Hazards of Sisters - a ficlet of Winter/Stranded

[aldersprig]

In the past - when Winter is in his late teens
❄️️
Winter leaned forward, his lips only a millimeter from Karen Schneider’s.

He could feel the place where the Strands were about to be disturbed. He could see the disturbance, even with his eyes closed.

He kissed her anyway. Kissed her and then wrapped an arm around her and rolled them both to the side.

“What!” she gasped and tried to pull away, but Winter had practice with this, if not with Karen.

The water balloons hit the tree behind them, right where they would have been if he hadn’t rolled them.

Winter released Karen and rolled off to his side so she didn’t feel the least bit restricted, just as his little sisters ran up to him.

“Winter!” Summer complained. “You cheated!”

Karen was finally catching up with what was going on. “You saw them coming?”

“Heard them,” he temporized. “I like this shirt. I imagined you didn’t want it getting soaked.”

It was a nice mint-green top, thin enough that even dry, he could see the lines of her bra strap through it. Wet, it would have left nothing at all to the imagination.

She blushed. “Thanks. Thanks, it’s just… you startled me.”

“You cheated,” Summer repeated.

“No.” Winter had far too much practice not getting irritated with his sisters. “As I recall, you three promised not to bother Karen and I for at least an hour. So I’d say you cheated.”

“Come on.” Autumn took Summer and Spring’s arms and steered them away. “He’s not any fun when he has company.”

Winter appreciated the gesture, but he could see that it was already too late for this particular date.

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Comments

[kailing]

too late, as in, she won't relax around him now?

[aldersprig]

Yeah. :-( She’s too weirded out.

[kailing]

gotcha. wonder if the sisters knew this would be the outcome, or if it was unknown

[aldersprig]

Nah, I think they’re just being kids. Probably.

[kelkyag]

:(

In the long term, I suspect a relationship with someone who can't perceive things that are an important part of one's world is going be difficult, at best. My impression is that generally, folks who can't see/work Strands aren't aware of them or their mechanics at all, though there's some amount of [Strandworker] can do [magic/hexes/blessings] out there -- is that accurate?

[aldersprig]

This is a problem Winter has over and over again, in part because the people who CAN see/work strands are… often more like his sisters than like him.

And yes, mundane people aren’t usually aware of the working but some of them have some small incomplete knowledge.

[sauergeek]

Is it possible to duct tape three girls to three different -- and quite far away -- trees without being irritated with them? Or can strand work break duct tape for them?

[kelkyag]

I suspect Autumn or Summer would have to do some set-up work that'd be difficult with their hands taped down -- they both seem to work with some material/tactile components. Spring seems more likely to be able to pull that off improvisationally, but she's also the youngest ...

[aldersprig]

Spring at a later date could probably unravel the tape with enough effort but, yes, Autumn and Summer need their hands.

OTOH, all they have to do is shout loud enough for MOoooooom and there goes Winter’s date anyway :-D

[sauergeek]

This is why "far away" was a component. Out of parental earshot! Though as I recall, Mom's also a Strand worker, and would likely notice distress from three of her children.

[clare_dragonfly]

Hee hee! Poor Winter. He doesn't even get an unencumbered kiss, since Karen might think that he only kissed her to get her out of the way of the water balloons...

[aldersprig]

Exactly! Darn sisters…!

[eseme]

Awwwwwww. *hugs Winter*

I very much enjoyed the story about him meeting the mother with her kids and going on a date. Because he is a caring person, just very tied to routine. I liked seeing that.

*sighs* Younger sisters.... And the ones he had, no peace at all...