Ruby Rose | Team RWBY (eyesofsilver) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2019-01-08 18:50:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, qrow branwen, ruby rose |
Who: Qrow and Ruby
What: Ice-Skating
When: Mid-November before Thanksgiving
Where: Ice-Skating rink
Warnings: Low
Status: Log | Complete
Given Ruby’s tendency to trip over air and general lack of coordination in most things, she knew that the fact that she could ice skate, and well, could confuse people. But it was one of those things she had always enjoyed, had taken lessons and the main reason she hadn’t gone into competitions because that meant people watching her and just the money aspect. Mostly the anxiety of being watched though. But that didn’t mean that she didn’t like getting to the ice skating rink whenever she could. Besides, when she was thinking about it, she was fine. It was like fighting in that way. Trip over air and explode, but when in a fight or on the ice? She was coordinated and knew what she was doing.
Besides, it was getting into colder weather and while she didn’t need cold weather to ice skate, one couldn’t deny that it was more the season for it. Which was why she had decided that she wanted to drag her uncle along to the ice rink that day. It was going to be fun, and they deserved some fun thank you very much.
Given the fact she ice skated fairly often, Ruby had her own skates and was putting them on practically buzzing with energy and the desire to be on the ice already. It felt nice to not be thinking about this or that or the other thing. She was just excited to be ice skating with her uncle.
Qrow Branwen was good at many things...ice skating was not really one of them. Those long legs of his were not designed for it. Nope. Not at all. But, it was a pastime that Ruby had always enjoyed, and Qrow -- the big push over that he was -- had always indulged her when she’d asked him to go. Today was no different.
After acquiring a pair of rental skates of his own, Qrow joined Ruby where she was seated on a bench lacing up her skates.
Despite the fact that the moment he was out on the ice, his legs were going to remind him that he was not twenty years old anymore (too bad they hadn’t had the chance to do this when he’d actually been a teenager a few weeks ago), it felt nice to be at the rink with his niece. They hadn’t gone skating just the two of them in a couple of years. It was kind of nostalgic sitting there lacing up a pair of skates, Ruby next to him practically vibrating with eagerness to be out on the ice. As he worked his feet into the stiff boots, he glanced in Ruby’s direction. For a moment he could see the little girl she’d been, all wide-eyed and full of happiness and wonder. Life for her or her sister could never have been considered normal or simple given the Rose-Xiao Long family dynamic and the Branwen influence within it. But they’d all tried and it had been little moments like this that had made it worthwhile and why Qrow had worked so hard to make a life in California.
A blink of an eye and the little girl was gone, replaced by the young woman Ruby had grown into. It was nice to see that happiness in her eyes again, especially now after everything she’d gone through in the last year or so and everything else that was still left to come – whatever it may have been.
Qrow gave her a small smile and turned his attention back to tightening his laces. “I might be a bit rusty at this,” he warned her. “Try not to laugh too loudly when I fall, alright, squirt?”
Really Ruby should have suggested ice skating when she came across her uncle as a teenager. However, she had been so shocked by the change that the idea had slipped her mind given everything that was going on. Not that it mattered because they were ice skating now and that was enough for Ruby.
Still, it was nice to be at the rink with her uncle. There was so much going on, things she wasn’t quite sure how to process or what they even meant let alone waiting for whenever the next Dream would come (and she knew it was because Yang had already talked about the Battle of Haven) to see what happened…. And just skate. There was freedom and lightness in ice skating.
“I promise! I’ll help keep you up if you need it!”
A promise she had made even when she was younger, that she would help Qrow stay balanced and upright.
“But I’m sure you’ll be fine.”
Because it was Qrow and she would always have faith in him and what he could do.
Ruby’s faith in her uncle wasn’t unfounded. While he wasn’t exactly designed to be on a pair of ice skates, he wasn’t utterly useless. His training as a fighter (both conventionally and otherwise) at least gave him a sense of balance and a sense of when his legs or feet were about to do something outside of his own control. Add to that the combat experience he’d gotten from his Dreams (the latest one of being batted around Haven’s entry hall like a rag doll not withstanding) and he was fairly confident that he would at least be able to stay upright on the ice. Probably. Maybe. There was still the issue of his semblance that had to be taken into account. It was a nagging little unknown variable that had a nasty habit of reminding him (as well as anyone around him) that it existed and not always at the most appropriate of times, or ways.
As he finished tying the laces of his skates, Qrow cast a look around them. It was still fairly early in the season and the rink itself didn’t seem that busy. He could easily keep away from innocent bystanders. And Ruby? Well, by now she was well aware of her uncle’s bad luck and she still wanted to strap sharp blades to her feet and glide around on the ice with him in tow.
It was that unadulterated and unwavering faith in him that was both amazing and touching all at once. His smile grew a little and he ruffled her hair. “Yeah, I will be.” He pushed himself to his feet, pausing a moment to make sure he had his balance on normal ground before trying anything further. Then he looked back at Ruby, “ya ready?”
Qrow’s semblance may be an unknown factor, but it wasn’t one which Ruby was actively thinking about. It was something to know about so it could be taken into account in certain situations but ice skating really wasn’t such a moment. At least not to Ruby. Usually she only fell on the ice if a child ran into her, and that was basically the extent of her feelings on what could a possibility with Qrow there.
The unadulterated and unwavering faith was something Ruby couldn’t see ever going away. She could be warned about how she should be careful around older men because most were bad and she would point to her uncle and dad as the good ones and that was that. There may be something to be said about the warning and she would continue to be herself and try to see the best in people and do whatever she could to help the most amount of people as she could, but her uncle? He was one of the good ones.
Grinning as Qrow asked if she was ready, Ruby nodded and got up.
“Yep!”
And to the ice!
Muscle memory is a funny thing and lends a kind of credence to the old adage: “...it’s just like riding a bike.” (or however the saying actually went). Ice skating wasn’t anything like riding a bike, but it’s amazing what your body remembers to do even when your brain has long filed away the information in a dark dusty corner. It had been a long time since Qrow had been out on the ice, but after a few minutes of actually being on it again (and after one precarious moment in which he really did almost eat it), both his feet and legs seemed to remember just what it was they were supposed to be doing.
He was nowhere near as coordinated as Ruby, but he was able to keep up with her, more or less, on the ice. And there was something to be said for the nostalgia that came with ice skating with her again. It was relaxing, in a way.
Ice skating was definitely not like riding a bike, but there was also something to be said for muscle memory. Of course for Ruby, she was at the rink often enough that she didn’t need to rely on that so much and instead just let instinct take over. The main trick for her of course was to stick closer to the wall and near her uncle as opposed to going closer to the center of the ice where fewer people were, which allowed for things like spins or jumps or just going faster on smoother ice. Which was what she usually would do when she was at the rink alone.
For now though, it was mostly skating backwards to face her uncle (both to make sure to catch him if he actually ate it at first and then just because sometimes it was easier to talk that way) while randomly turning to skate in the direction everyone was skating in so that she didn’t accidentally skate into anyone.
This was good though. Really good. With everything going on, her worry for the others, being able to let it all go and skate? It was what she needed even if Ruby didn’t really get that on a conscious level.
“Did you know that it takes 500 pounds of force to land a triple axel?”
Because of course Ruby would also bring the math and science into ice skating.
“No, I did not know that,” Qrow answered her with a small smile. It was taking a bit of concentration to make sure he continued moving forward. Ruby had a way of making skating look a lot easier than it was, especially when she choose to skate backwards and face him. Ah, but this really wasn’t bad. It was actually pretty fun, something Qrow usually realized once he was out on the ice. Plus, it was good to see Ruby truly happy and carefree for a little while. “What other bits of trivia you got?”
Ruby was making sure to keep an eye on Qrow to make sure that he didn’t fall or anything like that. It was one of those things that she had seemed to pick up without really knowing when. Just somewhere along the way, probably because of the Dreams. Just always being aware of those around her and what was going on.
It didn’t take away from the fun though. She was just happy to be on the ice. As for more trivia? Ruby tilted her head to the side some in thought before she absently went back to skating backwards to face her uncle again.
“The first skates were actually bones that were strapped to the feet to let people skate across frozen lakes and rivers.”
“Yeah?” Qrow raised a brow. Not the first bit of trivia he’d expected from his niece, but interesting nonetheless. “I guess that’s not surprising,” he went on. “It's a lot easier, and faster, to travel across a lake than to try and go around it. Rivers too, provided they’re, ya know, frozen all the way through.” He laughed faintly. “I doubt the people who strapped bones to their feet would have expected anyone triple axels or anything like that.” He nodded to the center of the rink where a few more experienced skaters were showing off. He watched them a moment before glancing at Ruby. “You can go join them if ya want. Show off a little.”
“Yep!” Never underestimate one Ruby Rose, she would come up with random trivia if it was something she was really into, like bones as skates. Maybe a bit morbid but that was hardly the point. At least for her. It was just something that was weird and interesting. Then again she did carry around a scythe sniper rifle in resting mode most of the time given Orange County was Orange County.
“Basically. I mean especially thousands of years ago when it was basically you walk or run everywhere. If a lake is frozen, you then go over that with the bone-skates and can save time and distance instead of having to walk all the way around it.” They had seen plenty of things that would be considered weird in the Dreams while they also made sense, so it wasn’t so hard to see how things were here and history and see the reasoning behind it.
Though as Qrow noticed the more experienced skaters showing off, Ruby followed his gaze and contemplated the offer. Though one of the main reasons she had never stuck with skating in a more competitive manner was the whole people watching her thing and even as she seemed to have come more into herself, grown more into her own skin as it were, some things never changed. Besides, she didn’t mind the sticking closer to the wall and the like.
“Nah, I’m happy here with you.”
And she was.