Chapter Text
Poppy loved figure skating, she really did. The attention and eyes on her whenever she moved on the ice. The cold of the ice and the heat of the moment.
Figure skating had all the graciousness of ballet, delicate and elegant at once. But the true expanse of the ice allowed her to move freely, to express herself in a way she couldn’t do with words or simple dance.
It was also nice that other skaters mostly kept to themselves, caught up in their own world, alone or with a partner. Sometimes people asked for a temporary partner, in which Poppy made the discovery that skating with others was not for her. They just couldn’t keep up to her standards and the chemistry was always off.
But when it wasn’t temporary, people didn’t bother since they already had a partner anyway or didn’t want one.
The whole figure skating thing was perfect for Poppy. Almost.
In all ways, except for the fact that they had to share the ice rink with the hockey players.
They usually had designated times for each of their training sessions, but on some days, like today, they had to share. One half to the hockey players while the other belonged to the figure skaters. Poppy didn’t know who’s stupid idea it was to mix these groups but she cursed them under her breath.
But this was the only free time Poppy could make to train in between all the classes, so she had no choice but to live with it. Even if all the noise of the hockey players was very, very irritating.
The figure skater learned to mostly tune out the noise though, focusing on her dancing instead. Maybe getting lost in her thoughts a little.
That’s probably why she didn’t hear the noise around her suddenly increase. Not until something grabbed her by the waist and warmth surrounded her, tackling her onto the ice.
Except Poppy didn’t feel a real impact, the person under her got all of it while Poppy landed onto their body like a cushion.
A loud groan under her, shook her out of her thoughts and she blinked a few times until she angrily tried pushing herself off the person, “What the hell are you doing?!”
She lifted her head until she could angrily glare at the person under her, who was squeezing Poppy’s waist like a lifeline. Who also looked very much in pain. Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut and her jaw clenched, a soft hiss coming out of her mouth.
Then the hockey player painfully let go of the breath she was holding and opened her eyes to meet Poppy’s brown and irritated ones.
“Sorry,” she breathed, “The puck landed by your feet but you didn’t hear us call out so I pushed you out the way before you could step on it”
She paused to flinch at the movement, “I know how dream crushing injuries can be for figure skaters so..” the hockey player was panting softly and Poppy’s face softened slightly before returning back to her scowl.
She quickly pushed herself out of the embrace and Bea finally realized the grip she had on the girl and let go. Some other figure skaters helped Poppy stand up while the other hockey players helped up the dirty blonde.
“Ugh! This is why they shouldn’t let the hockey players play alongside our training” the blonde complained in a whine before quickly storming off towards the locker room. Everyone else just watched her walk off.
So much for a thank you.
“Sorry, Bea. This was completely my fault”, Ford said guiltily while helping her stand up properly.
“Will you be alright?” Carter asked from the other side of her.
Bea winced, her shoulder definitely hurt like a bitch. Ice was really not fun to land on, even with shoulder pads, “Yeah.. I’ll just head home early”
The hockey player slowly followed the blonde towards the locker room before another voice called out “You need any help?”
“No no, I’m fine” she said and waved her hand before getting out of the rink. Maybe she’d regret that decision later.
As she entered the locker room, Poppy was sitting on the bench and zipping up her heeled boots. When the door loudly closed behind Bea, the figure skater's head shot up, her face still frowning.
“Are you following me?” the blonde scowled at Bea as she undid her bun and put her hair up into a ponytail instead.
“What? No! I’m here to change” Bea furrowed her eyebrows at the blonde. She sat down at the bench in front of her locker and quietly groaned at the new movement. Showering here was definitely out of the question.
Bea took off her helmet and frustratedly put it down, “You know, you should be a little more grateful for what I did. You could’ve broken your leg if you had stepped on the puck and slipped. Or worse”
Silence followed.
Bea sighed, took off her gloves and reached to open her locker for some water, wincing at the shooting pain in her shoulder. That’s going to leave a really nasty bruise, if not worse.
A locker behind her slammed shut then and Bea thought she was going to be finally alone now, until the footsteps towards the door just stopped halfway.
Bea glanced at the blonde, her back facing her until she loudly sighed and turned around, “Do you want help?”
The hockey player blinked at the girl. She usually would try to fight it a little because asking for help is not Bea’s strong suit, but she knew if she said no right now, the blonde would leave without another word.
So she lightly smiled at the blonde before nodding, “Yeah.. Could you untie my skates? And my shin guards”
Wordlessly Poppy walked over and dropped her bag, she crouched down and quickly made work of the skates. Bea watched for a moment, appreciating her nonchalant but sharp-looking beauty until she realized that it’s probably weird to stare at the stranger you tackled. She quickly shook off the thoughts and reached under her jersey to unclasp the shoulder pads so she could take both off at once.
She took a deep breath in and tried pulling them both over her head. Bea clenched her jaw and tried not to groan out in pain but some muffled noise still flew past her lips.
Suddenly a pair of cold hands were on hers and gently pulled up the jersey along with the shoulder pads until they were face to face again. Bea saw the blonde’s eyes flicker from her stomach to her face, failing to hide the way she stared just moments before. The hockey player gazed down too, her thin undershirt sticking to her sweaty body, outlining her abs beautifully. She forced back a smirk when she noticed the light color in Poppy’s cheeks.
“You could’ve just said you needed help with your shirt instead” the blonde rolled her eyes as she placed the gear to the side, avoiding eye contact at all costs.
“I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable but.. since we’re already at it” Bea bit her lip to suppress a smile and tried finding a way into Poppy’s line of sight again but winced at the pain in her shoulder.
She quietly groaned, “Mind helping me with this shirt too?”
Instead of answering, the figure skater’s soft hands just grabbed the hem of the shirt and carefully pulled it over Bea’s head too. Worst part was over at least.
Poppy couldn’t help but let her eyes wander again, catching on her abs again. She then suddenly stepped over the bench and stood behind the hockey player and for a moment Bea really thought she was going to just leave, until she felt cold fingertips tracing along the blooming bruise, making her flinch at the unexpected touch.
“Relax. I’ll cool it a bit” Poppy said in a low and sultry voice, almost whispering into her ear. Bea felt her throat dry up and her ears heat up at the subtle voice change.
Her hands then gently pressed against her aching shoulder. The cold felt really nice against the burning heat of her skin, and Bea visibly started relaxing and
subconsciously leaned back into the blonde’s hands. She really hoped Poppy didn’t mind the sweat.
A minute or two passed until Poppy’s hands started warming up and she lifted her hands off the bruise, wiping her hands on Bea’s clean towel, “You should ice that as soon as you’re home”
“Yeah.. Thanks” the hockey player shyly smiled and the blonde nodded before handing Bea her sweater. She then grabbed her bag and turned around to leave.
“Uh, wait! I didn’t catch your name” Bea called out before she reached the door, making the figure skater turn around to look at her, “I’m Bea, by the way.”
She already knew Poppy’s name but asking for it, would make sending a follow request later a lot less creepy.
The blonde raised an eyebrow, a small smile playing on her lips as she pushed down the door handle, “See you around, Bea”
And with that she was gone.
She might’ve not gotten a ‘thank you’ nor her name, but at least she got a smile out of the pretty figure skater. Even if it was small, that had to count for something, right?