Chapter Text
Kaz had been scheming for days. Unfortunately, he hadn’t made many friends among the skating community, what with his gruff personality and thirst for revenge, but he had other ways to get what he wanted. He decided to give Doughty, a known friend of Pekka, a visit. Doughty had consistently shown up at Pekka’s competitions to show his support for his friend, though he wasn’t a skater himself. Kaz always thought there was something shady about him, and, after doing some extensive research –aka stalking–, he thinks he might have hit the jackpot.
“Hey Doughty.” Kaz tells the figure just turning the corner into the alley beside one of the gyms on the other side of town, famous for their fishy clientele.
The figure startles. “Dude, what the fuck? Who are you?”
Kaz looks up and straightens from where he had been leaning on the wall. “Just someone who is looking for some information.”
“Fuck off.” Doughty tries to dodge him, but Kaz plants his cane on the ground, stopping Doughty’s retreat.
“I hear you’re the guy I should find for some… medication.”
“Oh, dude, you scared me.” He laughs nervously. “Yeah, totally, what type of drugs do you want? I can get you the good stuff.”
“Mmm, I’m not sure. What kind of drugs do you sell to Pekka Rollins?”
Doughty looks suspiciously at him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He says and once again tries to walk past Kaz, who hits him on the leg with his cane.
“You shouldn’t try to pickpocket cripples, it’s just not polite.”
“Dude, what the fuck?” Doughty yells, crumbled on the floor holding his leg. “You attacked me.”
“You should go to the police then, but I’ll just tell them you tried to rob me when I refused to buy you drugs and that I was just defending myself. I’m just a poor handicap.” He crouches next to Doughty, who is looking up at him in fear. “Now, you’re going to tell me exactly what kind of drugs Pekka takes for his competitions, and”, he gives him a poke with his cane and Doughty whimpers, “who is selling to Tante Haleen.”
~
Inej’s just finished her last class, where they had practiced the children’s routine for the show that was happening that weekend. She is taking a break before Kaz and Jesper arrive for physical therapy. She can hear the TV that’s somewhere outside of the rink and that always provides some background noise for Inej’s classes. She mindlessly listens to it while running her and Kaz’s routine in her head, trying to see if there’s anything they need to practice before the great day. She stops in the middle of taking a sip from her water bottle when she hears a familiar name coming from the TV and quickly turns around stunned. She steps off the ice with her skates still on, no protectors on the blades and stands in front of the TV watching the news, where the faces of two people she knows intimately blink on the screen.
“In today's news, there’s a big scandal in the ice skating community. Renowned ice skater Pekka Rollins has been sanctioned with a four-year suspension for doping during competitions. An anonymous tip has alerted the International Skating Union (ISU) that this athlete was breaking international competing rules regarding the use of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs). As part of the sanction, Rollins will be disqualified from all competitions in which he was expected to participate this year.
Moreover, ice skating coach, Tante Heleen, has also been penalized for allegedly forcing her underage students to take drugs during and outside of competition. A skater who trained under Heleen's tutelage for years and who wishes to remain anonymous, said she developed an eating disorder at age 15 when her coach encouraged her to purge to lose weight, after she refused to take PEDs to improve her scores.
Our reporters are currently at the ISU headquarters, where a representative of the figure skating division will give a statement regarding the events involving athlete Pekka Rollins and coach Tante Haleen…”
When Jesper, Nina and Kaz arrive at the rink, they find Inej with her skates still on, outside of the ice, a water bottle hanging precariously from one of her hands while the other covers her mouth in shock.
“Waffles? What’s wrong?” Nina approaches her and, when she looks at the TV, blurts out: “Oh, shit.” She holds Inej tightly to her. “It’s okay, you’re okay now. C’mon don’t look at that anymore.”
“What’s happening?” They hear Jesper say behind them. A few moments later, they hear him gasp. “Wait, Tante Heleen? That was your coach, wasn’t it, Inej? And Pekka…” He turns around and stares at Kaz.
“It seems they finally got what they deserved.” Is all he says. He approaches Inej. “You’re okay?” Inej finally turns away from the TV to look at him and nods. “Good, c’mon.” And takes her hand and leads her to the ice.
“Was that your doing?” She asks him, when they are warming up for physical therapy.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“The anonymous tipper? Was that you?”
“I merely put a word here and there, it was a precarious balance, I didn’t want people to think that I was doing it out of spite, so I contacted some people and–”
“So it was you.”
“Yes.” He grins at her. “And now the world knows what kind of scumbag those two are.” Inej opens and closes her mouth trying to find something to say. Then she skates into Kaz’s space and hugs him tightly.
~
It’s finally the day of the presentation and Kaz hadn’t felt so nervous since his first competition. He’s pulling at his costume’s neck underneath his sweatshirt. He had decided to ignore all of his friend’s suggestions of wearing something festive, colorful, with glitter and rhinestones and had decided on an all-black ensemble which suited him fine. He meets Inej by the rink and she escorts him to a side, where “the competitors” are getting ready. He notices that she also decided to wear an all-black dress that flows beautifully from her body.
“You look good.” He tells her.
“Thank you.” She smiles at him. “You look good, too. Very handsome.” Kaz blushes. “The first ones to get on the ice will be the younger children, so they can finish and go to their parents. We’ll be the last ones, closing the show. Are you ready?” She links their hands together.
“I’m always ready.”
~
The lights dim, the sound of his blades on the ice, the cold of the rink, the heat of another body besides him, Kaz aligns himself on their starting position, inhales deeply and lets the music lead their dance. Once Inej takes that first turn that had them stumbling on the ice at the beginning, Kaz forgets everything else. They never let go of each other’s hands, except when it’s time for the few lifts they incorporated on their routine, and then it’s Kaz’s hands on Inej’s waist, soft and warm even through the fabric of her dress. Inej stares into Kaz’s eyes, looking at her so intently and with so much devotion that she can’t seem to look away. She circles Kaz in time with the music, her left leg extended in the air, and she does so while caressing his cheek, she can’t help it. He used to look so withdrawn when she first met him, but the few months that they’ve known each other have seemed to chip away a bit at his armor.
They finish their routine to the warm applause of the audience, and Kaz hasn’t felt this alive in months, maybe ever. He looks down at Inej’s flushed face so close to him, smiling up at him with that beautiful smile of hers and he can’t help but lean down and press his lips softly to her cheek, and she feels so warm and so alive that he just smiles at her in return.
When they get off the ice, they change their clothes and meet all of their friends, who take turns hugging and congratulating them, to Kaz’s chagrin, especially when Matthias hugs him so tight that lifts him off the floor.
“How did you feel?” Kaz hears Jordie ask him softly from his side. He turns to look at his brother and smiles at him.
“So good. I had forgotten how fun it could be to skate.”
Jordie squeezes his arm. “I’m glad.”
“Inej! Hello!” They hear someone shouting from behind them. They turn around to look at a young woman, around their age, with a red ribbon tied to her hair.
“Saskia, hi! What are you doing here?” Inej embraces her warmly.
“I heard you finally left Haleen and started teaching here. I saw you out there, you were beautiful.”
Inej thanks her and looks back to her friends and introduces her. “Everyone, this is Saskia, she used to skate under Heleen’s coaching as well, but left even before me. Saskia, this is everyone.”
They all greet her, but Jordie wheels forward on his chair and takes Saskia’s hand in his, kissing her knuckles. “Nice to meet you, I’m Jordie. May I say, you’re the most beautiful girl I have ever seen in my life?”
“You’re impossible.” Kaz tells him while everyone laughs goodnaturedly, but notices that Saskia is blushing, so he supposes they might have another guest on their family dinners in the future. He feels a warm hand slip into his and hears Inej tell him.
“C’mon, my parents should be here somewhere, they’re very excited to meet you.” And pulls him towards the entrance. “Everyone, meet us back at my place for dinner.” She waves at their friends and starts walking towards a couple with the same dark skin as Inej’s and the build of acrobats who, for some reason, are speaking with Kaz’s father.
“Wait!” They stop and Inej looks back at him questioningly. “Is my tie straight?”
Inej throws her head back in laughter and says, “You’re ridiculous, why are you even wearing a tie?” But she still lets go of Kaz’s hand and fixes his collar.
“I want to make a good first impression.”
“You look perfect.” And then Inej kisses Kaz’s cheek and everything is fine.
~
“Hello, my little spider! You looked so beautiful on the ice!” Her mother and father tell her. “A true acrobat!”
Kaz feels an arm snake around his shoulders and turns to face his father who looks suspiciously close to tears. “Did you watch?” He tells him.
“Of course I did. You did great. I’m so proud of you.” And kisses his hair. “I ran into Mr. and Mrs. Ghafa by coincidence, and figured we could wait together for both of you. Hello dear, how have you been?” His father tells Inej and when she approaches, he gives her a warm hug.
“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Ghafa, it’s very nice to finally meet you.” Kaz tells them politely, extending his hand.
“Oh, none of that. We’re huggers in this family! Come here, son.” And her father hugs him tightly.
“It’s good to finally meet you, Inej has told us a lot about you.” Her mom says, kissing his cheek and giving him a squeeze on the shoulder.
“Should we head out for dinner, then? I made some gulab jamun that is sitting there waiting to be eaten!” Inej’s father bellows a laugh and slaps Kaz’s shoulder making him lean heavily on his cane to keep his balance. When he looks up, Inej is looking at him with an amused smile.
Back at Inej’s house, everyone –including Kaz’s brother and father and even Saskia, who is practically sitting on Jordie’s lap– sits around the table for dinner. Inej’s house isn’t like anything Kaz has ever seen before, there are mismatched chairs and couches that look worn and well-loved, rugs of different bright colors, and even handstand equipment, a net, colorful balls, a hoop hanging from one of the room’s roof, ropes and some other equipment that Kaz doesn’t even know the function of.
The food is delicious and her parents are extremely agreeable. Her father says: “Now that we have so many young people here in our house, let me tell you a story. A friend of mine liked to tell me that women love flowers. He had many flirtations, but he never found a wife. Do you know why? Because women may love flowers, but only one woman loves the scent of gardenias in late summer that remind her of her grandmother's porch. Only one woman loves apple blossoms in a blue cup. Only one woman loves wild geraniums.” His wife slaps him amicably on the shoulder. “That woman is my wife.” He tells them sliding a hand on his wife’s waist and holding her tight. “She loves wild geraniums because no other flower has quite the same color, and she claims that when she snaps the stem and puts a sprig behind her ear, the whole world smells like summer. I always tell my daughter”, at this, he points in Inej’s direction, “many boys will bring you flowers. But someday you'll meet a boy who will learn your favorite flower, your favorite song, your favorite sweet. And even if he is too poor to give you any of them, it won't matter because he will have taken the time to know you as no one else does. Only that boy earns your heart.” Inej is looking back at her father with flushed cheeks, but turns around to give Kaz a warm smile that makes his heart squeeze.
“That is so true, bestie”, Nina tells Inej’s father, “Matthias, take notes.”
“But you don’t even like flowers.” Matthias looks at her in confusion. “That’s why I always buy you waffles instead.”
“That you do, my love.” Nina hugs his arm.
“I take Wylan to natural history museums and let him talk my ear off about lepiteraptos or whatever his little nerd heart desires.”
“Do you mean lepidoptera ? That exposition on butterflies was very exciting, wasn’t it?”
“Stop it, you’re making me fall even more in love with you.” Jesper leans dramatically over Wylan, a hand on his chest, while Wylan blushes furiously and swats him away.
“I’ll take you to that gallery of historical weapons tomorrow, I promise, now stop embarrassing me.”
“A man after my own heart.” Jesper tells him, kissing his cheek.
A few weeks later
Kaz looks at Inej from afar, teaching the children how to keep their balance, how to spin and, in the cases of the more advanced kids, how to jump. She always praises them when they master a new move, and corrects them gently when they make a mistake. When she turns around after her class is finished, she finds Kaz leaning on the sidelines of the rink, a warm smile on his face.
“Hello, darling, ready to go?” He tells her, after a brief kiss.
“Just let me grab my things. What’s this?” She tells him, when he presents her with a bouquet of geraniums. “I love them, thank you.” She leans down to smell the flowers. “They’re my favorite flower, they always remind me of my mother.”
“C’mon, we’ll be late for dinner and I want to embarrass Jordie in front of Saskia. I already told my dad to get his baby pictures ready.”
The end.