AN: Hey guys, yes I do write more than just Stohn, can you believe it. This one shot was based off of a Tumblr prompt I got sent a while ago and I just finally got motivated to finish it. This story isn't really plot based, it's more so kind of a reflection on their relationship through Marina's POV? If that makes sense? I focused on emotional appeal and visuals if that helps. Enjoy!
The moment her beautiful yet incredibly clumsy boyfriend stepped a cautious foot out onto the ice, Marina had to hold herself back from racing across the cold surface of the rink to catch what she thought and feared would be his pending fall.
What she thought could break him.
Luckily, he had grabbed the railing in time. This time. She held back a laugh.
Marina always felt most comfortable when she was on the ice. The soft gliding of her skates as they tipped and slid in shapes along a frozen surface helped her find peace. She felt like she could do anything in a pair of ice skates and her signature knit scarf. And she wasn't just fond of it skating, she was good at it. Thanks to her hard work and all of the hours she put into this old ice rink, she was a figure skating instructor and the pay was very good.
She let her skates delicately cut the ice beneath her, feeling the rush of the chilled air against her cheeks and whip through her hair.
This was where she found herself best. This is also apparently where Naveen found her too.
The young, tan skinned boy came to the rink originally for a party. Marina forgot what the event was but she remembered he was the only one who didn't know how to skate.
"These things look dangerous, do they come apart? I could use a new shank," his laugh had been nervous but he tried to make her laugh nonetheless and it had worked. She found herself trying to stifle a snort, fully aware of his forest green eyes and kind smile watching her the entire time.
"Be careful out there, the ice can hurt if you slip hard enough," she had returned his smile with one of her own. It was her attempt of keeping her blush from pouring out of her cheeks.
He fell flat his first time on the ice. How could someone so charming be so nervous all at the same time? The second and third falls happened sometime later. After the fourth fall, he thought forward, that today was enough time on the ice, and sat on the railing that bordered the rink with his legs hanging down. He changed into a spare set of boots if he would have to jump down and hide from management. Lucky for her soon to be best friend, Marina already tipped off her employer about him.
"You're incredible," was the second thing he had breathed in awe to her. Marina had completed a basic combination of butterfly spins and toe jumps. It was basic to her as she has been skating all of her life. She can still feel her skin turning warm even this long after.
"I just like to figure skate is all," she quickly mumbled the reply. Her mistake was turning her head to look at him. The sparkle in his eyes never faltered, and his lips were parted in soulful amazement. He didn't have time to make a comment when one of his friends, a tall, tan boy with long black hair knotted in a painful bun, came and physically pulled him off the railing.
She only remembers what that boy looked like because he was the one who brought Naveen to their first official date. Stanley his name was. She remembers seeing Stanley's eyebrow angled up and the stupid smirk on his face most of all, though. He had teased Naveen the entire time about going out and meeting up with a girl all on his own, like Naveen couldn't do anything on his own. Like Naveen wasn't someone to behold. Had she made a mistake? When Naveen brushed off every word he jabbed at him, however, Marina knew she was safe.
What she remembers most vividly, however, was how grateful she was to the blonde boy in the front seat next to Stanley for punching the tan boy clean in the arm and making him drive away.
What was fate really?
Marina had waved her goodbye that first day at the ice rink, too shy to say anything more or anything too loud, but she wasn't sure Naveen saw it. She wasn't sure he would even remember her. It was a choice encounter, not fate. People like her didn't get the liberty to believe in fate. They had to make life easy, to let their skates skim the surface of the ice.
There wasn't dwelling in fantasy on the rink.
The third time they spoke, Naveen had appeared at the rink. Marina was ashamed she almost forgotten about him only after a week of having first met him. His beautiful eyes and the way the green color laughed with his smile. Who could forget someone so endearing? Someone that was an unspoken handsome? He was alone this time, with a knit hat firmly pulled over his wavy brown hair and a scarf wrapped around his neck.
"What are you doing here," she skates over and asked him, trying to hide her delight. Maybe she could believe, just this once. "A little cold?"
"I, uh, wanted to see you again," Naveen had smiled tightly while his eyes gave him away. "I'm always cold, I thought, um, seeing you could warm me up."
She once again, almost could reimagine her blush.
Naveen had leaned against the railing and watched her practice her form and her timing. He was even perfectly fine with it too, a gesture that touched her deep. Even if she wasn't speaking with him, all this boy wanted to do was sit in her space and watch her do what she enjoyed the most because it made her happy. He wanted her to be happy. She remembers catching a glimpse of him staring off at her, a carefree smile on his face while his thoughtful green eyes never left her. He truly had been watching her.
"I've never seen something so beautiful before," she remembers him murmuring, almost trying to contain his realization mostly to himself. She took her break, sitting on the rail of the ink next to where Naveen has thrown his arms over.
"I-i'm sure there are more beautiful-" she remembers stammering, trying to shake this handsome boy from putting his own world too far out of his reach. But he took her hand to cut her off. The words he spoke will stay with her until the end of her days.
"Marina, I know true beauty when I see it. You yourself are beautiful but you also touch everything you do with a beautiful person. You teach those who wish to learn, you help those who need you, and you work hard to achieve everything you've wanted. And it's those things that are also beautiful."
They met up weekly at the ice rink after that. Two months in, Naveen Joseph has asked her out to a trip to downtown Chicago. It was December, it was the season for outdoor skating, and it was where her first date with Naveen Joseph had started out.
Naveen of course stayed on the side; he told her that he wasn't about to embarrass a future Olympian in front of all of Chicago.
She remembers the gentle sting of the cold city air against her nose, finding her peace amongst the strangers on the one place she could always call home, the ice. Even when she seemed to lose track of the time, of the thought that she came here with another person, Naveen didn't care. He cheered and waved from a far, purely amazed.
He seemed to know her already very well, when he disappeared from the rail for a moment just to reappear with two hot chocolates with whip and extra marshmallows.
"I like the marshmallows the best but we can share them if you want," he had grinned, kind of nervously. Almost like he expected her to be upset that he didn't bring her extra sweets too.
"I'll be ok," she had laughed reassuringly. A couple of marshmallows weren't going to ruin her night.
They walked the streets of Michigan Ave in the dark, when the restaurants and shops were completely covered in holiday lights and signs. As if fate asked for her to believe in itself, the sky also started to snow the slightest bit and mixed in with the neon lights, the crystals were one of the most peaceful sights in the world.
Naveen had held her hand with one and sipped his hot beverage with the other. Naveen took her to dinner at a small yet fancy Italian restaurant, with pasta dishes she never even knew existed. They ended their night under the stars, hand in hand walking through the winding roads of the parks. They talked and laughed.
Now here she was, supporting her boyfriend while he tried to skate free of the rail, free of her arm and free of any special training shoes for one of the first times. The ice reminded her of herself, it was the place she could always turn back to when she was in her darkest moments. Even when she felt as though life itself was turning it's back on her; Marina always had the world just above the frozen surface.
The ice was home to more than just her now; it was home to Naveen too. Naveen fell into her world on the first day and now he was trying to fight his way to his feet to stay in it.
Even if the ice tried to break him, Marina knew that she could help put him back together. The best part was how Naveen Joseph would let her and love her for it too.
Because Marina is the ice and Naveen is learning to come home to it like she has.