Essence of Flight [OPEN]

[sokkoy]

"Why am I here?"

Golden eyes rested on the glossy surface of the flawless ice. Cold air swept by him, causing shivers to run down his spine. It was freezing, by his standards, and he wasn't even bundled up like he always did in the rare times he was going to cold places. And it was early early morning for crying out loud. What possessed him to come to an ice rink? No one else was here, just him and the pure cold ice. He just stood for a while, staring at the ice.

It has been a long time since he's been on ice. He had love the ice when he was younger. That cold, refreshing exhilaration that swept through his entire body as he glided on the ice as a child. The cold, refreshing exhilaration from being in the cold changed to a bitter, mind/body-numbing pain over the years. He had strayed from any cold things then.

"How... When did that happen?"

Perhaps the ice wouldn't be so bad. He did see Kim Yeona* skate so beautifully on the frigid ice at the Olympics. Casting his eyes away from the ice, he looked to the skate rentals. A small smile played on his lips as he walked to the area where arrays of skates rested behind a counter. Excitement from those childish moments in the past brew up like a volcano spewing magma. He easily jumped over the counter and looked around for his size. He grabbed a white pair of skates in his size. He knew that males were supposed to wear black, but he preferred white. His own skates were white anyway.

Throwing his shoes off, he put on the white skates, tightening the laces. He rotated his ankles to get a better feel of the skates, something he always did as a child. The small smile grew a bit wider as he looked at the skates and finally stood up, suppressing a shiver at upon looking at the ice. He made his way to the entrance to the ice and stepped onto the solidified water. Strangely, ease made their way into his nerves as he glided across the ice, leaving behind two thin streaks where the skates went over. His sokchima spread out wide behind him as he gained speed, the cold stinging his reddened cheeks.

This feeling of gliding on the ice filled his body with the feeling of flying: the feeling he craved with his entire being. His mind projected an image in the midst of this wonderful feeling. He created an optical illusion: the earth could be seen deep within the now darkened ice. Glowing blue stars and an alluring red mist filled the air, the main colors of his flag. The view of endless space covered the entire inner of the ice rink. YongSoo alone skated within the fabricated space, enthralled by the essence of flight.

Time continued on outside of his little world, morning coming too quickly. He was so into his little created galaxy that he didn't notice someone enter the ice rink.


NOTES
*Most Europeans refer her as Kim YunAh. But it is actually Kim YeonAh, not YunAh.

This is the image that YongSoo projected into the air just in case it's hard to visualize: www.uleth.ca/vp_research/sites/vp_research/files/ISIS-space.jpg

And... I hope I didn't godmod by saying someone came into the ice rink because I had no intention to do so. I just thought it might be rather hard to make a reply to this because I felt like I just wrote a little fic... So yeah... -frets-

[russia]

The ice rink. It was the only place where Ivan didn't mind the cold, where bad memories would arise one after another. Well, there was one bad memory, where a skater was flung over the ice rink and almost slammed him to the ground during a figure skating contest, but there wasn't a chance of that happening here. Besides, the rink was mostly empty, with only one Asian skating. It seemed odd to him that the one boy wasn't with a whole group of Asians. Asians just seemed to always go together in a group, almost to a point where it made Ivan jealous. If there's a handful of Asians in a single room, chances are they're almost automatically going to gravitate to each other. Sometimes it made Ivan wish he was Asian.

Ivan got onto the ice rink and started gliding through the ice slowly, observing the boy as he sped through, not noticing anything else besides the ice that he was skating in. The boy seemed so focused that Ivan wondered if the Asian was training. It didn't look like he was speed skating- he was fast, but the form wasn't right. Ivan quickens his pace to catch up to the boy.

"Hello there, are you here to train for something?" he asks, and hopes that the other isn't so focused that he doesn't notice.

[sokkoy]

YongSoo continued to glide smoothly over the darkened ice, his breath coming out in wisps of smoke. He was going at quite a good speed, relishing in the feeling of freedom. The essence of flight. He wanted to play around on the surface of the ice. He wanted to do what Kim Yeona did so beautifully; he wanted to do it so badly and he was going to. It shouldn't be that hard due to his ability of 'Jump'. He felt the cold just rush by him, his heated body temperature from skating canceling out any feelings of the cold.

"-llo there. Are you here to train for something?"

The sudden and abrupt appearance of this childish voice startled him greatly, disturbing his rhythm which inevitably caused him to crash onto the ice hard. He groaned when ice pained and numbed his forearms and knees. He saw the earth within the darkened ice dissipate into nothing, the midnight-blue clearing away to colorless ice. He looked up and saw his universe, the pretty blue stars and the alluring red mist, vanish. The inner of the ice rink replaced beautiful dark skies.

"Ah... Did I use 'Reality Blend' again, da ze?" YongSoo wondered. He looked at the Russian who caused his projections to dissipate. "Did you see the blue stars here? The red mist? Did you see the universe in here, da ze?" The words escaped him before he could stop himself. He faced this once before but he had completely forgotten in the moment. He shivered visibly as everything made itself known around him. The cold, that memory, the looks of rejection. He shook his head and looked at Ivan again... more specifically, he looked at the Russian's coat and scarf.

"Wow. That looks really warm, da ze," YongSoo spoke in his native tongue, Korean. He stood up, the ice numbing the palms of his hands. With great ease, he skated over and gripped the Russian's coat. "Is it warm?" It was cold and the South Korean was shivering visibly. He wanted warmth, even if it meant physical displays of affection. He couldn't even look up to see Ivan's face, in fear of seeing that look he hated so much. If the Russian did give him warmth, then he couldn't have given him a look of rejection... right?

NOTES
Italics are thoughts.
Bold is YongSoo speaking in Korean.
Normal is YongSoo speaking in English.

[russia]

The bundle of questions surprised Ivan, and it looked as if the boy was in a whole different universe and had just gone back to the real world. Illusions, perhaps? Nyet, if so than Ivan would've been able to see the red mist and all those other things that the boy asked about.

"The universe? No, unless the universe in its entirety is actually just this ice rink," he smiled when he saw the other shivering. It looked... adorable, to say the least, "Then again, I do have some resistance to other people's illusion powers, probably because of my own."

The Asian asked something in his own language, and Ivan was able to recognize that it was Korean, "Is it warm?" the Korean then asked in English, looking at Ivan's coat and scarf, but avoiding to look at his face. Is this a cultural difference, to not look at unfamiliar people in the face? He's noticed before that Asians tended to avoid eye contact. A shame, he likes eye contact.

"It's warm, da." He almost forgets to add "is" in there and it barely stuck to the end of "it." What an odd language, English, with articles and strict word order and all that. Ivan's pretty fluent in it now, but there are times when he might forget a word or two.

He raises an eyebrow when he notices a distinct curl in the Korean's otherwise straight hair. Was that a face-? Well, it shouldn't be so surprising considering that he had seen much weirder before. There was an urge to touch the hair curl, to see if that face would disappear or change in expression. Ivan's hand moved halfway to the hair, then stopped, deciding it was better to do it after he knows more about the Korean.

[sokkoy]

His grip on the beige-colored coat of Ivan's didn't falter in the slightest, if so, it actually grew tighter. "Lucky..." he spoke, not knowing that Ivan almost touched his curl due to the fact that YongSoo's gaze was focused on the coat. He wanted warmth too. He repressed another shiver, his body exceedingly tense; being in a t-shirt and shorts within the ice rink probably wasn't the best type of attire for the cold place. His eyes moved to the vending machines that trailed the walls of the ice rink, stopping on the vending machine that sold hot chocolate. Letting go of Ivan's coat, he patted his pockets with hope of feeling his wallet within. Disappointment only met him; his wallet was in his desk drawer. A small whine left him, really wanting some warmth right now.

Exhaling and taking a childish interest in the wisp of smoke he created, he looked up at Ivan in order to establish eye contact. Europeans liked eye contact, he remembered. Relief filled him when he saw no hate in those violet eyes. "Ahh... Umm... Ivan-sshi..." YongSoo spoke, wondering why the other was so tall and big. "Would you mind sharing your coat, da ze? It's really cold." Red tinted his cheeks, unknown if it was from the cold or from embarrassment. "I'll pay you back for doing this for me, da ze!"

[russia]

"Sure," Ivan took the coat off and offered it to Yong Soo, not minding the sudden change of temperature. It wasn't nearly as cold as the winters he had to deal with at home, "There's no need to pay back. I'm used to the cold." He smiled, because it was true at so many levels. The coat was probably going to be too big for the guy, but it would be fine so long as it didn't drag on the ice.

Ivan keeps glancing at the hair curl. The face was still there and he wondered if it had to do with the Asian's powers, whatever they were. He wanted to... No, that's impolite to randomly poke at people's hair when you barely know the person. Then again, there have been many instances when Ivan has pet the heads of people he barely remembered the name of. He should try to get rid of the habit. It was a bit late, though, since he already found himself patting the head of the Asian.

Did the face of the hair curl just change? Perhaps Ivan's Illusion powers were starting to play around with him. He's heard of powers having a "personality" of their own and sometimes doing their own thing. He usually dismissed that as the person not having enough control over their powers, but perhaps they did have personalities.

[sokkoy]

Ecstasy was clearly shown on YongSoo's face when Ivan handed him his coat. He didn't expect the other to actually give him the coat; Ivan must be a super nice person! He already placed Ivan to be in the good category within his mind due to this act.

(^▽^)

He took it and eagerly draped it around his shoulders, the coat being rather big on his small, thin frame. "No. I will most definitely pay you back for helping me, da ze!" he stated, relishing in the warmth the coat provided and brought it even closer to himself, sliding his arms into the sleeves of the coat. "Your coat is really warm, Ivan-sshi!" The bottom hems of the coat rested an inch or two above the solid ice.

"Ah. What wou-" YongSoo started to say when Ivan suddenly started to pat his head. His expression immediately mellowed, his little quirk setting in.

(>A<)

YongSoo nuzzled the hand on his head, giving a small purr. Light golden eyes looked up at Ivan expectantly, as if waiting for a command. Strangely, there seemed to be a tail wagging behind him; his ability of projection, due to his current mindset caused by the patting, situated itself to match his appearance to the mindset. 'Random' came into effect.


NOTES
The faces shown are the expressions his curl is giving, which most definitely show of YongSoo's real emotions at the moment.

Sorry for the fail reply. DDD:

[russia]

"No, I will most definitely pay you back for helping me, da ze! Your coat is really warm, Ivan-sshi!" Yong Soo was barely tall enough for the coat to stay above the ice by an inch or two, covering the boy from the collar down to the blades of the ice skates. He was very energetic in the way he said it, though his cheeks still was a bit flushed by the cold air.

Ivan raised an eyebrow when he saw the boy's behavior change almost automatically when he started to pat his head. A pair of eyes were looking up at him expectantly and for a moment, he thinks he sees a dog's tail wagging from behind. It was unexpected from him and Ivan's not sure what to do now.

"You seemed to have been skating for a while. Do you want to take a break? I can get you some food if you'd like." Ivan probably shouldn't be patting Yong Soo's head, but he can't help but to do it, the sudden change in the boy's behavior made him curious. He hadn't seen anything like this before, where a simple action could change how someone acted immediately. An urge to experiment began to grow within Ivan... No, not now. Perhaps later, when they become close comrades.

[sokkoy]

Golden eyes blinked in surprised confusion before a sweet smile set itself on his lips. "So nice, da ze~" YongSoo stated, nuzzling the hand on the head. He grabbed the hand and held it tightly, his cheeks turning a light red. "We just met and you're already so nice, Ivan-sshi! Lending me your coat and caring for me. Truly a nice person, da ze." The countdown timer within his head had already started to count down.

Two minutes and fifty-three seconds. Two minutes and fifty-two.

"I'll rest because you asked, da ze!" he said, smiling. "Because I'm supposed to follow orders~" He giggled as he skated around Ivan three times, a childish twinkle in his eyes, before skating to the exit of the ice rink. At the opening gateway of the ice rink, he looked back at Ivan.

One minute and thirty-five. One minute and thirty-four. One minute and thirty-three.

"Are you going to skate, Ivan-sshi?" he asked curiously. "That's why you're here in the ice rink, right?" He exited the ice rink and started to walk towards the staircase-like seats provided, picking up the edges of the coat like a dress, just in case he would step on them with the skates. He would not damage a coat that was generously given to him. "Are you good at skating, Ivan-sshi? Is there a professional ice skater from your nation?"

Fifty-nine. Fifty-eight. Fifty-seven. Fifty-six. Fifty-five.

He walked to the very top of the stair-casing seats, seating himself. His golden eyes watched Ivan carefully in observation. Excitement bubbled within him. Seeing someone with the body mass and size, such as Ivan's, skating elegantly over the ice had his childish interest grow to unfathomable lengths.

Twenty-four. Twenty-three. Twenty-two.

"Can you skate well, da ze?" he asked loudly, his childish voice echoing within the ice rink. His lips tugged to a childish smile as he huddled the coat to himself even more, not letting the warmth escaped him. "Will you show me how well you can skate?"

Fifteen. Fourteen. Thirteen. Twelve. Eleven.

"Please show me your skating, da ze~"

[russia]

The kid had so many questions, constantly asking him different things. Is Yong Soo always like this? Not that he minded (it would be a bit better if he were to space the questions a bit more, though.)

"Well, I haven't really skated in a while, so I thought there's no harm in going now, seeing that this one's open year round." Ivan's not used to these... indoor ice rinks. He used to skate all the time back in Russia, when a pond or lake would freeze over and everyone would gather their worn-out, but still useful ice skates and glide over the frozen waters. It's the only good thing that comes in winter, really.

"I'm not sure that I would call myself a good skater. There's not much competition in the countryside, after all. But there are a lot of Russian ice skaters in the Olympics. We had a record for always winning the gold medal for the pairs until just last year. And then there's people like Plushenko." Oh Plushenko. Ivan had to admit that the "Platinum award" thing was really a dumb thing to do. It showed how arrogant he was and was just pathetic.

"Please show me your skating, da ze~" Yong Soo said. He wasn't sure why, but the request almost made Ivan feel cold. There was something... just odd about it. Maybe the intonation was just off, since he could tell that Yong Soo isn't a native English speaker. He tried to disregard the oddness of the request and smiled,

"I'd be more than delighted to." They'd barely rested for a couple of minutes. Ivan isn't tired, of course, he had only asked that since he thought Yong Soo was (which has proven to be false.) He goes into the ice once more. It still feels odd, the difference between real ice and the ice that they have in indoor rinks, but it's not enough that it would put Ivan off balance.

"I have gotten a bit rusty, I must say..." He mutters to himself, though it was likely that Yong Soo could hear it. Two laps around the rink, however, was enough to get Ivan to his normal skating speed. Just for the fun of it, he tries to do a double axle jump. Seeing that it had worked pretty well (he hadn't fallen on the ice,) he almost chuckles. Ivan still had some of his ability.

He imagines the ice on the rink to become an almost transparent white. Under the ice, there were some fish swimming about slowly. A seal darts from one side to another from under the frozen layer of water. Ivan always wanted to skate in a place where he could see what was happening below. The best he could do is make an illusion of it. At least the illusion is vivid enough to almost fool himself. He slowed down his pace, watching the seal catch one of the fish and dart away to eat his meal. Such simple lives they live, seals and fish. It was only people who have decided to make their life more complicated for whatever reason they had. He almost feels like grabbing a pipe and making a hole under the ice to fish and eat fresh fish for a snack. He doubts that illusions would taste like anything, much less have a texture or a welcoming scent.

[sokkoy]

Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six.

YongSoo swung his legs slightly, his eyes on Ivan. He waited for the other to make a move on the ice. He heard Ivan mutter slightly about how he was a bit rusty and giggled. He couldn't be that bad.

Five, Four, Three, Two, One, Zero.

Snapping out of his little reverie in mild surprise, YongSoo bit down on his tongue when the realization of speaking his native language made itself known within his mind. Hopefully, the Russian male was able to understand... though he doubted it. He didn't think people other than him and his twins knew Korean. He let out a little whine; he had bit down on his tongue a bit harder than he wanted to.

But his little slip of Korean didn't seem to be much of a problem, seeing how Ivan started skating. YongSoo watched him skate two laps and perform a... what was the jump called again? Ah... The double axel. He was pretty good; he hadn't fallen, the jump was quite high, and the landing was solid. A small smile tugged the corners of his lips. The urge to skate made its presence known when his body suddenly grew impatient and jittery.

He chuckled and stood up, holding the edges of the coat. He made his way down, only to stop at a step when seeing something swim underneath the ice. Was... that a seal? A childish sparkle entered his eyes. Did Ivan have the same power as him? He walked over to the entrance of the ice rink and stepped on the glossy ice, skating a bit. He bent down and saw that there were fishes as well. This was so interesting and an awesome find about the other.

He huddled the coat to him a bit before he skated over to the Russian. "Ivan-sshi, you can project images too, da ze?" he asked, curiously. He gestured at the life that rested underneath the surface of the cold ice while looking at Ivan with huge eyes. He really hoped the next words spoken would be the answer he wanted.

-
Bold equals Yong speaking in Korean, remember?