Too Hot to Handle, @Simon Kincaid

She remembered very little of what actually happened after alerting Simon to her need for help. She knew before drifting away from the slender thread tethering her to reality that she was feeling exceedingly hot; hot to the point that the moisture in her eyes was more than comfortably warm when she blinked. As Simon was busy getting her out of the hot tub and to safety, doing what he could to cool her off, AngelFyre was sinking deep into her fever dream, fashioning her own blissful little world, which was as real to her as anything she had ever known.

The two had been out and about, romping around the Grounds of Hogwarts when Simon proposed that they fly up to one of the castle parapets and jump off. This suggestion seemed more than reasonable as they had flown up there to begin with, hand in hand, with not a broom between them. Before jumping off, she got a little twinkle in her eye and Simon did not know what she was up to, but he knew he was all in, whatever it was.

AngelFyre had decided a good, old fashioned game of Tag!...on steroids... was in order, but this would not be anything like the regular game they were familiar with. No, the speed and agility the two were able to run with turned out to be something akin to the fast-stop motion those glittery vampires in the movies could so effortlessly use to navigate their world. Their hair-raising, death defying game had the two running around and banking sharp turns, arms flailing wildly while balancing on tippy toes before regaining their purchase and taking off again after the other. The game was equal parts parkour and Saturday morning cartoons. They were having a blast.

As she chased after her dhampir, it occurred to her that he was not able to out run her, and he was actually trying. She was as fast as he was and she stopped and smiled at the thought. "Simon, I was keeping up. Did you notice? I was actually keeping up!" and she leaped into his arms and held onto him, laughing as he twirled her around. Normally her instinct had her close her eyes while he twirled her, but not this time. As she was spun around, she was mesmerized as she got the panoramic view of Hogwarts from the rooftop, and then she caught sight of the most beautiful tangerine sunset.

As she fixated on it, she was unaware that she and Simon were no longer on the rooftop. They had begun to float skyward. Their hands were linked, but as much as she thought the sunset was beautiful, she found she very much wanted to look at Simon. He was right there, floating up with her, but for some unnerving reason, she could not manage to lay eyes on him. AngelFyre could hear him gently coaxing her, "I've got you, my love. ...close your eyes.... Try and relax." She wanted to do as he was telling her to do, but all of the light and beauty and freedom she had earlier felt was turning to a red darkness within her. The sky was losing its soft, tangerine color and a bright, white, light was breaking through the clouds, searing her eyes and her brain with a blinding, white heat.

And then he was gone. "Simon. Simon! Whe... where are you?? Come back! Please come back! I... I do not want to play anymore. It is ... so.... hot, love." Still floating, she began to thrash around. Why could she not see him? She could not feel him any longer either, and then as if her prayer had been answered, he was back. He was offering her something to drink, and it felt so cool against her throat. She felt his hand on her forehead and willed herself to open her now closed eyes, but the effort to do so was too exhausting.

I just want to go to sleep now, love. Stay with me. I sleep so much better with you holding me.

She was finally ready to let go, but before she left consciousness behind, AngelFyre felt Simon enfold her in his arms. He whispered something about her being much too hot, and she responded, in her mind only, Oh no, you are the one who is much too hot, and then blacked out.

When she finally began to reconnect with reality, she found she was standing in the rain. No. Wait. That was not it exactly. She was in Simon's arms, but they were standing under a shower head. Her head lolled backward and then forward too rapidly to stop in time before careening forehead first onto his clavicle. The water trickled down her face, dripping off the tip of her nose. She watched, still somewhat in a daze, as a steady stream of water flowed from the end of his hair and onto his ear, curving around the top and moving to his earlobe.

Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.

"Our first shower together and we are still dressed. A most disappointing state of affairs, I must say," and she chuckled. "Does it strike you, love, that for two people on a winter vacation, we... and by we, I mean you... have spent a good deal of time out of ... you know... clothes?" and though he could not see it, she raised her eyebrows, or tried to, a couple of times.

"I guess we did not run around the rooftops of Hogwarts or float up towards the sunset, did we?" and her legs buckled just at that moment but he held her tight as the water continued to rain down upon them both. "That is too bad, really. I think I will add it to my bucket list. It was so beautiful, Simon. It was like floating up to Heaven."

------- ----------- -------

A Cold Shower, @Simon Kincaid

Each passing second brought with it more clarity and stability as her dizziness faded and the lightheadedness began to retreat. That state of affairs was no mean feat given Simon had just kissed her. The boy held such a power over her that even a smile from him most times could turn her into a knee-wobbling, pillar of Jell-O. His superpower in that moment, however, was less his role as lover and more his role as protector. As the water fell softly down upon them, Simon assured her he would always do anything he could to keep her safe. AngelFyre had never had any reason to doubt otherwise, but there was just something behind his voice and the gently firm grip with which he was holding her that left her with absolutely no doubt of the truth of his words.

She pressed her fingers into his shoulder blades and looked up at him and almost imperceptibly nodded her head. There was little in the world she loved as much as looking upon him, but it was particularly fascinating in that moment as the rivulets of water tracked down his handsome face. Just before he moved in to kiss her neck, she had been captivated by how a couple of droplets were suspended on his long, dark lashes. In those watery, tiny mirrors she could see tiny reflections of herself, but just below them, she was aware of that look in his eyes. She always welcomed that look and closed her eyes just before his lips introduced themselves to the tender flesh of her neck.

Simon and AngelFyre kissing was nothing new. She was proud of the fact that they did a good deal of it each and every day because she knew their strong attraction to one another was absolutely one of the glues to their relationship. There was so much more to them as a couple to be sure, but their physical connection was undeniable and cemented everything else about them as a them. But when his lips connected with her skin in that moment, every nerve in AngelFyre's body pulsed with a longing ache for him so strongly that her kiss to his shoulder morphed into a little bite. Nothing painful and nothing that broke the skin, but they would find afterwards it would leave a mark. She pressed closer into him as his hands moved over her hips, delighting in every single second even as a red warning was ringing in her ears.

Yes, they had kissed before, but something here was a little... or maybe a lot... different. She did not want to stop. She could have happily stayed with Simon in that moment forever, but it was time to heed the alarm bells, so she turned her head and whispered in his ear huskily, "I love you. I love you. I love you, Simon. And I am sorry." The moment she uttered the word sorry, her right hand reached to the side and latched onto the water control lever and turned it to COLD.

Mere seconds later she was experiencing a different kind of breathlessness.

------- ----------- -------

It Was Only A Joke At The Time, but....@Simon Kincaid

Even though she knew it was coming, the shock to her system was instantaneous. Simon immediately pulled away and was actually able to produce a short, coherent sentence. Something about it being too cold. That it most certainly was. AngelFyre did not think she had even been able to muster enough breath to yelp out loud let alone speak.

She still felt his hands on her hips but in a flash as she turned off the near-freezing water, he grasped her free hand and quickly led them out of the shower. They both finally found themselves wrapped in luxurious, warm towels and sitting across from each other, half a room's distance between them, in the bedroom, gathering their senses and catching their breath.

It was a strange moment for the two of them, unlike anything they had ever experienced since knowing one another. First of all, they were sitting half a room apart from each other. In all of their history, this was just unheard of. The two had always been physically close to one another, even the first night they met. She did not think it was anything they had consciously set out to do, it was just the normal course of events for them. It always had been. Holding him, touching him, being right next to him, came as easily as breathing to her, and when that was not possible, say if they were in classes or separated due to Prefect duties, etc., it was not a lie to say that almost everything was a little harder, and sometimes a lot harder. She had often wondered if it was a want of theirs to be so close together, all the time, or a need. In that moment, sitting alone on the bed in Simon's couple-imposed exile, she had her answer.

It was definitely a need.

She knew he was not angry. Confused, yes, but not angry. They both knew exactly why she had done what she had done and they both knew why he was now doing what he was doing. But she hated it. She smiled a small smile as she remembered him thanking her as they left the bathroom. She knew he was struggling with his desires here, too, but she also believed her gallant fellow would have eventually come to a similar notion. His stop to the situation may have been different, but....

She took in a deep breath and let out a long sigh.

At one point when Simon adjusted his towel around his torso, she could see the red mark on his milky shoulder from her bite. Had she really done that? Seriously? She had been focused on it for who knew how long when she caught him looking at her and smiling. She took another deep breath and knew it was all okay between them, but he was still over there because being over here was what? Not safe any longer? And if that was true, for how long would it be true? What had just happened had been nothing less than freaking amazing as far as she was concerned, but it was odd that all of this angst was now accompanying it and coloring it in shame.

No. Shame was not going to be how she would feel about this. Having these feelings was not the problem. What they did, or did not do about them, could be the problem. She, in that moment, chose to be proud of them. They put on the brakes. They had no reason to be ashamed of anything. They just had reason to be cautious in the future.

Her attention was drawn back to the room and to his eyes when he started talking about all of the things they could do at the resort. Leave it to her boy to make an easy way for them. "Llamas you say? No kidding?" and she inched a little closer to the edge of the bed, her interest now piqued. She thought about that one for all of a nanosecond and tossed it out. She knew she would love that, but Simon would not. Llamas spit. It was her goal to have him begin to like being around critters. Those particular sweethearts were not the poster children to make that happen.

"I want to do all of that, love. Maybe not the llama trekking, but the rest of it is definitely doable," and she looked down as a wide smile spread across her face. Her ankles were crossed over each other and she was rolling them in tight, clockwise and then counter-clockwise circles. "How about we do as you suggested and get dressed. Maybe we can find snowshoes that fit us in the mud room and we can take a hike in the treeline before my folks get back? It should be time to think about dinner by that time, and I bet you would have a 100% chance of talking my father into the James Bond restaurant," and she laughed, knowing her mother would only care if Daniel Craig was there himself. Come to think of it, same could be said of Grandma Ruth, and she chuckled even more.

The mood had lightened considerably, and AngelFyre's heart leapt with joy as Simon got up from the chair and made his way over to her, leaning down to kiss her. She was happily surprised to find it was not a quick peck, but an honest to goodness, real kiss. As their lips began to part, she stood, facing him. Still looking him in the eyes, she reached her hand up and moved the towel aside, exposing the bite mark. Continuing to hold his gaze, her long fingers found their way to the area and she gently traced it. No skin was raised and it did not seem to have any swelling associated with it, but it was still so red. Of course, being a dhampir, his skin was so light. Finally breaking from their gaze, she said nothing but simply leaned over and softly kissed the area. It was on the tip of her tongue to say that she was sorry, but something stopped her. She was not sorry about it, really, only sorry about the cruddy timing.

Grandma Ruth had told her many times not to wish to hurry past her youth so that she could find herself older with Simon. There would be time enough for all of the things the two wanted to experience, but now was not the time for much of it, and by wishing to skip through now to get to then, they would miss out on so much. Their time, while hopefully long together, was finite and AngelFyre knew her grandmother was right. This time now needed to be enjoyed for what it was and what it allowed the two of them. Really, it was a test for both of them and they would need to work together and support each other through it because it was only going to get harder. They had each other and they had their faith. It may not sound like much, but she knew they were well armored.

She wanted to move in for a hug, but it was still too soon after to safely consider that. Even being this close to him right now was stirring all kinds of feelings and urges yet again. And then her mind trained on his visit during spring break and the joke she played on her parents at dinner time his second night there. "You know, there is a simple solution to our attraction problem," and she arched her brow at him as her tone took on that teasing aspect he was now so familiar with, and she giggled. He smiled and arched his brow back at her in his 'Oh, I can't wait to hear this' expression. She reached down and clasped his hand, interlacing her fingers with his as she slowly started walking with him to the door."Well, you have heard it before, but it may be worth revisiting," and standing at the open doorway, she just beamed at him and said only two words.

"Chastity belt."

Snowshoe Ballet@Simon Kincaid

Piggy-backing on Simon was not something she did often, but it made sense right now. She had recovered from the encounter in the hot tub, mostly, but was still feeling a bit weaker than usual. Instead of using too much energy at the outset of their walk in the snow, Simon offered himself up as her temporary mode of transportation. That was an offer she was simply not going to say no to, and the two took off, laughing and talking along the way. Well, not the whole way.

As they drew closer to the treeline where he would ultimately set her down, she just silenced herself and rested the side of her face against his head. He was wearing the Hufflepuff beanie she had given him for part of his Scadventger Calendar surprises. She just closed her eyes and hugged him tightly. She could smell his soap on the back of his neck and feel the softness of the beanie against her cheek. Some of his hair was peeking beneath the beanie and tickling her nose. She was content just hugging him and listening to the crunch of the snow beneath his feet with every step.

When they got to the trail head, she marveled that Simon did not even seem the least bit out of breath. She knew there was much about his dhampirism that he did not especially enjoy, but there was a lot about it that thrilled his girl no end. His strength and his reflexes always impressed her and added to her sense of security. She also liked his fangs when he did not keep them retracted, but she liked those for a different reason entirely.

He carried her and it had been her job to hold onto the snowshoes, which she had done. The mud room had a huge selection of sizes and types. Like everything in the world, it seemed, even snowshoes had undergone engineering upgrades to help one "float" above the snow as they walked. More modern types that were shorter and narrow and made of composite material to make them even lighter, were now available, but AngelFyre had chosen the old fashioned kind. That just looked like her idea of snowshoeing.

As she sat on a log and put hers on, soft, powdery snow fell upon them. She asked Simon what he thought of them. "Tell the truth. Do they look like I'm walking on rattan tennis rackets?" and she laughed while standing up and began to walk a few steps in front of him to give him a better view. "Ever since I was little, I always thought snowshoes, the old fashioned kind, looked like tennis rackets. But man oh man do they make a difference in one's mobility, yeah?"

Simon just chuckled along with her and then the two began their walk. They saw a few hares, all kinds of tracks, and a chamois. AngelFyre felt like there was probably at least one more chamois nearby, maybe more, but she only saw the one. That was enough to make her happy. Any animal sighting always made her happy. "I was thinking of checking into whether there is an Internship in CoMC like you had in the Hospital Wing last year. Little makes me happier than animals, as you well know, except for you, of course, but I am good at it and it always seems to call to me. What do you think of that? You can be the healer to the 2 leggeds and I can be the healer to the 4 leggeds. Together we would have it almost all covered," and she chuckled. "Not certain where the winged and the scaled fit in there, but they are in there."

They walked on in silence for a bit as Simon did not immediately respond. She knew by now not to press him. Sometimes he just took time to gather his thoughts and this could be one of those times. Taking advantage of his silence, she threw something else out into his universe for his consideration. "Something else I heard about, but have not researched just yet, is an area in the Ministry of Magic... in the Mysteries Department." She picked up her pace and placed herself directly in front of him, walking backwards. That was a bit of an effort because she had momentarily forgotten she was walking on rattan tennis rackets, so she was having to adjust differently for the racket's handles. She must have looked like an awkward clown for a bit and smiled a goofy little smile at him.

"Did you know there is a whole section devoted to studying love? Love, Simon!? I know nothing more about it than that, but that may have even more of a pull for me than the CoMC in the long run believe it or not. In my ignorance I imagine it to be a place that questions and observes what love is, what kinds, and hopefully, how we get more of it in the world. We could sure use more of it... everywhere...." she said softly and was brought to a stop as he gently squeezed one of her hands three times and turned her around to look at what he was seeing ahead of them, but off to the side.

They stood still and silently watched an older couple ahead of them. They were moving slowly, compared to Simon and AngelFyre, but they were holding each other, linked arm in arm. The thing that most captured her attention was how they were laughing. They had started to move off the trail, it appeared, to rest on a large tree trunk. The gentleman was attempting to move a branch out of his lady's way when a tiny avalanche of snow from that branch and a few above it fell down upon them both. They both stood silently still for a few seconds before they burst out laughing and pointed to the mounds of snow now resting on their heads. They each reached to brush the snow off of the other and when that was done, they then brushed each other's cheek and moved in for a sweet kiss.

Wow, AngelFyre thought. What perfect timing. It was not a big showy display, but it was sweet and sincere and you could just tell they had a genuine affection for one another. She would have laughed softly when both she and Simon squeezed each other's hand three times in that moment, but her throat was constricted. She suspected Simon would know that without even having to look at her because, well, even in their short time as a couple, relatively speaking, the two had developed their own short hand in certain instances. Sure enough, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kissed the top her head. She smiled slowly as she blinked back her tears rapidly.

She thought there would be continued silence as she knew they were both thinking about and envisioning a version of themselves in later years, but Simon filled her heart to overflowing with his next words. "I love what you and I have... Everything. Our past, our current, our future. I'm glad we can talk about the hard things and we can talk about nonsense and everything in between. I'm glad there's passion between us and love and friendship. I'm glad that we have shared interests and make each other a priority but also security in our relationship to allow separate time. I'm glad we're both insomniacs who get extra time together - even if it's just struggled conversations over the Hogwarts Telecommunication System. What I'm saying is...I love us and I love you."

She surprised herself as she managed to compose herself as he spoke so openly from his heart to her. Normally she would have dissolved at such an expression from him, and she was all caramel soft and warm in her core, but it felt important to be in the moment with him and not struggling with her emotional self. There was so much she wanted to say to him, but honestly, he had said it all so perfectly. She actually chuckled as she knew what her response to him would be, and she thought he would get a kick out of it, if he were familiar with the movie Ghost.

"Ditto," and she wrapped her arms around him and they lip-locked sweetly, in the shadow of the older couple. When their lips parted from the other, she just smiled up at him and rested her head against his shoulder. "This has been one of my very favorite days with you, and it is not even over. Just when I think things cannot possibly be "more" or "better" with us, I find I am happily surprised. I want that for us, Simon," and she nudged her head in the older couple's direction, "or at least our version of it. But I am ecstatic over what we have right now. Right this second. I do not want to ever take you or what we have for granted, so if you ever feel like I do, set me straight, because I love you... I love us ... so very much, too."

Looking up at the sky, they both noted the sun was hanging low and it would be dark soon. Time to start heading back. They passed the man having difficulty in his snowshoes and it was almost like he was treating them as skis for cross country skiing. She did not know if it would help him or not, but she called out to him to stop gliding his legs back and forth and to try lifting them as he would if walking. He turned to her and waved a hand with one of his poles in it as a thank you, but then turned back and continued doing exactly as he had been doing. She and Simon just looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders and chuckled. "I tried."

About 5 minutes from their vacation home, they were in a clearing and AngelFyre got the idea in her head to see what it would be like to dance in the snowshoes. She attempted a few leaps and jumps which went pretty well, but where it all went south was in spins. It was all very herky jerky. Looking over to Simon who was just grinning at her antics, she grinned happily back at him and crooked her finger at him to join her.

As he approached, the snow began to fall a little harder and everything seemed to go silent. She held out her hand to him and asked him to just walk her around in circle if he could. She lifted one leg gracefully behind her and waited to see how much friction there would be. There was a lot, but it was okay. When he had gone the reqested 360 degrees, he moved in closer, still holding her one hand as he placed his other around her waist and drew her near. They danced in the dusk just holding each other for a few minutes as Simon hummed in her ear. It was a piece he had been working on, and like everything he wrote, it was beautiful.

Yes, she was biased, but it was also true, and those moments were perfection.

Ten minutes later he was kissing her in the kitchen in front of her family and telling her he would miss her until they met up in the living room shortly to go out for dinner. There was a chorus of good natured teasing and kissy kissy sounds which they both laughed at, and yes, they probably both blushed a bit as well.

They would take it. It was definite progress and a grand show of acceptance.

"See you soon, Handsome. And let me know if you notice anything in your bathroom," and she laughed as she ran up the stairs to her room to change.

------- ----------- -------

A Simon Serenade, @Simon Kincaid

It had been true when AngelFyre had told her fellow earlier that this day had been one of her very favorite ones spent with him... ever... and that was really saying something because the two had had some incredible days. But this day was about to turn into a favorite night as well.

She was very much her own, strong-willed person, but there was something about the way Simon saw her and treated her that made her very proud of her good sense to have been so attracted to him in the first place. She had seen him around the school and the Hufflepuff Common Room long before ever speaking to him. Practically everyone at least knew who Simon was then because he made a point of trying to befriend literally everyone. That was just her fellow's heart. She would have had to be blind to not notice how handsome he was, but handsome, by itself, was never enough to catch her attention. Handsome was everywhere, quite honestly. It was in observing his interactions with others that told her he was not a person just wrapped up in himself. That made speaking to him that first night in their Common Room back in December, almost a year to the day now, so much easier than it likely would have been at any other time.

It was still a great mystery to her how he managed to take her independent, tom-boyish self and have her care about the things her mother had always wanted her to care about. She had not given up who she was to be with him, really, she was just different in some ways since being with him. Could she take care of herself? Absolutely. Could she do for herself? Of course. But she was not going to lie to herself. She loved the feeling of being cloaked in his protective care, and she especially loved how he would pull chairs out and open doors for her and a million other little things he did all the time for her. They were not done to impress. They were done because that is who he was and it was how he saw and thought of her.

Simon Ezra Kincaid, simply put, was a gentleman.

As they entered the restaurant, she was beaming with absolute pride at being one of the ladies on his arm. She loved the smooth, seemingly effortless way he treated her like a lady and her Grandma Ruth as well. AngelFyre well knew that her father would have been the one to open the car doors and pull Grandma Ruth's chair out for her had Simon not beaten him to it. And the beauty of it all was that it was not being done in some frenetic, hurried manner. He was deliberate and suave and smooth jazz all the way. And he looked absolutely fan-freaking-tastic to boot.

Take THAT Daniel Craig!

She noted that her father... the great bull elephant of their spring break past... was taking note of her young man as well. No rogue elephant here, Daddy, she thought. Knowing smiles and nods amongst AngelFyre, her mother, and Grandma Ruth spread quickly as the three watched the older male almost study the younger with an appreciative glint in his eye. When her father finally sat down after kissing her mother on the top of her head, AngelFyre turned expectantly to the seat to her left and grasped Simon's right hand. He took the opportunity to thank her family once again for the trip, and Iain McCubbin smiled broadly at him.

"You know you are always welcome, Simon. Just think of this merry McCubbin clan as your home-away-from-home, Lad." AngelFyre swallowed hard and squeezed Simon's hand three (3) times. She had thought nothing could top what her father had just said aloud (and bonus, she had witnesses!), but she was wrong. After orders had been placed, there was something happening on the stage not too far from their table. To her surprise, Simon obliquely made reference to his toboggan loss that morning and then was on his feet and moving away from their table and towards the man saying something about karaoke.

Everyone else at her table looked surprised as they watched Simon make his way to the stage. It took only a couple of blinks for her to know what was about to happen, and she was utterly thrilled down to her toes as she listened to her handsome Hufflepuff tell the other diners throughout the restaurant of their momentous race earlier that morning. Most people were still oblivious as to what was to come and continued chittering away in the background, but when he began to speak from that ginormous, slow-beating, dhampir-in-love heart of his, the crowd more and more began to hush.

Their gazes locked and AngelFyre wondered if Simon was also thinking back to the evening of his 13th birthday when she "serenaded" (if one could ever really call it that) him at the Sweetheart's Tea Party. That night changed the course of their lives forever, even as hard and humiliating and hurtful as it was at times, it had made their being together now possible. An equal opportunity disaster of a night would be the best, most charitable way to describe it.

Simon had not even gotten through the first line of his re-write of the song before all whispers in the restaurant had gone silent. All eyes... and ears... were glued to him, but none moreso than AngelFyre's. He had sung any number of times with her in his arms, but this was something new. It may have started off as his payoff for his earlier loss, but he had made it something grander and much more meaningful. His re-write was nothing short of brilliant.

Chills, literal chills ran down her spine as he made his way over to her and sang. They were in a room full of people, but she would bet cash money neither one of them was honestly aware of that fact in those precious moments. As the song was all too soon coming to an end, Simon leaned over and kissed her. Then she was aware once again of the others in the room as the dining room erupted into thunderous applause. This, she knew, he had heard at least once before, but she looked up into his honey flecked, cinnamon brown eyes and mouthed," "Unbelievably beautiful" before rising from her seat to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him proper one more time, in front of God and everybody.

Everybody being the bull elephant, of course.

Her heart was pounding as they took their seats. Looking at her family, she could tell they were more than impressed. They had heard him sing before, with her, which honestly just did not count. God's own angelic choir would be soundly diminished by her caterwauling, so they were not to blame for not having fully appreciated the musical genius in their midst. "I told you he could really sing. My fellow has honest to goodness talent. Unlike... you know... me," and she laughed happily.

The night passed easily as they ate their dinner while laughing at stories to be told, and listening to other karaoke singers brave enough to follow Simon. Then it was time to change clothes. Simon had been looking forward all day to night skiing, and she was not going to have him disappointed. Her father gave them the keys to the mini van and they both rushed from the restaurant and out to get their ski clothing. A couple of minutes in the restrooms and they were ready to meet the shuttle only 300 meters from the front of the restaurant. Her folks waited until they safely got on the shuttle and then headed back to the house. Grandma Ruth was feeling fine, but she was worn out.

As for Simon and AngelFyre, they were told to be back by 11:30 and to go nowhere but to the agreed upon ski run. As much as they had wished to obey her parents, everyone would soon discover it just was not going to be possible.

------- ----------- -------

The third time wasn't the charm, @AngelFyre McCubbin