Feet in the Sand PV Dan Palmer Closed

Dan had awoken like usual, fed his kitty, Loki, who then insisted that he tag along with Dan when he left to begin Simon's barefooted training. Dan was delighted to share what he knew; He had been barefooted for his entire life, only wearing shoes for Riverdancing. Well, obviously. Half the draw of Riverdance is the sounds the shoes make on the floor. And bare feet were designed for comfort, agility and stealth. And while agility soooort of came into play in Riverdance, comfort was nice but not helpful, and stealth was exceptionally counter productive, since the entire point was to make noise and draw attention to yourself and your incredible skills.

He found Simon staring at the lake. As was the deal, he saw that Simon was still barefooted. Good. He wasn't cheating.
Dan crept up behind him, his bare feet making slightly less noise than a panther.
Loki got in on the act too, and got into the stalking position like the great feline alpha predator he was. Or rather, that he thought he was.

Closer.... and closer... Until Dan was right behind him. He would put his head right next to Simon's ear, but not close enough to be detected. And he would say...

"BOO!"

He glanced up toward the morning sky and then closed his eyes, feeling the warmth of the day without actually having to worry, yet, about the strength of the sun. Summer Camp had surely done a number on his skin and if it weren't for stronger healing creams, there would be no way he would still be functioning as well as he was.

His thoughts drifted from everything to what this upcoming school year held, to what was going on with Haley, to that stranger that came to his London door back in July. Lots of things were going on through his mind and maybe he was distracted or maybe the team of Dan and Loki were just that damn good - but he was taken by total surprise.

The BOO came unexpected and he leaned away from the loud and sudden sound, almost losing his balance and leaning forward a little too far into the water. Almost. He was able to catch his center of gravity and he placed his hands on the ground of the embankment next to him so he didn't fall in. The whole physics behind it was probably amusing to the two spectators and Simon looked up to Dan and shook his head, but there was a smile on his face.

"Damn, Dan. If you're aiming to test to make sure one's heart is beating efficiently, you've done your job well." Simon slowly stood and took a few strides away from the Lake to ensure that he would remain dry.

"I'm sorry, no way for me to talk to my mentor, is it? What I meant to say is... Greetings and good morning, Oh Great One. What's on our agenda for today?"

Dan laughed. He got him!

After everyone had calmed down, he was still smirking.

"Our agenda today, my apprentice, is first going to be basic foundation lessons, and then a practical lesson."

Dan paused a moment.

"First of all, shoes are more of a detriment than the companies who make 'em would have ye believe. The way we both are now, ye will have no foot odor, no fungus, 'n no skeletal problems.
Now, to counteract the main argument most people make; best thing ye can do ta avoid walkin' on somethin' gross 'r dangerous, is to watch where yer goin'. Be aware of yer surroundin's. It's actually REAL easy ta do.
Another lesson, and this is REALLY important. We may not need ta worry about it HERE, but fer later. No matter how long ye've been barefooted, no matter how tough ye are. Do NOT, under ANY circumstances, walk barefooted on hot pavement. It don't matter how tough yer feet are, that shite is dangerous. Don't be feckin' around with hot surfaces. Also, straight sprintin' on asphalt is generally not good. But then again, unless yer tryin'a make yer soles as black as possible, ye won't usually find yerself goin' on asphalt anyway. But, if fer some reason ye ARE tryin' a make yer feet as dirty as ye can, look no further'n that.
Lastly, callous. Whether ye want 'em 'r not is up ta ye. They'll help ye be able to walk wherever ye want, but it'd make 'em not look as good, and ye wont have smooth soles n'more. I personally don't like callous, I think they're ugly, and their only use is null if ye watch where yer goin'."

Dan paused again.

"Now, before we begin practical, I need ta see yer soles, if ya dont mind. I wanna know what I'm dealin' with so I don't accidentally put ye in a situation yer not ready fer."

Simon listened and took mental note. He had seen Dan around enough to know this was how Dan lived his life and seemed to take it pretty seriously. Besides, Simon liked to be accepting to everyone, no matter what different lifestyle they lead. Would he become barefooted always himself? He was skeptical. But he'd still hear the boy out.

And Dan made good points. Watch where you were going, avoid hot surfaces. He wondered though if there were times the boy just HAD to wear shoes - and not just for his riverdancing. Did the professors require them in class? Simon was in another year so did not share any classes with Dan.

Then Dan wanted to see the general condition of his feet. They weren't tough, by any means, and Simon glanced down to them not feeling any sort of shame because there was no physical problem with them either. Still, he glanced over at Dan and playfully shook his head as if he had asked something so personal and Simon just couldn't believe it. "Dan Palmer. I hardly know you. We strip down in front of each other one time and share clothing and now you have the audacity of asking to see my soles? I dunno, man. This is getting pretty deep, pretty fast."

Simon sat down on one of the fallen trees nearby. The sun wasn't rising too high, and while he had shorts on, he also had a hooded sweatshirt and he did find himself pulling up the hood - either due to the slightly rising sun or just out of habit, he really didn't think on it.

Dan was a bit.... confused. He had thought this was a perfectly reasonable request. The last thing he wanted to do was accidentally bring Simon to a place he was not ready to be barefooted in, and have him collapse halfway through and spend 3 hours carefully trying to get him out of where he was, and then another hour of foot therapy to fix any damage.

Dan had done that with his muggle friend Patrick once. He thought he could be exactly like Dan, and demanded that he take him into the woods.
Well, round about the center of the woods, Patrick's tough guy facade dropped, about the same time he did. It took them forever to get him out of there from the twigs, rocks, and briars. Dan knew where the nettles were, and avoided those properly.

"The hell are ye talkin about? Like ya said, we've stripped in front of each other and swapped clothes, the hell do ye got against showin yer-"

Then Dan understood, and shot Simon an unamused look.

"Alright ye Joker gobshite. Look, quicker we get this done, faster we can get into the important stuff. And we're gonna want some time fer that, cuz it'll be a good bitta walkin'."

"Okay, okay, okay," he said, complying with Dan's demands. Dan was going to find out that he was going to have to start with square one with this boy because he was never outside, let alone outdoors and barefoot. Could he be blamed? He was a dhampir who avoided the sun at most costs - even on cloudy days. The sun was always there and still affected him to some degree no matter what.

"If I'm continuing this all the rest of Summer Camp," which was the conditions, "I've got to learn on grass, tree roots, stones..." it was all starting to sound rather dangerous. No, it wouldn't be nice and soft like the sand there near the Great Lake. And of course, the Summer Camp had to be held on the Campgrounds in the middle of the outdoors and not within the castle itself where he would at least have smooth corridor flooring.

"And what do you do for warmth?" Surely at night, one could use a blanket, but man...what did Dan Palmer do at Hogwarts during the December and January months when the temperatures dipped down low within the Scottish Highlands? Even those smooth corridor floors had to be mighty cold during the winter time.

"Dan, my man, you don't possibly walk around barefoot in the Winter, do you?"

Dan got down, and looked very closely at the feet presented before him.

Simon's had shockingly few flaws; No scuffed skin, no callous on the balls, heels, or toes.
He ran two fingers over them, and detected no flaw. They were perfectly smooth, and perfectly soft.

As Simon went on about what he would have to learn on, and, yes. He was right. Though, running to the deep end was not going to be pleasant. So Dan would start him off easy.

Dan then had a mischievous smirk, and spidered his fingers across both soles to tickle torture Simon briefly.

Simon then went on to talk about warmth, and then asked a question Dan had heard a million times.

"Aye. I walk 'round barefooted in Winter too. Ye can ask Andrew Vance, I'm the first person to go out 'n play in snow, but damned if ye'll see a shoe 'r sock on me.
Hell, we went out to decorate Hogsmeade last year, and I was barefooted in shin-high snow."

Dan didn't know how, but he was perfectly fine with extreme cold. Always had been. Much to the bafflement of his friends and parents

"I'm fine no matter the temperature. The Cold Never Bothered Me Anyway."

Simon flailed a little at the tickling and did his best not to kick Dan accidentally in the face. One didn't physically harm their mentor - that was just asking for trouble.

"Glad to hear it, Elsa," Simon said, making a Frozen reference. Coming from the muggle world, he knew the movie well. EVERYONE knew that movie well. He wasn't sure though if the Slytherin before him did. Either way, it made Simon smile a little.

"Alright, so let's go through a sort of test drive. Lead me on a course to walk and as we go you can give me any tips and criticism along the way." At least it sounded like a good plan to Simon. Simon still wondered about things like splinters and walking on rocks. How did one walk on something like small little rocks without any footwear?

"It could be a game like follow the leader," he smiled, because what, were they four? Of course not. Still, Simon stood up, showing his mentor that he was ready to be mentored. He didn't think this lifestyle of Dan Palmer's would end up transferring over to his personal preference of every day life, but he was eager to see what Dan saw it in. He liked different hobbies and interests and perspectives that others had, and he enjoyed getting to experience them through their eyes as best he could.

Dan snickered at Simon's flailing.
It felt good to be the TicklER for once, instead of the TicklEE. Because seriously. It was ALWAYS HIM back home.
His muggle friends always made it a point to pin him and tickle him for asinine reasons. Usually it was because he beat them in gaming. As if he was going to go easy on them, please.

"A bit ticklish, are ye?"

Dan continued to snicker teasingly.

And Dan was both simultaneously happy and also sighed that Simon got the reference. Of course it was Frozen. Anyone who has set foot in the Muggle World in the last 7 years knows about Frozen, and the most popular Disney song in decades.

Then he asked for a test drive. That sounded perfectly sensible to Dan. Simon would have to get used to walking around barefooted; he couldn't just sit still and hear lectures on what to do all summer.

"Sounds good ta me. If yer ready lets go. I'll be watchin' how ye position yer feet, yer walking style, how brave ye are or arent bein', and how ye avoid small obstacles."

This would be where it all really started. Simon struggling here would be a doomsday prophecy for the rest of the summer in bare feet.

Dan turned, and began walking, gesturing for Simon to come too.