CH999

Standing in one of the newly made rooms, Ben was busy examining the overall structure while a family of jötunn watched with Thera and the guild master as he ran around, ensuring there were no hidden defects with the enchantments or building despite the confidence he had in the design before he finally stopped, nodding happily with the results.

“Done. As far as I can see, this should be perfect for everyone to move into without causing issues with the rest of the town.”

“Feel like that was obvious from the start,” the guild master noted, with one of the first things Ben did being to get the family to take off their braces precisely so he could run those tests while the guild master and Thera stood with them, barely able to feel the chill they gave off, their magics successfully suppressed.

“Maybe it was, but it’s still better to verify when a bunch of people are about to be living in our work,” Ben shrugged. “With that done though, is it safe to say we’re finished up here?”

“Of course, I’d never expected you’d finish the same day you arrived, but I’ve got no complaints about the results. I’ll send word back to head office, but for now, thank you both for your work.”

With that completed, the two were able to leave, Ben stretching his arms and looking around as they walked through the more active streets now that hours had passed since their first arrival, grabbing Thera’s arm to lead her away from the gate.

“Um, Ben?” she asked, not sure where they could be going while he just grinned.

“I noticed someone thinking about something that I’d bet you’ve never had the chance to do before. With how fast we’re going through all of this, it wouldn’t hurt to take an hour, right?”

“For all I know, it might. What are you about to have me do?”

“Ha, a little winter activity is all, and it looks like we can do it just over here.”

“... In yet another pile of snow?” Thera asked when they seemingly arrived, finding it to look like the area was usually some sort of public park when it wasn’t so completely covered before Ben got to work plowing it away.

“Specifically, what’s under the pile of snow. We’re going skating."

With a well-frozen pond just beneath that fluffy layer, Ben began pushing it all away to give them access to what sat beneath, making sure to flatten the ice for what would be Thera’s first time enjoying the activity before making the required skates and helping her put them on and wearing his own pair, all while she struggled to get to her feet.

“Sorry, is this supposed to be fun?” she asked as he helped her up before nearly falling again as her skates slipped on the ice, only saved by Ben holding onto her and laughing all the while.

“It just takes some practice, come on. Once you get your balance, it’ll be fine.”

“Not sure if I’m going to get that in an hour,” she said as she gripped his arms, trying not to fall again as she struggled to keep on her feet. “And honestly, I don’t think my pride can handle you being more graceful than me at this point.”

“Ha, I just have some practice skating. It's been a long time since I’ve gotten to use it, though. I’ve seen how you are on your feet; you’ll get it in no time.”

“You’ve seen me in areas with friction; this doesn’t apply. Is this another weird human thing?”

“I mean, I saw that some of the city’s residents were thinking about it too, so not exclusively human.”

“And what’s the point of this?”

“Fun, of course! When you get some practice, you can go fast and learn tricks. Back on Earth, we had this thing called figure skating, which I’m sure you would have been into watching. It’s basically just dancing on ice. Actually, I should try to find out if anywhere here does that; it could make for a fun date sometime.”

“I’m sure it would be great to watch, but right now I’m just doing my best to keep from doing the splits.”

“Ha, then just keep holding onto my hands until you get your sense of balance for it. You’ll have it in no time, trust me.”

“I am trusting you; it just wears a bit thin each time I feel like I’m going to fall on my butt.”

Or so she said, but Ben could already tell she was slowly improving. Her attributes were too high by that point to not have control of her body and between her dancing and her coordination, she’d always been good on her feet, leaving only what time it would take to properly get the feel for it, with ten minutes passing before she was comfortable enough to let go of his hands and only ten more before she let herself really start to move, Ben keeping pace as they went and got to see her enjoying herself as she improved, the same thrill that left her rushing through the skies above experienced a bit on the ice below as she started trying to experiment with it, jumping and spinning and catching herself with her magic anytime she fell before trying again, all while he stayed by her side and enjoyed the time. Any chance to do something new with her was a treat, and he was going to enjoy it for all it was worth, not wanting to stop despite the hour passing by.

Still, as fun of a break as it was, they had work to do and a child waiting for them to come home once they finished, so despite what fun they were both having, eventually he took her hand and gently slowed the two down.

“Well?” he asked, a grin on his face that she couldn’t help but admit defeat to.

“Okay, yes, after I got the hang of it, I’ll admit, I was having fun. I’d never done anything like that before, but I’d definitely do it again if given the chance.”

“Good, then we’ll have to make the chance in the future. Let’s see, it shouldn’t actually be hard to build an indoor skating rink if I want to; maybe that could be a future project.”

“Ha, you have too many future projects.”

“Then I’ve always got something to work towards. Heck, that would barely be a real project anyway. Buy a bit of land, build on it and set up some enchantments to maintain an ice rink and hire someone to run it for me so it wouldn’t eat up all of my time to manage. I could do it in an afternoon if I ever get around to it.”

“Then I’ll have to look forward to some future skating dates. Show me some examples of what figure skating looks like, and I bet I’ll be able to pull it off by then.”

“Sure, I’ve seen at least a few bits of it, so it shouldn't be hard to recreate. Hmm, instead of making a new film for it, I could always bring you up to my realm tonight and we could watch it there. Or I guess I could actualize it down here instead, that way I wouldn’t have to redecorate.”

“Dare I ask how your realm is currently set up?”

The question made the various parts of himself in said realm perk up and examine their current handiwork, looking as they created functional models that combined the knowledge of plant and animal biology he’d been using to both awaken the dryads as well as materialize food to try to gain a deeper understanding of how those biological systems would act when he modified them, ending with horrific fleshy trees that looked all too close to the clone Ben had gotten Sachel to cast plantification on after undoing it, much to everyone’s horror at the time. With fleshy fruit growing from the bulbs and leaking blood in ways he still couldn’t fix, there was no denying that they were a work in progress that he’d need to continue to refine as he played with and explored those alien biologies.

“Oh, you know, it currently has a bit of a forest theme going on,” he said offhand, not wanting to get too deep on the sort of things he’d do up there. “But I change it up multiple times a day. If you’re interested in checking it out tonight, I could set something nice up.”

“Mmh, soft maybe then, if you clean up whatever is actually there right now,” she said, seeing right through his little evasion and what it surely meant. “For now, let’s get going already. As nice of a break as this was, I’ve never spent any time in a subterranean city before, I’m excited to see what it’s like.”

Author's note

Happy new year everyone!