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In all honesty any large gathering made Pat leery now. The likely hood of something happening spiked the more people there were, at least as far as he had witnessed. Even if it was just normal human shenanigans, something will inevitably happen. So why exactly was he here? Because his neighbor asked him to come. It was simple as that.

Although to be honest the little old lady lived on the first floor of his building so wasn’t a direct neighbor. And she technically asked him to join her and her grandson at the carnival, adding that he didn’t get out as much as he should. So without a real way out of it the tall redhead ended up at the holiday carnival... on the ice rink trying to keep up with a rambunctious little boy who seemed to have been born on skates.

He was the adult who was wobbling after the kid, his neighbor was sitting comfortably on the side after pushing this little request off onto him. Apparently her old bones couldn’t handle the ice rink but she was ‘sure Mr. Pat wouldn’t mind a turn or two.’ How exactly was he unable to explain his way out of stuff like this?!?!?

The kid, Tommy, zipped around the rink, dodging between other skaters while Pat just did his best to stay upright. A task he was completing so far. He was rather proud of himself as he made one full circuit and was contemplating sitting down on the side with his neighbor when he spotted a young lady a little bit in front of him get beamed by an errant snowball and begin to fall. Not really thinking about it Pat sped forward and reached out a helping hand.

Unfortunately for him he misjudged his own speed and skill and ended up just taking them both down in a pile of limbs and skates. The only real ‘good’ thing that happened was he was the one who hit the ice the most, she mostly just hit him, at least that’s what it felt like to Pat as he lay there wishing he had never gotten on the ice to begin with. “You ok?” His question was a little wheezy and pain laced but the concern behind it was real.

He survived the tumble, nothing more then a cold a** and sore mussel, what drove a grunt of surprise from him was the young lady scrambling to get off of him. Through no fault of her own she happened to hit one of his previous bruises which sent a spike of pain through him. With a weak smile he waved the female off, "I'm good. I'll just have to ice it some... or just lay here for a little bit longer." His joke was lame but then again they normally were.

Carefully Pat sat up and stretched, wincing slightly at the new bruises he knew he had just acquired. "No broken bones and no concussion as far as I can tell." He probed the back of his head gingerly, his red hair sticking out every which way, "Just a knot on the back of my head. I'm good." He smiled reassuringly at the young woman, "Really, I am. I'm an EMT so I have a pretty good idea of own health and wellness. You didn't get hurt or anything did you?" He knew he had asked her that before but it never hurt to double check, especially before they actively moved off the ice since moving an injured person could actually make their injuries worse... depending on what it was.

"I've had worse," Pat shrugged and started to shift his way back towards the railing, and eventual exit of the rink once he got back to his feet. He didn't really know how to reply to her comment about his 'skills' since it wasn't really a job that those who were just interested in the training should take on. It took a real toll on one's mental state sometimes but even he had to at least mentally agree that his training as an EMT had come in handy quite a few times during patrolling or sparing. Instead he commented on her later statement, one he very much so agreed with. "Yeah I'm not that great at skating either. Actually I think I was the one who ended up taking you down ultimately so," He shrugged and pulled himself upright once he got to the railing.

"I really am quite sorry about that," He extended a hand to her to help her up and to provide a stable-sh point to hold on to besides the side of the rink. "Meant to help ended up making it worse. Pretty par on course for me actually." He smiled ruefully before shrugging and nodding towards the exit. "Lets get off the ice before either of us end up taking another tumble. My butt is cold enough as it is."

With more caution then speed Pat helped the young lady off the ice, breathing his own sigh of relief at leaving the crowded rink. "Your welcome," He accepted her thanks with little more then a shrug, leading them both over to the benches that had been set up on the side of the rink for people to either watch or to put on or off their skates. "Its not like it was a big deal." He still felt bad about it since he was the one who knocked her down, even if she swears she was in the process of falling to begin with.

"Here you go," The redhead helped the younger woman sit and proceeded to yank his own skates off. "You just sit here, I'll go grab my shoes and get some hot chocolate, my treat." He indicated that she should stay put even as he walked to the shoe so he could put on actual foot gear, and turn in his skates, before heading back out to the carnival for some hot chocolate for the girl he practically ran over, and maybe some for his elderly neighbor. Yeah that sounded like a good idea.

So with shoes on and money in hand Pat, ever the gallant man, headed off into the booths to find and buy two hot drinks for two other people. His neighbor would likely laugh her head off when he tells her about his little tumble, but it was worth it since he had a damn good excuse to get off the ice. Her grandson was probably still skating like there was no tomorrow.