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Lu Guang's knees were hurting. And so were his elbows. And his chin. And...to make it short, everything of his hurt.
It wasn't like this was his idea, it'd all started when Qiao Ling came into the studio not only with Xu Shanshan, but also an invitation to hang out at an ice rink together. Cheng Xiaoshi, of course, accepted without a moment of consideration after being provoked (and Lu Guang, of course, came with him, as he inevitably does).
Maybe he should work on his ability to just say "no" and actually mean it.
"Lu Guang!"
Oh, he's back. Maybe if he ignored him, he would leave him to his misery.
"Lu Guang, help me!!"
Just a little bit longer...
Messy black hair flew into view at the same time that a pair of hands grabbed onto his shoulders with a death grip. "Lu Guang, are you trying to leave me to die?!"
"Uh-" Cheng Xiaoshi's face was close, if the way Lu Guang could feel his breath fanning across his face was any good indicator. He could feel a warmth crawling up his neck. "Personal space, idiot." Good save.
"Aw, come on, is it really that bad?" Just as Cheng Xiaoshi was about to switch gears and start whining about something new, Qiao Ling skated over with a teasing grin.
"I see you're having fun falling on your face today, Cheng Xiaoshi."
"Wha-"
She ignored his attempt at a rebuttal and continued on.
"Lu Guang, do you need help over here?"
So she'd noticed his profound inability to skate. Still, he didn't want to trouble her, as this was meant to be a fun time hanging out with friends, and not having to deal with the results of Cheng Xiaoshi's impulsivity. "No, I can figure this out on my own. And I'm used to keeping this doofus out of trouble."
She shrugged. "If you say so." And with that, she waved goodbye and returned to skating around with Xu Shanshan.
It seemed nice, being able to glide around so freely. Maybe it'd feel like flying, or...or swimming in the air? He was getting too introspective for a Saturday afternoon. Ice skating seems fun and Lu Guang just can't do it, sounds about right.
"Hey, Lu Guang, check this out!"
"I thought you were on the verge of tripping to death just now?" It's true; Cheng Xiaoshi really had been slipping and sliding around a lot not too long ago, claiming his "ice skating skills were rusty" and he just "needed to activate that part of his brain", whatever it meant. There's no part of the human brain, or any brain for that matter, specifically reserved for knowing how to ice skate, but Lu Guang digressed.
Now, Cheng Xiaoshi seemed to be getting the hang of it, holding his arms out for balance while he did small loops. "Ha! I'm doing it!" That bright look in his eyes; god, Lu Guang had never wanted to be doing circles on ice more than he did in that moment.
However, with success comes complications.
"Ah, wait, wait, no!" He began flailing about, somewhat resembling a bird trying to take off, but if the bird had gone through several accidents and horribly injured its wings (Lu Guang was starting to feel a little bad for this hypothetical bird, but it was necessary to describe Cheng Xiaoshi's ridiculous movements).
Now losing his balance, Cheng Xiaoshi did his best to maintain the loops. The problem? "I can't stop! Lu Guang, I'm back to dying, help me!" Absolutely no foresight to be found here.
"Hang on, I'm coming," Lu Guang called out to him, trying to remain calm as he held onto the railing with a nervous grip. All he needed to do was...go forward. Should he push himself and let inertia guide him? Or would they just crash and go tumbling down? Well, it would be one way to get him to stop, just not the most optimal.
No time like the present, that's what he needed to remember (not that such a time-relative phrase would work well with a time traveler, but such is the very strange life of Lu Guang).
"Okay, just need to time this right..." He waited for an opening, and- there! Lu Guang, watching his friend (and so much more beyond words) look back at him with desperation, pushed himself forward with the power of physics and let himself glide towards Cheng Xiaoshi.
He was soon greeted with open arms, hands grabbing onto his shoulders once more.
"I've got you, Cheng Xiaoshi."
"Lu Guang..." He seemed a little breathless. His hands slid down to his elbows, and Lu Guang's did the same. There, in a close embrace, legs doing an odd sort of dance to avoid hitting each other, they were together.
"Xiaoshi..." He felt the urge to lean in. Was it allowed? There were enough changes to the timeline already.
"Lu Guang...how is this supposed to help me stop?"
"Uh." Shoot, he hadn't really thought of that. Still, he needed to act like he had. "I was helping stabilize you. We can safely make our way over to the railing now."
It felt like his partner's impulsivity had spread to him after spending way too much time together, but maybe a small part of Lu Guang was also worried. Yes, he'd acted a little too soon and didn't plan everything out, but Cheng Xiaoshi could've fallen. The fact that they'd even made it past this particular September still threw him for a loop, and it made everything uncertain, including whether or not they were just living on borrowed time.
He had to protect this light that Cheng Xiaoshi gave him, no matter the price. He could handle some embarrassment.
"Right, okay." Xiaoshi gave him a lingering look, and perhaps he was just finally losing it, but it looked like he'd briefly glanced down. Where was he looking?
There it was again. He really was looking down, straight at...oh.
Oh.
He was looking down at Lu Guang's lips.
Okay, alright, this was completely fine, as long as he kept his head on straight (ha) and continued thinking straight (haha), he could keep everything under control.
Frozen in a moment of panic, Lu Guang remained still and lost in his thoughts, mentally running calculations to determine the best course of action; this was the longest lasting timeline so far, everyone he'd been fighting for was still alive, and it was becoming more and more unbearable to reject and repress this horrible feeling of longing. Lu Guang was a compass, and Cheng Xiaoshi was his North Pole, or something like that. He was a little too out of his depth to be coming up with good metaphors at the moment.
This was happening then. Nervously, he allowed Cheng Xiaoshi to lean forward, wondering if he should do something too.
At the first sensation of their breaths mingling, however, Lu Guang jolted.
And, oh, he failed to remember the fact that they were still on ice skates, doing those damned loops. Their skates clashed against each other loudly and the pair subsequently lost their balance, coming crashing down to the hard ground.
"Augh..."
Lu Guang felt like everything was spinning around him, and the back of his head was- actually, surprisingly enough, not hurting?
As it turns out, Cheng Xiaoshi had managed to shoot out his hand in time to grab the back of his head, effectively saving him from a whole day's worth of pain. Lu Guang stared at him, dumbfounded at the absurdity of the whole situation.
They'd struggled to ice skate, started doing loops while hugging, tried kissing while still doing said loops, and then fell as a result.
Lu Guang frowned; Cheng Xiaoshi burst out laughing.
"Oh my god, what was that?"
"Shut up, idiot."
"Oh, but my hand hurts." Right, it'd have taken the brunt of the tumble.
Xiaoshi leaned closer again, and continued, "Kiss it better?"
He could feel heat crawling up his neck. "Shut up!"
"Oh well, I'll try again next time." And with a final smirk, Cheng Xiaoshi darted in to give him a peck on the cheek before standing up and continuing to struggle ice skating like nothing had happened.
Lu Guang could only lie there in awe, and some shock, hand pressed up to where he could still feel the phantom kiss lingering. His face flared bright red.
"Get back here!"
Cheng Xiaoshi just skated away, laughing gleefully. Better luck next time, Lu Guang.