MONTH I DAY IV
The last two days had been just as tiring and grating as the first. Having the song picked out had been the least of their worries. When it came to formulating a routine to it, they still couldn't agree on anything- even the method in which they should pull it together. Atem wanted to go out on the ice, have the song play and just find something that worked. Let the music flow through him and dance to it, as he was meant to. Kaiba wanted a literal rough draft, pulling up worksheets and pads of paper and sketching out what he thought would look the best in terms of the beat.
Atem had conceded to do it his way this once, thinking that if he could picture an ice rink in his head, he could at least imagine himself skating as the song played over and over a hundred times the second day alone. But it didn't work out. When he wanted to do a side by side jump, Kaiba was working on backing the rink; when he wanted to do an Axel, Kaiba wanted to do a Lutz. None of it was working and the two were becoming as frustrated as ever. It only helped slightly that Kaiba had released him at ten instead of twelve at night the past two days. It had given him enough time to get to the hospital and spend time with Yuugi and his grandfather.
Kaiba knew where he was going every night and wasn't exactly sure how to feel about it. It was wasted time in Atem's direction, but as long as the skater showed up every morning at five (and he had since learned from his mistake of being late the first day), what could he really say? Atem was prompt, excusing the first time. Atem was on time and ready to work. He was a very good partner if Kaiba could look passed the fact that no matter what he wanted to do, Atem shot it down. He was a great partner, just that they didn't work well together at all.
As he tucked his pencil behind his ear, he looked up at Atem who had his eyes closed. "Not dozing are you?" Kaiba knew he wasn't. Atem had been doing this a lot. He was visualizing.
"No." The man responded without opening his eyes. "On the crescendo-"
"On the crescendo I am going to pick you up and hurl you across the rink." Kaiba growled, his anger getting the better of him. His female partners never gave him this much trouble. They just did whatever they were told, especially if enough cash was involved. They did whatever he planned and it always worked. Atem didn't want to do anything he wanted to do. Four days in and they were practically nowhere at all.
Atem brought his fingers up to his face, pinching the bridge of his nose, trying to quell his distaste. "This isn't working."
"No shit."
Crimson eyes opened, blue eyes stared from across the room. There was silence aside the music that had been playing for hours on end; both skaters barely even noticed it now. "I haven't skated in four days; I'm betting neither have you. We're both on edge. Let's just go out to the rink." He hadn't been to Kaiba's private rink yet. He couldn't imagine what it looked like, but he needed to be on the ice badly. Kaiba could too. He could almost feel it.
But the brunet just scoffed. "What's the point of going out there if we haven't got a routine to practice?" It would just be more wasted time in the end. They didn't need that.
"We've never skated together before. Even if we have a routine, we wouldn't be able to practice it until we get the finer points out of the way." Such as matching their speeds, their jumps, their timing, their stances. Making sure they knew the feel of each other's bodies, hands passing, the weight of their partner, the way they moved. They needed to be on the ice before they could write up a routine together. Maybe that's why nothing would come yet.
For once Seto was quiet. For once he was almost accepting of something Atem was saying; for once Atem wasn't spouting nonsense. It would be a rare moment, he was sure. "Fine. Let's go."
The taller skater stood, Atem following suit. Both of them picked up their skates, holding them close as they walked side by side out of the office and down the stairs. Atem was following Kaiba because he certainly didn't know where they were headed, but he wasn't about to let himself be left behind either. Down the foyer, behind the staircase, a left and to an elevator. Kaiba pressed the down button- the only button available for pressing. A scanner chirped before Kaiba pressed his thumb to it.
The doors opened, both skaters stepped into the small elevator and waited silently on the journey down. It didn't take long, but when the doors opened a fresh blast of chill greeted them. The smell of ice was beautiful. Kaiba's rink was large, larger than Atem would have guessed; definitely bigger than Kaiba would have needed for private practice. Aside that, it looked like a normal ice skating rink; a barrier of wall topped with clear plastic, though the audience seating was missing. Only a few benches in strategic places.
Atem sat on one of them, discarding his boots and slipping on his skates. He was quick to tie the laces tight before stepping out onto the ice.
The first step, then the next. He closed his eyes, gliding out onto the ice, the chill hitting him harder in the face as he propelled himself forward. He opened his arms wide, leaning forward, raising one leg in the air, sailing around the rink for a little while. But soon the chuff of his skates was mirrored by another. Kaiba's long legs did very well for him in catching him up with Atem. No words were passed as the two skaters looked at each other, then skated side by side.
At first they went fast, as fast as the two of them could, just to see their top speeds. Kaiba had more help with his muscled legs to push him forward, but Atem was never far behind. It was almost even, but it was a win as far as Kaiba was concerned. Though if they were competing or why didn't really make any sense to him. Then the two slowed, just skating freely without any reason. They matched their glides along the ice, left foot, right foot; mirroring each other perfectly. It seemed once they were there, it was easy to agree and fall into place next to one another.
"Side by side, toe loop." Kaiba barely whispered over the noise of their skates on the ice. Atem only nodded.
They separated, enough space between them before picking up speed. They both watched each other out of their peripheral vision. They would go on a non-existent count of three, and yet both could hear it clearly in their heads. On the three, both skated a light circle, arms spreading, legs moving in complete synced time. The jump was perfect on both sides, the landing even more so; both extending their back legs and letting the skates glide back with the left over power.
Kaiba was impressed, but wouldn't say so. He hadn't adjusted his timing, but he knew Atem would have had to. To get a side by side landing so perfectly after only twenty minutes simply of skating side by side was impressive. Atem was worthy to be his partner.
"How comfortable are you with a death spiral?" Kaiba asked, both of them falling into a steady rhythm alongside one another again, just skating.
"Yuugi and I have done tons before." So in essence, yes, he was extremely comfortable with them despite the naming and how dangerous they could be should one thing go wrong.
"But you won't be in the first position anymore." Kaiba would never have been able to give up control like Atem was going to have to. So he realized how important it was for Atem to trust him. Trust between skating partners was the only way to make a routine work. Side by side jumps were easy when it was your own life in your hands. But when Kaiba was spinning Atem around on the ice by one hand laid back on his skates, how well would Atem fare?
His shoulders dropped as he looked down at the ice. Could he do this? Could he really just give his complete trust to Kaiba? No. Not right away. But they had a while to get used to it. So he offered his hand out. "Let's see."
They still had to work the dynamics of their height difference. Kaiba was nearly a foot over Atem. But the brunet nodded, taking Atem's hand in his and leading him around the ice. He wasn't going to attempt a spiral so early in the game, but it helped to go underhanded and back, skating backwards crisscross and leading Atem in a twirl. He got a very good feel for Atem's movements skating so close, holding his hand. Eventually Atem's other hand raised to Seto's, his back pressed against the brunet's abdomen as they skated very closely together.
Any sort of screw-ups or timing mishaps could have their skates clashing together. They could easily fall forward and break their necks. But the two worked quietly together in an almost weirdly sort of perfect harmony.
Atem raised his leg up, pulling his skate up and in close to the back of his head with his hand clutching the back. Kaiba took his other hand, leading him around the ice this way for a few moments before spiraling very gently. It was a good measure of trust Atem was placing in him just then. He would quietly thank his smaller partner for doing it so quickly. The sooner they got this out of the way, the sooner they could perfect the routine they hadn't even started writing. Before Kaiba dropped too low into an actual death spiral Atem let go of his skate and removed his hand.
Not yet. He wasn't ready to have his face so close to the ice with Kaiba's guidance above him. Not yet. But with the way things were going, perhaps soon. Kaiba nodded to him in understanding. It was enough for now.