"Ice skating?" Kiku repeats aloud, turning the suggestion into an inquiry.
"Yeah!" Alfred continues, looking thoroughly enthused. "Why not? I haven't gone ice skating in forev~er!"
"But it's summer," Kiku counters, though he can already feel his resolve weakening.
"So? That's what ice-skating rinks are for!" Alfred looks down at him with those blue eyes, so compelling, so utterly convincing, that Kiku cannot come up with a word to say in response. It isn't an unreasonable demand, and Kiku cannot remember the last time he has seen the other boy look so excited. Fighting this is a lost cause, through and through.
"All right," he relents, and the words are barely out of his mouth before Alfred presses his foot to the pedal.
Shocked, Kiku clutches, something, anything in reach. He ends up with the passenger side door handle and a fistful of Alfred's sleeve.
"Oh, right…" Alfred speaks in sudden, guilty remembrance. He slows down, smiling sheepishly. "Forgot, forgot…sorry, dude."
"It's—it's fine," Kiku stutters, flushing as he removes his left hand from the fabric. The two continue on towards the ice-skating rink in muted silence, dripping with unsaid words.
They park, and Kiku savors the feel of solid ground beneath his feet again. Briefly, he wonders if he'll ever get over this attachment, this feeling of relief every time he steps out of the car. A hand on his arm startles him out of his reverie, and he looks up. At Alfred.
"Hey…" the blonde begins, the sudden hesitance in his voice so completely foreign, that Kiku is a little concerned. "You alright?"
Kiku doesn't meet his eyes, brushing a piece of hair behind his ear. "Y-yes…I'm fine."
For a moment, Alfred's eyes don't leave his form, watching as if about to say something more. Kiku shifts under the gaze, suddenly feeling unsettled and flustered, his thoughts unconsciously drifting back to his older brother's words from earlier on. But then Alfred smiles, that disarming goofy smile of his, and the pressure is gone.
Kiku lets out a breath of relief he hadn't known he'd been holding, before the grip on his arm moves down to his wrist, and he feels himself being tugged along.
Twenty-three minutes later finds Kiku at the edge of the ice rinks, watching the other patrons zoom by. The place is surprisingly busy in the summer, though, he supposes the temperature would be a nice change from the heat outside. Still, the crowds are nearly akin to those at beaches, at amusement parks. Alfred is in their midst, whizzing around at an insanely fast pace.
A shiver runs down Kiku's spine, through his limbs, and it is not only from the chill permeating the air. He is wearing light pants and a t-shirt, typical summer clothing neither suited to such low temperatures nor a pastime as potentially dangerous as this one. Moving at high speeds on a slippery hard surface with blades attached to one's feet: certainly thin cloth is not at all protective enough.
Kiku stands, knifed feet and all, watching, holding onto the barrier dividing ice from the spectator area, and anticipating the moment his absence will be noticed.
It takes Alfred a while to notice—at least, it feels a while to Kiku. After hours, minutes, seconds, the blonde glances over his way, a look of disappointment furrowing his brow. Rapidly, he skids over to the opening Kiku is standing by, placing his hands on the barrier and leaning down on them so that their eyes are level. So blue, against the flushed cheeks and tousled hair, they shine with apparent concern, even through the glasses.
"What's wrong?" he asks, tone hesitant, worried, patient. Kiku tries to remember the last time Alfred has been patient.
"N-nothing," he murmurs in response, not meeting blue, brown searching anywhere but.
Alfred doesn't move away, doesn't straighten out and shrug it off. He leans closer instead, so that he is mere inches from Kiku, head inclined so that his gaze has to focus upwards. A tremor pierces the smaller boy, from his throat to his heart, and his mind is suddenly blank with chaos, an overactive static buzz. He waits, frozen.
"It's okay," Alfred assures, reaching out a hand, taking Kiku's in his own. He straightens up suddenly—there is that smile!—and Kiku feels breathless, alert, flustered. A tug on his hand follows, like from before, urging and insistent, but reassuring. "I won't let you fall."
Kiku can't help but believe that voice, that hand around his, though the panic flares up in his chest nonetheless.
"J-just…go slowly…p-please," he stutters, shaking as he takes the first few steps onto the ice.
"Don't worry," Alfred grins, breath forming a gentle white mist. "I know you don't like speeding."
Kiku had thought it difficult standing in his skates on the floor, but the ice was a whole new arena. The slightest off move, the slightest shudder, and he could just feel himself slipping. Faltering.
"You're doing good!" Alfred laughs, picking up the pace from a debilitated turtle's crawl, to more of a speedy snail. The smaller boy stiffens, grasping his friend's hand so tightly that it earns a wince.
"S-sorry," Kiku winces in sympathy, but he can't release his grip, as if an electric current is coursing through the appendage, spasming it into immobility.
"It's fine," Alfred says, smiling again, moving just slightly faster. The other skaters still whizz by them, even some of the children. Kiku continues clutching.
"You know, Matty used to be like this when he was younger," the taller boy voices, absently, the smile adopting a more wistful hint. The laughter he manages sounds forced. "He got over it soon enough, though, and then he was pulling circles around me!"
"I-is that so?" Kiku returns the smile softly, suddenly focusing on the conversation. "How…how is he?"
But just as he is finished speaking, his skate catches on a nick in the ice, and he stumbles, instinctively latching onto Alfred with his free hand. The larger boy jolts himself, but is able to catch the other in a sort of half embrace. Kiku can feel his heart racing, pounding, as Alfred manages to get them both on their feet again.
"…see? I told you I'd catch you."
Kiku laughs, nervous shaky laughter, but he nods in agreement. They stand like that for a moment, skaters passing around them, casting the occasional backward glance. Twin puffs of white emit, and they are looking at each other, blue into brown, and vice versa.
And then Kiku glances away and the moment is broken. He coughs lightly, withdrawing from Alfred's personal bubble, though his grip on the blonde's hand remains firm. When the younger boy tries to extract his fingers, Kiku unconsciously holds tighter, refusing to let his only form of support go.
Alfred smiles at this reaction, but continues to pull away, gently. "Trust me for a second."
Reluctant, Kiku releases the extremity, and it takes all his willpower not to clutch at his friend. Once free, Alfred brushes off his shorts, before slipping an arm around Kiku's shoulders, under his arm, earning a jump from the other boy that nearly sends him toppling again.
"Relax!" he chuckles, pushing the hair from his eyes. "It's easier to hold you this way."
With the justification, Kiku loosens, if only a little. They begin skating again, slowly, but fast enough for Kiku to hold onto Alfred every time they pass over a rough patch. After awhile, he stops letting go. He can almost feel the smile on his friend's face, a countenance he doesn't dare look up at, not at this speed, not while driving. Though, he supposes, Alfred is really the one in the driver's seat. Something inside Kiku's chest glows with warmth. Silence elapses between the two, comfortable, content. Until Alfred breaks it.
"Matty…" he begins, and Kiku instantly rewinds to their conversation before the fall. How completely he has forgotten.
"He's been doing…doing better." Kiku notes the hesitance, the pause, and bites his lip. "I just visited him a few days ago. He's…he's improving. I think. They said he might be able to come home soon, if he keeps this up."
"Ah..."
"I'll have to move back in, to watch him…"
"Ah…"
"Arty will be…" he trails off, not looking at Kiku.
"Lonely?" Kiku ventures, feeling the movement as Alfred swallows.
"Yeah…but it would be great to have Matty…home again." There's a twist in the second to the last word, an odd pause. Awkward, unnatural. Kiku winces, unconsciously clutching tighter in sympathy, in—
"Watch it!" A child skids in front of them, and Kiku panics, desperately trying to get out of the way. Alfred swerves to the side, leading Kiku along with him. They pass without incidence.
"Kiku…you alright?" The smaller boy is holding onto him tightly, eyes still screwed shut. "Kiku?"
"Y-yes," he answers, briefly, concisely. His dark eyes don't make contact with Alfred's.
They skate on for awhile, reestablishing a rhythm. Then something shifts, and they are speeding up, faster and faster.
"Stop!" Kiku shouts, eyelids clenched. "Alfred, slow down, slow…!"
"Just trust me," he responds, smiling, and almost without thinking, Kiku does. Somehow, somehow he feels secure and safe.
After awhile, they stop accelerating. There is a squeeze on his arm, firm, encouraging. Kiku opens his eyes.
They're going fast, really fast. People are moving past them in semi-blurs, and the icy air is biting at his arms, his throat, his eyes. It's so crowded, so full of other skaters, and yet Alfred maneuvers around them with surprising agility. Kiku briefly wonders how talented Matthew must be.
"How is it?" Kiku can feel the laughter against his back, through Alfred's chest. And he grins in return, the corners of his lips quirking upwards of their own accord.
"It is…fun," he says, the surprise in his tone betraying his thoughts. Because really, it is fun. Not scary, not terrifying, as things of high speed have been, ever since that day. The speed is exhilarating, almost, electrifying. His heart is pulsing rapidly in his chest, but it isn't from fear or trepidation, but excitement.
The laughter grows stronger behind him, a comforting, heart-warming vibration. Kiku cannot remember the last time he has felt so thoroughly warm, inside and out, in such a frigid climate.
Sorry for the wait! School has been busy and stuff. I think I have an end in sight for all this…vaguely. It might just take awhile to get there. At this point, I would estimate another 10-11 chapters and most, but probably less. Thank you for all the reviews ^^ Happy President's Day~