Nathan Summers (alter_nate_ive) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-03-17 22:42:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, eli, nathan summers (cable) |
Who: Nate and Eli
Where: an indoor ice skating rink
What: Eli helps Nate learn more about ice skating
When: Friday, 03/15
Warnings/Rating: PG
Status complete
Nate was eager to go ice skating. He had gotten his shoes set, and his outfit, and then, backpack on, headed out. He still felt very disconnected with the world, and like everything was out of place. But he was determined to not be the person who was moping. He wanted to live.
So he was out, bouncy, and headed to meet up with Eli!
She seemed nice!
Eli wouldn’t describe herself as nice, but she’d describe herself as peaceful. She was sitting, waiting for the young man to show up to their ice skating outing. She’d worn a cute dress with leggings, for she’d probably fall down a few times.
Nate knew he would fall, and had jeans and a turtleneck on, and was bouncing as he waved a hand to her. “Hi! Nice to met you, Eli.” He bowed to her, eyes warm, and nodded. He hoped it would be a good day. “You look nice.” She did, and it seemed polite to say.
“Oh. Thank you.” She blinked when he bowed, blue eyes studying him cautiously. He seemed nice enough. At least he didn’t act like some of the kids she’d seen. So immature, so annoying.
“You’re welcome. Come on.” He led the way inside, and smiled as they stepped into the rink lobby area. To one side was the rink, to the other, the shoe rental and the snack bar.
“This place is awesome!”
Eli couldn’t help but agree. It was clean, and it seemed orderly. She’d brought her own skates, but walked with Nate when he went to rent his own.
“How long have you been skating?” He couldn’t recall if he had asked. He got the skates and headed to the ready area, near the rink. There, he started getting ready.
“I started when my family moved to Sweden when I was ... eight? I sort of kept up with it.” She sat down, taking off her own shoes and lacing up her own skates. They were hockey skates, and not the figure skates most girls had. “Of course, I didn’t skate for the same reasons. I liked to play hockey with the boys.”
“Really? Wow! So a long time now, for you. Cool!” Nate did not know much about skates, but even he saw hers were different. “What sort of skates are those?”
He grinned. “Yeah? Sounds like fun. I’ve never played hockey. Mom was always freaked out by the idea.” And, you know, he was only 3’8”.
“It’s fun. These are hockey skates, they don’t have a toe pick.” She stood up. “They’re also a little thicker, a little wider.” She was willowy and slender, but she was a tomboy through and through, despite her pretty looks and dress.
He peered at her skates and nodded, then stood as well. “I’ll remember that.” he stretched and wobbled, then steadied. “Shall we go?”
Eli nodded. “Remember to bend your knees. That is the best advice that I can give you.” She reached out for his hand, smiling a little as they walked.
Nate nodded, and smiled, taking her hand and moving slowly. “ I feel nervous, but okay. " He smiled as they moved together.
“You’ll be fine. The worst you’ll do is bruise your bottom or your knees.” Eli didn’t let go of his hand, smiling a little to herself as they started to skate slowly.
Nate nodded. “That’s okay. Bruises are easy to get.” He was used to getting them, because of how small he was. He skated with her, carefully, cautiously. His previous experiences had been very small and sort of anticlimactic, but today felt different.
“You’re pretty good at this.”
“I had lots of practice.” Eli was careful to help him when he wobbled, wrapping an arm around his waist and righting him with her own body instead of letting him fall. She was an only child, but felt protective over him. Maybe it was because in her dreams she was the youngest of many.
Nate accepted her help with gratitude, giving her a warm smile, and nodding. She was a good person. When he was righted, and skating a little, he grinned. “I like it. It’s more firm than rollerskating.” He nodded. It felt more solid, more down to earth.
“I think so too. I feel safer.” Eli’s arm was around his shoulder, other hand squeezing his hand, and she sped up a little. “See? You’re doing very well.”
Held like that, it was easier to recover from wobbles, and see how she was doing it. Feeling how she was correcting things. Feeling almost like he was reading her mind, but this was something else, something new. He grinned as he skated with her faster. “It feels good. You are a good teacher.” He squeezed her hand as he felt his confidence slowly begun to grow.
Eli closed her eyes when Nate squeezed her hand. She didn’t often have reasons to smile, but that was one. Snuggling closer, she squeezed his hand in return. “Thank you.”
Skating with her, close and warm, he felt... good. Better than he had in some time, really. It was nice to have some proof of the idea that others out there could be nice. And Eli was that. And she was cool.
“You’re welcome.” He skated with her, smiling, enjoying himself a lot. “Do you ever rollerskate, too?”
“Sometimes. I’m less good at that than I am at this.” She unwrapped her arm from around his waist, letting it hang in midair and took up his hand, instead.
“We should do both, so we both get better at both.” He nodded, and held her hand in his, moving with her, feeling like he was slowly getting it. Despite being short, he was very coordinated. He had been taking martial arts since he could barely walk, from the tots classes to the kids’ ones now. Between that and rollerskating, child competition hiking, and generally being active, he usually picked up on things fast.
Eli figured she could let go of him, but she didn’t. Even as they kept going, she upped the speed a little, actually grinning when she could feel breeze on her cheeks. This was one of the things that had always made sense, even when she was lonely.
he matched her pace, taking his cues from her. Nate was learning how to read people’s body language and mimic them, then commit what he learned to memory. he was learning a lot from Eli. It felt incredible. He skated with her and whooped, grinning.
“yes!”
Grinning over at him, Eli moved to skate backwards, holding his hands. “Having fun, I take it?”
“I love it! This is fun!” He grinned, holding onto her hands, but enjoying this. “You rock!” He bounced a little, in his skating, managing to work it into his stride.
She laughed, letting go of his hands, skating a little faster away from him. “Thank you!” Sometimes, it was good to feel her age.
He wobbled, but then he grinned and smirked, accepting the challenge, and skated after her, waggling his eyebrows. “You’re welcome!”
Fin!