Molly and Martin slowly made their way out of South Kensington station, Molly shoving her oyster card back into her bag and Martin binning his ticket, as the latter guided them outside and towards the natural history museum.
"So –ehm, what are the plans for today? A museum?" Molly asked, sounding both curious and the tiniest bit worried. "The science museum again? Did they get another aeroplane thing in again or something? Not that I'm- not that I'm complaining it was lovely last time and it was your turn to choose where we went today but-"
"What? No, no science museum today. Don't worry, Molls." Martin interrupted her. "No aeroplanes today. I swear." He smiled faintly at her, still a bit disappointed she didn't share his passion for aeroplanes with him. "No, I think it's something you like a bit more- you'll see it in a bit."
The couple walked in silence for a bit while Martin tried to get their tickets out of his pocket until they reached the ice rink.
"See, ice skating, you like this more right?" He asked hopefully, gently nudging Molly, his face falling slightly as he saw the pathologist brows knit together, her expression not quite what he was hoping for.
"Not good?" The pilot asked, carefully eying his girlfriend. "Ehm- no, I mean, yes it's good, it's lovely but- it's good." Molly answered him slightly baffled, looking over at the people who were already on the rink.
"That doesn't sound too convincing, Molls." Martin remarked.
"No, really- it's okay, it's lovely. Ice-skating is –ehm, ice-skating is fun, I'm sure it'll be fun. I'm sure it'll all be fine. It's just that it's been a while since I last ice-skated- " Molly got interrupted mid-sentence.
"Oh, is that it? Don't worry, you'll pick it up easily again. I hadn't ice-skated since I was a kid but I picked it up after a few minutes when I tried it again- I tried it when I came to buy us tickets last week, just to make sure I could still do it."
"Ehm- okay but Martin, I haven't really ice-skated much? I did it like once and I stopped after 20 minutes or something because I fell flat on my face and- well …"
"Wait, you can't- well, doesn't matter. I'll teach you, I'm quite good at it and- ehm, I'll bet you pick it up quickly." Martin tried to reassure him, for once confident in himself. "We'll just give it a go and see how things go, okay? We can always stop- I mean, there are probably still a couple of aeroplanes we missed the last few times we visited the museum." He teased her before pulling her into a hug, letting go off her a few moments later.
Half an hour later when they both had their borrowed ice-skates on they carefully, Molly especially, made their way over the actual ice rink. Martin was just a bit ahead of Molly as he smiled at her encouragingly to come over as she rather clumsily made her way over to him and the ice.
"Ready then? Ready for the ice, Molls?" He asked as he got on it himself, smoothly skating around a bit to show her how easy it was. "See, it's easy. Even I can do it." Martin grinned at her.
"What's that for an argument? You fly an aeroplane for a living, Martin." Molly protested as she carefully got onto the ice, immediately clinging to the sides for some support.
"Well- never mind, see- you're on the ice and you haven't fallen yet. You're doing great." He quickly changed subjects. "Just- look at me, I'll show you how to do-"
"No. No, Martin you're not going to skate off to somewhere to show me how, you're going to stay here with me." The pathologist interrupted him, her grip tightening around the railing. "You're not going to just skate off, Crieff." She squeaked, sounding a bit panic-y and desperate.
"But Molly just hold tight to the railing and you won't fall- just watch me okay? I'll show you how to ice-skate."
"Crieff! No, you're going to stay here. I'm going to trip all over myself and I'd rather do that when you're around and-"
"Alright, alright Molls. I get it, I'll stay here. Come on, it'll be fine." Martin smiled at her once more, stretching out his hand towards her. "Here, take my hand."
Molly nodded her head, a bit relieved as she grabbed the pilot's hand, intertwining their fingers, pulling him a bit closer to her. "Good, this is good. At least if I'm going to fall I'm going to take you down with me now." She grinned, squeezing his hand and giving him a peck on his cheek as they carefully tried to ice-skate along.
