Chapter Text
Obi-Wan breathed in the cold morning air as he walked down the alleyway onto a street lined with warehouses and small factories. The pale grey skies and chill breeze at this hour always managed to whisk away the last of the early morning grogginess that weighted his eyelids down. The sun was rising but in the industrial district it never came with the soft and warm golden pinks people tend to admire. It was more of a cool presence, lightening the shadows on the plain concrete walls. Obi-wan always found this type sunrise relaxing and less confronting, he was grateful for it.
When he turned out into the open street he saw another man standing outside the entrance to the rink, he seemed to be waiting for something, that was odd. As he drew nearer he realised it was the coach of the hockey team, that was even stranger. The hockey team always used the rink in the afternoons and evenings, alternating between, practice, drop in sessions for any players and the beginners’ classes that always left the ice in a terrible state.
The dark haired man stood facing the doors with his arms crossed in front of his chest and duffle bag over his shoulder, looking a little frustrated. He was taller than Obi but only by a little. As he stepped up next to him he was acknowledged with a glance and curt but not overly hostile nod.
“Morning.”
“It certainly is that.” He grumbled.
Before Obi-Wan could ask him, anything, he jerked his head towards the glass doors, again not moving his arms. “It’s locked.” He explained.
“Oh,” That was unusual. “do you have any idea where Mace is? He should have come around and opened up by now.”
The man shrugged. “How should I know? He’s one of yours isn’t he?”
“Yes, I suppose he is.” This whole situation was turning out to be quite the mystery.
There was an awkward pause.
“Cody, isn’t it?”
The man, Cody, Just nodded.
“I’m Obi-Wan.”
“I know.”
They both continued to stare at the doors.
“I uh, hope you don’t mind me asking but, what exactly are you doing here?” He cringed a little at how rude it sounded but tried not to let that show. “At this hour, I mean.”
It wasn’t an unfair question, really. Obi-Wan wasn’t even sure he’d ever seen a hockey skater out and about before noon and judging by Cody’s current attitude towards the morning he could guess it wasn’t a common occurrence for him either.
Cody turned to him with a bemused look on his face and Obi-Wan did not miss the split second in which his eyes flicked up and down his frame.
“Didn’t you hear?” He asked, stony expression lifting as he smirked a little. “We’ve been pushed up to mornings, we’ll be splitting the ice for the rookie classes on the weekends from now on.”
“Oh.” he said again, he supposed that was an explanation but he wondered why he hadn’t been told. “I wasn’t aware of that, no.”
They turned back to face the doors. Obi-Wan tried his best to contemplate Mace’s possible location.
After a few minutes the distinctive sound of a poorly or perhaps overly maintained engine began to echo down the corridor of buildings. Then, in a flash of blue, black and white, a bike with two riders shot around the corner and hurled past them before it turned sharply and sprang down the alley Obi-Wan had walked up earlier. The noise stopped alarmingly suddenly and if it wasn’t for the lack of smoke and fire, and an understanding of the driver in question’s style, he may have assumed they had crashed.
Two figures emerged back onto the onto the street and Obi-Wan now realised the passenger had been Rex, the captain of Cody’s team. He knew that Anakin and Rex were roommates, (or swampy stink hole mates, sometimes he wondered how Anakin ended up a figure skater and not on a hockey team) but he hardly ever them together outside of their flat or work, let alone Anakin giving him a ride to the rink. He assumed it was practical considering the new scheduling arrangements. Was he the only one who hadn’t known?
“Hey grumpy.”
“Hey gramps.”
The two spoke at almost exactly the same time, earning a low (and fitting) grumble from Cody and a good natured chuckle from Obi-Wan. Finally, Mace’s car pulled up to the curb alongside the small group that was forming.
“I apologise for the delay gentlemen.” He said as he stepped out of the car and made his way towards the doors, formal as ever. To the untrained eye it may have appeared that nothing was amiss but there were crinkles in his shirt around the sleeves and waist, a tell-tale sign that it had not been ironed this morning and the look in his eyes gave the impression that if he had hair, it would have been tussled. Obi-Wan would have to ask him about it later.
They moved in, switching on the lights that hummed to life over the smooth ice. Mace stayed in the lobby and set up the register. Yoda, appeared, at some point. Padmé arrived and made her way into the back office to work her magic as she organised things for the first day of a new term of classes. Rex and Cody headed over to the equipment store.
Parents and children began to arrive and milled around, Padmé had emerged from the office and joined Yoda in greeting them. There were some kids he recognised as well as some new faces. Some were decked out in expensive and clearly branded jackets and leggings covered in all sorts of colours and sparkles and others just wrapped up in clothes that seemed to have been deemed warm enough. Some had their own skates and others headed over to the hire counter where Mace had migrated. The kids who were there for the hockey classes were, he noticed with faint amusement, vaguely cuboid in shape, with the padding under their clothes being almost as thick as they were tall. They chased each other in circles clumsily, flailing sticks above their heads. Despite the crowds for the two programs, Obi-Wan noted that the numbers seemed to be roughly the same as they had always been at this time, even with the previous timetable. He wondered how much lower the enrolments had been this term, perhaps that had something to do with the rescheduling.
“You ready?” Anakin asked, landing next to him on the bench with a thunk. Having already changed into his softer pants from the protective ones he wore on his bike and warmed up, he began to unlace his boots.
Obi-Wan felt a little guilty. He had spent years drilling the importance of a proper warm up before practice into Anakin and now he was sitting here, about to get on the ice having only lightly stretched.
“I’m sure I am not even as remotely excited for this as you are.” He replied. It was only going to be teaching, and he decided he would do some proper exercises in the break before the rink opened to the general public.
Anakin mumbled something about “damn kids” and “how mace ever roped him into this” and Obi-Wan just smiled and shook his head.
Sharing the ice didn’t actually go too badly. They set up some cones in the middle and both kept to their ends. Because of the limited space, they only really had room to split into two groups. The newest kids went with Mace and covered the basics; posture, stroking, how to fall over safely and a basic stop. He looked over to the hockey side and noticed they seemed to be taking a much less calculated approach, they had stared an activity that appeared to involve rushing along the ice as fast as they could, throwing themselves at it if need be, and slamming into the barrier on the other side. The newer kids had been given little sympathy and were using their sticks as crutches of sorts, though Rex was skating beside them and making his way from one to another, giving them encouraging pats on the back and righting their balance. Cody sat on the barrier in front of the box, elbows resting on his knees, chin in his palms, surveying what Obi-Wan assumed were his teaching methods, with apparent satisfaction. The rest of their class joined Anakin and Obi-Wan and they began with drills, gauging the level the unfamiliar faces were at and reinforcing old patterns in those whose practice may have lapsed over the break.
The two group system meant Anakin was not left alone with the children and as a result did not have an opportunity to scare them or be driven to the end of his temper and that in itself was a blessing. In the end only one stray puck ended up under someone’s feet over the entire hour.
Anakin watched as Mace helped the little girl who had tripped on the puck up from the ice and lead her over to her mother as the rest of them packed up and filed through doors.
“Why couldn’t he ever be that sympathetic with me?” He asked, but it was more of a complaint.
“Frankly, Anakin” Obi-Wan said, lifting his foot up to his waist to wipe the ice of the blade before putting his guards on. “I don’t think you ever gave him the chance.”
“He never gave me the chance.” Anakin retorted, kicking his feet violently to fling the ice off instead. Obi-Wan sighed.
“You’re still here aren’t you?”
“I suppose.”
Most of the families left as Mace began to resurface the ice though some enthusiastic kids with tired looking parents stayed to practice later. Among them Obi-Wan recognised Gungi, a particularly rowdy boy with a mane of hair as untamed as his behaviour, and his counterpart Katooni. The duo had been joining them for lessons for over a year now, they both possessed incredible determination and unrelenting enthusiasm, making up for a lack of finesse that could grow in time. They were both working towards preliminary pattern tests and Mace had agreed to coach them as a pair. He supposed their first lesson was today, they were definitely the youngest to join the strange family of sorts that was the inner circle of coaches and staff since a particularly snippy young teen had fallen into favour with Yoda and Anakin.
Anakin didn’t have a chance to debate with Mace about his “One who keeps track of the fastest resurfacing times should not me trusted with the Zamboni” rule this morning as he’d caught Padmé making her way from the back office to the register in the lobby and she was pretending to be annoyed with him. Things began to settle into place for the rest of the day as the first paying customers arrived. Yoda, who had disappeared as soon as the classes started, rematerialised and sat next to Obi-Wan in silence. Just as Anakin had managed to get out of Padmé whether or not she had brought her skates today or was just here for work, she had, but they were for work and she would be supervising the ice as soon as Mace replaced her at the front desk so there would definitely be no races today and he had no reason to look that pleased, Yoda finally spoke.
“Young Ahsoka, it is good to see you.”
“Hey coach.” Ahsoka was standing in the doorway between the lobby and the main rink.
“Snips!” Anakin turned to face her excitedly and Padmé muttered something about a queue forming at the register and slipped by him, squeezing Ahsoka’s shoulder in greeting as she passed, Ahsoka smiled at her.
She was wearing her regular training outfit. Black leggings with a braided pattern running up the sides, a maroon cropped jacket and matching trainers. Someone who didn’t know her might be worried she’d get cold but she never held back when she was practicing and it was more likely the jacket would end up to hot and she’d be skating in a t-shirt. Her blue and white box braids were in two plats over her shoulders.
“Sup Skyguy?” she greeted Anakin with a quick embrace and began to make her way towards Yoda and Obi-Wan. She dropped her bag on the bench next to them as the door to the store room opened and Rex and Cody emerged.
“Tano?”
Ahsoka looked confused for a second before she turned around. “Rex?”
Before Ahsoka, or even Obi-Wan for that matter, could react, Rex had barrelled over and scooped her up in a big hug.
“Long time no see-“ He started before she laughed and elbowed him in the ribs, causing her to be dropped immediately. Obi-Wan glanced at Yoda who was watching the scene play out with a calm interest. He wouldn’t be lying if he said he was currently rather confused, he hadn’t even known they knew each other, let alone were close, he supposed the met through Anakin.
“So,” Rex said, punching her in the shoulder playfully. “how’s school, kid?”
Ahsoka rolled her eyes. “It can’t be over soon enough. But Rex, what are you doing here this early?”
Rex grinned “higher ups moved kiddy classes to mornings, if your sleepy head got out of bed earlier we might have been able to catch up.”
“You could just stay for a bit Rex.” Anakin said, joining the circle.
“Can’t,” Rex said, throwing an arm over Cody’s shoulder who had also just joined them. “Grumpy here has got to go arrange our entrance in the division this season and I have to be there to make sure he doesn’t punch anybody.” Cody didn’t say anything to that but he looked like he was about to punch Rex. Even without knowing the man well, the stark contrast he made to the captain was almost endearing. Obi-Wan couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle. Cody locked eyes with him.
“Guess we’ll see you tomorrow?”
“What? Oh, yes, is suppose you will.” He was caught completely off guard. It had definitely been directed at him though he didn’t think it was meant to be a threat.
He watched them walk towards the doors and Rex threw a mock salute at Anakin before they left. Maybe getting to know Cody and his team better would be a good thing, they spend a lot of time in the same building after all.
Ahsoka made her way towards a clear spot in one of the back corners to warm up, Yoda following after, and Anakin took his place.
“Secura’s still away so it’s just me today.”
Obi-Wan refocused, without his partner to run through their new routine with he would have plenty of opportunities to work on some of Anakin’s finer technique. It would definitely prove frustrating for both of them and would take his mind off that strange interaction.
Jab-Jab-Cross
Jab-Jab-Cross
Cody repeated simple patterns in his head as he threw punches at the bag in front of him.
Taking the beginner lessons the rink offered was never Cody’s favourite job and these new early mornings didn’t add to his affections for it but it was extra pay, plus, he didn’t trust any of the boys with kids except maybe Rex, so it was for the greater good, and, money from enrolments meant funding for the rink and support for his team and that was what mattered. Also, sometimes, when he was alone, he could admit that he didn’t really mind the kids. Some of them even made for good company, as long as you we willing to listen to a spoken essay on someone’s favourite TV show or species of dinosaur or how annoying a sibling was. No, it was the teaching that was the problem.
He wasn’t meant to be a coach, he was going to play, to make his way up through the division ranks and not have to worry about anything other than his teammates and the next match. He wasn’t supposed to be a leader and he wasn’t good at it. He hadn’t been ready when the accident made the choice for him and he still didn’t feel ready now, years after. He wasn’t supposed to be the man responsible for the successes and failures and sometimes even the suffering of others and the burden of it hung above his head, weighing him down. It always got worse at the start of every new season.
He continued to beat his frustrations into the bag in attempt to get it all out of his system. Regardless of what was meant to happen he was a coach now, and a leader, and for the sake of his team and the rink he had to be his best. He only stopped when the clearing of someone’s throat broke his train of thought.
Rex was leaning against the doorframe that marked the entrance to the rink’s small gym room. He was wearing his skates and the lower part of his body armour and a tight shirt made of a stretchy, insulating fabric.
“You alright?” he asked. Cody stood up straighter and shook the tension out of his shoulders.
“Yeah-” He reached for the small towel he had set on the bench next to him. “yeah, I’m fine”
Rex didn’t make much of an effort to hide his disbelief. Cody just ignored him and mopped his face dry before beginning to unwrap his hands.
“Getting fidgety?” Rex set himself down on the bench next to Cody and leaned back against the wall.
“Something like that” He sighed.
“You don’t need to worry, we’ll have the team back on the ice properly in a few days and we can all throw ourselves into training.”
Cody just sighed again. Rex continued looking concerned.
“How about we get out there and just do some laps for fun?” He suggested, nodding towards the door. “Skywalker, Kenobi and Tano have all stuck around since this morning.”
That wasn’t a surprise, the mornings were still the figure skaters’ domain and it seemed that as soon as the general classes were over they split into private sessions with their equivalent coaches and coachies.
“They’re your friends Rex, go hang out with them if you want but you don’t have to drag me along and make things awkward.”
“Hey!” Rex jabbed him in the shoulder with one finger. “You’re my friend as well, grumpy, and we can’t have you moping about in here every day. Maybe if you come and talk to them you’ll see they aren’t so bad, you’re gonna have to see them every week anyway.” Cody supposed it wasn’t a particularly bad idea.
“Alright.”
“Great.” Rex stood up again, with the added height of his blades and guards the younger man was a few inches taller than Cody, he wasn’t sure how he felt about that. “You might want to put something warmer on though.” He added. Cody looked at the thin tank top he’d stripped down to while working out. Even just the cold air coming in through the door Rex left ajar, combined with his rapidly cooling sweat, was beginning to make him uncomfortable.
“You might be right about that.”
Cody pulled the zipper of his fleece jacket right up under his chin as he stepped out onto the ice. He’d taught four classes in the last two days but he hadn’t really skated in about a week. Rex was circling Anakin who appeared to be attempting to go over some footwork patterns but he was definitely distracted. Behind them stood a put out, and rather tired looking, Kenobi. This was going to be interesting, save a small greeting this morning, Cody hadn’t spoken to Obi-Wan since yesterday.
“Ah, Cody.” He called out to him as Cody approached them, alarmingly casual, making his balance faulter for just a second. “Perfect timing, do you think you could remove this menace from my student’s presence, with an attention span like his he struggles at the best of times.” Anakin glowered at him.
“He’s as much of a menace as I am Kenobi and you know it.” Rex interjected. This caused Obi-Wan’s frown to deepen. Cody watched as his brows furrowed, sending fissures of annoyance across his forehead and casting shadows over his eyes that made them appear a stormy grey rather than pale blue but there was a twinkle of amusement in them too. Cody made a conscious decision to stop watching. Rex had stopped moving a vigorously and Cody caught him by the arm.
“Come on Rex, let’s leave the pretty boys to their practice.” He nodded at Kenobi before turning and pulling away, for what purpose he did not know.