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 Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2018 12:12 pm
Quote: Since the Winter Wonderland Carnival opened, there had been a section all the way in the back that remained blocked from view by wooden fences and blue tarps. Every now and then, sounds would be heard of an almost construction like nature but any questions were met with staff just telling passersby that it would be opening soon and to thank them for patience. What in the world had not been ready in time for the opening? Now, the fences are gone and the tarps removed allowing guests to see for the first time, the Winter Carnival’s pride and joy: An Ice Maze! Eight Foot ice walls shoot up into the sky marking the entrance before returning to a mere seven foot the rest of the way through. Scattered throughout the maze are iced carvings ranging from the abstract to animal and human figures. Yet at the center was the true treasure: the figure of a woman made of pure ice resides in the middle looking out at all those who enter her maze with wonder. She appears as if she could almost step off her pedestal and speak with the people around. Even the small fairy like creatures carved around her appear to have their wings flutter in the glow of the twinkle lights hung above the maze center. There is something strangely alluring about her, and once you find her you may find yourself so captivated by her appearance that the rest of the world seems to disappear around you and you lose track of time. Thankfully, there are enough people that someone is bound to shake you out of your stupor...eventually. Making it through the ice maze rewards you with a small little ice fairy sculpture, a souvenir and reminder for the evening. Each person is given one but if you ask nicely, they might just give you one or two more to take home as gifts. After all, who doesn’t want their own 12” tall dancing fairy made of crystal? After you exit the maze with your prize, you may find yourself dreaming of the beautiful icy woman in the center of the maze, watching you with her cool smile and cold eyes. Winter was not usually Helen's thing. She didn't like the cold, or being cold, or really anything to do with the cold. However, Harley seemed, if not okay with it, at the very least excited about doing winter specific things, and Helen had never been good at saying no to her silver haired friend. Even more so now, after...well. Things were still a little confusing, but...in a good way? She hoped? Hand in hand with her friend(or were they more?), they walked through the carnival all bundled up in coats and scarves, and at least in Helen's case a knit beanie hat. She had boots on, leggings on beneath a pair of dark ripped jeans, gloves, and still she was chilly. But it was fine, the company was good. "Do you wanna see if we can find a hot chocolate stand or something before heading back to the maze, or save that for a reward for solving the damn thing?"
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Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 9:56 am
Harley wasn't surprised that she was out with Helen, since it was winter break for her, her free time was dedicated to Helen and to Hitch. Her cousin was fun to harass but she was also trying to even out with Helen.
She was bundled up for the christmas weather though, because they were at a winter carnival and regardless of people around, it was still cold. One hand though was ungloved and neatly tucked into the hand of the taller woman next to her.
She wasn't sure when it happened, but they had gone from friends to that like awkward stage of....should we be dating? Should we just be friends with benefits? She really liked Helen, and she always had, but the romantic feelings she had were hard to really pinpoint.
She usually didn't think to hard about these either too. She made a hum and a haw sound, rubbing her chin with her gloved hand.
"Save it for after! If I'm gonna be stuck in a maze, I think a nice incentive to get out would be good." She hip checked Helen though, because she did like teasing her...."Or we could get lost and have a little fun...." She winked at her friend, making a kissy face at her.
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Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 11:34 am
Before or after made very little difference to Helen, though that proposition, the bump from Harley's hip, had cheeks darkening, and she dropped her gaze, suddenly unable to look the other girl in the eye. "I don't.-I mean, um." Completely flustered, and babbling incoherently she didn't know how to respond to that. In the past week a few of the pressing, circling questions between them had been answered, sort of. The kiss had meant something. They'd both enjoyed it, they'd both wanted to do it again, but what that meant wasn't yet clear, and Helen didn't know how to ask the questions that needed asking in order to make that clear. Or maybe she knew, but wasn't sure of the answers, so she was dragging her feet on asking them. Long fingers squeezed the paler ones in her hand, and she lead the way towards the entrance to the maze. "It'll be nice to have something to warm us up after," she finally said as walked between the tall ice walls, but whether she was talking about the hot chocolate or something else wasn't clear. Maybe both.
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Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 11:48 am
Honestly it wasn't hard to tease her best friend. The way her cheeks rosied, almost immediately, told her that Helen was mostly like harboring a lot more then best friend feelings for her.
But Harley couldn't speak for her and unlike Helen, Harley wasn't sure what her feelings were. She didn't mind the attention, She liked kissing. She didn't want to hurt her friend. Did she just go with the flow? She should just go with the flow. She'd let Helen lead their little attraction adventure. If Helen wanted to be serious about, if she wanted more?
But Harley was also impatient, and she knew her friend was more surly and shy because she had trouble expressing herself.
Darn it, she was seriously thinking about this so much. She needed to do what Harley did best.
Be Harley.
"You don't want too?" She teased again, and had to bite back on comments about other ways to keep each other warm. Too strong. "Hot chocolate, Snuggly, admiring our prizes." She sighed happily. "Family is gone again so we could do it at my place. Eventually though, you should meet my cousin." She waited, "Oh s**t I totally forgot to tell you, so when we get in the maze, I'll dish on something." She squeezed Helen's hand.
"Alright, we're here to ******** kill this maze." She told the attendant. "Move it or lose it bud. I got things riding on this."
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Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 3:52 pm
Helen balked at the question, looking positively conflicted before Harley offered a gentle escape from the question. Relief flooded tan features, her shoulders sagging a little in the heavy winter coat. "I'd love to stay..." she started, then frowned down at the silver haired girl. "Wait, cousin?" Harley had never mentioned a cousin before. She let her friend take the lead, laughing as Harley plowed past the maze attendant to get them inside, and than sped her pace enough to tall in place at Harley's side. "Got things riding on this, eh?" It had her smirking, a smidgen of satisfaction leaking into her expression. "So what about this cousin? I thought you said you didn't have any extended family?" She was willing to believe she'd heard wrong, it'd been a long a** time since they'd talked about that sort of s**t, but she really doubted it. Inside the maze was kind of surreal. It was quieter, the ice walls blocking out most of the noise, and since there was no one else around them it felt very intimate.
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Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 5:44 pm
She really dropped a bomb there and maybe it'd help Helen relax. She wouldn't push the girl for affection of course, but that didn't mean she wouldn't tease her. After all Helen instigated this.
"Cousin." She giggled and rushed into the maze, taking the first series of turns and only ending up at dead ends.
"That prize will be mineeeee." She liked prizes, after all. Physical manifestations of her good deeds. "That's what I thought too. You know. Thought it was the typical mom, dad....grandparents. Whatever." She waved a hand.
"Then dad drops this bomb. His sister died. His ******** sister died, and they only mention her cause she's dead. But I got this aunt and cousin and they got like isolated from the family cause my grandparents? Assholes. My dad? An a*****e. His sister got pregnant and they just ditched her. So I got a cousin."
She bounced back over to Helen, reaching for her hand again and bringing it to her cheek. In here after all, they weren't obnxiously surrounded by the public. In here it was pretty, calm and fun.
"His name is Hitch." She smiled, "He's like a one eyed pirate chef with a cute ginger husband."
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Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 6:08 pm
Harley's enthusiasm was adorable. "I think we all get prizes for finishing the maze, Harl." Which to Helen meant they could take their time, though there was hot chocolate waiting for them, and Harley's parents were gone so they'd have the house to themselves, and she'd mentioned snuggling. And maybe one thing would lead to another and... She pushed the thought away as she felt her cheeks heating up again, and focused instead on the news that Harley had more family than she'd known, and they'd been in contact. "Your dads kind of a d**k," she shot back gently as Harley took her hand and brought it up to her cheek, which Helen took as an invitation, bringing the other up to mirror the first, thumb stroking soft skin. She didn't like Harley's dad, never had, but she kept her disdain for the man mostly to herself. "So you have a cousin named Hitch that has one eye, cooks, and he's married to a cute ginger?" He sounded like a character, and if Harley liked him and wanted her to met him, she was game for that. "Are you guys anything alike? Is there a male version of you running around with an eyepatch?" Hands on Harley's cheeks were used to draw the other girl in closer, a thoughtless motion that Helen didn't even realize she'd done until they were only a few inches away.
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Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 6:17 pm
"Okay but, maybe if we finish it quickly we get an extra one." She finger shot at the woman, because hey, Mazes. Sometimes there was a time challenge or whatever.
As they walked through, she kept her step light in the snow, enjoying the crunch and crispness of the whole place. Winter was nice. "Yeah, he pretty much is." She waved a hand, "He's short, like almost just a little taller then me too, so he's really spunky. His husband is taller." She nodded sagely.
"Sort of and sort of not. Hes really surly, kind of grumpy. Reminds me more of you to be honest. 'Cept he smokes. He can be pretty shy. He almost didn't accept we were family but I worked some good ol' fashioned Harley magic and bam, now we hang out and stuff." She did want Helen to meet him because it seemed important. Hitch was important to her now, even more then her family right now.
Which meant that he was important enough to share with her best friend.
She liked the hands on her cheeks though, looking up at her friend with half lidded blue eyes. her gaze even dropped just a little to pinked lips and she had to kick herself. Man every since their one kiss, they hadn't done it again.
But she had totally been thinking about it, she just didn't wanna push. But man Helen was right there.....
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Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 6:34 pm
Harley, ever the optimist. "So he's really ******** awesome, then?" She grinned amused by her own joke, but it was hard not to fixate on how very blue Harley's eyes looked in the winter, or how terribly tempting she found those pretty glossed lips... Helen bit her own, suddenly unsure, but she wasn't exactly sure why. Harl wasn't pushing her away at all. Hadn't seemed repulsed or turned off by the kiss they'd shared before. Hell, they'd been more affectionate since her birthday. So why couldn't she just stop being a damn coward and make a move already? Why was it so hard? Sighing, she dipped her head, but instead of the kiss she wanted she rested her forehead against Harley's eyes closed. She knew she could, so why couldn't she?
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Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 6:57 pm
"He's pretty ******** awesome yeah." She smiled, thinking of her cousin. "Real tender hearted for me. I think its awesome. He got all huffy when he saw that I was wearing too thin of a shirt one winter evening we were out. Wrapped his scarf around. It was sweet." Plus having Hitch wrapped around her finger as a doting older brother like cousin was refreshing.
He cared.
Helen cared.
That's all she needed.
Her eyes didn't close as she searched Helen's face, just waiting for the kiss to happen, and the there was a long sigh and the woman's forehead on her own.
Wait a second.
Did Helen not wanna kiss her?
She must've called it wrong...or no...No way, she didn't. She knew that night meant something more. It had to. Her friend had been more blushy and shier with her ever since then. Her hands dropped and she reached up, squishy Helen's cheeks.
"Missed chance there eh?" She joked instead, and let the woman go, sauntering away. "Hey remember when we use to play tag in grade school?" She booped Helen on the nose. "If you catch me, Maybe I'll give you something nice." She hopped away.
"But I was always faster, if I remember. Tag Helen. You're it." And then Harley was taking off into the maze.
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Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 7:40 pm
Helen's eyes opened, wide, at Harley's comment, and she sputtered something inarticulate as the shorter girl drew away, the tips of her fingers gliding along warm cheeks. All of a sudden her pulse was thundering in her eyes, pounding in her chest, and for half a second She thought she'd ******** everything up. Then she felt the tap on the nose, heard what Harley was saying, and the wave of panic that'd been welling inside her stilled. "What?" She...wanted to play tag? Her hands remained up and outstretched for a moment longer before lowering. It was sad how easily rattled she was by Harley, how the other girl had managed to dig in beneath Helen's skin without the tall stoic even having realized it until she was in so far over her head she could have drowned. It made her slow to take in what was happening. But once she did, the shadow of a smile flickering on pink lips, she was darting after the other girl, racing through the maze towards the sounds of boots in snow. "You used to be faster," she called ahead, catching sight of her friend as they both turned a corner. "But that was when we were the same height. I got four inches on you now, baby!"
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Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 8:19 pm
She liked the small moment of panic that appeared, because it meant that Helen was deeply thinking about her actions. It meant that she was thinking about Harley and what Harley did.
It was pure selfishness of Harley, but she liked that Helen was thinking so much of her as of late. Back in the day, when they had been a group, she had been taking care of all the girls. How nice it was to be someone she considered even more special.
Pure selfishness on Harley's part, honestly.
The laugh was pure joy though, as she slid on some snow, giggling and screaming a bit as the taller girl caught up to her quickly.
"I bet I could still beat you in the straight aways!" Though this was a maze and Harley had no idea where she was going. She twisted and turned, calling out taunts to the woman. Just a small payback for testing her.
Besides, it wouldn't be bad to get caught by Helen.
"Come on legs, I thought you got me." She almost did though, just by the wisp of her hair. A ghost in the corner of her eyes.
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Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2018 5:34 pm
She was gaining on the other girl, long legs putting her within arms length, but there were too many twists and turns to get a hold of her just yet. Every time she tried Harley danced just out of reach, slipping and sliding around another corner. But she was so close. Close enough she felt silvery hair slipping through outstretched fingers. "You talk an awful lot of s**t for someone who's about to get a face full of snow." Helen just needed to get a hold of her. Another corner, and then they were on a long, straight stretch of snow, and Helen grinned. This was her chance. Rushing forward, boot tread lending her speed, she rushed forward, catching up with Harley just before the other girl had a chance to snake around another corner. Her hands caught the other girl's arms, fingers closing into the material of her thick winter coat, and she dug her heels in to drag them both into a less violent smack up against one of the tall icy walls. "Or a face full of icy," she panted into the shorter girl's ear, pressing her up against the wall to keep her trapped.
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Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2018 3:55 pm
Oh s**t, oh s**t. She could feel Helen gaining on her and she was laughing.
"You wouldn't do that!" She laughed again until she saw the straight away and groaned. There was no way she could dodge the woman now. She had longer legs, longer arms....
She could feel the resistance on her coat, and relaxed as she was pressed up against a wall, her nose just inches away from the taller girls. A giggle escaping.
"I think I got a face full of something." Her head tilted up at the raven ombre hair before she let her arms raise and hook around her friends neck. "You won. So what do you want as your prize?" She teased, batting her eyelashes at Helen.
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Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2018 5:34 pm
Had it been anyone else Helen absolutely would have delighted in scooping up a handful of snow to smash into their face. With Harley, well, the threat was one hundred percent all talk, at least at the moment, and the smug little brat knew it. For a hot second she frowned down at her, but then arms were circling her neck, and Helen found herself presented with the same opportunity she'd let slip away a few moments before. Tanned features smoothed again, brows twitching in a flicker of worry, but she wasn't going to psych herself out this time. Couldn't afford to. Hands dropping to hold Harley gently at the waist, the tall girl dipped her head to catch pink lips in a quick, nervous little peck, as if she were testing the waters. Then went into a firmer kiss, body pressing forward to lean into the other girl, pinning her against the ice wall.
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