PRUHUN SHIPPING WEEK: Day 6- Proposal
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Deep breathing, in and out- they had taken the ice, and done their warm up, the only thing to do was to skate, now. They waited for their music to start, the hair on the back of their necks standing. "Ready?" He asked her, voice gentle and soft, trying to keep still.
"I always am." She responded in a whisper, pretending to be haughty to calm them both down. And with that the opening notes of Fairytale by Alexander Ryback started, and they were going.
Gilbert grabbed his partner's arm, and pulled her into his chest as she twirled, and she leaned into his firm grip, before pulling herself out of it. Then, Erzebet pretended to huff, and walked off, putting her hands on her hips just as the reiteration of the first measures started, where they jumped, and danced in polka-style, side by side, to go with the "flavor" of the dance.
"Years ago, when I was younger," Gilbert was moving now, out to the side away from Erzebet, putting his hand on his chest to establish himself as the character portrayed in the song. "I kinda liked, a girl I knew…" He went back to her, taking her hand and pulling her close, "She was mine, and we were sweet hearts," They leaned into each other romantically as they headed to the far edge of the rink, where they would start the dance on the Judge's side. "That was then, but then it's true…" Thus, Gilbert had now gotten them moving into their first element, their 2 crucial patterns of the Yankee Polka, the required dance.
The Yankee Polka is a lively and bouncy dance, but the two had to also be pretty and make the dance look effortless. With the chorus of the song starting, Gilbert and Erzebet took the first two steps, the short chasse sequence, going in a straight line, in open hold. Then, Gilbert passed in front of Erzebet after they did their three turn together, before separating them further, and then pulling them back together in a easy fashion- they had practiced this for hours on end.
Gilbert and Erzebet went through the exhausting dance, with gusto, and then repeated themselves in the second sequence of the dance, it taking them a full 1 minute and 4 seconds out of their 2 minute, 56 second song, and now crossing the halfway point, having started the dance at 19 seconds into the program. They had cut some measures of the violin section from the second half to add more time to the patterns of the program.
Once coming to a stop, the pair took a much-needed breather as the lyrics started up again, inciting them to start again. "Every day, we started fighting," Gilbert and Erzebet looked angrily at one another, faking an argument for the crowd, "Every night, we fell in love." They took hands, pulled each other close, and using one hand, covered their mouths on the judge's side while they kissed, and Gilbert pulled her into a dip while the violin did a little solo. Their 10 second stop was done, and so they had to go.
The pair started moving quickly, needing to get into another element quickly. "No one else could make me sadder…" Gilbert and Erzebet looked to each other quickly, and nodded, "But no one else," they separated slightly, "Could lift me high above." With that, the pair jumped into their left forward inside twizzle, grabbing their right foot as they spun around fast, traveling quickly as their right arm went up into the air. "I dunno, what I was doing," They took a single step forward, after an exit backwards, into a front right outside twizzle, and then did a back right inside twizzle off of that.
"When suddenly, we fell apart." And so, the pair jumped out of their twizzle in a synchronized motion, and they faced apart, with their arms crossed, before Erzebet pushed herself away, and Gilbert followed after her. "Nowadays, I cannot find her," Gilbert pretended to look lost while he went to the back of the rink, before Erzebet skated behind him with a rocker to turn her around and an edge pull to get behind him, and tapped him on his shoulder. "But when I do, we'll get a brand new start!" He turned around and gladly wrapped his arms around her as they turned together, while the chorus started up again, with the beginning of their step sequence.
The next twenty seconds of their song were devoted to a complex diagonal step sequence, aiming to use up their remaining time, and they were tired now, and were trying to get through to the end, at 2 minutes and 26 seconds finished, meaning they had 30 seconds remaining. Now at the other corner of the rink, they took a deep breath before they started to head down the rink with Gilbert grabbed Elizaveta, preparing for their short lift, a curved lift that would put them back in front of the judges. This couldn't last more than six seconds.
Gilbert put her up in the air while the violin did a crescendo, and on the first two words in the next lyrics, and Erzebet put her hands in the air while her skates stood on Gilbert's spread legs, as he did an outside spread eagle, and she leaned back, closing her eyes. "She's a fairytale, yeah." He let her down as the fifth second passed, and then pulled her around him, "Even though it hurts!" He put a hand down her face gently, romantically. "Cause I don't care, if I lose my mind, I'm already cursed!"
They two had skated in front of the judges, and with the final lyrics, danced in polka fashion to each other, and then they pulled each other close with the final beats of the song, and Gilbert dipped his partner, kissing her passionately.
They had skated a clean program, and while they kissed, the crowd cheered loudly, throwing them gifts onto the ice while the girls came out and grabbed them, and Gilbert smiled happily, twirling his girlfriend around in the air while they were cheered on, before Erzebet pinched his cheek, reminding him they had to leave the ice.
They had gotten their maximum amount of points, having fucking rocked that program, in Gilbert's words, and they went to their rooms in the Olympic village, to calm down and get out of their clothes, while Gilbert asked some final questions of the judges in relation to something outside of a program, what was permitted on the ice.
After that, they went out for a team Germany dinner, discussing plans quietly among each other, Liz practicing her German in snippets for the table, but eventually giving up and speaking in English with her partner, but they went to bed early, needing plenty of rest for the next day.
Of course, that being said, now at the top of the podium for the Free dance, they had to perform the program with utter finesse, or they would get knocked out of first place by their American rivals, Alfred and Natalia, who were also doing a foxtrot, but Gilbert had utter certainty that "They're not going to have as much passion and devotion as we will."
"How do you figure?" Elizaveta asked, quiet.
"Because! They broke up two years ago! Alfred isn't that into loving Natalia anymore, even if it is for show!" He scoffed. "Not true here, babe. I love ya, and I am not planning on stopping anytime soon!" He kissed her cheek, and she laughed.
"You're obnoxious, but also, very sweet, in a roundabout way." She then told him promptly to keep warming up; they had only 3 hours left before their 5 minute warm up.
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But their time dwindled, and Gilbert made sure the surprise was hidden in it's proper place for ease of access, and so he prepared himself for this, more than happy for this to be over and them to be in first place…that would be awesome, actually. But they had a 4-minute program between them and the finish line of this winter Olympics, and so they had to get ready for this.
Their 5-minute warm up was spent calmly doing some of their elements, but this time, they were going first, since the dance order had switched, and soon, they were skating out to their starting positions, Gilbert making sure that he had what he needed to do what he had planned for her.
They took their starting pose, and Gilbert took Erzebet's hand, looking her up and down, her lovely brown hair up in a tightly made bun, with light pink and white flowers sewn into her hair, her usually undone face in picture perfect stage makeup, in her simply stunning light pink dance dress, with the flouncy horsehair skirt, and a top that was covered in Swarovski crystals. Gilbert himself was in a nice costume suit, and they took a deep breath, saving their words of love until after this was over, but squeezing each other's hand and passing it through them.
On the opening notes of their free dance, their first song, "You're my First, my Last, my Everything," By Berry White, Gilbert pulled Erzebet into him, twirling her around as he wrapped his arms around her, before she twirled back out, still holding his hand, and they jumped apart, smiling at each other brightly, putting their arms up and dancing in a traditional foxtrot, flowing way, before Erzebet did a toe-turn and a ballet jump into his arms.
He pushed them off the wall, putting his arm above them while Erzebet did a swing three back to the wall, and the two turned forward into their midline step sequence, while the first lyrics came on. "My first, my last, my everything, and the answer to all my dreams." Gilbert and Erzebet, in their Foxtrot dance hold, did complex side-by-side steps. "And the answer to, all my dreams."
"You're my sun, my moon, my guiding star." The partners switched holds, into a waltz hold, starting mirrored steps to add some intricacy to the program. "My kind of wonderful, that's what you are." The two did a synchronized stop on the pause of the music, with Gilbert reaching out and gently rubbing her face, holding it up, signaling the end of their first element, and then they immediately started moving into the next one.
"I know there's only, only one like you," Erzebet was pulled into him, their faces up close together with their bodies glued to one another, in a waltz hold, before they did chasse's backwards, turning forward with a counter turn, mirroring one another, and coming back into synchronization, going into their twizzle sequence by throwing their right leg around, going for the reverse direction as they tightened into a fast, traveling set of left back inside twizzles. "There's no way they could have made two," The two stepped forward onto the right foot, doing a right forward outside twizzle set, and the last one, they hopped partway through the sequence to add more flare, and they did a final left forward inside, and after that, they came out backwards, going into a series of fast crossovers, determined to pick up speed.
"You're, you're all I'm living for, your love I'll keep forevermore," Erzebet did a rocker backwards, as in the rocker foxtrot, doing the change of edge that kept her with Gilbert, and he ran his hand delicately over her hair, before he went to pick her up for the short lift, turning around whilst he grabbed her, Erzebet flipping over to add complexness again, and ending with one of her legs balanced on his shoulder, the other in his hand. "You're the first, you're the last, my everything." The lyrics of the first song ended while Gilbert twirled around the ice with Erzebet above him, her hands out wide and her smile the same.
As the piece ended, Erzebet pulled her legs in and kissed him gently, on the nose on the way down, making the crowd cheer for them even more than they already had been. The song faded out, and their next piece started.
The version of, "It Had to Be You," From When Harry met Sally, as sung by Harry Connick Jr. started, and Erzebet and Gilbert pushed away from each other, their movements mirroring the other while they did some simple steps to give themselves a breather, with almost 3 minutes left in their program, with the big band song instrumental in the background, going into their dance spin with the piano piece. They came to a stop with the pause in the music.
"It had to be you, it had to be you," Gilbert took her hand, and they skated forward, doing some simple box steps, trying to remind the judges of a foxtrot in a ballroom scenario, before they were off. "I wandered around and finally found, the somebody who."
Gilbert pulled her close, Erzebet hopping up and putting her foot on his skate, balancing while he held her waist, Erzebet doing a catch foot spiral for the first part of the lift, timing it to the violins. "Could make me be true," He helped her switch positions, flipping her over his shoulder again, her skate balancing on his outstretched leg, "Could make me be blue." Her arms went up and over her head, before gently and daintily coming down.
"Or even be glad, just to be sad just thinking of you." He pulled her around his chest, and set her back down on the ground, Erzebet leaning back in time for him to softly kiss her cheek with the piano notes going off.
"Some others I've seen," They started skating, powerful but tightly controlled, making it look like they were floating, "Might never be mean," Gilbert picked her up, doing a very short turn with her in the air, "Might never be cross or try to be boss, but they wouldn't do." He caressed her face for the judges, before they presented out, looking to the audience and the judges.
Erzebet laughed lightly, and they did some more tricky steps, now they had only 2 elements left, and gathered their strength for the end. "For nobody else gave me a thrill, with all your faults I love you still." He smiled, and told her that he loved her in time with the music, and they headed toward the rink opposite from the judges, to do their 30 second serpentine step sequence, It had to be you, wonderful you, it had to be you."
They managed to get their just before the piano crescendo in the music, starting the sequence with a dramatic fake slap from Erzebet, to pay some homage to the movie and their previously tumultuous relationship.
They did an intricate serpentine, their pattern wide and covering the whole ice with it, being simply amazing and they performed big and out to the judges, to the applauding audience, knowing they had less than a minute by the time the step sequence was finished.
The music did another crescendo, into the final piece of song, the last 40 seconds of the program. Gilbert's heart raced in his chest, but he was also so excited. 40 seconds before it happened.
They still had one element left, their choreographed lift, immediately after the pause in music after the step sequence.
The albino man picked her up once he was backwards, her legs going up in the air behind her while she flew, her hands on his shoulders, "Some others I've seen," He twisted her around his shoulders, laying her across his arms and her balancing there with a huge smile on her face, "Might never be mean!" He quickly had to set her down in front of him, and she did an upward kick in his face, since he was backwards and she was forward, and it was the final stretch now, they had accomplished everything they had set out to do. It had been an entirely clean program.
"Might never be cross, or try to be boss, but they wouldn't do!" They slowed down now, right in front of the judges, the cameras focused on them while they did simple steps until the very end.
"For nobody else gave me a thrill," Gilbert held her tight while she wiggled her shoulders, looking up to him with a thrilled expression. "With all your faults I love you still!" Erzebet then pulled out, and he pulled her back, allowing her to do a quick jumping turn.
"It had to be you," The time was running out, Gilbert and Erzebet did a quick twizzle, "Wonderful you," Erzebet and Gilbert ended them facing each other, Gilbert pointing at her directly, before they grabbed arms, and went into the opposite twizzle, using each other as momentum. "It had to be you!"
The lyrics ended, Gilbert stopped, Erzebet hopped out, and he caught her as all the other times they had trained, but instead of doing it like they had trained together, he set her down shortly before the music ended, going down on one knee, and pulling out a box.
Her eyes widened in shock as she realized what her partner was doing, here and now.
He opened the box right as the music ended, revealing a beautiful gold and diamond ring, studded with emeralds, and the crowd went wild while he asked her the so carefully thought out question, in a soft voice.
"Erzebet Hedervary, will you marry me, so that we can always be partners?"
His partner, now teary-eyed and her lips closed tightly to prevent her from crying, nodded feverously, before she said, choked up, "Yes, you romantic idiot."
Gilbert got up, and pulled her tightly into a hug, kissing her dramatically as they twirled around, the two dance partners getting a standing ovation for the show of love the two had had for one another all these years.
Of course, they scored the highest on that program than they had ever, setting a new record in Ice dance history, and won after that, but the piece of gold Erzebet was looking at on the way home after the closing ceremony was not only the one they had won with hard work and determination, it was the one currently resting on her ring finger, while her fiancé slept beside her, tuckered out.