( READ: AN AQUARIUS AND A PISCES AND A LAKE )
winter. unsurprisingly, it’s cold. comes with a sort of bone chill that nips at the soft of her cheeks, drives a nasty shiver down her spine. sydney had expected it, but she’s disappointed all the same. though she had no particular favorite season, she supposes winter is the most damning.
the way the black lake freezes over, sad.
not that it stops them, they’re here aren’t they, nestled side by side on the shore over-watching the lake.
already, ice has begun to form around the edges, a good couple feet toward the center. pretty.
“hey,” her eyes peer over to her partner-in-crime, reaching out to tap on the spine of the book that has such enraptured the attention of her best friend. “did you know,” now, let me tell you know that something that starts like this never ends well. “that supposedly, merpeople sing different songs depending on the season?”
moment pause, the degree in which her expression lights up rivals the sun.
“wanna go see? i mean—” sydney shoots another glance at the thick ice beneath their feet. “it’s pretty frozen from here on to over there…” she grins, oddly confident for such an awful, awful idea. the ravenclaw hardly waits for an answer before she slips off the shore, knees bending slightly when she settles on solid ice, shooting rina a pointed look. perfect.
“see? perfectly fine—cmon riiiiiiiina,” sydney whines, extending her hand. “let’s go!”
the unforgiving bite of winter’s breeze doesn’t seem to ever stop the pair from their little adventures. it would perhaps be more appropriate to say that the threat of danger would stop them, but with their track record of broken bones and near-drownings, that would be a big fat lie.
today’s adventure takes place by the black lake. a personal favourite,
but somehow, a book has got rina’s attention, much to everyone’s surprise including her own. laying beside the ravenclaw, the deep red gryffindor scarf covers half of her face as she reads about the life-changing magic of tidying up. brows furrowed in deep concentration, she begins to wonder.
her train of thought is interrupted by some merpeople trivia. that’s not to say it doesn’t interest her at all though. “ wait, really ?? ” folding down the corner of the page, she shuts the book and sets it down on the dried grass beside her, pushing herself up. the impending disaster that this is bound to lead to doesn’t faze her.
heck, it doesn’t even cross her mind.
not when she’s wondering if sydney’s smile could count as something that sparks joy. also if the water underneath the frozen surface is slush or not. “ yeah—hey, wait up !! ” she hastily gets up, fumbling a little with her scarf as she jogs over, slowing down when she’s on the ice and still nearly slipping before grabbing her best friend’s hand.
she takes another tentative step towards the center, which is more than enough to boost her confidence. “ c’mon, let’s go find the merpeople !! ” she grins, upping her pace and bringing sydney along with her. then a blurred movement under their feet.
“ i think i just saw something under the ice !! ” she stops and lets go, slowly crouching down so that she’s kneeling on the ice and leaning down close enough to feel the ice grazing her pink, freckled cheek as she presses her ear against the ice. her eyes widen and she looks up at the ravenclaw.
“ i can hear them !! but they sound a little... crackly ?? maybe they need a strepsil—can merpeople eat strepsils ?? ”
