Discovered in the Wrapping Paper - 6th January - Prosfic - Skater Boys
Skater Boys
by Slantedlight
For firlefanzine
"Just get down there, he says." Doyle was practically spitting with rage as they walked past the rows of tiered seats to a - somewhat - quieter area. "Just blend in and keep an eye out, he says." He stopped abruptly enough that Bodie almost ran into him, plonked himself down on the wooden bench, and yanked one of his trainers off. “We’ve not had an afternoon off in weeks, and…”
Bodie sat down beside him and gave him a sideways glance before reaching down to unlace his own brogues. "Cool it, Ray," he suggested, without much hope. "We'll probably never lay eyes on the man. Jax and Benny'll pull him in the staffroom and we'll go home and..."
"With our luck? Struthers'll turn up as soon as we've got these bloody things on!" He frowned down at the white boots, then picked one up as if it might bite him, and started pulling it on.
"Then it still won't be our problem - we just radio him in and the lads on the doors take care of it. What're you worried about?"
"Apart from slicing me own feet off on these blades?" Doyle had got one of the skates laced up, and was glaring at the other one. "Nothing at all mate, everything's great!"
"They're not that sharp!" Bodie held out one of his own boots, and ran his finger down the blade. "Ouch!" He snatched it away again and put it in his mouth, hoping Doyle hadn't seen the blood welling from the cut.
No such luck. "Hope your tetanus is up to date," Doyle said. "And you won't mind if it's you I crash-land on feet first."
"What, Raymond Twinkletoes Pavlova? Not a chance - elegance personified, that's you." He was probably the one that was going to end up a graceless mess on the ice, all things considering. He'd been ice-skating just once, years ago when he was a kid, and one of his so-called friends had convinced him the girl he fancied was going to be there. He'd spent the hour getting cold and clutching desperately at the sides of the ice rink in between teetering like a baby lamb on... well, on ice. And Lillian never had showed up. On the bright side, a girl called Dana had played a request song on the rink's radio station, for the boy who kept crashing into the walls, and they'd gone out for nearly a month after that... Got to third base, too…
"Alright then, come on."
"What?" Doyle had got his other boot on while he'd been wool-gathering, and was now standing up on his blades, one hand on the barrier around the rink, holding him safely steady, the other on his hip as he looked sternly down at Bodie.
Bodie pulled on his skates and laced them rapidly, then stood up himself - too fast. He swayed on his feet for a moment, and then sat down again, hard and surprised. "Fucking hell..."
He struggled back to his feet, more slowly this time, reaching out a hand to balance himself on Doyle's shoulder. Doyle wavered slightly, but he slid his own hand onto Bodie’s waist, steadying him as they went, and when Bodie looked at him, he was grinning, and that was much better - one of his big, whiter-than-white properly cheerful grins. "Come on then, Robin," he said. "Let's get you onto the ice."
The problem with their quiet spot was that it was yards away from one of the gaps that led out onto the rink. "Does that make you Batman?" Bodie asked, as they tottered along together. "Never knew he could ice skate."
That got another amused grin from Doyle. "Cousins, you fool," he said. "Gold medal at Lake Placid!"
"Oh yeah..." Well, it wasn't like skating was his sport any more than Doyle's, was it? He could think of much more interesting things to do with a Friday afternoon, and most of them involved being somewhere in the warm with Doyle, as they had been just before Cowley's call came in, not out freezing their bollocks off in Struther’s local skating rink, waiting for him to show up. In fact how did Doyle know about Robin Cousins? The name rang a bell now he said it together, but... And then they were there, at the brink of the rink.
"Remember, keep an eye out for Struthers," he instructed. "I know you'll be watching me and trying to learn, but..." He stepped onto the ice, and one leg immediately went out from under him, so that he had to clutch wildly at the barrier to stay upright.
"Trying to learn what not to do, you mean?" Doyle asked, and he was grinning again, his good humour apparently completely restored by watching Bodie come undone. He took his own step from the safety of the nice dry floor onto the ice, pushing off to pass close by Bodie, their jackets brushing together, and stopping by the wall on his other side. "Hey, this isn't too bad."
Bodie watched him, and sniffed haughtily. "Just got to get used to it," he said. "Take it slow. Nice and..."
Doyle launched himself towards the centre of the rink, taking cautious steps that already looked like actual skating. He'd been joking about Doyle's elegance, of course he had been, but Doyle was elegant out on the ice, and he didn't look anything like a beginner...
Wait a minute.
Bodie frowned, as Doyle picked up his pace and began skating huge circles around the rink. After a minute or so he gave sort of half-turn, so that he was skating backwards. A girl in a short pink skating dress, with long blonde hair in a ponytail and bright red lipstick was eyeing him appreciatively.
He'd been had.
Doyle began another circuit of the rink, and Bodie saw him smiling at the blonde as he went past - and gave a sort of jump, so that he was skating forwards again. The blonde smiled back.
Right. Two could play at that game. Bodie took a step further along the wall, then another and another, then lifted his hand so that it was floating over the barrier as he went, not touching it. There - easy, much easier than when he was a kid. He looked up and around to see where Doyle was, felt his balance go, and slammed his hand down hard on the barrier again, coming to a stop. He spotted Doyle just as he regained his equilibrium, ignoring the blonde now, and eyes on Bodie as he skated around, looking slightly worried.
Bodie glanced behind himself, in case Struthers had shown up and was the focus of that look, but the benches were empty except for the odd pair of spotty teenagers and a few mums with younger kids.
Bodie tried a few more tentative steps, hand safely on the barrier. He would have pretended to wobble if he needed to, but he felt as pathetic on the ice again as he had done when he was fourteen, and when he glanced up carefully from under his eyelashes, he was gratified to see Doyle’s gaze still following him.
The boy who kept crashing into the walls.
New game.
He carried on skating slowly around, only half his attention on staying upright now. Sure enough, Doyle broke off his confident circuits, and glided smoothly across to intercept him. “Alright, mate?” he asked, frowning again. “I thought you said you’d been skating before.”
Bodie shot him a wounded look. “Do I look like I’ve been skating before?” He injected a little Scouse into it. “I’ll be fine once I’ve got me sea legs. Just got to stick close…” He gestured to the wall around the skating rink.
Doyle was shaking his head. “Confidence - that’s all it takes. Here, hold onto me.” He reached out both hands and took Bodie’s, then pulled them both away from the wall, skating backwards so that Doyle’s attention was all on Bodie, Bodie was gazing happily into his eyes as they went, and their hands were warm between them. They passed the blonde, who scrunched her face into a moue as they skated by, and Bodie looked briefly away himself to give her a brilliant smile.
Doyle tugged slightly on one of his hands, and then started explaining where to put his weight so that he was less likely to overbalance.
Bodie nodded attentively, hoped Struthers was cosied up somewhere far away. Yeah, he just had to take it nice and slow…
o0o
Title: Skater Boys
Author: Slantedlight
Slash or Gen: Always slash!
Archive at ProsLib/Circuit: Certainly
Disclaimer: Bodie, Doyle, and the CI5-verse do not belong to me, I'm just enjoying some time with them.
Notes: For firlefanzine, who requested "Skating".
by Slantedlight
For firlefanzine
"Just get down there, he says." Doyle was practically spitting with rage as they walked past the rows of tiered seats to a - somewhat - quieter area. "Just blend in and keep an eye out, he says." He stopped abruptly enough that Bodie almost ran into him, plonked himself down on the wooden bench, and yanked one of his trainers off. “We’ve not had an afternoon off in weeks, and…”
Bodie sat down beside him and gave him a sideways glance before reaching down to unlace his own brogues. "Cool it, Ray," he suggested, without much hope. "We'll probably never lay eyes on the man. Jax and Benny'll pull him in the staffroom and we'll go home and..."
"With our luck? Struthers'll turn up as soon as we've got these bloody things on!" He frowned down at the white boots, then picked one up as if it might bite him, and started pulling it on.
"Then it still won't be our problem - we just radio him in and the lads on the doors take care of it. What're you worried about?"
"Apart from slicing me own feet off on these blades?" Doyle had got one of the skates laced up, and was glaring at the other one. "Nothing at all mate, everything's great!"
"They're not that sharp!" Bodie held out one of his own boots, and ran his finger down the blade. "Ouch!" He snatched it away again and put it in his mouth, hoping Doyle hadn't seen the blood welling from the cut.
No such luck. "Hope your tetanus is up to date," Doyle said. "And you won't mind if it's you I crash-land on feet first."
"What, Raymond Twinkletoes Pavlova? Not a chance - elegance personified, that's you." He was probably the one that was going to end up a graceless mess on the ice, all things considering. He'd been ice-skating just once, years ago when he was a kid, and one of his so-called friends had convinced him the girl he fancied was going to be there. He'd spent the hour getting cold and clutching desperately at the sides of the ice rink in between teetering like a baby lamb on... well, on ice. And Lillian never had showed up. On the bright side, a girl called Dana had played a request song on the rink's radio station, for the boy who kept crashing into the walls, and they'd gone out for nearly a month after that... Got to third base, too…
"Alright then, come on."
"What?" Doyle had got his other boot on while he'd been wool-gathering, and was now standing up on his blades, one hand on the barrier around the rink, holding him safely steady, the other on his hip as he looked sternly down at Bodie.
Bodie pulled on his skates and laced them rapidly, then stood up himself - too fast. He swayed on his feet for a moment, and then sat down again, hard and surprised. "Fucking hell..."
He struggled back to his feet, more slowly this time, reaching out a hand to balance himself on Doyle's shoulder. Doyle wavered slightly, but he slid his own hand onto Bodie’s waist, steadying him as they went, and when Bodie looked at him, he was grinning, and that was much better - one of his big, whiter-than-white properly cheerful grins. "Come on then, Robin," he said. "Let's get you onto the ice."
The problem with their quiet spot was that it was yards away from one of the gaps that led out onto the rink. "Does that make you Batman?" Bodie asked, as they tottered along together. "Never knew he could ice skate."
That got another amused grin from Doyle. "Cousins, you fool," he said. "Gold medal at Lake Placid!"
"Oh yeah..." Well, it wasn't like skating was his sport any more than Doyle's, was it? He could think of much more interesting things to do with a Friday afternoon, and most of them involved being somewhere in the warm with Doyle, as they had been just before Cowley's call came in, not out freezing their bollocks off in Struther’s local skating rink, waiting for him to show up. In fact how did Doyle know about Robin Cousins? The name rang a bell now he said it together, but... And then they were there, at the brink of the rink.
"Remember, keep an eye out for Struthers," he instructed. "I know you'll be watching me and trying to learn, but..." He stepped onto the ice, and one leg immediately went out from under him, so that he had to clutch wildly at the barrier to stay upright.
"Trying to learn what not to do, you mean?" Doyle asked, and he was grinning again, his good humour apparently completely restored by watching Bodie come undone. He took his own step from the safety of the nice dry floor onto the ice, pushing off to pass close by Bodie, their jackets brushing together, and stopping by the wall on his other side. "Hey, this isn't too bad."
Bodie watched him, and sniffed haughtily. "Just got to get used to it," he said. "Take it slow. Nice and..."
Doyle launched himself towards the centre of the rink, taking cautious steps that already looked like actual skating. He'd been joking about Doyle's elegance, of course he had been, but Doyle was elegant out on the ice, and he didn't look anything like a beginner...
Wait a minute.
Bodie frowned, as Doyle picked up his pace and began skating huge circles around the rink. After a minute or so he gave sort of half-turn, so that he was skating backwards. A girl in a short pink skating dress, with long blonde hair in a ponytail and bright red lipstick was eyeing him appreciatively.
He'd been had.
Doyle began another circuit of the rink, and Bodie saw him smiling at the blonde as he went past - and gave a sort of jump, so that he was skating forwards again. The blonde smiled back.
Right. Two could play at that game. Bodie took a step further along the wall, then another and another, then lifted his hand so that it was floating over the barrier as he went, not touching it. There - easy, much easier than when he was a kid. He looked up and around to see where Doyle was, felt his balance go, and slammed his hand down hard on the barrier again, coming to a stop. He spotted Doyle just as he regained his equilibrium, ignoring the blonde now, and eyes on Bodie as he skated around, looking slightly worried.
Bodie glanced behind himself, in case Struthers had shown up and was the focus of that look, but the benches were empty except for the odd pair of spotty teenagers and a few mums with younger kids.
Bodie tried a few more tentative steps, hand safely on the barrier. He would have pretended to wobble if he needed to, but he felt as pathetic on the ice again as he had done when he was fourteen, and when he glanced up carefully from under his eyelashes, he was gratified to see Doyle’s gaze still following him.
The boy who kept crashing into the walls.
New game.
He carried on skating slowly around, only half his attention on staying upright now. Sure enough, Doyle broke off his confident circuits, and glided smoothly across to intercept him. “Alright, mate?” he asked, frowning again. “I thought you said you’d been skating before.”
Bodie shot him a wounded look. “Do I look like I’ve been skating before?” He injected a little Scouse into it. “I’ll be fine once I’ve got me sea legs. Just got to stick close…” He gestured to the wall around the skating rink.
Doyle was shaking his head. “Confidence - that’s all it takes. Here, hold onto me.” He reached out both hands and took Bodie’s, then pulled them both away from the wall, skating backwards so that Doyle’s attention was all on Bodie, Bodie was gazing happily into his eyes as they went, and their hands were warm between them. They passed the blonde, who scrunched her face into a moue as they skated by, and Bodie looked briefly away himself to give her a brilliant smile.
Doyle tugged slightly on one of his hands, and then started explaining where to put his weight so that he was less likely to overbalance.
Bodie nodded attentively, hoped Struthers was cosied up somewhere far away. Yeah, he just had to take it nice and slow…
o0o
Title: Skater Boys
Author: Slantedlight
Slash or Gen: Always slash!
Archive at ProsLib/Circuit: Certainly
Disclaimer: Bodie, Doyle, and the CI5-verse do not belong to me, I'm just enjoying some time with them.
Notes: For firlefanzine, who requested "Skating".