Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ice-skating was not something Fallon had done before, which was precisely why she was at the rink that afternoon. She had a little experience dancing and could balance three books on her head while walking. It couldn't be that different, right? Dr. Price, her therapist, had been encouraging Fallon to widen her horizons and to try new things. She had been forcing herself to live in a tiny box, and it only added to her stress. Life wasn't just about control; it was about joy!

Apparently, ice-skating would be a source of joy?

Fallon was perched on the edge of the bench, lacing up her skates. She wanted to buy a new pair, but the clerk told her that new skates were like new toe shoes -- painful and uncomfortable until broken in. Despite her reservations at sliding her feet into skates that had known many feet before her, Fallon sucked it up and made the sacrifice. And that's what it was: sacrifice.

Wobbling to her feet like a newborn bird, Fallon moved up to the edge of the rink, holding on to the clear Plexiglas window for support. A dozen or so skaters were already on the ice, spinning in tight circles and gliding across the smooth surface. It didn't look so bad, actually... A little blond girl who looked about six years old was doing jumps off to the right.

Fallon smiled wide, stepped on the ice with confidence -- and promptly fell right on her a**.

The shame of falling was almost as bad as the pain in her tailbone. Almost. "Looking like a complete moron" was not on Fallon's list of favorite things to do. She let out a frustrated curse and reached for the partition that framed the opening onto the ice. She'd barely managed to stand an inch when a very pretty girl approached over her shoulder.

"Oh, yes," she said, quirking an eyebrow at her own failure. "It looks easier than it is."

Fallon took the extended hand and tried to rise to her feet. She moved as if the ice might actually break beneath her and send her plummeting into frigid water. "It's nice of you to-- AH!" Her skates escaped from beneath her again, and Fallon started to fall, clutching desperately to the friendly girl's arm.

Oh -- whoops.

It was embarrassing enough to fall on her a** alone. But bringing down the pretty girl who was just being polite? Even worse! Fallon chewed at the inside of her lip and stared up at the exposed metal beams crossing over the ceiling above the ice. How ugly. Lazy contractors. Couldn't they put up a little dry wall to make it look nicer? Maybe just cover the girders in some padding? Anything would be better than the metal wasteland Fallon was stuck staring at from the flat of her back. She had a feeling she'd be staring up at the mass of gray for most of this foray.

Fallon sat up and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry," she said, fighting eye contact. Embarrassment was not pretty on her. "I'm usually not clumsy. I'm usually well-balanced." Usually. Fallon had no intention of arguing that point when she had just fallen not one, but twice in front of this girl.

When Lily stood, Fallon watched her carefully, creating a bullet-point list of steps in her head. "I'm Fallon Novette-Naim," she said, returning formality with formality. She had little more to say than that -- not until she was standing and looking at her assistant eye-to-eye.

Letting out a brief exhale, Fallon squared her shoulders and focused her mind on the task at hand. She planted her toe hard and a little chip of ice scattered away from the point of her blade. Fingertips touched the cold ice, and she drew her knee to her chest. Okay. Almost there. In one quick move, she went to stand. At first, she wobbled, but Fallon kept her toe planted and flailed her arms out at the last second to help herself. She gripped the side of the rink for support.

Ta-dah! And it only took her twice as long as Liliana, how nice. "I did it!" she said, excitement showing in her exposed teeth. Fallon liked a job well done, and she had no problem admitting when she did just that. "With more practice, I'll be much quicker about it, of course." A creeping smile sneaked up one side of her face. "Thanks, Liliana."

For all of two seconds, Fallon felt triumphant. And then she looked back to the ice. Oh God, she was supposed to let go of this wall at some point, wasn't she? Her fingers gripped tighter. "Can be too bad out there, right?" she said, laughing to hide her unease.

Fallon liked Liliana's compliment. She liked compliments in general. "I usually have excellent balance," she said, nodding matter-of-factly. Her left skate moved, and she grimaced, clutching the side of the rink tighter. "Usually."

The little girl from earlier came whizzing by, throwing herself into a tight spin and then gliding away on a single skate. Fallon frowned. Show off. She didn't have long to ruminate on it as Liliana was already pushing her forward. Fallon liked it, actually. Liliana wasn't letting Fallon get down on herself. She was making her focus on the positive.

"Okay, right," Fallon said, nodding methodically and trying to mirror the moves that Liliana was executing gracefully in front of her. Her knees wobbled, and she refused to let go of the wall. Little by little, Fallon made progress.

It took a lot of concentration, but she didn't want Liliana to see that. "Thanks again," she said, smiling. "It's really nice of you to help me. Do you go to school around here?" Fallon didn't think she had seen her at Crystal, but she could be wrong.

It took a lot of concentration to not fall, keep skating, and have a conversation with Liliana, but focus was one thing that Fallon had in spades. Her knees were still wobbling, but she was already doing a little better with her gliding. Like most things, Fallon just needed time to adjust to being on the ice.

She smiled at Liliana. The girl seemed particularly good at drawing those grins from Fallon, and already, she could feel a bubble of curious interest creeping up her chest. "I'm a sophomore at Crystal Academy," she said, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. If she didn't get her grades up, Fallon would get to be a sophomore all of next year too.

The same little girl from before came zooming by, and Fallon fell back slightly, bumping into Liliana's chest. "Sorry," she said, straightening up. "That girl is a young Dorothy Hamill. I think she is on baby steroids." If Andeon were there, he would pronounce the joke LAME, but it was about as humorous as Fallon got.

Alanna, was it? Well, Alanna was evil -- clearly. Not that Fallon would say so. "She certainly has a knack," she mused, pulling her eyes from the twirling girl to look at Liliana.

Fallon was prone to crushes, but she was careful to never get too fixated. Who could ever love her? She was a hard person to manage, even for herself. No, a real relationship was something left to her dreams. It was safer to contain her feelings to fleeting crushes that ended as quietly as they began. It was hard enough to be a teenager looking for love, but a gay teenager? For all of Fallon's displays of confidence, the young girl was absolutely petrified of being judged or rejected for her personal choices.

But Liliana was very pretty, and very nice. There was no way Fallon would reject the offer to hold hands and skate around the rink together.

"If I make you fall, I apologize in advance." Fallon smiled, but she kept her eyes focused ahead. Falling was a possibility, but hopefully it wouldn't happen. "So, you skate a lot. Are you an Olympic hopeful? Alanna might be your competition..." With all the sliding and stumbling, Fallon was happy to keep the conversation focused on Liliana.

Fallon tried to stay upright on her own, but she found herself occasionally tightening her grip on Liliana's hand. She murmur an apology and release the grip, but it would happen again, over and over, as she tried to make sense of her footing. "You sing?" she said, staring down at her feet as she attempted to glide. "I... don't. I'm awful." What Fallon could do in timing, she lacked horribly in finesse and pitch.

The little girl Alanna continued to circle the rink, almost like a vulture. Fallon tried not to watch her, but it was hard. The girl was a pint-sized Olympian in the making. Several other skaters stopped to watch too, leading to many bumps and spills. The girl was a health hazard.

"I cook, that is my passion. I want to own my own restaurant one day." Fallon stumbled, but caught herself before they could fall. "But singing, that's great. Do you like karaoke? Or do you just want to be an opera star? Or... American Idol?" People would liked to sing could have a thousand different paths, and with this girl's grace and charm, Fallon found herself more interested than she might normally be. Besides, Liliana was helping her out selflessly. It brought waves of appreciation from Fallon and had her on her best behavior.

"Some people sing," Fallon said, letting herself glide forward, "and some people hold the tambourine." The girl could keep a beat, for sure, even if she couldn't carry a note.

Truth be told, Fallon liked it when other people were terrible cooks. She had no desire to share the spotlight in that arena and tended to get a little ancy when another cook was afoot. Not only did she flat-out assume she was better, she did not handle their comments to the contrary well either. So Liliana's admission of culinary failure only endeared the girl to her more. "I hope you're right. I don't really have any other plans for my life." Yep -- restaurant or bust, that was Fallon's MO.

Fallon was happily listening to Liliana speak when the girl suddenly let go of her hand. On instinct, Fallon bent at the waist, slamming her hands out on either side like a plane trying to land. Her ankles froze it place, and though she wobbled, Fallon didn't fall. She simply began a slow glide forward toward the outer edge of the rink. This would be a good thing... if there weren't a handful of other skaters creating a moving wall right in front of her.

"Um, Liliana?" Fallon said, voice shaking as she tried to stop herself.