Hello!
Disclaimer: as usual.
Warning: Mucho male/male contact! Don't like don't read.
A/N: This one goes out to Laura. We went ice skating today and whilst we were there this evil little plotbunny made a nest in my mind and threatened to tear my brains out if it did not get written. Don't mind my self-inserts, I'm just making a wishful excuse for our falling over at the end of the session today
Ice
A lone figure skated gracefully in the centre of the rink, propelling himself with long powerful pushes of his legs going around in careful loops calculated so as to remain at an exact distance from the edge.
"He's pretty good," remarked a tall boy who stood by the rinkside. "But what he can do I can do better. Come on Quatre!"
Quatre Winner was stood waveringly on the ice holding tight onto the barrier looking up at his tall friend who was still standing upon non slippery ground.
"I don't think I can do that Trowa, not like you or WuFei," Quatre answered uncertainly still holding tight for dear life.
WuFei sped past at a speed so great that Quatre could not catch the determined expression on his face.
"Sure you can. I've seen you do great things. What's a little ice skating between friends huh? I'll show you how." Trowa Barton stepped down onto the ice without losing balance and stood beside Quatre in a way that the blonde thought was defying logic or reason. His own legs were slipping about all over the place and he managed to remain on his feet only by clinging tight to the edge.
"Give me your hands Quatre," Trowa said levelly.
"That would mean letting go," he replied but with one hand still clinging, he manoeuvred himself to face Trowa. The tall boy took the hand he had offered.
"Now just give me your other hand and we'll stay still that's all. And I mean still. No slipping or sliding."
Worriedly Quatre released the barrier and gradually moved his hand to link with that of his friend and managed a weak smile. At that moment Chang WuFei whisked past again and the blonde lost his balance falling back against the barrier and pulling Trowa with him. His legs slid either side of Trowa's but the brown haired boy stopped him from falling completely by grabbing his waist. He stopped breathing as if the very air had been stolen as Trowa pulled him back and held him upright securely. Upon noticing their compromising position, a blush coloured the blonde's cheeks.
Quatre smiled softly again and Trowa looked as if he was about to say something. A loud laugh prevented Trowa from saying whatever he was going to say as Duo appeared at the opening onto the arena.
"Not on the ice you two, get a room," he yelled.
Trowa grimaced. "Duo has entered the building," he muttered almost sadly for Quatre's benefit.
"Hullo Duo," said Quatre struggling to stand up straight as his legs kept sliding back alongside Trowa's.
"Hi," said Duo hurriedly but his attention was now fixed upon WuFei. "Whoa unreal! Look at 'Fei," he said imperatively, staring like a man possessed.
Quatre suppressed a chuckle, it seemed Duo took any opportunity to ogle WuFei but at least this time he had an excuse, WuFei was truly very good at ice skating.
"Who'd have guessed it," said Trowa to the boy with his mouth hanging open, still staring at the Chinese boy as he sped past once more. "The silent soldier being a top notch skater."
Duo mumbled some sort of reply that neither Trowa nor Quatre could comprehend.
"Trowa said he could beat 'Fei," declared Quatre with an admiring smile at the boy who still held him gently upright.
Trowa blushed and seemed about to deny that he had said any such thing but Duo spoke first, flicking his braid over his shoulder and stepping onto the ice beside them.
"He was just tryin' to impress ya Quat. Now excuse me, I'm just going to get me some of that," he said gesturing toward WuFei who now seemed to be breaking lightspeed.
"Good luck," said Trowa for two reasons. Firstly because Duo had been trying to get WuFei to notice him since the war ended (to no avail) and secondly because it would be very difficult for Duo to catch up with WuFei even if the braided boy could skate but with his wobbling advance, it seemed that the Chinese pilot was going to stay safely out of reach.
Trowa turned again to Quatre but was again interrupted as the fifth of their group came to the rinkside.
"Baka," grunted Heero Yuy as Duo proceeded to skid and fall backwards onto his butt. "What's he trying to pull? He's never skated before in his life."
"He's just brave," said Quatre with a titter, about to reply 'he's trying to pull WuFei' but rapidly changing his mind. Duo got back to his feet, tried to brush the ice-dust off his backside and in doing so, fell right back over again.
"Brave or stupid?" replied Heero and stepped down beside Quatre. He briskly overtook the two boys who still stood huddled together.
"He's trying to pull WuFei," Trowa laughed mirroring Quatre's thoughts out loud. "He's not making a very good job of it though is he," said Quatre with a gentle smile.
Trowa was going to say something again but changed his mind. "Heero makes such a fuss about us wanting to go out anywhere but he always comes along. Do you know why that is?"
Quatre shrugged and slipped again. Trowa caught him before he could fall and held him tight until he regained his balance. The question was forgotten and Heero continued to make his way around, closer to the edge as he had not skated before either and was not about to throw a Duo, but Trowa was still aware of the answer ringing bells in his mind.
As Trowa loosed his grip on Quatre and turned to show him how to glide along, Duo was on his arse again halfway toward the middle of the rink.
"Hey Wu? A little help please!" he called out to the speeding WuFei.
The boy in question let out an exasperated sigh, he had started skating as fast as possible to try and stop himself thinking excessively about the braided idiot but Duo had gone and gotten himself into a ridiculous situation (as usual) and needed rescuing from it.
He slowed evenly to a gentle pace and halted right in front of the fallen boy. "Come on," he said and grabbed both of Duo's arms, pulling him onto his feet. Duo lurched backwards then threw his weight forwards again, right into WuFei's arms. The American grinned as his accidental-on-purpose fourth fall turned into a close hug from his Chinese comrade.
WuFei rolled his eyes and released Duo after a second of 'savouring the moment' (that had elicited a laugh from Trowa who was gently guiding Quatre in front of him) but his letting go of Duo almost resulted in him being dragged onto the floor with the American as he fell and grabbed hold of WuFei's arm.
He caught the inexperienced skater again and guided him back upright, realising that this was not going to be a situation in which he could get rid of Duo very easily.
"Don't tell me the great Shinigami can't skate."
Duo held tight to each of WuFei's arms and wondered if, despite the mockingly blank tone of his voice, WuFei was perhaps flirting with him.
"I can skate," Duo declared.
WuFei raised an eyebrow.
"Just not very good," Duo admitted with a sniff.
WuFei slid his hands up under Duo's grip but instead of pulling away completely, he took Duo's left hand in his right. He turned in a gentle glide and managed to prevent Duo from falling over at the same time. Slowly, WuFei slid along beside Duo and paused as the American tried to walk as he would on solid ground.
"Stop walking. Just let me pull you along for a bit," WuFei said, sounding a little exasperated.
Duo reluctantly gave in, seeing that any chance of impressing WuFei with superior skating skills was now greatly diminished.
Quatre, however, was doing quite well as Trowa observed from where he skated behind. They moved slowly, Trowa's hands still rested lightly on Quatre's waist guiding him gently into relaxing forwards and not worrying about falling back.
Heero overtook them, as usual he was alone, he had learnt how to skate alone and would jolly well skate alone now as well thankyou very much. He had picked up the art remarkably easily and now skated along as if headed to war with a scowl on his face and forceful anger in each stroke of his jean-clad legs.
"He's miffed with WuFei I think," said Quatre as Heero raced on ahead. "He wants Duo all to himself. Neither of them will admit it but they are both as besotted with him as they are with each other. That's what their constant bickering is about. And that's why Heero came with us even though he didn't want to; to keep one eye on WuFei and the other on Duo!"
Quatre slowed and turned holding onto the barrier as Trowa released his waist. "There's something else isn't there," he said uncertainly looking up at Trowa. The eye that was not shielded by a long lock of hair was looking down at him caringly.
Trowa swallowed and made a decision, either now or never. "Quatre," he began but could think of nothing else to say as Quatre took hold of both of his hands, perhaps to keep his balance, perhaps not.
He repeated the blonde's name again but nothing else followed it. At that moment WuFei dragged Duo past, the latter looking rather clumsy as he tried to keep his balance by throwing most of his weight onto WuFei's arm. Quatre stopped concentrating, lost his balance again and slipped into Trowa's arms. Trowa moved to lean against the wall, still holding Quatre in his arms.
"Can we just get off of the ice a moment? I'll sort out your skating problem in a minute but there's something I want to say first and…"
"Can't you say it here?" Quatre asked leaning comfortably against Trowa's chest, feeling Trowa's legs around his own and wishing he could stay like that forever.
"I guess so," said Trowa and tried to think of what to say again. This was hard, very hard. As an ex-circus performer he had some sort of way with words or at very least no qualms about using words. But now he was tongue-tied.
'There's only one way I can say this,' he thought, 'and it's not using words.' So gently he kissed Quatre's forehead then using one finger to lift Quatre's head his lips touched the blonde's nose and finally, fleetingly, his mouth.
"Oh," mumbled Quatre in understanding of what Trowa had wanted to say. He leant closer into his fellow ex-pilot and allowed him to kiss him again firmer than the last time. His arms crept around Trowa's waist and the kiss deepened as Quatre indulged in doing something he had wanted to do for a long time.
"Hell! Look at them!" Duo screeched pointing toward the two boys leaning against the barrier in each other's arms. His yelling resulted in his falling over and dragging WuFei with him (the Chinese boy being quite as startled by seeing two of his friends snogging as the American.)
"Idiot," stated WuFei from his place on the ground beside Duo. A pair of girls skated past; adjusting their course to avoid hitting the two boys that had fallen over in unison.
"OK, so I can't skate. I can do other things you know," he said as he struggled back to his feet again.
"Like what? And don't answer fly a Gundam or piss everybody off because I know you can do that."
Duo looked condescended for a moment, but soon recovered and grinned at WuFei. "Do you really wanna know?"
"Don't know, do I?" WuFei asked as he dragged Duo towards the edge where in all probability he wouldn't fall over so often.
"Well it looks like I'm better than Quatre or Trowa," Duo said sultrily and quickly engaged WuFei in a momentary kiss onto his lips.
Then he turned around, his cheeks turning red and attempted to skate off flirtily but (of course) slipped over again and got an armful of WuFei.
"What makes you think you are better than them?" WuFei asked, pushing Duo gently up against the barrier.
"Ummm…." Duo began but he was cut off as WuFei ran his hands down his sides, leant in and kissed his neck teasingly.
The two girls skated past, one holding onto the other's arm staring at the boys with interest.
WuFei continued to gently kiss up Duo's neck whispering "How do you know? Have you kissed either of them?"
He pulled away, his onyx eyes twinkling and a rare smile crossed his lips at Duo's bemused expression.
"Well, no…but…" Duo began.
WuFei looked around him, at the only other occupants of the rink, the two girls and Heero who was headed toward them at a gentle gliding speed. Quatre and Trowa had left the arena and were sat cuddled up in the spectator seats.
"Let me show you how it should be done," said WuFei and leant in again.
All of a sudden his hand shot out and caught the overtaking Heero by surprise. Heero, who had been angrily sweeping past having witnessed WuFei and Duo necking, gasped and crashed into the barrier. He turned about to snap at WuFei but hardly had the chance to open his mouth as WuFei swung in front of him, leaving Duo completely confused and kissed him passionately on the lips, pressing him hard back against the wall.
Duo stared with his mouth open as the two most gorgeous guys in his life kissed each other heatedly right in front of him.
WuFei pulled away from Heero with several lingering kisses and looked over toward Duo, winked and then sped off as fast as he had been skating before.
"Whoa!" Duo exclaimed, startled that WuFei had paid any attention to anybody, let along kissed both himself and Heero within the space of two minutes.
Trowa and Quatre seemed to have noticed WuFei's teasing and came over, Quatre skating reasonably confidently now, holding onto the hand of his boyfriend.
"I didn't think he had it in him," commented Trowa to Heero who remained exactly where WuFei had left him, breathing heavily with a sort of paralysed look on his face.
After eliciting no response from either Heero or Duo the two skated on, a little faster now that Quatre had gained his balance.
Duo used the barrier to move over to Heero, who was still staring after WuFei with his lips looking thoroughly kissed. Duo giggled a little and caught Heero's attention.
"You know what he was doing?"
Heero stared at Duo as the American spoke.
"He was meant to be showing me how to kiss better than them," Duo said gesturing towards Trowa and Quatre.
"I see," answered Heero watching WuFei speed past again.
"I think I've got it now," said Duo and grabbing Heero, pulled him close.
Heero was as surprised as he was when WuFei kissed him when he found himself being snogged senseless again but this time by Duo. He had more time to think about it this time and began to kiss back leaning in closer to Duo.
All of a sudden they were both flat on the floor in a puddle of cold water where the ice had begun to melt.
"Baka," said Heero as he landed on his side, still pressed against Duo who had one leg sprawled over his hip.
Duo laughed.
The girls passed again, wondering who of the ravishing boys was with whom and enjoying their visit to the skating rink more than they had anticipated.
They untangled themselves and stood up just as a voice came over the loudspeaker announcing that time was up and the rink should now be cleared.
WuFei skated over and skidded calculatedly to knock all three of them into the barrier.
"Ow!" Duo exclaimed as WuFei crashed purposefully into him. The Chinese boy laughed, skating seemed to have brought out the fun side of him and kissed Duo as passionately as he had kissed Heero. Heero moved closer and stroked down Duo's back, standing tight between them.
This seemed altogether too much for the watching girls and one of them slipped and rolled into the puddle. The other, realising that the girl whose arm she was clinging to had fallen, also fell backwards into the cold puddle.
"CLEAR the rink please," came the male voice over the tanoy once more, interrupting WuFei who was now kissing Heero again and making the two girls squeak as they tried to get to their feet again.
The threesome left the rink, and rejoined Quatre and Trowa as they traded the skates for their own shoes.
They left the building into the warm summer air. Trowa walked with his arm around Quatre and in front of them WuFei had Heero's hand, teasingly caressing it with his thumb. Duo held Heero's other hand and was talking animatedly as he walked his braid swinging from side to side.
"Well," said Quatre. "I think we should come skating more often!"
Trowa smiled.
But the two bruised girls walking along behind could not say that they agreed!
A/N: That's us! I wish I did see three bishies trying to get off with each other all at once but I think I would have done more than just fall over, I would have keeled over and DIED dragging Laura with me!
TY for reading. NICE reviews (including constructive criticism) welcomed. Flames ignored.'
