"I play for… The University of Telliesin Pirates!"
"Funny, Magilou, just sip your water."
The goalie cursed, squirting water into her mouth through her face mask. Down her face and across her helmet, the cool water trickled down her head and brought a shiver down her spine. As she passed it to her backup, she saw everybody else take a knee.
For most the practice, it has been nothing but drills of high-energy and heavy-hitting skating. Coughs and spits echoed her teammates. A few threw up from all the sprints.
Eizen dragged a shove and cleaned up after them.
"H-how's your legs?" Her backup caught her attention.
"I'll let you know when I can feel them again."
Eleanor and Velvet fared no better. In fact, it seemed like the two were competing, despite Eizen whistling their starts by their positions. In the end, it just tired both out. Velvet kept herself propped up with her stick while Eleanor sat on the ice.
But for her, it was absolute torture. Goalie equipment always felt like skating with a thousand kilograms strapped to your legs and chest. While you had less pieces, they each weighed more than combine pieces. At least their equipment saved them from getting shot in the wrong spots.
Eizen scooped some snow built up across the boards and let it drip off his stick blade.
"Right." He nodded. "I guess we can end with something fun. Goalies, to the nets. Everybody, a simple shootout."
Magilou dragged herself off the ground and took off to her net. She grunted in disgust. Snow everywhere in her crease and space. All of this would stop her if she got to sliding! Brushing it quickly off and striding her skates into the blue area, she clapped her stick against the goal posts and waved her glove hand.
Everybody lined on the center red line. Velvet and Eleanor in the same line and facing her way. Of course they'd want to do this. They enjoy the look on her face when they try to deke her out.
Well not today!
Meghan was her first opponent.
She took to the right far dots, curling in. Magilou stepped back. Matching speeds, she eyed her opponent's movement. A simple touch, stopping their handling, it was all she needed. Meghan was fast. Not as fast as say Velvet, but good enough.
Magilou breathed, watching her close in. She faked right.
She pulled left and blocked the puck low.
Meghan brushed the snow off her stick and wheeled off the ice.
One down.
Rosa was next.
A bit slower, but with a heavier shot. Nothing fancy on her as Magilou lazily deflected the deke with her blocker.
And next up was… Eleanor.
The redhead was surely taking her sweet time. Reverse toe-dragging, regular toe-dragging, between the legs, around the back.
Softest hands of the team.
Magilou slid forward. Eleanor coming down slowly from the right side. She was marking her assault. The puck danced back and forth between her stick as she picked up speed. The blonde felt what she was doing. Drag her from one side and snipe far corner.
She loosened her shoulders, staying close. Suddenly, Eleanor sped up. Magilou gripped her stick tighter.
A slide as the redhead spun, dragging the puck to her backhand.
Oh, you motherfucker!
And snipped into the back-crossbar.
Eleanor grinned, slowly dragging her fingers across the ice. Magilou whacked the puck at her, bouncing off her butt pads.
The goalie turned back to center ice. Velvet was up. Dear Empyreans, the brute lord herself.
Magilou stepped up as Velvet barreled down, fast and ruthless. Sweat dripped down her neck. She's seen this before. Velvet's gonna do a point-black clapper!
She held her ground, inching slower backwards. Just enough so her shot wouldn't find a single hole.
Velvet wound up… And stopped just before she took the shot. A simple light tap, and the puck passed through her five-hole and into the net.
"Oh, come ON!" She groaned, watching Velvet celebrate like a moron.
-.-.-
Eleanor and Velvet collapsed on their beds, utterly spent. First day back and it's already killing them. All that delicious food from Harvest Day all gone.
Yet the redhead wasn't done. Crawling herself off the bed, she grabbed the quiche cardboard box and stood back up. Unfortunately, the closest microwave was down the hall.
"Midnight snack?" Velvet turned to the side. "You better stay up later then. Snacking now gains weight."
"Oh shut it Velvet." Eleanor winced as she walked. "I'm going to take my quiche and enjoy it."
"W-wait, I'm coming with you…" Pulling from her desk drawer was another box. A box filled with oatmeal raisin cookies.
"Cookies? When did you bring those in?"
"Already had them. Just never took them out." She slid off her bed and stumbled her shoes on. "C-come on, let's just… snack."
Lazily trailing out of their room like a drunken raccoon, the girls made their way to the common area, and Eleanor slid her quiche into the microwave. It was the quiet type as she plopped herself onto the sofa. Velvet sat herself besides her.
"No cookie snack?" She opened the box. Still fresh despite the break. Her dormmate shook her head, listening to the droning sounds of the microwave.
"And just before exam time…"
"At least we don't have games during the Study Period."
Seconds later, the microwave beeped off and Eleanor lethargically pulled up and grabbed her food. With some plastic spoons, she dug into the quiche and happily sighed.
"Sweet bliss…" She looked over. "Speaking of exams… How you feeling?"
"B-better." She lied. "Still not good enough. And… I submitted my major."
Eleanor leaned up. "Oh?"
"I want to get…" She paused. This wasted a good amount of her time over the break thinking this over. A part of her didn't want to tell it because she was still unsure. She sent an email to the counselor and department for the change.
For a moment, she almost regretted sending it.
"I want to get into… Health Profession Advising."
Her friend's eyes softened. A little smile on her face as she took another bite from her quiche. "Really? Like a guidance counselor?"
"Some… thing like that. But I'm gonna do some extra stuff. Like… computer things…"
"Never thought of you as a computer person."
"It's for… covering ground." She turned away. There was a deeper meaning here. Velvet didn't do anything on a whim. She wanted something, but Eleanor didn't know what.
"I hope you do well. How are the classes for next semester?"
"They go along with my major so…" She sighed, scooting a little closer to Eleanor's shoulder. "I hope I do well. But before then, exams this semester and…"
A shiver rolled down her spine. Worrying breeds more worrying. Fear continues worry, feeding on failure. The continuous cycle of poor grades and…
Eleanor pulled her arm around Velvet tugging her a little closer. "If you can deke in hockey, these exams coming up should be simple."
"The ice and classroom are two separate things."
"I know but…"
She cut herself off. Saying something might ruin her confidence. Before she knew it, the quiche was gone.
"That was… good." Eleanor smiled, pulling her arm away. Velvet subconsciously moved her hand over, but pulled back last-second.
"Th-thanks. If it hockey or baking, I'm good at it."
"And anything else?"
"I… don't know."
Picking themselves back up, Velvet stretched her arms out and nodded. "Glad you enjoyed it."
"It was a wonderful gift Vel. Thank you."
The raven-haired center weakly chuckled. "'Vel'? That's the nickname now?"
"Never said I was good at them."
She chuckled.
-.-.-
The first days of the study period came around quicker than she thought. With no hockey practice or games, they were less or more stuck with exercises at the gym. From the school sponsored free pizza and drink events for study breaks to late-night cramming, this was their new daily life.
In the free library, Velvet decided to study alone. A fair chuck of the table was covered by her books and notes. Behind her, a whiteboard for drawing out her equations and formulas. She was told that writing big helps visualize what's going in her head.
Setting the book down, she grabbed a marker and drew her equations.
"Ok, so if a ring has a uniform charge of… and it's this far away…"
Velvet stared at the problem, looking at the problem. "Well, if the dot is moving towards the ring soooo… x is changing then that means…"
A derivative here, changing constant here, and an equation for a ring there…
She stared at the equation before her, scratching her head. A quick peek to the answer and she smiled.
She was right.
Velvet checked the time, smiling. Guess it's time for late dinner. Grabbing her jacket and down the stairs, she exited the library as the cold air of winter blasted her face. It wasn't too bad, as much as the Islegand students complained. There's been ice arenas colder than this.
A car drove up, opening it's window. The smell of a fresh calzone snapping her back.
"Ok, so that's… ten dollars." The driver handed over the calzone box and a soda.
"Here. Take the change as a tip."
Up the stairs again, she pulled the juicy crust apart and dug in. No need for knifes or spoons or forks. It was all hands. Oil and crust dribbled between her fingers as she ate. Nowhere near as good as Celicia's or her own, but it was something.
Her phone rang. A new text message. From Eleanor?
{ Hey, the halls' going for a skate at the rink. Wanna come? }
Back on the ice again. Of course she would!
Packing her things and rushing down, Velvet nearly forgot her food. Now with food and bag in hand, she rushed back to the hall. Her equipment was still in the locker room and last time she checked, so was Eleanor's. No need for those crappy rental skates.
Just as she rushed into their dorm room, Eleanor was already getting dressed for the rink. Casual, but her pants were the warmups they wore.
"… That was fast." She blinked. "You're really that ice-sick are you?"
"Come on, come on, let's get ready." Velvet threw her back onto her bed and got ready herself.
-.-.-
As expected, Eleanor watched Velvet weave in and out between other skaters. Families and figure skaters watched this daemon of the ice mark her territory. Everything to get the smallest bit of space for an extra stride.
Seeing her turn towards her, she asked, "Done already?"
"Yes." She smugly chuckled, falling into Eleanor's place.
Round and round they continued, watching their hall mates try (and fail) to skate all the way around the rink.
"You really just want to fly don't you?"
"I don't see the problem with that. Out here, it's freedom." She sighed. "Just you, the puck and the people in front of it." Velvet grew quiet as she eyed some of the younger kids hopping around. "… Do you think we'll break 500?"
"How many games do we have left in the season regular?"
"Seven, I think."
"Our season's pretty short."
"One game a week. Maybe two, if Coach pulls off a consolation game."
Eleanor hummed. There were plenty of teams around Telliesin. Hell, even other colleges in the city. It just came down to time and money.
"I can't believe it's almost Saint's Day. The year goes by huh?"
"It always goes so fast around now. Then a large winter break for university." She strided out. "Then back to it again. Eizen will push us with sprints again."
"You get used to it." The raven-haired girl mused. "Say, have you ever… had a crush on somebody?"
Eleanor skated in front of Velvet, turning backwards. "When I was in highschool, yes. There was boy in the same grade. He was a part of the volleyball team. Really tall."
"Oh, I see." She scratched her cheek nervously. "So then… Have you ever been attracted to… other women?"
Her legs stopped, gliding across the ice to the corners. She leaned against the boards and said, "… I haven't given it much thought until I noticed Teresa up in Meirchio. I know she's engaged with Oscar Dragonia, but there's something about her that makes her…"
"So a girl crush then?" Velvet grinned.
"Some… thing like that."
"But what if… another girl was to ask you for a… date?"
The redhead knew where this question was going to. Her initial assumption for Velvet's feelings about her were clear. Eleanor didn't want to play dumb, but…
If it was her…
"I'd smile and accept."
Her dormmate's intense eyes softened. Like they were signing relief. She looked to the exit and said, "You wanna grab a hot chocolate?"
"Sure."
As they skated off, their fellow hall mates continued. A few relaxed by the benches, legs stretched out. These guys could never last in a game. Cockiness and sly grins passed between the two women as they grabbed hot chocolate.
Off to the side, they took a seat. The space was still padded, allowing them to walk around on their skates.
"Feeling better?" Velvet asked, blowing the steam off her drink.
"Much better."
Awkwardly, hesitantly, her friend reached out on the table. "We never got each other presents."
"I know, we've been busy in the last few days." Eleanor played with a small strand of her hair. "You were really planning on getting me something?"
"I was thinking something from the bakery, but I already did that for Harvest Day. I'll get you something after we get back to school next year."
"You know you really don't need to do that."
She frozen, drumming her fingers against the table. "I know but… It's thanks, for dealing with me and stuff…"
The redhead smiled, shaking her head. "It's not a problem. But say, after we come back next year. You wouldn't helping me drive around would you?"
"Eh? No, not at all."
Awkward glances exchanged as Velvet scooted herself a bit closer. "When I first met you, I thought you were gonna be a pain. I'm… glad to really met you."
Eleanor scratched her cheek. "Well, I mean, you did punch me the first day of tryouts."
"… I never did say I was sorry did I?"
"You're not really one to apologize."
"You're right."
Brief chuckles passed as they turned to one another. If there was anything that was going to happen now, it should have.
Something soft touched the side of Eleanor's cheeks. It lasted only a brief second, while leaving a small wet mark. Her face turned a light red color as she looked at Velvet, turning away, her cheeks redder.
"Making up for not having a present. I hope… You like it." She gulped.
The shock on her face disappeared and melted into a smile of her own. "Velvet… If you're gonna kiss me, then why not my lips?"
The center turned around, eyes bulging out and confusion written across her face. Out of some desperate decision, she leaned in and bonked her forehead against hers. They pulled away, groaning.
"Too fast." Eleanor winced.
"R-right… Uhh…"
She tried again, their eyes locking for a moment before closing. They leaned in and kissed. What lasted for another brief second felt like an eternity. Rivals to allies, to friends and now this. If she had known this back when she started, she would've immediately refuted. Never gonna happen, she was moving out immediately after getting their room situation settled.
But for each other's patience, their stubbornness and love for a sport.
They could share a small blissful moment like this.
Eleanor looked to the side. It looked like nobody noticed.
"We still have exams left. We'll do our best."
"Just like on the ice."
The young women raised their hot chocolate cups and clanked them together.