[Akida]

"Oh come on! Don't be such a sour-puss! It'll be fun!"
And with that the woman leapt onto her sled and let gravity take hold of her. She sped down the slope whooping and laughing as bumps made her sled soar for seconds at a time. She slid to a stop at the bottom of the hill still laughing.

Her smile was radiant. The blue-green sweater she wore was covered in flurries of snow. Her raven hair was accented only by a blue to green gradient feather held by a single braid. She dusted off her dark blue jeans and looked to the top of the hill. On a regular day she would have had to shade her eyes from the sun, but today was overcast. Winter was in full swing and every week was guaranteed at least one snowfall. She saw no sign of her partner and groaned disappointedly. She was starting to make the trek up the hill when she saw the figure sledding down the hill, full speed, toward her.

"LOOK OUT!!"
His masculine voice rang out, but was carried away by the wind rushing past him. The woman ahead of him dived out of the way and turned in time to see him crash into a bank of snow. She laughed and walked over to him, her genuine smile forever plastered onto her face.
"Are you okay?"
She watched as the red sweater pushed up out of the soft snow and the man turned to sit on his bottom. He smiled up at her as if to say "why, yes. I am, but this is your fault." He chewed on the bits of fresh ice that had found a way into his mouth.
The woman fell to her knees laughing softly while reaching out to brush some of the remaining snow flakes out of his hair.

"Why do I let you talk me into these crazy things?"
Her lips curved into a smile. "I don't know. Why do you?"
Her eyes sparkled with laughter as she rose above him.
"Wanna go again?"
No, thank you!"
His no came quickly but it wasn't harsh. She shrugged and headed up the hill.

They were in the hill-y part of Terrace park. This was the best place to do sledding. In both the summer and the winter. Durring the summer, the grass grew tall and was perfect for cardboard sledding. The winter, of course, brought beautiful layers of snow perfect for sledding and mini avalanches.

The woman came sliding down the hill laughing and whooping once more. Somehow she managed to keep control of her sled, unlike her partner. Then again, she was the better sledder of the two. They were both fun-loving, but he was a bit more conservative. She was the wild one. Together they were quite the pair and always seemingly happy.

[Kitsumi]

Bubblegum
The soft crunching of snow underfoot was a comforting sound. The muffled crunch reminded her of the sound her mouth made when crunching on sweets - especially sugar cubes! - and so it was actually a rather familiar sound. Of course, the thought of sugar cubes, and sweets in general, simply stressed the woman out.

A mishap with the candy order left Bubblegum with a dilemma - a whole store full of peppermints! Not that there was anything wrong with peppermints, in and of themselves. But a whole store of them? It was simply too much! Where were the lollipops? The chocolates? The taffies? There was absolutely no way that Bubblegum would be able to sell so many peppermints, and even worse, her regular customers would come in looking for their favorite jelly beans, or gummy bears, or some other sweet. When they found only peppermints, they would become disappointed. And Bubblegum hated to disappoint her customers.

She sighed. This was the first time in a long time that she had actually felt stressed out. Brushing a strand of her light pink and blue hair out of her eyes, she tried to think of a solution. She couldn't order more stock until she had more money - and there was no way that she'd be able to sell all of those peppermints any time soon. Unless she were able to get some money - and quick! - the store would have to be shut down!

The sounds of chatter and laughter from a short ways away caught her attention, and Bubblegum turned towards the sound. Two people were sledding, and appeared to be having a grand time! Despite the circumstances, Bubblegum couldn't help but smile. She hadn't gone sledding in such a long time, and it had always been her favorite winter activity. Well, along with snowball fights, building snowmen, making snow angels...okay, every winter activity was her favorite! She couldn't help it that winter was so much fun!

She stood, and suddenly wondered if she shouldn't just abandon her fears and worries for a bit and enjoy the snow. Perhaps these people wouldn't mind if she joined?

{1}

[Mousen]

"I hate the cold, I hate the snow and most of all, brother dearest, I hate you. Despise, in fact. Loathe. You're an insult to the Halsey name, a-"

Gabriel was not impressed by his sister's monologue, and cutting it short, he replied. "You're forgetting that this wasn't my idea. I hate winter and anything cold and I especially, especially hate snow. It's just furry ice, I mean, people hate ice. This is ice that's gone mouldy. It's even worse than ice."

Mia laughed, pulling her battered leather jacket closer around her shoulders. "Yeah, yeah. We're both miserable gits. So... Was this Thursday or Lottie?" Just in front of her Mia's guide dog, Travis, padded along faithfully. She'd been a guide dog for a long time now and wasn't the least bit distracted by the noise at the bottom of the hill.

"Lottie." Gabriel answered. Lottie being one of his co-workers and a close friend to both Gabriel and Mia, she was always up to something and usually dragged the rest of them along with her. "I wonder where the hell she's gotten to, she said that she'd meet us in the park..." The park was huge and even though he'd been given a vague idea of where to go, it could take the him ages to find her. Honestly. It wouldn't be so bad if she thought these things through properly, but what more could you expect from an Irish conspiracy theorist?

Gabriel started walking down the hill that was so often used for sledding, he just hoped he wouldn't slip. He could just about see some people at the bottom of the hill and the last thing he wanted to do was get in their way or make a fool of himself. Some way behind him, Mia was walking in the footsteps he left. To the casual bystander, it was immediately clear they were siblings. From the shape of their faces, to the same sceptical look they wore. Gabriel, the older, was around six foot in height, with dark skin, hair the same colour as black coffee and eyes which suggested he wasn't quite as sceptical as all that. He was dressed warmly in a jacket and a navy blue Christmas jumper, and a woolly hat pulled down over his ears. Mia on the other hand, was barely five foot. Her short hair hung stubbornly around her face, and perched on the end of her nose were a pair of aviator glasses. There was something about Mia that suggested that unlike her brother, she was a sceptical as all that.

"She's not here." Gabriel announced as they came to the foot of the hill.

"Someone else is, though. We should ask them." Mia responded.

Her brother sighed, making it clear that he would have preferred to avoid any and all conversation. He still walked over to them, though. The sooner he found Lottie, the sooner he could get out of here. "Hey, uhm... Sorry to bother you, but... I don't suppose you've seen a crazy Irish woman around here, have you? Five-seven, orange hair, blue eyes, clinically insane? Spouts nonsense about aliens and the pyramids? No...?" At first he thought the two people who'd been sledding were the only ones (beside himself and Mia) that were in this part of the park, though, when he caught sight of a young woman a few feet behind them, he realized that he'd been mistaken. It almost looked as if he wasn't the only one who wanted to speak to the couple.

He was hopeless, honestly. However he managed to run a bookstore she'd never know. Mia made her way over to her brother's side. "Sorry about him. He's not good with people. We're looking for our friend, she told us to meet her here."

((xD; My first post isn't very good, sorry. And don't mind my characters, they'll lighten up~ Oh, and I suppose I should make it clear since I didn't explicitly state it, Mia is blind. x3;; Aannnnd, I typed this up before I saw Kitsumi's post, so I hope you don't mind a third person joining in? ))

[Thunder]

(Crappy old human form art xD)

Devoc shivered and drew his silver cloak around himself more tightly. Winter was a beautiful season, with the soft snow cushioning the earth in pearly white, but it was also terribly cold at times. The young Dragonian boy thanked the Ancient Force that he had found his winter boots on time- they had been missing a few weeks ago- for he had no idea how he would get to Medicai if he had to trudge through the thick layers of white in regular shoes.

There were lots of parents with their children in the park today, laughing and having fun in the snow. They tossed snowballs back and forth and built sculptures of various Evelonian creatures out of it. Devoc gave a tiny smile to the cheery people as he passed them, and part of him wished he could enjoy the loveliness of the season too, but he had a job to do at Medicai. His father was still working hard at this time of year and had an immensely important history research project to do for his academy, and Devoc had to fetch some documents from the city of medicine. Time was absolutely of the essence.

As he was distracted by one couple happily ice skating on a frozen pond, however, Devoc failed to notice a rather large lump of snow coming up in front of him- perhaps the beginnings of a snowman. He stepped forward and tripped over the lump. He snapped back to attention and gasped, trying to steady himself, but it was too late. Devoc was on a hill, and the fall was enough to send him rolling down, down, down.

He let out helpless squeaks as he went. He could feel the snow getting into his clothes, and it was utterly freezing. He was sure that people were staring at him as he went tumbling down the hill. And he began panicking as he realized that he was headed right for a certain pink-and-blue-haired girl at the bottom of the incline...

[Akida]

(Ooh where do I begin? xD Feel free to join in guys I don't mind at all.)

Not far from the pair there were families here and there having their own wintry fun. The young lady in her blue-green sweater was getting ready to move to a more flat part of the park so that someone else could have their fun with the slopes. Her partner was doing the same, stopping every now and again to look at others throwing snowballs and having a merry ol' time.

He was the first to notice a pair with a dog approaching them. He also noticed a young lady who looked like she wanted to join, but the tall guy of the pair was already upon them. He nudged the bent over woman just before he greeted the pair.
"How's it goin'?" He smiled and listened as the guy spoke.
"Nope. We haven't. We would've noticed someone that lively." She laughed at the man's description of the person they were looking for.
"If you'd like, we'll keep an eye out for her."
"Yes! We can definitely do that!" His wife chimed in merrily.

It was only now she noticed a young lady a slight ways away looking in their direction. Maybe she wanted to ask them something, too? Just at the moment she noticed someone's yelps and looked up to see someone tumbling down the hill.
"Oh my! LOOK OUT!" She yelled at the girl who seemed unaware of what was about to happen. She hoped she'd warned her in time and ran toward her saying sorry as she went.

"What the...  Hold that thought." He ran after his wife in the event she, or the person rolling down the hill, would need help.

[Kitsumi]

It appeared that the area was filling up rather quickly! At the description of the missing person, Bubblegum scanned the area hoping to be of help. However, she saw no one matching that description, and simply shrugged apologetically. It didn't appear that the people were speaking exclusively to her - she wasn't sure that they were speaking to her at all.

Oblivious as always, Bubblegum wasn't aware of the man rolling towards her until it was too late. She heard the shout, and turned - just in time to be bowled over by a snow-covered man! With a rather loud oof! she went down. There was no time to break her fall, but if she was lucky, the snow would do that for her. All she could do was shut her eyes tightly and hope that there would be no damage!

Hitting the ground, she was pleasantly surprised to find that not only did it not hurt, but the sensation had actually been enjoyable. Some might even go so far as to call it fun. Looking around at the sight, she suddenly and unexpectedly burst into laughter. "Well!" She pushed one gloved hand through her hair, now cold and slightly damp with melting snow. "That was certainly unexpected. I guess I should know better than to stand at the bottom of a sledding hill. Although, I fail to find a sled in this situation!"

Turning to the man who had bowled her over, she sat up and examined him. "Are you okay? That was quite a tumble!"

{2}

[Mousen]

"Well, thanks anyway. And if you could keep an eye out, that'd be great--" Gabriel was quite suddenly cut off as someone tripped over a patch of snow on the hill and they started to fall. He winced as the figure crashed into a girl who was stood at the bottom of the slope. Luckily, they didn't seem to be hurt too badly. The girl sprung to her feet and was already helping them to their feet.

"What happened? Did someone fall?" Mia asked, looking a little concerned.

"Yeah, they're okay, though. I think." Gabriel answered. "C'mon, we'd better go over there." Mia grabbed hold of the sleeve of his coat. She hated doing that, but she was out of her comfort zone in this park, and disliked places where there was no set paths.

"Is everyone alright? That was quite a fall." Well, at least the girl seemed to be fine. Upon closer inspection, she almost reminded him of Lottie, the bright coloured hair and the cheery attitude was very much reminiscent of his co-worker.

[Thunder]

Devoc thought he heard someone call for the girl to look out, but it was too late anyways. He smashed into her at full speed and sent them both rolling down the slope. As they reached the bottom of the hill, however, the snow started slowing both of them down, and eventually they came to a complete stop. Devoc was now face-up from the snow, blinking his widened silver eyes in disbelief at the blue sky above.

"Y-yes, I am all right," he stammered, looking over at the girl he bowled into. Two other people with a dog had also come over to ask if they were fine, and Devoc meekly nodded. He slowly pushed himself out of the snow and shook the white stuff out of his hair and clothes the best he could. Now he was sore all over, though he didn't feel too damaged. And judging by the way the girl sprang up, she was probably fine too, but Devoc still felt guilty for rolling into her.

"I so sorry!" he exclaimed, turning to the girl. His face was slightly red. "Um, are you hurt? Is there anything I can do for you? Would you like me to get a warm drink for you?"

[Akida]

Maria slid to a stop as the tumbling man bowled over the poor girl. Thankfully she sprang onto her feet as if she simply tripped over herself. Maria stifled a laugh for the moment and looked down at the man laying in the snow. She heard him reply he was fine, so she stepped closer and looked him up and down. Nothing looked out of place or awkwardly bent from this angle. Her partner offered the poor man a hand to help him up.

"That was quite the fall. Are you sure you're ok?"
"Hon..."
"No pain anywhere?"
"Honey..."
"No stars floating around?"

Maria sighed and grabbed his stubbly chin gently and turned his face to her.
"He says he's fine."
"But...."
"Fine, just fine."
"Ok."
He then remembered the others around him and laughed nervously rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. He thought to himself, this is what I get for being a worry wart...

[Kitsumi]

Suddenly, it seemed like they were surrounded by practically everyone nearby! It probably wasn't everybody, of course, but Bubblegum always tended to think in extremes. Her eyes widened as she noticed all of the people, and she almost forgot about the whole tumble, trying to figure out who all of them were. Then, of course, she realized that they were probably just curious as to the well-being of those involved in the accident, and she smiled at them.

"I'm fine," she said, both to the man who had accidentally knocked her over and the people gathering around. "That was actually kinda fun!" Giggling, she took out a sucker from a concealed pocket on the inside of her coat, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth. Letting it rest in the left side of her cheek - creating a rather noticeable bulge - she began to talk around it. "Don't worry about me, you don't need to get me anything. It was an accident, so there's no need to apologize either."

Giving her pink and blue hair a shake, making her curls (which were now wet and beginning to frizz up quite a bit) even more unruly-looking, she offered a smile to the group around her. "I'm Bubblegum, by the way, and it was nice of all of you to come over and check up on us. I think we're both okay...right?" She turned to look at the man once more, although he had already claimed to be okay.

{3}

[Mousen]

Well, that seemed to settle that quite nicely. Everyone was fine. Realizing that now was probably where he was supposed to introduce himself, Gabriel spoke up. "Uhm... I'm Gabe and this is my sister Mia. It's good that everyone is okay." Bubblegum, huh? What an odd name. Then again, considering he was best friends with someone called Thursday, he couldn't really complain.

It was then Gabriel's phone bleeped. He dug it out of his coat pocket and read the text that had been sent, he sighed. "Great." he said to no-one in particular. "Just great."

"What was that?"

"Lottie. I know know where she is, she's sick with a cold, in her apartment watching Stargate re-runs. It's the episode where they all nearly die but don't, apparently." Gabe rolled his eyes, as he came away from the group slightly to speak to Mia. It's not so much that they didn't want to be overheard (not that stepping a couple of feet away would help that much) as he didn't want to get in anyone's way. "She says she brought us here in order to look for those special Christmas pets or whatever. You know, the ones everyone is looking for."

"Wait, she brought me here to look for something?"

"... 'Fraid so."

"You were right. She is clinically insane."

[Thunder]

Goodness, where were all these people coming from? Devoc smiled meekly at the couple that had arrived to see if they were fine. He appreciated everyone's concern, but really, there was no need to worry. No one had been hurt as far as he could see. "I-I'm really fine!" he stammered, waving his hands in protest. "Honestly, I'm not hurt at all..."

He was ready to say a few last words and continue on his way to his mission when the girl he knocked over introduced herself as Bubblegum. The people who had arrived with the dog were giving out their names too. Now, Devoc felt it would be awkward if he left. Everyone had gathered around because of his accident. Was he going to be late to Medicai and disappoint his father? Inwardly, the young man was panicking slightly, but he put on a smile and looked around at everyone.

"W-well, um, I'm Devoc," he said. "Devoc Vendridan. It's nice to meet you all..." He trailed off when Gabriel's phone beeped and watched with confusion as the siblings stepped away. Someone was sick? Did they perhaps need someone to fetch some medicine? Devoc was en route to Medicai, after all, and one could definitely find medication there...

[Akida]

Wonderful! The two involved in the little mishap were both fine. Maria had expected this the moment both said they were ok. Her husband on the other hand took a moment to understand this and calm down. That was one reason she married him anyway. So caring about others.

"Its very nice to meet all of you and I'm glad you got a bit of fun out of that. I am Maria and this worrisome man here is Rafael."
"I'm not always worrisome though.."
"Yes you are." Maria laughed
"Maybe a little.."
Bubblegum was a bit of an odd name to him, but it suited her visually and personality-wise.

When Gabriel's phone went off, he mentioned someone being ill and reruns and something else. When he stepped aside, Rafael struck up a conversation with the two.
"So what brings you guys to Terrace? The slopes for sledding...or tumbling in your case Devoc." The man smiled kindly at the stranger.
"Or is it that today is a perfect day for snowball wars and snow angel making?"

In fact that was what she had planned to do next. Her hubby wouldn't be as reluctant to join her in doing those activities.

[Kitsumi]

It seemed as if everyone was split off into either a pair or a lone person. Although they had all responded to Bubblegum's introduction - something that was probably done out of the pure obligation not to be rude - they still seemed separated. One pair was stepping away as the male talked on the phone, and the man that had bowled into Bubblegum, Devoc, seemed as if he were worrying about something else. At least the last couple seemed intent on making small talk at the very least.

Smiling widely, despite the sucker in her mouth, Bubblegum shrugged. "I honestly don't know what brought me here," she admitted. "I guess I just needed to get out of the shop. I own a candy shop, see. And we had a bit of a mishap, and...well, I was looking for a little vacation from all of it. Some time to de-stress, I suppose."

Although the other couple had stepped away, Bubblegum could still overhear their conversation. The talk of 'special Christmas pets' definitely sparked her interest. "Excuse me," she said, not appearing embarrassed at all about having eavesdropped or joining into their conversation uninvited. "But did you say something about 'special Christmas pets'? I haven't heard anything about them...what exactly are they?"

Just like always, Bubblegum was preparing to worm herself into everyone's conversation, and attempt to steal the attention of everyone. She didn't mean to do it - she just liked to be social...sometimes, a bit too much.

{4}

[Mousen]

((Sorry about this it skipped my mind. D8 ))

"Oh, they're just this certain group of pets that can be found everywhere in Evelon at this time of year. I think they migrate or something, I'm not exactly sure." Gabriel replied, shrugging a little. He turned to face the group again. "A friend of mine brought us here to look for a particular sort of creature, but she's caught a cold and is't coming."

"She's the insane Irish one." Mia affirmed, as though she identified all of her friends by the status of their mental health and their nationality.

"So... We don't really know what to do now." Despite the cold and the snow, he wasn't too keen on the idea of heading back home, they'd come all of this way now and they might as well do something, even if it was that stupid game they used to play when they were kids. Mia would distract someone beneath a snow covered tree, then Thursday would throw a well-aimed snow ball at the tree itself and if he'd gotten it right all of the snow covering the leaves would slide off, right down the neck of the unsuspecting victim. It was safe to say that they hadn't exactly been the nicest of kids.

"And it's not like it was an exceptionally well-thought out plan, anyway. I mean... I'm not big on looking for things."