A/N: I can't believe I have forgotten to post this thing here - and I had uploaded the doc and everything... Sometimes I feel like I will lose my head somewhere and never find it again. (Not that I will notice).
Snow fell on the coat, trimmed with white fur. It sparkled brighter than heavy jewelry. Strong fingers pulled button after button open. Minerva took off the coat and with a bit of magic teleported it to her room. Her teacher had warned her that ice skating would warm her up, but she did not expect it would be so much. After brushing off some sweat from her forehead - luckily there was nobody around - Minerva turned to Lector. "You have seen nothing."
"Of course, m'lady." Lector closed his eyes for a moment, slight frown passion through his face.
Minerva could not blame him. Far from a perfect student, she had fallen on the ice more than she would like to admit. At least Titania seemed to have fallen as much as her - but if someone so powerful had troubles with skating, what chance did Minerva had?
"You are looking at her again, aren't you? At this point, you should just admit your feelings." Lector's voice brought Minerva back to the icy reality.
She did not have to answer such a clear attempt to unnerve her. Instead, Minerva - balancing with the help of her arms - turned to her teacher. "Show it to me again. This time I will do it properly!"
Lector nodded. He skated on the ice - where he had learned was a mystery he refused to show - with such refinement that Minerva could not believe he was Sting's Exceed. Even the most basic movements - walking on ice and letting his skates glide - seemed so gallant…
"You know, people haven't looked at me this way since they stopped worshiping us as gods." Once again, Lector catches Minerva unaware. "It's your turn to try it."
Her turn. She could do it. Her right foot stepped on the ice, gliding for a moment before stopping. Then the left one. Slowly - with even more arm swinging to not fall - Minerva managed to move. Her legs felt like they would bend any moment and send her flying in the ice face-first. The skates clattered on the ice, the metal blade rocking left and right. "I haven't fallen yet." Yet - she had to repeat that on every step.
Ha, take that Titania! Minerva turned to look at her rival. Her feet tripped into one another. Waving arms so frantically that she could have flown, Minerva tried to keep herself standing up. It did not work; second before she fell on the ice Minerva teleported on the snowy banks of the lake.
"You know," said Lector after he had skated to her, "I'm wondering more and more if you're doing this for yourself or for Titania."
For the second time, Minerva refused to reply. Once again, she felt no reason to.
