Redhawk Caldera i could travel just by folding a map. [MFT]

*cough* @Elwood *cough* :D I figured our current thread was going to be finished up purdy soooon <3 I'll set this for tomorrow if that's kay

Fox and Peregrine had clearly lost their fucking brain baskets. They wanted Fin to be the godmother of their children? Did they not hear the Fin versus the bear story? Or the Fin versus the moose story? Or the Fin versus the rattlesnake story? Or the Fin versus the bear story? The Blackthorn was fairly certain any maternal bone in her body had been smashed into dust by her mother's and sister's births, which she had witness on two separate dares from the same bitch ass brother. Why had she kept getting sucked into that... Where was I? Ah yes. Finley Blackthorn had proven time and time again that the task of keeping herself alive was a daily struggle, how was she supposed to keep tiny breakable little creatures alive?

Finley stopped suddenly upon the snowy landscape as she realized that she had no idea where she was or where she'd been heading. She was about midway up the Caldera on one of the inner slopes where the terrain was rockier and a little more treacherous. She took a moment to use that very situation as evidence as to why the alphas were clearly suffering from some sort of brain diseases before she was distracted by a scent that was slightly out of the ordinary from everything she'd become used to thus far on her meanderings. Abandoning her argument in the middle of thinking WHAT IF I WALK THEM RIGHT OFF OF A CLIFF--, Finley pressed forward, following the somewhat dank and earthy scent that was faintly painted on the breeze.

It took the beta perhaps twenty minutes to discover the crevice upon the mountainside from which the funny-flavored wind came. She barely paused to debate it before she wedged herself between the faces of the rocks and began to climb down into the darkness. Though the tunnel likely would have given a larger wolf some trouble, Fin found she could slip fairly easily through it. The only issue she had was the uneven terrain and the sudden drops of varying lengths that she could only predict were coming by creeping very slowly and thrusting her front paws out to feel for them before putting weight upon her steps.

Fortunately, the treacherous part of the journey was over fairly quickly as the tunnel suddenly opened up wider and wider and wider before it burst open entirely into a what could only be metaphorically described as an elegant ballroom deep within the mountain. Upon the high ceilings hung chandeliers of milky white and ivory stalagmites that glittered with the shards of sunlight that shone in through a long split in the roof. The floor shone as well like a smooth plate of glass that Fin quickly realized was actually a very wide and thick layer of ice after she'd stepped out onto it and nearly fell flat on her face.

It was a curious place, full of glittering light and damp air. Fin walked carefully out towards the center of the area, her gaze all the while searching the walls to see just how far back they went. She had a feeling that they faded into darkness long before they came solidly together to block the way, but with no light and no real curiosities to draw her back towards them, the Blackthorn amused herself instead by slipping and sliding on the natural ice rink.

<3 <3 <3

Finley wasn't the only one thinking that the Alpha pair had lost their marbles, though Elwood was convinced of their insanity for a different reason. Well, he was concerned with Fox, mostly, but he thought he had detected a hint of conspiracy in Peregrine's voice, as well. Ever since the ruddy Alpha female had asked whether or not Elwood had boned Finley yet, the thought had been in the back of his mind. Not because he wanted to bone her, necessarily (or did he?), but because he just hadn't ever thought about her that way before. Or anyone, really. It was uncharted territory for the nearly-two-year-old, and it was enough to drive him crazy.

When he came across Finley's scent as he trekked across the caldera, he hesitated for a long moment. Did he want to track her down, or should he keep his distance for a bit? He didn't want to do or say anything compromising, and he had a little battle in his own head before deciding to see what his friend was up to. See that? His friend. Maybe he had some important Beta-stuff to discuss with her, anyway. Yeah, that was it.

So he started to follow her path, using both her smell and her pawprints in the snow to guide him. She led him to a rocky trail that didn't appear to have been used very much, and eventually he, too, caught wind of the scent that had drawn her there in the first place. It reminded him of the tunnel that he had explored with Somnia, and before he even found the opening in the rock, he knew where Finley was and what she was doing.

Once he managed to locate the crevice, Elwood entered, slinging his body low to the ground. He wasn't the largest wolf around, but this wasn't the most accommodating entrance. Thankfully, as he crept into the belly of the mountain and his eyes adjusted to the darkness, the cavern seemed to open up around him and he was able to resume a normal posture. He moved carefully, following the uneven trail as it led him down, down, down -- towards what, he didn't know. There was a nervous knot in his stomach, as there had been the last time he went spelunking, but he continued forward, wanting to find Finley before he retreated.

Finally, he emerged into a crystallized room, its walls and ceiling much more forgiving than the rest of the cave. Gemstones and precious rocks sparkled all around him, illuminated by a wavering shaft of light from overheard, and the floor in front of him was smooth and glassy -- ice he realized, as his yellow gaze settled on Finley. She careened about on the frozen surface, looking extremely awkward and uncoordinated, and he couldn't help but laugh. The sound echoed, bouncing off of the sharp edges of the secret chamber and surely alerting Finley to his presence.

It was really quite difficult to get going on the ice. As much as she tried to kick off to get some speed, her paws just slipped and skidded all around, unable to find any traction at all. It was amusing though even to just walk around. Her nails made a little clicking sound as they tapped upon the ice that was somehow satisfying to her ears, like the way the sound of high heels clicking on tiles or other hard surfaces makes Stevie happy.

Fin was just leaning down to poke her nose at the surface of the ice, squinting to see her own reflection peering back up at her, when Elwood made his entrance. She started slightly as she snapped her attention to him, hardly having expected to be found so deep in the mountain. When she saw who it was, her alarm melted into a smile and a wagging tail.

"Fancy seeing you down here!" Fin called out to him, "Something beta-like up or are you just stalking me again?" She grinned, but made no move to close the distance between them. Now that she had an audience, she was suddenly very aware of how ridiculous she must have looked bumbling around like a newborn pup.

He seemed to have startled her, for she whirled quickly to look at him. Her expression quickly changed from surprise to warmth, however, and as her tail began to sway, Elwood's did the same. For now, he kept his own feet on the rocky path, allowing her to slip and slide her way towards him to close the gap. He would put off looking like a fool for as long as possible, but he knew Finley would probably coax him into ice skating before he could protest.

His ears pricked as she asked him what had brought him down into the depths of the mountain. "Oh, yeah, I just talked to Peregrine," he called out, listening to his voice reverberate around him. "He said you're fired, because I'm a much better Beta." Elwood grinned deviously as the words left his mouth.

lol i'm drinking and i make up words

Finley narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips at his little quip. It seemed the pair of them were doomed to forever be teasing and jestingfully competing with each other. She didn't mind of course. That was how she usually preferred to interact with others--keep everything light and fun. The deep stuff was too depressing and heavy, and she fully believed that such wasn't needed in order to make a real connection with someone. After all, she and Peregrine had only ever had one serious conversation together and they were like siblings, and that was just barely one and it had only lasted like a minute.

I might be drunk. Fin rolled her eyes and gave a haughty scoff. "Please, they've given me a far more important job than you can ever even hope to have," she said teasingly, her tail swishing. She was still uncertain about her appointment to godmother, but if she could use it to torment her friend a bit, she'd certainly take advantage of the opportunity.

I drank homemade wine last night and it was delicious!

She scoffed at him, proclaiming that she had been given a job that was much more important than anything he could dream of. This caused Elwood's brows to raise skeptically as he looked at his similarly-colored counterpart. There was a 50/50 chance she was bluffing: she did tend to make things up, or at least embellish the truth, but on the other hand, she was truly Fox and Peregrine's second-in-command. Elwood considered himself to be something like second-and-a-half-in-command. He wasn't quite as close to the Alpha pair as she was, but her relationship with them had longevity. He would get there.

He tried briefly to think of a guess as to what Finley was implicating, but eventually decided just to take her bait. "And that is...?" he asked, simultaneously extending a forepaw to step out onto the ice. He was a little hesitant after seeing Somnia crash through the frozen surface at the caldera itself, but this ice seemed to be much thicker and sturdier. The temperature in the glittering cavern was colder than outside, which made him think that this cavern had been frigid for some time. Gingerly, he began to make his way towards Finley, taking baby steps and occasionally wobbling.

Mmmmm I still have two bottles in my fridge that I might break into after I finish my evening coffee :3 Also, NO idea how I came up with this riddle O___O

As Elwood inquired further, simultaneously stepping out onto the ice, she felt like she was reeling him in. Her grin widened as he took shaky little steps towards her. She felt a little less self-conscious now that they were on even turf and both equally in danger of making fools of themselves by slipping.

"Allow me to tell you in the form of a riddle!" she replied, sliding her paws across the ice to begin moving to the side, "What is both immortal and maternal, with neither divinity nor offspring?" BOOM! she added in her mind, fully thinking that Elwood was probably expecting a riddle more along the lines of What starts with G and ends in Mother. Typically, that would be about as witty as the Blackthorn could muster. She was having a smart day, though. So again I say BOOM!

Rather than answer his question outright, Finley supplied a response in the form of a riddle. It was difficult enough to concentrate on walking carefully on the ice without busting his ass, so multitasking was out of the question. He slowly slid to a halt, still a few feet from Finley, and began to contemplate her cryptic quote.

"Both immortal and maternal, without divinity or offspring," he repeated thoughtfully, tilting his head to one side as he considered his options. There weren't many choices coming to mind -- whereas Finley was having a smart day, Elwood was apparently having a dumb one. He narrowed his eyes and squinted at her, pursing his lips in frustration.

He was daring enough to stomp a forepaw on the ice -- and managed to do it and avoid falling over -- and simultaneously said, "I dunno, just tell me!" Perhaps a childish response, but he just wanted to get to the solution with the least amount of effort on his part.

His response made Finley snort with laughter. He certainly was a pouty one today, which again the beta found to be endearing when she usually would have been annoyed. Her eyes glinted with triumph as she regarded him, shaking her head fondly.

"Okay fine, but only because I don't want to see you cry..." Finley said, her chuckles settling, "Peregrine and Fox made me their kids' Godmother. Can you believe it?" Despite her many, many, many misgivings, the beta lifted her head a little with pride at announcing it. Titles were pretty cool after all, as long as you didn't focus on all of the responsibility that came with them.

Blake and I are enjoying some champagne! :D Uh and I forgot to comment on my last post, that was a clever riddle!!

Responding to Finley's quip, Elwood swiped a paw across his face, wiping away imaginary tears. He stuck his lower lip out, letting it quiver as he waited for her final answer. The suspense was killing him -- what in the world could they have assigned to her that had her so excited?

When she finally told him, his initial reaction was to blink at her. Godmother? Finley? Were Peregrine and Fox sure they had meant to assign that task to her? Wasn't that something for...responsible wolves? Elwood shook his head, bemused, but he smiled anyway. Though she could be a bit reckless, he knew that out of anyone else in the pack -- besides the pups' parents -- Finley would care for those children and would do anything that she could to ensure they had a good life.

There were two ways that he could choose to reply. He could have poked fun at her, teasing her for her bear fighting ways and wondering about the Alphas' sanity. But instead, he reciprocated genuinely; he truly was happy for her, and it was obvious that she was thrilled by her new title. "Wow, Fin. That's really awesome -- you're gonna be the coolest godmother around," he said, his tail waving behind him. He slowly started to skate towards her again, until he was face to face with her. "Seriously," he added, reaching down to touch his nose to hers.

Nice! I'm killing one of my bottles of wine :3 And thank you! I read so many riddles for inspiration lol

Fin felt the joy flood over her as her tail began to wag furiously in response to Elwood's reaction to her news. "I know right? How frickin' stupid are they?" she said affectionately as she shook her head, "I mean, I pray to everything I can possibly can that I won't have to.. y'know, step up to the plate, but.. I dunno, it's kind of neat." She shrugged nonchalantly, although she was still beaming a bit. She really would be the coolest godmother ever. She'd show them all kinds of things, how to... or how to do.......

"Hey, Twig?" she asked quietly and suddenly, her attitude shifting, "I don't.... really know what to do with kids." She bit her lip thoughtfully, wondering how to phrase what it was exactly she was trying to say. "I mean, I know not to like.. step on them or swear around them or.. try to eat them, but other than that like... What're you supposed to do with them? They're so tiny and they're probably super breakable, right?" There was concern upon her face as she searched for Elwood's gaze. Finley Blackthorn, fighter of bears, boldly leaping off of cliffs and staring down poisonous vipers, was actually somewhat admitting to a secret fear she had of puppies.

I added MFT to this since it looks like it's headed in that direction! AND I'M WATCHING MULAN :D

OMG, Fin is so cute! *squishes her*

She started to gush as soon as he gave his approval, and he took a step back, putting a comfortable amount of space between them. He couldn't help but smile as he listened to her, his grey ears pressing forward to absorb her words. Never before had he seen her so animated -- not in this way. This was different, somehow, and he realized then and there that Peregrine and Fox had made the right decision. There would be some that had their doubts (himself included, initially), but she would take good care of the firebirds.

Suddenly, Finley sobered. Elwood snorted softly through his nostrils as she addressed him as Twig, but he quickly concluded that she wasn't playing around. She confessed that she had little experience with children and wasn't exactly sure what to do with them. It was a good question, and honestly, Elwood was probably just as inexperienced as she was.

"Well, yeah, when they're really tiny, I don't think there's much you can do with them. But when they start to get bigger, you'll be able to play with them. Teach them to pounce, to dig...maybe hide-and-seek...and even when they're infants, once their ears are open, you can tell them all about your adventures," he said, rambling a bit. "Before we know it, we'll have a bunch of wannabe bear-fighters on our hands." Especially with not only Finley as a godmother, but equally feisty Fox as a mom.

Fin lifted her ears to listen closely to Elwood's suggestions, his comfort warming her even in the cold depths of the mountain with their paws freezing against the ice upon which they stood. In spite of her worry, she found herself smiling as he painted such beautiful pictures for her, of her teaching them and entertaining them. Elwood it seemed was a natural at interacting with kids, and for a fleeting moment Finley actually pictured the two of them standing together, smiling down at a brood of silver furred puppies as they tussled together and insulted each other over ridiculous things.

She shook her head lightly to push the thought away and refocus on the now--she could freak out about that thought later. "It would be neat to teach them how to hunt and fight and things..." she said softly, her mind alight with daydreams that totally didn't involve Elwood for sure, "And I could teach them how to screw with Peregrine!" Her eyes lit up then, ears perking as mischief reclaimed its rightful place at the forefront of her mind. "Y'know, make 'em ask him what their pee-pees are for and if its weird that they keep dreaming about him dying in the middle of the night and eating him."

So. Yeah.. She might have her moments, but she would still always be Finley.

IMAGINARY ELFIN BABIES YESSSS

For a moment, Elwood found that he was seeing a softer side of Finley; one that was likely rare and that would be gone with the blink of an eye. And indeed it was -- she admitted that she looked forward to teaching the Alphas' pups a variety of things...including inappropriate things for them to say to their father. He laughed out loud at the thought, though he anticipated that it would take a lot more than that to psych out Peregrine.

"Well, you can only teach them those things if Peregrine doesn't teach them first," he chuckled. If there was one thing that the pups would certainly have, it was personality. With Peregrine and Fox as parents, and Finley as a godmother, there would be an unending supply of fart jokes, cuss words, and general insanity. "But, yeah, I think that's the whole point of being a godmother, isn't it?" he questioned teasingly.

Before waiting for a response from his friend, he kicked out with his hind legs and began to glide (unsteadily) away from her. He would have been graceful, if it wasn't for his incessant wobbling, and there was an instant where he was convinced he was going to faceplant on the ice. He managed to keep his balance, though, and even was able to throw a triumphant glance over his shoulder at Finley, grinning and wordlessly enticing her to chase him.

I can't wait to see who adopts the lil' Firebirds, they're gonna have some messed up family to deal with XD

Peregrine teach them first? Pur-lease he'd be so busy fawning over Fox the babies, he wouldn't have a chance to put into action any devious plans, meanwhile Finley would be plotting her own mischief the entire time Fox was incubating the lil' bastards. She chuckled along with Elwood, enjoying his responses and giving a confident nod to agree that evil masterminding was totally the point of being a godmother. What else was there, considering the fact that Foxegrine was destined to be present to care for their children for eternity?

Elwood quite suddenly struck out across the ice in a wobbly and uncoordinated fashion. Fin cocked her head as she watched him slip away, her shoulders shaking from laughter at the sight. Her gaze snapped to attention upon his triumphant face and immediately the beta recognized a challenge from her fellow beta. With barely a hesitation, Fin put her own unsteady legs into action and scraped across the ice after him.

Fin had actually been quite confident that gaining momentum upon such a slippery surface was impossible. Perhaps it was her nails scratching upon the frigid floor, or maybe the rough pads of her paws really did manage to get some traction, but suddenly she was shooting after Elwood with far more speed than she'd realized was possible. Her determined grin quickly turned into a look of pure ohhhh fuck as she careened across the ice straight towards Elwood's rump.

Though she attempted to plant her back legs hard into the ice, she succeeded only in landing hard upon her haunches as she continued to slide right at him. Shutting her eyes and hoping for the best was the only defense she had, and so that was what she did as she careened towards him like a runaway bowling ball towards a lonely gray pin.

I know! They have no idea what they're getting into when they apply for those babies, hahaha.

Elwood was pleased when Finley began to follow him, and turned his head back around to watch where he was going. He started to move his legs methodically, almost as though he was swimming, figuring out which motions would move him forward in the quickest and safest manner. After a few seconds, he had picked up a decent amount of speed and was gliding across the ice, appearing more graceful than he felt.

Only once he was feeling more confident did he look back at Finley again -- and the timing could not have been better. Or worse? He was met with the sight of her careening towards him, sliding much faster than he was. There was a look of bewilderment on her face, which indicated that she didn't mean to be so out of control. He watched, helpless, as she sat back hard on her haunches in an attempt to slow herself down -- but she just kept skidding towards him, now in a sitting position.

With a little yelp, Elwood tried to move. His claws scrabbled uselessly against the ice, carving its surface but unable to find enough purchase to propel himself away from Finley. It was probably quite comical, and he almost wished that someone was there to witness it -- and just as that thought cross his mind, Finley collided with him. She knocked him off his feet, and he collapsed in a tangle of limbs, the slippery surface beneath them just making things more complicated.

*powerplays like a FIEND*

Yeah.. They were screwed. That was probably the last thought Finley had in her head before she collided with Elwood. She felt her spine curl over Elwood's as she slammed into him bum first and began to fall backwards onto him. He fell simultaneously with her, both of them twisting awkwardly and landing upon the ice in a tangle of limbs and silver.

When eventually they slid to a stop, Fin found herself nestled rather snuggly upon her back with both of Elwood's front limbs on either side of her and a majority of the rest of him stretched across her chest and stomach. Her body shook with laughter, the result of a humor that had claimed her from the moment she'd begun to slide uncontrollably towards him. Her muscles ached from being banged against the ground and her friend, bruises quite likely in her future, but she didn't much care as her laughter settled and she peeked at Elwood's face resting so near to hers.

how dare u

There was nothing but confusion for a few seconds as the two grey wolves fell. Somehow, Finley managed to slide up under Elwood; gravity and physics took control of the situation, and he didn't try to struggle. If he attempted to right himself at that moment, it likely would have resulted in more damage and entanglement.

She had been moving fast enough that her momentum continued even after she hit the ice, causing both of them to slide unceremoniously across the sparkling floor. By the time they stopped moving, Elwood was already laughing. Once they were still, he tried to make sense of whose limbs were where -- it appeared that he had trapped her with his forelegs, while the rest of his body was sprawled across hers. Who even know what was happening with their hind legs.

They were both laughing, and when Finley's warm breath washed over his face, Elwood realized just how close they were. His chuckles quieted slightly, and he suddenly felt an unexplained tightness in his chest as he gazed down at her. Golden eyes met copper as he found himself speechless for the first time.

It was like a scene from a movie, the pair of them colliding with each other and falling upon one another, entangled and laughing up until the moment their eyes locked and they both realized simultaneously in what way they'd really just fallen. Only this wasn't a movie, and if it was, Finley would be the worst heroine ever, for the moment did nothing to inspire her to finally make a move towards the big romantic end scene. In fact, the moment she sensed something stirring in her was the very same moment that she suddenly thrust out with both front paws to knock Elwood the hell away from her before either of their brains could do any more gooey romantic things.

Unfortunately for Elwood, that meant a potential wolf-punch pretty hard right in the face--depending on whether or not he had the forbearance to dodge it. Fin barely even noticed what she had or hadn't done as she instinctively scrambled to escape his grasp, rolling onto her belly away from him. She kicked wildly with her back legs to send herself sliding across the ice away from him, though she failed to actually stand. Instead, she remained on her belly as she cascaded to a stop only a few feet away from where she'd started, her eyes wide as her brain struggled to catch up with whatever her crazy-ass body had just done.

Hahaha, I love them.

In the few seconds that Elwood was face-to-face with Finley, the words of Peregrine and Fox resounded in his head. "I think Fox ships the two of you. I think I sort of do too," Peregrine had said. "You two seem like you'd make a good match," Fox had added. He blinked up at his silver counterpart, his mind racing as he tried to think of what an appropriate response to the situation would be.

Before he could really process the circumstances, he was abruptly slammed in the face by an unidentified object. It happened so fast -- and he had been so distracted -- that he hadn't even realized that it was Finley's paws that had pummeled him. "AUGH," he barked, falling backwards onto his rump as Finley scooted out from under him. He used his own paws to cover his face, tenderly pressing with his toes to make sure nothing was broken -- bruised, he determined, but thankfully not permanently damaged.

With a moan, he opened one eye, slowly returning his feet to the ground. It took a moment for his vision to clear, and then he glared at Finley, who was staring at him from a prone position on the ice just a few feet away from him. "What the hell!" he cried, actually feeling a little annoyed at her -- that had fucking hurt.

What the hell indeed.

Fin felt her claws digging hard into the surface of the ice clinging to it as though she was about to fall off of the world. She stared blankly at Elwood as he rolled around and clutched at his face, completely lost as to how to explain her wild reaction to their nearness. You was way too all up in my grill Made a brief appearance in her mind, but that didn't explain the look of terror she was swiftly urging off of her face. Plus, they'd been close before without any problems, so how to explain why her defense mechanisms had sprang up on them out of no where at that exact moment?

"There was.. A bug!" she cried out suddenly "A moth! Like right up on your head. It was. I don't like moths." That much at least was actually true. She was terrified of those dusty winged little fuckers. Though she usually didn't like to tell anyone about that, she didn't have much choice in the situation.

A moth? An insect had caused that dramatic (and painful) reaction from Finley? Elwood rubbed his nose with a paw as he looked at her, unable to keep a skeptical expression from settling on his face. His snout and cheekbones felt tender; he couldn't believe how hard she had punched him. She must have really been afraid of moths.

"Well, next time...can you not pound me in the face?" he said a bit grumpily, getting to his feet. He braced himself and shook out his fur, feeling a little ruffled after the whole ordeal. Truthfully, he wasn't sure if he believed Finley or not -- he hadn't seen any moths the whole time they had been in the cavern, and for her to nail him so squarely in the face, there should have been one sitting right on the end of his nose. But he had no other explanation for her behavior, so his only choice was to take her word for it.

He considered skating over to her, but thought better of it. "I think I'll stay over here for now," he said, a tiny amount of humor creeping back into his voice. He couldn't stay mad at her for long, and he knew it.

Finley bit her lip as she waited to see what he had to say about her little revelation. She actually would have reacted exactly the same if there really had been a moth by his face. The only difference would be that she wouldn't have stopped running until she was safely buried in her den. But Elwood didn't know that, nor was she going to rat herself out by explaining that to him. Instead, she gave him an apologetic look and lowered her head sheepishly to lay flat upon the ice. Her ears shifted back upon her head as she watched him give his coat a good shake and announced his intention to keep his distance from her.

"I completely understand," she replied. She too was keen on keeping him away from her, but for very different reasons than he had. Fin remained silent for a little while, allowing herself to truly settle down from that very bizarre moment they'd just had. Eventually, she was calm enough to brush it away entirely. Whatever had happened was over and it had been nothing anyway. Nothing nothing nothing. NOTHING. Ah, there we go...

Finley carefully pulled herself up onto all fours, peering casually over at Elwood. "I'm just gonna move around a little.. over here... Far away from you, don't worry," she said innocently before looking away. Very gently, she began to shuffle and slide across the ice like an ice skater. She peeked over her should at him every so often to see if he was watching and, more importantly, if he was about ready to quit pouting and start enjoying themselves again.

Not only was Elwood's muzzle injured, but his pride seemed to be a bit bruised, as well. He was content to keep his distance from Finley for now, so he sat down and watched sulkily as she stood and began to maneuver across the ice. His gaze followed her, but his bottom remained fixed to the ground beneath him.

Until he realized that his bum was getting cold. He was sitting on the ice, after all, and now that the pain in his face was subsiding, he started to feel the chill. He still wasn't ready to approach Finley, however, so he got to his feet and started skating in a slow circle on his side of the ice rink. His movements were short and choppy at first, but gradually he found a smoother rhythm.

His arc grew larger and larger on each turn, though there was still a considerable amount of distance between himself and his assailant. He did glance over to her and stick his tongue out, before snapping his head back around and regaining his concentration. In that split second, he had started to wobble, so he corrected himself carefully as he spun away from Finley.

Fin could tell her friend was rather more put out by what had happened than what deemed fitting. As she slid across the ice, she found herself wondering if it was because he too had felt that strange connection in that moment and was actually upset with her for ruining it. Oddly, thinking that might be the case made her feel guilty instead of even more relieved that she'd punched him in the face. Her insides squirmed uncomfortably at the whole thing, and so she attempted tp force it from her mind.

It helped when she spied Elwood sticking his pink tongue out at her as he skated around. She smirked and turned her back to him, continuing her own routine with a similarly widening trajectory. After a minute or so, she sought to catch his attention so she could scrunch her face up mockingly at him the moment he looked. She continued then nonchalantly, slowly and subtly extending her figure rights so they came closer and closer to his skate zone.