[OPEN EVENT] Weekend Winter Wonderland

[wintershepherd]

Characters: All?
Date: March 8th-11th
Location: All of Keeliai
Situation: It's been a stressful month thus far for a lot of people, but Jack is determined to Make All The Happy and decides he needs to get back to his wintery roots by giving the city a proper snowing.
Warnings/Rating: People high on snow glitter?
NOTES: Actionspam OR prose, whatever is preferred! (Settings were just easier to prose.) Make your own thread headers if none of these suit! ♥



Jack had spent the last three hours balanced motionlessly on the top of a flagpole, head tilted back as he listened to the wind and the sound of the city below. Where is Winter? it asked. I'm here! the spirit replied, but he knew it didn't mean his physical presence. He'd had too much on his mind and too much in his heart and in that sense he had indeed been absent these last few weeks.

Eyes closed and thoughtlessly trusting, he tipped forward into open air, letting the wind catch him and hurl him upward into the misty cloud cover that scudded across the stars tonight. At his touch they thickened, fat and pale grey against the indigo backdrop and Jack swirled them up, the motions so ingrained in him they felt just like breathing. In the small hours of the morning snowflakes began to fall on the sleeping city, specks at first but then quickly becoming heavier.

Now with a fresh canvas to work with, Jack was really in his element. He could never have done something like this back home, not anywhere in his world. It would have been too strange, too inexplicable, drawn too much attention. But here on the turtle, things were different. There wasn't really a semblance of normal and Jack poured his imagination and heart into the things he wanted most to share, and from the snow rose gleaming swirls of snow and blue light, forming things of exceptional detail and delight.

By the time the sun rose, a solid three feet of the snow had blanketed the city, glistening and crisp and Jack went rocketing down the streets, rapping on doors and windows to leave spirals of frost on every surface.

"Whooohoo! Snow day! Get up sleepyheads, everyone come out and play!"


THREAD STARTERS
Ice Skating | Snowball Battle | Sledding Hill | Ice Cityscapes | Kids Playground | OOC Plot Post

Comments

[queenoftheseas]

Mera herself is dressed very simply, in something other than her normal green bodysuit. She's seated on the ground in the snow next to Arthur, fitting her own blades onto her boots. Frankly, she doesn't see the appeal of frozen water but Arthur wanted to try. And it has been a while since their last date. She didn't argue.

"Only if you promise to catch me if I fall."

[relentlesstide]

There isn't a whole lot to do in the snow that he really knows of, and he can take her to a cafe or a restaurant any day around here. They should at least try to do something new once in a while, he figures. And while he has a vague idea of how he'd like to end the day, that will have to wait for somewhere private and quiet. So for now? Ice skating.

"Always," he says with a smile, holding out his hand for her to take. He's never done this either, but it won't be the first thing they've learned to do together.

[queenoftheseas]

It's a nice idea. Mera isn't too terribly opposed to it. She can certainly think of worse ways to spend her time. And besides, it's not like either of them really feel the cold. Snow isn't much when you're used to the depths of the ocean. Smiling, Mera takes Arthur's hand and stands.

"Well then, let's give this a try."

[relentlesstide]

He takes his first step onto the ice, wobbling slightly on the blade, his smile making him look a little younger, a little more carefree. Less the man he is and more the man he used to be, when their family was whole. It's a nice feeling, spending time with his queen with nothing urgent pressing at them. "If surfacers can do it, I'm sure we can, too," he says, smile a little wry, taking another step out, trying to get the feel for it.

[queenoftheseas]

She watches his face, smiling too. She can't remember the last time she saw her husband look so relaxed and it makes her heart flutter. The last few years have been rough for them and even if they're in a strange place now, it's nice to see Arthur enjoying himself again. Mera follows Arthur out onto the ice, wobbling too and falling into him. She just laughs at herself, holding tightly onto Arthur's arm.

"I'm certainly off to a good start, aren't I?"

[relentlesstide]

It feels like he and Mera are finally repairing all the damage that's been done to their lives and their marriage. Some scars, he knows, will never be healed, like the deaths of their family members, but their marriage? That, they can fix. He never stopped loving her, even through the darkest days. So his heart is a little lighter, his smiles a little easier today, with her. He laughs when she falls into him, catching her, arms about her waist; they slide backward some on the ice and he wobbles a little too, but miraculously, they stay upright for the moment.

"An excellent start, I think," he says, a little sparkle in his eyes, tugging her a little closer as he starts to move a little hesitantly backwards on his skates.

[queenoftheseas]

Mera is thankful for Arthur being there to catch her, like he promised he would be of course. She holds tight to him as he slides backwards and wobbles, wobbling a bit herself but managing to stay completely standing this time. Ice skating is a little harder than it seemed when Arthur proposed they try it.

"It's a bit like learning to walk," she comments, following him as he moves.

[relentlesstide]

"Or like learning to swim," he says, hesitantly sliding backward a little - on purpose this time, not from momentum. They probably look ridiculous, King and Queen of the Seven Seas faltering on the ice like new sailors getting their sea legs, but it doesn't matter. It's not exactly as easy as he figured it would be, for something technically happening on water, but they'll get it eventually. "Except you can't fall in the water."

[queenoftheseas]

"The difference being that I've known how to swim my entire life. Or at the very least, I don't remember learning how to do it. This is a bit more foreign territory." Mera continues to hold onto him, following him back. She has no doubt that they look ridiculous but since when have they ever cared about the opinions of others?

[relentlesstide]

"I suppose swimming is more innate, though we must have had to learn at one point," he laughs a little, getting a little more steady with his gliding steps backward, building up a little momentum. His smile grows a little more reminiscent, a little sad, but not the gut-aching depression that he spent years going through. "Remember how uncoordinated Artie was when he started to paddle?"

It still aches, to think of their son, but if they never talk about it, if they never remember him, maybe it will never start to heal.

[queenoftheseas]

It's still hard to think about their baby. He was so young when he was taken from them and she still to this day thinks she could've prevented it. The idea that it was all her fault, that she was a bad mother....it still haunts her. But she's moved on as much as possible since then so the memory brings a small smile to her face. "He was so precious, trying so hard to get it right. Do you remember when he somehow managed to get stuck going around and around in a circle?"

[relentlesstide]

Arthur blames himself more than anything. He didn't save him fast enough, he didn't kill Manta after in revenge. He wasn't there when Artie needed him. He didn't focus on the important things. He has a lot of regrets, but having his son is never one of them. Their baby wouldn't want them to be sad forever, though, he would just want to be loved. Arthur laughs a little, gliding a little more easily on the ice until he's starting to think he's getting the hang of it. "And when he would just turn over and over trying to put his foot in his mouth. The look on his face was amazing when he learned up from down."

[queenoftheseas]

If there is one thing Mera has learned, it's that blaming anyone for this won't help anything. Anyone but Black Manta, that is. He deserves all the blame since he's the one who killed their child. If he showed up here Mera is sure she would kill him on sight, no questions asked. Arthur may have a superhero code to live up to but she doesn't. She was trained to kill and as far as she's concerned Manta is a more deserving target than she's ever going to get. "He was such a smart boy. It amazed me every time he learned something new." She misses her son more than she could probably communicate with anyone, even Arthur.

"...Do you ever wonder? What he'd have turned out like if he hadn't....?"

[relentlesstide]

After the mess on the beach, Arthur isn't so sure he's over it, either. He thought he had gotten past his desire to kill Black Manta for what he'd done, but on the beach, with Xebel in the seas behind him... Watching him slice off his hand again, watching him threaten Jackson, his own son, just to bother Arthur... It didn't sit well. None of it did. The League has a policy against killing, and Diana came under a lot of heat for it, but... He isn't sure he'd care.

He slows on the ice, pulling her close again, leaning his forehead gently against hers. He's lucky to have Mera back at all, after everything they've been through. "All the time. He deserved better. You all deserved better." Arthur Jr., her, Garth... It wrecked the family they were. "But I- We can't keep living in the past."

[queenoftheseas]

"I know that. And I'm not."

She's moved on since it happened. She has. It was a long, hard process and sometimes if she thinks about it too long she can still feel the anger bubbling inside of her but she has moved on. It just hurts because she will never be able to forget it or fully move on. She can at least talk about it now without breaking down.

"I just think about it sometimes. How maybe we could have done more to keep him safe and how horrible I was to you after it happened. I don't think I can ever express just how sorry I am for that."

[relentlesstide]

He leans his forehead lightly against hers and just holds her for the moment, not caring if anyone is watching them out here on the ice. Some moments he's just stricken by a lot of things - how lucky he is that he isn't alone again, how terribly unlucky his entire family has been... "There are so many things I would change if I could." Like maybe not letting the octopus babysit...

"You don't have to apologize for that. I fell apart, too."

[queenoftheseas]

Mera lets go of Arthur and reaches up to cup his face instead, closing her eyes. "There are many things I would change as well but you have never been one of them." Even when she was angry at him, when she was blaming their every misfortune on him she wouldn't change him or a moment of the time they spent together.

"Let's agree that we both could have handled things much better, yes?"

[relentlesstide]

He just leans down to press the lightest of kisses against her lips, closing one hand over hers on the side of his face. "I don't regret loving you either. And I don't regret our family." Even if losing them was the worst pain he could imagine, he doesn't regret any of the time he spent with any of them.

"Maybe we could have. But what's done is done."

[queenoftheseas]

There's nothing to regret there, as far as Mera's concerned. Though at home it's just the two of them, it's still nice. She could never regret marrying Arthur, having a child with him, watching Garth grow up, seeing Garth marry and have a child of his own....she wouldn't change any of it. There's plenty she would change about her life but none of that is it.

"I love you with all my heart, Arthur. I always will."

[relentlesstide]

He'd much rather have them all back, but... they've seen what happens when the dead return. With the exception of himself... it isn't pleasant. He wouldn't wish his experiences on any of them, even if he wishes they'd never died in the first place. But having Mera makes things easier. He isn't alone. They have Lorena and Jackson, and here they have Kaldur. Things could be worse.

"I love you, too. You've always been my world, even if I have had trouble showing it."