Magic on Ice (Eddie)

[Eddie Locksley]

"Oh, no," he shook his head, cheerfully self-deprecating. He was still quite bitter about it, inside, but a lot of the time you just had to laugh, there was no point in wallowing in how terrible he was all the time, he had to take a break every now and again "I'm rubbish at almost everything. This is really the only thing I'm good at."

"I think you can borrow skates from here, so if you bring warm clothes next time and borrow some skates I'll teach you and-" he stopped, eyes widening in horror as if she just said something awful "You don't know what Star Wars is?" he gasped.

"Star Wars is amazing, it's a film. Uh, that's like a play? But...on the tv... um, have you seen the tv yet? Or the cinema? Anyway Star Wars is really good, you should watch it, definitely." he enthused.

[Dusty Fae]

Dusty shook her head. She refused to believe that Eddie was bad at everything except ice skating. "Maybe," she said diplomatically, " there are other things you haven't tried yet that you're good at. Every shot a gun?"

It was good to know that there were skates that could be borrowed. She had a budget to stick to after all. She didn't have anyone to send her money occasionally if she needed it. She nodded along quite happily because she could do that. And then she would get to try floating around on the ice like Eddie did.

Dusty stepped back at Eddie's look of horror. She didn't know what she had said to make him look like that but it wasn't good. But then she relaxed. Eddie was just excited about this Star Wars thing. She laughed when he explained what a film was. "I've been to the movies. Just once. And it was a zombie movie." Thinking about made her chest ache. She'd seen that movie with Arkady. And afterwards he has kissed her. Her smile feel a bit a she remembered that. Then she remembered where she was now. That was all behind her. "I don't think I could understand how to make a movie play on my own. I have a hard time with the technology. It's so new!"

[Eddie Locksley]

"Only in a video game...and that's not really the same because you just press a button so it seems a lot more complicated in real life. I've shot an arrow, I'm not really very good at aiming or even actually getting the arrow to shoot, I drop it a lot of the time. It makes my dad really upset, he's kind of Robin Hood so arrows are his thing..." Eddie had not yet mastered the art of just answering the question at hand, but she seemed to be quite accepting of his rambling so he didn't feel the need to even try rein himself in.

"Well okay, next time I'll teach you how to skate and then afterwards we'll watch Star Wars" he beamed. Wait... that sounded like... is that what a date was? Had he just asked a girl on a date? Were you supposed to tell them it was a date, or did it not matter, what was the difference between a date and just hanging out, how did you figure out which was which? He was not ready for this.

[Dusty Fae]

It was kind of sad that Eddie's father was upset that he couldn't shoot at arrow. It's not anyone's fault he couldn't. "Well, maybe a real gun would be different. I have a revolver if you want to try shooting it sometime." Though Dusty would have to take every precaution to make sure no one got shot. Gun safety was very important.

Dusty nodded. "I would like that." She pulled his gloves off and handed them back. "I better go. I don't want to be late for work."

[Eddie Locksley]

"Maybe, that sounds like fun," Eddie grinned at her, he wasn't as certain as her that he would be any good with it, but it was sweet of her to offer and he was genuinely excited to try it out.

"Oh, yea, of course," he skated a little closer and took the gloves back, sliding them back on his hands and finding himself blushing a little, they were still warm from her hands. The gloves on his hands had touched a girl, that was almost like holding hands, right? That was the closest he'd ever got to a girl that he wasn't related with, probably.

"It was really nice to meet you." he grinned

[Dusty Fae]

Dusty returned the smile. "It might be more work than fun, but I'd be happy to show you how." She'd have to be real careful to make sure no one got hurt, but that wouldn't be so bad. It would be fun to teach someone else how to shoot a gun. They didn't seem to be quite as popular around these parts.

"It was nice to meet you too," she said, backing away towards the door. She gave one last wave and then she was out of the building and away down the path towards the diner.

((end?))

[Eddie Locksley]

Eddie waved goodbye, he was so delighted with how the whole encounter had gone that he didn't stop waving until she was completely out of sight, and then he started skating backwards round the rink, wooping at having a successful, nice conversation with a girl.
Once he'd built up speed he threw himself in a lutz, she had worn his gloves! A few more pushes of his skates and straight into an axel, she was going to show him how to shoot! A double lutz, he was going to teach her how to excite! Another axel, she didn't think he was lame for figure skating, she thought it was impressive!
He spun at one end of the rink, launching himself back and building up speed, his toe pick went down, he was so ready for the triple lutz, he was definitely going to pull it off, he-

He never got her name. No name, no contact information, no plans made for when all these lessons were going to take place, nothing.

The second hesitation was all it took, the jump went wrong and he was sent sprawling across the ice, sliding a few feet and almost bumping into the edge of the rink.

He was an idiot.

((end))