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Wraith has no idea how they even got to this conversation, but with how Mirage’s brain worked, she really shouldn’t be surprised. They were sitting at the lounge’s bar after closing, neither of them ready to go their separate ways, back to their lonely, cold apartments. Or, in her case, back to the legend compound.
The man leans towards her incredulously with his hands on the counter. “So, let me get this straight. You can drive a trident, with no prior knowledge of being taught how to, but you can’t ride a bicycle?”
Renee crosses her arms in front of her chest defensively. “I don’t see why it’s such a big deal.”
“It’s a big deal because everyone can ride a bike, Renee.” Elliott tells her.
She probably shouldn’t feel as embarrassed as she does for not knowing things that others deem ‘normal’. “Well, I can’t. Can we just drop the subject?”
The younger man suddenly gets an idea. “What if I teach you?”
Wraith tilts her head in confusion. “Why?”
Let him.
“Because it’ll be fun.”
“I don’t even have a bike.” She shakes her head.
Elliott lights up as he starts rambling. “You can borrow mine. We’ll have to get you your own helmet, though. Mine might be a bit too big. I have some free time this weekend… if you’re free?”
He wants to spend time with you.
It’s a date.
Renee sighs at the ever treacherous voices. How can she say no when he’s so excited to teach her something new? “I don’t have any plans for Sunday.”
“Awesome. I’ll text you the details.”
Simp.
However dumb the idea itself seems, the smile he gives her is all worth it.
°~ ♡ ~ °
A few days later the two meet up for lunch and after head to a bike shop to get Renee a helmet. Elliott suggests they get her some knee and elbow pads as well, but she shoots that idea down immediately. She doesn’t wanna look more stupid than she already has to. She is a grown ass woman, she should already know how to ride a bicycle. At least, according to everyone else, she should.
From there, they take Elliott’s car to an abandoned parking lot at the edge of the city, with the bike wedge between the trunk and backseat. Wraith decides it was good planning on his part. Fewer people to see her fail.
He will see thought.
The younger man parks the car and gets the bike out of the trunk, while Renee fiddles with the helmet straps to get it to sit right. “Stand next to it for a sec.” He pats the bike seat and waits until she’s next to him to adjust the saddle and handlebar to better fit her height. He has to lower it more once he realizes she’s still too short to properly reach the pedals.
After double-checking her helmet is on tight enough, Elliott gets her to hop on while he holds the bike steady. “And now you just start peddling.” He tells her as if the easiest thing in the world.
She rolls her eyes and pushes down with one leg, and then the other. She’s all sorts of wobbly as she slowly rolls along the pavement, being kept upright only by Mirage.
“You need to go a little faster to keep your balance. Don’t worry. I won’t let go.” He tells her as he walks alongside the bike with one hand below the saddle and the other over her hand on the handlebar.
Renee does as she’s told, and soon he has to jog slowly to keep up. “You’re doing great. Now try to turn slowly.” Elliott beams as he continues to instruct her as they approach the edge of the parking lot.
They do a few slow circles to build up Wraith’s confidence, a small smile coming to her lips, before Elliott gets ready for the next part of the lesson. He just hopes she won’t freak out too bad when he lets go.
“Just keep going. I’m right behind you.” He tells her when he’s sure she’s ready to go on her own. He first takes his hand off hers and after another few strides lets go completely. Mirage slows his jog to a walk before stopping completely and jumps in place, pumping his firsts. “You got it, Renee! Look at you riding a bike on your own!” He shouts after her.
The older woman’s smile falls as she realizes Elliott’s not with her anymore. She tries to look back to where he is, but the action causes her to turn the handlebar too sharply, and before she knows it, she’s lost her balance and is skidding across the pavement.
He winces and hisses in sympathy before running over to her. “Are you okay?” He calls out as he gets closer to see her pulling herself up and out from under the bike.
Renee growls as she feels the stinging in her hands and up the side of her thigh as the gravel digs into her wounds. She kicks the bike away angrily and sits up to look at the damage as the voices explode at her.
Idiot.
Now you look stupid in front of him.
Can’t even do this right.
You should know better.
She doesn’t even notice Elliott kneeling next to her before he puts his hand on her shoulder. He looks at her with such concern that she can’t help but feels tears well up. Renee wipes her eyes with the back of her hand as she finally registers the question. “I’m fine.”
Look, now you ruined the moment.
He moves in front of her to check the damage for himself. Blood is already beading on the deeper parts of the scrapes, but it doesn’t look too bad. Relived that she’s mostly okay, Elliott stands and pulls her up with him. “Let’s go back to the car. I have a first aid kit in there.” He doesn’t let go of her hand as they make their way back.
The skirmisher’s face is ever so slightly scrunched up in discomfort at the stinging in her leg and palms, and she cringes at the blood being smeared between their clasped hands.
Elliott tells her to sit while he looks for the first aid kit. Finding what he’s looking for, he steps up to the open passenger side door, where Renee is sitting. “Can you do it yourself or should I…?”
He trails off, but she knows what he’s asking and doesn’t even bother fighting it this time. “If you don’t mind.” She says quietly. He already knew about the lightning pattern scars running up her left arm and all the smaller ones on the right that she still had no idea how she got.
The trickster’s mouth twitches into a small sad smile as he sets the box on her lap, for lack of space and for convenience’ sake, and starts rifling through it. Her leggings are beyond saving, but he still makes sure it’s okay to cut them open more so he can properly clean the scrapes on the side of her thigh. After making sure there’s no debris stuck in her leg, he covers the worst of it with a big band-aid and moves on to her hands.
Wraith makes no sound while he’s doing this. It stings for sure, but Elliott is being so gentle, it doesn’t even register to her that this should hurt. This is so different from when they’re in the games and administering first aid is literally a matter of life or death.
He’s so focused, he almost doesn’t hear when she says, “Sorry about your bike.”
Elliott looks up at her with a brow raised. “Why are you apologizing?”
“It’s probably scraped up from the fall.”
He tilts his head, almost looking offended. “Renee, I don’t care about the bike at all. I can always get it repainted or even get a new one. I care more that you got hurt.”
She doesn’t say anything, just turns her face away as a light blush spreads over her cheeks.
He was worried about you.
Why did you worry him like that?
The younger man finishes bandaging her hands in silence and packs everything away. Before he gets up from his position half kneeling between her legs, he takes both of her hands in his and places a gentle kiss to the center of each palm. “There. All better now.”
Renee ducks her head, her blush spreading even further, and whispers. “Thank you.” She pulls her hands away slowly and holds them close to her chest as Elliott puts the first aid kit back where he found it. She watches as he walks away to get the bike, giving her a moment to gather herself and will her face to stop burning. Their relationship was still so new and fragile, little intimacies like this scared her and made her feel like a teen with a stupid crush. Not that she remembered what that was like.
When Elliott comes back with the bike, he is fully ready to put it away and start back home until Renee stops him. “I wanna try again.” She says, getting out of the car.
“Are you sure? I mean, I just patched you up. Doesn’t it hurt still?”
She stares down at her hands, clenching and unclenching them slowly. “A little, but I almost had it. Didn’t I?” She looks up with hope in her eyes.
He can’t help but smile at her. “Yeah. Yeah, you did.” He looks at the bike and then back at her before turning the bike around and patting the seat. “Okay. But, I want you to try and kick off on your own this time.”
Wraith happily walks over and takes hold of the handlebar, looking up at him for instructions again.
Elliott takes a breath and gets back into teaching mode. “You gotta push the opposite pedal up and then use it to push off and get yourself on at the same time. Don’t panic when I let go this time. You got this.” He doesn’t see her smile this much very often, and her stubbornness to learn this immediately is endearing.
Renee nods and does as she’s told; swinging one leg over onto the pedal and taking a moment to prepare herself mentally before pushing off. She realizes it would probably be easier on a smaller bike, but she’s determined.
Mirage stays right behind her like before, but this time when he’s sure she has her balance, he lets go. He watches her get farther away and then slowly start turning. Their eyes meet and Elliott’s face lights up in a big grin. He cups his mouth with both hands and calls out to her. “Keep going, Ren! You’re doing great!”
The skirmisher smiles back at him and does a big circle around him before turning to ride around the lot for a bit more. After a few minutes, she turns back towards where he’s standing and with slight worry shouts. “How do I stop?”
Elliott chuckles a bit and calls back . “Slowly press the brakes. The little handles in front of your fingers.”
She does so and when she’s close and slow enough he grabs onto the bike, bringing her to a complete stop. Renee hops off and can barely contain her excitement long enough for him to push the kickstand down to keep the bike up, before jumping at him and wrapping her arms around his neck . “I did it, Elliott.” She giggles.
The trickster is caught off guard but keeps his balance as he wraps his arms around her . “You did. I’m so proud of you, Renee.” He spins her around a few times, getting more little giggle out of her. It’s the most beautiful sound he’s ever heard.
He puts her back on the ground and gets pulled down for a quick kiss. Elliott’s brain has a brief blue screen moment, just staring at her in shock before whispering. “Can I have another?”
Renee gives him the biggest, brightest smile and stands on her tip toes, gently holding his face in both hands. “Of course.” Elliott leans down for another kiss, this one longer than the first. They part, both smiling at each other.
The older woman ducks her head under his chin and hugs him tightly again. “Thank you, Eli. I appreciate this more than you know.”
He rests his cheek on her head and hugs her back. “Of course, Rey. What are partners for.”
They stay in the embrace for a little while longer before heading to Elliott’s apartment. They eat takeout and watch movies until Renee nearly falls asleep on the couch. After that, the younger man decides they should call it a night and go to sleep. He carries her to bed and they both quickly fall asleep in each other’s arms.