The Black Swan Behind (Beauty of Fire)

112 Ice Skating

Even though they were sitting side by side, Emma and Levi were no longer talking. They just kept quiet enjoying the atmosphere that night which happened not to be snowing.

Emma didn’t know what was going on in Levi’s mind. But, what she saw on the frozen river water caught her attention. The ice skating people looked so happy. The sound of the blades of the shoes grinding against the ice was heard loud. It turned out that the people of Handway were good at ice skating. Even the small children seemed to have started to play smoothly.

“If you’re staring at them like that, why don’t you come down and play?” Suddenly, Levi’s voice distracted Emma.

The girl laughed lightly by rubbing the trunk of her neck, “I happen to not be able to ice skating. Hahaha..” Then, she looked ahead at the small river again, “But it looks so fun and beautiful,” she muttered to herself.

“I guess you’re not the type to just watch something fun without trying it yourself?” Levi replied while blowing his cigarette smoke into the air.

Emma shook her head, “I should be like that..”

“Are you scared?”

Levi’s question made Emma immediately turn to him, “Scared? That’s the last word in my dictionary.” she replied in a displeased tone.

Emma’s reaction made Levi chuckle a little, then, he stubbed out his half remaining cigarette and stood up before heading for the trash can to throw it away. Then, he turned back to Emma, ??”Follow me,”

.....

“Huh?” Emma’s face suddenly gave a confused expression, but she still complied to follow Levi’s footsteps after running hastily tossed her empty coffee cup into the trash.

The two loafers finally stopped at a booth where ice skating shoes were rented.

“Measure your feet there,” Levi pointed to a box-shaped object next to the long counter that separated the visitors from the inside of the booth.

“What are you planning?” Emma asked confused.

“Just take a quick measure. Why are you being so fussy?” Levi said impatiently. He was talking to the booth staff behind the cashier, but Emma interrupted him.

Emma glanced at Levi sarcastically, “You sucker,” she mumbled. Even though she felt annoyed, she still approached the feet measuring spot and then measured the length of her foot.

When finished, Emma approached Levi who was seen paying some money to the cashier before putting his wallet back into his coat’s pocket, “What are you doing?” Emma asked as she stood beside Levi.

Levi didn’t answer and instead took a few steps towards the table where the staff in charge of giving and receiving rented shoes was standing. After giving the staff two small ticket papers, the staff returned to Levi with two pairs of skating shoes.

“Sit over there,” Levi pointed to a long chair with his chin because his hands were full holding the shoes.

“We.. we are going to play?” Emma asked, finally realising what was going on.

“What else do you think we can do with these shoes? Sculpt blocks of ice?” Levi replied by sitting on a long chair next to the booth that had a bright white light.

Finally, Emma sat down beside Levi without asking any more questions. The man then gave Emma a pair of pink shoes for her to wear.

“Ah.. You should have said earlier that these shoes were for me. I would have definitely chosen my own.” Emma mumbled sadly.

Levi, who was taking off his black loafers, then turned to Emma with a frown, “What’s wrong with those shoes? You haven’t even tried them on.” he asked, thinking that the shoe size was too small or too big for Emma’s feet.

“The colour doesn’t match my clothes.” The girl answered with a tired sigh while looking at the shoes with a gloomy face. She was wearing clothes in neutral colours, but the shoes had quirky colours that looked very contrasting.

Emma’s answer succeeded in making Levi gape. He couldn’t believe there was such a troublesome person in this world. Were all the girls like that?! If they were, then he maybe wouldn’t be married for the rest of his life!

“You better put those shoes on now before I throw them at that bald man’s head,” Levi pointed to an old man with a bald head who was standing by the river while watching a little girl who seemed to be his granddaughter.

“You psychopath! He has nothing to do with me!” Emma babbled alone.

“That’s why you shouldn’t have to complain about such a small matter,” Levi replied, still focused on tying the lace of ice skating shoes that had wrapped his feet.

“You take it for granted because you don’t understand fashion,” Emma muttered. Even though Levi heard it, he just ignored her grumbling.

Levi glanced at the watch wrapped around his tattooed arm. Then, he glanced at the girl beside him who was still busy with her skating shoes, “Could you hurry up? I only rented these shoes for two hours. You’ve been struggling with that thing for fifteen minutes.”

Emma glanced at Levi sarcastically, “Could you be patient for a second? This is my first time wearing these weird shoes, you know?” she answered no less fiercely. Then, she returned to her feet with rolling eyes.

Finally, Levi needed to wait again. Then, five minutes later...

“Done!! Let’s play!” Emma exclaimed as she stood up quickly. But it turned out that standing on ice skating shoes was not as easy as Emma imagined. Instantly, she lost her balance and stumbled to the side, “Uaaaa!!”

Emma’s eyes, which were tightly closed for ready to hit the ground, slowly opened. The girl realized that she didn’t fall. Her body was floating in the air with an almost lying position to the side. One of her hands was pulled into the air. It turned out that Levi was holding her arm so she didn’t hit the ground.

“Tsk! Can you not be reckless for a day?” Levi rambled by pulling Emma up in one motion, then, pressing her shoulder to take her to sit back down. With a sigh, he reached down, and shook the shoes that had wrapped Emma’s little feet.

“Stupid! Look at this. You didn’t tie them right. The shoelaces are too loose.” He grumbled. He glanced his eyes at Emma’s innocent face which gave a confused expression, then sighed tiredly, “I should never have thought of doing this,” he muttered again.

“Le.. Levi.. You.. you don’t have to do..” Emma said reluctantly by slowly pulling her legs back awkwardly.

But violently, Levi pulled the leg again to get closer to him who was now squatting down in front of Emma’s feet, “Don’t be fussy! You are the most troublesome girl I have ever met.” he babbled as kept busy tying Emma’s shoelaces. When he finished, he stood up and immediately grabbed Emma’s arms, then pulled her to join him.

“Woahh..” Emma tried to balance herself. Luckily, Levi was still holding onto her arm so she didn’t fall.

“How?” Asked Levi who saw that Emma had begun to successfully adjust to the shape of the shoe, “Are the shoes uncomfortable?”

Emma just gave a confused face, “The shoes feel so tight that I can’t move my feet in them at all.”

“Good. That means they are tied right.” Levi nodded, then took Emma’s walking shoes and his own to put them in the storage locker beside the lounger.

When Levi was back again, he led Emma along the ground which was covered with a thick layer of carpet that led directly to the icy surface of the frozen riverside.

“Why do the shoelace have to be tied this tight, Levi?” Emma asked. She walked like a penguin, holding on to the man’s arm. She could even secretly feel his muscles being very dense and hard.

“If they’re loose, then your legs, including your ankles, can still move. That would be dangerous and could cause you injury. That’s also why you fell when you tried to stand up.” Levi explained.

Emma nodded in understanding. That’s true. She admitted that with feet that become stiff from the fingers to the ankles, made it easier for her to walk because she was more balanced.

“Hold me tighter,” Levi snapped Emma out of her daydream. The girl didn’t realize that she had walked all the way to the very side of the river, and even Levi’s position was already on the ice facing her.

“Should I just put my feet on here?” Emma asked with both hands gripping Levi’s arms.

The man nodded, “Just get down on the ice. I’m holding you.”

Emma gulped before slowly stomping her feet one by one on the slippery ice. It really turned out to be that slippery ice. Even slicker than the roller skate she was usually playing as a child.

“Huuaaa..” Emma couldn’t contain her voice as her legs moved back and forth uncontrollably.

“Position your feet following the letter V, like this.” Levi glanced at his own feet.

Emma followed the man’s instructions, then, her feet immediately stopped slipping. Even though it was very cold there, Emma could feel she was sweating nervously.

Honestly, when she was a child, Emma had fallen quite badly while roller skating. At that time, her mother was still alive and immediately took little Emma to the hospital. Emma had a laceration that was severe enough to the back of her head that doctors had to shave her hair off. Since then, Emma had been traumatized by anything related to roller skates or the like.

Levi felt Emma’s grip tighten on his arms. He didn’t even know that she could show such a fearful expression. He smiled crookedly looking at Emma casually, “I thought you were a brave girl. But you are holding me like I was going to throw you into the abyss.”

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