A corner of the man’s mouth pulled upwards into a half smile. Talented and humble. This girl was stunning. He glanced over at her friends, barely paying them any mind. “The pleasure was mine.” It had given him a reason to come over and talk to her. Taking her hand he gently guided her along on the ice. “Only the kind you learn from trying not to wipe out.” He admitted. “I’m Nessim, by the way.” His friends were scattered about randomly around the rink with some on the ice and others getting snacks. When one of them waved at him he gestured over. “That’s one of my friends. They can’t skate either.” He murmured to the beauty on his arm before offering a half wave back to his unsuspecting friend.
Garnett whipped his head around just in time to see the tail end of Shrike zipping ahead of him. “Dammit.” Try as he might he just couldn’t get as low as Shrike while maintaining the same strength of strides. He kept pushing forward though, but the distance between them was ridiculous! For another two laps he refused to admit defeat until he couldn’t tell if they were even on the same number of laps anymore. Slowing down to a stop he rested on the wall next to Zletka, his chest heaving a bit as he leaned. “This is the first time I’ve seen you sit out.” The words were strained. He saw Zletka open her mouth to speak, but held up a finger. “One second.” Resting his hands on his knees he tried wait for his heart rate to fall a bit. “Damn.” He stood back up. “Okay. I’m here; I’m here.”
Zletka was in the midst of observing Que and the young man when Garnett arrived. “Hm?” Her gaze slowly shifted from the pair to her friend. An amused smile formed, making it’s way to her eyes as Garnett struggled to catch his breath. Even when he said he was ready she still paused for an extra moment. It wasn’t until she felt his calm that she spoke. “I wasn’t interested in it today.” She replied calmly. After two years it seemed Garnett was still supervised by her openness. It was something she’d explained at least twice before and yet he always gave that kind, boyish smile whenever she answered in such a way. “We’ve both lost twice today.” She noted casually. “Both. You only lost once. I’m the one who got beat by Marcus AND Shrike.” Garnett chuckled. At that moment he caught a glimpse of Shrike, “Oi! I give up!” He raised his hand in defeat.
Rao wanted to point out how propelling yourself across the ring wasn’t technically skating, but decided to let it slide. Instead she opted to enjoy the show- and what a show it was. Her face contorted, caught somewhere between laughter and horror at every stumble of skates. Finally, she gave way to full on boisterous laughter when Marcus dealt with the largest adversary to ever be faced on ice: a child. It only lasted a few moments; however, and then she realized he was almost back! “Shit.” The words were caught on titters. Maybe this plan hadn’t been the most thought out. Glancing from his arm to face she wanted to roll her eyes at such a smug expression. “Oh, I’m sorry.” With a fluid maneuvering of her legs, Rao glided backwards. “I don’t think I ever said when I’d put them on…” A finger rested on her lips thoughtfully as the engineer continued to glide. “Now did I?” Tilting her head she gave him a cheeky wink before increasing her strides. “Good job on making it around though.” Truth be told her only concern was keeping the distance between her and Marcus as large as possible. “Now you can bring Sunsan and Wells!” Attempting to stay out of his reach she peeked behind herself just in time to see a little boy stumbling her way. “Woah, woah, woah!” Rao quickly spun on her heels to catch the him before they crashed. “Whew.” She breathed a sigh of relief, spotting a older girl who on the verge of face planting. Her hand shot out, reflexively gripping the girl’s shirt to keep her upright while her other arm remained locked around the little boy. “Okay guys.” Her smile was a bit breathless as she eased her grip to let them take another shot at it. “Go on.” Rao waited until the two were a few meters away before she faced Marcus. “They’re so cute!”
Star Trek Intermediate Program
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