Time and Attention
Sybil was lying on her front on top of the thick duvet of the bed she shared with Tom. Her oversized top (it was Tom's actually) was pulled half way up her torso as Tom rubbed her bare lower back with skilled hands, firm but soft, to try and get some of the tightness out of her muscles. "Why did I let you con me into going ice skating?" Sybil complained as Tom's remarkably skilled hands worked away at her sore muscles.
Earlier that day, Tom had convinced Sybil to go ice skating with him. It hadn't actually taken very much convincing, as Sybil was surprisingly keen to go. Usually Tom met up with his ice hockey team on Saturday afternoons, but the season had recently ended and they were all taking the chance to get some time off. Even if they had wanted to meet up and play a friendly game, they wouldn't have been able to, as a large proportion of the team had taken the opportunity to go on holiday. Even so, Tom still wanted to continue skating so that he didn't lose the feel for it, but it wasn't much fun if he went alone. He'd asked Sybil if she wanted to give it a try (just the skating, not the hockey on the grounds that it was 'violent and unnecessary') and she had enthusiastically agreed, but was now regretting her decision.
"I didn't con you into doing anything. You agreed all on your own accord," Tom said with a smirk that Sybil couldn't see, but he knew she could sense it.
"Yeah, but you made it look so easy. I've seen you play countless times with the team and it looks so simple. Even the figure skaters make it look easy when they do jumps with triple twists and fancy spins and things," Sybil moaned.
"No one starts out brilliantly, Syb. Even the figure skaters," Tom said, repeating her words emphatically, "spend hours training to do those jumps over and over again with falls and bruises before they get it perfect. Some of those figure skaters who look amazing on the ice are probably at home now just like you, with their boyfriends massaging their backs because they ache so much."
"How many times did I fall over? I swear I spent more time sitting on the ice than standing on it," Sybil whined, still hung up on the fact that she couldn't competently skate. Tom chuckled a deep Irish-twinged laugh at his girlfriend's complaints.
"When I first stepped on the ice, I fell over more times that I can remem-"
"OW!" Sybil exclaimed, interrupting Tom's words. He winced at the thought of hurting Sybil and brought his gentle hands away from her tender back.
"Sorry. It will get better, I promise. It just might take a few days."
"Hmm," Sybil mumbled, scepticism filling her voice. Tom leant down and placed a soft kiss in the centre of her lower back, his stubble gently brushing against her skin. Sybil smiled. "Maybe you're right," she said, the scepticism vanished from her voice as she felt Tom's lips on her skin. "Perhaps it will get better with time…" She sighed as Tom placed another kiss in just the same spot. "…and attention."
A super short Rock the AU, I know, and it's a bit of a cheat on the theme of sport, but hey ho. Let me know if you enjoyed it by leaving a review if you can spare a minute.
