figure eights :: marisol

Liam was smiling. Life was better lately than it had been in a long time, and today was no different. He was walking with Marisol to the ice skating rink. He'd picked her up this afternoon (it was a Saturday) in his own personal balloon, and they'd arrived in Cuir a few hours ago.

First they'd gone out to dinner at this nice restaurant I'm assuming resembled Applebee's a little bit. You know, not fancy, but still has good food. We can call it Bananawasp's. Liam hadn't been out for fun in Cuir in forever and it turned out Marisol had barely been there at all.

Now, as I already said, they were heading to the Tilis Ice Rink. Marisol had never been there (something that shocked Liam) and Liam was excited to take her.

"I still can't believe you've never been ice skating," Liam told her as they walked. The big rink was finally visible in the distance, it's glowing lights shining brightly in the evening sky.

Marisol. Was. Pumped. She had just been picked up from Martha's by Liam in his freaking personal hot air balloon, and now they were headed to Cuir Clouds. Despite the fact that she was settled as Cuir, she'd only been to the floating island a few times, all of them brief. She'd loved every second of those visits though. The incredible view, the clouds blowing through, everything.

She'd always wanted to go to the famous Tilis Ice Rink, and now she was here. With Liam! It was gonna be a-ma-zingggg.

Her face lit up as the rink became visible in the distance. "I'm so excited!" she told Liam. "C'mon, let's race!" She took off without waiting for his reply.

She got to the edge of the rink only very slightly out of breath, and immediately leaned over the railings that surrounded it to get a view of the ice. It was so clear she could see the mainland of Amelia far, far beneath it. It was so cool! She couldn't believe she had never done this before, either.

Liam's lips spread into a smile as Marisol took off running towards the rink. "Hey, you!" he called with a laugh. "You can't cheat like that!"

Run after her, Kyrie commanded, watching as Liam barely sped up.

And Liam wanted to, but wouldn't that look stupid? Sprinting the rest of the way to the rink? He'd look like a child.

Run. After. Her. Kyrie said, nudging his butt with her cute little deer head.

So Liam started to jog, shaking his head and wondering how childish he looked. But after a few moments, he laughed at himself and started running faster. He got this burst of energy in his heart that felt something like a memory and before he knew it he was next to Marisol, looking over the railing and down at the main land of Amelia.

He took in a deep breath. "Look how beautiful that is," he said. Then he took her hand and led her over to the gate to go inside.

They went over and rented some skates and then slipped them on before walking to the ice. "The good thing about being Cuir is you don't really have to worry about falling over, but actually not slipping on the ice is another story," he told her before they actually stepped onto the rink.

Marisol smiled all blushy-like and kept her eyes down when Liam took her hand. She never really had gotten over that little crush on him, and while she was happy with where their friendship was, she was always harboring a little hope for something more. She had told herself for weeks how stupid that was, but recently she'd been getting the impression that maybe it wasn't so stupid after all.

"I won't slip," she assured Liam with confidence. They stepped onto the ice and as soon as Marisol tried to skate forward, her feet suddenly decided they wanted to go every direction except forward. She instinctively wrapped her arms around Liam to keep herself from falling, nearly bringing him down with her.

Liam only wobbled for a second before using his eilemaiden to steady them both. "You won't slip, huh?" Liam asked with a laugh as Marisol held onto him for dear life. He smiled down at her and helped her stand upright.

"Maybe we should hold hands for a little while," Liam told her, sliding his hand down her arm till he took her much smaller hand into his. "Just till you get the hang of it."

Kyrie smiled. She definitely liked where this was going. And Liam had been talking about Marisol a lot lately, both to her and to Tahnee, his best friend and adviser.

Liam glided forward a little, pulling Marisol along with him. "It's not so bad if you go slow at first."

Marisol laughed too, and continued to grin as Liam helped her regain her balance. The other clio in the rink made ice skating look so easy, gliding along effortlessly, like they were flying. She thought she'd be able to get the hang of it right off the bat, but apparently not. "Alrighty," she agreed, taking Liam's hand. Her legs still wobbled a bit as they took off, but at least she was going forward this time.

"Okay. I think I'm getting it," she said as they picked up a little bit of speed. They were still moving slower than most of the other skaters around, but Marisol had a feeling she'd wind up flat on her face if she tried to go as fast as them. "How long did it take you to get good at this?"

Liam shrugged. "I don't really remember," he said honestly, thinking back. "I used to come here a lot." He and Hope had come to Tilis often. It was something that they could do together that Hope wasn't completely nervous about. When had he stopped coming here?

When you stopped doing everything, Kyrie told him gently. After Hope had settled, Liam had stopped doing the things he used to enjoy. Dangerous things were no longer fun when you had to worry every second about something that could happen to the clio you loved. And after she passed, he never went back to his old pastimes. He'd consumed himself with work.

They swooped around a corner. "I'm glad we're here," he said. "And I'm glad you like it. The skating, I mean." She seemed to be enjoying herself, anyway. "I bet you could do it without me, if you let go." He squeezed her hand lightly.

Oh, that's right. Liam had grown up here, so of course he was able to come to the ice rink whenever he wanted.

Liam wrote: "I'm glad we're here. And I'm glad you like it. The skating, I mean."

"Well, I'm glad you brought me," Marisol replied. She wanted to look over at him and smile, but she was afraid she'd lose her balance if she didn't keep her eyes straight ahead. She carefully let go of his hand to see if she was ready to skate solo, and was pleasantly surprised when she didn't immediately fall on her butt. "Hey, this is getting easier." Confidence returning, she started to go a little faster.

Liam smiled as he watched Marisol skate by herself. She was cute when she was nervous, but this confidence was what truly suited her. It radiated off of her in waves as she continued to skate. He trailed her, staying close just in case she slipped again, but he was pretty sure she wouldn't.

"You're doing great," he commented. "I knew you'd be good at this." Marisol reminded him a lot of someone he couldn't quite put a face to. It was what made him bring her here.

They skated around for awhile, Marisol gaining speed and composure as they went. Pretty soon the owners called for a race, and asked everyone who wouldn't be competing to take a break and watch. Liam skated in front of Marisol and then turned so he was facing her, skating backwards.

"We should get some ice cream to eat while we watch," he told her.

When Marisol started to feel pretty good about her skating ability, feeling a bit of pride when Liam complimented her, he surprised her by getting in front of her and skating backwards. "How are you even doing that?" she asked him, looking down at his feet and back up to his face. Mastering forward had been hard enough! "You can't even see where you're going now!" She tried looking past him to see if there where any clio in their way, but he was too tall.

Apparently she didn't need to worry though, cuz they got to the rink's exit without a problem. "Ice cream would be pretty amazing right now," she agreed, climbing off the ice. She hovered a couple inches off the ground so that she didn't have to try to walk in ice skates. "I wish I was good enough to race, it sounds fun. Have you done it before?"

Liam shrugged as he hovered next to Marisol. He opened his mouth to speak when Kyrie interrupted with a "He used to win all the time!"

Liam rolled his eyes. "Okay, I've done it a few times. Nothing like what she's making it out to be."

They walked to the little concession stand and stood in line for their ice cream. "What's your favorite flavor?" Liam asked. Possibly Marisol responded with her favorite, and when it was finally their turn at the window Liam ordered for both himself and for her. He paid for them and then handed Marisol whatever she had ordered.

This is lookin' a little like a date, Kyrie commented with her deer smile.

The funny thing was, Liam agreed. And he didn't even mind. In fact, it made him smile a little, too.

"You did?" Marisol asked, grinning. "Well, why aren't you out there racing right now, then?"

She was just kidding around with him. It didn't seem like Liam was interested in racing anymore for whatever reason. Maybe he had outgrown the competitiveness of it, or maybe he was just humble and didn't want the attention. Still though, she liked the thought of him winning all the time. It would've been nice to watch him.

After getting their ice cream, they lazily floated back over to the rink to watch the race. Being at the rink and eating ice cream turned out to be a chilly combination, and Marisol felt a slight shiver run through her. "I'm kinda cold," she said. Without even thinking, she took Liam's arm and put it around her shoulders for warmth.

Barbaro rolled his eyes. No sense of personal space, his clio.

Liam was a little caught off guard when Marisol seized his arm and placed it around her shoulder. He tensed up a little, the feeling unfamiliar. But in just a moment his body relaxed, his arm molding around her and sitting softly. He felt himself pull her a little closer. If he had brought a jacket he would have given it to her. But this...this was nice too.

"I haven't been here in forever," he told her as they watched the youngest group of racers speed around the rink as quick as they could. Their daemons slid around behind them, little puppies and kittens and other baby animals. Liam smiled.

He looked down at Marisol, who had leaned into his body. It felt so normal to be here with her. To be among the cheering, laughing clio who were rooting for their children or friends with someone who had started becoming less and less like a friend and more and more like someone he really cared about.

He pulled her around so that she was in front of him and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on the top of her head. "Ah! You're finally useful! A chin rest!" he joked, holding tightly so she couldn't pull away. "I knew I brought you here for a reason!"

Marisol totally wasn't expecting Liam to pull her in front of him and embrace her from behind. It was like something a boyfriend would do with his girlfriend. Not that she was complaining, of course, she was just surprised that he was doing it. Maybe he really did want something more, like she did. She wasn't sure if she should jump to any conclusions though, after the disaster that had been their kiss.

She laughed at his comment, glad she was facing away so he couldn't see the blushiness appearing on her cheeks. "I knew it! You've been using me all along!" she exclaimed melodramatically. "Men like you really are only after one thing. Chin rests."

She leaned over to the side slightly and craned her neck, trying to get a look at his face. What was he thinking about right now? she wondered. She was thinking about how nice this felt, how she didn't want him to let go, about how she just wanted to be with him, how perfect they'd be together. She liked to imagine he was thinking the same thing, however far-fetched that was.

"I can't help that you're the perfect chin rest size!" Liam protested with a grin. He looked down at Marisol who was a head shorter than him. Literally the perfect size. With the most perfect eyes and smile and...without thinking about it, he leaned down and kissed her. A simple kiss, it was soft and short, and when it was over he pulled away but didn't stop looking at her.

He felt a mixture of happiness and guilt, but she was so beautiful, standing there in front of him, warm in his backward embrace. He couldn't feel sorry for doing it, but that almost made it worse. He struggled to stay in the moment. "I hope that was okay," he asked her, forcing himself to stay with Marisol in the present.

All of Marisol's thoughts and hopes about how Liam felt about her were answered when, very unexpectedly, he leaned down and gave her the most perfect kiss she had ever had. She was too surprised to really kiss back, and just looked at him wide-eyed as he pulled away from her, the smile already forming on her face.

Liam wrote:"I hope that was okay,"

Marisol snapped out of her surprise to laugh a little bit at the very idea that Liam kissing her could ever not be okay. "It was definitely okay," she told him, unable to stop smiling. "Maybe even kinda nice." Maybe even something I've wanted to happen for months.

"Only kinda?" Liam asked, narrowing his eyes in mock disapproval. "I'd like to see you do better, then," he challenged, a mischievous smile spreading on his face.

He felt a burst of energy in the pit of his stomach where he usually felt empty.

Marisol had never seen this side of Liam before, all flirty and mischievous, but she liked it. Smirking, she put her arms around his shoulders and kissed him much more deeply, not caring at all that they were in public and probably annoying the crap out of the clio around them. She had to float a little bit to do it because of how short she was compared to him.

She kept her arms around him after pulling away. "How was that?" she asked, raising an eyebrow and still smirking.

"Oh, it was kinda okay," he told her, his voice sounding like an afterthought even though it was anything but.

Kyrie's little deer heart (if daemons have hearts) was full to the brim with pride and happiness. This was more than she had ever expected or hoped for. Liam--flirting! Liam, putting himself out there and allowing himself to be happy. Really happy. It was unexpected, but good. And even though she could foresee the pain Liam would feel when he was alone in the dark of the room he used to share with Hope, Kyrie understood that this was the first step to a long road that would lead him to acceptance and letting go.

He grinned at her smirk. "Alright, it was kinda great. But still only kinda!" He laughed, shaking his head. This was crazy. It was crazy and incredible, and Marisol was just so freaking adorable, floating there with her determined, snarky attitude.

The end of whatever race had been taking place ended, and the crowd around them started to cheer for the winner. The manager, in her booming voice, declared that the rink was now open for the last all-skate of the night.

Despite all her confidence and happiness, Marisol's heart was beating like crazy. She almost couldn't believe that this was happening. Liam really did feel something for her. He wanted more than just friendship. This was such a stark contrast to the first time she kissed him, which had been nothing but horror and embarrassment. "I'll take 'kinda great'," she said contently.

They both looked over as the announcement was made and the rink opened back up. "You wanna skate some more?" she asked, letting go of his shoulders and taking one of his hands in both of hers, pulling him towards the rink slightly. What a perfect day this was.

"I'd love to keep skating," Liam said, allowing Marisol to pull him along. And so they did. They skated together for the rest of the hour, sometimes holding hands and sometimes not. And when the rink closed, Liam floated back to the Vineyard with her and dropped her back off at her dorm with a kiss.

It had been the perfect night, full of happiness and surprises. So it was even sadder when Liam returned home to an empty room and cried himself to sleep. Self-loathing crept at him from the shadowy corners of the room that had once belonged to Hope. It wasn't fair for him to be happy, for him to have feelings about someone else, when he had been in love with the most perfect clio only a few years ago. When someone real and lovely and amazing had lived and loved him with all of her heart. She'd lived, she'd been alive and breathing and now she was gone and this was how Liam was remembering her.

He finally drifted into unconsciousness where he didn't have to feel guilty about living, tears still wet on his cheeks.