Peace of Mind

[berri]

Sunday; the most perfect day ever invented. Despite the rather bright, wintry setting the far section of the park seemed to be relatively devoid of live. Sure it was freezing, but Berri could not seem to wrap her mind around the idea that hardly a soul was out enjoying the patch of sunlight stretched across the irradescent ground.

She was bundled up tightly in a sweater, pale cream in color, with a blue jacket and indigo scarf over that. The girl had even gone so far as to put on her blue gloves, but as always, she had thrown caution to the wind when it came to throwing away her jeans for something a little warmer. She just..couldn't do it.

As she crunched through the remaining layer of glittering snow towards a probably soggy wooden bench, the girl could not help wondering what sort of people would come out on a day like today. They would certainly have to be interesting; maybe even good for conversation if she ran into someone that wasn't shy. Upon reaching the bench she decided it was not quite fit to be sat on, and turned to scan the few wandering souls nearby with her pale green eyes. Surely one of them would need some company..whether they wanted it or not.

[.::Kate::.]

OOC: Hey girl you might want to read over this

[berri]

[ooc: mucho thanks for catching that. ]

[.::Kate::.]

no problemo

[Eric]

OOC:I like your writing Berri..... Ima RP with you.....

_{Tony walked down the snow covered ground, his board in hand. He was looking for something to do. There wasnt much at the moment because of the snow. I wonder if there is anywhere dry. Tony looked around searching for anything to skate. All he saw was the practically vacant park and no open ground to skate. He took a hit from his cigarette and then flicked it into the snow. Tony looked around again, this time searching for someone instead of something. He searched for someone that caught his eye. Someone he could maybe relate to. He saw a few people walking in the cold weather all bundled up. But it wasnt really cold. At least not to him. He was in a small DC tee-shirt and some black skinny jeans with red splatter on them, and he was perfectly fine. Everyone else was aparently freezing their asses off while they were wearing huge coats and sweaters and such. Then he saw someone that was somewhat interesting. She sat by herself on a soggy bench about a hundred feet away from him. She looked a little sick, very pale, but he guessed she always looked that way. He walked over to her, reaching for a smoke but didnt find any. He was out. Tony sat by this girl and looked at her for a second taking everything about her in. After a few seconds he finally said, "You look a little cold." He stroked her face hopefully warming it. Tony ripped his hand away thinking she would probably get angry about that. "Sorry about that?" he said meekly. I havent properly introduced myself. My name is Antonio Rodriguez, but you can call me Tony." He gave her a warm smile, waiting for her reply.}

[berri]

She had resorted to counting trees--a rather pitiful excuse of a good time, mind you--when the sound of approaching shoes on snow caught her attention. The girl's eyes shifted up and over from their previously distant state to find a boy, possibly around her age walking towards the bench. In a word he was gorgeous, but she knew from experience that did not always mean someone was worth speaking to.

All the same he sat down, and in an attempt to seem friendly she smiled. His comment about the cold seemed to tickle her in someway, because the girl halfway smiled. Whatever response she would have had melted away when she processed the fact he was touching her face. Now, obviously it was a rather strange thing to do considering he did not even know her name, but if anyone was to blame it was her. She had gone out looking for interesting people, after all.

"Observant much? I am a little cold, but that's okay..and don't worry about it." her voice was smooth, but quiet to the point of being shy. Despite the hint of a shy nature there was no fear of being around a stranger. That would have been quite uncommon coming from her any day. The girl smiled, halfway turning in her seat to offer him her hand, "It's nice to meet you, Tony. I go by Berri."

Her eyes wandered towards the skateboard, and with a slightly sarcastic smile she turned to look at his face again. Despite her expression, the tone of voice she used confirmed she meant no ill will. "Ah, I hate to break it to you, but I don't think you'll find anywhere free of snow to use that today."

[Eric]

_{He silently sighed a sigh of relief. Well at least she didnt turn away in disgust when I touched her face. When she offered her hand he took it gently but still shook firmly. "Its nice to meet you, Berri." Tony released her hand, again being very gentle, and looked around, now taking in the surroundings. There were a few trees and snow was everywhere. His attention was diverted back to her when she said more. Tony sort of chuckled and then answered her. Well, I cant just leave it anywhere. I dont have a place for it and even if I did, I would still carry it around with me. I love skating. End of story. So, I take it with me to every place I go just in case." But she was right. There wasnt many places dry enough or even free from snow for that matter. So, unless some huge heat wave comes in, then chances are, he wouldnt be able to skate. He looked back to her. "So, what brings you out on this beautiful, warm day?"}

[berri]

She seemed to note his careful actions, and while her eyes signaled she wanted to ask why he was being so gentle, the girl kept her questions to herself. If history really did like to repeat itself, asking too many questions of a stranger would not be very wise. Instead she leaned back against the bench, one arm hanging lazily over the edge since she was still turned sideways to face him for conversational purposes.
His explanation for having the board with him made her laugh. It was a crystal clear, almost bell-like sound, and so far the loudest noise she had made so far. "Skater at heart, then? That's pretty cool. I have no sense of balance myself." Berri sat up straighter, folding her arms over one another to think carefully about his question. Answering with 'i was walking around looking for freaks' did not sound like a good idea, either. Instead she smiled, narrowed her eyes briefly, and then shrugged. "Well, I can't say it's warm; quite frankly I think it's freezing, but I thought with the sun out it might be a nice time to take a walk."
Her pale green eyes drifted away to the surrounding areas before finally resting on him again, "It doesn't look like anyone else agrees."

[Eric]

Tony chuckled again. "Well nobody starts out with balance on a skateboard but once you get the hang of it, its pretty easy. But you have to be really gifted to be like me." He looked around at the snow on the ground wishing he could melt it so he could skate and show her a fraction of his abilities. But he couldnt so he came back to what they were talking about once again and then looked to her as she spoke. "Well I am quite warm as you can see. I dont understand why people bundle up so much. I never have and never will but thats just me." Tony paused for a fraction of a second. "And, yes apparently not many people agree with you. Accept for me, and maybe a few other people."

[berri]

She laughed a bit, tucking strands of hair behind her ears. "It's too bad you can't skate here; I'd like to see just how good you are." The girl blinked, looking at his clothes one more time. She really had not realized just how unprepared his attire was for snow at first.
"Huh. You really don't look cold at all," Berri stared at him for a moment before setting the back of her hand against his forehead to see if he felt cold. "Pft. I'm jealous. One more hour out here and I really will freeze." The girl took her hand away, but unlike him, she did not seem at all nervous about being yelled at for touching. It wasn't like she'd passed on cooties or anything.
She hopped off the bench and onto her feet without giving any warning. The girl turned around to face him and grinned. She had loosened up quite a lot. In fact, had she not decided to ease into her usual personality, he never would have known she was tense in the first place.
"Come on--I bet you the street on the other side of the park is clear of snow. At the very least you can do a little skating there."
Berri waited only briefly to make sure he had heard her before she turned and jogged away. Running would warm her up a bit anyway.

[Eric]

"Yeah, too bad." Tony looked around at his surroundings and frowned. Yeah too bad, he repeated in his mind. Then she mysteriously touched him. She was cold. He shivered a little and then she dropped her hand. The place she touched was still cold when Berri mysteriously hopped up and started walking away. She turned around and grinned at him while telling him to come along so they could try to find a dry spot for him to skate at. Tony hopped up from the bench, now pretty excited. He ran over to her with very good speed and then they walked together. After about 150 feet or so Tony found a good spot. "Here follow me." Tony walked to the spot and examined it. His mind went into its usual state when he found a spot. Skater. There was a dry bench that looked like he could pull a somewhat sick grind on, and there was about 20 feet of dry space that he could skate. This is alright. "Ok before I do anything I want to know if you know anything at all about skating?"

[berri]

The girl seemed to be genuinely excited that he had decided to follow her. It was a good sign for a potential friend in her opinion, though she did feel bad about making him shiver. Her friends back home -had- always told her she was naturally cold.

Berri stuffed her hands in the pockets of her jeans to keep them warm while they walked, and for a time her mind seemed to have wandered off into daydreaming. His voice brought her back, and the girl nodded, following him to the clearer patches of ground where skating might be possible. She could almost physically feel the change in his thinking as Tony analyzed the area, and it made her smile. He was obviously passionate about skating.

His question took her a moment to answer, but when she did Berri tilted her head off-center a bit and blinked, "No, I'm sorry, Tony. I'm afraid I'm a complete greenhorn."

[Eric]

Well, this is going to take a while. Tony looked around at the ground. He set his board down gently and popped an ollie. "Alright, whenever the board comes off the ground like that and there is no flip motion or spin motion or grab or anything along those lines, then it is called an ollie. A kickflip is like this." He took the board in his hand and flipped it around. Then he flipped it the opposite way. "And that would be a heelflip." He spun the board around to the left. "That is a back side shuvit. A front side shuvit goes like this." Tony spun his board the other way. "Sorry for the boringness but you have to know the basics. Now I can combine these into different things." He skated closer to the bench and then did a 360 shuv' and a kickflip combined and let the nose of his board land on the corner of the bench starting a nose grind. After about 2 feet on the rail he popped off and did an impossible. Then Tony skated back to Berri. Alright that was a tre flip into a nose grind into an impossible. The impossible was the thing at the end where I made my foot guide the board around, making it do somewhat of a backflip, if you will." He mimicked the motion using his hands. "So what did you think of that?"

[berri]

She nodded, diligently listening to the explanations he gave her. Little did he know she was good at memorizing things on the first try--most of the time. Her hands remained snuggly inside her warm pockets until he headed off to show her the first combination of more than one of 'the basics.'

Her eyes literally lit up like a kid at Christmas. Berri pulled her hands out of her pockets to clasp them together like a much younger girl might. She grinned, waiting until he got close enough to hear her. "That was wonderful! I didn't know somebody could do all those things with a skateboard.."

Berri frowned a moment, blowing on her hands. Even with gloves her fingertips were frozen. Despite the chill, she was not ready to leave. Cold would not kill her, right? The girl smiled at him again, crossing her arms, "So, what else can you do?"

[Eric]

Tony smiled as her eyes lit up. He liked to see people when that happened. It made him feel special. Feel wanted. His mind went back to skater as she asked him what else he could do. There wasnt much in the area, just a bunch of flat ground things and then that bench. Nothing hugely extravagant was possible but she looked like she was already impressed so might as well just do a bunch of things in one place. He started out with a handstand on the board moving inch by inch. Tony took one of his hands off of the board very carefully and put it in the air. Then with one hand he did a sort of doubled heel flip and then landed the board on the to back wheels. He said as he kept his place, "Before I did a one handed hand stand into a double hand flip and now I am in a manual. I forgot to mention this in a basics. And now I will do what is called a pivot, another basic." He then swiveled the board around and now was in a manual on the nose. "And this would be a nose manual." Tony then quickly flipped the board around onto its backside and put his front foot under the board to keep it up while his back foot was on the tail. "This is called a casper. Its another easy trick but takes alot of balance." He did another pivot. "Now this is an anti-casper." Tony swiveled around again and then brought the board higher. It looked effortless when he did it. He made it look like it was easy. Then he grabbed the tail of the board. "This would be called a pyramid." He quickly brought his back foot onto the truck of his board and brought the board straight up and started bouncing around. "This is a pogo." He brought the board down and flipped it onto its edge which is where he landed. This is a premo. And now I am going to end this line by doing a cool flip out of it." He did some sort of 540 double flip out of it and landed it with ease. "There. That wasnt so hard. What did you think?" Tony was a little eager for her impressment, and waited, hiding a little bit of impatient.