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[Bobby's outside, holding the journal facing towards him with one hand and tossing a snowball with the other.]

I promise this is not my fault! I had absolutely nothing to do with this.

[Not that anyone except for maybe two people would have any reason to suspect him. But he's too used to having to give a disclaimer every time snow comes when it probably shouldn't have.]

But since it is here and awesome, I am totally taking advantage of it.

Does anyone like ice skating? Someone go skating with me, guys!

[There's a pause as he throws the snowball high up into the air and lets it fall back to the ground.]

Or if we can get enough people, I am all in for a game of snow capture the flag.

[It is SNOWING, and Bobby is the happiest mutant ever right now. Reply here or come bug him outside? He's wandering around all over, so if it's some place outside, feel free to run into him there.]

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[He chuckles at her question.]

Sure. The more people you have, the more fun it is, but really you only need eight or so, enough to have four on a team. Usually when the game starts, you get a certain amount of time to find a spot to build your fort and get it fortified.

If you have teams big enough, sometimes they'll send someone off to spy on the other team while they're building up where their fort, to find out where it is and how well it's built. So we'll stick scouts out to make sure we can build in secret.

Then when the time's up, some people will stay back to guard the flag, and others will sneak off to find the other team's fort, steal their flag, and bring it back. There's all sorts of strategies, from a frontal assault to a sneak attack to a combination of both.

[Aara stares as Bobby explains, eyes wide and taking all the information in. Finally she smiles, imagining the game and how much fun it would be.]

It sounds fun. Complicated, yes, but fun to play with friends.

[There's a laugh.]

Yes to both. It can get very complicated, especially when it comes to the strategies people start coming up with. But it's very fun. I played every year with my friends back home.

[He pauses for a moment, then smiles at her.]

And it'd be awesome to play it with my friends here.

[Aara's eyes light up at that.]

Every year...

[Taken aback quite a bit, Aara doesn't really think her words through before they come out of her mouth.]

You have friends here?

It was kind of like a tradition when winter came around.

[There's a pause at that question at that question as he blinks, then he smiles.]

Sure! I haven't been here that long, but I've made some friends.

So... you mostly play this in winter? [She looks around, apparently trusting Bobby enough to guide her while skating even when distracted.] Where would be a good place to play?

[Smiling, Aara ducks her head sheepishly.] I just meant-- [She blushes lightly, humbly.] Friends are... they are treasures. I'm happy you have made friends here.

[Was she making friends? It was hard to tell. It felt like she was heading in the right direction toward friendships, however.]

Pretty much, yeah. It's a lot more fun when there's snow to play it in.

[He pauses for a moment, considering that.]

I'd say the whole Keep, really. Limiting it to the outside, of course, and probably staying away from the forest. The more space we have, the more room we have to pick a place for our flag where the other team won't know about it.

[There's a smile at her comment.]

They are. My friends have always been my family. I'm happy to be making friends here, too. And glad you're one of them.

[She considers this.]

Do you have any ideas on a good place to keep the flag, then?

[She really wants to keep this flag safe. XD]

F-family? [Aara stares in something akin to awe. Nice Bobby. You've made her stutter twice, now. She's no longer picking her feet up to skate, just standing frozen as he pulls her along. They were friends. Family. Then she smiles a happy, close-lipped smile, her eyes beaming.]

I'm glad we're friends, too.

It depends on what we ultimately decide is fair game and what's out of bounds, I think. But yeah, I've got a few.

[Dedication! This is great. It's possible Bobby has occasionally gotten incredibly into games of capture the flag.

He smiles in response to her question, though he doesn't answer otherwise, and then his smile grows at her last comment.]

If you ever need anything ice-related, I'm your guy. Including ice cream.

[Pauses. Then she has to ask.]

Have you... ever made a 'snow fort'?

[This is something else that greatly intrigues her, and she hoped to make one. She just didn't know how.]

[He grins at that.]

I have! We can make one together, if you want? Kind of a practice run before the actual game.

[The smile that lights up her face is enormous. She just stays there, beaming for a short while, the look in her eyes answer enough, though she still nods.]

[He grins back at her.]

You should smile like that more often.

[He spins them on the ice, turning them slowly enough to hopefully not frighten her, but quick enough for it to be a bit fun. They're facing the shore, now, and he heads towards it.]

Snow fort it is!

Eep!

[Aara is still slightly taken by surprise, leaning forward to make sure she had a good hand-hold on Bobby, then relaxing and smiling. It had almost felt like flying for a second. With a laugh, Aara moves with him back toward the shore, expression excited and somewhat mischievous. This would be fun!]

[He chuckles slightly at the 'eep,' but still makes sure to help her keep her balance, and grins when she laughs. They skate back to the shore, and Bobby once again sits down on the bank, gesturing for her do to the same.]

[Giving Bobby a quizzical stare, Aara sits next to him on the bank, wondering what it is he'll do.]

You can... create ice? Can you also take it away?

Not technically. But I make it by lowering the temperature of the moisture in the air, so I can raise it back up, somewhat.

[He grins slightly.]

Otherwise I'd be stuck every time I lowered my own temperature.

[It takes him longer than creating the ice has, but he gets the ice around the base of their shoes to loosen up so he can just knock the rest of it off. Then he grins at her.]

Ready to build a fort?

[Aara's eyes were wide. He could do that?]

Ah... yes!

[She grins, rising back up to her feet and offering Bobby a hand.]

Where should we build it?

[He grins at her, accepting her hand up cheerfully.]

Thanks.

[Bobby glances around, then picks a spot a little bit away from the lake where a large snow drift rests against one of the walls of the Keep. He points it out.]

That looks good.

[Aara smiles, ducking her head at his gratitude.]

You're welcome.

[Glancing up at the spot, Aara grins and nods, eagerly moving to the location and looking around with breathless delight.]

Now what?

Well, the next step usually depends on how much I use my powers. I try not to use them too much in capture the flag, since it's not really fair for the other team. Unless the other team is using their powers, too, then it's all fair game.

But we'll go with mostly power-free fort making. I like finding snow that's piled up against a building, because then you can use the wall as one of the walls for the fort. It's even more awesome if you can find a bunch of snow in a corner.

Mostly it's just making the pile of snow bigger, and then hollowing it out. Depending on how big you get it, you can make a couple of different rooms and hallways and stuff, but we'll probably just go for a one room fort.

Rooms...?

[She liked the idea of this fort better and better.]

Okay! Let's start, then!

Yup!

[He grins at her.]

Awesome. Help me pile some more snow up against the wall, then?

[He moves towards the snow drift, starting to add more snow to make it bigger.]

[With excitement coursing through her, Aara moves to do just that. She's more than eager to build this fort--and hide out in it, and imagine wondrous things while removed briefly from nearly all her senses of the world around her.]

[Despite having built hundreds of forts, Bobby's pretty much just as excited. There's not much that's better than playing in the snow with friends.

Once they have enough snow piled up, he walks around to one of the sides against the wall.]

And now we come to the hollowing out part! Basically we just make a hole in the drift and dig the inside out, leaving about a foot for the ceiling and walls. Here's where I usually use my powers a bit, to make the walls and ceiling strong and stuff.