A/N: So I'm all over the place. My mind has no limit to where to put the boys in.
I watched this anime that I LOVE called Yurri on ice and basically got inspired by that. Enjoy!
He closed his eyes as he inhaled deeply. The cool air rushed passed him as he glided along, listening to the music in his head. His feet danced, coming off the ground a couple of times as he shifted. Graceful hands moved fluidly, stretching their full length before coming to wrap around his body in a hug. Pushing himself into a spin, he crouched down to gain momentum before rising from it and gliding once more before coming to a stop. Opening his eyes, Ezra let out a deep breath and looked around the skating rink. Vin was over by the barrier, checking his phone.
Frowning, Ezra skated over to him. "Are you going to join me for practice or are you planning on slacking off for the next hour and a half?"
"Calm down. Your mother, I mean coach, isn't arriving for another twenty minutes. There's no rush to warm up yet." Vin mumbled, waving Ezra away.
"You should take advantage of the empty rink and practice your jumps." Ezra crossed his arms over his chest.
Vin looked over his shoulder and smiled at his friend. Ezra was, if nothing else, a dutiful son. Always showing up for practice and never slacked off. He did particularly well in the State competition, placing fourth. Vin had gotten fifth, barely qualifying for Nationals. Where Vin had natural talent that he never used, Ezra spent years of practicing to get to where he was. He could tell that his not trying as hard, annoyed the other man.
"Fine. Just let me watch this last Youtube video."
Ezra sighed and pushed himself away from the barrier and to the center of the ice to start his routine again. Raising his hands and getting into position, he was about to start when he heard a loud ruckus that caused him to break his concentration.
Vin was closer to the door and watched as four men came out onto the ice. Two of them were rather boisterous, goofing off and pushing each other around. The last man who entered the rink was quiet looking. His mind seeming to be far away as he skated pass Ezra and to the end of the rink. Ezra clicked his tongue and skated over to Vin who had lost interest in his video and was watching the newcomers.
"Haven't seen them around here before."
"Bunch of lug-heads, that's for certain. Most likely hockey players or just first timers goofing off."
"Well if that's the case, I think it best to get out of their way so as not to get caught up in their mayhem."
"We were here first. Why should we yield the rink?"
"Because we have the time and there is no reason to exhaust ourselves before the coach even arrives."
Ezra complained, but kept to the edge as the four newcomers did a small circle at the end before lining up. All the while they were still talking until one of them began to do a count down. When the call to start was shouted, the four men took off at top speed like a race horse. The blond easily taking the lead and was followed by youngest. The man who had been talking animatedly with the youngest was third and the dark-skinned man brought up the rear. They did suicides, each time, hitting a different line until meeting in the middle and coming to a stop. The blond had almost begun to lap the others and when he had finished, he glided close to Vin and Ezra. He barely acknowledging them as he did a cool-down by skating along the edge of the rink.
The speed picked up when all four of the men were together and they bent down close to the ice as they made their turns. Gloved fingers touched the surface to help with their balance. It was interesting to watch.
"You definitely can't call them beginners." Vin murmured.
"Still, they are in our way." Ezra said before making his way over to them. Vin followed, setting his phone down on the wall. "If you gentlemen are just here to skate around in circles then I'd appreciate it if you do that at a later time when we are not in practice."
"Practice? What sport?" asked the youngest man.
"Figure skating."
The tall man with a mustache snickered and a smile was breaking across the youngest man's face as well.
"It's an extremely competitive sport, Buck. You should not take their sport lightly." Said the dark-skinned man."
"Thank you." Ezra nodded to him.
"You need the whole rink to do your dance?" asked the youngest again.
"Not—"
"Yes we do." Ezra cut Vin off. "It would be bad to hit someone on accident."
"I don't see how your practice is more important than ours." The man called Buck frowned.
"What is it you're practicing for?"
"Ice Cross Downhill battle." The youngest grinned.
"Ice Cross? I don't know what that is." Ezra frowned in confusion.
"It's the Red Bull Crashed Ice competition. I was just watching the recap. Team Flash. That's you guys, right?" asked Vin with excitement.
"Yep." Buck beamed, glad to be recognized by a fan.
"Ezra, they've out raced, some wickedly fast teams." Vin explained for his friend, "There was this douchebag who tried to knocked one of you guys over and yet you still won."
"Yeah. They were idiots to think they could beat Chris." Buck threw an arm over said man's shoulder.
Vin looked like a kid meeting his idol, "I'm a huge fan of yours. I was bummed that I was out of state during the last competition. Sucks what happened."
Chris only nodded.
"Care to share with those who don't know what happened?" asked Ezra, getting impatient.
"Guy took a swipe at Chris's leg and he sprained it. He had to sit out of the next race, but got second."
"So you all skate downhill races then?"
"Yeah." Nodded Buck.
"Then why come to a rink which is a flat surface?"
"Well we have to take our time to let Chris get comfortable skating again before hitting the slopes." Explained the dark-skinned man.
"Ezra. This here is Chris Larabee, they call him the human bull-dozer. JD Dunne, the bullet train. Buck Wilmington and Nathan Jackson."
"Yeah, we don't exactly have nicknames given to us." Buck chuckled. "Sometimes I get called the linebacker, but that isn't always nice to hear and it's confusing because people think football."
"I'm usually on the side lines unless someone gets injured," Nathan shrugged, "Plus I'm not full of myself and give my own nickname."
"Bullet train is cool though." JD protested.
"Yeah, if you were the faster skater it'd be accurate, kid. The only time when you were able to beat Chris was when he was still recovering."
"Well this is all nice and everything, but we really do need to start practicing." Ezra got back on point.
"Oh yeah sure." Nathan nodded. He, JD and Chris made their way to the gate. Buck however stayed behind.
"I still think what you all do is easy."
"Really?" Ezra rose an eyebrow. "Care to make a wager on that?"
"Fine. I bet, Chris can pull off one of your jumps after five minutes of learning it."
"What?" Chris slid to a stop and looked at his friend as if he were wearing one of those embarrassing skating outfits and makeup.
"Not confident you could do it yourself?" Ezra mused.
"Didn't make a point in saying I had to do it. Chris is the fastest at picking up new things."
"Fine. Vin, teach him how to do a jump. If he can land it in five minutes, then what do you want?"
"To admit that figure skating is a female sport."
"That's just sexist." Nathan shook his head.
"Fine, treat us to drinks."
"And I can get a ticket to your next competition." Vin added.
Ezra glared at his friend.
Vin shrugged, "Hey, I'm pretty confident in my teaching skills. Plus, I want to go to a competition.
"Fine, and if we win then you won't interrupt our practices again."
"Deal."
"So I'm going to teach you how to do a salchow which is the easiest jump." Vin said as he and Chris stood several feet apart. They were at the end of the rink while the others were either sitting on the sidelines with phones in hands to document this, or skating at the other side.
"Okay. That sounds good to me."
"Are you sure you want to do this? I mean you were injured."
"I'm fine. Just show me how to do the jump."
Vin nodded, "I'll do it a couple of times so you can see what it looks like."
Chris watched as Vin skated backwards for a while and then did the toe pick into the ice and then fly. He landed gracefully, doing only one full rotation.
Chris tilted his head to the side, trying to figure who the heck he was supposed to pull that off. He never understood how figure skaters could get their feet off the ground other than the times they do it to help push them forward. To actually jump with that kind of weight was ridiculous.
Vin did it a couple more times before returning to Chris.
"So, what you're going to do is…"
Ezra watched with interest as the quiet blond went through the motions of learning a salchow. The man didn't actually do the jump, always stopping before doing it. His friends on the sidelines would cheer him on, reminding him how much more time was on the clock.
When the five minutes were up, everyone came onto the ice to watch. Chris still hadn't completed a successful jump yet, falling on his butt to the amusement of his friends. He only gave a scowl before picking himself up and trying again.
"Well, it's time. Are you ready or do you prefer to forfeit?" Ezra wasn't the kind of person who'd let another man humiliate themselves for something so small as a bet.
"I got it." Chris said confidently.
Vin helped him get into position and everyone quieted down. Ezra watched as Chris skated around a few times in a wide circle before flipping to where he was skating backwards, when he took off. Ezra and Vin both noticed as soon as he took off the ground that he wasn't doing a salchow. He spun in the air once before coming down, his hand touching ice to keep him from falling on his butt again.
His friends all cheered and Ezra and Vin looked at one another.
"You lost! Told you Chris could learn a simple jump." Buck beamed.
"That wasn't a salchow."
"You saying that his jump didn't count?" Nathan frowned in confusion.
"No, what Ezra means is that while it wasn't a salchow, Chris did a lutz jump. That's the second hardest to learn."
"If that's the case then they're all the same to me." Chris muttered.
"I must say you show some amazing skill. While it was not perfectly executed and the landing was rough, you were able to do a difficult jump."
"No compliments will get you out of buying drinks." Buck grinned.
The four men skated off the ice and began taking off their skates.
"I believe that was more entertaining than practicing the same routine again, wouldn't you say?" asked Vin with a sly smile.
"Stop stalling and practice already. Mother will be here shortly."
After practice, Ezra walked out of the rink palace with Vin. Their bags slung over their shoulders as they walked to their respective vehicles.
"When's the next downhill competition?"
"Next month." Vin smiled, "Would you like to come with me?"
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to see what this sport is about."
"We can ask them for another ticket at the bar. JD gave me his phone number and so did Chris."
"Don't start squealing like a girl when he texts you."
"I wouldn't squeal." Vin frowned, offended.
"I believe your voice got a little higher in pitch when you said his name."
"It did not!"
Ezra continued to tease his friend until they were in their cars. It would seem that Ezra was buying drinks tonight. At least the company was worth being around.
"Yes, I feel like things will now be interesting."