the snowball effect [lysander]

Nora had been leading a stressful life lately. The path to becoming a doctor was a tough one. There was the endless paperwork, the studying, the sleepless nights, and the responsibility of keeping clio alive. Learning about the body and brain as these abstract things was fine, but actually dealing with patients and their families was a nightmare. And that was just work. Home was better, but even there she had to worry about her mopey brother.

But then, in the middle of all that, there was Lysander. A sweet and goofy guy, he was such a breath of fresh air. Just hanging out with him, she could forget about all her stress and just sorta relax. No matter what kind of mood she was in, he almost always ended up making her laugh.

Today they were visiting the Falls, which had completely frozen over. It looked absolutely amazing. "Look at that," she said, peering cautiously over the edge of the cliff to the frozen river below. "I wish I had a camera right now." She adjusted her white scarf and took a few steps back from the edge.

Everything in Lysander's life was finally starting to feel okay. He and his sister were talking again, he was promoted at the restaurant as the manager, and he was hanging out with Nora a lot more, well as much as he could. He was working a lot more hours now, being manager and all, and Nora was always so busy with her schooling and stuff. Today the two of them were both lucky enough to have the day off together, so Lysander thought he'd take her to Tamar falls for a little date. He always liked coming here, even when he was younger.

Nora wrote:"I wish I had a camera right now."

"Me too," Lysander replied, while looking at her. She looked really cute and pretty bundled up in her winter coat and scarf. He couldn't help himself, and he reached out and grabbed her waist, pulling her closer and kissed her ear. He rested his chin on her shoulder and said, "I use to come here when I was younger, to get away from the families...winter was always my favorite time, so still and quiet."

Nora smiled a little bit and wriggled out of Lysander's grasp. They'd been getting pretty close over the last few months and were practically dating (though they'd never said so officially out loud), but she enjoyed playing a little hard to get with him. She turned so she was facing him, still smiling. "I like it best in the winter too," she said. "In the summer, you always have to deal with the idiot kids who think it's just a wonderful idea to jump off the Falls." She shook her head. Those little thrill-seekers were just accidents waiting to happen, even if they belonged to Cuir or Ughdarras.

Lysander grinned when Nora wriggled out of his arms. He liked it when she played hard to get, it made catching her all more fun.

Nora wrote:"In the summer, you always have to deal with the idiot kids who think it's just a wonderful idea to jump off the Falls."

Lysander laughed out loud at her comment, remembering fondly of his younger years, before he had settled. "I actually use to be one of those idiot kids," he replied. "Before I settled Layla would change her form to larger, flying animals, so that she could catch me in mid air."

His daemon rolled her eyes and shook her head. She remembered those days too, she also remembered her heart stopping every time she thought that she and her clio were going to lose their lives that day whenever he took the plunge from the falls.

"That is literally the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Nora said in genuine disbelief. Cuir and Ughdarras kids were one thing. Unsettled kids hoping their daemons could turn into something big enough to catch them? Lysander was lucky; most kids were probably far too heavy for their daemons. She sure hoped that child-Lysander had been unique in his stupidity. "I hope you didn't set any trends back then. I see enough kids at the hospital as it is."

She shot another glance out over the edge of the cliff. They were dozens of feet above the river. Who would look at that and think it was a good idea to jump? she wondered. She didn't even want to get too close.

"Back then I felt like I had nothing to lose," Lysander responded, with a shrug of his shoulders and the grin still on his face. He grabbed Nora's hands and started to walk down the hill that lead to the part of the river that the falls fell into. "C'mon," he said. "Let's go walk on the frozen river!"

Lysander didn't let go of Nora's hands until they reached their destination. Without any hesitation, he ran out and onto the frozen water, with no regard of whether or not the ice was thick enough to support a grown clio. He stopped and slid a little ways, with his arms held out for balance and cried "woohoo" as he went. When he started to slow, he started to lose balance and almost toppled over, but was able to right himself up in time. He turned and grinned his goofy grin at Nora. "C'mon!"

"Oh--Lysander...!" Nora called out when Lysander sprinted across the ice without warning. She winced, half-expecting to hear crrrrrrrack--SPLASH as he fell through the ice. But the ice didn't crack, and he didn't fall through. He just slid and cheered like a goof. She had to laugh as he waved his arms in the air to keep his balance. "Dummy!"

Well, if the ice could hold him, it could hold her as well. Still, she was much more hesitant as she slowly took a few steps out onto the ice. After a few feet she got a little bolder, moving a little quicker so that she could slide over to Lysander. "Wow," she breathed, looking behind them. There was a huge column of white icicles that made up the waterfall. Beneath their feet she could see thousands of bubbles frozen under the ice.

"Let's get closer," Lysander said, while grabbing her hand again and pulling her along slowly. He was more careful on the ice this time. He didn't care about his own well being but he didn't want Nora to slip and fall. Once they reached the frozen falls the first thing Lysander did was remove one of his gloves to touch the ice with his bare hands. "I should have settled as Ughdarras," he said absentmindedly. His hand started to hurt, so he pulled his glove back on. He turned to Nora, "We should go sled riding at Nottingham sometime!"

Nora also touched the column of ice, but unlike Lysander she kept her gloves on. "Sledding?" she repeated, scrunching up her nose a little bit. "Don't you think we're a little too old for that?" She imagined herself and Lysander at Nottingham, the only childless adults among a bunch of kids and their parents. Seemed a little bit weird to her.

Lysander clicked his tongue and wrapped an arm around Nora's waist, pulling her closer to him. "Baby," he said. "You're never too old for sled riding."

He honestly hadn't went sled riding in a really long time, probably since he was a teenager, but the snow was perfect for sled riding, snowman building too. Lysander knew how seriously Nora took her schooling, and he knew how skeptic she was, but he knew she'd fully enjoy herself once they got on a sled.

"We can go sled riding tonight," he said. "And snuggle up later with hot chocolate." He turned toward her and grinned.

"Hm, I don't know about that, Mr. Sparkes," Nora said thoughtfully with a smirk on her face. She leaned in, close enough to kiss him. "I've gotta be in Earalas early tomorrow morning, and Dahlin is awfully far away. I suppose you could come to my place, but my family might put a damper on your snuggle plans."

She pulled back away. It was partially true, about needing to be up early the next morning and everything, though in reality Nora just wasn't done playing hard to get yet. "Sledding could be fun, though." She smiled more innocently.