No More Excuses//Katelena

8: Ice Skates Never Broke Any Hearts

Hi hi hi! So glad you're here <3 Who's ready for another dose of that gay shit? This chapter is pretty much 100% pure fluff and I love them so much so please enjoy. I know absolutely nothing about ice skating please don't come after me :)

Content warnings: I'm so sorry I made a foot fetish joke and I quoted baby Yelena it's two birds with one stone I absolutely should not have a drivers license

The ice-skating rink in central park is mysteriously low on people, especially considering that it was still cold enough for the winter activity and most kids would have gotten out of school an hour or so ago. But when Kate and Yelena arrived, bundled in their long coats and breaths fogging in front of red, smiling faces, only a few parents with little ones and a small group of teenagers were on the ice.

Kate excitedly led Yelena over to the ice skates rental, relaying their shoe sizes to the girl behind the counter and paying before Yelena could even blink. Kate accepted the skates with a happy thank you, and dragged her friend to a bench to properly strap themselves in.

"Kate Bishop, why do you know my shoe size?" Yelena asked with a laugh, taking the skates and pulling off her platforms. She paused as she put them on. "These blades are excellent quality." She looked up to Kate, grinning almost mischievously. "Very sharp. They would gut a man quite nicely."

Kate blinked at her for a second before letting out a loud, disbelieving laugh and pressing forward to put her gloved hands against Yelena's smiling mouth. "Oh my god, Yelena! You can't just say stuff like that out loud!"

The blonde giggled heartily and continued to tie the laces of her skates. "Hurry up, Kate Bishopppppp, I'm going to beat you. Also, again, why do you know how big my feet are?" Her eyes turn suddenly serious, and she somehow seems to tower over the archer as she sits up straight and leans towards her. "Don't tell me you have a thing for toes."

Kate is so taken aback that before she even has time to be a little mortified at what Yelena is insinuating, the blonde's facade has already dissolved into a fit of self-righteous giggles. She shakes her head and rolls her eyes.

Kate would never have guessed in a million years that this was a side to Yelena that existed, much less that she would get to personally see it. She recalls a few listened in on conversations and brief explanations of Yelena and Natasha's past, but the biggest thing that stuck out to her was that Yelena was filtered into the Red Room at the tender age of six. The woman beside her had been stolen away from her childhood and mercilessly beaten down before being built right back up, stronger and smarter and faster, and so angry and deadly it was a wonder the world wasn't burning in hell.

It was a wonder that Yelena could be like this at all, truthfully. A miracle.

"You're staring."

Kate blinks, and Yelena's right. She was totally staring. The blonde just laughs and stands, so steady and sure in the skates that Kate doubts for a moment they're even on.

"I'm super bad at this, remember," Kate reminded her, bracing her hands on the bench railing and slowly standing onto her now weaponized feet. Yelena watched with amusement, but her face wasn't cruel, and she looked ready to leap forward should Kate inevitably fall.

Which she did. Of course.

And, as predicted, Yelena was there.

She grabbed Kate's wrist the moment she wobbled just a bit too much, and Yelena's stance is strong to keep them both from falling. She tugs Kate up and therefore close, their chests almost touching, breaths fogging together. Kate's cheeks are flushed from the cold and the exhilaration of being out here with the woman in front of her.