[20:55] [Saturday, June 5.] [20:56] [Late morning.] [20:57] [It's a beautiful summer day! So naturally Satoshi Watanabe is spending his morning indoors, practicing hitting a black object all over the ice. Some of the Waseda team members were practicing a bit with him earlier, but they've largely cleared out by now, so it's just him and a few other individuals doing isolated practices for their respective sports and positions.] [20:57] [Start!] 06[21:00] * Satoshi is used to spending his days in ice rinks, really. It's what he does. That having been said, at this point he's mostly just doing some skating drills around the ice, making sure not to get in the way of other people. 06[21:01] * @Haruko heads down from the changing room. She's wearing black tights under a miniskirt. It's cold in here, so she has on her seasons don't fear the reaper hoodie for the moment. She's carrying a pair of used figure skates she picked up a couple months back. 06[21:10] * @Haruko grins when she sees Satoshi and waves one of her skates once she gets one of the access gates at the edge of the rink. She then sits, takes off her sneakers, and laces up her skates. 06[21:20] * Satoshi waves back as he does another lap around the rink, this time doing a quick side-skate around a wobbly teenager. [21:22] [The teenager continues wobbling. Nothing to see there.] 06[21:23] * @Haruko does a quick stretches, awkwardly holding on the rink wall, before heads out on the ice. She's more practiced but still below average for someone at the rink at this hour, she starts warming up with an easy lap around the rink, picking up some speed as she goes. 06[21:24] * Satoshi catches up and then matches her pace, skating one stride for every two of hers. "Hi!" 06[21:26] * @Haruko waves again, eagerly and no longer encumbered by carrying her skates. She's tries to adjust her pace to better match his for a moment and then abandons that as a foolish effort and trusts Satoshi to manage all that. 06[21:28] * Satoshi makes it look pretty effortless, as if there's one place he's going to show off - however unintentionally - it's going to be here. "How are you doing?" 06[21:31] * @Haruko sways a little back and forth raising one shoulder then the other while contemplating. "Politics stuff is draining. I'm excited for getting together a solar car team but the engineering part is weeks away. Not bad, all told. You?" 01[21:36] Well, right now I'm staying at the Ozora residence. I told you about that, right? How I'm keeping an eye on Reiji while Ozora-san is out of town for work? 06[21:39] * @Haruko straightens her spine and picks up her pace. "Yeah. I was a little surprised how fast it was. How's it going?" 01[21:42] So far, so good, although it's really just the beginning. 06[21:43] * @Haruko nods and begins to let herself make wider leg movements as she grows more comfortable with her footing. She ponders for a few beats. "Anything we can do to support? Meal drop offs?" 06[21:46] * Satoshi adjusts his own strides accordingly, almost instinctively. "Hm. I think I'm good there, thank you. Reiji likes my cooking, and it's nice to be cooking for someone besides just me. It's been a while." 06[21:47] * @Haruko grins. "If you ever get tired cooking for yourself, Maki and I are here to help." 06[21:49] * Satoshi chuckles. "I'm sure you are. I'm not sure how well I can meet Tomika-san's standards, though." [21:51] <@Haruko> I can meet her standards about once a week. Mom's advice helps, but I don't have secret techniques from America. 06[21:53] * Satoshi laughs. "I think my 'secret techniques from America' involve putting peanut butter in things." [21:53] <@Haruko> Katie swears by it. 06[21:55] * Satoshi slows down a little as he laughs harder. "She does. And she's still got some of her supply I sent, too. I think. I may have actually sent *too* much..." 06[21:56] * @Haruko nods sagely. "You've squandered your power." 06[21:58] * Satoshi snerks. "Well, since I'm cut off from the easy suppliers for the summer, it may be for the best." 06[22:03] * @Haruko bites her lower lip for a moment as she contemplates her next statement. A few beats later she shifts topic. "Mind if I pause to take off my hoodie? Hibiki made me promise never to try it while moving again." 06[22:04] * Satoshi nods. "That's generally good practice." 06[22:07] * @Haruko picks up the pace for a quarter lap and then glides to an only slightly bumpy stop where she entered. She removes the hoodie with some care, letting it bunch up over her head as she pulls it away from her sides. Underneath has a leotard with some strips of gossamar fabric sewn on. Nothing that would do for competition, but a bit shiny at least. 06[22:09] * Satoshi blinks behind his visor. "Are you practicing for something?" 06[22:12] * @Haruko laughs. "No, haven't you noticed? I enjoy attention." She begins skating again, but moving more in curves and with more grace. All introductory moves to be sure. 06[22:15] * Satoshi shakes his head briefly and then catches up to her. "Okay, show me what you've got." 06[22:27] * @Haruko quietly hums something to herself and bends down a little lower and starts skating in time to music that only she's hearing, snappimg her fingers some as she gets started. She builds into a simply choreographed routine, first skating forward with some stops and twists with her hands to pose. She then switches to backward skating, reversing some of the steps, posing again, and then 06[22:27] * @Haruko picking up forward momentum once again. Nothing Satoshi couldn't have done as a young child, but her timing is good at least. 06[22:34] * Satoshi grins. "You've been practicing. I'm impressed." 06[22:37] * @Haruko quietly sings to herself, "Crazy... cool... go...." as she picks up speed. Holding out her arms she lifts one leg then the other. in time with the music, makes a series of small jumps, and then leans back before bending into clap twice, twirl and throw her arms up while lifting one leg before coming in to smooth stop. 06[22:41] * Satoshi stops and applauds. Admittedly, he's still wearing gloves, but it's definitely applause. "Wow, okay. That was... really good. You haven't been skating that long, but you're translating your dancing to being on the ice. That's... yeah." He smiles. 06[22:49] * @Haruko smoothly rises up still swaying some to the music in her head. "Exercises different muscles, but a few things carry over." 06[22:54] * Satoshi reaches up and takes his helmet off. "They certainly do. I told you I studied dancing for years, right?" 06[22:56] * @Haruko nods slowly. "Care to demonstrate?" 06[22:59] * Satoshi considers it. "Well, this is bulkier than what I usually would have danced in, but okay. Sure. Why not?" 06[23:01] * @Haruko makes a two rising claps, delighted. She skates backwards to get off center ice. [23:01] <@Haruko> (#-a) 06[23:16] * Satoshi takes a quick look around to make sure there aren't any people in the immediate vicinity. Satisfied that it's sufficiently clear, he skates to the center, puts his left foot in front, places his left hand in front of him, and counts the beats in his head. Then he starts, skating backwards at first, arms briefly overhead, then behind, then at his sides. A small spin, and then another stride back and... these aren't figure skates, they're hockey skates, and he's in full gear, and okay he's done this like once before and he feels himself start to stumble- 06[23:18] * @Haruko watches Satoshi intently, making small motions that reflect his moves, keeping the beat. Her expectent gaze meets his, certain that if he keeps faith in his abilities, there's no need to break routine. 06[23:29] * Satoshi catches Haruko's gaze, and there's almost an impercptible nod. He's supposed to be dancing. He's worried about weight, about bulk, about having the wrong skates for this. About not having the right experience for this. But this isn't what he needs to worry about. It's not a competition; it's having fun. Okay. So. Listen to the music, Satoshi. Step. Turn. Move those arms! And now he's into the beat, grinning as he spins and kicks and glides his way across the ice, feet moving in ever more intricate steps. 06[23:32] * @Haruko loses herself in Satoshi's enthusiasm, her gaze remains intense but she makes less technical note of each move, with most far beyond her ability on ice, and instead is caught up in the performance. She holds her hands over her heart, quietly tapping the beat. As he finishes, she applauds and adds a whistle of praise. 06[23:40] * Satoshi blinks, coming a bit out of his performance trance before raising his arms into the air and then skating to the side of the ice where Haruko is watching. "That was really fun. I should do that more often. Maybe not in full practice gear, though." He grins. [23:41] [To be continued!]