"Really?"
Maura gives her best friend a questioning glance. "What is it, Jane?"
"You're picking ice skating?" Jane practically groaned her disappointment.
""What's wrong with ice skating?" Maura asked. When Jane couldn't reply, she added, "You let me pick and I picked ice skating. No more complaints!"
Jane muttered something under her breath. Maura elected to ignore her broody detective's habit of cursing.
"What if I'm not very good at skating, Maur?" Jane asked suddenly, taking the moment to look down at some files on her desk.
"Then I'll make you better and you'll have refined a new skill. I couldn't possibly think of a better way to spend a Friday evening," Maura beamed. Jane sighed, admitting defeat.
"Let me just finish up this paperwork and I'll meet you downstairs," Jane said, dropping heavily into her chair.
Maura smiled, "Excellent, that will give me just enough time to get my skates out of storage downstairs." She left the detective quickly, heels clicking toward the elevator.
"Why are your skates in storagehere?" Jane called after her, making a half-assed attempt to get up. She might've tried harder, but Maura was already in the elevator and clearly hadn't heard the question and Jane was tired.
Paperwork was finished fifteen minutes ago, but was Maura ready to go? Nope. Jane had been lounging on the couch the entire time. Finally, Maura emerged from the autopsy room, clutching a large shoebox.
"Found them. Susie moved them to get some supplies and then they got lost in the bustle of the lab. But I have them, so now we can go."
"Thank God," Jane called, hopping up from the couch to lead the way to the car. "I was worried we wouldn't be able to go skating anymore."
Maura's heels stopped echoing in the cavernous hallway. "You're being sarcastic, aren't you?"
Jane spun around, "Yes."
A distraught look crossed Maura's face and her lips pursed slightly. "If you really don't want to, we can do something else. I don't want to-"
"It's fine, Maura, really. I'm teasing. I'm fine," Jane promised. "Let's go skating!" She added with fake excitement. It took a moment of intense scrutiny on Maura's part before they left for the rink.
Knowing she had to make it up to Maura, Jane decided to have a little fun with the pathologist. See, Jane could skate. She used to play hockey with her brothers – without padding. But the thought of the look on Maura's face if she got to help Jane with a sport? Too cute to pass up.
While Jane gets skates from the rental booth, Maura sits down to start lacing up. When Jane sits down beside her, she ties her skates pretty loosely and waits for Maura to comment.
Ten seconds later, she wasn't disappointed. "Jane," Maura said, "you need to tie those tighter." She slips off the bench and kneels down to retie Jane's skates. "There, I'd rather not doctor you through a sprain or fracture tonight."
"Thanks, Maur," Jane replied. She patted Maura lightly on the shoulder. "Shall we?" She jokingly proffered an arm to the doctor.
Maura beamed. "We shall," she agreed, and looped arms with the skinny detective.
Jane let Maura step out onto the ice first, giving herself an extra couple of seconds to orchestrate a little stumble. As soon as Maura beckoned to Jane for her to join the doctor, Jane's first step onto the ice caused a minor imbalance. Maura lunged forward to help stabilize the detective, placing a hand on Jane's waist and grabbing onto Jane's arm with her other. "You okay there?" Maura asked, concerned.
Jane nodded. "Fine. Told you I might not be very good at this."
Maura smiled softly, in that way that's cute and sigh-worthy and relaxing all at once. "I've got your back. That is how they say it right?" Jane smiled encouragingly and nodded emphatically. "Yeah it is." Maura nodded to herself, happy to have gotten some of Jane's slang correct.
"We'll go slow," Maura promised, attaching herself to Jane's arm again. They started off slowly, Maura leading the charge around the rink. Jane threw in a couple of small stumbles and minor trips as they completed circle after circle.
At last Jane decided it was time to make her move. Maura had steadily sped them up as they glided around, and Jane took the opportunity at the next sharp corner to let her skates slide out from under her. She went down quickly, landing squarely on her butt. More importantly though, Jane dragged the good doctor down with her. It went even better than Jane could have imagined though, because Maura landed on top of her, pushing the detective onto her back on the slippery ice.
They started laughing as soon as they'd decided that neither of them was hurt, faces mere inches away from each other. The cold must have been getting to Maura because her nose had changed to a shade of red since they'd stepped onto the ice. Unable to help herself, Jane leaned up and kissed her on the nose quickly. She leaned back to gauge Maura's reaction, but Maura had followed her face as it pulled away and ended up kissing Jane sweetly on the lips.
The two blushed hard enough to match the shade of Maura's nose.