Skiing

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Watching her sister carefully, Erika nodded sagely at her words. Yes, Felix leaving had been rough on her sister, and although Erika couldn't say the same, she still understood the pain. They both seemed to be doomed to have their loved ones disappear on them. "I know it sucks," she sighed, moving her gaze to stare off into the distance. "Trust me, I really do know, and I wish I could tell you that it gets easier, but it really doesn't. I mean, sure, there's always gonna be distractions, but..." She probably wasn't helping either, which had the brunette sighing.

"Look, you just gotta figure out a way to live with the pain. Maybe he'll return, maybe he won't, and in the meantime, you just gotta learn to deal with it, you know?" Pursing her lips, Erika put her hand on Elsa's shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze. She did however wish that there was something -- anything that she could do to help her sister, but Erika didn't think there was a whole lot TO do. Elsa just had to figure out a way to either get over it, or learn to live with it.

And that was always easier said than done. She hadn't exactly coped well with Everett leaving the first few times. In fact, it was remarkable how composed Elsa managed to stay in comparison.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Elsa let out another dry laugh, shaking her head. oh, If Erika only knew what was really going on in there. Distractions? Elsa wished. Just something that simple would make her life infinitely easier. It certainly beat the alternatives.

"There's not really pain any more. It's not as though there was anything there," the last wasn't entirely true; Erika knew that, to some degree. If anyone knew, anyone outside of Felix and Elsa themselves, it was the Person they had in common. Elsa shifted, looking away for a moment. So peaceful up here, away from all the troubles and just.... everything.

"I suppose nobody ever said it would be easy," she said. Elsa took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, watching her breath puff out in a little curl. She turned back to her sister. "But hey, we've hit the goal now: headmistresses," she reached down and squeezed her sister's leg. "You're even marrying the man of your dreams. I'm infinitely happy for you, by the way," Elsa looked her sister in the eyes. "I hope you realize that. He works for you," she paused for a bit, smiling slightly, "when he's around."

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Tilting her head, Erika looked at her sister. Yes, she knew that Elsa was putting up a front with her, and honestly... It kind of hurt. Elsa should know by now that she didn't have to do that. "Don't do that, Elsa. Not with me," she said, narrowing her eyes. "Don't pretend like it's okay when it isn't." They were better than that. Meant more than that. At least, Erika liked to think so, and even if she had done the exact same thing before, she truly wanted to believe that they were past that.

Looking away, Erika nodded slowly. "You've hit the goal," she said. It was no huge secret that Erika never wanted this, and that the only reason she did was to please the people around her. "yeah," she said with a sigh, turning back to her sister, smiling slightly; ironically mimicking the same smile her sister offered her, making them look more identical than ever before. "When he's around," she repeated. It was no big secret that her relationship with a certain cook was far from perfect.

And lately it felt as if the two of them had spent less time than ever before, and he wasn't even gone. But that wasn't something Erika figured the two of the sisters should dwell on. Erika hadn't even taken the time to figure out what she thought about it herself.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Elsa smiled. "Of course things aren't perfectly alright: they never will be," She shrugged, then adjusted herself, rearranging her gear into a slightly more comfortable position, making sure to retain a tight hold on everything. That last almost felt too descriptive, too much like what she was doing. Though, well, why not? Elsa was Headmistress: she could handle this.

She nodded along as Erika repeated that, lost in her self for a few moments there. Then she turned to look at Erika, an eyebrow raised. "I know that it was never your goal, but as I keep saying: I'm glad you're here with me," she reached over and gave her sister a one-armed hug, seeing as they couldn't manage too much more on the lift, smiling as she did. The smile faded slightly as she leaned in.

"Now, what's this about Everett not being around? Do I need to hunt him down and tell him to pay more attention to you?" the last was less her asking Erika's permission and more a predictive notion. Elsa had already given Everett the threat once: she'd follow through easily enough.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Offering her sister a smile, she leaned against the hug and closed her eyes. "Yeah," she said, her voice barely above that of a whisper. "I'm glad you wanted to do this with me-- because I wouldn't have been able to it without you... Even if I'm pretty much leaving the work for you to handle," she chuckled. Opening her eyes, Erika sighed. "Makes me wonder why they didn't just hand it to you right away." Erika had never been cut out for the work, so it often made her wonder why their grandfather had given the throne over to her instead of Elsa.

Sighing again, the brunette shrugged. "I don't know," she said with a small smile. "I wish I did but--" she stopped, shrugging again as she let her eyes wander over the terrain below them. She honestly didn't have a clue what was up with that. 

Sometimes it felt as if although he was here, he wasn't anyways. Despite seeing him more often now, it kind of felt the same as when he'd been gone altogether.

"Guess neither of us are meant to have stable relationships. We seem to fuck everything up or have people disappear on us." At least, that was exactly what Erika tended to do. She chased away those who would stay, and lost those who didn't.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Elsa shook her head. "Why are you selling yourself short? Nobody wants me to have the job alone, Erika. I'm too cruel and too distant to do this by myself, clearly," Elsa let out a dry laugh, looking away. Though she did think that she could handle the throne by herself, she didn't want to bump her sister. "Just because one of us is capable of doing this alone doesn't mean she should," Elsa said, uncertain which she was suggesting.

They were moving ever upward, ever closer to the peak now. Elsa picked up Erika's thoughts, even the ones that she wasn't vocalizing. She reached over. "He loves you, you know," Elsa nodded. "And you do have a stable relationship," she nodded to her sister, smiling, "and that's what matters in the end, right?"

Elsa looked up to the peak. "We're almost there. Best get ready."

Elsa began getting herself ready, knowing she'd want to start as soon as she got there.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

As much as Erika appreciated the words, she knew exactly what they meant -- or rather what they were meant as. Sighing, Erika simply shrugged in response. She wasn't leading material, and they both knew it. Erika was the IT girl, the trendsetter. She was the Queen Bee, but not an actual queen. That was all Elsa. All Elsa had been raised to be, and she was good at it too.

She wasn't going to say anything more about it though. There was little point.

"I know," she said, smiling. "And yeah. I don't really have any issues with our relationship, not really." Sure, there were times she wished he was more around, but at least he was around, as opposed to running away to France. "And it's surely better than..." she trailed off, shaking her head. She wasn't entirely sure what it was better as, but it was better than something.

Nodding, Erika pulled the zipper on her jacket up to cover her throat. She continued with making sure that her gloved and other clothing sat where it was supposed to. "Thanks, by the way. For this, for everything."

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Elsa smiled as her sister did, bobbing. "You just wish he hadn't left, and that he'd keep closer," she said, turning away as she finished. "You don't need to be a mindreader to know that much."

She was tempted to point out that she liked Everett better than Trevor too, if only because their parents didn't, but she knew that Erika already knew. Erika knew Elsa's feelings and opinions on things all too well. Though Elsa did have one sticking point: she still thought that Erika was choosing to get married far too young, and she was seriously concerned about the implications on that.

That could wait. Like all their problems, it lay at the bottom of the hill. Elsa adjusted her skis and nodded. "You said that already," she said, smiling a little before tugging. "Usual wager? First to get to the bottom buys the other a drink?" Though it didn't necessarily have to be alcohol, that was usually the implication. "Or did you want to go for something else?"

Their feet hit the snow and Elsa edged forward, waiting only for Erika's response and the "go" before taking off down the hill, already feeling the excitement for what lay ahead.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

"Yeah," Erika replied with a faint smile. Her relationship with Everett wasn't perfect, but what relationship was? It wasn't like there was many relationship that was a dance on roses. Reality was surely much harder than that, yet, Erika was happy. She had little to complain about.

"No, a drink sounds about right," she grinned, winked at her sister. Though, in Erika's case, she cared little about who won or who lost. She was just glad the two of them could spend some actual time together, without having to worry about, well, work. This was their time off and Erika would be damned if anything would ruin it. Looking up towards the sky, the brunette was glad they were somewhat lucky with the weather too. Just what they both needed. Just the two of them, together, away from everything, and everyone.

As they hit the top of the hill, Erika moved forward and started tying her snowboard to her second foot, making sure that both her feet were strapped tightly. Doing the same with her helmet, she scooted across the snow to the edge of the hill. Turning her head towards her sister, she lifted three fingers. "Ready...set...go!"

And with that, the brunette pushed the snowboard forward, feeling the snow underneath the board glide and she raised her arms, using them to balance and guide herself downwards. Boy, had she missed this.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Elsa nodded as her sister agreed, nodded and pulled her goggles up, doing those last few adjustments. They were at the top, they were prepped, they were ready... set... go!

Elsa pushed, moving forward as quickly as possible. Erika would take an early lead: she always did. The snowboard always seemed more eager to hit the slopes than Elsa's skis, or maybe the more cautious Bellefonte just needed a little more nudging before she slid down a slope. It always took just a bit more before Elsa was ready.

Then the exhilaration of the drop came over. Elsa worked the skis, ducked down, caught up, closed the gap. The sheer thrill of it, the wind ripping her hair back, rippling all around her. The chill blasting her cheeks as she practically soared down the slope. Elsa had done this before, her muscles and body knew what to do even if her mind wasn't nearly as focused on it, and she let them go, let her body just do its thing, closing the gap so that only halfway down, she was right behind her sister, already working on closing that gap further and further still...

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Instead of focusing on the challenge, the brunette let the sheer joy and adrenaline take over, focusing on the way it felt rather than the endgame. She didn't care who won or lost, or who had to buy who a drink. Heck, that wasn't what this was all about for her. This was and would always be something Erika did for fun, and nothing, not even her sister would ever be able to ruin that. The feeling of complete freedom almost overwhelmed her. It felt as if she could simply give it a little more gas, and then she'd sprout wings and fly away.

It was such a majestic feeling, being free. As if she was close to taking on the world. The sound of the snow under her board, the feeling of the wing going through her hair, and the feeling of free-falling.

There was nothing in the entire world quite like that.

Which also meant that the brunette didn't quite focus on the path ahead, and as she reached the end of the hill, she felt the board wavering, sending the brunette tumbling, face first down into the snow. It took her a few seconds to register what had happened. Rolling over, Erika blinked, lifting her glove covered hand to wipe the snow off of her goggles. And then she started laughing. "Holy shit, that was awesome."

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Elsa kept focus on the competition, though it proved somewhat difficult as the sheer exhilaration of the moment threatened to overwhelm her. Though she'd always been the one who was able to tamper down sensations like that, feelings like that. Plus, she liked beating Erika, especially with something like this, where they were evenly matched and...

...and Erika was tumbling into the snow.

Elsa sighed and pulled to a stop, careful to even jerk her leg back and spray as little snow onto her sister as possible. She looked down at her giggling sister, a half-smile spreading on her own face while she arched an eyebrow. "Only you would think spilling out was awesome," she said. Elsa shifted to grab her poles with one hand, reaching the other out for her sister. "Are you feeling alright? Or do I need to check you into the funny farm and proclaim my sole ownership over the school."

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Taking Elsa's hand, another chuckle escaped the brunette's lips. "Yeah, I'm fine," she grinned. Once she stood back up, Erika unhooked one of her feet from the snowboard and brushed the snow off of her thighs. Quirking her brow, she glanced over at her sister. "Funny farm? Now, now, that's just mean." She still grinned though. The fall had ironically been exactly what she needed to get rid of the worries.

There was something incredibly innocent about something like that. And Erika couldn't quite explain it. Not that it really mattered, of course.

"Guess that means I owe you a drink?" she mused, pulling down her goggles. "Come on, let's get down before someone runs into us." Leaning forward again, Erika hooked her foot back against the snowboard and positioned herself so that gliding without falling on her ass would be easier.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Elsa rolled her eyes at Erika's comment. "Yes, because I'm the nice twin," she said, her voice droll. She helped get her sister up to her feet, even brushed some of the snow off, not that Erika really needed it. Then it was a nod and getting them out of position, gliding along on her skis.

"Well, we could also go two out of three," Elsa said, shrugging and looking. "Assuming, of course, that you're willing to suffer through the sheer agony of going up the ski lift with me yet again. I'm sure it'll be absolutely joyous."

It did actually give them more time to talk. Though for right now, the focus was on getting out of the way of everyone else. Elsa slid along, gliding fairly effortlessly. Watching the twins now, someone could see the ease of movement, see how they both clearly had danced before, or at least understood how to move themselves with some grace, even when simply gliding across the snow.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

"I don't know. If you ask me, I'd say you're pretty adorable. Even when you're grumpy." The words were offered with a shit-eating grin. No, Erika didn't mind her sister's lack of... Glee? In fact, she had come to adore it over the years. Granted, Elsa wasn't nearly as cross with her sister as she seemed to be around most people, which was understandable. Just as Erika didn't put up a front around her sister - at least, not for the most part. Despite their issues and self esteem issues with looking exactly the same, they were comfortable around each other.

Cocking her head, Erika shrugged. "We could do the same talking while getting you that drink you know," she pointed out, smirking slightly. "Don't be like that. You know I enjoy your company." She even leaned in to give Elsa's cheek a pinch. She was quick to pull back though. It was all fun and games until someone got hurt - or mindfucked. Or both.

Following Elsa's lead, Erika let her snowboard glide down the remaining part of the hill. As they both reached the bottom, Erika let out a faint chuckle. "Well, that was exciting." Another grin spread across her lips. "We should do this. Like, one weekend every month or something. Just the two of us."