Second floor common room: Wednesday early afternoon

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

Jack was sprinkling something on the floor of the common room.

The stuff had finally arrived in today's mail, along with a letter he refused to think about, and he was testing it before he did the entire room, which was why a corner of the kitchen floor was looking rather whiter than usual. Satisfied it was covered, he grabbed a jug of water and poured it over the powder.

It instantly became ice. "All right!"

Jack shoved all the furniture against the walls, stacking it as necessary, ran downstairs to grab a hose from the front lawn, dragged it upstairs, hooked it to the kitchen sink, coated the floor in powder and then leapt up onto the counter to to spray it with water.

It didn't take long before he was standing in what was effectively an indoor ice rink. Grinning gleefully, he hopped off the counter, scrabbled briefly for balance, then pushed off the wall to slide gracefully across the room. "Don't even need skates."

[ooc: Open like a common room, and here's the thing: the ice will melt directly to a harmless gas, as in the movie Real Genius (but there will be no Madam Curie look alike contest), causing absolutely no damage to the room. The room will be moddably foggy as time progresses and the ice will be completely gone in, say, an hour!]

Comments

[bookyeve.livejournal.com]

Evie was on her way down to return books to the library, but the sight of a frozen common room had her boggling. "Jack? What on earth...?"

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

Jack pushed off the wall and slid over to Evie on one foot. "I was beginning to think I'd have this all to myself. Hey, Evie. It's ice!"

[bookyeve.livejournal.com]

"Yes, but..." Evie put her books down, then skirted the edge, before poking a toe at the surface, smiling. "Was Katara practicing again?"

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

"Nope. This is science, not magic. I bought it from some guy at Pacific Tech. He sells it online. Turns water to ice, and when it melts?" He waved his hands in the air, which was already starting to look a bit foggy. "It turns into a gas."

[bookyeve.livejournal.com]

"That is utterly ingenious," Evie said, taking teeny tiny steps out onto the ice. "Whoa!"

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

Jack swooped closer and closed his hand around her elbow. "Careful! It takes some getting used to."

[bookyeve.livejournal.com]

"Right. Right. Slow and careful." Evie beamed at him, then sloooowly began to slide around, still hanging onto him. "Delightful!" She shot him a mischevious look. "And much less dirty than burying artifacts."

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

"And safer than falling out of hammocks," he added, smirking at her. He followed, ready to catch her in case she fell, because he wasn't going to be responsible for that twice in one week. "It was a very interesting weekend."

[bookyeve.livejournal.com]

"That's one way of describing it," Evie said, slipping her feet back and forth. "I had great fun, but such a stomach-ache on Monday. I dont' think I ate one healthy thing all weekend, and there was a great deal of it."

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

Rory, bored, wandered out into the common room, and stood still in her tracks, staring.

"...what did you do?"

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

Jack stopped in mid-pirouette, smiling innocently. "What makes you think I did anything?"

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"Because you're Jack," she giggled, tentatively stepping onto the ice and sliding a little.

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

Jack slid to a stop in front of Rory and offered her a hand for balance. "Damn! You've uncovered my secret! What am I going to do with you now?"

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"Bribe me with indoor ice rinks forever?" she offered, taking his hand and grinning. "Seriously, how'd you swing this one?"

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

"I bought this stuff online from a guy at Pacific Tech." Jack started to glide slowly backwards, hand firm around Rory's. "Turns water to ice instantaneously, and it melts into a gas."

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"Ooooooooooooooooh," Rory said, eyes wide as she slid. "It'd be handy for practical jokes, too."

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

"I'll get you the details," he promised. "Now, what have you been up to in the absence of classes?"

[swerval_zero]

A wee pink kitten scampered into the common room--and promptly skidded across the ice.

"Mreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" //AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!//

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

"Woah! Kitty." Jack darted after the sliding kitty. "Maybe you don't want to be walking around on the ice," he said as he followed it. "You're going to end up with very cold toes."

[swerval_zero]

Zero clung to the side of a sofa with all four paws and made a hiss-spit noise at Jack. //WHAT THE SQUALL IS THIS?//

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

Jack didn't speak cat, but he was pretty sure what was being asked. "It's ice. It'll be gone in about an hour. You want to ride instead of walking?" he asked, crouching down to offer a shoulder.

[swerval_zero]

Zero thought about this for about half a second, then jumped off the sofa and skidded across the ice of her own accord. "Meeeeeeeeeeeee!" //Wheeeeeeeeeee!//

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

Jack snickered and watched the kitten skid across the ice. "Watch out for the walls!"

[swerval_zero]

Zero was watching out for the walls. She pushed off from the wall and skidded in another direction, narrowly avoiding the coffee table via some traction-impaired scampering.

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

This was very entertaining, and Jack hopped up on one of the couches to watch. "Are you actually a kitten or is this a temporary thing?" he asked, seeing nothing wrong with talking to a cat.