Going Down: Mickey and James
James had to do very little carving on his skis. The slalom movements he did take were minimal since there were two of them and they were long. He only needed to dodge around other skiers and snowboarders. He simply leaned forward, dug his poles in to gain some added momentum after clearing a rise, and shot down the hill. The wind in his face was thrilling. James was reminded of his first ski lessons as a younger child, back when silly things like sports was fun. He still had moments, few and far between, where the simple pleasures of life were not enough and racing a djinni down a snow hill was a good idea.
It had been a long time since James had been on skis at all, and even when he used to go every season, he was not focused on becoming Olympic ready or anything close to it. So when the path forked and trees arrived sooner than expected in front, James had to skid hard, carving deep into the snow as he turned to stop. It was a close call, the vampire nearly having gone straight into the trees, and whatever lead James had was ruined. The bottom was close and there was no way he was going to catch up to Mickey now.
Even still, determining he wouldn't give up without a fight, James quickly got back on the main slope and finished the rest of the hill not too far behind Mickey.
He pulled up beside him and stabbed the poles into the powder before removing his goggles to rest on the ski hat he wore. "Alright, you win. Wretched hill, anyway," he smiled. "How do you take your hot chocolate?"