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Umm......

[Leia doesn't see an immediate answer, but they do approach some metal doors that look promising. Through the window, she catches glimpse of the rink, but before they go in, she peers off down the hallway that extends to their right.

Just a food stall... but to the left, she spots what appears to be a counter, and behind it, a room. With "shoes," and a service-bot--

Bingo.]

There!

[Is it possible for a robot to look bored...? Because it does.]

[That's the most bored robot IV has ever seen; it doesn't get any better as they close in, either. He walks up to the counter. After stating their business – hey, we need skates – he kneels down to untie his boots on request. He slips them off and trades them in for a pair of skates, which he holds in his free hand.

Having gone up before Leia, he looks over his shoulder on his way over to the metal doors.]

I'll be getting ready at the rink. Grab your skates and meet me there.

[If he can have it his way, he'll be at one of the front bleachers near the entrance of the ice rink itself.]

Okay!

[Leia's already taking off her boots as well when IV receives his. She has a bit more trouble than him with this, but eventually, she's handing them off to the robot all the same.

After it determines what size she needs, she receives the pair of skates and trots off towards the doors, looking back at the robot with sympathy. Finally, she opens those metal doors and--

Unsurprisingly, she's greeted with a blast of cold air. Yet in surprise, she winces, having definitely not braced herself.]

F... Freezing...

[She mutters outloud to no one in particular. Soon, as she walks in further and her body adjusts a little more, she sits down near IV at the bleachers to tie on those skates.]

[It's been years since he skated, but some things are never forgotten by the body. Sliding on and tying the skates is a familiar task, if rather awkward at the start. By the time Leia arrives, he's finished securing one skate and has moved onto the other.

Being a generally warm person, the coldness of the rink doesn't bite into IV's skin as much as it does to Leia's. He regards her with a look before he finishes knotting the ribbon on the other skate. He pulls back, straightening on the bleacher.]

Are you ready?

Juuust about.

[Her hands move quickly without the flowers and her purse to weigh her down. They're set beside her on the bleachers for now, but on the far side of the wall, there are several rows of numbered lockers, labeled "occupied" and "vacant" accordingly.

She knows what to do.]

I'll meet you out there after I put away our stuff. [There's still a bit of shakiness to her voice.] Sound good?

[He hears the shakiness in her voice. Is she cold? Well, it's nothing working out on the ice won't fix.]

Sounds good.

[Balancing on the blades of his skates, IV ambles out onto the ice rink, where he circles around the opening in a 180 arc. The trip to the lockers can't be that long, so he waits there.]

[...Number four is vacant. Ha. Plus it'll be easy to remember, so she's definitely going to pick that one. She surprisingly doesn't hurt herself hobbling her way over on blades, but no promises for the rest of their time here.

Once her purse and all their flowers are safely locked away, she makes her way to the rink. It's a lot bigger than it looked at first--it's a good thing there are so many booths where you can stop and rest.

Not that she'll need it.........

When she approaches IV, she's got her hands out awkwardly, trying to keep balance as she tries to glide one foot at a time.]

It's so empty...

[No wonder the robot was bored. She totally plays it cool. She just needs to bide her time until she's used to this...]

[He backs away once Leia comes inside the rink, letting the skates carry him across the ice. It's been a while and he may be bigger now, but it's just as he remembers with slight accommodations to be made. And where Leia is looking around, he watches her in faint amusement.]

It's an odd hour. Why are you holding your hands out like that?

[That just looks awkward.]

[Like what? is her first thought. She doesn't exactly realize it, but when he points it out, she lets them fall to her sides. She slips, nearly falling, but catches herself.

She's... laughing it off, yeah.]

Guess I'm still learning.

[She told you.]

[And he lets her – laugh it off, that is. There was a time when he used to hobble around on the ice before he got the hang of balancing himself, so as funny as it is to see Leia struggling, he won't tease (much). He perches his hands on his hips.]

If you're afraid that you're going to fall, you should hold onto the wall.

[...

She watches him, stunned at first, but... then she starts to snicker some more.]

Hey, you rhymed.

......But you're probably right. [hm.]

[She's like a kid. Regardless of what she does, IV starts off near the wall, his hands dropping back to his sides and his speed slow to accommodate the pace Leia chooses.]

Now, for one round. You can manage that, can't you?

[When she sees IV approach the wall, she snaps out of whatever silliness had come over her and follows. She hadn't exactly expected private lessons, but can't find it in her to complain, either.

She almost feels bad for holding him back.]

You mean a whole lap? [Clinging to the wall with one hand, she scans the rink.] ...Of course I can!

[He nods, then pushes forward to a particularly long glide. So he won't go too fast for Leia, but going too slow, on the other hand, is just boring and awkward for his balanced body.]

Try not to fall, but don't rely on your hands too much, either – that's your task for this lap.

[That's all he says as he waits for her to catch up to his side; he isn't too far ahead.]

...Homework. Bummer.

[Although in this case, it's more like after school lessons. She glides to catch up to him and as she approaches, her hands lower. "Don't rely on them too much," he says...

She stares at her feet, and while there are a couple of wobbly close calls, she seems to be...moving forward.]

Hey! This is fun.

What were you expecting it to be – boring?

[He waits for Leia, then glides another meter ahead. The true joy of skating comes from letting go and flying across the frozen surface (tumbling is optional), but it'd look stupid to do that while she's barely going anywhere.]

When was the last time you skated?

[At that, she actually looks up. On the one hand, she knows he's just teasing, but on the other--]

I- I never said that!

[Why would she have come if so?! Hmpth...]

It's been a while besides. The last time, I was in Kanbalar.

[She wasn't really good at it then, either.]

[It occurs to him then that, for how many names Leia's tossed around here and there, he still isn't too knowledgeable about her world.]

Kanbalar. Is that where you're from?

Yeah... [She answers without thinking, but corrects herself.] Well, sort of.

It's a different city than mine, and it's always snowy and cold there. Where I'm from is more of a town, but it all falls under Rieze Maxia anyway. You could say that's "my world."

[He hums. That's a roundabout way of saying that it's just another city, but he can understand the need for elaboration when they're from multiple worlds.]

And Elympios? You mentioned it when we were watching the sunrise.

Oh yeah. Elympios, too. I worked there.

[She's always wondered if that counted as her having two worlds. The two certainly have very distinct cultures.]

It's sort of a long story, but Elympios and Rieze Maxia existed completely separately until about a year ago. Now they're connected, but they're very different from each other.

[It sounds a little familiar, and so IV doesn't doubt that the story is indeed a long one.]

If they've been completely separate for that long, then of course they're different.

[He eyes the ice under them, studying the various streak marks of previous skaters in the rink.]

With a history like that, there must always be something to report about.

You can say that again.

[She smiles softly, feeling the air thicken as IV's gaze falls to the ground. Letting down her guard, she's actually gliding longer and moving a bit faster now, but she hasn't noticed yet.]

Cerealia's pretty interesting as a colony too, though. I get homesick like anyone else, but... I don't think it's all bad. [Sheepishly, she laughs.] Maybe only half bad.

[He gives a sardonic chuckle, the sound almost echoing off the ice rink walls.]

It's not bad until something happens, which is too often for anyone's liking.

That pretty much sums it up.

It'd be nice if they gave me something good to write about every once and a while, but so far, all the good stuff has been up to us.

[Sleepovers and the like, ViViD, gaming in general--even right now, ice skating. It's up to everyone to create their own fun. At least she's good at it, when it doesn't go horribly wrong.]

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