Anything you can do... (tags Shock)

[Rei]

"Oh look at that one!" Dileina exclaimed while pointing to a snowman not far off that had been made to look as if it was going to an evening occasion and decked out in gather finery. Emitre wrinkled his nose. "Looks stupid to me." "You think everything looks stupid lately." His twin sister commented with a return wrinkle of her nose while sticking her tongue out at her twin brother. "Starting to sound like Dementia." "No I'm not. If I was starting to sound like Dementia I would be calling you stinky." He retorted with a playful push to his sister's shoulder. Laughing Dileina shook her head. "Noooo. Last time you were stinky." Grinning at his sister he grabbed her hand to tug her a little faster after their mother who was glancing around the area. "I think she gets confused. You're obviously the stinky one." The blonde boy replied with an air of gravity. Obviously his sister should know that. "Yeah well you smell worse than me." "Do not." "Do too." "DO NOT!"

Erilena had, up until this point, been mostly tuning out their back and forth banter as per usual. They did it so often that it was normally nothing to worry about until voices started to rise. Once that happened it was best to step in quickly before things degenerated further. The twins rarely actually fought with each other but when it did happen they tended to get rather loud and irritable. Not something she wanted to deal with in the middle of a gather at all. Pausing in her forward momentum the greenrider looked back at her brood and snapped her fingers to gain their attention. "There will be none of that or I promise we will turn right around, march back to Feyrianth, and go home. Do you both understand that?" She asked them, her voice firm but not raised in anger. If anything her tone was more seriously conversational then anything. It was the first and only warning they were going to get and the twins knew it. As evidenced by the look they gave each other before they both turned towards her with small smiles and a chorused. "Yes Mommy."

Offering them a smile she pointed across the way to the entrance to the snowman gardens. "Okay then. Hands please." One small hand clasped with each of hers and she started across the main thoroughfare of the gather and towards the snowman gardens. Partway there Emitre spied a rather large figure and paused tugging back on his mother's hand. "Mom! Look!" With that the boy pointed before suddenly pulling away from her and darting into the crowd. "Emitre!" Erilena exclaimed after him, not at all happy. He certainly knew better then to run off like that. Not that that stopped him the majority of the time. Dileina kept her hand clasped in her mothers and tried not to look amused as she saw her brother darting and weaving through the crowd in pursuit of the man they had both spied a few moments before.

Rushing up to M'gnum Emitre called out to him, his face slightly flushed from his mad dash through the crowded thoroughfare. "Hey you! Aren't you that old bronzerider that grandpa knows? The one with the funny name?" By this point Erilena had caught up with her wayward child and offered M'gnum an apologetic smile before gently taking Emitre's arm and offering him a quick look of warning. She'd deal with him in a moment. Looking back up at the bronzer she spoke. "I'm sorry about that M'gnum he got away from me. I hope he didn't bother you." "I wasn't rude." Emitre mumbled just loud enough for his sister to hear. With a glance at her brother the little girl stepped forward and reached her other hand out for M'gnum's coat giving it a light tug.

"Excuse me grandpa's friend. Would you like to come built a snowmen with us?" She asked brightly her eyes glancing up at him imploringly. Emitre wrinkled his nose and gave M'gnum a searching look. "He's probably too boring and important to play with us Lei. He's not grandpa. Don't get your hopes up." Erilena was just starting to expound on her apology when her kids spoke up and she flushed slightly in embarrassment before glancing at M'gnum. "I'm sorry. They normally aren't like this." She was obviously going to have to have a talk with Emitre about proper respect shown to rankers. Just because his father got away with such things didn't mean that the boy could.

[Aftershock]

M'gnum walked carefully through the Gather crowd, his back straight and his stride confident. He wore a neatly-pressed thick cotton light blue jacket buttoned up to the collar, with a navy knitted scarf wrapped around his neck and chin once before being tucked smoothly into the front of his jacket collar. He wore grey wherhide gloves, along with matching grey wherhide boots and nearly white thick cotton pants. The bronzerider realized that, even this many Turns after the Summit, there were still tensions between the Holders and the riders of the Weyr, and he was doing his best to present a proud, professional image of dragonriders to all who attended this Gather, even as he took in the sights and activities.

Suddenly, a boy's voice called out behind him from the crowd... a voice he found familiar enough to pause and look towards it's source. As the boy approached, M'gnum listened to him speak, though his eyebrows raised in confusion and concern, as he didn't recognize the boy despite his incredibly familiar tone... that is, until Erilena came into sight along with the boy's twin sister. "Emitre? Is that really you?" the bronzerider asked, genuinely surprised. He had met Erilena, Dmitri, and their twins long ago, during a few of the times he had met with S'rei and they had come to visit their grandfather, but he hadn't seen any of them since the Summit, when they were required to move to a Hold due to Dmitri's Harper status and M'gnum himself was moved up to Inverness. His confused expression twisting upwards into a smile, M'gnum laughed, "It IS you! I haven't seen you or your sister since you were babies! Time has truly flown by, I must admit."

Ignoring the boy's less-than-respectful words, nodding in understanding to Erilena, he then looked down at Dileina as she tugged on his jacket, listening to her for a moment before opening his mouth to reply. Just then, Emitre piped in, and M'gnum cut himself off, turning towards the boy with a mock offended expression on his face. "Boring, am I? What stories is your grandfather telling you about me?" Crouching, he bent his arms low to the ground and began to collect snow between his gloved hands, packing the wet material into a slowly-growing sphere as he looked directly at Emitre with a mischievous grin on his face. Turning momentarily towards Dileina, he said, "I'll certainly come build snowmen with you... if your brother can avoid my snowballs!" As he finished his sentence, he turned and flung his carefully-formed snowball at Emitre, purposefully missing the boy by a small margin and then roaring playfully as he began scooping another snowball, chasing the boy towards the snowman garden as he laughed, "We shall see who's boring when your hair is full of snow, won't we, Emitre!"

[Rei]

Now Emitre was far from stupid and when the bronzer bent to start collecting snow in his gloved hands he knew something was up. A quick glance at his mother’s amused expression clued him into the fact that he was going to get no help from her and so he readied himself for quick action. It was a good thing he did too as suddenly a snowball was winging past him. The more bratty part of the boy wanted to throw a fit at what he considered unfair treatment but his more playful side won out over that first impulse. Besides…Anything the bronzer could do Emitre was sure he could do better. S’rei was his grandpa and was pretty much the best dragonrider in the world. Besides that he was sure that his dad was pretty much the fastest person on Pern. He was his father’s son according to his mother, who said it all the time. Obviously this meant he could be just as fast as his dad. This bronzer didn’t understand that he was already outmatched. Well he would soon. With an impish grin Emitre darted away from M’gnum and laughed. “You have to catch me first!” With that he raced off into the snowman garden and quickly wound his way between the snowmen, trying to keep his eye on just where M’gnum was as well as keep a snowman between them at all times to use as a shield.

Dileina giggled as M’gnum tossed the snowball at her brother and then released her mother’s hand to dart after the two when the bronzer started to give chase. The twins always teamed up with each other against Dmitri when they played roughhousing games. They had to or he always won. (No doubt he would win anyway and likely let them win occasionally but hey to a five turn old it seemed a legit win.) This man might not be as tall as her father but the little girl was pretty much positive that her twin brother would eventually need her help. Especially if Emitre kept baiting M’gnum like he was. Her brother never learned did he? As Dileina gained entrance into the snowman garden she ducked behind a snowman and then started to try and wind her way to the flash of blonde and blue that indicated where her brother was.

When she noticed that it looked like Emitre had been partially cornered she made a quick snowball and tossed it at the bronzer. When it exploded on his back Dileina giggled and stuck her tongue out at him. “Bet you can’t beat us both!” Emitre grinned at his sister before giving her a quick thankful grin. “Nice shot Lei.” The girl smiled back at her brother before pointing at M’gnum. “Let’s get him!” With that both twins emerged from their snowman shields and advanced towards the bronzer snowballs in hand. One on each side they made to try and ‘herd’ him towards a clear area where he couldn’t hide.

Erilena really couldn’t help but be amused by the entire thing as the three of them ran off. Yes sometimes her kids could be a little rebellious but then she rather thought all five turn olds could be. She certainly had been no perfect angel herself at five. It wasn’t like the twins were unmanageable after all. In fact her kids were pretty good the majority of the time. It made her both proud of them and confident that Dmitri and she were on the right track with them. The greenrider trotted after M’gnum and the kids fast enough to keep them in sight but no faster. Part of Erilena really wanted to get in on the game as well, (How often was it that she missed an opportunity to play herself?) but for now she settled on casually half leaning against a rather tall snowman and watching her twins advance on M’gnum.

She rather thought three against one was rather unfair odds anyway. Maybe if they looked like they needed help she’d involve herself then. She wouldn’t have held back if it was Dmitri but she didn’t know M’gnum that well for one, and for two her husband was always bratty enough to bring it upon himself , sometimes it felt like she had three kids rather than just two. The greenrider covered her mouth with a glove to muffle her laughter as the twins approached M’gnum much like two small wolves closing in for the kill. Maybe they weren’t the ones who needed help after all.

[Aftershock]

M'gnum smiled openly as he chased after the young boy, snowball in hand. Though he kept himself in good shape, sometimes still the weight of the man's many years bore down on him... especially when he was stuck playing politician in meetings and discussions regarding the Weyr as a whole. With age came responsibility, and sometimes during particularly boring meetings or especially serious discussions, M'gnum wondered if becoming a dragonrider had truly changed his fate all that much... had he stayed with his family and become a Lord Holder, or attained even a lesser office, he likely would have been dealing with just as many boring meetings and frustrating political machinations. However, in this moment, playing in the snow with children, he could be free once more, and it was as if the years melted off the man as he pursued the boy into the snowman gardens.

Emitre was using the snowmen as cover, M'gnum soon found... clever boy. He attempted to do so himself, as well, though the man's much larger size compared to many of the snowmen being built by small children caused M'gnum to have much fewer options when it came to effective cover from the boy's snowy onslaught. He was preparing to lean from cover and send another globe of packed snow in the direction of Emitre's hiding place when suddenly he felt a soft impact on his back, and he turned to see Dileina gloat over her victory before retreating to snowman-based cover herself. Laughing freely, M'gnum called out, "Two on one, eh? That doesn't seem very sporting... though I suppose it would take both of you to get anywhere close to equaling my size alone, so I'll allow it."

It was at this point the twins emerged from hiding, snowballs in hand, to attempt to herd M'gnum towards open ground. Looking around for a way to extend the game, M'gnum noted how Erilena was keeping up with the group as they moved through the garden. Pointing with a free hand, his other hand occupied with a well-packed snowball, M'gnum cried out, "Look out, your mother is coming up behind you!" Technically, it was no lie, though M'gnum well realized the greenrider wasn't currently attempting to join in the game. If the twins happened to fall for his distraction, he would send his snowball flying at Emitre before turning to sprint across the open section of the gardens to attempt to find better cover on the opposite side.

[Rei]

Ah hah! They had gotten him. Emitre glanced at his twin sister and she glanced back before they continued their slow approach towards M’gnum. They had him cornered they did, though they were well aware that just because they had their prey cornered it didn’t mean they had won just yet. How often had they cornered Dmitri only to have their dad suddenly turn the tables on them in one way or another? Still…it seemed they had him right where they wanted him and emboldened by that fact they edged just a bit closer and raised their snowballs for a final strike. Before the pair could toss the snowy weapons however the bronzer pointed with an exclamation and Emitre turned to glance behind him. He wouldn’t put such sneaky tactics past his mother after all. She oftentimes played the sneaky one when they were all trying to wrestle with Daddy.

Dileina too glanced back but had turned her body enough so that she could still keep at least partial attention on M’gnum. She saw the bronzer move as a result but it was too late to warn her brother. The little girl burst into laughter instead as the snowball hit her brother on the shoulder and exploded showering Emitre with snow and causing him to scrunch his face in an expression of annoyance. The little blonde gave his sister a look of warning but she was too busy chasing off after the fleeing M’gnum to notice. Emitre paused for a moment and looked back at his mother with a slightly frustrated expression and the greenrider chuckled before waving him on. “Now don’t be like that Emit. I didn’t agree to help him. He tricked you is all. Are you going to let him get away with that?”

It was hardly a question that needed to be asked. Erilena well knew that Emitre didn’t like to be one upped by anyone and the determination in her son’s eyes only promised some form of retaliation. “Promise you won’t help him Momma.” He said firmly and the greenrider smiled before crossing her heart with a gloved hand. Seemingly satisfied the five turn old turned and scooped up a large amount of snow before tailing his sister and M’gnum. The woman couldn’t help but be amused really; though watching without participating was getting harder and harder. As she followed the three Erilena made the decision to only help if it seemed necessary and she ducked behind a decent sized snowman to make her own snowball as she waited to see if such an opportunity would present itself.

It didn’t take long before her kids and M’gnum were hunkered down behind their own snowmen shields and pelting each other back and forth with no clear end or lull in sight. It was clear to Erilena that both sides of the battle were having their share of fun, judging by the playful shouted taunts and laughter being exchanged, so she still held back and watched. Only when it finally seemed that her children’s stamina was lagging in comparison to the bronzer, (not surprisingly they were only five after all), did Erilena creep through the snowmen and into M’gnum’s blind spot. Once there she called his name to draw his attention and then pelted the bronzer in the side with a couple of her own snowballs. Taking advantage of the man’s momentary surprise, as she knew they would, both twins rushed the bronzer and tackled his legs in an attempt to get him to lose his balance and fall back into the snow bank behind him.

With a playful cheer of encouragement Erilena moved forward to lend her bit of strength to the endeavor as well, who could blame a mother for helping out her little ones after all? Besides, if they all ended up sprawled in the snow they all won in the end anyway in the woman’s opinion.

[Aftershock]

M'gnum smiled as his ploy was effective, quickly retreating across the open field after pelting Emitre with a well-placed snowball and only taking one snowball in the rear end from the less-distracted Dileina as she gave chase. Finding a short wall of well-packed snow some ambitious designer had created as part of a miniature snow-weyr, including lounging snow-dragon, M'gnum slipped behind it and began replenishing his ammunition with a few well-packed spheres of snow, keeping an eye out for Dileina.

Soon, his small snow-bunker was being pelted with snowballs as Emitre caught up to his sister and they began their two-pronged assault. M'gnum gave as good as he got, laughing as he tried to peg the twins with snowballs and avoid strikes on himself, always careful not to put his full strength into each throw despite the softness of his missiles... this was fun, not competition, and he didn't want to risk harming one of the children with a particularly hard-packed snowball to a sensitive area.

Suddenly, a snowball came from the complete opposite direction of the twins, smacking the back of his head with a hearty "pfft" and showering his vision with snow. Shaking his head to clear the snow from his hair, he turned to notice Erilena, crying out in mock offense, "Lo, I have been betrayed by a fellow adult!" Turning back around to see if the twins had taken advantage of his distraction to move closer, he was actually surprised to find them bearing down on him, each one jumping on one of his legs in an attempt to tackle him. M'gnum laughed, backpedaling as the tenacious youngsters clung to his legs, and was about to pull a pratfall (as the children didn't have nearly the strength or weight to actually bear him down on their own) when suddenly gloved hands were grabbing his shoulders and tipping him off-balance, his legs unable to compensate for the movement due to being wrapped in giggling twins. Falling backwards, he flung an arm out and wrapped it around his surprise attacker's waist, pulling Erilena down with him as he flopped backwards into the soft snow.

Laughing wholeheartedly after he caught his breath from the unexpected impact onto his back, with the twins still flopped over his legs and Erilena herself draped over his stomach, M'gnum said, "You are truly a formidable team, I will admit. I give you the victory this day." Suddenly realizing the possible impropriety of the attractive blonde (and Joined) greenhandler being draped across his body like that in public, M'gnum sat up, helping Erilena to sit up as well as he said, "Thank you, m'lady... and thank you, Emitre and Dileina. It has been too long since I've been able to simply forget my responsibilities for a moment and just let go and enjoy myself like that." Smiling at the little family group, he added, "When you're a senior bronzerider dealing with Weyr politics and the responsibilities of a Wingleader, sometimes it's easy to forget just what you're doing it all for... the next generation." Grinning at Emitre and Dileina, he reached out to ruffle the hair of both twins affectionately as he spoke.

[Rei]

And down they all went. Though Erilena wasn’t expecting to have her waist snagged by the bronzer as he went down she didn’t really mind at all. In fact she was probably having as much fun as the twins. They were caught in a fit of breathless laughter in fact as they lay draped upon the bronzer’s legs and the greenrider smiled at her brood as the bronzer admitted defeat. Emitre of course was the first to speak up. “We win! I knew we would.” He exchanged a brief high five with his sister before the pair of them squirmed slightly away from the mess of bodies in order to sit up. Dileina giggled as her brother helped to haul her into an upright position and then pair busied themselves with brushing snow out of each other’s hair.

Erilena smiled as she graciously accepted M’gnum’s help and once she was sitting up she began to readjust her fur lined jacket and gloves. “Oh you are more than welcome M’gnum. We had our share of fun too.” She said with a smile and then paused before adding. “It’s good for you to get away from all that even if just for a little while. I’m happy to have helped.” Dileina smiled brightly up at M’gnum as he ruffled her hair and then offered him her hat in silent request for him to help her put it on. Emitre on the other hand wrinkled his nose at the ruffle and tried to duck the majority of it, smoothing his hands through his hair afterwards in an attempt to ‘fix it’. Erilena couldn’t help but reach out to ruffle his hair again just to annoy him further, her most contrary offspring uttering an annoyed, “Moooooooom stop it.”

Laughing Erilena simply snugged her little boy briefly against her and kissed his temple murmuring softly and privately to him. “Now be gracious Emit. You know you had fun.” To that the boy wrinkled his nose but seemed to capitulate, actually offering M’gnum a hand to shake. “You were a worthy opponent.” There much better. Erilena grabbed Emitre’s hat and snugged it onto his head as Dileina reached out for the bronzer’s hand again. “You promised snowmen remember?” She patiently reminded him before glancing around. “What kind of snowman should we make?” Her blue grey eyes danced with mirth as she got to her feet and began tugging on the man’s hand in an attempt to ‘help’ him up. Erilena helped Emitre up and dusted him off before nudging him towards his sister with a small smile the boy however simply turned and seized her hand with a small pout. “You have to help too Mom. How about me and you verse Lei and him?” With a small chuckle Erilena glanced at the bronzer questioningly. “What say you M’gnum?” Really the greenrider wasn’t sure why it had to be a competition but she didn’t really mind if the bronzer was okay with it.

[Aftershock]

M'gnum smiled at Erilena, responding, "I am glad that you had fun as well. It seems no matter who you are, it is oftentimes refreshing to throw off the shackles of adult responsibility and act like a child once again." Looking at Dileina as she presented her hat, he grinned and carefully smoothed the girl's hair before tugging the hat down onto her head, making sure to cover her cold-reddened ears.

Suddenly, his attention was taken by Emitre offering a hand, and M'gnum's smile twisted to one of true pride as he accepted the boy's small hand in his powerful one, shaking it firmly as he said, "A truly humble victor. You have the makings of a fine knight, indeed, my boy. Your grandfather has reason to be proud of you." The boy's twin then caught M'gnum's attention once again by taking his other hand, and the bronzer's smile turned to one of kind conciliation as he responded to the girl's plea with, "Of course, m'lady. A true knight never goes back on a promise."

Heaving himself to his feet with Dileina's "help", he brushed the snow off himself as best he could as he listened to Emitre speak to his mother. After Erilena turned to pose her question to him, M'gnum responded, "That sounds quite entertaining." Turning to Emitre, he stuck his hand out again and grinned, saying, "I accept your challenge, boy. May the best team win." If the boy responded to the challenge positively, M'gnum would turn and pick Dileina up, placing her on his shoulders as he said, "Let's make the best snowman we can, m'lady! Do you see any optimal spots?" Lowering his voice, he began discussing plans with the young girl, offering a few suggestions but letting the child have the lead in terms of what they would do.

[Rei]

Erilena couldn’t help but smile at M’gnum’s admission. It was so true. Dmitri and her could often could be found running around like crazy people with their kids. It wasn’t the most mature thing ever maybe, but it was fun and what was life if you didn’t let loose and have some fun? The greenrider smiled as Emitre and Dileina interacted with the bronzer. It was obvious by the expressions on their faces that they were enjoying his company. Even Emitre was coming around and he certainly was the most difficult of the pair. It was the handshake and the comment about S’rei that did it she thought. All you had to do was treat them like they were equals instead of merely children and they responded positively. Of course you couldn’t treat them as equals all the time but the majority of the time it worked out well.

Emitre was hovering close to his mother but when the bronzer rose and offered his hand the little blonde smiled and took it. Shaking the bronzer’s hand, with as good a grip as he could manage with his gloves, his blue grey eyes flicked up to the man’s face. “May the best team win.” He chorused before releasing M’gnum’s hand to race back to Erilena, grabbing her hand and tugging at her in his excitement. “Hurry Mom! We have to make the best snowman ever.” Laughing at his enthusiasm the greenrider let him tug her along as he raced to a spot he had obviously had in mind next to a snow bank. Once there he crouched down and motioned for her to join him. Once Erilena had crouched down to his level he leaned forward and whispered in her ear. Obviously snowman plans should be top secret.

Dileina laughed as M’gnum lifted her to his shoulders and she pursed her lips as she glance around the area. Finally finding a promising looking patch of snow she pointed in that direction. “There! That looks like the best spot don’t you think?” She asked looking down at his head as they started over in that direction. “We should make something nobody else has made yet?” Which means they couldn’t make a regular snowman or snow dragon. It had to be special and different. Frowning slightly she let him lift her down onto the snow and tilted her head as she looked up at him with wide eyes. “Do you have any good ideas for different things?”

Erilena sat back and watched as Emitre took a stick and began to draw a picture in the snow. When he was finished he looked up at her and smiled. “We can make the snow feline first and then make the snow wher?” He asked hopefully as his mother nodded and tried not to look too amused at his stick figure ‘plans’. “That sounds perfect sweetheart.” She replied before readjusting his hat and then starting to gather the snow for the base of their feline.

[Aftershock]

M'gnum smiled as Emitre retreated with his mother before turning to concentrate on where his shoulder-mounted escortee was directing him. Reaching the indicated patch of snow in short order with the long strides his height bequeathed him, he knelt down and carefully pulled the little girl from his shoulders, depositing her carefully on her feet beside the blank expanse of white she had chosen for their work of art.

Scratching his chin as Dileina asked him what they should make, he extended his legs to bring himself back to his full height, his eyes scanning the various snow sculptures scattered throughout the area. He saw a large variety of subjects... lots of basic snowmen, as well as more realistic snow-people obviously constructed by talented artists. He also saw a number of snow-dragons, and even a couple snow-whers. There was something missing, however, if he could put his finger on it...

Suddenly, as if she realized it was the perfect time to reveal herself, M'gnum's until-now silent passenger pulled herself from inside his jacket where she had been nestling against his chest this entire time. A tiny green head poked out of his collar, and Shekinah crawled carefully out of her bonded's jacket to perch on his shoulder, stretching her frill and wings carefully as she looked with pleased green eyes at her bright white surroundings. Noticing the tiny female human that was accompanying her mindmate, Shekinah said matter-of-factly, "The answer is as clear as the blue sky above our heads. A snow-Shekinah make should yew."

Turning to regard the delicate sunburst-speckled salamandyr on his shoulder, M'gnum grinned and asked Dileina, "How does that sound, m'lady? I see no snow-salamandyrs around, and we even have a volunteer model right here."

[Rei]

Dileina blinked at the small green mandyr and then smiled. “A snow mandyr? That’s a good idea! We should make daddy’s gold one! And then we can make little ones all around her!” The little girl said brightly and clapped her gloved hands together. Dementia had always been special to Dileina simply because of the story her mother told her about the mandyr once saving her life when she was just a tiny baby. Sure the gold was loud and demanding and sometimes called her stinky but the little girl was well aware that the golden mandyr loved her. (Whether that was just because she was Dmitri’s child or not it didn’t much matter. What mattered was that she did.) “You can of course be the model.” She was quick to say to Shekinah before she turned to their pristine patch of snow and pursed her tiny lips. “If you want to start the big one I’ll start the little ones surrounding her?” She said brightly to the bronzer and squeezed his leg in a hug before she crouched and began to pile up some snow blobs that she would work harder to detail later.

Being only five it was doubtful that they would be any real works of art but it was all just for fun anyway right? Before long the little girl was all rosy cheeked and her tiny face was scrunched up in concentration as she made her mandyr ‘subjects’. Much care was going into each pile of snow as her bright blue eyes flicked between them and Shekinah as she tried to match them to what a mandyr looked like as good as she could.

Emitre on the other hand was growing a little frustrated with their work and he pouted slightly as the head of their ‘feline’ fell off again. “Moooooom. You aren’t doing it right.” He whined at her as Erilena stuck her tongue out at him in the brilliant display of parental maturity. “Come here you little whiner.” She said gently as she snagged the boy and pulled him into a bear hug. “We can’t win if you don’t have fun with it. What would your grandfather say if he could hear you now?” She chided gently before sneaking in a kiss to his wrinkled nose. The little blonde was quiet for a moment before a determined look came across his face and he bent to pick up the head of the feline and stood on tip toes to try and put it back on. The greenrider smiled before moving to help him and then packing more snow around the snarling creature’s head to thicken the neck and hopefully keep it in place this time. A smile was directed down at Emitre. That was more like her little boy. Such a stubborn creature, just like his parents.

It wasn’t long before Erilena and Emitre had completed their feline and after a quick high five they moved onto the fighting wher what would be it’s opponent.

Dileina took a step back to survey her little mandyr army before she turned to look at M’gnum and his progress. “How are you doing?” She asked him with a bright smile, her little blonde curls bouncing as she stamped her feet in pace to try and warm them a little.

[Aftershock]

Shekinah was about to make a comment regarding the small human girl's desire to make her mother the model for the snow-salamandyr rather than herself, but then Dileina corrected herself and Shekinah relaxed once more, remaining silent. Finding a small hill of hard-packed snow, M'gnum placed Shekinah upon it, and the tiny green posed herself proudly, spreading her wings slightly and positioning herself so as to show off her well-shaped body at it's best angle.

Taking to a spot nearby where Dileina was starting work on her tiny 'mandyr "subjects", M'gnum collected a good amount of snow with his gloved hands, and began work on making his snow-Shekinah. Holding her pose, Shekinah watched Hers carefully, sending mental nudges here and there to correct any glaring errors in the form of the snow-mandyr as M'gnum carefully packed and shaped the cold white crystals. M'gnum was far from an artist, his expertise much more in swordplay and etiquette than sculpting, but with the help of his salamandyr, the final product turned out better than he would have expected.

Hearing Dileina's question, M'gnum turned from putting the final touches on the delicate snow-frill on his piece, smiling as he looked over Dileina's work. "Most excellent work, m'lady. I am nearly finished... what do you think of it?"

[Rei]

Dileina clapped her gloved hands together and smiled brightly at the bronzer before she moved to make a show of examining his snow mandyr. “She looks lovely!” The little blonde finally exclaimed before turning to beam proudly at her little snow mandyr subjects. “Do you think mine look good?” She asked M’gnum brightly obviously proud of her work. No they weren’t perfect, but she was confident that people could tell what they were. “I think we did and awesome job.” The girl finally said with a decisive nod of her head. Turning she reached for M’gnum’s hand. “Do you think mommy and Emitre are done yet?” She asked the tall bronzer as she huddled closer to him for warmth. She was getting a bit chilled and really wanted something warm to drink now. Maybe when they were done they could all have some hot cider? That would be nice.

Emitre had his face scrunched up in concentration as he added the final small broken sticks to the snow wher’s open mouth to complete his snarl. Pleased he pulled back and grinned up at his mother. “I think he looks pretty good don’t you?” He asked her hopefully before shifting close enough that he could huddle up against her side. Smiling Erilena wrapped her arm around her little boy to pull him closer to her side. “I think Dmisk would be proud to know he was a model of such ferocity.” She agreed before crouching down to tug Emitre’s hat back over his cold reddened ears. Really should have gotten him a smaller one. She thought to herself before her boy caught her gaze with his own and her attention went solely to those blue eyes that were so much like his father’s. “I think we make a really good team mom.” He remarked suddenly before throwing his arms around her neck in a sudden hug. Hugging her boy back tightly the greenrider kissed his forehead before pulling back and offering him an affectionate smile. “I think so too sweetheart.” The greenrider said softly before straightening back to her full height and taking his hand. “Come on kiddo. Let’s find our opponents and maybe get something warm to drink. Does that sound good?” Nodding Emitre gladly took his mother’s hand and let her lead them across the field towards his sister and the bronzer.

When they got close enough Emitre waved his hand excitedly at his sister and the girl gave M’gnum a final smile before racing over to her brother to hug him. “Look Emit! Look at my mandyrs! Don’t they look good?” She asked her brother excitedly before pointing to them. While the twins were preoccupied with the snow mandyrs Erilena made her way over to M’gnum and smiled warmly at the bronzer. “Thank you so much for humoring them. I think maybe we should call it a tie in the end and see if we can’t redirect them to some warm food and drink? They’re getting pretty chilled and tired by this point so I don’t think it should be all that hard to do.” The blonde finished with a smile. “You of course are more than welcome to join us. We don’t have to meet Dmitri for a few candlemarks yet. Harper Hall has been keeping him pretty busy this gather. Unless you have other plans?”

[Aftershock]

M'gnum clapped his gloved hands together in a celebratory manner, saying, "Your work is most fine, m'lady. An effort most impressive, I must say." Reaching down to pick Dileina up, holding her with one arm against his hip, he looked down with her over their work, and replied, "Indeed, I think we did very well... Ah, your mother and brother approach us now," he added, seeing Erilena and Emitre approaching across the field.

Putting Dileina down so she could speak with her brother, he moved over with Erilena and nodded as she spoke, replying, "Indeed, m'lady... I believe I have an idea. Follow my lead." Turning to the two children, M'gnum cleared his throat and said, "Well, I believe it would be most fair to have the adults vote on who won, since we both have much more experience in life and therefore have a broader frame of artistic reference." As he spoke, he gave Erilena a subtle wink, then began leading the way over to Erilena and Emitre's snow-feline-and-wher.

Walking around Erilena and Emitre's snow-sculptures, M'gnum stroked his chin in thought, then replied, "This is truly phenomenal work. Lady Dileina and myself did very well, I think, but this is exquisite... I believe it should be the victor. What is your vote, Lady Erilena?" he concluded, giving Erilena a knowing look as he spoke.