Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Time is Jesse’s one-sided rival. He had never declared anything against it, never stood in the protesting way of its passage, but it still seemed to see him as some sort of block that it needed to swerve around. Time stealthily passed by him without him knowing, and soon he would find himself gawking at how late it had become. Today was no exception. 

Being a deep sleeper can be both a blessing and a curse, as it has him both well rested and restless. This morning, he traced for a while, still mostly asleep, before waking up fully, the brightness of his dreams of the future melding with the brightness of the rays of the sun shining through the slit in his curtains. They were one in the same, in a way, considering that his lofty dreams of becoming a baseball player were starting to come true.

Well, in a way- later that day, he was going across the country for a baseball training course. Recruitment season would be before he knew it, and Jesse knew that he needed all the practice he could get. Fortunately for him, the advertisement for this four day course had blessed the websites he had been scouring on, and when he read through all the details, it was like his prayers had been answered. It was hosted by a retired professional, and was to be hosted on a formal playing ground; it looked perfect! He was basically tearing his whole house apart for money, with the price being just a hair above insane, but he knew that it would be worth it. This was an insane course, after all, and the sparkle in his excited eyes could look like money signs; he’ll make it all back, he can be sure of that.

It felt like a once in a lifetime opportunity. There was just a short plane ride to get there, and he would have to stay at one of his cousin’s houses in their guest bedroom, which his cousin’s seven year old daughter said would make look nice for him. He knew that it would be his cousin doing the most of the redecorating, with her directing with childish incoherency, but he still told her he would be looking forward to seeing what she put together.

Everything had been as it should be. Except for him; when he managed to tether himself into wakefulness, he rolled over and looked over to the digital clock beside his bed. He squinted at it as he waited for the blurriness in his eyes to clear, and when it did, they widened, almost to the size of two wall clocks. Not only had he overslept, but he was going to be late for his flight!

“Uh oh–” Jesse sprung out of bed, leaving the blanket flipped one corner over the other. He didn’t have the time to make up his bed when it already made him so late– he flung open his cupboard and took out the first clothes that swing on the railing, which happened just to be pale grey jogger pants with a matching drawstring hoodie, and he grabbed just a white shirt to go underneath it. He pulled his pyjama clothes off and his travelling clothes on with such a lack of co-ordination that you would think childish bumbling is more of a genetic trait than an age one. He combed through his hair and slipped on some socks, the smooth material skidding across his tiled flooring. 

He skated through his halls, using his luggage he’d left by his bedroom door as something of a standee, making a b(or, more like an s)-line to the front door. He made it there with a detour to the kitchen to grab an apple from their fruit bowl; he imagined that his mother wouldn’t be very happy if he didn’t at least eat something for breakfast, considering he probably wouldn’t be eating anything substantial until well into the day, and he didn’t want her to worry about him.

“I’m leaving!” Jesse called when he had made it to the door, taking his key and unlocking it. 

“Are you forgetting something?” His sister, Jessica, asked, with a half way eaten fruit salad in her hands. He hadn’t noticed it, but she was standing in the doorway between their kitchen and their living room, which has a clear view of the front door. He jumped and snapped his head around, a guilty look on his face like he had been caught sneaking out.

(If he knew she was there, he would have said bye to her in person. Waking up late had thrown off his whole schedule, and rushed his sister out from her long morning showers. If he were on time, she would still have been bathing.)

“No-” Jesse rushed as he held up his apple. “I’ve got breakfast.”

“I’m not sure that really counts as breakfast, Jay.” Jessica responded as she stabbed a cube of mango with her fork. “But that’s not what I meant. I meant that you’re not wearing shoes.”

“What?” Jesse blinked dazedly at her comment, and his gaze flicked down to his feet. All he saw were his socks. He cried, “I’m not wearing shoes!” 

Her eyes followed him slowly as he scrambled to put on his trainers, feeling a little bad for her inactivity. “If I knew you were going to sleep in, I would have woken you up myself.”

“I’m not sure why you have so much faith in me.” Jesse huffed. How often he made mistakes like this was about as often as breathing. And as unconscious, too. The more he thought about it, the more he made mistakes, even when surely it should be the other way around. This is exactly why his motto is not to think about things so much. “I’m late to about anything I possibly can be late to.”

“I know. That’s why you were late to being born.” She teased.

“2 minutes. You are 2 minutes older than me.” Jesse groaned. She has not let him live that down since she found out about this fact, even when it was nothing of her own doing. To say that Jessica is anything short (ignoring her stature, of course) of competitive would be a lie, and not even just a little white one. She is competitive about being competitive, and Jesse often wonders that if she put a little more of that competitiveness into her sports, she might enjoy them a little more. 

“Still older.” She hummed, the corners of her lips curling up smugly, “You know, as your big sister, I might have to start taking more care of you. How much do you wanna bet that I can stowaway in your suitcase?”

“When my plane lands, I better not open my suitcase to find you in it.” Jesse said, narrowing his eyes at her as if trying to threaten her. His soft features weaken the effectiveness of that move. “I’ll miss you.”

“You’ll be back before we both know it.” Jessica gave him a small smile that he knows is her trying not to hang him up, to clip his wings when he is about to take flight. The twins are quite attached to each other, they’re never that far apart from the other, and as much as she wanted to be there with him, he also needed his time separate to pursue his own things. It’s not like they’ll really be apart, though, they’ll call every day of the trip. “Now go. You’re going to miss your flight if you keep hanging around.”

“Right!” Jesse yipped, remembering that he’s behind on time. Maybe, because he was the later twin, that’s just how things are for him, he’s not entirely sure. He hauls his luggage over the ridge on the doorway, calling one final, “Bye!”

He had quickly closed the door behind him, so he didn’t hear her reply, but he imagined his sister had said bye back. She had been loitering there, waiting, expecting to see him before he went; she wouldn’t have not said anything, even if he couldn’t hear it. That wouldn’t seem like her, considering she loved to have the last word in when it came to him. He let out a laugh, warming his face in the cold air as he made his way to his car, placing his two cases on the backseat. He doesn’t see his relatives enough for them to have to be used, which is why it had become something of a shelving unit for Jesse’s belongings. 

Well– he’ll be seeing at least three of them, soon.

The drive to the airport started off well. There were some cars- real and toy, when he had to briefly stop for some children to scurry onto the pavement- on the road, but they had been relatively clear. Clear enough that he could just about see the airport, despite also being able to see the ETA on his satnav saying he had half an hour of driving to go. Or, he thought he could, with how he was letting his thoughts wander as his car cruised along the road. 

He needed to get his eyes checked— he got stuck in traffic. It was about the middle of the day, and Jesse thought that most of the people who would have been on the road would already be at their destination. But for some reason, they had all picked today, the day he was running late, to get on the road, and the motorway was backed up. Jesse’s legs bounced nervously, feet lifting and landing on the gas and breaks as the cars in front of him stopped and started.

“Oh, come onnn…why today?” Jesse sighed, resting his forehead against the steering wheel. His fingers raised from their 10 and 2, thumbs still curled around, in something of a surrender, if time would forgive him. He considered checking his phone for any available flights across the country on short notice, starting to think that he might not make it in time, but he tries to be optimistic. He still has time, even if it’s not a whole lot of time, and he would probably earn some back once he got off the motorway.

‘As soon as’ probably isn’t a good way of putting it- he had been waiting in that queue for too long for leaving it to have been soon. He was pulling his car into the airport’s car park later rather than sooner, and he was almost losing track of time with how gruelling that was. Almost- he kept checking his phone to remind him of the dangerous passing of time, and he was getting increasingly more agitated. It didn’t help when cars kept on swerving in front of his even though neither of them were going to get anywhere any faster.

But it was okay! If his calculations were correct, he should have enough time to make it through security and to his gate in time. And he’s pretty sure they were correct, he had been redoing them in his head to keep himself from going crazy, boxed in his car with nothing but his own thoughts.

Jesse thought that his bad luck would be over, then. That the rest of his travelling wouldn’t be so slow moving.

And it wasn’t. Since everyone on his flight had already checked in, there wasn’t anyone in line for the check in and bag drop, and he sped right through that. He only had his backpack to be checked at security, and it was mostly empty. He doesn’t know the area that he’s travelling to, but he knows himself, and he knows he’ll try buying his sister a souvenir while he’s there, and he needs somewhere to put it. 

He wasn’t waiting around for particularly long before he boarded the plane, which he could attribute to having to have waited so long in that car line. It passed by quickly, perched expectantly on the closest seat to the gate entrance. He sprung up and into action when his boarding sector was called, making it to the front of the line. He was in the back of the line overall, since he was in the last calling group, but he just hadn’t seen any point in paying more money just to pick his seat. He wasn’t looking to sit with anyone, and he mostly just planned on sleeping. 

When he found a seat, he was fortunate that it was an aisle seat, and he let out a sigh of relief, flopping into it and wriggling around to get comfortable, as uncomfortable as it was in nature. He gets himself into a good position and is able to ignore that fact. He was not able to ignore, however, the fact that the back of his chair was stiffening, which at first he thought was from the way his back was pressing against the chair, but then it moved even when he hadn’t.

Jesse relented, sitting himself upright and turning his head to look behind him. There was a child in the seat behind his, clearly throwing a strop and kicking at the seat since their little feet can’t reach the floor, and their mother was in the seat beside them, more interested in her phone. His expression contorts into a displeased grimace.

Jesse wasn’t mad at the child. His family reproduced like bunnies, so there was always a toddler bouncing around in that passed down space hopper in the corner of the living room growing up. Children the age of this child are trying to learn about how to use their bodies, and have yet to learn that the way they use them may be inconsiderate of other people. He can’t be mad at that, but he was mad that he was looking at them more than their mother seemed to be. 

He wasn’t even the only one. The people in the adjacent seats were looking to the pair as the child started to whinge, knowing that it was only going to get worse from there. They watched the child like they were a weeping angel from Doctor Who, like looking away would set them off. Jesse dared to look away to try and make eye contact with their mother.

“Um, excuse me? Can you tell your child to please stop kicking my seat?” Jesse asked, and she at least looked up at him. Though with an unfocused gaze, as she seemed not to notice how strained his ‘friendly’ smile was. He was really trying to be nice, but if one more thing went wrong today…

“They’ll tire themselves out.” The mother responded, looking back down. One of her hands reached up to push their chest back into their seat, but that doesn’t do anything when their legs are still outstretched. They kept on kicking, with a force that Jesse only hoped would tire them out, but he didn’t have high hopes. He turned his head back around, looking forward and trying to look ahead; it would only be for an hour, then they would go their separate ways. 

That was much longer of a time for them than it is for him, but they were determined to make it feel the same length. There were some times where they would stop kicking, but then start back up again, and Jesse thinks that’s worse. When he finally thought it was over, he thought wrong. He wasn’t able to get to sleep like he had hoped, because every time he was getting close to drifting off, he was jolted awake by the jumping of his chair. He gripped onto his arm rests and repeated it’s only an hour to himself, but he couldn’t believe it. It felt like they were frozen in place. Jesse was grateful he chose to wear a hoodie to ward off the chill of the plane’s air conditioning. 

Thankfully, they did land, after what felt like forever, at their designated airport. The kicking against the back of his seat slowed to a stop, with the child lowering their feet from his seat, and it actually stopped for good. He took a moment to collect himself, then his bag, before standing up with the both of them in check. He tactfully slipped into the line of people leaving through the aisle like a well planned escape, which is funny considering his assailant was a child. He just needed to get out of there. 

The air in the airport was about as dry as in the plane itself, like it’s own mini ecosystem, transporting the people of this environment in one of their own, maintained even as he walked in further. He felt a little like a dehydrated raisin with how crusty his face is. 

Though, even as he headed through to the baggage reclaim, he was able to manage it. He was taking another step- plenty of them, with all these stairs- towards his baseball career, and he wouldn’t let something like cracked lips break his eager stride. He kept his pace brisk, powering through the halls until he entered the room of conveyor belts, each with a numbered television screen hanging above them. In front of all of them is a board, with the name of an arriving flight beside a belt number. Jesse found his and left in that direction.

He has a little bit of a wait, but it’s a weird wait. It’s a wait like a child not knowing what they want to have to eat, not giving him a decisive answer how long he has to wait for. His first piece of luggage, his suitcase, came out early on. He sifted through a crowd of people until he made it to the belt, then leaned over it, hooks the handlebar over his curled fingers, and reels it in. But his helmet bag came out much later. 

Well, Jesse calls it a helmet bag. It’s a thrifted sports bag he got for cheap, and he didn’t actually know what it’s meant to hold. It didn’t matter— it fit his helmet and his glove, and that worked well enough for him. He finally saw what he thought was that bag passing along the belt and he perked up, taking it quickly with his free hand. He was glad it hadn’t been too much later, he didn’t want to keep his cousin and her daughter waiting, who had kindly offered to pick him up. He had already dealt with one grouchy child today, he’s had his fix, thank you. 

Luggage in both hands, suitcase wheeling behind him while his helmet bag swishes to his walking, Jesse left out to the pick up room. He stopped at the far side of the wide doorway and set his luggage down to his sides, checking his phone for any text indicating their arrival. He’d just turned off airplane mode, but only on his phone, as his young cousin Juniper came running towards him with both of her short arms out to the side. 

“Uncle Jesse!” She exclaimed giddily. Jesse slipped his phone back into his pocket and readied himself, opening his arms for her to jump into. Then he lifted her up off her feet in a bear hug and spun her around. Her feet kicked like she was still running, trying to get closer to him as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She squealed adorably. 

“I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever!” Jesse placed her on his hip when she clung to him, like she hadn’t grown up at all. She doesn’t feel any heavier than she was the last time Jesse held her, even though that might be because of all of his arm training— still, he doesn’t mind the familiarity there that makes such a new experience feel a lot less daunting. His cousin stepped up behind them, giving him a friendly look that speaks with her eyes and not her words. “It’s nice to see you, too, Jannie, don’t think I forgot about you.”

“You’re still using that nickname?” Janice snorted. The nickname was so childish that she sounds no more amused than if her daughter said something just as silly. She’s quite a bit older than him, having been an adult when Jesse was a child, so Jesse doesn’t see her any differently. “Isn’t it getting a little old?”

“Aren’t we?” Janice laughed with him, with the exact exasperated relief that he had. Jesse wondered if her child had been a bit of a pain getting up here, too. “I hate travelling. I can’t wait to get back. Maybe take a nap.”

”I can take your bag for you!” Juniper chirped, her eyes burning with determination. Before Jesse could tell her that it’s okay, she was already trying to lift up his helmet bag, bent down by her back and heaving. “Ack! It’s so heavy.”

“Really? I don’t think so.” Jesse effortlessly lifted up the bag, and almost her when she didn’t let go immediately. She pouted, letting out a little noise that sounded like a giggle trying to be a humph. It wasn’t convincing when her expression was breaking. “Thanks for offering, but I can carry my bags. Besides, you need to show me where the car is parked, don’t you?”

All of her annoyance was replaced by excitement as she led him and her mum out to their car, like a mini tour guide. She still has a way to go, as she looked routinely around at the other cars but didn’t point any out to them. They weren’t that interesting, anyway. Their aged black Sudan was the real attraction, he was so happy to see it after the events that had transpired that day.

They loaded Jesse’s luggage into the boot and took their seats in the car, with Jesse in the passenger seat and Juniper in the seat behind him. Fortunately, her emotion expression has matured to be more wordy than action based, and she was expressing her pleasure at his presence by talking, at length, about everything that had happened since he had last visited. Her mother occasionally chimed in with cues for her uncertain trailing, and there was an air comfort all around him. The ride to their house wasn’t particularly long, but it breezed by. 

When they arrived, Juniper took him by his hand to the guest bedroom. She had brought some of the decorations from her bedroom into it, and the bright colours clash with the room’s minimalism, but all he can focus in on was how sweet that was. And equally how sweet the proud smile on her face was. She was clearly waiting for a compliment and Jesse was happy to give it to her, patting her head and telling her how much he loved it. She rushed off to tell her dad the good news, and Janice followed after depositing his suitcase by the wardrobe. 

Then he was alone, but he wasn’t for long. As he was taking out his clothes, his sister called his phone, which briefly surprised him. He hadn’t gotten around to texting her about his arrival, but it’s like she knew he was going to and got tired of waiting. He doesn’t waste his time pressing the answer call button, holding the phone up to his ear. 

“Didn’t miss your flight after all, huh?” She teased, unable to help herself. Jesse was in such a rush, but now that everything was slowing down, this morning felt forever ago.

“It got real close.” Jesse sighed. He didn’t know if he was lucky or unlucky, it was a coin flip for him. He began to move his clothes into his wardrobe. “I immediately get stuck in traffic on my way to the airport, and make it just in time to check my bags in. And when I think that’s over, I get seated in front of a child who is kicking my seat the whole time.”

Jessica breathed in sharply through her teeth. “Wow. Today is not your day.”

“Yeah, well, I’m just glad it’ll be over soon. Tomorrow will go a lot smoother, that’s for sure. Maybe I’ll go see what’s in the area.” Jesse mused, consoled by idea of a nice cookie from a passing bakery, or maybe a crummy churro from those snack vans outside of training grounds. He’s pretty easy to please.

“Oh yeah, cause your course doesn’t start right away.” Jessica murmured.

“Nope!” He answered, feeling a lot lighter, with the pile of clothes in his arms decreasing until it was gone. He turned to his helmet bag next, easing the zipper along its trajectory like. A dark crater formed as the front part flapped back, and as light hit the interior, he was stricken with a realisation. “You know me, something always goes wr-… ooooong.”

“Something went wrong, didn’t it.” It didn’t sound like a question. It wasn't. Jessica already knew the answer.

This is not his bag. 

The glimmer of glossy black deceived him as his helmet at first, though a little more polished than he remembers it being. But then he saw it was not one shine, but two— a pair of them:

These are ice skates. 

He just unknowingly stole someone’s ice skates. 

Jesse tugged the zip the rest of the way and pushed the bag as far open as he could. His eyes had to be playing tricks on him, they had to be! He reached a hand in; his fingers dipped into a circular hole too small to be for a head, into a padding too velvety feeling to be foam. Yep. This is definitely, definitely not his bag.

“…oh my god.” Jesse pulled his hand back like the skate had burned him. Whoever's skates these were, he could only imagine that they’ll be furious. They looked new, and he can only imagine they were expensive. He stood up and took a step back with wide eyes, though he knew he couldn’t walk away from this as he would hope. “Oh my god. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!”

“What? What happened?” Jessica’s voice was louder, like she leaned into the phone.

“This isn’t my case.”

“It’s…what?”

“This isn’t my case— oh my god, this isn’t my case! I just took someone’s case!” He swiped up to check the time on his phone; by now, it had been about an hour since he picked up this bag— they could still be waiting at the airport. They might not realise they had been stood up by the literal baggage conveyor belt, because Jesse had blind-date-blindly grabbed the first bag he saw. Looking at it more closely, he’s not sure how he confused the two; the shape and size were about the same, but this was a lot more put together than his patchy old thing. Is he getting too pretentious? “Jessica— I took someone’s case! What do I do?!”

“Jesse, slow down.” She implored, but it’s too late- Jesse has already started pacing. “I’m sure this has happened to so many people. Why don’t you try calling the airport to see if someone has reported a missing bag?”

“…right! Hang on, I’ll call you back—“ Jesse is starting to develop a habit of leaving his sister before she could properly say her goodbyes as he quickly hangs up his phone. He pulled up the contact information for the airport and gave them a call. 

Apparently, someone had reported a missing bag to the same description of the one he gave, someone called Lukas Choi. Jesse searched around the inside of the bag for a name tag; yep, Lukas. Perfect. Jesse didn’t think he had ever been so pleased to hear a name, he couldn’t stop the smile from breaking out on his face as he told them he could come and make the transfer right away.

“Speaking of which.” Jessica began, after he had called her back and transcribed the entire conversation to her. “What’d you end up stealing?”

“I didn’t steal anything.” Jesse protested, even though he very much did, “But, it’s a pair of ice skates. From some guy called Lukas Choi.”

“Ice skates…Lukas…” Jessica muttered, growing contemplative. She paused for a beat, and Jesse gree confused in the purposed silence. Was he meant to know something about that? Cause he didn’t. “Wait, don’t tell me those are that figure skater’s skates!”

“What? What figure skater?” Jesse fretted. If Jessica knew about him, he must be someone important; she didn’t really care about sport, despite being in the sports community. Yet there she was. Oh, he’s dead.

“The one that won the nationals last year!” Jessica informed. Jesse twitched, a twinge of acknowledgement that he thought he heard that name some time last year, his thumb spasming around his phone to exit the call screen, open his google and type out this guy’s name into the search bar.

Several images of the same man popped up on his screen. He scrolled along, giving these stagnate pictures of a man on the ice their rightful animation, until he saw one of this man with a golden medal hanging off his neck. That’s amazing for him…but absolutely horrible for Jesse.

He looked at the biographical information, and he saw a name that actually was familiar to him— his place of birth. Jesse knew that city; it’s a short way from his home town, close enough that their nearest airport is the same one. Which could just be a coincidence, is what he told himself. He told himself it’s a different man, who just happened to have the same name as a celebrity. And the same hobbies.

“Why did I have to know that? I would have been perfectly fine being none the wiser walking into my impending doom.” Jesse moaned. Lukas has this loving look in his eyes in the pictures, but Jesse thought it’s because of his heart being in the sport. That Jesse just stole from him. 

“At least you have a warning?” Jessica giggled. Jesse didn’t laugh back, and the noise gradually quietened until she cleared her throat awkwardly. “Good luck.”

“Thanks.” Jesse stepped back up to the bag, picking it up by its strap and looping it over one shoulder, before twisting his body to get his arm in on the other side. He was suddenly a lot more conscious of potentially damaging the contents of the bag, now that he knew it wasn’t his. “I’m gonna need it.” 

Jesse ended the call, actually waiting for her to say bye this time, then left through the house. His cousin and her husband Kent sat on the sofa together, him with his arm wrapped around her shoulder, seeming pretty occupied by whatever they’re watching. He didn’t want to bother them, they looked quite comfortable together, though he had to when he asked to borrow their car. With the keys secured, he made his way alone back to the airport. 

When he arrived, he rushed up to the baggage counter with his arms swinging like he was raring for a fight. The worker he had walked up to gave him a curious look, almost as if they were wondering how such a tiny man could have so much perceived anger in him. But it turned out just to be his motivation, as he slumped exhaustedly against the desk when he arrived, his arms crossed over it and him leaning against them. 

“I accidentally took someone’s luggage.” Jesse started. But at the same time…

“Excuse me, I heard there was an update on my missing case?” 

Jesse stood up straight when he heard those words. He turned his head and the other person did too, looking amazedly at each other. 

One look confirms that this was the man in the pictures. This is Lukas Choi, standing at the other help stall a few feet to his left, and he actually looks a lot better than he does in those pictures. Not that the pictures looked bad, though, it was just– him standing there…wow. He was wearing just a white zip up jacket with black stripes and some black trousers, but he wore them like a model, the way that they wrap around his body like a tight hug. The glaring overhead light was cruel, but it kissed down Lukas’s sharp facial features. Whoever designed a man so beautiful, they must be awfully proud of their work. 

Jesse quickly realised he was staring. Lukas was just so captivating, with those grey-blue eyes holding his. Jesse shook his head, trying to shake out the thought.

“Are you Lukas?” He asked. I mean, obviously he is, but it’s good to be sure.

“..Yeah.” Lukas breathed.

They paused. Then they laughed. Lukas laughs with his whole body, Jesse realised, his shoulders raising and racking. His chin dips down to his chest, and his eyes squint, drawing little lines out on the corners. He drew those, he made him laugh, and Jesse felt a little flutter of pride in his chest. Pride that he thought he would only feel when he made it to the big leagues, but he doesn’t mind the trial. 

“I’m so sorry, I don’t know how I made that slip up.” Jesse said, pulling the straps of the bag off his shoulder, if to occupy his hands from wanting to clutch his chest. He held the bag out to him, which Lukas took with a brief glance inside to confirm the contents.

“It’s fine. I’ve just never had my bag taken before. I mean, I’ve had a few bags get lost, but never had someone walk away with it.” Lukas slung the bag over one shoulder as Jesse’s hand dropped back down to his side. “I’m just glad it got sorted out easily enough.” 

“Oh, definitely.” Jesse hummed. They fell silent, and Jesse wanted to keep talking to him, but he didn’t know what to say. He had said what he needed to say, he wasn’t sure why he felt like he needed more. The worker behind him spoke up, asking him for his actual bag number so that they could check if it was still with them. It takes some time for him to find the confirmation email on his phone and recite the long serial number, but when they had left into the back, Jesse realised that Lukas was still there.

Why was he still there?

“So…” Jesse trailed off, trying to chase after their conversation, “You’re a skater, huh? Like, a figure skater?”

“...” Lukas gave him a blank look which is more in line with what he expected to say. He huffed, but it’s mostly air. “You know who I am, don’t you?”

“I’m sorry!” Jesse wailed, “I looked you up when I saw the name tag in your bag– which makes me sound like I was snooping in your bag. I was not, I just happened to see it and I was curious–” 

“--I’m not mad.” Lukas snickered, unable to keep that fake annoyance in his voice. “I’ve been getting recognised a lot lately, so it wouldn’t be entirely surprising. And considering you have– and correct me if I’m wrong– an equipment bag of your own…”

“Yes! But I’m not a skater. I don’t have the balance for that.” Jesse spared Lukas all the details, but he’s sure he got the general idea. “I’m more of a baseball guy. I’m here for a training course. What’re you up here for?”

“I have a competition.” Wonderful! So Jesse could have just left a guy with a competition without the right equipment! He didn’t  even want to think about what would have happened if he decided to unpack any later than he did. “Tomorrow, actually.”

“And I– I’m so sorry.” Jesse shrieked, his hands disbelievingly on his head. “I’m terrible.” 

“Really, it’s fine.” Lukas insisted, not sounding at all forced. Jesse can’t believe he thought this guy might be putting up a persona. “It’s actually kinda funny.”

“Maybe a little.” They had a laugh over it, Jesse remembers, so it’s not actually as serious as his head is making it out to be. He lowered his hands to his chest. “A competition, huh? Sounds impressive.”

”It’s terrifying.” Lukas answered. When the worker returned with his bag, Jesse confirmed it and pulled it over his shoulder. “But if I do well in this, I’ll be able to qualify for the regionals.” 

“That actually sounds really interesting.” Jesse gandered, blinking sadly. “I wish I could see it.”

“Well, it’s at 12PM in the Ice Arena. If you’d be able to make it, I’d be happy to see you.” Lukas tilted his head and gave a charming smile, which turned into a grin when he realised he’s being cheeky. “No pressure or anything. Anyway, thank you for returning my bag.”

Lukas gave him a wave as he started to walk away. Jesse waved back overexcitedly, before his other hand slapped over his wrist and pushed it down. Jesse soon headed in the same direction, though a little distance behind, looking up where this Ice Arena is. It’s not very far by car, so he might have to borrow their car again tomorrow. 

Back at his cousin’s house, he unpacked his helmet and glove and sat down on the bed. His thoughts turned to the following days— Lukas’s show tomorrow, and his baseball course starting the day after that. He went to sleep early that night, knowing he needed to rest his eyes if he wanted to watch the show as best as he could. 

Chapter Text

When Lukas dropped his bag down onto the desk in his hotel room, he had thought that he carried enough baggage for the day. It was nothing he noticed, he’s been carrying it since he was a child, but it was a weight on his back, and it pressed down all the same. The only time it’s not there is when he’s on the ice or behind the privacy of a closed door. But that latter one, that can be a matter of interpretation. 

“That was a pain.” Aiden spoke, pushing himself up from his laying position onto his elbows, watching Lukas’s back. Lukas could feel the gaze on him, looking at him and not at him, boring into him like light on reflective glass. “Who ended up taking them?”

“Oh. Just someone mistaking the bag for their own.” Lukas turned around, perching on the side of his bed before pushing himself further onto it. They had booked a room together for their stay, one that would have cost the same as two individual rooms all for a little more room, and he might have been able to relax a little more if they did that. 

“You’re lucky they didn’t try to sell them. You get hooked up with the good shit.” Aiden pointed at him, lazily, around his belly button since he didn’t raise his arm. 

They didn’t seem like…

…

Lukas suddenly realised that he hadn’t gotten that person’s name. He didn’t know what they thought of his skates, but clearly they weren’t blinded with greed when they were looking into and holding eye contact with their eyes. They saw his passion, and had a vigour of their own to return them, seemingly almost afraid as they did. Was that because of him? Were they afraid of him?

That’s not the impression he wanted to give off. He wanted to wince, but he couldn’t, not with someone there to see it, so the muscles in his hands tensed instead of in his face. He gripped the duvet, and was momentarily distracted by how cushiony it is. At least he’ll be able to get a good night’s rest, maybe sleep off that thought. Any distance of time on a plane tends to make people grouchy, and Lukas had just lost his bag— surely, they weren’t expecting him to be energised.

(But is that okay?)

“Haha. Yeah.” Lukas tossed his head back, but when he looked back at Aiden, he wasn’t looking at him anymore. He was getting off of his bed and thumping his suitcase down in his place, pulling back the zip to reveal a slightly disorganised lump of clothes. He glanced at the clock on the clock on the bedside table, and while he knew that it was definitely off time, he knew it was nowhere close to the time they had scheduled dinner. 

He didn’t ask, but Aiden answered. “I think they said the spa doesn’t close until really late today. I’m gonna go check it out.” He said, tumbling through his clothes until he found his bathing suit. “You wanna come?”

“Ah…” He smiled but he wasn’t particularly happy about the idea, it was just his muscles struggling against themselves not to be rude. He tried to relax his face and smile more properly; he wouldn’t mind spending time with Aiden, and was happy enough to be invited, but to a spa? “No, I think I’ll stay here until dinner. Maybe have a long shower, if you’ll be out. But tell me if there’s anything good; maybe I’ll come tomorrow.”

“Well, suit yourself.” Aiden hummed, throwing the bathing suit over his shoulder. “You never want to do anything fun anymore.”

Lukas’s expression dropped. That time, he didn’t control it. They make eye contact, making Aiden face him, expecting him to say something, but he’s not really sure what. Aiden hadn’t brought that up before, but he seemed to have been thinking about it for a while. And Lukas might be thinking about it for just as long.

“I do want to, but our competition is tomorrow. I don’t want to distract myself.” Lukas said. Aiden started to move across the room and Lukas thought he was done with accusing him. Instead, he had just paced around the room, like a brooding detective in those whodunnit movies, and he turned back around. Lukas has never watched one, though Maya always begs him to; she says that Gill is a horrible speculating partner. Lukas wouldn’t be surprised.

“It’s not a distraction, man.” Aiden testified, sounding more like was the one being accused. Lukas could see how he might have come off. “We get to stay in this fancy hotel because of how hard we worked to get here, we should at least be able to take advantage of what it’s got. We don’t even have anything to do until tomorrow; you’re just always thinking about work.”

“…maybe tomorrow.” Lukas repeated, sighing quietly. Aiden scrunched up his face, rolled his eyes, and left their room without another word.

“God dammit.” Lukas covered his face with his hands and grimaced painfully into them. At this point, he doesn’t even know why he and Aiden get into so many disagreements. He knew that he, himself, was stressed out with the upcoming performance, but it was more than that. They were disagreeing with one another even when they didn’t have any training to be doing, and as far as he knew he didn’t have anything that he was internalising his emotions over.

…would he know if there was?

They had been friends for a while, even before they had been skating partners. And at first, his increasingly icy tone had just seemed to be a product of his environment, with how uncomfortably frigid the ice skating field is. And at first, Lukas had been able to tolerate it, even if he had terrible temperature regulation in his body, but eventually, like right now, he found that his body started going numb after their interactions with each other. He found that he wanted to be alone, even when he hated the feeling of being lonely. He never really understood how that one worked. 

But Aiden isn’t…always like that? He knew it would be a horrible thing to act like he was– he’s just a lot more outspoken than Lukas, which can come in handy sometimes, like whenever Lukas thought something would be impolite. It isn’t the easiest thing in the world for your boss to be your father, especially not one as strict as Lukas’s dad is, but Aiden doesn’t care for any of that. Lukas always feels that definitive chill in the air whenever his dad blankly looks to Lukas after Aiden’s chiding, but once more, he tries to deal with it.

And he does do good things. Sometimes– he does unexpected things, mostly. 

Lukas had woken up the following morning to an apple on his bedside table. He stared at it for long enough for Aiden to start staring at him as he was setting out all of his equipment. Aiden gave him a prompting, almost baffled look, but he was the first one doing the talking.

“It’s an apple.”

“Yeah… I see that.” Lukas sat up, combing his hands through his hair. He saw his reflection vaguely through the mirror, and his action became a little more meticulous. “Why?”

“Cause I know you’re going to make up excuses again.” Aiden answered, and, by God, was Lukas still half asleep, but that reminded him a little bit of the way that his father spoke to him, blunt and a little unempathetic. But that’s a weird way to word it, considering, “You always make up excuses for not eating breakfast on show days, even when you should know we won’t have enough time to sit down and eat. And do I even need to explain the rest to you? So either you eat that, or you go down and actually have breakfast.”

He clearly seemed to have at least some empathy. And that was good. 

“Did you already eat?” Lukas lowered his hand. Still, he can’t help but feel like he’s playing up for him, fluffing around his hair until it looks halfway close enough to the image he tries to give off to everyone other than Aiden. Why was he doing that?

“Yeah, well. I hadn’t thought that you would even consider coming down with me.” Lukas bristled internally, and suddenly it made a whole lot more sense.

“I’m sorry.” He murmured feebly.

“Dude, at least say it like you mean it.” Aiden stated, then gestured to the apple, “Eat, then get ready. You know the drill.”

“Yepp…”

When he swallowed down bites of his apple, he found that he was also swallowing down his words. He didn’t know what to say- whether to apologise again and hope that he is tiredly able to give it more vigour, or try to compromise with him- or if that would do anything to their situation. Maybe that’s how it is– it’s complicated. Complex. Aiden is someone that he has to learn more about, and hope that he can read a little more in between the lines of what he’s saying and what he’s meaning.

He’s not…trying to make Lukas feel bad. He knew that.

But it didn’t really matter, he thought. That he had more important things to worry about; Aiden’s feelings, for example, if he kept messing up so much. Friends wouldn’t be so inconsiderate of each other, and sometimes it feels like Lukas is treating him more like a co-worker.

Sometimes his work can be a little all-encompassing. 

Most of the time, that’s what he ends up going with. 

—

“Morning, Uncle Jesse!”

Jesse blinked his eyes open to Juniper’s face, which he almost didn’t recognise in his sleepy stupor, peering over him, so close that he had to try hard not to hit her with his head when he jolted in alarm. 

“Oh, Junie! It’s just you!” Jesse held his head, shifting to prop himself up on his elbows, before reaching out to pat her birdsnest of a current hairdo. She grinned happily like a job well done, as if she were the chipper little bird waking up the residents in the morning. Jesse thought about the fact he didn’t have to be up early today, but didn’t tell her of it. “I almost forgot where I was for a minute. Did you rest well?”

“Mhm! Um.” The excited expression dropped off of her face and she looked a lot more like she was hesitating, recalling something. “Mummy said to tell you that breakfast is ready.”

“Awwh, yeah! Thank you, Junie! I would have slept right through it!” Jesse made a valiant attempt at ruffling up the small girl’s hair, but with the state that it was in already, there wasn’t really much of an effect. She clambered off of him to give Jesse some room to get up off the bed, and he soon waved an arm as if to shoo her off, “Tell them I’ll be down in a sec. Just getting dressed.”

“Okay!” She padded out of the room, and through the still-open door he could hear her loudly telling her mum that Jesse would be right down. Jesse shook his head lovingly, shutting the door for her before changing into a fresh pair of clothes.

When he stepped out into the kitchen, the family was already waiting around the table. Juniper was waiting at the table, fiddling with her cutlery, as her parents were compiling food and beverages a few feet away. He looked between the seats in contemplation, and Janice hollered at him from where she stood.

“Juniper’s saved you a seat.” She said, and Juniper perked up to pat the cushion on the bottom of the seat beside her. She pushed the back of the seat out, and Jesse plopped down on it, soon plunged into a conversation about Juniper’s incoherent dream. 

Kent and Janice come to join them later once everything is set up on the table. 

“Do you have any plans for today?” Janice had asked, and Jesse raised his head before swallowing the mouthful of a little bit of everything on his plate crammed into his mouth.

Jesse let out a delayed hum before answering. “I do, actually. You know I was telling you about accidentally stealing someone else’s bag at the airport? It turns out that guy is actually a professional skater and he has a show today.”

“And you’re going because you’re trying to make up for yourself?” Janice teasingly raised an eyebrow.

“No! I mean…maybe? I mean, I do want to go, and since I told him I think I’d feel horrible taking his bag and then flunking from his show. But it was my own decision.” Janice’s eyebrows furrowed, then, and the expression on her face now seemed more amused than clarified.

“You find a way of getting yourself into really weird situations, Jay.” Janice snorted. 

“Shush!” Jesse’s face went red, a shallow feeling of warmth that he felt towards the prospect.

“You shush.” She retorted. “And stop like a pig at my table. You’re going to be a bad impression on my daughter… and lord forbid on my husband.”

“Hey, what?” Kent batted big eyes like a confused dog, turning his head towards her.

“We grew up on a farm! With pigs! I can’t help it!” Jesse snapped back, jokingly scandalised, slamming his hands on the table. 

“You say that like you were raised by pigs! You’d be a lot messier than that if you were. More like-” Janice raised her fork, flicking it towards Jesse and tossing off the droplets of sauce that had clung to it onto his face, making him look like he had mud droplets on him. “-that.”

Jesse gasped, making a few choked noises before letting out a strangled laugh. “What is this? You are a grown woman. With a kid! Hey, maybe we should be concerned about you being the bad influence. Junie, flick your fork at her!”

“Excuse me???”

“Okay!”

“No– don’t do that–”

“...Okay???”

Juniper looked confused and turned to her father for the final call.

All of the gazes at the table were soon on him as they awaited him giving an answer. He smiled crookedly.

“Be careful how you answer, Kent, cause this might influence whether you sleep in bed with me tonight.”

Her chihuahua-like fierceness does nothing on the burl of a man that Kent is, and he snickered to himself before nodding his head. Juniper flicked her slightly grosser fork at her mother, waving it around a few times to get the sauce off. Janice burst out laughing, wiping the mess off of her face with her hands. 

“Remind me never to let you stay over again.” Janice rested her crossed arms on the table and leaned over them, squinting at Jesse.

“Remind yourself, my memory’s too bad for that.” He grinned. “Oh– and don’t worry about having to get me anywhere. The place I’m looking for is walking distance from here, so as long as I don’t get lost, I’ll be a-okay.”

“Are you sure we won’t need to take you, then, Uncle Jesse?” Juniper asked, giving him perhaps the most innocent look that he had ever seen, baffling him that an insult had just come out of her little mouth.

“See! This is your doing!” Jesse waved his arm in Janice’s direction. “She has your cruelty?”

“Cruelty? I would never!”

“You just did!”

“Did Iiiii?”

Jesse grunted, but he still smiled at her.

—-

When Jesse was walking to the Ice Arena, he passed by a flower shop.

He decided to go inside. 

A little overhead bell rang when he pushed the door open, alerting the workers in the shop of his presence, and he almost felt like he had walked right into a trap. His eyes were bombarded with lines of flowers of all different shapes and colours, all with different smells that he can’t narrow one down. He realised that he was a lot less prepared than he originally thought.

“It’s okay, Jesse.” He told himself, stepping further into the building. The door whistled shut behind him, like it was locking him inside. “It’s just a flower…or, a few. How many flowers do I get– okay, no– no, we’re not overthinking this. We can just get one really nice one. It’s easy enough.” 

Jesse walked through the aisles, scouring all of the displays for the perfect flower. 

He first took a flower that smelt really nice, leaning in to take a long sniff. He had a horrified expression on his face when he drew back, having a sudden thought that he had no clue if this guy even could smell. He kept on looking, next stumbling upon a flower that was a beautiful pink shade, but then he had no clue if that would match his show outfit. Jesse didn’t know what he was going to wear– he didn’t even know if he could see colour–

His mental turmoil must have been apparent on his face because one of the employees approached him from the end of the aisle. 

“Can I help you find anything?” She had asked.

“Yeah!” Jesse squeaked, snapping his head desperately in her direction. “What flower would you recommend giving someone after an ice skating competition?”

“That’s…very specific.” The employee stared, baffled. Jesse feared, did they not know either? Was this a stupid idea? Was he hopeless? “I wouldn’t say there is any one flower that would work for something like that. If you’re giving someone a flower to celebrate something they did, then usually I’d say just getting them their favourite flower is a better bet.”

“Right, but…” Jesse rubbed his shoulder. “I don’t know what this guy’s favourite flower is.”

Oh my God. Wait. What if he doesn’t even like flowers????? What if he’s allergic???? What if he has a weird flower trauma and Jesse reignites it and he hates him forever???

“It doesn’t always come up in conversation, I understand.” Her voice was intentionally soothing, and Jesse stopped the rubbing before it became incessant. “What about just his favourite colour?”

“I don’t know that, either.” Jesse laughed nervously, putting on his sad eyes and hoping that the employee wasn’t too mad at him. He imagined that she must have to deal with hopeless people like him a lot. “I don’t… actually know this guy at all. This will be the second time I see him.”

“...right. Then you might be better off getting him one of the more generic flowers.” The woman began walking down the aisle, and Jesse tailed behind, scanning up ahead to try and see where she was taking him. But, he’s going to be honest here, a lot of these things look the same, and he has no clue what he’s doing. 

She stopped by the roses; the red ones specifically, sitting in the middle of the collection like they were the star of the show. She stepped to the side so he could look at them more closely, and he deadpanned even when he was far away– right. Of course. Why did he not think of roses? Especially after a performance? Now he just felt like he was making a fool of himself, to the like 3 people in this building who were supposedly his audience.

“Roses are always a classic. Everyone likes roses.” The employee said. “The different colours have different meanings, but I think you’d want to stick with a red one.” 

“Yeah… these are good.” Jesse could almost picture it– giving Lukas a rose after he delivered a stunning performance, seeing him smile again. Okay. He needs this flower right now. “Thank you. I’ll take one of these.”

“Are you sure?”

“Should I not be sure?”

“Oh– no–” The employee sounded almost on the brink of panic, holding her hands up in a surrender, “I was just wondering if you wanted to see any of our other options. But if the roses are speaking to you, then… you should listen.”

“They are. They feel right.” Jesse answered resolutely, a determined look on his face. The employee nodded, seeming pleased.

He secured his flower. His lone rose, wrapped up in transparent paper with a red bow. Jesse looked down at it as he left, insisting to himself over and over that this was fine, and that he didn’t need to go ask for a refund and spend another however long in there trying to pick out another flower just to return it again. Lukas seemed nice enough when he met him, so Jesse tried to reckon with the fact that Lukas would be grateful for the flower no matter what it was. 

Jesse merged back onto the pavement, his next destination actually being the Ice Arena. 

He was surprised to see so many people in the entrance of the arena; there were personnel by the doors scanning people’s phones and papers, but not enough of them for all the people that had arrived when he did, so there was a line queuing quite far back. He took the time he was in line to try and find his confirmation email, which had been at the top of his inbox considering he only booked the ticket in bed last night. He didn’t want to risk showing up and there wouldn’t be any spare tickets he could buy at the stand. 

He had his money practically gouged out of him trying to buy a bottle of water and a snack, just in case since he knew he was going to be sitting there for a while, and then squeezed through the meandering lines of people into his seat. When he sat down, he was much too over excited, his feet bouncing up and down, and earning a few looks from the people who were sitting around him. 

“Sorry.” He laughed when he caught one of their eyes, firming his feet on the ground. “I do this whenever I get worked up over something.”

They blanked him in response, looking back towards the empty ice. Jesse pouted and followed their gaze, trying to settle down before the competition started.

Many of the competitors' performances caught his interest, but they just weren’t the ones that he was searching for. He did think that this tango by a couple to some rendition of a pop song was particularly entertaining though. 

It was just that… When he heard Lukas’s name being called through the speakers, as along with a name he didn’t recognise so much, he sat up straighter and wormed around to try and find the best view through the heads of the people in the rows ahead of him. But as Lukas stepped out onto the ice, it felt like everyone, including his partner, had faded away except for the two of them. 

Purple and black. To answer his own question, Lukas was wearing purple and black.

He was wearing a form fitting black ensemble– a sleek, long sleeved shirt with a folded over collar and trousers matching in its colour and material, contouring to the ridges of Lukas’s body. Wisps of purple travelled along his sides up to his chest, embroidered with sparkles and glistening in the light of the arena. He noticed that Aiden was wearing a similar thing but the accents to his outfit were green instead of purple,and together, they looked a little like the northern lights, coming out at just the right time when everyone looked to them

Jesse couldn’t look away. 

Lukas is beautiful.

The notes of a befittingly elegant song began to bounce along the walls of the arena, and Aiden and Lukas circled the edges before coming into the centre and taking each other by their hands. They push off together, their skates gliding in synchrony along the ice, Lukas guiding Aiden in close tether. He turned on his feet and Aiden met the distance between them, his arms extending out to Lukas’s waist and him jumping up into them. He held him in the air for a few moments before he twisted Lukas behind him, who arced back and split his legs over and onto the ice before taking Aiden’s hand once more. My word– Jesse blinked. He doesn’t think he’s that flexible– he didn’t know anyone could be that flexible. 

They skated together in a seamless ballroom-like dance that broke apart for spins and drifted along the whole vicinity. Jesse found himself on the edge of his seat, leaning so much forward that he was surprised the person in front of him wasn’t turning back and glaring at him daringly. He jumped in his skin as he watched Aiden pick Lukas up and toss him along the ice, and Lukas turned gracefully in the air several times over before landing perfectly back down. 

No way– this guy is amazing! And it’s like he has perfect synergy with his partner!

Jesse was enamoured the entire time he watched Lukas and Aiden continue to dance. They would split off and then come together, where Aiden would drop and carry himself along the ice, dragging Lukas in a position that even limbo couldn’t bring Jesse into behind him. Every time that he picked him up and manoeuvred him in his arms or threw him along the rink was just as impressive as the very first time, and Jesse let out enchanted wows like a disruptive child at the theatre. 

For their final pose, Aiden lifted Lukas up, raising him above his head as he stretched out like a star. Lukas glided through the air as his partner brought them towards the centre, and Jesse’s wide eyes were sparkling enchantedly. He blinked his eyes dazedly when Lukas had been lowered into their ending pose, and he became the first one to start cheering and clapping. All of the rest of the audience followed soon after, but Jesse might still have been the loudest. 

The pair of them left the ice, and then the next performers took centre stage in sequence afterwards. Jesse was still thinking about Lukas’s performance, how majestical it looked. He wasn’t at all surprised when they had been announced to have won first place– that being said, he would have been more surprised if they hadn’t— and gave another loud cheer as he watched them collect their medals. 

Jesse finally looked again at the flower in his hand as the talents and the audience began to file out through different doors. He realised that he actually might not see Lukas to be able to give it to him– he might have to give it to Kent and see if that’ll weasel his way back into his and Janice’s bed that night. 

He let out a sign, but figured it might have been a bit of wishful thinking, leaving the arena once he had ample opportunity. But being held up so much seemed to have its perks, as when he came out, he noticed Lukas and Aiden walking along with some lanky, dark haired man.

Against his own judgement, Jesse called out, “Lukas!”

The blonde paused his fast pacing and looked in the direction of Jesse, before his expression… lit up? Maybe Jesse was seeing things, but he definitely seemed to have some reaction to seeing Jesse there, and it seemed to be far from negative. Jesse rushed towards him and held out the flower to him. 

“Congrats on the win!” He exclaimed. Lukas looked down at the flower and raised a hand, silently inquiring before Jesse eagerly waved it at him. He took it with a softened, happy look in his eyes, bringing the flower to his face to smell it. Okay. maybe the fragrant one might have been a better idea. “You two did amazing out there. Ahh— sorry I didn’t bring anything for you.”Aiden laughed loudly, earning a look from Lukas. Clearly something about that was above his infatuation for the flower. “Haha! Don’t sweat about it.”

“Thank you… for this.” Lukas looked back towards Jesse. “It’s beautiful… you might be the first person who has given me a flower after a win. It means a lot to me.”

Jesse’s mouth gaped, and he looked horrified. “No.”

“...um?” Lukas smiled nervously.

“No– there’s no way!” Jesse stepped closer, and Lukas straightened up his back, flushing noticeably. “There’s no way no one has given you a flower before! Didn’t you win big last year?”

“Ahh, I don’t know.” He averted his gaze, like he was looking for the right things to say. “I guess it’s not really as much of a tradition for us?”

“Well that’s not right– you should be celebrated for a performance like that. How about this- I personally come to your competitions, so I can give you a flower every time?” Jesse tilted his head, raising his eyebrows. 

Lukas laughed– not the same laugh Jesse heard before, though. It’s quieter, and he sounds a lot more shy. But the success that Jesse felt when he heard it felt exactly the same. “I wouldn’t hold yourself to that. I do a lot of travelling for shows… it’s only a matter of coincidence that this one was where you are, isn’t it?” 

“Who cares? Once I make it big in Baseball, I’ll have all the money in the world to travel!” Jesse pointed his thumb to himself and rested one hand on his hip. Lukas laughed harder, but he put his hand over his mouth when he realised he did. “No– you can laugh. Because when it happens, I’ll be the one laughing.”

“No– I’m not laughing at that. You just said it in such a silly way.” Lukas lowered his hand and peeked over it with crinkled eyes. “That sounds like a good career goal. If you’re sure, then you better not let me down.”

“Oh, trust me, I’m a man of my word. I told you I would come to your show, and I made sure I got the tickets just so I could be here. That’s a start, isn’t it?” Jesse hummed.

“Yeah… I suppose it is.” Lukas smiled as he felt the velvety petal of the rose. Then, realisation struck his face. “I just remembered– I never got your name. It slipped my mind to ask.”

“It slipped mine to tell!” Jesse gasped dramatically. “My name’s Jesse. And before you say anything– yes, I know I have a girls name.”

“I was going to say that I think you have a nice name.” Now Jesse was the one flustered, making noises somewhere between speaking and laughing nervously. How does this guy have that effect on him? “It’s been an honour to be able to talk to you, Jesse. I have to get going, but– maybe we’ll see each other again some time?”

“Maybe we will!” Jesse chirped back, watching Lukas as he left with his company. Aiden gave a glance his way, but didn’t say anything as he walked behind Lukas.

That went exactly how he was hoping, if not a little embarrassed how nervous he got.

—

“Who was that guy?” Aiden asked once they had debriefed with their boss and arrived back at their hotel room, and Lukas was putting the rose into a filled up water cup he took from the table. “You’re being all weird about that flower.”

“He’s no one.” Lukas answered. But the answer was a lie– he was no one. He was no one until he asked him what his name was. Now, whether Lukas liked it or not, he was Jesse, who brought him a flower and had the most amazing look anyone had ever given him when he managed to spot him in the crowd. “No one but the guy who had returned my bag to me at the airport yesterday. I told him about our show and he said he wanted to see it.”

“So… a fan?” Aiden followed up. Lukas made a so-so noise.

“No, he just took an interest in me when he heard I was ice skating. Apparently he had to look me up to know who I am– how dorky does that sound?” Lukas snickered fondly. He almost finds it endearing how much people freak out when they found out he could be famous.

“Then why do you care so much about the fact he gave you a flower. You were looking at it the whole ride back, and now you’re giving it water.” 

Lukas’s laughter faded out and gave way to a sigh. “It’s just… a nice gesture, okay? It’s someone doing something nice for someone else.”

Are they disagreeing again? Why did this keep happening?

“Yeah, man, whatever you say.” Aiden relented, sitting down on his bed. 

Was it him? Was what he said really not that believable?

Why not?

—

In the evening, Jesse added a new song to his playlist. It was the song that had been performed during Lukas and Aiden’s segment.

It didn’t fit in with any of the other songs in his playlist, but he thought that it belonged there all the same, and stubbornly wanted to keep it there.

He’d played it a few times when he arrived back at his cousin’s house, reenvisioning the way that Lukas glided along the ice and through the air. He damned himself for being so transfixed in it that he had completely forgotten to record it, but his mind remembered it vividly enough to replay it cohesively enough for him to suffice. 

He thought that he made a good choice today. He can’t even fathom the fact that he could have missed it if he had been a little bit more aware of what he was doing back at the airport. Hopefully his attentiveness showed Lukas that he isn’t as airheaded as he must have looked before.

Hopefully it made Lukas happy.

That would be nice. Maybe he thinks that because he loves seeing everyone happy, if there’s anything he can do about it.

Chapter Text

“Whoof, finally.” Jesse spoke to himself, staring up at the sign over the baseball stadium’s entrance, proclaiming that the training was just inside. He held his hands on his hips, like he was posing for a victory for just making it to this point. I mean– sure, he had paid for this spot rather than having been recruited for it, but he wouldn’t have even gotten to have this opportunity if he hadn’t committed to Baseball.

At least that’s…one thing he can say that he is good at; persevering. 

When he had stepped through to the pitch and smelt the freshly cut grass and heard the murmuring of the other people who had signed up, all of his dreams felt like they were coming true tenfold. He could only imagine what he saw in the pictures considering he had never gotten to play at such a fancy place before, but seeing the full venue was way more enchanting, no less because he was there in person. He had followed with the rest of the group and waited eagerly in the dugout behind the fence like a puppy waiting for their owner to come and collect them.

He couldn’t believe this. He couldn’t believe this he couldn’t believe this he couldn’t believe this he couldn’t believe this! He couldn’t believe that he was actually able to get proper training. He didn’t know why the other people there didn’t look as excited as he did, but it didn’t bother him when he had more important things on his mind, when he had to steady himself to make sure that he could do the best job that he could, hopefully be able to come home more prepared than he was before, and knock those try outs right out of the park. Or… the field, he supposed.

The man who was taking the course was about in his middle age, his passion for the sport maybe a little flickered out in his duller eyes. He introduced himself as if all of them, at least, Jesse, didn’t know who he was, and told them about the sort of conduct that he expected from them before giving them an overview of everything that they were going to be doing during their time in the training. Once he had almost robotically listed everything off, sounding like he had gone over this routine plenty of times already, he had sent them off to stretch and do laps around the pitch.

Jesse sprung to action a little too excitedly. The coach gave him a look, but didn’t say anything as he waved his group of people through the door and around a small perimeter of the pitch to do some warm up stretches. And once those were done, they’d gotten to running.

The giddiness that Jesse had came crashing down. Or maybe it was just him, who tripped on his shoelaces that somehow had become untied when he started running, and he went pummelling face first into the grass. It hadn’t hurt at all, but it definitely had stunned him as he laid there for a few seconds before lifting his head up in a daze. All but one person had run past him, and this person was leaning down at his side, their hands on their knees as they tried to get a good look at him.

“Just uh… testing the landability of this ground. Yeah.” Jesse started, looking a little embarrassed as he slapped one of his hands against the squidgy grass. “Pretty landable. I’m a-okay.” 

Jesse could see the doubt in their expression but they helped him up and waited for him to dust himself off and get back to jogging before picking up their pace again. Then they sped right past him, as if all that brushing was for nothing when they were just going to make him eat their dust anyway. Well, Jesse wasn’t mad. He was more surprised that they were so fast, but he wasn’t going to let one tumble bring him down.

And he didn’t! It was several that brought him down!

Jesse had made it back to the rest of the group one of the last, but he saw that more as being able to make it to the end at all, and considered it another small achievement of his. The next thing up had been a throwing and fielding exercise, where Jesse had been grouped with four other people for one of them to practice their throwing and the others to practice catching and relay. 

That… didn’t go well either. The first time Jesse had evaded the ball as he ran back to catch it, going right over his head and dropping a few feet behind him. The second time it was heading his way was in a similar way, but this time he was sure that he might have been able to get it. Though he wasn’t able to know the answer as someone else had snagged the ball while he was on chart for it, and chucked it straight back before he had the chance to set up a relay. God, he felt like he was useless, but he kept cheering whenever someone else in his little team had caught or made a good throw, even when they hadn’t reciprocated the same energy.

Were his skills in the wrong place? Was he in the wrong place?

He didn’t want to– he couldn’t be. Back in the summer, he was perfect at pitching and fielding, and now he doesn’t feel like he knows what he’s doing. He doesn’t want to think that he never did, that he was working only at a novice level and that the big leagues would actually be too much for him. But the worst had been yet to come, when batting practice came up. 

Batting. Why batting?

If he were bad at fielding, then he was even worse at batting. He had gulped nervously when they had been told that’s what they were doing next in their groups, and were given some slightly old bats from inside a metal cage. When his turn had come up, he started tapping the bat against the ground and swinging it to and fro like some sort of ritual, but in actuality he was stalling having to take a swing as much as he could. He saw that the person who was pitching looked a little unimpressed, but still somewhat patient, and he smiled crookedly before letting them make their throw. 

He missed. Hit nothing but the air.

He cursed himself under his breath, looking down at his feet and adjusting his stance before looking determined enough for the pitcher to throw him his second ball. 

He missed that one too. He heard it landing in the glove of the catcher behind him and he didn’t even want to look, tightening his hands around his bat. 

Third ball- missed.

God. Dammit. He can’t do this. He can’t play baseball. 

He exhaled shakily, trying not to seem like he was getting worked up about it. He rotated out the bat for someone else to do their hits- some of them hit one, two, or all three, but the majority of them were hitting more than he did. 

Jesse went to lunch feeling completely down. He had packed a sandwich to eat but for the most part had been picking at it, not feeling much of an appetite. When the time was over he had taken the collective total of about two bites in dejected nibbles, and told himself he would finish it later. 

He stepped back out trying to feel more motivated despite his circumstances. They were now simulating a proper game, with the teams split in half, and Jesse’s one at least starting with fielding. He tried to be hopeful that he was just rusty, that he needed to shake himself back into the game. He jogged on his feet briefly, pumping his fists almost desperately to keep his spirits high. 

It had gone better, considering that the first half of the day couldn’t have gone worse, but it still didn’t feel satisfactory. The disappointment kept coming back to him like clouds rolling over the sun and plunging the world temporarily in darkness; there was nothing he could do about it, after all it was only natural. The more that he felt it come, the more that he noticed it, and the more trapped in his own head he had become. 

He started to wonder if the chances of him really making it were as small as he felt in that moment, trying his best not to draw attention to himself as he ended up being one of the first people to walk out, and he started to feel a little humiliated as his childish dreams felt like they were being squandered in front of him.

When Jesse finally was able to leave, he just wanted to go back to the house. He trudged to the bus stop and waited underneath it for one to arrive, plugging his wired earbuds into his phone to listen to some music that might cheer him up a little. When one came, he’d gotten on it with his head down and sat down on one of the available rows near the back. He thought that would just be the end of his day, that he wouldn’t end up having to deal with anything else.

“Excuse me?”

He had been wrong. A voice at Jesse’s side caused him to raise his head, his hand reaching up to one of his ear buds before stopping. Was that for him?

Probably not. Why would it be? He raised his head.

Lukas was standing there, his hands in his jacket pockets, looking directly at him. Jesse jolted like warm touching cold, like two worlds colliding by accident, pulling his ear buds out of his ears by their wires.

“Lukas!” Jesse squeaked, fumbling to drop the tangle of wire onto his lap, struggling with what he could possibly say. He tried his best to keep his tone upbeat. “Funny seeing you here!”

“You, too.” Oh, yeah. Oh, he still exists. He hadn’t transcended to another dimension where something like this could be possible. Lukas pointed at Jesse’s bag, not breaking eye contact nor the illusion. “Can I sit there? It’s a bit cramped for room in here.”

Jesse looked from Lukas around the bus, where all the rows have every if not most of their seats taken. Some people were sitting on the aisle seat just so no one could sit beside them— rude, Jesse thought. He turned back, and was almost struck with the realisation again that Lukas was there and wanted to sit beside him, before he snagged his bag and stuffed it between his legs. 

“Of course! All yours.” Jesse answered, gesturing grandly to the unimpressive bus seat. Lukas perching prettily down on it was more of a spectacle, anyway.

Right. 

Jesse’s body tensed up, his hands folding in his lap over the wire tangle. He took a few deep breaths trying to work through it, fiddling a little with the wires, but he had never been this close to a famous person before. And not to sound weird, but he can smell the cologne he uses.

It’s nice. Fancy. Expected of someone who may be as wealthy as Lukas was, but not suffocating like he’s trying to shove it down Jesse’s throat. He hadn’t deprived Jesse of taking in any of his good qualities as he chided him with the bad ones over his lost skates, and all Jesse could see in him was a hard working, kind man who deserved the achievements that he had gotten.

That just made it worse. It made him all the more nervous to embarrass himself— and yet, Jesse was embarrassed enough already. He contemplated moving closer to the window so Lukas could have more space, but was scared of looking like he was physically repulsed by him, so he ended up not doing anything, staring at his hands.

Lukas giggled beside him. When Jesse’s head snapped up towards him, Lukas was looking at him like he were the fan, basking in a once in a lifetime opportunity. Jesse blinked, too dazed to see the smile that had stretched upon Lukas’s face.

“What? Why are you laughing?” He’d asked. He slapped his mouth shut when he realised he was gaping. 

Lukas’s gaze skated away and he smothered his smile into his hand. “I’m just so stupid.” Lukas answered. Jesse’s mouth opened again, wanting to protest, but he was stopped by Lukas waving his hand. “Not like that. But I really thought you’d think I was weird for asking to sit with you.”

“It’s not weird at all! Gosh, I thought I was the weird one for not saying or doing anything!” Jesse twisted his body towards him, slapping his legs. The gears turned in Lukas’s head and he grinned more openly.

“I guess I should have helped.” Lukas leaned against the back of his chair, looking more like he was settling in. “I didn’t know if you would want me near you at all. Seeing as we don’t really know each other— we’ve only interacted twice now.”

“Sure, but interacting with each other is how we get to know each other.” Jesse said. Lukas gave him a thoughtful look, like he hadn’t immediately disregarded what he had to say. “Besides, I’d rather you sit beside me than have to stand up the whole time.”

“Yeah… it’s been a while since I’ve really tried interacting with new people. Must have slipped my mind.” Bless— Jesse almost felt bad. If people acted around him the way that he did, put him on some sort of pedestal without even really thinking about it, he must not get particularly close with people. But when Lukas sat on exactly the same plane as Jesse did, he thought that he would at least try to talk to him like a normal person.

“Not a sociable guy?” He inquired.

“I’m not an— unsociable one.” Lukas answered as the bus began to drive, down roads that Jesse did not recognise. “But I usually talk to the same people every day. Both ‘cause of my job and… otherwise, I don’t find myself making friends very easily.”

“I usually find that friends come around right when you need them. I’m sure it’s nothing to do with you.” Jesse spoke, casting his attention to the window. “Your dance partner… um.”

“Aiden?” Lukas prompted.

“Aiden.” Jesse repeated. “How’s he? I figured you two must be close if you’re letting him throw you around like that.” 

Lukas fell momentarily silent. The bus passes by two children- friends- with their parents paces behind them as they walk down the pavement. Then, there’s no one for a while, but a lone man who’s stopped in the middle of the walkway. Was he lost? Oh— he passed too quickly. 

“You could say.” Lukas decided. “We’ve been routine partners since we were teenagers, but we used to train together long before then. He’s probably the best friend that I have, just because I’ve known him the longest.”

“How’d he rope you into being the lander?” Jesse’s tone of voice took an amused edge.

“Oh, I like it.” Lukas’s eyes widened somewhat, looking innocent. “It’s freeing, in a way? Being airborne? It probably sounds so strange, but I feel like I have a lot more control when I’m in the air. But more than anything, I’m a lot more flexible than he is.” 

“I was thinking about that! How do you bend like that?” Jesse shrieked.

“I don’t know, I just… do?” Lukas said, a crease forming in his eyebrows. His expression lifted after a few seconds, his voice mimicking Jesse’s. “But you’ve seen nothing yet. If that alarms you,  you’d be horrified at what else I can do.”

“Dear Lord.” Jesse gawked at him. “Do you need a chiropractor?”

Jesse snickered, then exhaled contentedly. He tried not to hold onto his discontentment, but Lukas’s gentle nudging had helped him let go of it almost entirely. Good- he didn’t want to dump all his frustrations onto Lukas, that definitely would taint his image of him—

“How’s baseball been going for you? I thought you said you had a training thing here.”

Ah. So he remembered that.

Jesse’s expression cracked, a slight discomfort seeping through.

“It’s not really going yet. I had my first training session today, and it went terribly. I made a total fool of myself.” Jesse sighed, looking down. If he’s looking down on himself, what would Lukas think of him?

“You’re not going to be your usual standard on the first day of training. Don’t worry about it.” Lukas said, his voice entirely identical to how it sounded before, and starking Jesse with his own thoughts. “But you won’t be up to the same standard if you don’t try at all. So no matter how bad you think you did, you’ll only fail yourself if you don’t wake up tomorrow and try again.”

“I know.” Jesse humphed resolutely. “I’m just so worried I won’t be able to make a proper team. I already failed last year.”

“Then try again.” Lukas pushed. “Put yourself out there a bit. Like, are you on social media?” 

“Should I be?” Jesse queried. He’s not— he had always been told about the dangers of digital footprints when getting jobs, so he never really ventured into that territory. Besides, other than Axel’s kickflip reels, none of his friends really used social media other than messengers. 

“It’d help.” Lukas hummed. “I can give you tips on what to do. Considering your stalking of me, do you at least follow me anywhere?”

“Ah…” Jesse’s nervous expression gave him away. He smiled nervously like he had been caught sneaking around, but didn’t even have anything to show for it. “No. I didn’t want to come off like some organised skate stealer.”

“I can give you one of my socials– follow me on there, and we can talk about it further. If you want– I’m sorry, I’m coming off as a little too forward, aren’t I? I just… know a lot on this topic, and I suppose I don’t always know when to shut up.” Lukas’s voice trailed off, getting quieter, a little less resolved. 

Jesse shook his head. “I don’t mind at all! I’d appreciate an actual professional telling me what to do instead of having to find it out myself.” 

“Oh…good.” Lukas breathed timidly.

In the end, Jesse was the first one to have to get off. He almost missed his stop, his mind elsewhere to notice that they had arrived back in his cousin’s town, and he had to reach over Lukas to slam his hand onto the stop button in a panic when he had almost missed the chance.

Lukas reeled back, staring at Jesse with widened eyes before smirking. “Hey, you’ve got quick reflexes. That’s good for your training.”

“…yeah.” Jesse muttered belatedly, his hand still holding onto the pole. He was way closer to Lukas than he should have been, and for way too long, so he made some extra shuffle room at the end of his seat when he sat back down and waited for the bus to park at the stop.  

Oh. He needed to die. He fiddled with the strap of his bag as he tried not to writhe too obviously, and jumped up at the first chance.

“It’s been really great talking with you, Lukas.” Jesse said, stepping down from the ledge the seats were on, and resuming the pedestal that was between them.

“Right back at you.” Lukas pushed off into what used to be Jesse’s seat, leaving the aisle seat open. “I’m sure we’ll see each other again.”

Funny. Wasn’t he sceptical before? Ah, well, Jesse wasn’t going to complain. It would be nice to see him again, meet him eye to eye another time. He stepped off the bus and watched it drive away, off to wherever Lukas might be heading. He trailed behind it briefly as his cousin’s home was down the same path, until he turned into a small front garden and unlocked their door with his spare key.

No one was around. He remembered Janice had told him about that in the morning, that she and her family were going out to watch a live show, and they wouldn’t be back until much later. They hadn’t said when specifically they’d return, but he imagined it wouldn’t be for a fair while. 

He retreated silently to his room, taking his phone out from his pocket. He plugged Lukas’s handle into his Instagram before it could be plucked out of his head and he would have to look like a stalker all over again trying to figure it out, and made sure to actually press the follow button this time. When the ‘message’ box appeared, he stared at the typing bar for a much longer time than he wanted to admit.

What was he supposed to say? He had never reached out to anyone this famous before, even if they were literally holding their hand out to him and inviting him to do so. He felt his hands becoming oddly clammy, wiping them on the legs of his track suit bottoms as he kept typing out words, and then quickly deleting them. Everything that he ended up typing looked like a gush of a fan to their favourite celebrity, and he felt so embarrassed looking over the draft that he could have sworn was better that time. Down on his luck, he had gone with:

‘Hiiii, it’s Jesse from earlier’

Then he shut Instagram with the speed of an evacuee. He wanted to check Instagram a few times, to see if Lukas read the message, but he didn’t, as if he were worried of seeing the aftermath. He didn’t know where all of his social skills went, but it would take a lot of waiting out for the coast to be clear enough to find them again; no matter how much he tried to act like they were just two guys talking, Lukas was way more famous than Jesse could even imagine being.

When he finally settled down, that’s when he saw it.

Lukas has accepted your message request.

Lukas is now following you.

Oh my God. Okay. They’re really doing this.

Lukas

Hi. Sorry, it took me a little while to get back to my hotel

Jesse stared at the message for a long while. He didn’t know how to respond– how long was he meant to wait until responding to not look like a weirdo who had been waiting for his answer? How short of a time was he meant to take when Lukas must have such a busy schedule? Does this fit into his work schedule– is this considered a work conversation? Is he even that busy right now?

Jesse had been so freaked out that however long he had meant to wait passed without him even noticing, snapping out of it when he realised he definitively shouldn’t keep Lukas waiting if there was anything he could do about it. He hopped onto his bed, leaning against the headrest, and finally typed out a reply.

Jesse

No worries! I was just on my way back when we talked- had no clue whether you were the same

Lukas

No, I was on my way out

But nothing in this town seems to be particularly far from everything else

Jesse

Right??? It’s so convenient

Anyway, it’s totally fine. You must be totally busy most of the time anyway.

Lukas

Well, you’re not entirely wrong

I have a few days off now since the competition, so I’m mostly occupied with personal stuff

Jesse let out a sigh of relief. A tightness in his chest unspooled as his words were able to flow a little more easily.

Jesse

Good to know

I was actually so worried that I might be bothering you no matter what time I texted lol

Thought I would just send one off and get it over with

Lukas 

Not at all

I was the one who offered, I wasn’t going to be upset seeing you texted me

Especially not with what you said earlier

Jesse

???

Lukas

That interacting with each other is how we get to know other people

I know that it might not be what you’ve been thinking about, and I’m sorry that I’m acting like I’ve changed my mind, but I really would like to get to know you. You’ve been really fun to talk to

For someone who has assurances of who he is all around him, with all the medals Jesse had seen in Lukas’s photos, Lukas seemed to get really shy sometimes, didn’t he? Well, this may be out of his element, the warmness of the laughing that he gave at Jesse’s characteristically silly antics. Maybe he was trying to find something of a middle ground- even the people who thrive in the winter can still feel cold.

Jesse

Hey, I want to get to know you too. That’s why I said it.

Don’t apologise

Lukas

Sorry

Wait

Jesse

LOL no I get it

But don’t be ashamed of saying what you want. It could go better than you think

Haha, isn’t it funny that I’m the one giving the first piece of advice

Lukas

I still have a lot of things to learn, they’re just different to the things you have to

Jesse

Yeahhh you’re right

If we both have stuff to learn, why don’t we start by learning about each other?
I’m a little tired from practice today so I think I might want to hold off on the whole social media thing until a little later, if that’s okay

Lukas

That’s fine

It probably would be better to know a little bit more about you first before I say anything

Jesse wondered if that was Lukas’s way of justifying himself, but he didn’t ask.

Soon, they had found themselves getting to idle chatting. Jesse shifted around the bed a few times, getting into new and surprisingly intricate positions to get comfortable like he had already been learning off of Lukas without him even saying anything. His responses became more speedy when the conversation picked up and he didn’t feel like he was being too obsessive, and when Lukas said something funny in response to one of Jesse’s messages, Jesse had actually laughed with no one to hear it.

How did Lukas think he wouldn’t want to talk to him? Jesse almost couldn’t stop talking when he got started, blabbering to Lukas about whatever he would listen to, sometimes with no clear transition into what they were talking about before. Bless, Lukas must have been a little disoriented, but he seemed to find his footing quickly, turning his thoughts with him in late succession. 

They kept at this for a while until Lukas said that he needed to go– him and Aiden had a dinner reservation at the restaurant below their hotel room. Jesse just then remembered that he hadn’t eaten in a good while; there wasn’t so much as an ache in his stomach, only the feeling of nervous fluttering. He told Lukas he would go and eat when he asked, anyway, and let him have the last word before his account status was marked offline. 

And he did, actually, eat this time. He finally finished off that sandwich and threw a piece of fruit into the mix for good measure. His cousin’s family had come back while he was eating at the table, so the emptiness that began to suck up that pleasant feeling throughout his body was filled listening to them talk about their day. 

Jesse had a good rest of his day. He woke up the next morning feeling invigorated, with all of his anxieties from the previous day gone. He’s sure that he would have forgotten about them anyway, remembering how much he wants his end goal, but he does think that being able to talk to Lukas did have some part in it. He wanted to talk to him again, but figured that he would hold back until after his practice again that day, so that he actually had something to talk about. 

There was a feeling of unease stirring in Jesse’s stomach when he arrived at the stadium again. And again, he stared up at the sign, not looking entirely proud of himself, but steadying himself with the knowledge that he was at least going to continue trying. Lukas was right, he wasn’t going to improve if he just gave up the first time that something went wrong, and he certainly wasn’t going to be able to fulfill his promise to Lukas.

He refused to give up. 

He mustered the will in his feet to take a step through the entrance. He kept going by in small steps, trying not to think about the fact that people were walking through much faster than he was, until he was able to work up the speed to join the others before the coach was coming back out to tell him the itinerary for that day. 

It went well, that time. It went well, like he had imagined it to go. Like his dreams really could come true. His warm ups had gone without fail that morning, and he ended up finishing comfortably in the middle of the group (though, he wouldn’t have considered it a competition, it was more an observation). He had actually managed to catch the ball during their throwing practice, and his throws were a lot more streamlined and purposeful.

(Batting, though. Batting was still a problem. Um…)

When their team had requested to let him do the pitching for them, he had never been quicker to say something in his life.

Other than to tell Lukas that things had been going better for him. As soon as he had gotten on the bus back, he had been on his phone, messaging Lukas that he was right, and he did need some time to get back up to his standard. 

Having Lukas praise him… well, it made him feel a little sheepish?

Well. He was being complimented by a celebrity. Anyone would be. 

Chapter Text

Jesse 

So what were you saying about social media?

Jesse was half way through his course when he started thinking about what he would do after; he’d finally gotten to the reason he had texted Lukas in the first place, to get his advice. It wasn’t like Lukas had seemed to mind, considering he never actually redirected their conversations to the matter at hand, so he really took his time getting to that point.

Lukas

You’re not tired from training today?

A small smile stretched across Jesse’s face, feeling a little endeared that Lukas had acknowledged his complaint. He mulled on it a little before replying.

Jesse

Well it depends on what you tell me

Like, if there’s something I could do which is easy, then I don’t see why I can’t do it right now

But I’m getting a little more into the training routine, so if it’s too much, I’ll do it tomorrow

Lukas

I hadn’t thought about it like that

I guess it also depends on what you have so far

Let me take a look at your account

Oh, he did NOT need to know that. He stared nervously at his phone, like a diligent artist watching as a critic judged their beloved painting, only hoping for the best. He had told Lukas that he practically didn’t have anything going on for himself, other than a profile picture, simple bio and a few really old photos from when he were a teenager, so he hoped that Lukas had braced himself enough to not be in for too harsh of a startle when he realised that he was working with absolutely nothing.

And that Jesse was absolutely useless. He had been a little late to getting into baseball, but he hadn’t thought that he would be so late in figuring out all of the little things that come with being a player, far beyond the game itself. At least he could be ashamed of himself ahead of time, not daring to leave the app even when Lukas hadn’t typed anything for a while. Though that didn’t exactly make him feel any better.

Lukas

Alright

I got it

Please be nice, Jesse might just have cried otherwise.

Lukas

Do you just use this account as a personal one?

Okay. 

Jesse

Usually?

I hadn’t really considered making any other account tbh

Lukas

I’d advise you make work accounts for any of the social medias that you want to use

That way they’re more focussed on what you’re trying to promote, and also you’ll be able to keep a good work/life balance

Jesse

Ahhhh that makes a lot more sense

OKAY I can do that real fast, hang tight 

Jesse closed the chat, having to leave the reply that Lukas gave. He began the process of making a new account, deciding upon putting his full name as the username– that’s what he’s seen most famous people do. But more to the point, he didn’t think that his childish means of picking out usernames would really do well in a professional setting. His current one was, embarrassingly, ‘jessejayjay’. He’s not the biggest fan of it. 

He swapped back to his main account soon afterwards, once staring at a blank account had made his head feel a little empty.

Jesse

It’s been made

Jesse sent the handle to Lukas with only a little hesitation.

Jesse

What kind of things do I put on it?

Lukas

For your profile picture, put a good quality picture of you

Maybe you doing something related to baseball? Your profile picture is going to represent you, so you’re going to want to show your passion but also your seriousness for it

If that makes sense?

Anyway, your bio should be like a little resume about yourself. You should talk about your strengths, your journey, and your credentials

But don’t talk too much, lots of people are put off by large blocks of text

Just like I’ve done, I’m so embarrassed

Jesse

NO ITS FINE

I could totally see why it would come off that way to some people, but it doesn’t bother me at all

Wink wink nudge nudge

Lukas

?

Oh

Good to know

When you’re done with that, we can talk about the actual content part

Did Jesse actually have any proper photos of himself? 

Scrolling up his phone, he was sure he didn’t, actually– he had some well taken photos from when he had important events and got all dressed up, but his sister was in almost all of those and she would need to be cropped out. Besides, the false, dolled up look didn’t really resonate with who he felt like he wanted to represent, regardless of whether it moved to the strings of this competitive masquerade; they’re probably all looking for the same kinds of sophisticated, no-nonsense people, but Jesse was so not that.

Well, he’d put one on there for the time being, since he didn’t really have anything else. Making his bio had been a lot smoother sailing, though he kept going off on some sections and somehow going over the character limit. He didn’t mind the end product, but he didn’t mind even less the concept of Lukas giving him some more tips on how he could improve on it some more. 

Jesse

Content

What do I do for that?

Lukas

First of all, if you’re going to post, you need to make sure that you post consistently. It’ll keep your account more visible for longer

I usually post a few times a week during skating season, but since you’re off season right now I think, then it might be lower for you

I think what would be best for you content wise is videos showing off your skills. They’re captivating to a recruiter and they help them see what kind of level you’re at

Ohhh, damn.

Jesse

Darn

I don’t really have any videos of me that I could post

I’m more of an in the moment kind of guy, videoing never really crosses my mind

Lukas

It’s not that difficult to get some

I can try to help you with that too

Jesse

Really? 

Lukas

If you’re still training for the next few days, then yeah

I brought my camera with me, I can come down while you’re training and help you take some videos

Jesse

SERIOUSLY

ARE YOU SURE???

Lukas

I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t sure

Jesse

Right

If you can, I’d really appreciate it

Cause I need a new profile picture too, and I don’t know if my phone will have the kind of quality you’re thinking of

Lukas

That’s fine

Are you training at that nearby stadium? And at what time?

Jesse 

Yeah and I’ve usually been there from 9-3. If you’re free to come tomorrow or the day after then I can stay later

Lukas

Tomorrow works fine for m

Jesse

Okie spokie

Later, it hit him what he had just agreed to. A lot harder than he had ever hit a ball.

Lukas would be coming to his training, pointing a camera at him that could see his mistakes in a lot higher resolution than his sharp eyes. But oddly, winded from the way that he gasped out an alarmed breath, Jesse didn’t really feel afraid of the idea. Okay, he felt really afraid, but he also felt inspired. If he was able to make contact with the bat tomorrow, then not only would it be caught on camera, but it would be caught by Lukas’s eye. He thought that would be great, and soon he found that he had gone right back to daydreaming. 

—

“Where are you off to?” Aiden raised an eyebrow at Lukas, watching him loop his camera bag over his shoulder. Lukas glanced behind him, briefly making eye contact before he turned back.

“I just wanted to take some photos of the area. We’re in such a nice place, I don’t want to take it for granted.” Lukas answered, and he tried not to think about how quickly he came to lie. If he’d told him the truth, he would make another point of questioning why he was concerning himself so much with ‘just a fan’, and he can’t even begin to imagine the sort of interrogation that he would have from his father. Lying was what saved the most time and energy, which are the sort of principles that had been instilled into Lukas; all that mattered was winning the competitions. 

Aiden stayed still, and Lukas almost thought that he couldn’t move, chained to his gaze and never allowed to move too far away from him. The tension broke when Aiden replied. “Yeah, seems like you. You’re always talking about how beautiful the things around you are.”

“Because they are?” Lukas responded- a little more truthful, and yet a little more timid. Something about this conversation felt like it was backwards.

“We’ve seen a town before. I guess I don’t really get it.” Aiden relented, relaxing in his posture and relieving Lukas of his hot seat. “Don’t take too long. However many photos you plan on taking, I can guarantee you don’t need that many of them.”

“I’ll try not to.” Lukas hummed airily as his feet soon began whisking himself in the direction of the door, strangely raring to go. Maybe he just wanted to do something which wasn’t entirely related to work or practicing? Whatever it was, he wasn’t going to fight against that, either. He sent a wave behind him before he closed the door. 

He paced his way down to the bus stop, sending Jesse a text saying that he was on his way down with his camera, and set his journey off within 10 minutes, giving himself first some time to memorise the bus line so he knew when to get off. He’d been told by Jesse where to go, but Lukas was too organised of an individual to go off of rough approximations alone. And too proper of one to show up in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

He was glad to make it to the stadium without any complications. He stood outside the stadium for a time, looking a little out of place but feeling even more so. Figure skating isn’t a sport that has a whole lot of cheering and noise, at least not with routines like his and Aiden’s, so the booming noise from all around him almost made him feel like his head was exploding. Maybe he should have brought his headphones… ah. 

“Lukas!” One voice in particular bursted into his senses, and Lukas perked up before raising his head, trying to find the person it came from. His eyes landed on Jesse as he began to speed up his springy walk, looking like he was bounding over to him. Lukas…smiled? “Oh! You’re actually here!” 

“I said I would be, didn’t I?” Lukas spoke, slipping his phone into his pocket. “...Didn’t I?”

“No, you did!” Jesse slowed to a halt just a few feet shy of him. “But, you know how some people are. They’re so bad at following through with plans– hell, even I’m not the best myself.”

“Things come up?” Lukas tried.

“Yeah… not the fact that I need to be somewhere, though. I always forget.” Jesse joked, swinging a nudge with his fist that just about misses Lukas’s arm. Lukas reached up and held onto the ghost feeling, like he was trying to find something substantial. “I’m really glad you made it, though. What you were saying… It's important to me. I need to put my best foot out there if I want to be recruited this year.”

“It’s really the least I can do. If you want good footage, it’s best to get it from someone who knows how to take it.” Lukas pauses, halting himself in the reality of what he had just said, what his words could be interpreted as being. “Sorry– I didn’t mean that in a bad way.”

“Was there a bad way for that to mean? You’re right. I barely even know my way around an iPhone camera, nevermind an actual camera. And I already said that I trust the actual professional here.” Jesse gestured largely to him, almost as if he were bowing to him. Lukas’s eyes widened at him, embarrassment burning in his face.

What is this? Why doesn’t he feel cold? Why doesn’t he feel numb? Why does he want to know what it is so desperately? 

Why does he need to know?

“No it’s just… I’ve often been told that the way that I say things can come off as rude to some people. So I try to think more about what I say.” Lukas said, awkward. Jesse gave him a sympathetic look and Lukas had to scrutinise it to decipher whether he was just taking pity out on him. He didn’t seem to be. 

“I get it. I get the same way with like— weird stuff.” Jesse made a gesture to come towards him, and then they headed into the stadium together. “I always end up making jokes that people don’t usually find that funny, and I make them uncomfortable without even realising. If I thought you were being rude, I definitely would have told you.”

“I find you funny.” Lukas mentioned, his words more of a mutter.

“Thank you!” Jesse beamed, and that warm feeling inside of Lukas intensified. The ice in his chest almost felt like it was melting, that he could feel his heart beating again but– no, that couldn’t be right. Jesse was just something new, the embodiment of the thing that he always wanted. Not that much more.

“And I don’t think you’re rude!”

Lukas just– hasn’t ever reacted like this to someone complimenting him before, and he wasn’t sure what to do about it. He always thought that it would be Aiden that melted him, or rather thawed his heart out with his harsh way of being, but as he began to run his hands up and down the strap of his camera bag, he realised that it might be someone else. 

What that meant? Lukas didn’t know that either. He didn’t know whether he wanted to step towards it and risk being burnt (taking chances like this was like playing with fire), or try and take a step back before it got too much and let the ice freeze him back over (but he knew that not doing anything would cause problems, too).

Jesse stopped while he was walking. Lukas froze.

“You knowwwwww….. I didn’t really tell my coach that I would be bringing someone with me today.” Jesse giggled, rubbing his hand along his neck. 

Lukas deadpanned. “Really?”
“He’s a pretty mellowed-out guy! I’m sure he won’t mind at all!” Jesse insisted, waving his hands around to make his point. “Though, I should try and sneak you in.”

“They’re definitely going to see me.” Part of Lukas knew that Jesse was being cheeky, but his intensity made it difficult to joke along with him. He wanted to make sure he could get the best pictures that he could; he wouldn’t be in town for much longer, and it won’t be as convenient to do a mini-photoshoot like this if they’re on different sides of the country.

“Just duck down a bit! I’ll be fine!” Jesse giggled, seeming unbothered by this. He began moving with Lukas again, bringing him a little way away from the rest of the group before leaving him there to jog up to his fellow players. While standing there, Lukas made eye contact with a man in a uniform who he imagined was the coach, though he very much did not seem mellowed out, before he watched said man’s gaze turn back to Jesse. He said something to him that made him flustered, but he was a little too far away to read lips, and a little too impersonal with Jesse to ask him what that was about later.

He saw Jesse give him a thumbs up, signifying that everything was okay with him filming there, and Lukas gave one in return after a few seconds before reaching down to take his camera out of his bag and prepare himself for some shooting.

There was one thing that Lukas particularly noticed about people, when you put cameras in their faces. Everything about their physical appearance changed, even just by miniscule amounts. It was like they became different people, though with the same facial and body features as the person they used to be.

Jesse was no exception to this. Lukas saw it up close as he looked through the camera feed- he saw it frame by artificial frame when Jesse looked behind him to notice that Lukas was already running the footage, and the muscles in his body became more tense. He pushed up his torso and tightened his expression, giving Lukas a quaint nod before turning back to the group as they began with their drills. He became a different man.

He became a better man. He had the same muscles, the same hands, but the strength and velocity that he put on his throws almost felt beyond human capacity. More star-like; watching the people there- if any of them were the most likely to be recruited by a proper team, Lukas thought that it would be Jesse, his skills shining bright in the crowd. Lukas was always able to find him, to keep the camera on him, and he moved around a lot in his safe distance to capture him from different perspectives. 

But there was something off about Jesse. Something odd that made the odd feeling in himself feel a lot more understandable- when the camera turned off, Jesse hadn’t immediately lost all the tension in his muscles. He only did while he was looking in Lukas’ direction and Lukas had smiled at him, long after he had already lowered the camera. He hadn’t been playing up for the camera, it seemed- he had been playing up for himself. He had been steadying himself, and it only became a consequence that Lukas had a constant stream of good footage of him. A constant stream of an impressive show for himself.

He’d found himself a lot more respectful of Jesse watching his passion and dedication play out in front of him. Lukas looked down, clearing his throat nervously and checking through the footage as the team rounded together and filed off elsewhere. Once he found his particularly favourite parts, he followed behind the trail of the group.

They had wandered into the cafeteria, with a lot of the players already sitting down and digging into their lunch. Lukas had considered walking out, leaving before anyone had even noticed he had been there and hiding out somewhere else until the break was over, but he had been spotted by Jesse, sitting in one of the corners and now waving at him, before he had the opportunity. Lukas stared at him, as if baffled that he would be calling him over, but he supposed that he did need to show Jesse what he got some time or other. He might as well bite the bullet now, as much as he hated having to do it in the lunch hall. He approached, taking a seat on the bench opposite to Jesse and placing his camera down on the table.

“I think I’ve gotten some really good stuff, here.” Lukas said, turning his camera towards Jesse. Jesse leaned forward over his sandwich to get a good look. “I’d say that it might be good for you to look over the footage yourself when you have the time, but I have some personal favourites for moments that you could consider posting.”

Seeing the way that Jesse’s expression lit up as he watched the video, Lukas was stunned that he really was being genuine. It had him looking away the whole time that Jesse was watching, almost trying to tune out the wowed noises that he was making. 
“Do I really look like that when I play? I look so cool!” He exclaimed, looking at Lukas with his bright eyes. Even if they were almost blinding, Lukas found that he couldn’t look away from them. “Really, thank you so much for doing this. These look perfect.”

“For a start.” Lukas hummed. “You said that you do games in the afternoon, right? It might be good for your profile to get some actual clips of you in practice, so you can show off your skills in an actual setting.”

Jesse cringed.

“What?” Lukas blinked. “Do you not want me to film anymore?”

“My gameplay… isn’t always the best. I don’t know how much good you’ll get out of it.” Jesse explained, looking down and occupying himself by picking up one of the halves of his sandwich.

“I’m sure I could. If you play like you did during training, then there are bound to be some good shots in there.”

Jesse groaned. Did he say something?

“Just… don’t get your hopes up.” Jesse said, looking at Lukas’s side of the table, noticing that the camera was the only thing on it. “Hey, did you not bring anything to eat?”

“Oh-” And Lukas thought he was the one that had been noticing things about the other today. “No– I’m not that hungry.  I thought that I would just eat afterwards.”

“But that’s like… two more hours!” Jesse cried, his excitement overwhelmed by horror. He shifted his sandwich into one hand and took out the other half from his lunch box, holding it out demandingly to him. “Take my other half! Do you eat dairy?”

Lukas reached out, but only to push Jesse’s hand away by his wrist. “I’m good, really. I’m not someone with a particularly big appetite. And besides, if you want to do well in your game this afternoon, then you need as much energy as you can get. You have it.”

Jesse seemed uncomfortable, hesitating to put his sandwich back down, and Lukas almost felt a little guilty. “Okay…well, if you change your mind?”

“Yeah.” Lukas swallowed.

Lukas was a little confused by Jesse’s words when he watched him play– his gameplay didn’t seem to be bad at all. He got a lot of good shots of him pitching and defending the first base, having gotten a few members of the opposite team out when they had hit a ground ball. And when they had swapped out the pitchers, such that other people had gotten the chance to try out the position, he had made some powerful relays. It even seemed a little like the team was revolving around him, even when there hadn’t really seemed to be an elected leader other than who could give out orders the loudest. And that, somehow, hadn’t been Jesse that time around. 

It was when he got to batting that Lukas…maybe realised what he was referring to, when he watched Jesse get out due to having 3 failed batting strikes. He looked at Lukas as he retreated off the post, and Lukas tried to silently assure him. It probably hadn’t worked, considering he had gotten that little slip up on camera, but he made sure to crop it out before he showed it to Jesse to spare him of the embarrassment. Comparing him to the other batters, he seemed to have the right posture and technique, but he just wasn’t hitting any of his swings. He could work on that, Lukas had plenty of moves he used to not be able to hit– the problem was with him that he ended up dragging Aiden down whenever he messed up, and he never seemed to take that particularly well. 

He’d kept his camera poised when Jesse’s team had won despite his swinging fiasco, and he ended up capturing some pictures of Jesse grinning with his team and celebrating with the others. 

“I know you didn’t think that I would find anything good.” Lukas began as he walked out of the stadium with Jesse a short time later. Jesse pulled a face but he tried to mask it with a nervous smile that Lukas spotted immediately, “But I got some good shots of you that I think might work as a profile picture. If none of them work for you, we can look through the footage or try take some more later, but I think these really represent the kind of person that I’ve seen in you.”

Lukas handed Jesse his camera, letting him flip through the photos on his own accord. His face didn’t brighten immediately like it did before, so Lukas took the chance to explain and possibly shed some more light on this decision.

He said, “When I met you, you came off as a very personable man to me. You’ve been easy to talk to and even easier to talk strategies with. But it’s not just you being submissive or obedient, or anything– it’s you being introspective and reflecting on yourself. These photos show me those parts of you first thing, and they also show me the passion that you have for the sport. Do you see it in your eyes?”

Jesse brought the camera closer to his face, looked at his own face a little more, and there was something almost gratifying seeing his intrigued eyes glisten. Maybe because he knew then that he didn’t sound utterly crazy. 

“Do you…” Jesse looked back up at him, amazed. “Really get all of that just from some pictures?”

“Yeah.” Lukas answered weakly. He damned himself internally. “You can tell a lot about a person by their expression. I don’t know that much about recruiting, but if they see any of the same things I think I do, then I’m sure that one of these would work well for you.”

“I like this one.” Jesse decided after a few moments more, turning the camera back to Lukas to show him one of the pictures on the screen. It was the second one he had taken, and it captured Jesse’s smile when it was at its biggest. Lukas smiled.

“I’m quite happy with that one, myself.” Lukas told him, taking back his camera. Jesse snuck a few final glances as Lukas was turning it off and putting it back in his bag before looking back in the direction of the exit. “I can send you over all the footage I have when I get back. But… I need to find something else to take pictures of first.”

“Why?” Jesse tilted his head.

“Uhm… I didn’t truthfully tell someone where I was going, and I don’t think they’ll be all that happy if they found everything I took today.” Lukas explained. “But it’s– that’s not your fault. It’s complicated… really complicated. So I’ll just need to try and find something else to take photos of as a cover-up.”

“Hm.” Jesse looked as though he was thinking about something, and Lukas really hoped it didn’t have to do with him. “Oh– when I was walking down the street the other day, I saw this really pretty park. It had a pond with some ducks in it, and some flowers near the back– I thought of going and taking a walk in there, but I haven’t really had the time. I can show you there if you want, it would kill two birds with one stone.”

“I…if you’re not too busy?” Lukas accepted, though a little lost; that wasn’t the trajectory that conversations like that took- usually there would be at least some interrogation, but Jesse just seemed to acknowledge and accept Lukas’s predicament without any sort of protest. Again, he’s new– this was all new to him, and he was learning things as he went.

Jesse took him down to the park, and oddly didn’t mention anything about the photo thing, just continued to talk about whatever came to his mind which Lukas was coming to understand was something that he usually did. He wasn’t really paying attention to a lot of it- he struggled too much, not understanding one bit of how he was meant to react in a situation like this. He worried that making a mistake, saying the wrong thing or at the wrong time, would turn this new thing into the same thing as always, and he didn’t want that to have to happen. 

When they arrived at the park, Jesse pulled open the gate and stayed behind it, waiting for Lukas to pass through. It took him a little embarrassing of a time to realise that was what he wanted him to do, but when he did, he nodded his head to Jesse and walked through, waiting a few paces inside for Jesse to round the gate and shut it behind him. 

The park itself looked to be a conservation of the foliage that had been in the town before it had been torn down in favour of the buildings and the houses; there was a distinct pathway and some benches across the perimeter like rest stops, but every other part of it was entirely natural and untouched, with uncut grass with flower petals blooming out from them, looming trees leaning their branches over to create patches of shade like gentle giants, and a large pond in the centre that was rimmed with ducks, birds and even some particularly harmonious cats. 

Yeah– this would do fine. Lukas took the lead from there, walking over to a patch of grass that was particularly populated with flowers and taking a photo of the bunch. Jesse gazed around at the scene himself from behind him, as if he were taking all his photos with his eyes.

“I wanted to ask you about something, if it’s not too personal.” Lukas began. Jesse hummed promptingly, slipping his hands into his pockets as the brisk winter air began to bite at the still pair. “Is the reason that you seemed so insecure of your game skills because of your batting?”

Jesse took a while to respond, such that Lukas had already stood back up to his full height and started to consider backing back out of his question. But then Jesse laughed sadly. “You’re a little too good at telling things about people, aren’t you?”

He kicked at a loose rock on the ground. “Yeah. I can’t bat. I can do everything else I just… can’t hit a ball no matter what I do. I’ve even used those pitching machines, and those didn’t work for me either. So like, I know I’m the problem here, and I feel like that might be a lot of the reason that I’m not getting recruited.”

“I’m…sorry for bringing it up.” Lukas averted his eyes, and they walked for a short distance with each other not looking at each other at all.

“I don’t mind. I feel like I should probably talk about it with someone anyway– my family think I’m this baseball prodigy, so if I told them about it they probably wouldn’t believe me or just think I was exaggerating.” Jesse made a weighing scale with his hands, tipping them to the other side. “And if I told my coach at the camp, he would probably think I’m just not skilled enough to be in the sport. But I am skilled– I’m one hell of a pitcher, and I like pitching. I’m just– in the middle, and I feel like no one would really get that…”

They make eye contact again. “Except maybe someone who doesn’t really know what I’m talking about. But still does, in a way. Someone more like you, if you were genuinely asking and not just trying to make small talk.”

“I was genuinely asking.” Lukas chose. 

Jesse breathed out, relieved. “Good… I’m just so worried that, no matter what I do, I’m still going to end up being held back just because I can’t hit. No matter how much I focus on the ball, I always end up missing it and… does that mean I’m going to end up missing my chance?”

“It’s definitely true that recruiters look for people who have all around skills.” Lukas stated, “But that doesn’t mean that you aren’t able to learn over time. You won’t immediately get recruited, it’s a process– and you going to that camp to get better at the game is making a solid start. You already promised me that you were going to find ways to come to my shows no matter where they are, so why don’t you promise yourself that you’ll keep practicing until you can make your hits, no matter how long that takes?”

Lukas held his hand out. Jesse stared at it.

“Or at least…” He continued, his voice lowering. “Let me promise you that I’ll make sure you don’t give up until you do.”

“You underestimate the value of my perseverance.” Jesse snorted.

“You underestimate how tough it can get in the sports field. You’ll need someone to rely on, and I can be that person for you.” Lukas challenged.

Grinning then, Jesse slapped his hand against Lukas’s and shook it dramatically.

“Okay! I accept your promise.” He decreed loudly. 

They let go of each other’s hands, falling back to their sides as they fell back into a rhythm.

“Just because you’re good at one thing doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to be bad at another.” Lukas started to speak again as they stopped by the edge of the pond, where there were two ducks swimming together. “People will always act like that’s the case. I mean– even for me, I’ve had people act like I’m good at everything just because I can skate. But it’s just not true, and it’s fine for that not to be true. It’s fine to be hung up on the bad things sometimes, because that’s how we improve– it’s just important to not let it get to your head and let you forget about all of the things you’re good at as well.”

“You were right, you’re really good at pitching. And I found your fielding really impressive, too.” Lukas added, his camera clicking with a few pictures. “It just ends up happening that people create this image of you, and then anything that doesn’t fit in with that image isn’t allowed to be seen. You’re not one thing or the other, you’re you.”

Lukas lowered his camera and said with finality, “Please, don’t let that image get to you.”

“I won’t.” Jesse responded gently. “I know who I am, and I know what I want to do. It’s just been such a pain that it feels like no one sees past this… image of me, as you say. Thanks for not immediately being so dismissive of me with this.” 

“You’re welcome.” His words felt incomplete and he felt a little unsettled.

He wanted to say: thank you, too.

But maybe another time, when that didn’t feel so complicated.

“Let’s keep going.” Was all else he could say.

Back at his hotel room, Lukas was finally able to muster something else.

Lukas

If you want, I can come by tomorrow as well

That way we can get some more footage

Jesse

If you could

I can show you another little spot if you need another cover

Gosh. This was all so weird.

Lukas

Yeah, thanks

See you tomorrow