2024-12-09 - A First Skate

The evening began simple enough. Huck knocked on the door of Jett's apartment. The day before their date, Huck asked Jett his shoe size, but refused to tell him why. Waiting at the door, Huck was wearing a pair of khaki cargo pants and a beige V-neck shirt tucked in. The low cut V of the shirt reveals the top of the divot between his pecs and the necklace that Jett gave him. Over the shirt is a simple dark blazer.

Dinner was simple. An evening walk to the Cozy Cottage for a warm atmosphere of well-made food. After dinner, Huck lead Jett to the Ice Palace, which at this time of the evening, has been emptied and finished with shows for the day. Huck is let in by a kid working the front door who seems to be expecting him. Huck asks, "Did you leave it there?" The kid nods, "I got you." Then Huck heads inside and down the long row of audience seats inside to the small gate that would allow someone access to the giant empty ice rink. On the front row seat next to the gate is a duffel bag.

Huck begins to unzip the bag. "Skates run small," he notes as he pulls out two pairs of ice skates. He hands one to Jett and just beams.

Jett was wearing a snug fitted long sleeved black sweater with some band name and crosses dotting down the sleeves. It was no surprise that it's black and not a surprise that it clashed with the beige. If there was a nice dress shirt in his closet, this was it. He also wore a black jean jacket vest over top so he was relying on the sweater arms to keep him warm because otherwise it looked utterly impractical for long strolls in the winter dark. He did have a beanie sticking out of his pocket though if he needed it, and gloves. His pants were otherwise to be expected fitted black jeans with the normal amount of accessorizing. The only touch of color that he had was a plaid, red and black, sort of half skirt piece worn into the look, like a half kilt and worn in some punk rocker fashion. It's Jett though, he can pull it off.

Jett loved dinner. It was simple but it was filling enough. Conversation was probably pretty basic though. Dinner dates can be that way.

Settling his weight back on his heels Jett was not shocked they were back at the ice palace. Maybe they were going to see the rest of the ice sculptors? Jett didn't protest either and was curious what Huck was up to, following along and noting at once they're at the rink. "Hah!" Jett put his hands on his sides, realizing then what the shoe size thing was for. He wore a 9.

He takes the pair of skates in hand and jokes, "How many times do you figure I'll fall on my ass?"

Huck hands off the skates and smiles widely, "SO many times..." He kicks off his sneakers and sits on one of the chairs. The skates he got Jett are most certainly borrowed from someone here at the Palace – they are worn but in good shape. Huck's skates are even more well-loved. These are the skates of a hockey player, beaten and battered and worn in. As he laces his own, he points to Jett's, "Only go tight enough to shove your two fingers down inside behind your ankle. It's a common mistake people think tighter is better and safer, but it can actually inhibit your ankle and get you into more dangerous trouble." He finishes up his pretty quickly, a practiced ritual, before he moves over to help Jett with his. "I can't promise you that you won't hurt your butt or anything, but I can promise I will always be there to pick you back up."

It's quite possible this might be the first time Jett is picking up a set of skates to wear considering the dubious eyeballing he is giving them. It's not on purpose but at his age if one didn't learn how to skate before now it's going to be a challenge. He sits down in one of the chairs too and mimics what Huck is doing, taking off his shoes first and then unlacing the skates. One foot after the other is jammed into a skate. He moves his foot and feels the weight of them with another raised brow of concern. His eyes flash toward where Huck is giving the lesson about two fingers inside, nodding and going to lace up the one. He's glad to have Huck's help though at least to double check he's done them right and has them on the right feet!

The last sentiment has Jett offering Huck a curved smile, "That was cute and I will hold you to it." He asks, "When did you first skate? Like... as soon as you were born? It's a Canadian thing right?"

Once it seems Jett is fully secure in the skates, Huck stands and he takes his blazer off, laying it sloppily on the chair. "That's me. Totally cute," he responds with a rocking of his head and a little laugh. "Oh, wow. So I suppose it's kind of a Canadian thing, sure. I mean, hockey is kind of our baseball? I was skating almost as soon as I could walk. I know it was before my hearing went out because we're pretty sure the rink is where I got sick." He opens the little gate, and he holds out both his hands to help Jett stand. "This is going to be weird. You're kind of standing on tiny stilts, and it's going to want to fold under you to either side. Balancing is a little easier once your moving on the ice, but we have to go a few feet here on the wood floor first." When Jett is upright, Huck will hold both his hands as he gets used to just standing in the skates, and his tail will move so that it presses against the small of Jett's back to help support him.

Jett affectionately rolls is eyes skyward at Huck's response and little laugh. The truth though about the skate thing solidly and forever plants an idea of babies with skates in his head, "They make skates that small huh?" And the serious part of Huck getting sick on the ice leaves Jett with a furrowing of his brow, "So you weren't always hearing impaired?" There is an opening for Huck if he wants to talk about it or not but Jett wasn't going to press further than he did already.

The warning is in good timing. Jett was trying to stand up and abruptly will cling to the hands that were out to support him. "Oh... shit...!" He wobbles a little but those hands help him. He is looking down at the skates on his feet and is wobbly still, his expression looking as if he was second guessing himself as he took a baby step forward and then another. The hands and then the tail provide enough assistance that he doesn't roll an ankle or something stupid. He will be a board clinger in no time though! Probably.

"Little baby skates are totes adorbs, J-Bird." Then Huck casually notes, "You mean. have I not always had Deaf gain? No," he walks backward slowly, gently pulling Jett forward toward the ice. "I had meningitis when I was four. Almost died." He's now on the ice and Jett is at the edge. "Have you ever went roller skating?" he asks with a grin. "You're doin' great, eh." Is he though? "Just go slow. Once you step on the ice, stay a little loose and don't try to do anything. I'll keep you up for the moment."

"I'll take your word for it," he is trying to keep focused on where his balance is and tapping into his martial arts training to find that form which will align with the slender blades. He gets pulled toward the ice and now it is starting to look daunting, but Huck's hands are in his. "Shit..." he says to the story, "That must have been hard for you..." He shakes his head at the roller skating question, "I was in the foster system Huck and I never had like... a home placement. It was always crowded and .. limited. Think of it like a twenty four seven day care with shit funding."

The encouragement allows him to be a little more firm in his steps, "Slow. I got this..." He follows the advice. His one skate goes on the ice and doesn't immediately buckle out from underneath him, which is good. The second joins the first and now he's sort of doing a pizza stance! His hands cling to Huck's hands as his eyes widen a bit, "We didn't actually say how many times I was going to fall did we?" He cocks a half grin and looks down again to try to sort out why his feet are in a pizza.

Once they are on the ice, Huck's grip of his hands gets just a tiny bit more firm. "When you're four, you don't know that anything happening to you is different than what anyone else has." He begins to skate backward very slowly, gently pulling Jett along the wall. "You're making pizza, we need French fries," he notes, nodding to Jett's feet. "Parallel, not diamond. Just let me do the work right now while you just get used to the new feelings. You're using feet muscles you aren't used to ever really using this much." He smiles widely, "Whole bunches," he responds about how many times he'll fall.

Jett shares a similar approach there, "Yeah I guess so. It's only when we're older do we realize what we didn't have." He might not be deaf but Jett was lacking a thing most kids had; parents, family, and a home. His ass end starts to bend outward though as he's getting pulled along. At the correction for his feet, Jett tries to move them to be more like french fries. He manages it without catching an edge!

His eyes come up to look at Huck's own, showing a softening in his own expression away from the worrying when up against that smile. He does straighten out his posture a little more as he lets Huck do the pulling across the ice. "So about that hockey team..." he trails off with a grin, "I'm a shoe in for it right?"

When Jett's eyes lock with his, Huck's mouth opens into a wide, toothy smile. "Hi!" he says playfully as he continues to gently skate backward. "Stay up," he says, his tail pushing a little on Jett's back, "Don't crawl. It feels like you're being safer, but you'll actually roll your center of gravity forward and toss your skates out behind you." He laughs, "You're kind of doing it!"

"Oh yes, a total shoe in," Huck assures him, and he lets go of Jett's right hand, rolling a bit on his skates so he's then beside Jett, facing the same forward direction still holding Jett's left hand. "You're okay," he assures him, and his tail is still at Jett's back. "Are you ready? You're probably gonna fall, but this is the start." He flashes another charming grin over at Jett. "When you're good, lift your right skate, turn it a little diagonal and then push it gently on the ice to move you forward on your left skate. Do that, and then put both skates parallel again and let that momentum drift you forward."

Jett may be unprepared for the wide toothy smile sent his way and he nearly finds his skate clipping an edge for it because he wobbles and grabs onto Huck a bit more firmly. His cheeks properly show a little color for the blip in his concentration. He feels the tail on his back and hears the advice to stay up, "OOO I'm am trying!" He does take the advice about his center of gravity. He has enough training in martial arts to recall where it should be and does try to wiggle wobble his way into a better stance.

When Huck lets go with one hand, Jett's eyes go a little wider with the abruptness of having one free hand. Oh it wings and whirls around a bit until he jams it outward of his body in attempts to gain some balance again. "Phew..." he looks down and then over to Huck, "At least I know there's a low bar set." He does his best to coordinate his body to the instructions; had he not been in martial arts this may have gone poorly. As it is he's able to plant his balance enough on the opposite foot so he can lift the right skate as directed.

For a half minute it seems to work. He's applied pressure, he's pushing with that right skate...

... then disaster strikes!

His left foot tried to go pizza on him again and catches edge, so he's spinning into Huck for a split second before his skates push out from underneath him and gravity is taking him to the ice... Huck too if Huck doesn't prepare for the sudden weight shift.

Huck nods, "You're good..." he encourages as Jett begins. And then it goes bad. Thankfully, Huck was pretty sure this would be the first fall, so he's ready. As Jett begins to rotate into Huck, Huck actually pulls with his hand and his tail. They both end up together as they topple toward the ice. Huck's tail wraps around Jett's legs and he shoves the ice with his skate so they flip over, putting Huck on the bottom to hit the ice instead of Jett. Just as they fall flat, the air feels a rush of warm humidity and then...

Huck is laying on his back with Jett held on top of him, but they are both floating about six inches over the ice. They hover their a moment before Huck says quietly, "Easy. I got you." He smirks, and then they slowly lower the last few inches until Huck's back touches the ice.

Jett is going to just let it all happen; gravity exists and he isn't going to try to resist it much at all as soon as his feet our out from underneath him. It happens so fast but in one moment he's going to drag Huck down with him and in the next they've flipped, while Jett is waiting for impact. His eyes grow wide because Huck is underneath him and no no no no that wasn't supposed to.... what!?!

Floating....?!

There's no solid impact with the ice and things seem to ... hover. His scrunched face ready for impact relaxes and he peeks an eye open to see that they're hanging there. Jett looks back at Huck and the smirk he wears when at last they're lowered to the ice. The look of surprise is on Jett's face and he asks, "What was that?! I totally expected to solar plex you..." He looks over Huck then back, realizing in that tiny fraction of a moment that he's on top of Huck still, looking down at him with his one hand having prepared to brace himself and the other still caught up in Huck's hand. A dumb stupid mushy look comes over his face and he backs off with a shy laugh, and a following concern, "Are you okay?

Huck's smile widens a little, "If you're wondering it that's my tail or if I'm just happy to see you..." He waggles his eyebrows and laughs. "I can't catch you every time, but, I do um..." He shrugs sheepishly, "I do fly a little."

Nodding, he lets Jett know, "I'm fine. I just can't have you breaking your ankle on your very first fall. There's nothing romantic about an emergency room. Are YOU okay?"

Jett gives a little guffaw and his lips twist a bit, "Maybe a little from column A... a little from column B..." He leans down a bit, closing the cap for a moment, "I'll try not to fall so hard." He then sits back with an astonished, "Wing flaps. That's right..." He was told about them, "How charming of you." He does sit back on his knees and not on Huck hopefully to give Huck some room to get up too.

"I'm good. I think I felt what went wrong too," he looks back to his skates and then Huck, "That was the safest fall I've ever experienced... and I've fallen, a lot."

Huck laughs and once Jett is off him, he sits up to his knees. "Don't be afraid to apply your martial arts stuff to all this. The balance and grace and awareness of how you're moving can all be applied, I'm sure." He continues to sit, allowing them to both catch their breath completely.

"Let me know when you're ready and we'll go again," Huck offers. "No rush." He gives Jett a warm smile and he picks a little handful of ice dust off the ice and tosses it playfully at him.

"Yeah I was thinking about that, as soon as I get my balance on the blades," Jett sends a glance back over at the slender pieces of metal. Metal. His eyes blink for a moment and he squints, "I might be able to feel their..." he focuses on the blades and while he doesn't manipulate them to the naked eye he sort of just sits in resonance with them for a few moments and while he does his flesh starts to look a little more ... rock like. He recognizes that he's starting to change into a rock form and immediately silences the magic despite that his skin has bulked out and has taken on an armor look; kind of like an undead just more solid in form. '

"Shit..." he snorts a little, "I went a little hard there...literally." He sighs but smirks all the same, "Guess I don't have to worry about getting hurt now."

The ice dust tossed at him is met with a few languid blinks, and with a dead pan voice, "Don't start something you can't finish." He chuckles and starts to try to climb to his feet, "Alright..." His clothes are definitely tighter now and at least the skates didn't pop off, "Let's try this again."

Huck laughs quite a lot about the snow and the fight he can't finish in the face of Jett's dead pan, which just makes him cackle more.

Huck takes a moment to study Jett's new rocky skin and form, brow lifting a bit. "Wow." He laughs a little, "I know I'm awesome, but I didn't think I'd make you hard." Shaking his head, he agrees, "I think you will be fine when you fall now. And I'm not going to let you fall on top of me with all that rock boy. You must be twice as heavy as you were before. I bet you weigh like 80 pounds now!" That's a joke, right?

Pushing up off the ice, Huck takes a moment to skate a quick circle around Jett before planting his blades and holding out his hands to help Jett up.

Jett lets his head hang to the side and low so that when he rolls his eyes at Huck's jest, it really has that emo vibe about him and makes him look twice as dramatically exasperated for it. Then his face turns to Huck, teasing him, "You make me rock hard kitty cat...." He smirks and does seem to have a little less fear of getting up on the ice the second time; in part because the previous fall was broken and now because he won't get banged up all that much if he does fall. The last remark has him snort, "At least 80 pounds." He notes, "I need one of those signs now.. rock slide area, do not stop..." He looks over his hands and arms which make him look like 'The Thing' but just in dustier ashen colors rather than the earthen tones of The Thing.

He looks up at Huck and takes his hand, using the leverage but once he's up he releases the pressure. His stance is proper now and is showing more confidence. He nods at Huck and tries to repeat the foot forward and push. This time he pays attention to what his other skate is doing and doesn't immediately biff it. In fact he starts to alternate the movements and goes a little distance without disaster, "Woahhh! Hey! I'm doing it!"

"Not a kitty," Huck corrects him. "A flyon. And don't they measure weight in Europe that way?" Huck asks with a grin. "Like, you weigh two stones or something?" He shrugs, the joke isn't exactly something that works, but there's something in there that's at least cute.

Huck leans back a little as he pulls Jett to his skates. Once up, Huck skates backward just in front of Jett. "There you go..." he says encouragingly, and then Jett's moving forward with a couple of push offs. "Yeay!" he shouts to celebrate with him. "You are!" He laughs with some excitement, and he skates a quick little circle around Jett, though he gives him room to not startle him or knock him off his balance. Once he's finished, he holds his hand out. "Gimme your paw. Let's take it slow, yeah?" He laughs.

Jett snort laughs, "Oh yes, flyon!" As for how people measure weight in Europe Jett looks a little lost before he shrugs, "Do they? I don't know." He might genuinely try to ponder that for a few moments. Somethings that might be common knowledge clearly aren't for Jett. At least he makes a cute face all bent up in concentration and focus.

Jett's brows raise as he watches Huck so effortlessly skate backwards in front of him, "You're going backwards and probably look ten times cooler than me!" Jett for his part did look like an absolute noob out there; from the posture and the moments of uncertainty in shifting weight or trying to regain balance back to the center. It's not going to be graceful and probably not even that cute! It's awkward but he's not giving up. Jett tries to follow where Huck is going but every time he looks away from the ice his balance wavers so he makes sure to keep a steady gaze ahead of him. Jett reaches out to extend a hand to Huck, "Slow. Yeah. Let's go slow!"

"I've also been skating ten times more," laughs Huck in response to his backward skating. "You stay along the walls so you have something to grab," he offers to Jett. "Oh, yeah, try not to watch your feet as much as you can. Believe it or not, it'll help you learn faster because it will build muscle memory." When Jett takes his hand, he smiles widely, and gives it a little squeeze. "Perfect!" Huck turns and slips back so he's alongside Jett then, holding hands between them. "If your feet start to hurt or you get bored, tell me. We can rest or go get ice cream or whatever you like." He looks over at Jett, "So... tell me your favorite color?"

"But it's like... incredible you know!" He wonders, "Are you signing up for that big ice swan thing that Esme is in?" He may have saw the announcements and the parts cast, "You could totally play a part. Probably. Because you can skate." Jett will take the boards into consideration when he's by his lonesome but it's so much better holding hands right? "Don't look at my feet...!" he repeats as if to force his eyes to look up more than he looks down.

The squeeze to his hand is smiled at and he's taking it slow like promised, doing the tiny pushes with his skates to keep him going along beside Huck. It's clear that Jett is focused on trying to function properly that when Huck asks him if he's bored he immediately counters, "No way. This is cool. I'm totally going to show off to Esme! I'm going to GLOAT that in ONE DAY I learned how to skate. It didn't take me years..." The ice cream has him tempted but the color question drags him out of food dreams, "Uh, isn't that obvious?" His mouth crooks to one side, "Black." And then he adds on, "Red I guess second."

Huck smirks, "Nope. I have no desire to be on a stage like that. I am definitely not an actor. On the flip side, she's gonna give hockey a try when I get things together! Just... don't gloat too much. She'll make you go skate with HER, and she won't be as fun as me." He watches Jett's feet a moment and gives a little more advice, trying to be helpful. "Black and red," he repeats, nodding with interest. "Okay. Ummm.... Favorite band?"

"I get that," he replies easily enough about not wanting to be on stage, "I imagine it's not everyone's top priority to be seen like that." He smirks at the mention of hockey, "Oh god. That is going to be hilarious to see. Though she'd probably kick my ass. I've seen her skate. She's determined about her precision." He laughs, "Of course not. She cannot fly to stop my fall." He takes what advice he can to adjust so that it goes a little easier for them both .

"Why do you ask?" He finally remembers to ask back on the question of colors, "And what are yours?" A beat. "That's the ultimate question!" He laughs and takes a moment, his expression glowing as if that's a topic he knows about, "Oh that's a hard one! There's so many good ones, no, GREAT ones, especially from the 90s. I'd say though..." he takes time to skate a bit, "A band called Crosses. Their songs do something to me you know? Oh and A Perfect Circle is a close second. Korn... though! And Silverchair. UGH. That's such a loaded question. Sooooo many good bands. You can't discount Disturbed or Nine Inch Nails, or even Muse... and Tool is practically a different version of A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer - the same singer you know. I like Slipknot, Iron Maiden is cool sometimes, but so is Linkin Park and Three Days Grace." He adds, "Oh and then Breaking Benjamin, Seether, and System of Down. Also Staind and Sleep Token. Man those guys just appeared out of no where this year and so many..."

He suddenly stops and thinks, then awkwardly asks, "Um, is there a way you can hear music? Like... at all?"

"I warned her about checking and how hard you can get hit, but she seemed to really be excited about that," Huck tells Jett about Esme.

Huck shrugs about why he asks about the color, "I just wanted to know. I'm interested in you." He rolls his eyes, "My favorite color is RGB 53, 94, 59. It's a kind of flat, hunter green. It makes me feel like outside." That makes him laugh a little. He watches Jett's lips carefully, and honestly, some of the stranger band names he doesn't get, but most of them he does. "Wow. You really LIKE music! I have to be honest, though. I haven't heard a single song by any of those guys." This makes him laugh.

"I hear music different than you do," Huck explains. "Some sounds vibrate, like deep bass notes and drums. I can feel those. I like to lay may hand on a really good speaker and listen to how it feels." After a pause, he does add with some disappointment, "I am sorry you won't be able to share those with me."

"I bet she was," Jett amuses over Esme checking anyone and notes, "She'll likely throw me into the boards first."

"Color seems like a basic friend question," Jett answers back and regardless he blinks at Huck when Huck responds with the favorite color being RGB and those numbers, "Uh..." he does not understand exactly what that means, "Is that like in code? Oh... green. Cool." Jett being awkward can be cute for sure but it's an awkward that he tries to hide because he recognizes his life experience is limited. Though the music question!? That's Jett's jackpot. He livens up about the topic and even if Huck does not know a single band, Jett grins, "Well... they're kind of like me. They're pretty dark and gloomy and sometimes trippy." He adds a wink to that since he tripped earlier.

As for what Huck can hear Jett tries to picture how that might be for Huck and how it impacts his perception of music and the world. His hand tightens around Huck's hand and he tries to give an encouraging smile, "It's probably better for your mental health anyway." He then asks, "What would your perfect day look like?"

"Well, maybe you can show me album covers of them?" responds Huck, smiling. "I think you know, art conveys a lot, so I can maybe experience a little of how those bands feel by looking at those." As for the color, "I did a lot of graphic design in classes for my communications degree, and at some point I learned the hex code for my favorite color. A, um... A hexcode is like the computer number that identifies it. RGB means red green blue, and the numbers are the amount of each of those colors it takes to generate the final color on a computer screen. 53 red, 94 green, and 59 blue makes this hunter green shade that's my fav."

"My perfect day?" Huck asks. He begins to laugh, "Okay, so, don't take this wrong, eh. But, 'perfect day' implies that I don't love most days!"

"Yeah I could do that," Jett says while he wobbles just a tiny bit forward and has to regain his balance by winging his opposite arm back and then straightening it out some. PHEW. He does not spill to the ground just yet. He considers then HOW he was going to do that, "Well... maybe if we could borrow a computer or something I could show you." Ahh yes Jett doesn't seem to ever have electronics on him so while borrowing a computer sounds old fashioned he's not conditioned to think about phones first. The lingo about the hex codes probably flies over his head but he puts on a smile before he admits, "I wasn't ever good at computering when I got the chance. You can show me it sometime too."

The answer to his question has Jett furrowing his brows in some confusion of the answer before he looks back ahead and lets his expression return to a more neutral state though his eyes communicate he's bogged down in his own head. The answer just stumps him and his ability to naturally carry on with conversation. Then he does surface from such depths and notes, "You really do think differently than I do. You are like always so ... positive. I wish I knew what that was like."

"Dude," Huck gives Jett a rather serious look. "Did you seriously just say, 'computering'?? You're so great!" He laughs pretty good at that, smiling widely in amusement. He's not making fun of Jett, it just strikes him funny. "Okay, here," and he lets go of Jett's hand, pulling out his iphone. He takes a moment to pull up a website that lets him show Jett the color. "This is my favorite color," he says, proudly.

"Uh oh," Huck says, tilting his head at Jett as he is stumped. "You okay?" he asks, brow furrowing just a little as he watches Jett carefully. When Jett seems to come back to the world, he shrugs, and his tail begins to swish back and forth slowly. "I'm not always so positive. Believe me, I have bad thoughts. I struggle with things. I choose to do my best to not let them be a brick dragging me down to the bottom of the lake is all." He offers Jett a warm, dimply smile. "You'll know. One day, you're gonna be sitting around somewhere, and just WHAM! You'll be like, 'Oh! Huck's awesomeness was right! There's always gonna be shit, but you don't have to sit around smelling it all day.'" His head immediately cocks to the side then as he realizes, "Yeah, that was a bad analogy."

"Yes... I said computering..." Jett confirms as Huck gives him a serious look and Jett's ears turn a bit red from the laughter that follows. It's hard to say if he took that as being made fun of or not as he makes no further comments about it and is happy enough for the diversion of the color, "So that's RGB 53, 94, 59. It's kind of like moss, when it's older, not like the new stuff that looks fresh spring green." He takes a moment to stare at the iphone, "Yeah. You'd look good in that color too."

As Huck teases him about being stuck on something he side eyes him while trying to keep an eye on where they were going too. Huck's outlook on life is something that Jett soaks in, countering, "One day I might have my Ah-Huck moment, you mean." The analogy is met with a grin, "No. I understood that pretty well." He looks straight ahead again and goes for a while longer, "I got to ask... who was your mentor? Like... who taught you these things and to think that way?"

"You think so?" asks Huck about looking good in that color. "I agree. About the moss, I mean. Back home I did a lot of rock climbing, and it's kind of the color of this stuff that would grow on the rocks out there. It's also kind of warm, and it's not too bright while still feeling inviting." He shoves his phone back in his pocket.

"An Ah-Huck moment?" He stares at Jett with some some clear adoration. "That's awesome. I'm stealing that. Can I steal that?" He chuckles, "I didn't have a mentor. I think my awesome is maybe just something I inherited from my mom."

Jett shows some enthusiasm again when Huck asks about it looking that color, "Woah you rock climb?" He looks down at himself and then impishly notes, "Is that kind of like foreshadowing or something?" Sometimes Jett's comfortable place is just off colored jokes and puns. He does watch the phone disappear for a moment before his hand tries to follow where the phone went, like grabbing for Huck's hand and putting their hands into said pocket for warmth. Jett's cheeks are a little red.

Jett guffaws at Huck's response to his little joke there, "Yeah you can steal it but I don't know if it's stealing since the majority is your name." He up nods toward where the exit of the ice is, trying not to make it too obvious. "Well where ever you got that awesomeness from, never lose it!" he then motions again to go to the side, "Hey can we take a break? These things are making my feet hurt a bit." Probably because of the rockness.

"I do," says Huck. He shrugs about the foreshadowing, "Not unless you want it to be." When Jett slides his hand into his pocket with his own, he just smiles and says nothing. "Absolutely," he agrees to the break. "Like I said, you're using muscles in your feet you're not used to using so much. It'll wear you out. Keep your blades straight. Hold on. I'll pull you."

His tail moves around to Jett's backside again and he skates a little faster toward the gate. Once they get there, he helps to make sure Jett is able to step off the ice safely.

Sitting, Huck begins unlacing his skates. "You and Theo are roommates. Did you go to school together or something? You seem pretty close."

Jett doesn't immediately respond to the banter about foreshadowing. Sometimes it's better not to say anything and showcase with actions, such as the hand in Huck's pocket. He's totally not trying to steal the phone; promise. He's a bit thankful for the ability to go take a moment to take the weight off his feet and he does his best to keep his blades straight as Huck goes to pull him along. Jett does a little verbal, "WEEE!" when he's pulled along.

He steps off the ice and back onto solid firm ground and wobble steps over toward the nearest bench before settling down. He was going to loosen his own skates but Huck beat him to it. "I met Theo here, at Spellbound. He asked me to be a roommate of his if we got jobs. We both did," he considers Huck for a moment at the pretty close sentiment, "I guess he's my first friend. I mess up a lot; like I forget to put a fresh toilet paper roll on after using the last square, or I forget to put the milk back in the fridge, or leave dishes out... stuff like that and he tolerates me you know." He sighs softly, "He told me that he told you that I asked you for a date first... I told him that you're your own person. A date is a date. It's like figuring things out." He slouches forward a touch, "It's okay if you want to. Or if he wants to. It has nothing to do with me." And then he regards Huck, "But as for me and Theo? Yeah we're friends and roommates, you know how that is, some days are good others aren't."

Once Jett's skates are unlaced, he sits and takes his own skates off before beginning to put his sneakers on. "I need a roommate," he notes casually. "He does more than tolerate you, J-Bird. He told you he wanted to ask me out, and he told me he also wanted to ask you out." He chuckles, "He has awesome taste, clearly." He studies Jett for a moment, deciding what to say next. "I appreciate you saying that though. You and I aren't a couple or anything. We aren't boyfriends yet. You could hate me before this first date is over, eh. For what it's worth? He's definitely eye candy worth fooling around with. But you? You I would take on a date."

"You need a roommate?" Jett's mind whirls a mile a minute and he considers Huck, "Are you... is he...?" A beat, "Is this how I'm getting told Theo is moving out?" As for what Theo does he sighs and looks down, his fingers fidgeting with the junk jewelry that's on his wrists. He doesn't lift his eyes for a time and keeps fiddling, until Huck appreciates what he said. Jett nods at Huck and brings his eyes up, "I just don't ... know that I can do the whole labeling thing... I told him that and he kind of got mad when he heard about me asking you to the museum and all that." He leans down and slides one foot out of his skate and then the other, before he sits back, "Nah, I won't hate you."

The sentiment about Theo does have Jett tensing up, "That's the thing... I would probably wreck who ever used him for fooling around with. He... deserves to be like.. someone's boyfriend you know?"

The last is met with a lean into Huck and his head sort of settling against Huck's shoulder. He will stay like that for a few minutes if he can. Then he sits up and turns so Huck can see him talking, "Thank you for saying that. This has been a nice time."

"Yikes, no!" Huck immediately says, "He's not moving out. I mean, not that I know of. Relax. I was just thinking out loud."

"You don't want to label things but you asked me out," Huck notes more to himself than to Jett. "I guess I'm just one lucky flyon then." He smiles, "I won't hate you either."

"You know him better than I do, but I think Theo's still figuring himself out," says Huck with a sigh. "Sometimes that means fooling around by choice, which isn't the same as being used. I was used a lot when I was younger. It's not always the same thing. I'm... I've never liked to be alone much. I'm a bit of a romantic, I love the idea of being someone's boyfriend and falling tremendously in love..." He chuckles a little at that idea. "But also, until that happens some day? I like a good mutually agreed upon play time, too."

He opens his mouth to say something else, but then Jett is leaning on his shoulder, and he smiles. At his feet, his tail begins to swoosh back and forth against the chair leg.

Jett looks relieved of course and he explains, "He and I had a bad fight last night." He then ruffles his fingers through his hair, "I mean there's room if you are looking for a place. Theo and I are kind of opposites so it does come with a warning label. But it's also something that needs to be discussed with him."

"Yeah I did," Jett agrees and confirms in a way not to take that away from Huck either. He smiles softly at Huck being one lucky flyon and the sentiment of not hating him, his hand seeking out Huck's to grab and hold onto.

As for Theo. Jett agrees with body language; a nod will do. Jett looks over to Huck with a suddenness at the admission that Huck was used a lot and looks entirely empathic in that moment. Jett isn't going to use that moment to take away from Huck's but the look alone expresses as much as it needs to; Jett understands completely. Until the romantic part at least. That's when Jett looks back to the ice and in a way disconnects from that feeling. But he does ask at the end, "What does falling tremendously in love ... look like?" A beat, "Love itself is kind of an ideal I don't understand. Is it just to like someone very much? Cause if that's the case I do like you and I don't know yet if the very much will happen, that may take another date or two to figure out."

And he does ultimately choose to lean on Huck, embracing that moment of affection as much as the peacefulness of it.

“ I don’t really know what falling in love is actually like,” Huck says. “ I have certainly had crushes and would even go so far as to say dated a little bit, but it was never anything serious. I always imagine that it kind of starts like the fluttering butterflies I feel when I look at you and I imagine that eventually it feels like being unable to imagine a world in which the other person isn’t around. It feels safe and whole and warm and without expectations or judgments.”

“I um…” Huck stumbles a little at the roommate offer. “Would that be wise? This is only like... our first date. Moving in together might be a bit fast. I wouldn't want Theo to always feel like a third wheel. Or if things work out badly with us then neither of would have a safe space at home." He shrugs, "Maybe I'm overthinking it. I dunnow."

"For me it's been physical," Jett admits, "A lot of fooling around but I don't know that... I could ever think that equated to love." He listens to what Huck has to say and turns his face a little at the fluttering butterflies feeling. "That's a good way to think about it," he notes, "I don't know. I've never exactly felt safe. Maybe SB has been the first place to give me a better sense of that, but I have a hard time trusting." At least he can admit that.

Jett looks over at Huck in regards to the roommate situation and after some thought he agrees, "Yeah, you're probably right." He shrugs and pushes up, "I'm getting cold feet." He smirks and points down to his socked feet, "I got to get my shoes on. Maybe we can get a hot chocolate or something on the way back?"

"It was physical for me too," Huck shares, "but I never thought it was love. I thought it was acceptance. Not sure if that's better or worse." He sighs, but nods at Jett's admission about Spellbound.

"Absolutely," he agrees about the hot chocolate, handing Jett his shoes. "Let's get out of here, eh."