Bobsledding Years 4-7
ROUND 2
A note to all players: The word count minimum is 200 words. The next deadline to post and submit strategy is 120 hours from the time this is posted. If you believe a mistake has been made in the calculations of this round, please reach out to me, Aulis Vorozheykin, ASAP so it can be addressed promptly. Rolls can be found in the roll-channel-2 chat on the Discord. If you do not have Discord and wish to see the rolls, please owl me.
Cheat DC: 20 (average wisdom of all players + 10)
Average player stats: STA 10, EVA 16, STR 9, WIS 10, ARC 8, ACC 16
Hexum, Prince, Schwartz, and Thatcher seemed to not care much about this leg of the race, preferring perhaps instead to sit and chit-chat rather than try to bobsled? But the pairs of Fransson/Kolbeck and Lycan/Barfield were still going strong in the battle for first place, with each duo having their own issues.Movement Attempts
Fransson and Kolbeck each took snowballs to unspecified body parts in the more moderate section of the snowstorm - apparently, the Director of Koldovstoretz had taken it upon himself to arm spectators with magical homing devices made of packed snow - whilst Lycan and Barfield struggled to get out of the fog, and did so with heads as foggy as the weather itself. It seemed a neck-and-neck race between these two teams, truly.
Outcome
Miles and Stephen AND Madhup and Dealla float aimlessly in midair.
Greta and Felix take minor damage from the moderate snowfall and their top movement speed is halved (3 instead of 6) for next round.
Della and Andrew fail the fog and have halved accuracy and evasion for the next round.
Current Map: (see Actions Reducio for team colours)
Unit 1 -
Unit 2 - trees moderate
Unit 3 - (M&S)
Unit 4 - ashwinder eggs
Unit 5 -
Unit 6 - snowfall easy
Unit 7 - snowfall hard
Unit 9 -
Unit 10 -
Unit 11 - high winds hard
Unit 12 - (A&D) (G&F)
Unit 13 - maze near impossible
Unit 14 -
FINISH LINE
Submitted Plays
Reducio
Submitted Play from Team Durmstrang
Greta & Felix: Sled speed 6
Submitted Play from Team Hogworny
Della & Andrew: Sled speed 6
Submitted Play from Team Durmwarts
No play submitted, Dealla did not post in time
Submitted Play from Team Ilvermorny
Miles did not post in time, action void[/i]
Health and Post Tracker
Reducio
- @Margarethe Fransson: 655/700 [r1] [r2]
- @Felix Kolbeck: 955/1000 [r1] [r2]
- @Della Barfield: 850/800 [r1] [r2]
- @Andrew Lycan: 1370/1400 [r1] [r2]
- @Madhup Hexum: 1000/1000 [r1]
- @Dealla Prince: 700/700 [r1] [r2]
- @Stephen Schwartz: 940/1000 [r1] [r2]
- @Miles Thatcher: 1140/1200 [r1] [r2]
Bobsledding Years 4-7
@Della Barfield / Feb 20th, 2026
┕━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☽【❖】☾━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┙
Drew grinned as Della told him not to get too cocky. Please, he lived off of half-joking arrogance. Cocky was practically his middle name, though he much preferred confident as a descriptor. He didn't try to argue with her because she was right, of course, about the horrors ahead, as the snowfall grew heavier by the second. But it wasn't the snow that was disorienting- it was the fog that followed soon after. Drew squinted, craning his neck to see where they were going, but couldn't for the life of him figure out if they were going the right way.
Thankfully, as they emerged from the thick fog moments later, they were still level with the other team [Greta & Felix] as they sped towards the finish line. The blonde wasn't really sure how the lovebirds were doing so well while being so... mushy with each other. Sure, the act of sharing a bobsled and being so close was kind of intimate, but Drew and Della were focused. He would much rather win a medal than smooch it up with his teammate right now, and the former goal was looking pretty probable, as the other two teams weren't even in sight through the fog and snow. Though he'd be happy with silver, Drew wanted to win. And from the determined looks on his opponents' faces as he glanced their way, he wasn't the only one. But he now had a greater motivation- to prove that the power of friendship was stronger than mushiness.
They were then hit with a fairly strong bout of wind, and even Drew felt himself shiver against the cutting air. He strained his eyes up a head to see what looked like a maze in the distance, and hoped to Merlin that Della was better at puzzles than he was. "I think we're getting close."
Stats & Abilities
Obnoxiously Strong: +15% strength
Fearless: immune to fear effects
Charmer: -1 acc to opponents (all other racers besides Della)
Paragon of Health: Up to two allies (Della) gain +10% sta
Wandmaker (Dragon Heartstring): +3 to arc, 5% rebound chance
Apparitionxx sta: 14
eva: 9
str: 16
wis: 5
arc: 14
acc: 7
Bobsledding Years 4-7
│
│
│
▪ FELIX ▪ KOLBECK ▪
▪ DURMSTRANG iNPC ▪ FIFTH YEAR ▪│
│
│
Reducio@Evelynn Decipio as Greta
It felt like they were a knife slicing through the cold air with how fast they were traveling. Felix felt his heart leap into his throat. Still, despite his fear he folded himself around Greta as if he were a protective shell. He had to remind himself not to get distracted by the warmth of her body, by how nice it felt to have her this close.
Fuck. He needed to focus. They were only hurling themselves down a damn mountain of snow.
Snow flew behind them, the wind hissed in his ears, he almost regretted the choice to not wear a hat.
'Humbie!' Greta was shouting out her ridiculously adorable nicknames. Why the hell was she trying to turn around? He reached out to steady her. Why the fuck was she worried about Madhup? He was safe up at the top of his ivory tower, aka the mountain, looking down at the fools who had decided to actually race... The absolute asshole! She should be worried about HIM.
"Oi, eyes on the prize, Fransson. It's not your fault he's getting sled shy." He leaned in to whisper in her ear, his hold on her tightening as they managed to dodge the trees surrounding them.
Then came the damn exploding eggs. His arms gripped her and he tucked his head against the top of her helmet to try and better protect her. Just as he thought he was going to have a flashback to all the times he got burnt to a crisp during his time as a duelist, he felt the heat roar past them.
He blinked, his jaw clenched.
'That looks like trouble.' Greta pointed out as the snow ahead started to grow heavier. Felix wanted to shout that yeah, it DID look like fucking trouble, because everything here wanted to fucking KILL them. Instead, all he could manage was a dry, "... Yeah."
Then the snowstorm was surrounding them, the whiteout conditions causing him to squint as they rushed passed shapes
Then-- thwack-- something smacked into his shoulder, causing him to release a quick hiss of pain, "Fuck!" He swore, twisting his head to try and get sight of what the hell had just hit him.
Then, he was pelted with something else on the other side and it finally dawned on him; they had armed the damn crowd. "OI! That's fucking dirty, you assholes!"
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│ │ | │ │ | STA: 10 • EVA: 18 • STR: 8 WIS: 10 • ARC: 8 • ACC: 14 | │ │ | • Perfectionist • Impartial • Fearless • • Evasive Maneuvers • Evasive Maneuvers II • | │ │ | │ │ |
Bobsledding Years 4-7
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"You uh…..” slipped into Stephen’s consciousness from behind as painfully surprising as an earbud pushed in too far, a slow, rounded pressure that felt like one wrong move away from rupturing his eardrum.
Stephen blinked.
It was softer than Miles ever sounded, and Stephen inwardly cringed, certain he’d disappointed his friend by missing the blatching attempt on Andrew and his partner.
Nothing about this damn race was going as planned, and instead of ratcheting up Miles’ interest in broom racing, Stephen’s horrible miscalculation and sloppy execution were leaving him essentially speechless. His buddy wasn’t even able to spit out a good dig about the incompetence at the helm, so Stephen knew Miles’ disdain for the sport had sunk to a level so low he couldn’t even find the words to taunt him.
Fanflippingtastic.
Stephen, ever the competitor, tried to shake off Miles’ disappointment and quickly assessed that his plan, formulated only moments before, was still their best hope of making a showing in this race. Redemption was possible. He just needed Miles to have some faith in him right then. He was about to signal to him what they were going to do next when he heard Miles speak once again.
"You held onto them. For….over a year," and there was a brief pause before everything suddenly broke through Stephen's one-bobsled-track-mind. "…And now you're showing me."
There was a tentative pause, and then Miles spoke again. It was barely a whisper, but the words pierced through the cacophony surrounding them. His shoulders stiffened and his hooded gaze remained forward looking, but he was entirely unaware that the two teams ahead of them had just sped off and were now completely out of reach. His entire focus was attuned to the boy behind him.
"It… doesn't need to change anything."
More blinking.
It doesn’t need to change anything. It doesn’t need to change ANYTHING???
Those words had changed the trajectory of their race. Those words would change the trajectory of their lives.
Stephen turned his head just enough for Miles to hear him. “Miles, it changes everything.”
Don’t tell me the SKY’s the limit when there are footprints on the moon.
Bobsledding Years 4-7
Changes everything. Everything. Every thing. Well, it didn't change the fact that they were hurdling down this course, swerving here and swerving there, seeming to bump into EVERY small obstacle except the other sled that they had intended for but that was fine - that just.....fit the theme of the moment. Let's just keep careeinging into a downward spiral of darkness and dispair.
At least the duo still started out together. It was Thatcher and Scwartz, one last time together as they had been seen so many times and places within the halls of Ilvermony - whether it was practicing spells, studying, or taking in some broom skills.
If Stephen's safety weren't also at risk, Miles would have hoped that this race of theirs would toss this sled into an unending abyss, one that was too deep for even magic to help him out of or it could crash so forcefully and so hard into some embankment that everything would just dissolve into nothingness.
It changes everything.
How could he save face from this? He couldn't. This race was going to end sooner than later and it wasn't the fact that they were going to lose that upset him but that he was going to walk away without Stephen by his side - as friend or otherwise.
"Right," he said, his voice still unlike himself. But he had to agree. Of course it changed everything. Miles knew that it would and that's why he had attempted to keep it hidden.
"Yea, that's fair," he added, hoping that Stephen didn't feel bad about it. Thinking about it from Stephen's perspective made him realize that this must have been so difficult - to try and just be okay with your best friend having such feelings for you. But what Stephen didn't realize was that Miles didn't need for them to be reciprocated, he just wanted Stephen to always realize how he was deserving of being held up in such high esteem and......
And it didn't matter. He had ruined everything.
"Look, I didn't expect anything. I just figured that if someone's important to you, they should porbably hear it at least once. But I get it. I get it," Miles repeated.
It changed everything.
STATS, ABILITIES, POTIONS, & SPELLS
ReducioStats: stamina 12, evasion 12, strength 11, wisdom 9, arcpower 8, accuracy 12z
Abilities: potion mastery, evasive maneuvers, fearless, advanced casating, perfectionalist
Potions: skele-gro, wit-sharpening potion, cure for boils, herbicide potion, forgetfulness potion, antidote to common poisons, antidote to uncommon poisons, bruise removal paste, burn healing paste, babbling beverage, confusing concoction, dizziness draught, muffling draught, dogbreath potion, drowsiness draught, sleeping draught, murtlap essence, pepperup potion, anti-paralysis potion, black fire potion, deflating draught, swelling solution, calming draught, gregory's unctuous unction, grand pepperup potion, mandrake restorative draught, revive potion, befuddlement draught, laugh inducing potion, buleye potion, fire breathing potion, memory potion, scintillation solution, fatiguing infusion, weakness potion, wound cleaning potion, blood replenishing potion, essence of dittany, garotting gas, erumpent potion, baruffo's brain elixir, pompion potion, madame glossy's silver polish, pet tonic
Spells: disarming charm, bluebell flames, hot-air charm, sun-light charm, weather-modfying charm, weather-modifying countercharm, weather-modfifying charm variant (meteolojinx), atmospheric carm, blue sparks charm, fire-making spell, slug-vomiting charm, severing charm, flower-conjuring spell, slippery jinx, softening charm, paper mending charm, packing charm, ascension spell, bandaging charm, wind jinx, guinea fowl to guinea pig, wand-lighting charm duo, healing charm, radiant wand-lighting charm, summoning charm, banishing charm, singing jinx, porcupine or hedgehog to pincushion, teapot to gerbil, teapot to rat, teapot to ferret, teapot to tortoise, teacup to tortoise, tail-growing hex, fish transformation spell, fish to flower, teddy bear to spider, boggart-banishing spell, revlusion jinx, snake summons spell, snake-vanishing spell, full body-bind curse, hovering charm, glacius, knee-reversal hex, rotation charm, window shattering spell, descension spell, spider conjuration spell, hair thickening charm, owl to opera glasses, water-heating spell, cracker jinx, purple firecrackers, cheering charm, bravery charm, sealant charm, jelly-brain jinx, twitchy ears hex, gripping charm, hurlling hex, vinegar to wine, litter bin to wildebeest, water repelling charm, leg-growing charm, desk into pig spell, blackboard-writing spell, quieting charm, minor healing charm, blockage clearing spell, explosion charm, fog-conjuring charm, smokescreen spell duo, muffiato charm, animal goblet transformation, mice transformation, ducklifors jinx, rabbit tranformation spell, rabbit slippers, cauldron to sieve, cauldron to badger, cauldron to guitar, ecto spell, skurge charm, bubblehead charm, leg-locker curse, spider repelling spell, impedient jinx, shield charm, ear-shriveling curse, herbivicus charm, teeth-straightening spell, siphoning spell, structure building charm, switching spell, anti-cheating charm, ink revealing charm, age line, broom jinx, hair loss curse, instant scalping hex, mobilarbus charm, pressurized water charm, hair-regrowing spell, star shower spell, bedazzling hex, water-making spell, drought charm, pus squirting hex, beauty spell, drone jinx, pepper breath hex, washing up charm, vacuum cleaner spell, somnambulist charm, dinnerplate to mushroom, rock to dog, steel talons transfiguration, stretching jinx, red sparks charm, locking charm, dancing feet charm, shrinking charm, tickling charm, tongue-tying curse, curse of the bogies, engorgement charm, fire-making spell, four-point spell, glass to sand, green sparks charm, knockback jinx, levitation charm, matchbox transformations pell, matchstick to needle, mending charm, sauce-making spell, scouring charm, smokescreen spell, snail to teapot, snowflake-creating spell, umbrealla spell, unlocking charm, untransfiguration, wand extinguishing charm, wand lighting charm, whistle to watch, amplifying charm, avifors spell, blindfolding spell, clothing color-changing charm, color-changing charm, freezing charm, general counter-spell, gluing spell, hair color-changing charm, hardening charm, illegibility charm, revelio charm, slowing charm, squiggle quill spell
"You know whos gonna give you everything? Yourself." (*iNPC account for Simon Kincaid)
Bobsledding Years 4-7
My apologies for the late reminder, but please make sure to send in strategies and post your posts! @Margarethe Fransson @Della Barfield @Madhup Hexum @Dealla Prince
4 hours and 36 minutes remaining until deadline.
4 hours and 36 minutes remaining until deadline.
Bobsledding Years 4-7
English | Parseltongue
interacting: @Andrew Lycan
Nearly getting lost in the fog while getting pelted by snowballs was enough to get Della’s mind fully focused on the task at hand. The other pair of canoodling bobsledders were keeping pace with Drew and Della, but those blatching Americans and Della’s fellow Hogwartsian racer were hopefully left in the dust—er, snow. Though it was eerie in the fog, with the silence of Russian landscape only punctured by the whoosh of projectile or sound of sled gliding under them. Probably why they felt momentarily turned around, a wrong lean there or a wrong scoot and they could have easy been going back up to the starting line, or worse, careening of the side of a mountain.
When Drew and Della’s finally emerged from the grasp of snow-filled clouds, the walls of what had to be a large maze loomed in front of them. A racer’s worst nightmare—one could by stuck in them for ages. There was a rumor that a Welsh pro racer was still finding his was out of the 2012 World Cup maze. And who knew how impossible the students at this school would like to make this thing. Even Drew’s shine seemed to damper slightly under its shadow. Della kept her eyes glued to their compass as they slid through the entrance.
Action: as strategized
Stats: stamina: 8 | evasion: 16 | strength: 5 | wisdom: 11 | arcane power: 5 | accuracy: 13
Abilities: Evasive Maneuvers (10% auto-dodge) & Snake Spy (?)
stamina 8 | evasion 16 | strength 5 | wisdom 11 | arcane power 5 | accuracy 13
Parselmouth | Evasive Maneuvers | Beast Master
also Ruckus Weems | Quentin Gagné
Bobsledding Years 4-7
| x |  |
x |
SEVENTH YEAR | 5' 2" | February 20, 2026
Russian - German - English - Norwegian/Swedish
────────────────────────────ཐིཋྀ────────────────────────────
Russian - German - English - Norwegian/Swedish
────────────────────────────ཐིཋྀ────────────────────────────
| x | 𝕴n the blink of an eye, the light snowfall turned to that which rivaled the heavy snowstorms back home. Squinting through the flurry as large flakes battered against her face, Greta regretted not having worn her flying goggles. What was almost worse was that no amount of hiking up her collar and hunkering down behind the edges of the sled seemed to help. As though it had a mind of its own, the snow seemed to find its way between the layers as though Hans himself had cheekily shoved a handful of snow down her back. The only consolation was that they had thus far avoided the pitfall of a giant snowball cascading down the mountain bent on rolling them into its growing mass; nor were there any projectiles aimed in their w-- "AEE!" Greta's surprised screech sounded just as something exploded in a spray of powder and icy crystals against the side of her helmet with a heavy thud. She ducked again, one arm pulling free from its hold to shield herself as best as she could. Only this time, the giant snow ball seemed to veer around it to pelt her squarely in the chest, rendering her momentarily winded, though not so winded that Felix's rubbing off on her wouldn't be made apparent. "What the-- bloody merlin!" It hadn't occurred to her that a simple adrenaline-pumping flight down the steep slope of a mountain would bring with it borderline murderous conditions set on immortalizing her and Felix's mutual affections in the form of a snow-caked frozen memorial. She coughed with the fading pain, hastily brushing off snow and ice and chucking whatever clumps remained out from their sled. While not quite so bold as Felix, she did try to peak over the sides of the bobsled to see where the the attacks had come from, but couldn't see through the heavy snowfall. Nor the fog that followed it. Heart hammering in her chest, she glanced back at Felix before turning her attention forward. There was something distinctly eerie about whistling down the mountain-side in such a state of blindness. At any moment, they could go careening right off a cliff and they probably wouldn't even immediately realize it. Somehow, that only made the whole thing all the more exciting, even if it did mean she might have moved a hand to hold over his arm to keep it securely around her. Good that she did, too. Although they exited the fog into an open expanse that dashed any worry of looming cliff drops, it wasn't long before they found themselves in a mighty cross wind that caught and rocked their bobsled. In that moment, her gratitude for Felix's presence could not be understated, absolutely certain that had she been alone, she'd have been blown across the side of the slope like leaves off a tree in autumn. As it was, they managed to persevere, though they'd certainly lost some momentum in the process. "We're almost there!" She shouted suddenly as they once again opened into a clear portion of the race. Ahead, she could see the finish line peaking over the edge of what appeared to be some kind of... maze? Unfortunately, they weren't the only ones nearing the end. A glance around revealed another bobsled neck and neck with their own. Her stomach dropped with disappointment when closer inspection confirmed that it wasn't Madhup. Brows furrowed, face contorting in a grimace and she gave Felix's arm a squeeze before fixing her attention on the mounted compass. "We can do this." Afterall, if it was a matter of proving the power of one over the other, what was mushy love but the deepest form of friendship? They were going to win. They had to. For Humbie and Didi. For Durmstrang. For love.
|
x |
────────────────────────────ཐིཋྀ────────────────────────────
STA 7 | STR 1 | EVA 25 | WIS 14 | ARC 12 | ACC 20 Calming Presence (affects Felix), Perfectionist, Spell Spread, Wandmaker (Thunderbird), Fearless, Lovely Creature (affects opponents), Restricted Transfiguration |
│ │ │ |
Healthxx 655 / 700xx |
Bobsledding Years 4-7
ROUND 3
A note to all players: If you believe a mistake has been made in the calculations of this round, please reach out to me, Aulis Vorozheykin, ASAP so it can be addressed promptly. Rolls can be found in the roll-channel-2 chat on the Discord. If you do not have Discord and wish to see the rolls, please owl me.
Cheat DC: 20 (average wisdom of all players + 10)
Average player stats: STA 10, EVA 16, STR 9, WIS 10, ARC 8, ACC 16
No one was attacking anyone else this round, with all of the elder, more experienced racers focusing less on the other teams and more on their own survival. However, that didn't mean no magic was cast! Schwartz and Thatcher decided to shelter in place with twin Alarte Ascendare casts, though only the former's worked, shooting their sled way up high into the air. Similarly, Barfield and Lycan both cast the Four-Point Spell successfully, ready to navigate what was sure to be the hardest obstacle yet up ahead.Defence/Support Spells
Only the pairs of Fransson/Kolbeck and Lycan/Barfield decided to move, since they were both so close to the finish line, and everyone else shrugged and said they weren't going to win anyway, so may as well not move at all!Movement Attempts
Fransson and Kolbeck managed to barely get through a maze that was supposed to be nearly impossible, with all sorts of dark corners and twists and turns, thanks to their handy compass that had been provided for them by Director Vorozheykin; on the other hand, Barfield and Lycan sailed through the maze with ease thanks to their pre-cast Four-Point Spell. The two teams were neck and neck as they crossed the finish line, and it was only thanks to some Omnioculars in the crowd that the referees were able to rewind and watch in slow motion to determine who had crossed the finish line first - and it ended up being Barfield and Lycan, with Fransson and Kolbeck coming in a very, very close second!
Andrew & Della take gold, Felix & Greta take silver, and Miles & Stephen take bronze!
Outcome
Madhup and Dealla play patty-cake at the start line
Miles and Stephen shelter in place by Stephen successfully casting Alarte Ascendare on themselves
Andrew and Della both cast the Four-Point Spell
Greta and Felix AND Andrew and Della successfully make it through the maze and to the finish line
A contested Stamina check decided our winners: Andrew/Della 23, Greta/Felix 19!
Current Map: (see Actions Reducio for team colours)
Unit 1 -
Unit 2 - trees moderate
Unit 3 - (M&S)
Unit 4 - ashwinder eggs
Unit 5 -
Unit 6 - snowfall easy
Unit 7 - snowfall hard
Unit 9 -
Unit 10 -
Unit 11 - high winds hard
Unit 12 -
Unit 13 - maze near impossible
Unit 14 -
FINISH LINE (A&D) (G&F)
Submitted Plays
Reducio
Submitted Play from Team Durmstrang
Felix & Greta: sled, 3 (i.e. sledding maximum distance as their previous max speed of 6 is halved for this round)
Submitted Play from Team Hogworny
Sled speed 6, cast four-point spell
Submitted Play from Team Durmwarts
No play submitted, neither posted on time
Submitted Play from Team Ilvermorny
Stephen and Miles are both going to shelter in place by casting Alarte Ascendare on themselves/bobsled in the last round. They will not be dodging the other's spell.[/i]
Health and Post Tracker
Reducio
- @Margarethe Fransson: 655/700 [r1] [r2] [r3]
- @Felix Kolbeck: 955/1000 [r1] [r2] [r3]
- @Della Barfield: 850/800 [r1] [r2] [r3]
- @Andrew Lycan: 1370/1400 [r1] [r2] [r3]
- @Madhup Hexum: 1000/1000
- @Dealla Prince: 700/700 [r1]
- @Stephen Schwartz: 940/1000 [r1] [r2] [r3]
- @Miles Thatcher: 1140/1200 [r1] [r2] [r3]
Bobsledding Years 4-7
Mad really had done his very best to prepare them for this race. Before this event working out together had meant that Madhup did all sorts of ridiculous things like lifting weights and pushups and squats while Dee settled nearby with book and not-so-discreetly admired her boyfriend's muscles, nicely accentuated by a slight sheen of sweat. She'd been moderately offended when they'd arrived at Koldovstoretz and she'd realised that Mad now expected to join him in said ridiculous things. Worse, when she slacked off halfway through a half-assed set of dumbbell reps, he'd even abandon his own workout to stay next to her like a personal trainer from hell (i.e. a military-inspired wizarding school where lifting weights was probably the main form of entertainment), commenting on her form and insisting that she could do just one more rep. (She could, she just didn't want to.) She'd drawn the line at the creatine he'd tried to sneak into her tea, though, clumped up chunks of powder swimming in the liquid, and given him several pointed suggestions for what exactly he could do with that, accompanied by a sweet smile. By the second day of her new training regimen, she'd also figured out a reasonably reliable way to get out of the workouts, or at least delay them. (It involved fluttering her lashes, a few coy smiles, and a lot of kissing.) By the third day, Mad had figured out her strategy, given her a betrayed puppy look, and guilted her into more pushups. (At least he'd massaged her sore muscles after.)
All that training, and they didn't even make it past the starting line.
A few steps in, Dee could tell that something was off. This part, the start, gaining the momentum and speed they needed, that relied heavily on Madhup's muscle, after all. Despite the workouts that she hadn't completely managed to cheat her way out of, she was barely more than decoration for this, making a token effort and preparing to snipe their opponents off their sleds when they were actually moving later on.
Thus, when Mad faltered behind her, she could feel it. A small frown spread on her face, brows drawn together, confused; was something wrong? She risked a glance backwards just to be met with a panicked expression on Madhup's face that she couldn't quite understand right away, until Mad's steady gait turned into awkward hobbling and her gaze trailed further backwards to snag on the boot caught in the snow several steps behind. She blinked. And burst out laughing. Full-bodied, shoulder-shaking, tear-inducing laughter that left her weak in the knees and gasping for breath, stumbling along next to the sled for the next few steps because she had to cling to it to remain on her feet. She let go of it, finally - all the other teams had smoothly gotten into their sleds and sped off; there was no making up for that headstart - and allowed her knees to buckle, collapsing into the snow to catch her breath. "All that work... thwarted... by a boot!" she gasped breathlessly. "Should've worried more about your laces than my creatine levels!"
Shaking fingers took two attempts to unbuckle her helmet and pull off her fogged up goggles, and then she let herself fall backwards into the snow to stare up at the sky, giggles still bubbling up in her chest and through her throat, bright in the snow. Another tear escaped the corner of her eye when she blinked and ran down her temple, and despite the utter disaster and frankly embarrassing defeat they had just suffered, she was grinning. "I love you," she sighed quietly, both fond and exasperated after the ridiculousness of the past few days, then blindly raised a hand and waved it around in a silent request to be pulled to her feet. "Let's go congratulate the winners, eh?"
@Madhup Hexum
"One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar."