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"YOUR NEW ACQUAINTANCE is a big fat liar," he concluded, ruffling Reo's hair to show him it wasn't a big deal.
Reo was already laughing by the time Mei-Ling laid her eyes on him. He pulled back from Shidou's hand before the skater could fully ruin his hairstyle. "I'm sorry, you both just assumed-"
"Oh, it's fine, keep laughing at our expense. In my defense, I assumed because she told me."
"I'm sorry!" Mei-Ling rushed to say, "Did I offend you?"
"Not at all," Reo assured her. "Nice skates you got here, by the way, I forgot mine at my apartment."
They let his little lie go, without asking much about where he learned or how much he knew. Shidou explained the skates he had given Reo were his oldest pair, and that he had new ones he used for competitions and training. Reo understood, but he agreed with Mei-Ling when she said she couldn't have two pairs because she was too superstitious to replace her lucky ones.
When Shidou went to buy coffee at a food stand, claiming it was late enough for a coffee break, Mei-Ling took Reo's hands to pull him further into the ice. She began spinning around him, and he turned on his spot, letting her spend her energy and rotate as a planet does to the sun.
"Since when could you skate?" She finally asked.
"Since I could walk."
"That's so cool! You never thought of doing it competitively?"
Of course, she would ask that considering all competitive skaters began skating young. What did surprise Reo, was that he didn't close off at her questioning. Weird, because earlier that day, he would've.
"I did, for a while," and at her attentive face, he was nothing but sincere. "I'm still debating going back, actually."
"You should! It would be so fun to have you on the team!"
Fun. Reo hadn't thought of ever describing competitive skating as fun of all things.
Shidou came with two coffee cups. Turns out, Mei-Ling was more of a tea person, but he wanted Reo to try this particular coffee brand, claiming it was the best in the country.
Reo sipped at the paper cup and was thankful to find that Shidou had added two small packets of sugar to the drink. It was tasty but not so sweet that it would conceal the bean's real flavor.
"This is really good," he admitted.
Shidou lightened up at the compliment. "Right? They have their business super close to the rink, we need to take you there. Asap." His smile froze and he stopped. "Wait, is that why you always watch us? Are you studying your competition?"
