Two Lifetimes PV Simon Kincaid Finished

Safe at Last @Simon Kincaid

Teamwork was definitely the name of the game between the two. Simon was much more in control now, and honestly, AngelFyre preferred it that way. Both knew she was more than capable of standing up when the moment required it of her, but everything felt more natural to her way of thinking when he took charge. And it absolutely made sense for him to do so now that they were back on the ground and needed to see where they were going. There was quite a lot about his dhampirism that she honestly loved, and this particular aspect was right up there.

They had been making their way out of the ravine and back to the slope when a thought struck her. "Simon, we need a story to tell the officials other than what really happened. My folks, of course, we can tell in private, but all H-E-double-hockey-sticks is going to break loose as people are probably already looking for us, or will be soon." She slowed a bit to catch her breath while talking. What they had been doing for the last 15 minutes essentially amounted to cross country skiing, but in the wrong kind of skis, and they were climbing out of the ravine, so it was a workout.

"Obviously we cannot tell anyone we were stuck in the chairlift because everyone would question us as to how we got down. We are not going to be able to tell the truth and that might make folks suspicious as to just why we are out here, including my folks." She came to a complete stop now, feeling pretty exhausted from all of the recent mental and physical exertion. Cold was less the issue for either of them in the moment as getting up the ravine had been quite the workout, but even so, the temperature was still dropping and the snow flurries were less sporadic and more of a constant. They could not stop for long. She knew it, but she had to. They were almost to the top and it would not be long to get down the slope and to the the base after that.

Simon stopped, too, but he had no choice as he would never leave her. "Sorry, love. I need a short breather." He nodded and came back beside her, wrapping her in his arms. "I was thinking about that, too. I think it would make the most sense to claim one of us had an equipment failure," and he looked down at his skis. AngelFyre immediately nuzzled his neck and exclaimed, "That is brilliant! Which one of us should it be? We could do a quick Rock, Paper, Scissors round," she teased as she nuzzled deeper. She knew the minute she asked that it would be her. "Just kidding. I will be the one with the malfunction. I do not want you to have to initially lie to my folks, even if they will get the truth later. You lying to them is not something I want lurking in the recesses of their minds for any reason whatsoever. I will just say that I took a spill and lost a ski. When we managed to get my ski back, I put my boot back in the binding but discovered it had become a little loose, so we had to take it very slow down the slope."

Simon was silent for a few moments and she knew why. Lying was just not something either of them ever liked to do, but telling the truth in this case would cause a lot more trouble. They had done absolutely nothing wrong here, and if anything, the chairlift operator was catching a huge break. Leaving anyone, but especially two kids, on a chairlift for the night was nothing short of criminal negligence. He might catch some flak for missing them on his way down for the night, but AngelFyre felt that would be a lot less problematic for him than what really happened. He would likely still face consequences as she knew her father was not just going to let any of it go, but maybe those consequences would be less severe as a result of their story.

Either way, it was what it was. So be it.

He nodded and reached out his hand. "Come on, love. We're almost to the top. It won't be long now until we are sitting in warm, dry clothes in front of a roaring fire," and he smiled that winning smile of his as he helped her up and they continued their climb.

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An hour and a half later, just as Simon had wished for, the two were safely snuggled in dry clothes under warm blankets, sitting before a roaring fire. Her father was quiet. Too quiet. As she suspected, he was upset that they had been left in that predicament, but at the same time, his pride in both of them was quite evident. As AngelFyre sipped her hot cocoa and Simon happily drank his minty, lemon drop tea, her father cleared his throat and spoke.

"I am thinking that we should cut the ski trip short and just head to Vienna." He said it matter-of-factly and then looked at his wife and Grandma Ruth. AngelFyre had a moment of incredible disappointment, but then she caught the gleeful look on Grandma Ruth's face, and her disappointment was not even a second, third, or even fifth thought any longer. Grandma Ruth looked relieved and AngelFyre realized for the first time that it was probably very difficult for her to get around in all of this snow. That was something none of them were used to having to consider when it came to Grandma Ruth, including Grandma Ruth, and it had not really been thought out when making these plans.

AngelFyre then turned to Simon and he actually seemed to be intrigued by her father's suggestion and she smiled, feeling quite relieved. When she thought about it, except for the snowmobiling, they had already packed quite a lot into their trip, so it was not as if they would be leaving disappointed. And Vienna was always the part of the trip her mother was looking forward to the most. She snaked her hand from beneath her blanket, warmed from the steaming cup of cocoa she had been holding, and found Simon's.

"Vienna sounds fun, right? I am betting that my city boy would delight in being back in his natural habitat amongst cars, noise, lights, cathedrals, culture, masses of people, and people in Masses," and she chuckled, first at her own little punny joke, but mostly at the excitement growing in his eyes.

And then in rapid succession Grandma Ruth offered up, "Shopping!" followed closely by her mother's addition of "Museums!"

Everyone sat silently for a few moments. AngelFyre took another sip of her hot cocoa and squeezed Simon's hand.

"Right, then. Vienna it is," Iain McCubbin said as he got up from the leather lounge chair. "I better start making some calls." As he walked by AngelFyre, he leaned down and kissed the top of her head for a good 4 or 5 Mississippis, and then he squeezed Simon on the shoulder. "Thank you for taking care of our lass. I knew she was in good hands," and he winked at them both. "Don't be up too late. We are probably going to have a very early morning if I can make the necessary changes," and then he, her mother, and Grandma Ruth all headed upstairs.

AngelFyre turned to Simon and smiled. "Vienna will be amazing and beautiful, I am sure, but last night and today... every single minute of it... has been my most favorite day with you ever. Whether we are blessed with one lifetime or two, Simon," and she leaned over to kiss him softly, "all I know is that I want to spend them all with you."

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