CHAPTER 6
An Ice Skating Affair

First, at Cunningham's suggestion, we had to stop off at a small shop to get sunglasses. It was stupid, getting sunglasses at night, but it was to put on during ice skating so that fans didn't go nuts. Then we walked to the ice rink, which was closer than I thought. Cunningham was right, you could find every form of entertainment imaginable here.

"Been ice skating before?" Cunningham asked me when we were on the ice, skating side by side at a leisurely pace.

"Oh yeah. Loads," I said, watching as little kids chased each other on the ice. "I used to go ice skating with my parents or my friends and then pretend I was a IGPX mech. I would go as fast as I could around and around the ice rink. But then, of course, I'd always fall."

Cunningham laughed. "That kind of sounds like me when I was young. I used to do that same thing."

We didn't say anything to each other for a long time. We just skated, noticing and sometimes enjoying each others presence, while we watched couples hold hands and try to skate without falling, kids running into walls because that was the only way they knew how to stop, and chain spills when one person fell which caused another person to fall which caused another person to fall…

I kept on having this nagging feeling, though, that I shouldn't be here, ice skating, with Cunningham no less. The Satomi/Sledge Mamma race had to have been over by now. Was it possible that they had discovered that I had lied? Would they go out looking for me?

I realized that sneaking off right now wasn't the smartest thing to do. What with the whole killer paranoia floating around in the air. But I was with Cunningham. But they didn't know that.

I tried to push these worries aside, but they just resurfaced again and again. Finally, I turned to tell Cunningham that we, or at least I, should be getting back. Just as I opened my mouth, a voice came on over the P.A. system. I knew there was no way I could beat this guy with amplification on his side, so I waited until he was finished.

"Skaters, now it's time for your favorite part of general session, the couple skate! If you do not have a partner, please exit the ice at this moment. In a couple of minutes, you will be able to get back on the ice. Thank you!"

Aw, fuck you, I thought to the announcer guy. How embarrassing. And then the lights dimmed, making it almost impossible to see with sunglasses on. Great. I slid the sunglasses off my eyes and placed them on my head. Cunningham watched me do so with raised eyebrows. "Well, I don't want to crash," I told him. He shrugged and then took off his sunglasses too.

We went into the final turn before we would have to exit. I was already drifting toward the side, watching as people holding hands skated past, when Cunningham said, "You're getting off?"

"You're not?" I asked in return, and also in a little surprise. He skated toward me and was just about to say something when someone pushed into me from behind. I was sent toppling into Cunningham and scrambling to regain my balance. I was planning on yelling something angry and loud to whoever had pushed me, but then I realized that Cunningham was holding both my wrists in his hands. I looked up at him and he smiled.

"That was close," he said, smiling at me. "Good thing I have such great balance."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Yeah, what a great thing."

"Anyway," Cunningham continued, one of his hands sliding from my wrist to my hand, "I think it was some higher being's way of telling you that you can't get off the ice yet." Well, duh, I couldn't help thinking. Now that you are holding my hand, getting off is a little trickier.

"Very funny," I said to him in a not amused voice. I noticed that even though both of our hands were cold, his were still a little warmer than mine. Not fair.

I looked down at my skates, or at least, that was going to be my excuse if he asked. Really, I was sneaking glances at our connected hands. Looking at them gave me a little shot of excitement, although I still somehow felt guilty. When I had had my fill of thinking, I'm actually holding hands with Alex Cunningham! I looked up.

And there was Michiru Satomi. She was staring straight at me with cold eyes on the other side of the clear plastic barrier that separated the rink from the walkway on the outside of it. It was kind of eerie.

"Hey," I said, gently pulling on Cunningham's hand to get his attention, "is that Ms. Satomi over there?"

"Where?" Cunningham asked, looking up from his feet. I turned back around to look at where she had been.

"Right the…" I trailed off as I realized that she was gone. How'd she do that? "No way. She disappeared. I could have sworn that she was there just a second ago."

"Are you sure? Is the cold air getting to your head?" Cunningham joked. I scowled at him and poked him in the side softly with my elbow.

"I'm not crazy, I promise," I said with a smile. By the time "couple skate" was over, I had forgotten about her.

---zoOM---

"We are such delinquents," Cunningham said as we arrived in front of my pretty much silent team building. I didn't even know how late it was, but it felt late.

"No, you are a delinquent. I am a perfect angel," I told him, observing the security guards watching us.

"Oh, okay," Cunningham said, sounding as if he believed me not one bit. Suddenly, he pulled me into him. After a disorienting second, I realized what this was. A hug. A long one.

When we pulled back, Cunningham looked down at me again and tapped me on the nose with a finger. "Keep this between you and me, okay? It's our secret."

"What, going ice skating?" I asked in a joking tone. He nodded solemnly. I couldn't help but half-laugh. "Okay, whatever you say." We stood there for a second longer, the moment growing a bit awkward until I said, "Well, I better get inside."

"Yeah…" he said softly.

"Bye," I said and then walked away before things got weirder. As I stepped into the lobby, I heard the security guard say, "Mr. Cunningham, I'll walk you back to your building," before the double doors slid shut behind me. I allowed myself a small smile before I stepped into an elevator.

---zoOM---

Confrontations always suck.

"Where've you been?" Beckem asked me as soon as I stepped into my floor from the elevator. I had been nodding off in the elevator, so it took a moment to get awake and oriented again and then another moment to figure out what he was asking.

"None of your stupid business," I said, tired and, because I was tired, cranky.

"You are our Forward, Lotus. I think it is my business," he shot back. Ohh, he was a smart one.

"Give it a rest, Beckem. Just be happy I didn't get shot on the way home, okay?"

"That is not something to joke about," he said to me, his voice dangerously low. "To tell you the truth, that's what I was worried about."

"Well, you can quit it now," I said, scooting past him to try to get to the door to my room. "What are you doing up so late anyway?"

"Waiting for you," he said.

"Would you cut it out? It's like you're spying on me or something." I gave him an annoyed look before I stepped in front of my bedroom door and the door slid open by itself. Ah, the wonders of technology.

"I just want to know where you went, Lotus. Is that a crime?"

"Yes, very much so. Good night!" I said, waving him a cheerful goodbye before my door slid shut, blocking him out. When he was gone out of my view, I went to my bed and collapsed on it, sighing.

Beckem could be such a pest at times. And yet somehow, I felt guilty. Guilty about this whole Cunningham affair. Why?

----------------------------------------------------------

A/N: So, the big line divider thingy isn't working. Just to piss me off, I suppose. But I felt it was time to update, especially since this chapter was like screaming, "FiLLER!"

So yeah, don't shoot me. Just read it and patiently wait like good little readers while I make it through another couple of months of life to post another.

Reviewers are cool, nonreviewers are almost as cool.

Thank you to my big 3.

I'm out 'til next time.