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Rose Landry did not get nervous. Most of the time. For the most part, she was calm and collected and knew how she should be around people, depending on the person. When it came to her Hollywood friends, they wanted nightclubs and parties, and she could show up at parties and dance a little, have a couple of drinks, laugh along with their vapid jokes. When it came to Shane Hollander, after getting to know him much better, they would go to coffee shops together and chat, or sometimes they would hang out at each other’s apartments in their comfiest clothes and watch a movie, while questioning its optics, because if there is one thing Rose learned about Shane, is that he took many things literally, so he knew how to dissect a movie to bits.
When she met Ilya Rosanov, she became accustomed to him too. He brought out her playful side, both of them loving to pick on Shane, they learned different card games from each other, and she loved his laugh. She loved how he made Shane laugh as well. One of the things that made her the happiest and most comfortable was when other people felt their happiest and most comfortable. After everything they had both gone through, it was nice seeing them so at ease.
Then, there is Svetlana Vetrova. Beautiful, bright eyed Svetlana, who loved watching hockey, spending time with friends and family, and telling Ilya everything he was doing wrong. They were quite fun together, but sometimes she felt jealous that he got to see parts of her that she has never been able to.
She’s not quite sure when it started, this enamourment with Svetlana, perhaps it was the first time they met and Svetlana could not stop gushing about Rose’s outfit and how much she loves her style. Which was an insane concept to Rose, as Svetlana looked like that. All time damn time. Maybe it was after that, when they ended up having their own fashion show at Rose’s apartment, experimenting with each other’s styles, and there was just something about Svetlana wearing Rose’s clothes that made her heart soar. There’s also the time she witnessed her hyping up the crowd at one of the Centaurs games, telling them they needed to give the boys energy through their cheering and they were shitty fans if they didn’t. It worked, because it was Svetlana and of course it did.
Though she joked with Shane once that he could keep her big lesbian secret, sometimes she thought perhaps it wasn’t so far from the truth. She had crushes on women in the past, she simply never felt this strongly about someone. When she was with Svetlana, their time together made her nervous, almost giddy. Almost, she still tried to have some self control. She didn’t know how to act around her without feeling like she was making a total fool of herself. If Shane and Ilya were there, that was one thing, they worked as a buffer.
Rose wasn’t sure who suggested it, but somehow, they were all going ice skating. Something Rose was not so great at. Sure she grew up in Minnesota and she had a brother who played hockey in the past and she could have totally learned from him, but high school theater was more important at the time.
Svetlana walked into the rink, taking off her long coat with fur lining to put away in one of the rink’s lockers, and revealing a black matching set of black comfy pants and a smaller jacket. She looked good. Which she knew, but Rose could not stop staring at her. Svetlana and her beautiful, bouncy curls, Svetlana and her mesmerizing eyes, Stevtlana, Svetlana, Svetlana, she thought to herself.
“Where are Shane and Ilya?” Rose looked around, trying to spot them, slowly putting her skates on, taking her time.
“Oh I told them not to come, I wanted to spend time with you.” Svetlana responded and shrugged while tying the laces on her own skates, with such calmness that was slowly driving Rose to insanity. What do you mean she was about to go ice skating with Svetlana, alone? Together.
At first it was fine, Rose held onto the walls of the rink, Svetlana next to her, chatting about how much she was enjoying her time in Ottawa, mostly because of the time she spent with the boys and Rose. If she was being honest, Ottawa was kind of boring for her, she would forever love rowdy Boston. And, if Svetlana noticed Rose struggling to stand up right and let go of the walls, she didn’t say anything about it. Soon enough though, Svetlana was moving more towards the middle of the rink, spinning in place and doing different twists and step sequences on the ice. Rose stopped clinging onto the wall to watch her, amazed at her skills and how ethereal she looked. Rose imagined what it would be like to be there with her, spinning together, holding each other, their bodies keeping each other warm.
Noticing that she had let go of the wall, Rose began to slide towards Svetlana, almost bumping into people as they zipped past her, children and parents alike. Panic rose in her chest as she began losing control of her feet, but before she could fall, Svetlana grabbed her arms and pulled her towards her body, Rose clinging on to her.
“Let’s go take a seat, yes?” Svetlana said, pulling away slightly, and taking Rose’s hand. Rose wanted to crawl into a hole and die of shame. But the hand holding made it better. They took a seat by one of the tables outside of the rink and grabbed some hot chocolate from one of the vendors around.
“Should have let Shane teach me how to skate when I had the chance.” Rose muttered into her hot chocolate. Svetlana groaned, giving a dramatic eye roll, hand reaching out to Rose’s.
“Enough about the boys, I want to know more about Rose Landry!” Svetlana said, her other hand reaching to move a strand of hair away from Rose’s face. She felt the heat rise to her cheeks and she wondered if it was noticeable or if the cold of the ice rink was enough to mask it. Rose noticed that Svetlana was someone who was very touchy, which did not bother her at all, even if her heart did feel like it was about to explode.
“What do you want to know?” Rose asked, while fiddling with her gloves.
“Well for starters, what do you like doing for fun? Clearly it is not ice skating.” Rose lets out a laugh, loud enough that some people give them looks, but neither of them seem to
care.
“Sorry for not being a hundred percent honest about that. I thought…well I’m not sure.” She thought she could hide it and not make an absolute fool of herself in front of Svetlana. That perhaps, her acting skills would kick in or something.
“Is okay, I forgive you. Now tell me things!” Svetlana holds her hand and gives it a squeeze. For the first time this evening, Rose feels herself relaxing into Svetlana’s touch and her voice.
So she tells her everything. How her brother was the skater, while she would sit and watch while practicing her lines for her latest high school play or musical. How acting has always been everything to her, and she would love to do it for as long as possible.
“I didn’t know you could sing!”
“I can’t. I was part of the ensemble. But like everything else, I took it way too seriously.” Svetlana giggled and while shifting slightly closer to Rose, both of them huddling for warmth. Svetlana told her things as well, how she and Ilya used to always get in trouble together, and that before his mother died, they would put on talent shows for her. How she’s always loved hockey, but would hate to actually play the sport. She’s a much better cheerleader.
“And I’m better at telling people what to do, anyway,” Svetlana continued, taking a sip of her hot chocolate. Rose couldn’t argue with that. She’d seen how she acted when the Centaurs played. That girl could run a hockey team if she wanted to.
“Do you miss Russia?” Rose asked, unsure whether that should be something she should even be allowed to ask.
“I think I miss the childhood memories I have of Russia. But, I don’t know.” Svetlana paused, suddenly fidgeting with her own gloves. Rose notices, and takes her hand into hers. Svetlana smiles.
“I like what I have now. I like it much more now.” Rose places her head on Svetlana’s shoulder and Svetlana drops her own head on Rose’s and they continue watching the skaters. The parents skating after the unruly children, the first dates, the teenagers messing around with the walkers.
“I like you, Svetlana.” Rose found herself saying, this time there was no shame or fear, because yes, she did like Svetlana, and she wanted to spend all her free time with her, without a shadow of a doubt.
“I really like you too, Rose.” Svetlana responds, turning to face Rose, and planting a sweet kiss on her cheek. They stare at each other briefly, before Rose inches forward, pressing her lips against Svetlana’s, her hand reaching for Svetlana’s cheek, caressing it. They separate, barely, foreheads pressing against each other.
Rose and Svetlana stay like that for the remainder of their time together in the rink. Sharing sweet kisses, talking about their lives, making fun of the boys in their lives, and enjoying each other’s company. Rose still felt nervous around Svetlana, it would take time for that feeling to go away. But she wasn’t pretending to be anything or anyone either. She could only hope Svetlana felt the same. Judging by the laughter she brought out of her, Rose could confidently say, she did.