Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“You’re fucking with me.” Violet did not have the bandwidth for this today.

Coach Devera, while she had the good graces to look sympathetic, nodded. “I’m afraid I am not ‘fucking with you’ Miss Sorengail.”

Violet didn’t blame Coach Devera. It would be easier if she could but she didn’t. It wasn’t her fault that Basgiath University was opening its ice rinks to the public in the hopes of making some extra cash. Because of course, despite the outrageous tuition, the university still needed even more money. Typical.

The dull roar of her fellow skaters’ quiet complaints let Violet know that she wasn’t alone in her frustration about the situation.

The change didn’t mean that their practice hours would be cut. If it did, Devera would be seething right along with them. No no, it meant something arguably worse. They would have to share rinks with the hockey team for evening practices.

The rivalry between figure skaters and hockey players is dumb and stereotypical and yet, at Basgiath University where it snows more than in Dante’s Ninth Circle of hell and winter sports are all the rage, the rivalry was strong.

Hockey players didn’t think figure skaters were athletes (despite running into them in the gym). Figure skaters didn’t think hockey players had brains, at least no ones without internal damage. They didn’t run in the same social circles, on the same ice, only occasionally in the same locker room. It was a perfect balance of hatred and avoidance that was presently being threatened.

“Settle down,” Devera raised her voice and the room went quiet in seconds. “This is not up for debate. The management graciously scheduled lessons for younger children on days we have morning practice, such as today.” Thank God. At least she wouldn’t have to put up with the tiny menaces and their parents. “The trade off is that in the evenings there will be open skating practice on the East rink. We will share the West rink with the Basgiath men’s team.”

Devera’s eagle eyes swept the room, looking for any signs of dissent or complaint that she had to squash. Violet kept her mouth shut. She had classes to get to and she wasn’t about to spend an extra 10 minutes being told off by Devera.

The skaters were dismissed sharply and the murmured conversations started again the moment they left the practice room.

“Well, this’ll be fun.” Rhiannon caught Violet by her elbow, hooking their arms together.

“How is it that you manage to put a positive spin on everything?” Violet grumbled. Rhiannon Matthias was always one to try and set a good example. Amid the sea of sullen figure skaters, Rhiannon was beaming like the sun.

“Awww c’mon,” Ridoc joined the fray, Sawyer at his side. The two guys skate “You’ve never wanted an excuse to hate-fuck one of those mountains of a man, Sorrengail? We all know you go for taller guys.”

Violet elbowed him in the side. “Fuck you, Ridoc. Are none of you at least a LITTLE pissed?”

“Not much to be done,” Sawyer said, even-keeled. “Not much use being pissed off.” He turned his gaze on her and smiled teasingly. “Don’t you want the figure skaters of tomorrow to have places to practice, Vi? Pay it forward or something.”

Violet wished right then that her friends were less well adjusted. She wanted to be vindictive in peace.

“Yeah, yeah, I believe the children are our future or whatever,” But Violet thought about when she was little, watching her teachers and older peers skate and how they led her here. “I’ve gotta go grab coffee before class. See you all at dinner?” The squad made an effort to eat dinner together whenever schedules aligned.

Rhiannon waved her off. “I’ll see you in Macro, go get your daily fix.”

Violet peeled off and made her way out of the skating complex and had to go only a few yards into campus before strolling into her favorite coffee shop. With the amount of morning practice athletes enjoyed, this coffee shop was a prime location.

Violet walked in and greeted the morning barista, Heaton, with a wave of her hand.

“The usual Sorrengail?” They asked. “Enough caffeine to kill a horse?” Violet saw that the buzzed sides of Heaton’s green hair were decorated with a few flowers this week.

“You know it.” Violet smiled at them, tapped her card, and went to sit at the bar to wait for her drink.

Violet soaked in the early morning sunshine, the smell of fresh coffee, and the low hum common to all cafes. This was her ritual after morning practice. She’d been a figure skater since she was a little girl, taking joy in feeling like an athlete, a warrior. But God if the stress didn’t get to her sometimes.

No sooner had she sunk into her peace, than her bubble was popped by the screeching of the stool next to her. A head full of dark hair.

“Good morning, Sorrengail.”

Violet’s mouth soured. She knew Xaden Riorson. Of course she did. Every figure skater had heard of the captain of the hockey team. He had the reputation of a typical hockey player taken to the max. Aggressive, cocky, impulsive. A player. Catriona had told all of them enough of that. He thought she was a spoiled brat who’d never struggled with anything. She thought he was a disloyal asshole.

The few experiences they’d shared had been enough. The two of them avoided each other like the plague.

He cut his eyes towards her and Violet was struck by the depth in his eyes. “Word has it that I’ll be seeing quite a lot more of you.”

Violet let out a rueful sigh. “I guess we will.”

“Don’t look so excited, Sorrengail. I thought figure skaters liked big strong guys who can throw them around, guess I was wrong.”

Violet narrowed her eyes. He said it with such nonchalance that only the quirk in his lips betrayed his intent to upset her. “And I thought hockey players were cocky assholes, unfortunately I wasn’t wrong.”

Eyebrows raised, his dark eyes flashed with amusement. “Looks like you’ve got some claws. Violent little thing. You might have been a good hockey player if you weren’t so short.” With that, he was gone.

This was going to be a long season.

Chapter Text

Violet slumped down on the bench to tie her skates. A long day was about to get longer. The men's team was set up with goals and cones on half the rink, while Violet and a subset of the figure skaters were on the other end. Though they both had plenty of space, there was something about the tension in the building that set Violet on edge.

“Skaters,” Coach Devera’s voice carried without her ever having to yell “Today we’ll be practicing precise synchronization in your doubles routines for the upcoming competition. Working with your partner rather than against them will take a routine to the next level every time.”

It was nothing she hadn’t heard a million times before, but Violet nodded. She looked down the bench to find Dain, and she couldn’t help but wish that she’d taken Ridoc’s offer to partner on something more contemporary.

Violet wasn’t good with contemporary, but it seemed like it would be much better than being partnered with Dain Aetos. Inseparable as kids, the pair had been growing apart in college. She tried to remind herself that it was natural, but there was a kind of tension between the two now where it hadn’t been before.

She watched as Ridoc and Rhiannon hit the ice first, casually running through the counts of something bouncy and upbeat to refresh their memories. Violet wished she could do something fun and different like that. She was only ever taught to skate to traditional music when she was a kid, her mother telling her that those sorts of routines were the only winning ones.

“Doing alright, Vi?” Dain asked. His brown eyes tilted with concern that Violet didn’t quite know how to interpret.

“Just fine. A little tired.” She rolled her neck and sat down beside him to take the guards off her skates. “Do you have a section in mind that needs more practice? Personally—”

Dain cut her off. “I was thinking that the middle section starts with the life sequence. We need the transitions to be cleaner.”

Violet was going to suggest they practice the beginning since they really weren’t getting the synced mirroring they needed there. But, of course, Dain wanted to practice lifts. It didn’t matter how many times they practiced them, hesitation would always get the better of him.

Nonetheless, Violet nodded and the pair of them stretched out and hit the ice.

As she glided across the surface, natural as walking, she could feel a prickle on the base of her neck. Violet was well trained to know when she had an audience, and, throwing a glance over her shoulder, she met the eyes of Xaden Riorson for the second time in 48 hours.

He was standing at the edge of his half of the rink, overseeing drills and, simultaneously, staring daggers into her. She raised an eyebrow at him, maintaining eye contact while weaving across the ice.

He raised one right back at her, smiling a little smile that immediately pissed her off. It was also pretty hot. Like objectively. But that made it even more annoying if possible.

The prickle of eyes continued as Violet turned to her warmups, lazily going through spins and a few easy jumps to regain her rhythm before beginning practice with Dain.

She was pretty successful at ignoring him until she hit a harsh turn into a spin and his voice carried over the ice to her. “You know toe picks leave holes in the ice, Sorrengail. Pretty inconsiderate of whoever uses the ice next if you ask me.”

There were some hollers and chuckles from his teammates but they weren’t important to Violet. Something hot, between annoyance and rage, rose in her stomach. “Good thing you’ll be staying on your side and we’ll be staying on ours then, Riorson. You won’t have to worry about toe picks. Unless you consider that skates are sharp and you’re pretty good at pissing people off.”

He chuckled under his breath, gliding forward just a bit to be in her space. Condescending ass. “Easy there, Violence. I thought figure skaters were meant to be gentle and graceful or whatever.”

Violet was honestly glad he was a toxic asshole. It distracted her from the fact that he was tall, built as hell, and gorgeous. “I don’t know about gentle.” She leaned further into his space to match him. “But I can show you graceful.”

With that, she skated away to join Dain.

***

Violet felt gravity take her once again as Dain barely caught her.

“Whoa hey!” Sawyer, who was practicing his singles routine nearby, dove forward to brace her upper body when Dain didn’t quite catch it. “Careful there. We don’t need any breaks this far in the season.”

“I’ve got it,” Dain’s voice was colder than it should have been towards Sawyer who was helping.

“Thank you, Sawyer,” Violet gave her friend an apologetic smile. He nodded and skated back to his section. Violet turned to Dain. “You know, you can be frustrated with this lift without being frustrated at our friends.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“If you keep hesitating,” Violet snapped. “You’re going to. I’m not made of porcelain. I won’t break if you drop me.”

Violet knew he meant well, she really did. EDS was a bitch. In the beginning, it’s what made her a good skater. She was unnaturally flexible and the sorts of skills that others had to work up to she could do first try. The exchange was her joints. Chronic pain, dislocations, the list goes on.

He’d dropped her once when they were still in high school. She’d dislocated a hip and a shoulder on the side he’d dropped her on and he refused to do doubles with her for months after that. But it was not Dain’s place to choose her limits.

“Vi, are you sure you’re well enough? I know this season has been grueling and—”

“Grueling? I’ve put in some of my best work this season.” Violet heard the unusual quiet coming from the adjacent side of the rink and felt the prickle on the back of her neck but she didn’t care who was looking. “Do it again.”

He did not get to dictate ‘well enough’. Dain followed her to their starting positions like a scolded dog.

Violet rolled her shoulders and braced herself, beginning with her usual precision and grace. She’d be damned if her hard work didn’t pay off.

It started out well. The classical music with its precise counts guided the two of them through turns, spins, and jumps before they made it to the lift section. Violet didn’t give herself time to think about it before she sprang off the ice and rolled herself up into Dain’s arms.

It was him who wouldn’t fucking commit. And he didn’t pay the price. Violet was the one who was in the air one moment and the next her body was impacting the ice on her left side, sending weaving shocks of pain through her body.

Gasps rang through her ears and, as she was regaining the breath in her lungs, a couple of pairs of skates entered her vision.

“Vi!” Rhinanonn’s voice was unmistakable. “Are you alright?”

“Just dandy,” Violet gasped out. So one pair of skates was hers.

A voice from the other side of the rink echoed through her brain. “Damn Aetos! She can’t be that hard to pick up.”

Violet wanted to shout back that she’d like to see them try before a pair of hockey-gloved hands helped Rhi lift her off the ice. As soon as she’d found her feet, she turned to see a hockey player. The guy looked strikingly like Xaden if Xaden didn’t look at her like she was something foul.

“That was a nasty fall, Sorrengail,” he said congenially with a slight smile. “Gives me some more respect for y’all.”

“Thanks, I think,” Violet said. “Not sure I caught your name.”

“Bodhi Durran.” Ok, so not brothers? He looked like Xaden, enough that they could be brothers. But his slight grin was anything but similar to Xaden's. “I guess I’ll be seeing you around.”

“I guess so,” Violet smiled back. “Thanks for the hand, Bodhi.”

He waved and quickly cut a glance to Dain. “You might need to hit arms tomorrow, Aetos.”

Dain turned bright red. “Shut the fuck up, Durran,” he mumbled.

Violet turned back to her skating partner, his face was turning splotchy red. He could get over himself. She brushed the ice shards off her leggings and said, “Alright, well do we want to try that again.”

Dain forgot his pride and had the audacity to look affronted. “Absolutely not, Violet you're injured.”

“You don’t get to tell her what to do,” Rhi snapped on her behalf.

“And you don’t speak for her,” Dain threw back.

“No, but she is right. If I tell you I feel fine I expect you to believe me. I’d like to try again.”

He shook his head so hard Dain looked like he was trying to shake the idea out of his head. “No, you need a break.” Dain turned his back and skated off the ice as if that would do anything.

“Controlling idiot,” Violet mumbled under her breath and switched gears to practicing her singles routine. Tension within her was rising. From her skating partner's dramatic exit or from the staring and heckling hockey players, she couldn’t tell.

***

“I thought you were gonna show me graceful.” Fresh off the ice at the end of practice, Xaden sat himself on the bench right next to her.

Most had cleared out by now. Violet had taken an extra 15 minutes to practice those turns from the beginning of her doubles routine that Dain refused, and it appeared that being the team captain did actually mean some responsibility when it came to cleaning up.

Violet contemplated getting up and leaving him alone on that bench but she was too tired and her body hurt too much. “I said I would show you graceful. I made no promises for my partner.”

“Weak lifts there from Aetos,” Xaden said. “And what was that with him yelling at you?” He prodded further. “Trouble in paradise or something?”

Violet didn’t feel like defending or shit-talking Dain to Xaden Riorson. “Bodhi was very nice. Who is he to you, your brother?”

“My cousin,” Xaden said. “Bodhi is better than I am. Kinder.”

Violet rolled her eyes. “Has anyone ever told you you’re fucking dramatic, Riorson? You say that like it’s a line out of Lord of the Rings or some fantasy shit. You aren’t some kind of villain, your just kind of an ass.”

Xaden raised his eyebrows at her. “You flatter me, Violence—”

“Don’t call me that.”

“—You don’t think I’m a villain. High praise.”

Violet sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. She needed Advil and sleep, not whatever headache this conversation was giving her. “Why are you talking to me, Riorson?”

“We both know it isn’t because I enjoy your company,” he said. Rude. “I know you think I’m a brainless athlete but it is actually my job to make sure my team is getting along well and isn’t distracted.”

“If you’re calling a fall that wasn’t even close to my fault distracting I swear to God—”

He cut her off, hands raised in a slightly mocking placating gesture. “That’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying that a fair share of my guys are a little too interested in poking fun at you—if you didn’t notice them gawking at you and Aetos—and it’s safe to say we all like to antagonize each other.”

Honestly, it was shocking that Riorson was taking such a diplomatic route. Violet would have thought he’d pin her with the blame just to antagonize her. Sometimes it seemed like all he wanted was to see her pissed off, with malicious amusement in his fucking beautiful eyes. “What are you proposing?”

“I’m proposing that we all shut the hell up around each other, focus, and then leave. Arguments, provoking, hounding, those all stay off the ice.”

Violet raised her eyebrows. Surprisingly, quite reasonable. “I think I can make that happen.”

Chapter Text

Why is it that you’ll never pick up the phone?

Mira’s voice was tinny through the phone but Violet could feel her sister's sass. Mira graduated two years and there wasn’t a day when BasgiathU didn’t feel less friendly for it. During her freshman year, drowning in all things college for the first time, Mira was her lifeline. Now, Violet in her junior year, and Mira in flight school for the Navy, she only had so much time for phone calls.

“I missed one call. I had practice.”

You can’t possibly expect me to remember your insane schedule. Seriously, do you have time to eat?

Violet knew her sister couldn’t see her, but he still rolled her eyes. “I’m fine, Mira. I eat plenty.”

Whatever, how’s your junior year? Not too slammed with practice I hope.

Violet sighed. “It’s fine. I’m royally pissed at the moment cause her season was going so fucking well and then they moved hockey players into our practices and it’s been a royal shitshow. I mean Riorson asked me to try and keep it cool but my God everyone is so pissed at each other and—”

Wait wait wait. Hold up. Vi, please tell me I didn’t just hear you say Riorson.

“Yeah, Xaden Riorson, captain of the hockey team and pain in my ass. Why? ”

Violet, do you know who he is? Like other than the captain of the hockey team, do you know who he is?

Violet paused. She knew who Xaden Riorson was, of course she did. The was usually a binary distinction yes or no. But the way Mira said it made her question herself. “Mira, what do you mean?”

Mira’s voice was dead serious through the speaker. He’s a senior right now, you know that right? A year older than you. Your freshman year do you remember the drama that went down with the ice rink?

Mira played hockey when she was younger. Though she dedicated herself to other stuff, she was still effortlessly flawless on ice. Violet tried not to be jealous. “I mean I just know that the leadership had to sit down with us and explain ‘proper conduct.’ Whatever that means.”

Look. There’s no easy way to say this, but Riorson is bad, bad news. When he was a freshman and I was a senior, I walked into the bleachers late one night to turn off all the lights and lock up. And there was Xaden Riorson and a couple of other skaters—both figure skaters and hockey guys—beating the shit out of each other. I couldn’t even tell who was on who’s side. It was so bad, he hospitalized a few kids. Hockey players sometimes get into little fights but that was bad. When I tried to break it up, he fought me harder than anyone and split my lip. When Mom heard about it, she almost got him expelled for it. He will hate you, Violet. HATE you.

Violet paused a moment to process. Xaden played a contact sport, and Violet knew the stereotypes of athletes. She didn’t like stereotypes, but was it honestly hard to believe that he’d done something out of pure malice? She wasn’t about to call her sister a liar.

“Ok, ok, Mira. Thank you. I’ll steer clear of him, but I did promised—”

Mira cut her off, frustration ringing through Violet’s eardrums. Please tell me that you haven’t made him any promises.

“He asked me if I could do my part to make sure no one distracted or pissed off other skaters during practice. Seemed reasonable so I agreed.”

Mira’s sigh was loud through the speaker. Fine. But, whatever you do, avoid him as much as you can.

“Alright.”

Violet didn’t like Xaden Riorson to begin with. His asshole-ish commentary only reinforced that. Now Mira had given her reason to fear him. But he’d asked her a reasonable favor and Violet would at the very least keep her promise to make it happen.

***

Violet could not, in fact, make it happen.

Abandoning her routine mid-turn, she skated as fast as she could across the ice into the fray, zeroing in on Dain’s reddish brown hair as he and a couple of other skaters had gotten into a fight with hockey players. He was going to get himself fucking killed.

This week was a hell of a week. The first day was less than ideal, particularly when it came to the blow to Dain’s pride that he’d apparently deemed unacceptable. Violet tried, she fucking tried, to get everyone to shut the hell up. But, from that day forward everyone—hockey players and figure skaters as one—seemed to decide that antagonism was the route. From a few freshmen deciding to yell out every time one of the players missed a goal to every failed spin, leap, or lift being jeered at to whatever the fuck has been going on in the locker room, the tension had come to a head.

Now it was Thursday and someone’s blood hit the ice. This was so fucking dumb.

“Dain!” Violet’s voice carried through the rest of the melee as she got closer. “Stop it!” She skated towards them—intending to do something to stop this—when an arm caught her around the waist, spinning the pair on the ice as she was slowed.

“You don’t want to do that, Violence,” Xaden’s voice in her ear caught her entirely off guard. He wasn’t in the fray. Before she could react to the oddness of Xaden Riorson’s arms around her waist, he was off her. He started pulling skaters out of each other, raising his voice, and shouting orders at his teammates to lay off.

Violet had never thought of Xaden Riorison as a leader, but apparently, her impressions couldn’t always be trusted.

Dain was, predictably, the last to be pulled out of the dog pile. Upon closer examination, the other skaters involved with Tynan, Trina, and two hockey players Violet didn’t recognize.

Xaden put himself in front of his hockey players, discussing quietly in hissed voices.

Dain got to his feet, slipping ungracefully on the ice, huffing like a pissed-off buffalo. One look from Violet and Ridoc put himself between Dain and the rest of the players while Violet went for his attention.

“Dain,” She snapped. “What the hell were you thinking? Picking a fight?”

“Get out of the way, Vi. You have no idea what they were saying about us.” Dain started towards the hockey players abruptly, catching her shoulder on the way. The bruises all along her left side twinged with pain when she hit the floor.

“Aetos!” Riorson’s voice echoed through the rink. “You’ve been beating the shit out of my players and now yours? New low.”

“You’re a motherfucker, Riorson. Keep my partner’s name out of your mouth.

Xaden’s impressive composure seemed to be hanging by a thread. And, when Dain lunged at him, it snapped, and there was a fight to break up all over again.

***

An hour later, the athletes were sitting on the benches like elementary school children being told off for pulling the fire alarm. Coaches Devera and Carr, the hockey coach, were standing side by side, presenting a unified front in front of the students.

“You all are adults,” Devera’s trademark razor sharp voice sliced through the tension. “I expect better of you.”

“However, clearly we shouldn't have expected better.” Violet wasn’t as familiar with Coach Carr but she knew that his graying eyebrows were raised at them and his gaze scrutinizing. That was enough for her to shut the hell up. “So Coach Devera and I will personally ensure you are better.”

“From now on, you will be divided into three groups, composed exactly of both types of skaters. These groups will, twice a week, come in the afternoon to coach the new young skaters in afternoon sessions.”

“And what are the chances,” A hockey player Violet didn’t know spoke up. “That you’re doing this because you don’t have teachers for the kids?”

“If you must know, Tavis, we have been coaching them for the past week and we were hoping to ask for volunteers. However, it seems that that won’t be an option.”

“We’ve put together groups,” Devera said. “They are posted on the door to my office. It is your responsibility to know your group, know what days you’re assigned, and report to the arena as per the instructions. This is an exercise meant to increase cooperation and collaboration between the two teams.”

With that, Devera turned away and walked back to her office as Carr remained, watching the students scramble to read the list on the wall. Violet, smaller than most, ducked and weaved her way through the small crowd towards the list.

Group 1: Mondays and Thursdays
Violet Sorrengail
Rhiannon Matthias
Sawyer Henrick
Ridoc Gamlyn
Expected. The coaches seemed to at least be grouping those who worked well together.
Bodhi Durran
Garrick Tavis
Liam Mairi
Xaden Riorson

Of course. She didn’t know who Liam Mairi was, she knew that Garrick Tavis was the one who spoke up against Carr, and she knew that Bodhi was pretty nice. It was Xaden that seemed to stick to her like a burr. Or an illness.

“Please communicate with your groups to ensure you do not miss lessons or traumatize the children,” Devera’s eagle eyes swept over Violet specifically, as if she knew how complicated she’d just made her whole life.

Chapter Text

“You look like hell, Sorrengail.” Xaden’s voice impacted her nerves like a cheese grater.

Violet started today with an eight AM class, followed by a physics lab and a lecture. She’d only just gotten her afternoon energy drink into her hands. A rough day was, evidently, about to get rougher. Rhiannon, coming in just behind her, squeezed her shoulder sympathetically.

“Fuck off, Riorson,” exhaustion seeped into her voice. “I need caffeine before I can deal with little kids or your ass.”

It wasn’t so much that Violet could see him staring at her after that, it was more that she could feel it. She hated him. Mira’s text messages were all but yelling at her from her pockets, saying that this was Xaden fucking Riorson. But that didn’t stop his gaze from sending a chill down her traitorous spine.

It just really didn’t help that he stared at her with such intensity that made the sharp cut in every line of his face stand out. He was disgustingly attractive.

“You’re an athlete aren’t you?” he said with something like humor sneaking into his voice, gesturing to her can of Celsius. “Why the hell are you drinking that battery acid? It’s awful for you.”

Violet rolled her eyes. Of course, this man was a fitness purist. “You’re one to talk, Riorson. If the rumors are true, you and your whole team drink like fish.”

“Who told on us? The bartender?” A new voice joined the fray as the rest of Xaden’s teammates rolled in fashionably late.

Violet quickly glanced over the trio of hockey players waltzing in. Bodhi Durran she knew: tall, charming, exactly like Xaden if he knew what a smile was. Garrick Tavis was the one who perpetually spoke in one-liners apparently. He was brunette, tall, burly, and looked good-natured if not mischievous. Liam Mari was standing next to him: blonde, lanky but well filled out, and was presently rolling his eyes at Garrick.

“That’s a stereotype. We don’t—” Xaden started to explain but the group’s attention was quickly redirected.

“Right,” Devera walked down from her office, immediately commanding the room. “A few instructions before the children arrive. First, the children will be rotating between four stations that pairs of you will be running. So the eight of you have to pair up. I would suggest,” the glint in her eyes said that it wasn't a suggestion. “Those pairs consist of one from my team and one from Coach Carr’s.”

“Do we wanna draw sticks or something,” Liam, the first one to come up with some solution, smiled slightly. “Or maybe rock paper scissors.”

Rhiannon stepped forward. “That’s going to take ten years. Garrick, Ridoc. Liam, Sawyer. Bodhi, me. Xaden, Violet.” Her eyes flicked towards Violet’s as she declared the pairings. A little bit of mischief colored her eyes. Violet shook her head almost imperceptibly, exasperated but not surprised.

“Alright. You will run the stations for thirty minutes each with a fifteen minute break in the middle.” Devera swept her eyes over the motley crew, landing on Violet and Xaden. “Try to get along.” With that, she walked away, back to her office.

“I guess we’ll have to fend for ourselves now,” Ridoc watched his coach walk away and turned to the children as they began to enter. “Let the chaos begin.”

***

Chaos would be the correct term.

Xaden and Violet were placed in charge of drills for speed and between all the children moving at high speed and the company of Xaden Riorson, it was turning out to be a fabulous afternoon.

“Hannah!” Her voice projected across the ice towards a little demon skating at remarkably high speeds. “Hannah, you need to be a little more precise if you’re gonna use that speed to win anything.”

“Ok!” The little voice projected from the equally small body as she proceeded to do exactly the opposite of what Violet instructed her to and went tearing off in the other direction.

Violet sighed. Her coaches made this look so easy for so many years. It turned out, it was not.

“Good work, Violence,” Xaden said, corners of his mouth ticking upward from where he was nonchalantly leaning against the rink’s edge. “An excellent teacher.” He was not helping. Not through his position on the side of the rink nor his abrasive presence.

“Shut the hell up, Riorson,” fraying nerves crept their way into her voice.

“Ten minute warning,” Ridoc’s voice, designated for its general loudness, echoed through the rink. “Then we have a break.”

Almost halfway done, Violet reminded herself. She hated this with every bone in her body but at least it was almost halfway done.

The thing that pissed her off the most was that every other pairing seemed to be having a perfectly good time, making friends even. There were Garrick and Ridoc doing stupid tricks to cheer up a few more unruly kids. Liam and Sawyer watched the pair with thinly veiled amusement. Meanwhile, Rhiannon and Bodhi were running the ship quite tightly.

And then there was Xaden, leaning against the side of the rink yet again, catching the fearful attention of every playful child that skated past. Typical.

“Riorson,” Violet projected her voice. “Can I get a little more help around here or are you just gonna stand there?”

Her voice brought the scraping of skates to a standstill, so much so that Rhi started ushering her group back into motion.

“Miss Violet,” Hannah’s voice was deceptively innocent for such a little gremlin. “Why are you yelling at Mister Xaden?

It takes some thinking for Violet to figure out how to express this to a child. “Because Mister Xaden is sometimes a little bit mean and you shouldn’t let people be mean to you.”

Devera’s eyes caught hers, giving a warning look. “Don’t traumatize the children” echoes in Violet’s mind.

“You shouldn’t,” Xaden agreed as he skated up to them. “But you also shouldn’t yell at people, because that means you’re being mean to them.”

“So you’re both being mean?” Hannah tilted her head to the side in a way Violet found traitorously adorable.

Violet surveyed her and the rest of the giggling children and decided that it was enough.

“Back to drills!” Her voice projected through the rink, snapping her kids to attention so quickly that they slid a little comically across the ice and thoroughly startling the rest of them.

Their little skates scraped against the ice as they went back to their tasks. It's incredible how quickly kids can go from loafing around to what they’re meant to be doing and vice versa.

Violet caught Xaden’s eye with a hardness in her eyes that tended to make her competitors take a step back. Xaden simply smiled a titled smile at her.

“Truly an ice queen,” his breath ghosted over her ear as he slid past her.

Rising to the bait, Violet followed him, skates scraping. “What? Never had a coach yell at you, Riorson? I didn’t know hockey was such an undisciplined sport.”

“I thought Devera told us to try and get along,” the rough tenor of Xaden’s voice colored with sarcasm.

“Yes well, I can’t promise to always be so wonderful—” Violet would have kept going, enumerating her rights to be a bitch if she wanted if a small child hadn’t skated into her at full speed. For a small child, he had a remarkable amount of inertia.

Violet felt gravity take her for the second time in a few days.

Bracing herself for the pain against her bruised side and the inevitable popping of her hip, she fell until an arm absorbed her weight.

“Hey there,” Xaden’s voice was closer in her ear than it had any right to be. “You’re gonna need to be a little quicker with the reflexes if you want to skate that fast.” Arm outstretched to brace the boy, he braced her simultaneously. Clearly, he had something to say about quick reflexes.

“Sorry Mister Xaden,” the boy had the good sense to sound chagrined as he skated off.

“You alright there, Violence?” Xaden’s voice was soft in her ear and amused in a way that was more genuine than she’d ever heard before.

Nothing ever felt more right and more wrong at the same time. Thinly veiled amusement and arms casually around waists and shared whispers were things for friends. Xaden Riorson was not her friend. He was violent and arrogant and altogether an asshole. But in that moment, when Violet was fighting a smile at his words and a shiver at his touch, it didn’t feel like it.

“Shut the hell up Riorson.” That time her voice didn’t have the same fraying nerves. She pushed his arm off her and her skates scraped on the ice as she moved away.

“Thought you wanted me to help more. Not what you meant?” His voice followed her away.

He couldn't see her face, so Violet shook her head and smiled.

Chapter Text

“That went about as well as I expected.” Devera's usually immaculate purple hair was ruffled and unkempt. “Which is to say: not disastrous but room for improvement.”

“High praise, Coach,” Ridoc said with his usual grin.

“So, now for feedback. Bodhi and Rhiannon, you were effective. Too effective. Rhiannon, you’ll now be paired with Garrick and Bodhi with Ridoc.”

Violet had to suppress a smile, elbowing Rhi in the side at her sigh. “Taste of your own medicine,” she whispered in Rhiannon’s ear.

“Shut up, Vi.”

Devera continued despite the whispering. “This will hopefully curb the tendencies I observed today. Ridoc and Garrick’s tendency toward misbehavior greater than that of the children and Rhiannon and Bodhi’s tendency to scare the children.”

Seemed pretty accurate.

“The rest of the pairs will remain the same. Liam and Sawyer the kids could use some well-placed discipline. Xaden and Violet—” Devera paused, her sharp eyes landing on Violet with some apprehension. “Try to make it less obvious that you want to kill each other.”

Snickers characteristic of 20-year-old proto-adults echoed through the room. Xaden’s dark eyes just about rolled out of their sockets. Violet pinched the bridge of her nose as Rhi elbowed her right back. “Karma,” her best friend whispered. “It’s a bitch.”

“Shut up, Rhi.”

***

Skating bag slung over her shoulder, Violet made her way into the twilight. January nipped at her skin, protected by knit gloves and scarves from her old brother Brennan. Brennan lived in Basgiath proper in an apartment with his boyfriend Naolin and worked in emergency medicine. Mother hen that he is, since Mira graduated, he’s assumed the role of big brother in full force which mainly meant saying “You’ll catch a cold if you dress like that” over and over again.

“Violence.” The pounding of sneakers against the pavement caught up to her. Keeping her eyes forward, Violet could still see his gray T-shirt in her peripheral. She had never realized how unreasonably tall he was, a solid foot taller than her. “We need to talk. I don’t suppose 7 PM is too late for coffee?”

“Depends. Are you paying?” Violet turned to face him, smirking up at him.

“What? Doesn’t your mommy give you an allowance or something?”

A stab of irritation went through her at the insinuation. “No,” Violet kept her voice clipped. “She doesn’t. And you do realize I can walk away from this conversation whenever I want right? So if you have a good reason why ‘we need to talk’ you better explain.”

Xaden took an indiscreet step to the side, giving Violet some space at the nerve he clearly struck. Smiling a little at her fire and the leg up she’d managed to give herself, he said “If I pay for coffee, will you stitch around long enough for me to at least explain the conversation?”

“Compelling. I didn’t think you could be so reasonable Riorson.”

“I do my best.”

He held the door open to Chantara—it was Violet’s favorite coffee place mainly because it was open at odd hours—and let her order whatever caffeine-filled monstrosity she wanted while he ordered a chai.

The two of them sat at a table in the corner, the same one he’d once cornered her in about a week ago.

“You’ve been weirdly polite, Riorson. It’s kind of eerie, honestly.” Violet set her elbows on the table, looking across it intently at Xaden. She’d never noticed the shadows under his eyes before, characteristic of a full time student and full time athlete. She felt a twinge of sympathy, but only a twinge. “This leads me to believe that you want something from me.”

“You’re powers of deduction are staggering,” Xaden’s voice was dry with sarcasm. “I do want something from you, sort of.” He took a deep breath and began. “It’s come to my attention that, with these pairings for the littles’ practice, it might not be our peers that need a strategy for getting along. It’s us. We’re both leaders for our teams, kind of, so we need to set a good example if we’re going to get anything done during practice. And I need my guys to get shit done during practice, we have shit to win. So we need to get along.”

“Another alliance proposal?” Violet asked, balancing her chin in her palm. “Because the last one went so well?” She didn’t need to invoke the image of Dain and fists flying to know Xaden understood.

A ghost of a smile made its way across his face. She didn’t know Xaden Riorson knew how to smile. “Well, apparently it wasn’t entirely reasonable to ask you to control your crazy ass skating partner and Carr and Devera have taken most of the inter team bonding into their own hands. It doesn’t seem like we’re going to be rid of each other any time soon so we need to get along. In appearance at least.”

Violet still didn’t know exactly how to talk about Dain in his presence. The two of them had been taking a break from practicing together at Coach Devera’s suggestion this past week, so Violet had been trading off practicing doubles with Sawyer and Ridoc. She had to wonder if Dain was good for her upward trajectory, if she should be skating with him. It was a cold train of thought, making her the Ice Queen that Riorson said she was.

Loath as she was to admit it, his plan was a solid one. Violet scored very highly last year in singles, synchro, and doubles. She preferred to call it luck rather than buying into pretension, but her team certainly did buy into it and now they look to her. She might as well try not to fuck it up.

“Alright Riorson, I’ll bite,” Violet said. “So, what? We have to get along during practice and coaching the littles? Is there anything else to this masterful plan of yours?”

She’d never seen Xaden Riorson’s eyes dance with a challenge, or maybe a plan, in that way. It was an odd thing to behold, unsure if it made her nervous or excited. But, it did make her think that maybe he was smarter than she gave him credit for.

“Well, the kids can clearly tell that we hate each other but they won’t be that hard to convince. The real tough part will be convincing our friends. We should act friendly at practice, convincingly so. In the interest of not having to spend too much time together, I think we let them take the lead on hanging out outside of practices.”

Violet groaned internally. It was smart, planning for every contingency, but god she hated the idea of having to spend time with him socially. “So, we just pull off to the side of the rink to chat and laugh obnoxiously every now and again?”

Xaden shook his head, the dry amusement returning to his voice. “You missed your calling in acting, Violence. Just let me take the lead.”

“Alright, it’s a deal,” Violet said, knowing that those could and probably would be famous last words.

The pair shook on it and went their separate ways

***

“Miss Violet, what do you do during your practice?” Hannah’s high, curious voice echoed through their little group of elementary schoolers. The tiny terrors were given brightly colored hockey sticks this Thursday, fitting for their size. Xaden stood by with his stick, taped up and so natural in his hands that it was as if he was born with it.

“We’re practicing Mister Xaden’s sport today,” Violet said with a sugary smile. “Not mine.”

“Aw come on, Sorrengail. A demonstration wouldn’t hurt.” Xaden leaned on his stick, with an undeniable spark of curiosity in his eye. Bastard. “If we’re doing hockey today, we’ll have to do figure skating soon. You guys have seen ice skating on the TV right?” he turned his attention to the kiddos. “Do you want Miss Violet to give a demonstration?”

A small chorus of ‘Yes’ came from the kids.

Xaden turned to her with a small smirk, skating to her side he whispered, “You’re a performer aren’t you, Ice Queen? So perform.” Xaden fucking Riorson.

“Laying it on a little thick there aren’t you?” she whispered back, before unzipping her outer layer and shoving it at him. “Hold this.”

Violet skated to the center of the rink as the other groups quieted. She scanned the stands. Catching Coach Devera’s eye from where she was seated, Violet nodded to her coach. Music began to play momentarily.

As she always did, Violet let the rest of the world disappear. She rolled her neck, letting the chill of the ice seep into her bones before action chased it away.

Then, as she always did, she sprang into action. The up-tempo of “Uma Thurman” by Fall Out Boy swept her up and she let it. She let herself fly fast in leaps and spins, the centrifugal force pulling on her limbs in a way that was so familiar it was comforting. It was the kind of fast song that didn’t give her time to catch her breath, only time for the adrenaline to build and build through the beats.

Landing from a particularly impressive turn she caught Xaden’s dark eyes fixed on her, wide and dare she say impressed. Violet would be lying if that kind of reaction didn’t feed her ego in the most addictive way.

The world around her unfroze when the music came to a stop, allowing Violet to survey the kids with wide eyes and smiles and the hockey players with arguably wider eyes. It was probably the first time any of them had seen a full length routine. It was amusing how much 20-year-old men resembled children.

Smattering applause followed her back to the side of the rink. Raising her voice, she said “Thank you. Now it’s time to get back to work!”

Skating back to Xaden’s side, she snatched her jacket from him. “Having fun, Riorson?”

He smiled unnaturally wide at her. “I am. I'm having a great time.”

Violet matched his smile with a slightly more subdued, believable one. Xaden raised his voice to give instructions to the little kids, and Violet let him since this was his area of expertise. Throughout the session, she could feel small children’s eyes on her, some even coming up to her to ask about her sport, but she could also feel Xaden’s eyes on her. Dark brown eyes flitting back and forth from his task to her.

That’s the kind of power she wanted, the leg up on him she needed.

“Who the hell decided that giving small children hockey sticks was a good idea?” Packing up that evening, the rink echoed with a kind of friendly chatter that previously had no place within their motley crew. Progress.

“That was a hell of a day.” Garrick’s voice projected above the crowd. “Let’s all go get drinks or something!”

“I’m game.” Rhiannon hooked an arm in Violet’s dragging her along as she often did with social excursions. “Come on, Vi.”

Violet caught Xaden’s eyes and he slightly, almost imperceptibly, nodded. Well. Shit.