Chapter 7: Nerves of Steel

Once Kirsch's crush had been pointed out to him, it was obvious. Zora felt really fucking stupid that he hadn't seen it before. All of his prior interactions with Kirsch were put in a whole new perspective. Kirsch liked him, Zora Ideale of all people, a whole hell of a lot. Zora hadn't meant to watch Kirsch skate on the ice performing a dance routine, nor did he mean to bait Kirsch into dancing with him.

And he definitely didn't mean to enjoy having Kirsch in his arms while they danced to no music nor asking him to come home with Zora.

But all those things happened as Zora held Kirsch's hand and led him up the stairs to get to the apartment. Zora hadn't completely thought this through. Did he like Kirsch romantically? Yeah, highly likely. He had been attracted to Kirsch for several years but decided that it wasn't worth the risk to do anything.

Did he want to date Kirsch? Or just fuck him? But either way, Kirsch seemed to be pleasantly pleased with holding Zora's hand and blushing red every time Zora so much as glanced at him.

Shit, I think it's both. I want to do both, thought Zora to himself, looking at Kirsch, as Kirsch smiled at him. Zora was never gonna live it down with his teammates and friends.

Zora reached his apartment door and put the key in the lock and discovered that he was already unlocked. God Damnit.

One or both of his parents were here.

Of all the times, his parents showed up unannounced at this apartment; it was when he really needed to talk to Kirsch privately.

Zora sighed softly opening the door as his mother yelled, from his kitchen, "Welcome home, Zora, baby! Oh, ya brought a friend? How awesome!"

"Hello, person who don't live here or pay rent," said Zora, deadpan. He glanced at Kirsch, who looked very confused, but still red-faced. "This is Kirsch, you remember him." Zora wondered if he could temporarily gain telepathy to tell his mother to get out of his apartment for tonight, but he wasn't that lucky. Besides, he was sure that she picked up on things and that meant that she was going to stay.

"Excellent, I've made plenty of food! Hello, dear," said his mother to Kirsch. And then, she said to Zora, "Papa is coaching tonight. And the qualifying rounds for the Olympics are on tonight, so I thought we could watch it together."

"Hello, Mrs. Ideale," said Kirsch, politely. He sheepishly said, mostly to Zora, "I actually forgot that the qualifying rounds were on tonight."

The Clover Kingdom only ever made the Olympics one year in figure skating, Zora recalled. It was the year that his mother, Amalia, Kirsch's mother, Nickole, and Acier were the women's figure skater choices. Clover didn't even make it to qualifying rounds this year.

"Call me Amalia, Kirsch. I'll make some plates up," said Zora's mother.

When she was firmly distracted, Zora whispered to Kirsch, "Sorry, I didn't know she'd be here."

Kirsch squeezed Zora's hand. He whispered back, "It's good. I don't mind."

Zora didn't even realize they were still holding hands. His mother definitely knew something was going on and he was never living it down, God help Zora.

"Come and sit, boys," said Zora's mother, carrying three plates expertly to Zora's couch and placing the plates on the coffee table. She picked up his remote for his TV and unmuted it.

Kirsch and Zora reluctantly stopped holding hands, as Zora's mother was sitting in the middle and Zora only had one couch. Zora sat on the right side of his mother while Kirsch took the left seat.

God, this fucking awkward. Thanks, Ma. Zora grimaced as he pulled off his mask and he picked up his plate of curry to eat. He glanced over his mother's head to find that Kirsch already dug into his food.

"The Canadians and the Germans have good teams this year," said his mother.

"But they won't beat the Americans or the Russians," said Kirsch, conversationally.

"No, I suspect not. It's a pity. Those two teams definitely should be taken down a notch or two," said Zora's mother.

"The Americans get quite uppity when they win," said Kirsch, wrinkling his nose in distaste.

"They really do," replied Zora's mother, with a sigh.

Kirsch and Amalia commented on the on-goings on-screen, while Zora watched Kirsch's excitedly animated face while he was talking to Zora's mother. It was like once he considered Kirsch an option to date, he was drawn like a moth to a flame to the vermillion-haired, golden-eyed pretty figure skater.

Zora wasn't really paying attention to the conversation but somehow it turned to Kirsch and Mimosa's skating.

Amalia said, sympathetically, "Honestly, that man deserves payback. Yer sister is such a sweetheart! How's she handlin' Singles?"

"It's going okay. But I'm not a women's figure skating coach," said Kirsch. "My mom and Aunt are too busy right now to help. And all professional coaches are booked already."

"I'm sure yer doing better than ya think, Kirsch," said Amalia. And then Zora's mother said, "I'm sure that I'm not as busy as Neeks and Ace. I could help her out once a week!"

Kirsch said, "I wouldn't want to impose."

"Nonsense! Zora, tell Kirsch that it wouldn't be a problem. I still skate beautifully, even though I've retired," said his mother.

"Don't be pushy, Ma," said Zora. "But, Kirsch, my Ma is good and I know you know that."

"Well, it'll help Mimosa," said Kirsch, who'd do anything for Mimosa. "If it's no trouble."

"Wonderful," said his mother. "Give me Mimosa's number and I'll set things up with her."

Zora sighed, as Kirsch and his mother spent the next hour talking about figure skating, and admittedly, it was probably payback for all the times that Zora and his father spoke about hockey and his mother didn't get it. Kirsch was happily enjoying himself, so it was fine and it was nice to know that Kirsch would get along with Zora's parents if they (hopefully) started dating.

Eventually, and thankfully, Zora's mother finally excused herself, needing to get home to Zara. Zora saw his mother out while Kirsch excused himself to the bathroom.

At the door, Amalia, his dear mother who he loved even if she annoyed him today, grinned at him. She giggled. "Tell me how it goes."

"You're terrible," said Zora, blankly.

"I wasn't sure if Papa was right about you and Kirsch, but he's spot on like usual," said his mother.

"I love you, Ma, but leave now," said Zora. His mother hugged and kissed him on the cheek.

Finally, she left.

Zora sat back on the couch and wondered what the hell he was supposed to do now. His original plan, albeit a bad one, failed because of his mother. He bit the inside of his mouth out of nerves.

"So," said Kirsch, reappearing from the bathroom and sitting next to Zora. Kirsch was back to blushing and being bashful now that Zora's mother was gone.

An awkward silence fell.

Zora stared at Kirsch and then grabbed one of his hands. "I like you. Do you wanna go out on a date with me?"

Kirsch made a strangled noise like a cat meowing on a hot, summer day. "Really?"

"I asked you to come home with me. I held your hand. So, yes, really," said Zora.

Kirsch pulled the hand Zora had held and lifted it to his mouth to kiss it. "I like you too."

"I figured."

"Is that why you were looking at me all day today," Kirsch asked, gently, still red-faced. Zora nodded. His eyes narrowed, "Who told you?"

"My teammates," said Zora. He grinned at Kirsch, who pouted. "So, I was your super-secret crush for years."

Kirsch turned redder. "Yes, and it was awful. You and your handsome face and heart of gold. Disgusting. Terrible."

Zora chuckled. "You're cute."

Kirsch held his chest. "Oooh, that's not fair. I wasn't ready."

"So, Friday, then, I'll take you out. And we can get ice cream too." Zora still grinned. He was going to have a lot of fun teasing Kirsch if this was his reaction.

Kirsch smiled. "Deal."

~to be continued

Let me know what you think.

Unfortunately, I'm putting this story on hold for June, July and Aug, but I will be finishing the last four chapters to post in Sept! Thanks for your understanding and patience. (I do have other Zorsch works that you can check out in the meantime!)