hammel, around the end of October it became very obvious what type of climate people had been residing before coming to the school. First, almost immediately after Halloween usually, those who were used to the warmer climates began wearing more layers, avoiding going outside and making sure they situated themselves near any heater in their immediate vicinity. Then, slowly those used to the slightly colder area did the same.Until, finally, somewhere in mid-November only those who had braved brutal Vermont winters, or the like, before were left, offering small nods of familiarity to each other as they passed by the shivering forms of their fellow students.

He'd begun to grow rather proud of his resilience and know-how of what could be described as an absolutely terrible winter season. It was also rather nice, that at times it felt that he had almost the entire campus to himself. It was something he really enjoyed about the season and often took the opportunity to just walk around and enjoy being alone.

Devyn made his way across school grounds, rather sure-footed and familiar with his usual walking trail, despite a large amount of snow now covering the campus. It was a good type of snow, though, the kind that was perfect for winter time activities.

He decided as he neared the pond, that despite his comfort with snow and cold, he was rather happy that the dorms did not lose power or heat as he'd heard some areas had.

There was only a small amount of surprise when he saw another figure near the pond though he quickly decided it was either a brave, curious soul or another person familiar with the environment, and instead was just surprised that he recognized the person.

"Oh, hey Jake," he greeted, the slight surprise evident in his voice though he did flash a friendly smile in his direction, "out to enjoy the winter wonderland?"

[Jacob Tapper]

Jake was another one of those kids who was used to the cold. Growing up in North Jersey, and then spending roughly five years in Vermont, he was pretty well-adapted to winter, having experienced more than his fair share of blizzards and below-freezing temperatures. That said, it wasn't exactly his favorite: he'd take a nice, sunny day over a cold, miserable one any day. But it wasn't his to choose.

Being a fairly active young man, it didn't take long for the brunet to get antsy. Once the snow had stopped, it was only a matter of time before the transdimensionalist grew tired of being holed up in his dorm room. This wasn't to mention the fact that some of his roommates were kind of annoying, though that was at least partially a natural consequence of being stuck with the same group of people for so long. So he'd bundled up and headed out, tromping through the snow in his heavy brown boots and eventually finding a path that had already been plowed.

Said path led to Hammel's pond, which looked nicely frozen over. Jake stood there for a time, watching the blurred figures of koi moving slowly beneath the ice. The boy wondered what it would be like to be a fish in winter. The water was too cold for him as a human, but what if he was a fish?

It was during these admittedly somewhat odd thoughts that he heard crunchy footsteps approaching from behind him. He didn't mind being alone, but depending on who it was, company was sometimes preferable.

He recognized Devyn's voice before he turned around to confirm it was indeed his teammate. "What's up," he replied, smiling a little at the boy's question. "Guess so," he said, bumping the other lightly with his shoulder as a sort of physical greeting. "Wish I had my skates," he stated, looking back out at the pond. It wasn't big enough to do a lot of skating, but it could be fun nonetheless.

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There was something so peaceful about the wintertime, things just seemed calm and soft. It was a thought that stayed in his mind as he looked out over the frozen pond, grinning over at his teammate when they bumped shoulders.

"Not much, honestly, just taking it all in," he breathed in deeply before letting out a long relaxed sigh. He drew a bit closer to the frozen water, not wanting to get too close, even with a solid covering over the top of it, he didn't feel too comfortable about getting close to the body of water and knelt down as if it would allow a more precise investigation.

"Think it would hold up," he asked curiously, he didn't do much skating save for at a rink unless heavily persuaded (forced) otherwise. Standing up, he carefully toed closer to the edge, pressing his shoe against it before grinning back at the other boy in a sudden show of mischief.

"Why don't you test it out, huh? See if it will hold you up."

[Jacob Tapper]

Jake watched as Devyn got closer to the water's edge - or rather, the ice's edge. It was sort of hard to tell where the pond ended and the ground began, though, due to the snow. The other boy didn't seem so sure about the sturdiness of said ice, and in truth Jake wasn't either. But the brunet wanted to try it out. What was the worst that could happen? So he'd get a little wet, big deal. If they didn't at least take a few steps out onto the ice, then they'd never know. Life was a daring adventure or nothing at all... as someone once said. Jake couldn't currently remember who.

"Guess there's only one way to find out," he suggested, with a hint of a smirk in response to Devyn's grin. But evidently Devyn did not want to find out personally. "You're smaller, you should go first," the transdimensionalist said, all too willing to play the age card against his younger teammate. It certainly wouldn't be his first time pulling rank. "If I go out and it breaks, then you won't even be able to try it." Maybe that was what Devyn was hoping for, but he figured the lighter of the two boys should be the one to risk falling in. "Besides, I'm faster, so if you fall in then I can run and get help." That probably didn't fill Devyn with confidence, but it was another tool in his box.

[Deleted]

Devyn stopped a little short of the ice, that gnawing feeling to get away from it was still there, but was somewhat stamped down due to curiousity. From his crouched position he could see where the ice was a little thinner in places, and that definitely brought up some reservations. He was less afraid of falling through ice, which was probably what more people would be concerned about, but that there was water underneath the ice, deep water. That, he didn't like.


He looked over his shoulder at the obvious suggestion, eyes narrowed, at just the tone of the seemingly innocent comment. "Just because you're fatter," he wasn't sensitive about the fact that he was on the small side, but any references to such would be returned with a tease in kind.


"Oh no, you really shouldn't be concerned about my enjoyment," playing right there along with him, "You should really be the one that gets to fully experience it."


Devyn stood back up, a sudden alertness overcoming him at his final comment, "wait, who says you're the faster one." His competitive streak flared up at the comment, but that was a challenge for another day, and he reluctantly looked back over the ice.


"Same time then?" he suggested with a reluctant sigh.

[Jacob Tapper]

Jake was neither afraid of the ice nor of the water beneath it. Yes, there was risk associated with falling through thin ice into freezing cold water: one could catch a cold, or get hypothermia if they were in the water for too long. But like most young people, Jake thought he was essentially invincible. He just couldn't imagine something actually, truly bad happening to him.

But that didn't mean he would just recklessly walk out onto the ice not knowing what would happen. If he could avoid having to run back to his dorm to change, that would be ideal. Devyn, on the other hand, was more or less disposable to him in this regard: if he fell through the ice and had to go home, that wouldn't impinge on the rest of Jake's afternoon. That, more than any tangible feeling of fear, was what motivated Jake to convince Devyn to try the ice in his stead.

He smirked when the younger male called him 'fatter.' The transdimensionalist was obviously not fat, though compared to someone of Devyn's stature he looked positively beefy. He similarly ignored the other boy's response of incredulity to his assertion that he was the faster of the two. They wouldn't be able to figure that out anytime soon, what with all the snow on the ground making it impossible to run very well. That didn't make Jake any less certain that he had spoken the truth.

"Yeah, same time," he agreed with a shrug of his shoulders. He supposed that was fair: he evidently hadn't been successful in persuading Devyn to go it alone, so at least this way he wouldn't have to do it by himself. Of course, it didn't occur to him that two guys meant double the weight, and thus a greater likelihood of the ice giving to their weight. Without giving it much thought, he took a single step onto the ice and then, after a moment, a slightly less sure step of his other foot to join the first. He was now standing only on the frozen lake, and so far seemed so good.

[Deleted]

There was a lingering feeling of a challenge even after Devyn disregarded the idea of a race, he decided it would have to be something he would visit upon at a later date. More than likely at their next practice he would either a) challenge him to a race outright or b) silently try to match and best the other male during practice. Option b was the most likely course as he already did so on occasion.

"Yes," he said almost silently, not caring too much to let the other teen know he'd been hoping or that response. He did indeed feel a sense of relief when Jake finally agreed to his suggestion. This way if the worst came to happen he wouldn't be the only one suffering. Which didn't actually calm his nerves that much but it was something to tell himself at least.

Devyn kept a close eye on him as they moved, checking carefully to make sure the other didn't back out when he started to move. He stepped out onto the ice with just as much, if not more, caution than his companion.

He kept his arms slightly extended as he stood out on the ice, he looked over at Jake once he felt a bit more comfortable about being on the ice.

"Okay... so one more step. Or are we satisfied." He was satisfied, but he wouldn't turn down the challenge of moving a bit further... even if the ice seemed to thin out considerably further in.

[Jacob Tapper]

Jacob was always up for a challenge, and his naturally competitive spirit meant that any suggestion of a race or other feat of athleticism would not go unmet. That said, it wasn't like he knew for a verifiable fact that he was faster than Devyn; he just assumed that, since he was older and had thus been running and playing basketball longer, he was probably better at it. He was vaguely aware that Devyn's power made it easy for him to make up for any difference there might be between their natural abilities, but the older male never thought about it much.

Jake had stepped out onto the ice a little ahead of Devyn, and he watched as the other boy took a few trepidatious steps onto the lake. It seemed fine, really: the brunet could no longer fathom what they had been so apprehensive about when they'd first thought of doing this. He bounced a little, as though to test the ice's capacity to handle his weight, and again, there was no sign that it couldn't hold him.

"Let's go out more," he said, turning to the far side of the pond, now that he was more confident in his idea. (It was actually Devyn's idea to walk on the ice, but Jake had forgotten this and so naturally claimed credit for himself.) He took a third step, then a fourth, so he was now standing a little closer to the middle of the pond than was Devyn, though only by a pace. "If we can make it to the other side... that would be cool." There was really no reward for crossing the frozen pond other than their own amusement, but it passed the time.

[Deleted]

It was a wonder the two had never butted heads before now though he supposed if they had it had probably been dissuaded by the fact that they were on the same team. Which didn't usually stop Devyn, but he also couldn't boat a close relationship with Jake.

The other male could probably be expecting many more challenges after this one.

Devyn was quite confident in his own athletic skills, it was something he took a lot of pride in acutally. He didn't rely on his power for basketball or anything like that, those things he liked to achieve with his own skill. Which is why he was so diligent about his workouts and practices, he was always wanting to be better to improve past where he currently was.

Devyn very obviously tensed up as Jake bounced, expecting almost a movie moment and for the teen to disappear below the ice. He certainly didn't hope for that of course and was relieved when it didn't happen.

Even before he stated his intention to cross over, he knew what he was wanting to do, mostly because he had seen the teen look in that direction. But also becuase neither wanted to back down from this challenge.

Devyn was growing more concerned rather than less concerned as he moved closer to the center of the pond, slowly and with sturdy steps.

"Okay we can- " he was interrupted by a cracking sound under his feet, and he stood still as a statue, "Shit."

Devyn didn't cuss often, but it seemed an optimum time, as he looked over at his fellow teammate, "Shit." He repeated, but definitely not moving.