For all of her anxiety over the vulnerability she doesn’t wish to expose, the way his face instantly brightens makes it worth the honesty.[break][break]

There’s a twist in her chest where her heart is, and then that lightness she’d felt that first night returns. But this time, there’s no alcohol involved to coax it out of hiding.[break][break]

She laughs, “Yeah, cool.”[break][break]

As he steadies her, Calla leans against him, relief filtering through her when he’s not eager to pull away.[break][break]

The air is still cold, but she feels warm from the inside out. She doesn’t fully realizes they’ve drifted to a stop near the middle of the rink as he speaks.[break][break]

“Well, if that’s the case..” She focuses on his face, figuring she should say it again, and state it plainly in the way she’d avoided before. “I don’t exactly know what to do about it, but I like you too, Uriah.”


[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] URIAH BLACK | m: festive flirts [break]


[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-cubchoo color-shiny"]

“Yeah?” Maybe she should have expected as much given how he’d reacted to her lack of immediate response before.[break][break]

But it still surprises her somehow, both in a way that makes her want to insist and reassure that he has nothing to be insecure of, and in a way that makes her feel a little less alone.[break][break]

She’s used to keeping everyone but her brother out. Safe at an arm’s length because it’s what ensures that she won’t put her faith in the wrong person. That she won’t end up vulnerable and wounded because she let it happen.[break][break]

But this helps. He helps. And Calla, despite the fear that settles in her stomach, chooses to lean on that trusting instinct.[break][break]

“Yeah,” she finally looks up at him, smiling a bit wider though still tentatively, “really, I do.”[break][break]

Once again, she’s reminded that she’s no figure skater when her feet stutter on the ice again with her admission.

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] URIAH BLACK | m: festive flirts [break]


[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-cubchoo color-shiny"]

Are they being cheered on? Is that what the octillery is doing from the sidelines? Playing hype man? It’s sort of adorable.[break][break]

“What, no! It wasn’t your fault, you were just being honest.” And obviously he was better about that than her.[break][break]

It’s confusing and conflicting. Sure, she’s got goals and a degree to finish and things she wants to do, but she needs the job she has. The one he hired her for. That should trump any feelings that have bloomed inside of her.[break][break]

And yet—[break][break]

She shakes her head, twisting her hand so that their fingers weave together more sturdily. “You didn’t make me uncomfortable, I promise. I just-“ Calla huffs out a frustrated breath and bites down on her lip, considering her words before she sneaks a look up at him.[break][break]

“I’m not really actually all that confident of a person. Not like I might seem.” That doesn’t even really begin to cover the depth of her commitment and trust issues— it’s only the tip of the iceberg, but it’s a start, yeah?[break][break]

And then in a quiet addition, “It doesn’t mean that I don’t…feel similarly, though.”

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] URIAH BLACK | m: festive flirts [break]


[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-cubchoo color-shiny"]

When she looks back over toward his octillery, she has to stave off a laugh when she notices that her cubchoo has clambered up atop his head.[break][break]

The stammer in his voice makes her pause, and Cal looks up at him again, brows furrowing again.[break][break]

He’s just given her a compliment, but maybe that was too good to be true. Maybe it was just friendly after all, and he’s looking to clarify that now and feels awkward about it?[break][break]

It would serve her right, after all. Silently, she waits with an expression that shutters closed to a degree as her stomach twists itself into knots.[break][break]

But a let down is not what she gets.[break][break]

“Oh,” she pretty much squeaks before rolling her bottom lip between her teeth. “I wasn’t expecting that.” Looking back down at her skates as they continue to glide across the ice. She could edge around everything, but that might only cause more distance to grow between them. And really, that’s the last thing she wants.[break][break]

She’s a little too contrite to look back up, though. “I’m sorry, that was my fault. But I’ve missed you too.”
[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] URIAH BLACK | m: festive flirts [break]


[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-cubchoo color-shiny"]

“You mean you don’t want to race?” she asks dryly. Without thought, her hand squeezes back.[break][break]

She almost loses her footing at the little addition to his initial remark from the way it surprises her. Her feet stutter on the ice and she has to use her free hand to hold his arm as well to steady herself.[break][break]

Calla’s heart stammers too, and after the awkwardness that’s lingered between them since October, she can’t claim to have been expecting it.[break][break]

It’s enough to make her feel just a little bit hopeful again.[break][break]

“I tend to have that effect,” she teases back, the lightness in her tone and heat in her cheeks coupled with the stubborn smile that curls the corners of her mouth keeps her words from seeming casual.


[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] URIAH BLACK | m: festive flirts [break]


[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-cubchoo color-shiny"]

“I dunno, Uri. Better hope I don’t crumble under the pressure.”[break][break]

Any doubtful composure she speaks with breaks quickly with her laughter. She would try to right him, of course. She just probably would fall down in the process.[break][break]

It’s easier to keep up with him when he slows the pace, given that her shorter legs mean shorter strides. And it’s just…nice. His hand is warm and she’s quick to realize that she missed the feeling of their fingers being knit together.[break][break]

“Nope. Believe it or not, I used to be pretty quick…Once upon a time. Lots of close calls, though.” The sound of groaning ice underfoot is a telling thing, and she would be sent scrambling back to the banks.

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] URIAH BLACK | m: festive flirts [break]


[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-cubchoo color-shiny"]

She opens her mouth to further encourage him, but as soon as he's on the ice, he takes to it a lot easier than implied.[break][break]

It’s another little thing that reminds her of how starkly different their childhoods were.[break][break]

“Yeah? I’m kinda jealous. We mostly had to do the whole slide on frozen pond thing where you don’t actually have the skates.”[break][break]

She has at least skated for real a few times since, though. Not anything fancy, but it still made her happy enough. Her arms extend to either side, to keep her balance.[break][break]

She watches him drift around her, and a smile begins to brighten up her face again. Even more so when a hand is extended out to her. Scooting forward enough to successfully curl her smaller hand in his.[break][break]

"Hopefully it's not me that pulls you down." Given the way she faceplanted on his bedroom floor all on her own, it's probably more likely than she'll acknowledge.
[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] URIAH BLACK | m: festive flirts [break]


[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-cubchoo color-shiny"]