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“Nope. Nope! Not allowed to the enemies.”
Oscar could hardly figure who had talked to him before someone skated and halted in front of him. He backed up a little from the railing against which he was leaning. Lily had mentioned he was welcomed here, but checked around him, just in case security would hole him up. But no. He simply received some smiles from volunteers, the same that asked him for an autograph before. So his attention returned to the boy in front of him.
It was a given, that Oscar would meet him today, or one of those moments he had time to attend the competitions. There were a few names, echoed in the medias for the past few weeks, about the biggest stars of the 2026 Winter Olympics: Charles Leclerc for Free Skiing, the only Monégasque athlete of the competition, Max Verstappen trying to obtain a third gold medal in Speed Skating, or even Fernando Alonso making a historic comeback in Snowboarding. But another name has caught people's attention. Lando Norris, the British Figure Skating prodigy. The current World Champion. The only man who managed a Quadruple Axel, whatever that meant—granted, Oscar listened, whenever Lily was trying to teach him the different jumps and elements, but Oscar could hardly see the difference between a Triple Toe or whatever else was happening with the other toes. He could appreciate the aesthetic of it, mostly. His own definition of something aesthetically pleasing on ice was scoring a lot and winning a game. That was all.
But media loved Lando Norris and it seemed like half of the planet did too. Hell, maybe even more than half. Oscar had started to see fans handling bracelets with their favourite athletes name, making tutorials on how to shape them in flowers or star. Oscar was spending too much time on Tik Tok.
And listen. If the world knew of Lando Norris, Oscar was even more aware of him. Of course he was. Lily couldn't just shut up about him ever since he'd won the European Championship less than a month ago. Plus, spending half of his nights online made Oscar aware of pretty much every edits of the boy. So. Yeah. Lando Norris. In front of him.
Oscar looked down his clothes. He usually didn't mind wearing team kit, it was actually less of a hassle to pick clothes that were mandatory. But the Australian Team had quite aggressive yellow uniforms—Logan made a show of being blinded the first time they saw each other in the village. Thankfully, he could pick a few neutral green sweaters when he wasn't in front of the cameras.
“Do you have a problem with Australia?” Oscar asked. “You guys invaded us.”
“Invaded?”
“Colonised.”
“Ah, nah. I don't care about that. I care about hockey players stepping into our ice. Totally forbidden, mate.”
It wasn't forbidden, of course, and Oscar had no plans to actually get on the ice. He was well aware of this little rivalry between hockey players and figure skaters, but mainly because it was hell to align a correct schedule. Oscar thought he had left all of this in his teenage years.
Oscar was about to protest—because what the hell? He could come to a practice if he wanted. But probably feeling the tension, Lily skated to them just in time.
Just like Lando or the other skaters of Team GB, she was only wearing her practice clothes, her long hair up in a ponytail. But she still looked gracious. Oscar had very little time to see her since he got there, in-between the Opening Ceremony, and the numerous times he got lost in the village.
“Don't scare him, Lando. It was a hassle to make him come here in the first place.”
“It might surprise you,” Oscar said. “But it happens I also do have work here.”
“Really? I thought you were busy eating all of the tiramisu with Logan.”
Yes, well, maybe that Oscar appreciated the cafeteria fuelled of Italian dishes more than his usual protein-based diet. Sue him. It was the Olympics and his very first time visiting the country. He could have a little fun. Well, that was what his mother told him. Or more like, ordered him. To have fun.
“Aw, no,” Lando whined. “Don't mention it. There wasn't any left last time I went.”
Oscar felt Lily's accusatory glance on him. Nope. He wasn't going to comment on that. But Lando looked back at him, this time, with a new glint in his eyes.
“Why are you fraternising with the enemy, Lily?” he asked.
Lily had already explained it was only her second competition with Lando, this and Sheffield, but they had been working around each other for months. Apparently, enough to become friends. Which wasn't exactly a surprise, because everyone liked Lily and her natural charm and kindness. Oscar wasn't so sure about Lando.
“Oscar had just missed me too much.”
Oscar wanted to roll his eyes, but Lily was right so he simply smiled to her. Lando made a face that didn't quite hide disgust.
“What?” Lily laughed. “He's my ex.”
“Ew, it gets even worse.”
“No, I'm proud. Oscar is only a rookie and is about to win his first Stanley Cup.”
Lando cocked an eyebrow—the one with a slit in it, he said it was purely an accident with his razor, but no one believed him. He had explained that in one of his numerous vlogs. Oscar was spending way too much time on TikTok.
“Great,” Lando deadpanned. “Don't fucking know who Stanley is.”
And Lando simply skated away, jumping halfway through, just for the sake of it. Show-off. Oscar sighed.
“He's a little bit of a dick, isn't he?”
When Lily shook her head, her long ponytail moved. She was always wearing the most magnificent outfits and hairstyles when competing, Oscar looked forward to see it. Of course, he had already seen her program, but watching it live was another thing completely. There was a reason she was the European Champion, after all.
“He's lovely,” she assured him with a wink. “Maybe a little temperamental, but I think you'll like him.”
Oscar felt like protesting again, but he knew better than to argue with Lily. She had a very annoying habit of always being right. It wasn't new either, she had been right ever since she was fourteen and trying to convince that Niall was the best member of One Direction. Which okay. He ended up believing.
Oscar and Lily, it had been a short and fleeting thing. Probably due to extensive training and long distance. They had been in the same private school in the UK, before Oscar had to split his time in-between Australia for Juniors, and the USA where he started getting proper training. The friendship ended up being better than anything romantic, and since then, Lily always texted Oscar after checking the results of a game, or would answer at any time Oscar called her. She was a pillar no matter where they were in the world.
They had once promised each other they would meet at the Olympics together, somehow. But eventually, Oscar didn't have much hope. Except for this year. The NHL ban had been lifted and he got picked to represent Team Australia, and alright, they weren't the most elite group, but Oscar felt proud to represent his country again. Wearing its colours, walking under its flag, sharing lockers with some boys that also grew up in Melbourne. It was a feeling he couldn't describe.
Oscar promised Lily he could stay half an hour, before he had to leave for team meeting. Hockey spanned the entirety of the games, so he had time to check other sports. And he was lucky that both hockey and ice skating were held in Milan. He even cleared time with his coach to be able to attend some of the figure skating team events.
Practice was sometimes as interesting as the rest. Or maybe that Oscar was very biased because he was mesmerised whenever Lily skated. She made graceful jumps that Oscar couldn't name, skating around the court. She stayed close to her teammates—George, who was skating in pairs, and Lando, of course. Lando didn't quite keep to himself, in practice. He would skate around Lily and make her giggle, then go back to his own jumps so naturally. Oscar could agree he was graceful too, but honestly, Oscar was a hockey player—everyone else seemed graceful. But Lando was also quick, surprisingly so, and jumped high effortlessly. He wasn't even rehearsing his program, but Oscar found that he couldn't quite take his eyes off him. Which was a little embarrassing, because Lando Norris was definitely not the reason why Oscar changed his schedule but hey… It was the Olympics, and he was supporting other athletes, right? Right. But Lily had winked. And on top of always being right, Lily was observant and knew what Oscar's type was. Well. Fuck.
In the next few days, a routine started to settle. Oscar would wake up early enough to make sure there was tiramisu, then would save some for Logan. They tried to eat together at least once a day, although they saw enough of each other on a regular basis. Oscar and Logan had trained together in college, before Oscar got drafted for the Colorado Avalanche, and Logan for the Florida Panthers. They stayed friends and facetimed each other as much as they could. And now, they were representing their respective countries at the Olympics. They weren't playing in the same group, and the odds of facing each other were pretty low, but Oscar still thought the whole thing was pretty cool.
Oscar had always been a bit of a hermit, although he wouldn't admit it out loud. The Olympic Village made it quite impossible for him to stick to his loner habits. Some people actually recognised him, mostly Canadians and Americans, and some other would approach him to trade pins. He had quickly got himself quite a collection. His roommate, a curler called Daniel Ricciardo, convinced him to adopt a plant. Except that he somehow found a way to cheat the system, so their room was not only home to two plants, but six. Daniel had named them all with “Proud 'stralian names” being respectfully: Hugh, Kylie, Cate, Nicole, Mel and Chris. Three days in, Oscar was pretty much that Mel was dying.
Logan had befriend a guy named Alex Albon, who was an Ice Dancer. Alex knew of George, so their group quickly grew. Lily would invite Lando pretty much everywhere, and Lando had somehow manage to grow an instant friendship with Max Verstappen. It happened that way: Lando and Max had found themselves facing the tiramisu bar, in front of the very last available piece, and Max had simply gave it to Lando. Apparently, Max's fiancé made the very best tiramisu in the world and tasting another one felt like cheating.
Oscar felt like he was at camp, meeting new people everyday, immediately forgetting their names and their sports. Thankfully, Lando was there to record everything. He made vlogs of every single day, and would post them the same night on TikTok. Of course, Oscar's algorithm made sure he'd watch all of them. Lando would take videos of pretty much everything: Tiramisu, shots of all of them walking with their mismatched team kits, practice, TV broadcasting snowboard, zooms on Daniel's ass when they attended curling, zooms on Oscar's ass during one of his practice (Oscar didn't even see him there?). They were a ton of photos too. With other athletes Oscar would become best friend for an hour, or simply of them all together.
They had agreed to all meet for the ice skating team events, and Daniel, Max and Oscar and no athletes representing their countries, so they held little British flags, Logan felt tied between supporting his own athletes or his new friends. His safe solution was to clap for everyone, but maybe just a little louder for George, Lily and Lando.
Lando was… Something else. In the rare few hours they actually were hanging out, Lando communicated in only three ways with Oscar: Bickering and calling him a hockey player (he thought it was an insult, somehow), poking his ribs when Oscar said something dismissive (which was pretty much every other word), and then smiling. The smiling part was the most obnoxious. Because Lando had a collection of smiles: The one he'd show when he was skating, or the one for interviews, but the casual, soft one? Oscar found it so unique that he convinced himself into thinking Lando was doing it just for him.
In the past few days, they had managed to qualify Team GB second behind the USA. So today, it was at the very least the Silver Medal. During Pairs, the American girl had fallen, which made George and his teammate Ella (a girl that Oscar had have very little occasion of talking to) to get the first place. Lily was the last of the girl's program, and by that time, Oscar's hands were a little sweaty. But she appeared on ice as a vision, blue dress covered in jewels, hair tight in a braided bun, and a smile so big that Oscar found himself giggle. The music she chose was apparently an instrumental rendition of Lana Del Rey, which made her whole program appear ethereal. After her first jump (a Double Axel, she tried to force Oscar into learning everything by heart), Logan let out a breath and clapped hard. Yup, he had changed allegiances.
When Lily finished, a knee on the ice and her chin up, Oscar got up and cheered. Daniel next to him was even louder in yelling Whoop-Whoop!
Lily's score was of 140.3, which seemed high, but Oscar couldn't really see the difference. He thought she was better than the American one (sorry Logan), but when he commented on it out loud, Max went on a rent. He apparently knew of figure skating more than he let on and tried to explain that Lily's landing on the Lutz (?) was maybe not perfect, but it didn't matter because the rest of her program was excellent, and that judges were biased to Americans now that the Russians didn't compete, and somehow, the rest of the rent was made in Dutch.
There was a little time before the last competition, Oscar was able to join Lily and congratulate her and hug her and telling her she was the best and sort of repeated Max's rent. When Oscar glanced at Lando, the boy seemed more serious that Oscar had seen him these past few days. Probably rehearsing his program in his head. But when he found that Oscar was looking at him, he got up and joined them. Lily gave Oscar a wink and conveniently went back to sit with her team.
“Are you here to give me a good luck kiss, Osc?”
Team USA and Team GB were tied—it all depended on the men's programs. Oscar didn't doubt, he knew that Lando had it in him.
“Do you really need one or is it an excuse to make out in front of everyone?”
Lando probably didn't expect the comment because he had called Oscar prude, boring, and tasteless in the course of ten minutes the other day. His cheeks got a little pink. Good.
“Just be nice and tell me I will win.”
It was only team's event, Lando did admit he wasn't even giving his full potential just yet, saving it for the individuals.
“You will win.”
And the smile Lando offered Oscar was so bright it probably was worth more than any gold medal. But Oscar couldn't say that out loud.
Logan gave Oscar a knowing glance when he came back to sit down, which Oscar carefully avoided. He didn't chat with the others while waiting for the men to enter the rink. Lando was last, of course, to step in. He got the biggest round of applause, skating around to warm up, Oscar's heard people cheering for him, yelling his name (one of them being Daniel. Some people behind them complained that he might be drunk. Daniel turned to tell them “Nope, pure vibes, man!”).
Oscar unzipped his jacket to reveal a blue blouse, not so dissimilar from the one Lily had worn. They really looked like a team. Once again, they had to wait to see Lando's performance up until the very end, and although Oscar thought everyone was kind of good, surely they couldn't match him, right?
When it was finally Lando's turn, he stepped into the ice with a tight expression and Oscar locked eyes with him, he was rewarded with a smile, that smile, his and his only. Something fluttered in Oscar's chest. Something warm and scary and oh no, that wasn't the kind of feeling that Oscar wanted while coming to the Olympics.
Lando's music choice always seemed bold, made for a show, to spotlight Lando only. It started with something that seemed classical, and Lando's movements were slow at first, careful, cautious with grace and agility. To Oscar's side, Daniel and Max were betting if Lando was going to attempt the Quadruple Axel. Oscar kicked Daniel's ribs with his elbow to shut him up.
Oscar thought he might die a little, when witnessing Lando's first jump. The other man made it look so easy that if he could, Oscar would have given him gold, simply for that. Max commented every now and then with the name of the jumps, and how Lando landed perfectly. The music kicked up, turning more passionate as Lando skated faster. He was everywhere, moving his arms, changing positions again and again, Oscar almost felt dizzy. Then finally, Lando ended up his program with a backflip and a big smile.
To no surprise, the round of applause was deafening and Oscar could see Lando blush as he was skating around and bowing. It was nothing like what Oscar had seen in videos. He wasn't even sure Lando was completely real.
Lando received a 201.3, which Oscar didn't understand, but he knew that meant the best score for the men's program. Thus, that meant that Team GB was winning the gold.
In the following minutes, this happened: Logan complained about his hand hurting, but did end up carrying a British flag. Alex took many selfies to post on his Instagram stories. Max was arguing with an American couple and ended up insulting them in Dutch. Daniel had no voice left but started hugging everyone in the audience (he nearly hugged a judge). But Oscar? Oscar couldn't move. He was there, waiting, looking at Team GB talking together, staring at the podium. Lily stepped on it first, helped by Lando's hand. They bowed their heads to receive a gold medal around their necks. Lando rearranged Lily's hair. Oscar could have cried if it wasn't for Daniel incessant cheers.
Afterwards, they all met in the restaurant, sharing stories, sharing wishes. Oscar was surprised how quickly he got used to everyone. Daniel said it was normal, it was the big Olympian family. Something they would never forget.
It took a while, as they were busy with media and more celebrations, but eventually, Team GB joined them. They were half-dressed in their skating fit and team kits, the large medal covering their chest. Lando sat next to Oscar, Oscar gave him his slice of tiramisu.
Logan, being annoyingly American, convinced everyone to watch the Superbowl that night. No one seemed very eager, if not for the prospect of a sleepover and watching Bad Bunny's performance. Logan's roommate, who was a curler too, had got injured during practice and forced to forfeit. Which sucked, but it also meant that Logan had a free bed in his room, so, whatever really.
The game started at midnight here, and as Logan was trying to focus, everyone else was making comments. No one actually knew the rules, so they all invented some, which annoyed Logan a bit but made them laugh. They stacked both beds together and got comfy with cushions and blankets. Lando and Oscar naturally sat together, legs touching. Lando was warm against him and smelt like cologne and victory. By the two hours mark of half-time, Lando was sagging a little, head half resting against the wall and Oscar's shoulder. It was surprising that he was still awake after today, George had dozed off almost immediately.
Lando did immediately wake up when Bad Bunny appeared and sang every song without missing one lyric, dancing enough that the bed was shaking. Oscar didn't know much of the music, and honestly cared more about Lando than the actual show. As soon as the game resumed, Lando had passed out on Oscar's chest, his gold medal tucked between them.
The next days were a little different. More practice for Oscar and Logan, less for the others. Max had already won gold and shrugged like the whole thing had been a little too easy. The figure skaters had time to visit Milan whilst Oscar would start his preliminary round. In preparation for the first games, Oscar and Logan made sure everyone knew the hockey rules perfectly. Lando had asked Oscar to repeat pretty much everything but he did. He at least made sure that the boy knew his position (Center) and number (81).
The first game was against Denmark, which okay, rude. Oscar knew a few of the Danes, specifically their captain, Kevin Magnussen. Not a guy he liked roughing against.
Logan was the only one absent to his game, preparing for his own later. But Oscar still managed to find his friends in the crowd.
Team games were different from what he knew in NHL. He had to work with people he didn't particularly know, or understood his moves. Some other things were different. The rink was way larger than what he knew, which was why he worked hard on his relays. Maybe he should lay down tiramisu a little bit for the next games.
The Danish team was good but disorganised, Magnussen seemingly yelling at all his teammates. That made Oscar able to score one point. They finished the game 4-3 because of a lucky penalty, not as bad as Oscar had expected.
Despite the loss, Lando smiled to him so big that Oscar managed to forget a little. Without any surprise, later on, Logan won his game.
Oscar took the time to finally visit Milan with Daniel, buying random things that he would send to his family. They could have been there, but Oscar told them it was useless to travel that long if he were going to be eliminated in just a few days. Instead, he bought bracelets for Edie, paint and brushes for Mae, and some stupid t-shirts saying "I love pasta", or "Italians are hotter than you" for Hattie. Some people even recognised him outside, mostly Americans following NHL games. He took a few photos, that all ended up on the Internet. Lando later mocked him for it and said he looked stupid and laughed a little too much when he learned that Oscar was nicknamed Ice Boy.
They had quiet moments together, stolen in the free time they had. Lando telling him about his family, Oscar asking how long he's been skating (as if Oscar didn't already google that a while back). Favourite colours and animals, what other sport they would play, where they wanted to travel in the world. Lando took more photos of Oscar, tagging him in his IG stories (they now followed each other), Oscar appearing every other second in Lando's vlogs (Oscar still refused to admit his screen time). The sport itself took a lot of time, of course. But Oscar was used to travel and sleep in hotel rooms and practice and defeat new opponents every other day. He liked it just as much here. Knowing that he recognised at least one friendly face somewhere in the crowd, would always chat with Daniel for at least an hour before sleeping, saying good morning to their plants every day.
Oscar had decided on a Friday that he was in love with Lando Norris. Which was ridiculous because Friday wasn't even his favourite day of his week. When he texted Hattie about it she also told him he was ridiculous but that Lando had a great ass so why not—something that Oscar definitely hadn't want to take into consideration. But he had eyes.
He decided he was in love when Lando showed him the sign that he had crafted saying Go Ice Boy #81. He was in love with Lando when he was looking a little dishevelled after his practice today. He was a little less in love when Lando googled all the players from the opposite team and decided that number 55 was hot.
“What about Oscar?” Daniel inquired. “Cheating on him already? Poor guy.”
Lando had simply shrugged.
“I've got two hands.”
In the first quarter, Oscar might have started a fight with 55 and got a penalty for it. The Olympics were unforgiving with any form of violence, Oscar was sent to the box immediately. He felt a little bit like a kid, stuck in there, having to reflect on why he even ended up in this situation. Well, the penalty box wasn't anything new to him, but still frustrating. Lando waved at him. He didn't wave back.
Listen, Oscar wasn't going to delude himself— they needed a miracle and a half for Team Australia to get anywhere close to a podium. But he still gave everything he had. Enough for his neck to hurt a little bit after his last game. Lando had been massaging it softly, humming, distracted by reposting stuff on Instagram. Oscar had decided not to hate him, after all, because Lando admitted that Oscar had been so hot when he was fighting and “Fuck number 55” (not literally).
Oscar's last game was in the morning of Lando's last competition. Except if like four other teams decided to just randomly retire, Team Australia's journey in the Olympics would end up today. Things were obviously different on Lando's end.
Somehow, this morning, Daniel was mysteriously missing from their room, and replaced by Lando. Lando snuck into Oscar's bed, with a red nose and cold skin, complaining about the temperature.
“Happy Valentine's day,” Lando mumbled into Oscar's neck, where he was nuzzling.
Oscar felt a little weak. He kissed the boy's forehead.
Oscar originally hadn't plan on staying long in Milan, wanting to go back to his team as soon as he could because he had as Stanley Cup to win. But that was before. Before exploring the village with Logan, before getting to talk to Lily as much as he wanted, adopting plants with Daniel, taking photos of food with Alex, debating on motorsports with George. Before Lando.
Surely, he could take a week off. Stay up until the Closing Ceremony. Get to see other his friends win.
“What program are you going to end up doing?” Oscar asked. “You didn't tell me.”
“Berghain.”
“I don't know this one.”
“Oh so you know them all? Been stalking me, Ice Boy?”
“You've been everywhere.”
“Yeah? Well keep me for yourself.”
Oscar won his last game, but it wasn't enough to qualify. He could at least say he'd won an Olympic Game. His mother had face timed to congratulate him, and to ask him if he could send that one type of biscuits she coulen't find in any Italian store in Melbourne. Thanks Mum.
It helped that Oscar had other plans for the day. Like fat lasagna for lunch and the pretty impressive sight of seeing Lando in the Team Australia sweater he stole earlier from Oscar's room. It looked comically large on him. He was perfect. He told Oscar that he was the best (and only good) hockey player out there, even if that wasn't true. Oscar instead said he felt confident about the Stanley Cup. “I still don't know any Stanley”, Lando had muttered.
Lando was a little more quiet than usual, today. He might have won gold already, and might have been World Champion, but Oscar could see his anxiety rising up. Because Oscar had spent half of his Olympics days either way working or staring at Lando Norris, he could recognise the signs. Lando nervously biting the skin around his fingers, his nose scrunching up at the mere thought of losing. Lando left early for practice, refusing to eat the last slice of tiramisu. Oscar took Lando's hand and kissed his palm. It was enough for Lando to give him that smile. The others groaned.
Oscar and his friends had pretty comfortable seats, facing the centre of the ice. This time around, Oscar decided to sit next to Max, because he valued his ears. Which didn't end up being his best idea either because instead of yelling, Max kept the commenting to himself, naming every single element and also, most importantly, judging the costumes. At least, there wasn't any Dutch today.
Of course Lando had to be at the end. They probably wanted to kill Oscar with this suspense. Actually, Oscar had decided what whoever sent him to the Olympics wanted him dead. Probably the Florida Panthers. Oscar knew where Logan was sleeping after all, he could still smother him in his sleep, just in case.
Lily was down there with her team but Oscar wished they sat together. Rare, were the moments where he really could hold her hand. This felt like a good time.
The other skaters were good, and Oscar had been a little afraid of Yuki Tsunoda, because he and Japan had been challenging Team USA the whole time. But Max assured him that every odds were with Lando. Max said that he could easily bet a million on him. This scared Oscar a little bit because he wasn't sure if Max were joking or not—and whether he had.
Right before Lando's performance, Oscar unfolded the piece of paper that Lando gave him this morning. A list of the program, so that Oscar could somewhat follow. Lando made him promise to not read it before now. Oscar chuckled at Lando's handwriting, it looked like a kid had written this.
Berghain Program:
Quad Lutz-Triple Toe
Quad Toe Loop
Triple Axel
Quad Toe–Euler–Triple Salchow
Triple Flip-Triple Toe
Quad Axel?
Oh shit. Everyone had been asking if Lando would try to the Quad Axel, even his friends. Lando was always a little dismissive, saying that he'd prefer avoid any dangerous move, that he could win gold without it. What had changed his mind?
Oscar had almost missed the small note on the edge of the paper: Kiss me when I win? That got him to chuckled. Oh, if Lando did this, Oscar probably couldn't let him go. Hell, he couldn't leave the Olympics Game, leaving behind the best figure skater in history. He preciously tucked the note in his pocket—who knew, it could become valuable.
Oscar looked up at the moment where Lando stepped on ice. He was wearing a bright orange blouse, details of silky threads floating around him like fire. He looked magnificent—untamable.
When the music started, Oscar understood that the rhythm of the routine wouldn't be like any of the other that Lando had run so far. He used to start slow and build it up. But this was the other way around. The violins started and Lando was already skating fast, making a show all across the ice. He glided easily, one leg down, making grand gesture, building up speed for the first jump. Everyone cheered. Did the others know they would be witnessing history? The Spanish part of the song was slower, made for easier elements that he mastered perfectly. If it wasn't for the music, the whole stadium was quiet. Oscar could hear the skates glide on ice.
For the second act, Lando slowed down, ever-so carefully sliding, a jump here, and an other there. He didn't falter. Not even as the last element was coming up. Oscar knew that he wasn't breathing anymore. He saw Lando's smile appear as he was preparing. His strides started to lengthen, but he seemed calm. It was at the quietest part of the song that Lando took off, clean, forward edge, toe picks biting. He was airborne, high enough for a few rotations, too many for Oscar's brain to understand but he knew already. Then, calmly, one blade hit the ice, and the stadium erupted in cheers. It took a few more seconds of hand movements and swirls before Lando found the centre of the ice, looked up to the ceiling and stopped.
Oscar had heard loud crowds before, but nothing quite like this. He cheered for at least two minutes, but more quickly than expected, his eyes had fill with tears. Max clapped his shoulder, whispering something that Oscar didn't quite hear but it seemed positive for once. Oscar was aware that some cameras might have ended up on him—ah well, his sisters would mock him but he didn't care.
People were still clapping by the time Lando found his coach and hugged him. He went to sit on the Team GB bench, putting a flag around his shoulders. Oscar saw him more clearly when the camera panned to him. There were drops of sweat on his forehead and his breathing was still laboured but he was beautiful, he was so beautiful.
The wait for the results felt like hours and Oscar had half a mind of jumping down there and yell something rude to the judges—Max said the exact thought out loud. Then finally, a voice announced something in Italian and the score appeared on screen. 228.5.
More cheers, Oscar decided that he didn't care if he had an hearing problem. He had googled already what the best score was and Lando had definitely broken it. Piled up with his short program, he was at a total of 339.5. Winning the gold by a fucking mile.
Someone pushed Oscar, it was Daniel.
“Come on, get up.”
“What?”
“Let's get you down there. Your boy won.”
Oscar could object that Lando wasn't really his boy, but he never wanted someone more. He nodded, following Daniel down the rows of seats, pushing some people because of how fast he was going. Daniel led him to a door that really looked like no one was allowed to enter, but that was Daniel for you. He urged Oscar one last time before opening the door and pushing him in the corridor.
Oscar tried to find a way to wherever Lando's team could be, but thankfully, he spotted Lily from afar. He didn’t want to alarm her but sprinted. She didn't even look surprised to see him.
“Wait here,” she said. “I'll go get him.”
As she disappeared, George winked. For good measure, Oscar offered his middle finger.
Sure enough, Lily reappeared a minute later, tugging a dazed Lando by the wrist. She left as fast as she appeared.
“Osc—”
“God, you were so beautiful. So fucking—”
“I won.”
“Yes, you did. I swear, this was the most impres—”
“I won,” Lando repeated, taking a step to Oscar.
Oh, and Oscar understood. This wasn't just any win. Sure, there was a gold medal at the end, but the possibility of another promise. So, Oscar decided not to hesitate. He put his hands on Lando's cheeks and kissed him. Lando sighed immediately, the last few bits of anxiety disappearing into the embrace. It probably would have been a better kiss if Lando wasn't breathless already, but Oscar couldn't describe it by anything but perfect. He gave him one last chaste kiss before stepping back—just a little.
“Holy shit,” Lando said. “I've been wanting you to do that ever since your game against the Los Angeles Kings.”
“Yeah, me too, I—wait a second.”
Lando bit a smile, cheeks flushing a little.
“My game against the Kings was the first of the season. My first game. I thought you didn't know any hockey.”
“I train in Canada, Oscar. Of course I know hockey. I just like the sound of your voice when you explain stuff to me.”
And just for that, Oscar had to kiss Lando again. The boy let out a yelp of surprise. Yeah, surprise. Oscar could bet there were still a lot to come.
“Go get your gold, champion.”
“Already got it.”
Lando didn't seem to cry that much on the podium—well, at least that's what he said when Max mocked him—, and looked damn good with another gold medal around his neck. He paraded with it the whole night. Oscar had checked Internet's reaction, a nickname was already trending: Fire Prince.
There was little celebrating, and a lot of begging from Lando to find a hotel room, because it was Valentine's day after all. Guess what? Oscar couldn't really say no to a man wearing gold.
Oscar did stay up until the end, of course he did. He made sure to watch all of the last skating competitions, hugged Lily fiercely when she won silver. They then planned a trip to the other villages to meet more people and see snowboard competitions. In the north of Italy, Oscar had drank a lot of hot chocolate and kissed Lando Norris up until his lips were chapped.
They came back to Milan in time to watch Daniel win silver for curling, and Logan get bronze with Team USA. Some of the boys mocked Oscar a little, but the vibe felt like home.
During the Closing Ceremony, Lando had found Oscar and took his hand and kissed his cheek and pronounced promises of three little words.
Mid-June, the Colorado Avalanche were facing the Florida Panthers in the play-offs. Lando was in the crowd when Oscar lifted the Stanley Cup. They partied after, shooing Logan away whenever they felt like kissing in peace.
In the following years, Lando had won a shit ton of new medals and trophies, collecting four World Championships. Oscar had lifted the Stanley Cup a second time and won MVP twice. They had an apartment with a lot of plants that they said good morning to every day.
At their wedding, they served tiramisu.