Annie stood next to the wooden bench, standing perfectly balanced on her laced ice skates with ease, as if it were as natural as standing in regular shoes. Armin was sitting down on the bench, fumbling with the buckles that were on his borrowed skates, standing up every so often to see how they felt before shaking his head and sitting down again to readjust them. Annie patiently waited for him as he continued this cycle, keeping herself occupied by observing the ice rink they were soon to skate on. There were several people skating on the ice, but not so many that the rink was particularly crowded; there was still a lot of space. Although it was a cloudy day, the cold temperature was bearable enough that it wasn't necessary for Annie to bundle up with many layers, only a jacket and a scarf over her clothes.
After over five minutes, Annie could only stand watching the ice rink and listening to Armin fumble with the skates for so much longer.
"Armin, what's taking you so long?"
"Sorry," Armin replied, looking up from his skates to give Annie an apologetic look. "I'm just not sure if these are the right size. They feel loose, but then when I tighten the buckles, they feel too tight…"
Annie sighed and crouched down in front of Armin. "No, they are the right size," she insisted as she undid the buckles on his skates so she could fix them. "You're not supposed to tighten them all the way; just enough so that they feel snug." After hearing the click of the buckle, Annie stood up and held a hand to help Armin up.
"Thanks," he said with a grateful smile, taking her hand and standing up from the seat.
His eyes suddenly widened as he violently wobbled where he stood, not used to the feeling of having his entire weight balanced on two thin blades. Annie gripped his hand to give him extra support until he managed to stand upright.
"Are you ok to make your way towards the rink?" Annie asked, looking at the unsteady blond with concern.
"Y-yeah," Armin hesitated.
"I'll be holding your hand the whole time," Annie promised, giving his hand a small squeeze to reassure him.
Armin returned the squeeze in gratitude. Tentatively, he lifted one foot from the ground and slowly moved it forward. With Annie beside him to keep him steady, he was able to make a step without falling, albeit very small step.
Annie looked towards the ice rink, the barely six metre distance between them and the wall now seeming like miles. Thankfully, when Armin became a bit more comfortable with the knowledge that he was standing on two blades, his steps weren't as small, and they were able to gradually make their way to the ice rink at a slightly faster pace.
Annie had to hold back a laugh that threatened to cause embarrassment to Armin. His concentrated expression, which involved him frowning while biting his bottom lip, along with his wobbly steps as he attempted to walk in the skates, his hand gripping Annie's the whole way; Annie found it absolutely adorable.
Upon reaching the outer edge of ice rink, Armin let go of Annie's hand and leaned against the wall, holding onto it with both hands. Annie walked over to the entrance of the rink, stepping onto the ice and gliding over to the other side of the wall, in front of Armin.
"Ready to go on the ice now?" she asked.
Armin's face took on a brief expression of horror once he realised that, after all the effort it took to make his way from the bench to the edge of the rink, he would now have to repeat the struggle on ice.
"Sure," he replied, his worried expression becoming one of determination.
Holding onto the wall with one hand, Armin made his way over to the entrance of the rink, not stumbling due to holding the sturdy wall and getting a bit more used to walking in skates. Looking down at the ice, he took a step forward onto it, only for his feet to slip out from under him, resulting in Armin falling onto his behind.
Annie skated over to Armin, laughing a little as she did, and pulled him up onto his feet, leading him to the edge of the rink. He collapsed onto it, draping his arms over the top of the wall.
"You're not laughing at me are you?" Armin turned towards her with a pout.
"No, not at all," Annie denied, biting her lip to keep from smiling.
Armin raised an eyebrow in clear disbelief.
"Just try to skate while holding onto the wall," Annie said, changing the subject.
Armin nodded and pulled himself up so that he was no longer slumped against the edge of the rink and was now in what resembled a standing position. He turned so that his right hand was holding onto the wall, then he briefly looked down at his feet and up again at Annie.
"How do I do this?"
Annie stood beside him to demonstrate. "You kind of push off of one foot and glide before changing to the other foot in a smooth action." She swivelled around on her skates so that she was travelling backwards as she faced Armin. "Give it a try."
Armin nodded and attempted to replicate the action that Annie had shown him. At first, his movements weren't taking him anywhere, but soon enough he was able to move by awkwardly shuffling his feet.
Annie sighed; this wasn't really going anywhere.
"Let's try something else," she suggested.
Armin nodded in agreement, having had the same thought as Annie.
"Take my hands," she instructed, holding them out to Armin.
Armin hesitated letting go of the wall for a moment before he reached out to shakily grab onto Annie's hands. Annie swiftly pushed on her skates and began to skate around the rink backwards, leading a wobbly Armin along with her.
"Annie, be careful…" Armin trailed off nervously.
"It's alright; I've got you," Annie assured him. "I won't let you fall."
They went around the ice rink together, Annie skating backwards effortlessly while pulling Armin along with her. Armin wasn't doing much of the actual skating at first, since he was still unsure about what to do. Once his initial fear of falling had passed, Armin stood up straighter, more confidently and less wobbly, as he got used to balancing on the ice, allowing Annie to pull him along more easily, which made the skating more enjoyable for Armin. As if Annie sensed Armin's enjoyment, she wordlessly began to speed up. She sent him a glance as if to ask "Is this ok?" Armin nodded enthusiastically with a smile. The sensation of the air rushing past him, whooshing through his hair as he and Annie sped around the rink, was one of exhilaration that he never would have felt remaining at the wall, or if Annie hadn't have been there to hold onto him. They were skating so smoothly; Annie seemed to be of such a high skill level that she could avoid every little bump on the ice as well as the other skaters, without even taking her eyes off Armin to watch behind her.
"Armin," she spoke up. "Why don't you try to skate as well?"
He tried to do it like Annie had shown him; pushing off one foot to glide on the other, before placing that foot down and pushing off the other one. It was easier for him now that he was already moving on the ice, as opposed to when he was standing at the wall. He began to get into a rhythm, repeating the skating action to match up with Annie's. Soon enough, their skating consisted less of Annie pulling Armin along, and more of the pair skating together in sync. Armin beamed at Annie, who smiled back at him.
Suddenly, Annie lurched backwards as she skated over a bump on the ice, having been too focused on Armin to watch where she was skating. Normally, she would have been able to remain standing despite tripping over the bump; however, she had forgotten that she was holding onto Armin who, although he was getting better, was still a beginner and would not have been able to remain upright. As she tried to steady herself, she unintentionally pulled Armin into her, and the both of them fell onto the ice, Annie landing on her back and Armin falling on top of her. Annie cursed under her breath for letting the two of them fall.
"Oh my god, are you ok?" Armin asked as he raised himself off Annie and onto his knees.
Annie sat up, rubbing the back of her head. "I'm fine, I'm fine. That was my fault."
"Are you sure you're fine?" Armin persisted, looking at her with worried eyes.
Annie stood up from where she fell, brushing off bits of ice off her clothes as she did, some off them falling in melted droplets. "Positive."
She reached down and pulled Armin up off the ice.
"Annie…" Armin said. "Maybe you shouldn't go backwards while looking out for me at the same time. I think I can skate on my own now."
"Are you sure?"
"Definitely," Armin insisted. "You don't have to hold onto me."
Annie paused for a moment before she let go of Armin's hands.
Armin stood on the ice, seeming lost for a second, now that he was neither holding on to the wall or to Annie's hands. He quickly regained himself and started to move on his own, slowly going through the skating actions he had been getting better at earlier. Once he recovered completely from the fall, his skating improved considerably too. The fact that Annie, the expert skater of the two, was skating alongside him was more motivation for him to try to catch up to her level. As he smoothly changed direction while going around the rink, he turned to shoot a smug glance towards Annie.
Annie smiled in amusement as he wobbled from his overconfidence. She swiftly moved in to catch him by the arm before he could fall again. Once she was sure he was steady, she didn't let go of him and instead slid her hand down his arm to hold his hand.
"I'm not letting you fall again," Annie declared.
"Who knew ice-skating could be so exhausting?" Armin sighed as he flopped down onto the couch, resting his legs and feet up on the cushions.
Annie walked over to the couch and lay down with him. "You were actually pretty good," she said. "Especially considering that you had never done it before."
"I'm nowhere near your level, though," Armin smiled at Annie. "I'm pretty sure I got a ton of bruises from falling over."
Armin rolled up the left sleeve of his sweater to show her the bruises that had been left from the when he had fallen on the ice as well as collapsed against the rink's wall. Armin winced when he saw just how purple the marks were.
Annie's hand reached out to tenderly hold his wrist. She leaned in and left light kisses on his arm, starting at his fingers and trailing all the way up to his shoulder, lingering whenever her lips came in contact with a bruise.
"Is that better?" Annie asked, looking up at Armin.
Armin cupped Annie's face in both hands and gently pulled her in close to place a soft kiss on her lips in reply. His hands moved from her cheeks to behind her head, holding her closer to deepen the kiss. He ran his fingers through her hair, her blonde locks soft and silky to the touch, until he stopped once he felt a bump on the back of Annie's head.
"You did get hurt from that fall," Armin pouted. "I'm sorry, that was my fault…"
"Hey, don't be like that," Annie warned. "I already told you that it was mine; I wasn't watching where I was leading us."
"Hmmm…" Armin was unconvinced.
Annie yawned and rolled over.
"Are you tired?" Armin asked.
Annie murmured in response, confirming Armin's question.
Armin wrapped his arms around Annie, pulling her in closer so that her back was up against his chest. He leaned forward and lightly kissed the back of Annie's head, right where the bump was. Annie sighed in contentment as she snuggled in even closer to Armin, entwining her legs with his and holding one of his hands to interlace their fingers.
Armin stroked Annie's hair with his free hand as her eyes fluttered closed, her face relaxing into a peaceful expression. He continued to stroke her hair until her breathing, slow and rhythmic, indicated that she had fallen asleep. Armin rested his head on Annie's and let his own eyes close.