Old Magician, New Tricks
by Laura Boeff
"I'm going to be very mad at you if I break something."
"Hey, this was your idea."
Ace looked up into the grinning continence of his teenage companion
Cosmo.
"You're suppose to tell me when I'm about to do something stupid.
That's why you're my partner," he pointed out.
Cosmo just laughed.
"You're not doing something stupid, Ace. Now taking Vega up on
that career day presentation at the elementary school... That was a dumb
idea."
Ace nodded. "Oh yea. Whoever thought my hardest audience would
be a bunch of 13 year olds?" he moaned dramatically, then eyed his feet.
"I'll still be less than thrilled if I break something."
"Come on, you'll do fine." Cosmo waited as he finished snugging
the rollerblades to his feet. "I've never known you not to be the
best at whatever you do, Ace," the teen pointed out.
"Ahh, but then, I've never rollerbladed before," Ace countered.
Cosmo waved it off. "You'll be great, as always," he said confidently.
Ace could only hope so as he carefully pushed himself up, off the bench,
Cosmo immediately catching his arm as he started to roll forward.
"Whoa," Ace gasped. It was a completely new sensation to not
have his feet on solid ground. Cosmo grinned as he regained his balance.
It was a beautiful day out. Early spring, with the sun high above and a
warm breeze billowing over them, and today, Ace was going to learn how
to rollerblade.
He hoped.
"This might have been a bad idea," he murmured, leg muscles cording
as he tried to keep himself from doing the splits.
"Point your toes in a little when you're stopped. It'll help
you hold still," Cosmo suggested, and Ace did so finding it did help. The
teen grinned up at him and Ace couldn't help but smile back.
"Ready?"
"No. But when has that stopped me?" Ace laughed. Cosmo
let out a snort and came alongside him.
"Okay, you'll want to push back, but angle your foot a touch
when you do so to get a little friction. Like this."
Ace watched as Cosmo effortlessly pushed off, his movements slow
and exaggerated to show Ace what he was doing. Ace watched carefully, noting
how Cosmo kept his opposite leg slightly bent, but rigid, while the pushing
leg extended.
"Okay," he murmured and very tentatively pushed off, arms going
out immediately for balance as he moved with a less then graceful lurch.
Cosmo caught one pinwheeling arm, offering balance as Ace tried
to push off with the other foot.
"That's it, dude! We'll have you high flying before you know
it," Cosmo declared. Ace snorted, keeping his eyes forward as he tried
to keep both feet heading in the same direction.
"See, you're doing it," Cosmo praised, skating easily besides
him. Backwards.
"I'm moving, I'll settle for that," Ace chuckled ruefully. He
tried to relax into the motion of skating. Tried to feel some ease whenever
he pushed off, but for some reason he just couldn't seem to relax. It was
so alien, moving without his feet touching the ground. His respect for
Cosmo's own skating skills went up a notch. The young man moved like liquid
on his rollerblades.
"Don't look down all the time," Cosmo ordered. "You're thinking
to much about it, bro. Just let it happen."
"Like you let it happen when you skated in front of that car?"
Ace asked teasingly. Cosmo threw him a glare.
"Not quite, bud." Cosmo had suffered a busted leg for that incident,
but Ace knew more damage had been done to the young man's ego. Smiling,
Ace tried to follow Cosmo's advice and not watch his feet. He looked around,
looked ahead, looked at Cosmo. And it seemed to be easier. He seemed to
be moving with a bit more confidence. And he kicked a little harder, gaining
a little speed.
"Hey, at this pace, you'll be doing tricks before the days out,"
Cosmo laughed, riding the curb along the path for emphasis as they moved
deeper into the park.
"No need to rush," Ace returned, though he did push a little
harder, going faster. This was fun. It felt great, the wind in his hair.
It reminded him of the jetpack, but without the weight. He increased his
speed again.
"Ace, maybe you should slow down," Cosmo warned, frowning slightly.
"I haven't shown you how to stop."
"So how do you stop?" Ace asked as they approached a lazy turn
in the path. Cosmo shrugged. "Couple different ways actually, but
the best for beginners is the jump stop. You basically do a little bunny
hop and land sideways."
"Sounds easy enough," Ace commented, letting himself coast to
a slower speed. "Let me try it."
"Wait, there's a bit more to it!" Cosmo gasped. "Let me show
you."
Ace nodded. "Okay. I'm watching," he assured.
Cosmo grinned, skating backwards again in front of him. "Okay,
the real trick to a jump stop is having your body angled enough to suck
up your momentum. Otherwise, you fall right over," Cosmo explained confidently.
"Should you be skating backwards?" Ace asked as they approached
the slow curve.
"I do it all the time, don't worry," Cosmo laughed, shrugging
it off.
"But what about that gravel?" Ace asked, eyes going forward,
past Cosmo.
"Gravel?" The teen looked over his shoulder just as they hit
a patch of gravel that had been kicked up from the curb onto the path.
Cosmo let out a wild yelp, stagger stepping as the coarse stones
fouled up his wheels. Ace attempted to dodge the small mess, heading for
the cleaner section of the path but his way was suddenly blocked by a wall
of off balance Cosmo.
It was Ace's turn to let out a yelp of surprise as they collided.
The magician suddenly found his balance tossed out the window as he went
stumbling madly. Cosmo made a desperate grab for him, but he only succeeded
in hitting Ace's elbow, sending the older man spinning; losing all control.
The magician fought to regain his footing, but his footing included wheels
and he found himself madly stumbling sideways off the path and down a small
incline.
...Heading straight for a huge patch of mud formed by the rain
of last night.
"Ace!" The cry came as Ace lost his balance altogether and did
a neat little swan dive right into the mud.
For a moment, there was no sound beyond the distant traffic beyond
the park and the occasional call of birds. Then, Ace heaved a sighed and
pushed himself up onto his elbows.
"Ace?"
Ace rolled over, resigned to fact that there was no way to avoid
getting muddier. He sat there, fingers sinking in the squishy mess and
looked up at his friend. Cosmo was trying so very hard not to break out
laughing that he looked ready to turn purple. Mouth clamped tightly shut
despite the grin threatening to split his face.
"You had better not say one word. Not one."
"Not saying anything, Ace."
"Not a word."
"Not a word, Ace."
"Not one?"
"Well....."
Ace raised an eyebrow at him. Purple. Cosmo was definitely turning
purple from trying to hold it in.
"Opps?"
Ace gave into the evil voice in his head demanding retribution.
Cosmo didn't even try to dodge as the mud ball smacked him square in the
chest. He did heave in laughter, doubling over as more mud flew his way.
"I'm dying here, Ace, I'm dying!" he wailed, laughter ripping
from him in waves.
"Then allow me to introduce you to your grave." Ace lurched forward,
caught a handful of brightly colored shirt and fell back, bringing the
giggling Cosmo with him.
Splonk!
Mud went everywhere as both men fell into the puddle.
"Gives new meaning," Cosmo managed around his gasping laughter,
all the while hurling a mud ball at his partner, "to the saying, 'fighting
dirty'."
"Oh, extra punishment for that," Ace moaned melodramatically,
grabbing the neck of Cosmo's shirt.
"Hey, whoa, stop!" The pleas were to no avail as Ace delivered
a load of mud down the teen's shirt.
"Oh man!" Cosmo frantically attempting to untuck his shirt, to
release the oozing sludge. "Oh, that feels weird."
"Do tell?"
"Rather demonstrate."
Ace let out an "ouff" as Cosmo tackled him, the two sliding and
rolling in the slick mess till Ace found himself doing a belly flop in
the mire. Then he felt something else.
Cosmo pulling up the waist band of his pants.
"Don't you dare!"
The threat came too late as Cosmo delivered a load of mud right
down his partner's pants. Ace threw him off, rolling over but the damage
was already done. Not that there was much he could do in retribution. Cosmo
himself was now covered head to toe in mud, only a few rogue red hairs
escaping the filthy mess. But that fact didn't keep Ace from throwing a
token mud ball in protest.
"Remind me why I like you?" Ace muttered good-naturedly.
Cosmo laughed and grinned, gray eyes shining.
"My excellent teaching skills?"
That earn Cosmo another mud ball, which only added to Cosmo's
mirth.
Though he had squishy mud places a grown man should not fell
squishy, Ace couldn't help but laugh with his friend, shaking his head
as they both sat giggling like fools. Smiling, Ace flopped back in the
quagmire, admiring the fine, bright sky above.
"Wish I had my camera," Cosmo chuckled, flopping down beside
him, arms behind his head. Ace giggled again. Oh, what a sight it must
be, the two of them lounging in a mud puddle.
"Well, picture or not, I'm sure we'll be taking home some souvenirs,"
Ace remarked wryly, letting a blob of mud fall from his hand onto Cosmo's
chest. The teen didn't even fight. Not like Ace was doing anymore damage.
"This is fun. We should do it more often," Cosmo commented.
"The skating lesson or the mud bath?"
"Both."
"Once is enough for this magician," Ace snorted. "On both counts."
Cosmo chuckled and grinned. "Not mad, are you?"
Ace smiled, noting that there was a smidgen of worry in Cosmo's
voice.
"Nope, not at all."
Cosmo grinned. "Cool."
"How can I be mad?" Ace continued, an evil smile gracing his
lips as he pushed himself up on one elbow to look at his younger friend.
"After all, it's your turn to do the laundry."
Ace just laughed at the loud moan that erupted from his partner.
"Oh man..."