#Gil rocks up to an ice rink in a t-shirt and jeans just to see his not-girlfriend

[softquietsteadylove]

Heyyy you did a hockey player x figure skater au like a while back and i was wondering if u were ever gonna do more of it bc i loved it and thought it was so good

"Acceptable."

Thena kept her expression even, although she found herself letting more and more of her feelings leak into it as of late. That wasn't good, but she wasn't sure what had caused it, let alone how to stop.

"We're done. I will see you next week."

"Yes, Father," Thena murmured as her coach left, walking away from the ice without a glance back at her. Which she was used to, of course.

She skated to the other side of the rink instead, slipping on her blade guards and then all but running up the stands to sit and tear her skates off. She was rushing to get off the ice a lot more than she used to as well, too.

Not that it had to do with Gilgamesh.

He was...nice--sweet, even. They had spoken a few more times since he had caught her after a rough practice. He was easy to talk to, and he - for some reason - seemed to think the same of her. He was quite funny, actually, and he had kept his promise; he still brought extra power bars for her.

It didn't matter if it was before practice or after, he would come over to her and offer her a protein bar, they would sit and chat for a bit. Then they would part ways until the next time they could talk.

She liked talking with Gil. It was the most pleasant part of any of her practice days. Which was easy to manage in comparison to her father's coaching, but still. Gil always had a way of making her feel better before a practice, and especially better after a bad one. She would tell him about figure skating, he would tell her about hockey. It was nice.

"Hey!"

"Hey," she smiled back more quietly as he came over to her. His bag wasn't slung over his shoulder, and he didn't have his jersey on yet. Perhaps he had dropped them off in the changing room already.

"How was practice?" he asked as he took his usual seat next to her. He let his feet rest on the back of the row below them. He wasn't even wearing hockey pants, just regular jeans.

"It was fine," Thena murmured as he pulled out her snack from his pocket. She accepted it gently from him, feeling that it was warm. "Father was his usual self. But I suppose my ankles aren't as sore as they sometimes are."

"That's not bad, right?" he grinned at her, tearing open his own power bar with his teeth.

"Right," she murmured, opening hers more gently and taking a bite. "Hm."

"You like it, right?" he grinned at her, so warm and open and charming about it. "I thought you might; it's caramel hot chocolate flavoured--apparently."

"It's good," she murmured, taking another bite. "Do you like chocolate?"

"I've always loved chocolate," Gil said with his mouth full, just barely intelligible. He gulped it down, "although lately I've been appreciating plain vanilla more and more. Getting older, maybe."

Thena laughed softly, the sound and her breath floating around them in the chilled air. "Yes, the curse of age, is it?"

"Exactly!" he laughed as well. He leaned back on his palms, "chocolate's your fave, right?"

"I suppose so," Thena admitted quietly, not sure what she would have to be shy about. It was just a flavour. "Perhaps it's just that I was denied it so often in my youth that now I'm infatuated with it."

Gil shrugged his ridiculously wide shoulders. His t-shirt sleeves weren't loose around his arms at all. "I mean, that's fair. But you don't necessarily need a reason to like something, I think. You can just like it because it makes you happy."

"Hm," Thena mused, smilng at him as she took another bite. They were getting smaller and smaller, even knowing that Ajak would be waiting for her. "I don't think I've considered it."

"Well," Gil pushed off his palms and instead leaned on his knees. "What else makes you happy?"

What made her happy? What a direct and yet difficult question. Did she even know the answer to something like that? "I like...skating."

Did she, though?

"Okay," Gil said gently, scooching a little closer to her. "What else?"

What else? A discipline like figure skating demanded everything from her. It required her to live and breathe it. Sometimes she thought she skated more than she was even in school. But what did she do outside of the rink?

Thena toyed with her wrapper in her hands. "What do you like?"

"Baking," Gil answered, so blithely and immediately. "I got into it a few years ago and now I do it all the time."

"Baking?" She hadn't expected that.

"Yeah," he offered a bashful chuckle. Thena was about to rush out her admiration--the there was no need to be embarrassed of it. But he shrugged, "some of the guys on the team made fun of me for it. But they sure changed their tune when they tried my cupcakes."

Thena giggled. She could imagine the loud and rowdy team of brutes quieting at the thought of rich and delicious chocolate cupcakes being offered by their even bigger goalie.

"Would you," he cleared his throat, a cute flush settling in his cheeks, "would you wanna try some?"

"Your baking?" she echoed, and he nodded. That funny clenching in her belly happened again and her knees knocked together. "I-I would love to, Gil."

"Yeah?" he beamed, looking like a dog with an eagerly wagging tail.

"O-Of course," Thena blinked, back to toying with the silvery wrapper in her hands. "I'm not really supposed to, according to my father..."

Gil's face fell.

Thena inhaled, setting her shoulders, "but...but it would make me happy."

Gil gave her a different kind of smile. It was still bright, and warm, but it seemed a little more...assured. Like he had been given an answer to a question. And he really liked the answer. "Good--I'll make a whole batch for you, then."

"Oh!" Thena nearly squeaked, and then rushed to correct herself. "I don't-"

Gil let out a loud laugh, but she never felt laughed at when Gil did it. "It's okay, Thena. I mean, I will make you some cupcakes. But you can keep them in the fridge, and they'll stay good for longer than you'd think. You and your mom can share 'em."

Thena smiled, more relieved than she realised she would be to know he wasn't put off by the strict rules of her life. "Okay."

Gil looked down at her bag as her phone lit up from within it. "Quittin' time?"

"It's my alarm," Thena offered a rueful smile. Funnily enough, Ajak never, ever interrupted her and Gil after the first time she had found them talking (and made her little joke). But that didn't mean it was a goal of Thena's to keep her mother waiting.

Gil stood as Thena did, "I'll walk you out."

Thena blinked as they started making their way down the bleachers and towards the door.

"What?" Gil asked as he walked beside her, hands in his pockets.

Thena looked in the direction of the changing rooms, which they walked right past. "What about practice?"

"Oh," Gil shrugged one of his shoulders with a sheepish smile, "practice actually got cancelled for today."

"Wh-" Thena blinked as they came to a halt in front of the main doors.

Gil gave her a soft, honest smile, pulling his hands out of his pockets. "I just...wanted to hang out with you."

Thena felt that funny, fluttering feeling again, warmth rushing into her cheeks. She blinked down at the floor between them, trying to come up with something - anything! - to say. "I-I, uhm, y-you-"

Gil looked out the window and waved, presumably to Ajak. "I'll see you next week?"

Thena just nodded, dreading to think that he could see her turning pink from the neck up.

"I'll bring those cupcakes," he promised, tilting his head down to try and look at her.

"Okay," she just barely squeaked out as she pushed through the doors, rushing out into the air and hoping it would soothe the burning of her cheeks.