Survival Of The Fittest

((Kristina Hartmann, le debut))

"Hyup!"

Kris ollied, landing her board sqaurly on the railing in the 50-50 position. Grinding all the way down, she attempted to begin manualling as she dropped from the end of it and down to the ground, but lost her balance, the front wheels of her board falling straight back to the ground again.

She frowned, irritated by the failure, but figured that it was at least better than going over backwards. Putting a foot down to stop herself, Kris picked up her board and walked back up to the place she had initially begun the attempted combination from. This was her usual ritual. If there was a particular sequence, and particular trick, that she wanted to land, well... she was going to keep trying and trying until she pulled it off properly.

The skate park was the one place you could be almost guaranteed to find Kris, because it just plain had everything. Half-pipes, bowls, rails, street set ups, just about everything any skater could want. There was a reason Kris loved it so much.

Kris had been trying to work on her skills on the flatland for a while now, and as per the standard for her, was making steady progress. It wasn't that she was bad with her freestyling or manuals, just that she was much more at home with the aerial side of things. All the same, with her focus on that area came daily improvements, but given her dedication to practice, that wasn't particularly surprising.

Kris kicked off for another run, again ollieing up onto the railing, and grinding straight down, then landed on the ground, this time nailing the manual and managing to keep her balance for a good couple of metres. A wide smile came onto her face, and as the momentum from before dwindled, Kris swung her board around so that it was facing back the way she came, before finally letting the front wheels drop back down to the floor.

Still smiling, Kris again got off of her board, and again returned to the place she'd started. Once more, she started off on her run, but now with something different in mind. Again she ollied, and again she began to grind her way down the railling, this time, however, as she neared the bottom, she pushed off again, launching herself into the air, and attempted a kickflip whilst still up there.

However, the board didn't quite complete its full rotation, and upon landing, went straight out from underneath her, going flying off in the other direction. Kris landed hard on one knee, then scuffed both her elbows as she sprawled to a halt.

"Oww," she groaned, checking herself over. Nothing more than superficial injuries, and nothing she wasn't used to.

Urrgh, so close, too! Almost nailed it, almost...

((Tabi Gweneth continued from Crazy Sunshine))

Tabitha Gweneth's eyes began to gleam as she made her way from the mall to the skate park. She had had a wonderful time with Maria and everyone else, but if she was ever going to do any skating before the sun went down, she was going to have to make her way over as soon as possible. So she said her goodbyes, strapped on her Firefly skates, latched her helmet onto her head and dashed to that familiar place.

A wide grin appeared on her face as she saw a familiar person grinding down the rails of the skate park. It seemed that Kris Hartmann was already at the park. She felt a little bad that she didn't officially meet up with her at the mall, but, that was her nature it seemed and she could be too upset.

Tabi winced as she saw Kris land badly after trying to pull a kick-flip after an ollie. She didn't land on her head at least, and that made her glad. Still worried however and dove down the ramp and circled around the blonde skater.

"He-ya Kris," she said, leaning into the area where she fell, "Are you alright?"

((Etain Brennan restart...))

So. Etain was having a bit of a late start. Primarily because he'd slept all day. It wasn't that he'd done anything particularly tiring the day before. Just, you know, skating, same as always. Not any more tiring then it ever was. To be fair, he hadn't planned to sleep all day. It was just that his phone was on the fritz, so the alarm he'd set never went off. Honestly not his fault. Then again, technology and Etain never did along that well. Aside from his cherished iPod, everything else seemed to meet an unfortunate end, usually the result of being caught between a teenage boy and the pavement.

Fortunately he hadn't woken up too terribly late. He could still get some skating in, and with any luck, meet up with some of his friends while he did. If he was going to find anyone, it'd be at the skate park. Kris, maybe Tabi, who knows who else, would already be out and about, and if they were, he'd just have to catch up. While his luck may not have been good enough to wake up on time, it was good enough to reach the park pretty quick. It did help that it wasn't that far from his place, and that a skateboard got you from place to another with time to spare, but he liked to think 'Tha luck of tha Irish' chipped in a bit.

It seemed his luck was holding out a bit longer. When he drew closer, it seemed that at least two others were already inside. He slid to a stop for a moment, peering through the chain link fence surrounding the park before nodding, a satisfied smile spreading across his face. He kicked off, gliding forward and steering through the gate, moving at a relatively easy speed.

It would seem his luck wasn't that bad, and two of his favorite people were already inside. He arrived just in time to see Kris slip up, the girl hitting the pavement and the board seeming to decide it'd try travel for a change of pace. Offering a brief smile to the pair, he held up one finger as he slid past. Once he reached the blond's board, he pressed his heel back on the end of his own, bringing the nose up as it slowed. Once he'd reached a stop, he knelt and retrieved both boards, content to walk back to the pair. He extended a hand to Kris, offering a wry smile. "Tha' looked like it stung. Need a hand?"

Kris inspected herself once again, but it seemed that even with a graze or two, there had been no significant harm done. She was just tugging her elbow bands back into place when she heard the rattling of wheels, a sound she usually associated with - a familiar voice called out - her friend, Tabi.

"Hiya," Kris said with a goofy grin. "I'm fine. Give me a couple more tries and I'll nail that dead. Anyway, aren't you a little late? Get caught up leaving school or something?" sometimes it seemed the skatepark was as much a home for Tabi as it was for Kris, although she wasn't, to Kris' knowledge, quite as dedicated to simple practice. For Kris, skateboarding wasn't just a hobby, it was something she hoped to make a profession. She kinda doubted Tabi's rollerblading meant anything similar, although hell, she was no mind reader.

Another person she knew went past, and as Kris watched, retrieved her board from where it had gone rolling off to. Etain was another friend of hers, and another skateboarder. Again, he had always struck her as somebody who took the sport as something recreational, but maybe that was just her. Kris did tend to have that little bit of arrogance about her.

Kris accepted Etain's helping hand to get back onto her feet. She offered him a smile too.

"Nothing to cry over. Just a fall. You just get here or what? I didn't see you around."

Tabi smiled back at Kristina as she stilled her fears. The fact that she didn't wear a helmet always scared her, she had seen some videos and real life experiences where someone landed on their head and ended up gibbering and sounding like an extra in one of those zombie movies. They normally just had a concussion but it always made her freak out a bit.

"Yeah, sorry I was late, I was just kinda hanging at the mall ya know?" she said, her lips curving upwards, "Needed a drink and some food ya know? Keep the energy up! Besides I thought we were meeting there first! But oh well! We're here now right?"

Tabi's ears perked at the sound of a skateboard passing by, she turned around and she saw a familiar boy on his trademark longboard rolling past both Kristina and herself. He grabbed Kris' board and walked back to them, extending his hand.

"Hey Etain! Nice to see you drop by! Where have you been buddy?" she giggled, Etain was a pretty good skateboarder, but again was one to go without wearing any sort of helmet. Still, he was super fun to be around and Tabi just couldn't help it but laugh at his accent. It was like the skatepark had it's own portal to Ireland and she got to visit every day!

"So I suppose you're headed to do it again eh Kris?"

Etain smiled broadly, dipping his head slightlyat the blonde woman. "Aye, overslept a bit." He adjusted his board under his arm and removed his phone from his pocket after he'd helped Kris to her feet. Holding the small device with two fingers, he grinned, this time more at the pair of them. "Me phone's dyin', so I didn' get up as early as I ah liked." Stuffing the cell back in his pocket, he handed Kris her board and stepped back, now holding his behind his back while he rocked back and forth on his heels, a playful smile flitting across his features.

Oh, this was perfect! His two best friends in one place. Skating, friends, the park to themselves. The only thing that could make it better was cold root beer. Which, he could probably get at one of the vending machines. So, really, shaping up to be an awesome day.

He glanced up Tabi as she giggled, his smile widening fractionally before looking back to Kris. If any of hem seemed to have a future actually skating, it would probably be her. Not to be self-deprecating, of course. He meant, he was good, but not that good. He spent a little less time at the park then she did, but even if he haunted the park with the single-mindedness she did, he kind of doubted he'd have the same skill she did. Etain loved to skate, don't get him wrong. He'd been skating since he could walk, almost 12 years at this point. And then Tabi...Granted, Etain didn't know much about professional inline skating. From his perspective, she was a great skater, as far as his knowledge of inline skating went.

"So, what are we tryin' to do, friend a mine? Anything' me an Tabi can help ya out with?"

Wait, had they agreed to go to the mall earlier? Crud, maybe Kris had said that they should to Tabi and then forgotten. Skateboarding tended to do that to her, though. Firm convictions and appointments dropped clean out of Kris's head in face of the chance to try out one more line, head out for one more run, try and bust one more aerial trick... Still, Tabi didn't seem too bent out of shape about it, so maybe it was just her that'd got it wrong and not Kris.

Kris dropped her board wheels down and placed a foot on it, absently rolling it back and forth on the ground, as Etain spoke. She nodded her thanks to him for going to retrieve the board. He was a nice guy like that, at least to Kris. Maybe it was just because they were friends... but then, even when they first met (at a skatepark, naturally), he hadn't been anything less so. Eh, she was overthinking it. Etain was a good friend, Kris didn't need to second guess him.

In reply to Etain's question, Kris turned back to the rail and ramp she'd just ground her way down and pointed.

"50-50, kickflip, manual. I didn't quite get the board round far enough last time. It shouldn't take me more than another two runs to hit it," Kris shrugged and gave Etain another grin. "You could always try catching me if I fall off again, if you want to help. But nah... I was gonna head over to the halfpipe after this, if that gives you any ideas."

(Andrea Raymer continued from Reflection into the Eden)

Wow. She was sickeningly out of shape. AND getting crazy-person paranoid, to boot.

Andrea Raymer's run had only lasted a block or so before tapering off to a light job, and my now she was sucking oxygen with each breath. Well, she supposed that was what a terrible diet and sleep schedule would do to you even if you were keeping yourself constantly wired. Mind synapses firing =/= physical endurance.

Ugh, and she hadn't even needed to run in the first place, to boot. She'd just been hanging around outside the mall, shifting through her bag of stuff, when Bob Security Moron came waltzing by and asked her what she was doing. Then instead of, oh, answering him or yelling out that she was being raped or something smart like that, she'd smiled and said "Uh, well I WAS loitering, but I'm uh, not gonna dothatanymoregottagobye!". And then she'd taken off. Seriously dumb shit there. What was he going to do, search her? Security Bob couldn't do that, he was fuckin' Security Bob; she had Amendment Rights out the wazoo.

Anyway, he'd called out to her, but she'd been across the parking lot by then and had no particular inclination to answer. It hadn't liked like he was going to chse, but still, who knew what guys like Security Bob could do if they were that bored? In Andrea's mind, she visualized garage doors rolling up and dozens of 1920's cop cars pouring out while a voiceover boomed "Calling all cars! Be on the lookout for a hot little piece of ass who might be doing something vaguely suspicious!" Too bad she didn't have a tommy gun. Take that, ya dirty coppers.

So she cut across a couple streets, and through a back field that was under development for something or another, and was now jogging up to the fence at the back of the skate park. Hey, Andrea loved the skate park, who cared that she didn't actually skate? With a burst of speed, she scaled the chain-links, propelling herself over the top for what would most certainly be an awesome leap and landi--

"AH CRAP!"

She banged her ankle going over the top and flopped down awkwardly instead of hopping down gracefully, landing on one foot, one knee, and two hands. Still, could've been worse. And she was now plenty far away from Security Bob at the mall. Of course, there was no possible way that anyone on the lookout for suspicious teenage behavior would EVER look at the skateboard park. No sir, straight as an arrow, that culture was.

Whatever. And hey, there were peeps she knew from school out and about, bonus. She picked herself up and waved.

"Uh, sorry about that. Guy chased after me, I barely escaped with my life. So, what's up?"

Tabi was always a big fan of Kris's ability to shrug off the damage from a fall so quickly. Sure, she could get up after a big fall relatively quickly, but Tabi always had to give herself a good five minutes if she fell down, even at the height that Kris did, she'd normally look at whatever cause her fall and curse it for all it was worth and let the pain take hold of her. But Kris didn't ever seem to be as affected as someone like Tabi, she compared her to an older sister and a rather cool one at that.

When Kris suggested that they take to the halfpipe. Tabi's lips curled upwards with glee, if there was one thing that in the park that she could spend an entire day skating at, it would be the halfpipe. She always loved the air, and she could just move back and forth from left side to right and just coast. Occasionally she could preform a trick but she always felt that the wind on her face was much more worthwhile.

"I'm totally up for tha-"

"AH CRAP!"

Tabitha's head whirled around and saw Andrea Raymer kneeling into the ground. She was someone who Tabi got along with really well, she loved to talk a lot, and so did Tabi. The fact that she could hold a great conversation, and do it at a mile a minute speed, was something they could both appreciate in each other.

Tabi waved back at Andrea, making her way over to her.

"Well at least you got away with your life man! Can't ask anything more than that!"

She chuckled at her own joke and gave Andrea a big hug, "I'm not doing too too much, just hangin' ya know? Skating around, doing tricks and stuff. Isn't that right guys?"

Etain winked, without managing to look like a tool in his own opinion, and grinned. "Well, I've been awake for all a ten minutes now, dearie, so ya'd be takin' yer life inta yer own hands relyin' on me ta catch ya, but I can give it a shot for ya, if ya'd like."

He flashed another grin, his eyes lingering on Kris for a moment before he turned to the newest arrival, recovering from a fall from the fence. At least, that's how it looked. She was favoring one foot over the other a little, but he could be wrong. Then again, did it really matter? It was sort of irrelevant. Irrelevant, was that the word he was looking for? Maybe redundant. The point was, it didn't matter.

Etain folded his hands behind his back, holding his board with two hands while he watched Tabi greet Andrea. He didn't know about Kris, but any interaction he'd had with Andrea was done in Tabi's company. Not that Andrea wasn't nice enough, he just didn't really know her. Of course, Tabi usually had a good judge of character, so she must be alright. That wouldn't stop him from hanging back and smiling agreeably until she talked to him directly, though.

"Aye, tha's the idea." He chimed in, responding to Tabi's open question. "Ye goin' to be joinin' us? I'm pretty sure ya'll be safe from pursuit 'round here." He grin widened as he nodded at the halfpipe Kris had mentioned. "Or ya kin always just watch as we make fools of ourselves. Always good for a laugh, that is."

((Ooookay, now I have a BIT of a breather between exams...))

"Aw, you're terrible at reassurances, you know that?" Kris called to Etain as she began walking away.

Kris, wanting to get on with hitting the trick, had picked up her board headed back towards the top of the ramp with the rail affixed to it. Although she insisted on getting it right before moving on, that didn't mean she didn't feel like doing something else. It was probably a testament to either her dedication or her obsession. Most likely a little of both.

However, just as she reached the top and dropped her board, somebody came flying over the top of the skatepark's fencing, landing pretty heavily. Still, it didn't look too bad, and as the person stood up, Kris recognised them. Andrea Raymer, somebody she knew from school, and out and about around St. Paul too. Kris' only real association with Andrea was in a 'friend of a friend' kind of way, and the friend in this instance was apparently Tabi. Huh... Kris hadn't really known about that.

Kris offered a shrug. Tabi and Etain had pretty much already hit the nail on the head in replying to Andrea's question.

"Yeah. What they said. Fooling around might get competitive, you might find yourself drafted as a judge if you stick about."

ARGH, personal space! Andrea knew Tabitha well enough that she should have expected it, but the hug still caught her way off guard. Thankfully it was only a couple seconds or so before Tabi relaxed and let her breathe again.

"Hey, awesome Tabi, like I should've expected you to be anywhere else, heh." Tabi was pretty cool and all, she could just be a bit... overzealous. And naive, Andrea remembered the time she'd tried to find out if Tabi was into any stimulants (given Tabitha's nature, she kinda expected it), but the girl didn't seem to get what Andrea was reaching at so she'd dropped the subject.

The other two there were Kris Hartmann and Etain Brennan; Andrea knew 'em both from the skate park and around school but she wasn't exactly close with them. Of course, actual close relationships had never really been her stock in trade, and she had them both pegged as fun enough. The people around the skate park generally hit that mark.

"Or ya kin always just watch as we make fools of ourselves. Always good for a laugh, that is."

Plus she couldn't deny that Etain was fine to look at, and had a heck of an awesome Irish accent to boot. With the red hair and build he kinda reminded her of Adam Dodd circa v3, just without the muscles and whole wounded hero thing Dodd had going then.

Etain and Kris were asking if she wanted to join in, but that wasn't realy Andrea's style. Sure, she'd skated a few times, but actually getting good at that sort of thing took way too much effort when she could just hang around the edge and enjoy the whole thing without the work. Plus she liked the merch, and her DC shoes were the best, so at least by going to the park she wasn't some kind of skater poser or anything like that. Kris might figure her to be that anyway though, from what Andrea had seen the girl might be a bit TOO into the skater scene. Maybe that was why they weren't closer. But whatev.

"Nah I'm good guys, I mean thanks for the offer I'd love to be able to display how crap I am compared to you, but I'm uh, probably gonna have to head back to the mall pretty soon cause my car's there and all. I'll definitely chill and watch ya for a bit though. Plus, uh, no board, hehheh."

Yeah, she'd have to be at least a little careful when she went back to her car, but it wasn't like Bob Security was going to be staking it out or anything. Shouldn't be much of a problem as long as she chilled for a bit before heading back, and the skate park was as good a place as any to do that.

Sitting down by the edge of the halfpipe, Andrea patted the uh, big pocket on the side of her pants leg, whatever that packet was called. She was pretty sure she had a cigarette or two in there. Andrea only actually smoked a couple cigs a week so she could never be certain of having any on her person when she felt like one, but it looked like she was in luck today. She pulled the rumpled smoke out and was felt around for wherever she kept a lighter as she waited for the skate kids to get back into things.

"K you guys, show each other what ya got."

(Just moving Andrea on as pregame's winding down)

Andrea stuck around for a little while as Tabi. Kris and Etain did their thing on the concrete. She supposed it was a decent enough way to kill time. Gave her a chance to catch her breath and then have a smoke, thus undoing any good she'd done to her respiratory system. But she figured she'd better get back to her car pretty soon.

"Alright guys and gals, I've gotta get outta here and get back to my car at some point, so uh, I'm gonna take off. Tabi, gimme a call later on, we'll do stuff."

Andrea boosted herself back over the fence. She wasn't going to try any fancy tricks this time. Then it'd be back to the mall, and she'd use her awesome stealth skills to get to her car and drive on home. Or somewhere else, if she felt like it. That's how Andrea Raymer rolled.

(Andrea Raymer continued in Stillwater Runs Deep)

((Sorry to jump in front, Greg, but I was hoping to pick this up before everyone else leaves too.))

The Irish boy grinned at Kris before maneuvering his board toward the edge of the halfpipe. He settled there with one foot on his board and one planted on the concrete next to it. "A competition, ya say? Why, tha' woundn' be fair at all." He turned to Andrea, absently rolling his board back and forth. "See, Ms. Hartmann here is very good, if'n I might say as an admittedly biased observer." He grinned at Kris for a moment before looking back to Andrea. "Aye, a competition between tha three of us would be pretty one sided, methinks. 'Course, they're both welcome to show me up," He added, offering a playful wink to Tabi and Kris. "Seein' as how much I like 'em, I wouldn' mind too much."

After that, he turned back to the pipe, moving the board forward until it almost slid into the pipe with his foot on the back the only thing holding it in place. With the confidence that comes from doing something countless times before, Etain, stepped forward and placed his other foot on the front of the board, pivoting his back so that it matched the position of the first. Basking in that familiar rush of exhilaration that always come with dropping in for the first set of a day, Etain bent his knees as he reached the opposite side of the pipe, swinging back around as he built his momentum.

And for his first trick, ladies and gents, Etain Brennan, the Irish boy wonder (No relation to Robin, ladies and gents), would skate up and down the halfpipe really quick! Watch him move faster, and faster still! Keep watching, ladies and gents, me may doing something exciting! Wait! What's this? He going over the lip of the pipe! Right, enough of that. The trick he was trying for was hard enough for him without narrating in his head. Kris might be able to pull it off and look good doing it, but he wasn't quite that good. Then again, he thought Kris looked good whenever, but whatever.

At the top of the ramp he abruptly changed his mind. He'd been planning an indy, something, but didn't quite muster the confidence to pull it off. The last thing he really wanted then was the fall flat on his face. He liked to think it was because a relative stranger was there. So, he settled for a safer stall at the lip, leaning forward as he held the board on the edge before sliding back into the pipe. After a while, it didn't really matter if he didn't know Andrea or not. Once he started skating, it didn't really matter. He was focused on his board, on the slope of the ramp, and the people he skated with, this time being Tabi, and as per custom when he was in her company, Kris. He guessed it was a fun change of pace having an audience, but after a while, it didn't matter. When he did look up, Andrea had taken off.

Since it was just them, he figured no one would mind if he took a break. He'd pulled off a few easier tricks while Andrea was probably there, so he was content for the moment. When he did slide out of the pipe, he stepped off his board and sat down on the edge of the pipe. Bracing his arms behind him, he watched the pair in the pipe, letting his mind wander. Prom was coming up, wasn't it? He wanted to ask Kris, but he'd figured she was already going with someone else. Well, why not ask and be sure? What would he lose? Just make it general, not too specific. You know, casual. "Hey, Kris, any plans fer tha prom?"

Wasn't a thing more fun than nailing some big aerials in Kris's book. Not a damn thing.

She needed little encouragement to head off towards the half pipe, but first... Kris focused on the rail that had thwarted her thusfar. She most definitely had some unfinished business here. Another might have put the practice off for a different day and just gone and enjoyed themselves with friends, but Kris? Not a chance. It just wasn't how she did things.

Kris kicked off, rolling her board forward.

Here we go!

Ollie. Up in the air, hit the railing - 50:50. Here comes the end, push off! Kickflip and...

Kris landed the manual as smooth as could be, and after keeping her balance for a few metres, let the board drop and fist pumped.

"That's how we do it!" she said, not quietly, but mostly to herself nonetheless. Objective achieved, mission accomplished, another combo to write into the book of Hartmann.

"Right, let's hit the pipe then."

Since they were just messing around, tricks kind of ran into one another for Kris at that point. You couldn't be all business all of the time, and since Kris hadn't set any targets for herself after doing a little street, she was content to just know that regardless of what she did in the half pipe, she was getting practice. Thinking and worrying too much about the pro side of things took away from the reason Kris skated in the first place... because she enjoyed it.

Descending from the air above the halfpipe after pulling a method, Kris heard Etain call out to her, and managed to bring herself to a halt at the top of one side of it. Not really wanting to have a shouting match, Kris climbed down and walked over to Etain.

"Prom, huh?..." well, that was an odd one, because Kris hadn't really thought about it. she gave a slight shrug. "Haven't really planned for it... why?" Kris wondered if Etain had a date, but in truth, she wasn't that concerned about Prom. Seemed to be a bit of a distraction from more important things.