The holidays had been nice. She'd gotten to go home and visit the family and spend some quality time in the countryside. So many ideas in her head for new paintings! But leaving was always hard. It wasn't that she didn't love all the sights and the excitement of the big apple but she did miss her family, feeling ever alone and insignificant in this gigantic city. She was just one of a million others here.

Lacing up her skates she took a moment with a wistful sigh as she watched the others out on the ice on Rockefeller Center gliding over the silvery surface. There was laughter. There was new love, old love, and happy little families all taking a spin over the frozen surface. Nearby a vendor was selling roasted chestnuts, pralines, and hot cocoa. It was as pretty as a postcard.

The lights of the nearby stores that towered over the rink added to the ethereal feel of the scene as she stepped out onto the ice and pushed off, gliding smoothly over the ice and feeling the cool wind kiss her cheeks, closing her eyes and shifting her weight for an effortless turn on the frozen glass. Olympic skater she was not but she wasn't half bad either. All those years growing up, skating on the frozen ponds back home had seen to that.

Skating backwards she watched the other people, totally daydreaming as her hair blew around her face. According to her Momma she was supposed to have cousins up here but Momma hadn't been real forthcoming with the details of that. It made Hope curious. It would be nice to find some friendly faces here in this place.

Ice skating at Rockefeller Center was a winter tradition for Alexander. He wasn't particularly graceful, and skated much like he drove, with an overwhelming passion but also with a gross lack of skill. Clementine had always been the more graceful of the two of them, her long limbs and perfect form topped off by a natural ability. He reasoned that she'd have to have such a talent, strutting around in some of those heels as she did and not toppling over.

Normally it was she that kept him upright, giggling as she constantly had to save him, skating circles around her much older brother. Normally it was their thing, hitting the ice as a pair, and even today that had been the plan. But as it often did, work got in the way. Mostly it was Alexander who had to cancel their little dates, regrettably making the phone call to deliver unfortunate news. Today it had been his phone that had rung, Grace explaining that she'd been asked to come in for a last minute shoot.

Their relationship was more than strong enough to withstand such obstacles, though. As it was, living together, they saw one another on an almost daily basis. Alex was disappointed, of course, but they had an unspoken sort of agreement between them understanding work first, play later. Even if that work was getting photographed in your underwear.

Still, Alex's skates had already been laced by the time he spoke to his sister. There was no point in taking them off and heading home, or even worse, back to the office. He had a set couple of hours where he needn't play upstanding citizen, time where he could just, be. Smiling to himself Alex stood and headed out onto the rink, thinking himself much more skilled than he actually was.

Which was why, almost as soon as he set foot onto the ice, Alex managed to loose his footing, putting him directly in the path of another skater, collision more than likely to occur.

it's kinda lame, but i blame the drugs. i left the crash open ended cause i didn't want to god mode, she can always evade if she wants!