BtVS fic: The Skate 2 (2/2)
A week or two later it was time for that first big competition and the two psyched themselves up to reveal their new routine. It was only the regionals, but they had no ‘by’ given the newness of their partnership and there was a certain degree of nervousness in both skaters as they did their five-minute warm-up following the break. Angelus was doing quads to work off his nerves while Buffy repeated the same footwork sequence over and over.
When the call came to clear the ice both were left with nothing to do but fidget and watch the competition. Buffy stared into the TV showing the pair currently on the ice as she stretched while Angelus studiously ignored it. Finally, curiosity got the better of him and he asked her, “Why are you watching? We both know we’re better than this.”
Buffy rolled her eyes at him. “Overconfident much? Besides, if I don’t watch them then I’ll start harassing you or Giles about stupid stuff like choreography it’s too late to change or the itchy spots in my outfit.”
“Need me to scratch you anywhere? Say those hard-to-reach areas?” Angelus smirked at her wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
“Would Angelus and Summers please make their way to the rink,” came the bored voice of the person on the PA system.
Buffy took in a deep breath and released it. “Looks like we’re up.” They went to stand by the boards and watched as the ice was cleared of flowers tossed by well wishers. The voice on the PA announced them and they stepped out for their first real competition together. Both were confident they would win this but it was only the first step to making the Worlds.
They settled into their opening positions and waited for the music to start. At the opening riff of banjo they exchanged glances, both looking forward to Buffy’s new image and the routine they had choreographed together.
//He pushed me 'round
Now I'm drawin' the line
He lived his life
Now I'm gonna go live mine//
The routine started of typically. Getting the double side-by-side jumps out of the way. This was going to be their first distinguishing move however, as they were doing something no other couple there that night could do. Something no other couple in competition could do. They were opening with two quad axels in a row. The move drew applause and the crowd shrieked wildly.
//I'm sick of wastin' my time
Well now I've been good for way too long
Found my red dress and I'm gonna throw it on
'Bout to get too far gone//
From there they made the transition into their next element, a split triple twist lift. Angelus came up behind Buffy and lifted her from behind. Her legs scissored open, then snapped shut as he twisted her momentum into three rotations overhead. It was in the part where he put her back down that Angelus had invented a cute little move where he tugged off a jacket or shirt on the downward flip. They were saving that for demonstrations.
//Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition
Need a little bit more of my twelve-ounce nutrition
One more helpin' of what I've been havin'
I'm takin' my turn on the sin wagon//
The first two lines they worked in a bit of character work then moved on to the next element. It was the same throw they had done at the Rogers and Hammerstein celebration, but they had toned it down to four rotations for the competition deciding to play it safe. If no one else could do four, they didn’t have to do five. Again Buffy lead into the throw, Angelus slipped behind her and put his hands on her waist then gave her the toss into the throw.
This time the landing was perfect and the choreography left an opening for Buffy to do a victory wave to the audience. They went wild again and the skaters shared a moment of basking in the cheers of the crowd. Even if some of them were shouting things that sounded like “Cure an! Cure an!” Buffy resolved to ask Angelus after what they were supposed to cure.
//On a mission to make something happen
Feel like Delilah lookin' for Samson
Do a little mattress dancin'
That's right I said mattress dancin'//
Another bit of music to allow the transfer from one element to the next and then Buffy was stretched out, her back arched, her head near the floor as Angelus crouched holding her hand in a death grip for the death spiral. Buffy grinned to herself, wondering if anyone in the audience would get the intended imagery of a woman flat on her back in a skimpy red dress.
//Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition
Need a little bit more of what I've been missin'
I don't know where I'll be crashin'//
Angelus pulled Buffy out of the spiral and contemplated exactly how fantastic she looked like that. He was almost willing to drag her off the ice right then. He held on solely because he didn’t want to lose the competition. He forced his mind away from bedroom acrobatics and back onto the ice.
//But I'm arrivin' on a sin wagon//
They came to a dead stop, posed in a pseudo-latin dance position with Buffy leaning against her fiancé, him holding one of her legs at the thigh. He slipped in a naughty little caress under the hem of her skirt and Buffy glared at him for teasing. Then the instrumental started and they moved into their side-by-side- spins. Starting in the arabesque of a camel spin, the pair moved into sit spins and came out into the footwork. While the banjo and fiddle instrumental continued, they fit in their turns and leaps and all the partnering they needed and flirted their way across the rink.
//When it's my turn to march up to glory
I'm gonna have one hell of a story
That's if he forgives me
Oh Lord please forgive me//
They worked their way, moving close by the stands, until Buffy felt Angelus stiffen beside her. She followed his line of sight and saw Justine sitting right in front of them. She smiled and waved and Buffy heard Angelus curse under his breath and glared at her as they did the combined spin. Her arms were held up in a gesture of supplication to the heavens as they spun, and Buffy sent a quick prayer up that he wouldn’t be too angry with her for scheming up the reunion.
//Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition
Need a little bit more of that sweet salvation
They may take me
With my feel draggin'
But I'll fly away on a sin wagon//
The rest was just dancing the song away and too soon the routine was over. Angelus hissed at her from behind his smile, “What is my mother doing here?”
They swept around to bow to the other side of the rink and Buffy muttered back, “Um . . .”
They skated off the rink and pretended to be not in the middle of something until they were away from the cameras. Justine appeared and grabbed Buffy. “I canna believe it! That was amazin’, d’ye think I could have the chance to tell Li- Angelus that?” she asked.
Buffy looked a little fearfully at him. “I think you just did.”
Angelus glared at both Buffy and his mother with equal ice. “What is she doing here?” he demanded of Buffy.
“Angel-“
Justine laid a hand on her son’s arm. He shook her off but she persevered. “I’m here because Buffy said somthin’ that made sense,” she said. Angelus raised an eyebrow at her, which she took to be encouragement. “She told Henry an’ me to watch what ye do ‘fore we judge it.”
Angelus turned the force of his anger on Buffy. “You asked them to come? What the hell were you thinking?”
She tightened her mouth into a thin line and subtly shifted her weight into a stronger posture. She replied, “I thought you were hurt by your parents rejecting you. I thought that if it was you might be happier if your parents accepted who you are.”
“You thought?” He let out a hysterical laugh. “Clearly you didn’t think!” He looked as though he was about to cry suddenly and his voice dropped. “For years I’ve been tryin’ to make them understand.” His hand gestured in his mother’s direction.
Justine’s voice was calm as she cut into her son’s rant. “I was wrong Liam.”
“What?” His whole being expressed doubt and distress. Buffy tried to wrap her arms around him but he pulled away, stepping closer to his mother. “What do you mean, ‘wrong’?” he asked, his voice cracking.
She sighed and took his hands in hers. “I mean I’ve been watching you skate. What you do is beautiful and it’s an expression of who you are.” Angelus looked mistrustful. “Liam. Liam, I’m sorry for what we put ye through. I love you and I hope you can forgive me for what I’ve done.”
There was a moment of silence and then Angelus and his mother were hugging. Buffy stood awkwardly to the side. She was happy for him, but had no notion of what she should do with herself. Finally mother and son separated. Buffy found herself on the receiving end of an enthusiastic kiss. He pulled away saying, “Thank you.” Then he turned to Justine. “Mum, I don’t think you’ve been properly introduced to my fiancée.”
Buffy smiled, “So can you make our wedding? We’re not getting married until November.” She chuckled a little. “Two days after the Nationals end in fact.”
Justine smiled and was about to speak when Angelus’ father appeared and stormed up to the three. “What in blazes is goin’ on ‘ere!?”
Justine turned to her husband. “Henry, why don’t we talk about this somewhere else?”
“No! We’ll talk about it here!” He shouted drawing attention to the foursome.
Angelus frowned at his father. “Dad-“ he began.
He was cut off. “Ye damned fool! Canna ye see he’s tryin’ ta turn y’against me?”
“If you’d bother to listen to our own son, see what he does, ye’d know he’s none o’ the things ye’ve said he was!” Justine shouted at Henry.
His face darkened and Angelus’ father grabbed his wife and began to tow her off. She gasped in pain and Angelus strode after them and wrenched her away from his father. “Let her go,” he said softly.
“Liam.” Justine took his face in her hands. “It’s alright love.” Then she turned and followed her husband out the door. Angelus watched her go, his expression pained. Dimly he heard the announcement that they had the top marks in the short program and would be first going into the free skate.
**************
They arrived home and Angelus asked, “I’m not arguin’, but tell me again why we’re getting’ married-“
“Right after the qualifiers for the Worlds?” Buffy interrupted. “I want to not be worried going into our wedding night about whether or not we’re gonna make it. Either we’ll be in or-“ She was interrupted in turn by her fiancé.
“We will be in the Worlds,” he told her firmly. “Now why don’t we talk about the actual wedding.” He paused, looking thoughtful, and continued. “Or let’s just talk about the wedding night.”
Buffy smacked him and glared before softening. “Angel, I know you’re thinking about your mother. Are you okay?”
“I just . . . I’m worried she’ll change her mind.” He pulled her against him reaching for her comfort. “Dad’ll never change his mind and Mum . . .” Angelus trailed off helplessly. Buffy cuddled him for a couple minutes before reaching for the wedding plans.
“Now I’m gonna have to change all the seating arrangements and other extra stuff,” Buffy briskly began to play with her Velcro Board o’ Seating. Angelus watched, amused, as she muttered to herself and took little bits of felt and began moving them around the board. Finally he tired of watching and took it from her. “Hey!” she said and reached for him.
Angelus rearranged the board and then handed it back. “Now can I be the centre of your attention again?” he asked her.
“No!” Buffy replied crankily. “Not after what you’ve . . .” She trailed off as she gazed at the board in awe. “You fixed all the seating problems. How did you do that?”
“I gave everyone a seat.”
Buffy glared at him but set the board aside and resumed cuddling. Suddenly she twitched and flipped around to look at Angelus. “I have a question. I meant to ask before but stuff . . . came up.”
“What’s the question?” Angelus braced himself. She usually only prefaced her question like that when she was going to ask him something especially bizarre.
“When we were skating the crowd was chanting something. ‘Cure an’ or something. I was wondering,” she continued, “Cure a what?”
Angelus blinked at her and cast his mind back. “Cure . . . Oh!” Buffy looked at him expectantly. “They weren’t speaking English. They were speakin’ Gaelic. From what I can tell, they were cheerin’ our quad jumps.”
“What were they saying?” Buffy asked.
“Ceithirean,” he replied. “Near as I can tell they were shoutin’ ‘fours’.”
Buffy blinked at him. “That’s really weird.”
“I agree,” he said and pulled her back down. He smiled as she wriggled for a moment then settled. He felt her twitch a moment later and looked down to see her frowning. “What’s wrong love?”
She craned her neck to look at him. “Why didn’t they just chant ‘quads’ or something?” As she looked at him he considered several responses including that Gaelic didn’t really have a word that could be used to mean quadruple or that the Irish audience was trying to show their heritage in chant.
“I have no clue.”
*********************
The next morning the phone rang just as they were leaving for practice, sending Angelus back into the house. He scooped up the phone and held it with his shoulder as he zipped his coat up. “Hello?”
“Ye damned bastard! I hope ye’re happy!” shouted a hoarse, slurred voice at the other end.
“What?” Angelus asked, but the other phone was slammed down and he was left with a dial tone. He frowned at the phone. The voice was familiar, but the rage and liquor in it had prevented him from identifying it.
Buffy poked her head back in. “Angel? Honey? Is anything wrong?” He looked up and shook his head, following her out the door. He put the call out of his mind until they finished a run-through of their long program and he saw his mother’s tear-stained face waiting rinkside. Suddenly, the voice on the phone came clear. It had been his father.
“Mum?” He skated over and cupped her face in his hand. “What happened? Dad-“
She leaned over the boards and hugged her son. “Your father said I had to choose between the two of you.” Angelus felt her tears soak into his shoulder as she said, “It was no choice. You never asked me to choose and you never would. I never thought Henry . . . “ She trailed off and pulled away. “I canna stay with a man who would ask me to choose between my son and my husband.”
Buffy had joined them. “Oh Justine, I’m so sorry I-“
“Ye have nothing to be sorry for,” the elder woman said firmly. “You gave me my son back. ‘Tisn’t your fault my husband’s a damn fool.” She smiled weakly at both of them. “Or that my son insists on callin’ himself a Catholic bell ritual.”
That broke the tension of the moment and soon Giles had invited Justine to stay with him and his wife, Jenny. Angelus shook his head. “Mother, I’d be happy to have you stay with us.”
She shook her head and laughed. “No. I’ll not be hearin’ my only son and his wife-to-be’s bedroom antics.”
“Mum!” Angelus looked scandalised and Buffy giggled. He glared at her. “You werena so calm when your mother talked about her weddin’ night with you.”
She rolled her eyes. “That was my mother. This is yours. Besides,” she continued, “You laughed at me when Mom started talking about handcuffs so I get to laugh at you about this.”
******************
Buffy and Justine were watching the news, waiting for Angelus to come home so they could go out to dinner. “D’ye know when he’s comin’ home?” Justine asked.
“I have no clue,” Buffy replied. “He said he would be home about fifteen minutes ago, but he said he might be late.”
Angelus’ mother rolled her eyes. “That’s my son, ‘I’ll probably be at a time sometime around six but I’ll probably late but maybe not.’” She snorted. Buffy was about to reply when the television’s news headline caught her ear.
“In other news, skater Angelus changed his name back to Liam Mackenzie earlier today according to sources in the civic government offices. Although there are no definite reports as to why the change was made, speculation is that this signifies some sort of reconciliation with his estranged parents, Henry and Justine Mackenzie.”
As the show moved on to a report on a game between Newcastle and Aston Villa, Angelus came in. “Hey! Are you ready to go out?”
“Is there a reason we just found out from the sports news that you just changed your name?” demanded Buffy.
He looked at his mother, who had tears in her eyes, and his future wife, who looked inquiring and annoyed, and contemplated running after he told them his original inspiration. “I uh . . . Well, I mean, I got the name in part to annoy my parents. Since me and Mum are gettin’ along again it seems a little pointless.” He wrapped his arms around his mother and held her while she wept.
“Oh Liam!” she sobbed into his shoulder. He looked at Buffy who seemed torn between scepticism and tears herself.
Buffy walked up to him and asked, “Okay, so there’s the reason you’re going to tell the press. What gave you this idea in the first place?” She pinned him with a stare and he squirmed under it.
“I thought it might make things easier between Mum and my Dad,” he said. Buffy raised an eyebrow. “Well, it’s also what mother said the other day about a bell ritual. I mean, who wants to be called something like that for the rest of his life?” Now his fiancée’s arms folded while the eyebrow and stare remained fixed. “I thought it sounded better after all.” He was starting to flinch from that iron gaze. “Alright! I wanted you to take on my name and have a name I could pass on to my children!”
Buffy relaxed her stance. “You wanted a name I could take on?” Her voice was very calm.
“Uhhh . . .” He knew her well enough to be frightened of the calm she was exhibiting.
“*You* wanted me to change my name to *your* name, and *your* children to bear *your* name.” She continued to be quite calm as she said this, the emphasis not lost on her husband-to-be.
He bit his lip and tried to fix some of his error. “*Our* children love,” he said earnestly.
Buffy spoke as though he hadn’t said anything. “So essentially you were exercising some male instinct to mark ownership and you expect me to comply with your male chauvinist urges.” Angelus gulped and nodded, assuming a submissive posture as he did so in the hopes of appeasing her fury. “Okay!” she said.
“What?”
Justine was smirking to the side and he spared a moment to shoot his mother an irritated glance. Buffy grinned at him. “You’re so cute when you’re acting all manly and stuff. Besides, Summers and Mackenzie sounds way better than Summers and Angelus.”
He blinked, suddenly feeling hurt. “You’re not takin’ my name?”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Yes I will, but I refuse to be a member of ‘the Mackenzies’. Makes us sound like a trapeze act or something.” She giggled at the look of relief on her lover’s face.
Justine broke into the moment. “Just so’s I’m clear on this. Ye’ll have my son’s last name but you’ll perform under your maiden name?”
Buffy shrugged. “This way we’re an equal partnership on paper and people are forced to mention both of us when they talk about our partnership. I like ‘Summers and Mackenzie,’ don’t you?”
The other two shrugged and Justine rolled her eyes at her son’s relief. He just scampered over to Buffy and hugged her. “Whatever you like love.”
“Liam?” Buffy asked him.
“Hmm?”
“Can I still call you Angel?”
******************
Liam stood in the centre of the rink staring with confusion as to how he’d wound up there for his bachelor party. He could have been home with Buffy, recovering from their latest competition victory, but instead he was here. Giles and Xander were snickering as they circled around the ice with several other skaters and Willow’s boyfriend Oz. They were also getting quite drunk on the kegs they had brought to the arena.
This was exceedingly strange and, although there was ample liquor present, there was nothing going on that he couldn’t have done without Buffy. In fact, two minutes ago Xander had ordered him to stand in the middle of the rink and not move. It seemed as though Xander’s Best Party in the History of Bachelor Parties was nothing but drinking while skating. He was about to call Xander’s bluff when ‘Genie in a Bottle’ came on over the PA system.
An extremely attractive brunette woman slinked into the rink and started to do a striptease on ice. Xander gave a startled squeak on seeing the woman, but Liam ignored the dark-haired schmuck for the more appealing view as the young woman tugged off a tiny tank top to reveal a tiny sequinned bra.
Xander was still making incoherent squeaks and added an alternating pattern of muttering to that when the woman stripped off the miniskirt leaving her in a thong reading ‘Faith’ and pressed herself against Liam. She started writhing around him and whispered in his ear. “I know you’re not interested, but play along a little. Trust me. You’ll like this.” He sighed and let her pull him along until the music reached the bridge and Faith grinned and turned him in time to see Buffy, dressed the same as Faith, skate up to him and tug Faith off. Xander’s squeaks and mutters were joined by the others’ and Liam watched the two women in a clearly pre-choreographed routine that involved a lot of bumping and grinding.
It ended with the two women fake groping each other and Liam with uncomfortably tight pants. He then realised that many other men had just seen his fiancée nearly naked. He turned to yell at Xander when the other man came to a hurtling halt beside Faith and started shouting at her. “What the hell are you doing here!? I am not going to have my baby sister acting like some whore-“
“Whore!?” She glared at him. “I am a stripper, not a hooker! Besides, Cordelia asked me to do this as a favour for her since there isn’t anyone at AI who can figure skate besides her and she’s pregnant.”
Liam turned to Buffy and asked, “AI?”
“Angel Investigations,” she whispered back. “It’s a sort of strip club, porno production place and escort service all in one. Xander’s ex-girlfriend works there.”
Faith and Xander were now arguing about the routine and why Buffy had been called at all. “Someone had to choreograph it, who was I going to ask anyways? Giles?”
“Leave me out of this!”
The siblings ignored him. “What? Cordy could have asked me to do it,” Xander growled irritably. He now remembered why he avoided his sister. He hadn’t won an argument with her in ten years. And they argued a lot.
“Not if she’s asking me to do it for her.” Faith trumped Xander.
Liam turned to Buffy and said, “You know I didn’t want to come here.” He was anxious that she not think he wanted to spend time with a stripper over her.
“I know,” she said, smiling. “I notice you seem a little uncomfortable.” She pulled him down to kiss her, both of them ignoring the argument going on elsewhere. “I don’t suppose I could help with that,” Buffy added breathlessly when they finished.
He glared at her, “You caused it, you’d better fix it.” Then he scooped her up and headed for the changerooms leaving Xander and Faith to their audience. He paused, glancing back, “Is she coming to the wedding?”
“Didn’t you pay any attention at all to the wedding plans?” Buffy groused at him as he killed the mood. “She’s always been like a sister to me. She’s working as a stripper to fund going to the Olympics.”
“She’s that good?” Liam asked her curiously.
Buffy fixed him with a look. “That had better be speculation about her skating and not her stripping.”
Liam just kissed her and helped her back into her dress for the drive back to their apartment. As they were leaving the last thing they heard from Xander was, “Cordy’s pregnant and Connor’s the father!? For God’s sake! She practically changed the guy’s diapers!” Liam and Buffy exchanged glances and took off at a run for the car.
****************
The Nationals went off without a hitch. Buffy was beaming as they were announced as Buffy Summers and Liam Mackenzie. They were through to the World Championships and getting married. Buffy took in her bridesmaids Fred Burkle, Willow and Faith. Fred was actually there as one of Liam’s friends, but he had asked his friend Wesley to be his best man and his old soccer team-mate Gunn to be a part of the wedding party.
The arguments over the bridesmaid dresses had ended with Gunn’s suggestion that they wear similar styles and not worry about matching colours. So while Willow was in a long velvet burgundy dress, Fred had a deep blue silk and Faith was in a scarlet and much abbreviated version of Fred’s outfit. Buffy ‘s mother came bustling in dressed in green and smiled at her daughter. “You look beautiful honey. Ang- Liam will fall in love with you all over again.”
Buffy frowned. “He’s dressed right? I mean, the ceremony starts in like, five minutes.”
Faith rolled her eyes at Joyce. “She’s been talking like this all morning. She thinks he’s gonna back out on her.”
“I do not!” Buffy protested. Her expression changed. “Oh God! What if he decides he wants to stay single and sleep with a lot of women instead of staying with me?”
The other women in the room exchanged bemused looks.
In another room Gunn and Wesley were holding Liam down. “Angelus man! Take it easy! She’s not gonna dump you for a . . .” Gunn paused. “Whatever the hell you just said.”
“Really Liam. You need to keep from reverting to Gaelic under stress. It’s not even your first language.” Wesley said irritably.
Giles came in at that moment and saw the three men tangled on the floor in their wedding finery and raised an eloquent eyebrow. “Is there something I ought to be telling Buffy about your previous university relationships?” he asked.
“No!” shouted Liam. “She’ll . . . Oh God!”
Gunn and Wesley looked down at him. “It’s a joke you moron,” Gunn said.
“Tha mi an amadan. Rannsachadh ‘amadan’ anns an leabhar tha mo brindeal an sin.” Liam shouted hysterically. “Why would Buffy want me?!”
“What’s he babbling about?” Giles asked.
Wesley frowned slightly. “He said something about being an idiot. And I think that saying about looking up something in a dictionary and finding his picture there.”
“Amadan means fool not idiot, not that it matters! I’m an idiot too and Buffy going to leave me for someone else-“
His hysterics had attracted attention and Faith strode in and slapped him. “You are being a complete moron! Buffy is not going to leave you at the altar and if you keep this up I’m going to gag and chain you up until you’re supposed to be exchanging vows.”
Liam calmed down until he heard Buffy’s voice outside the door. “Angel?”
“Buffy?” He ran over to the door and tried to yank it open. Buffy stopped him. “What? Oh no. You’re . . .”
“Not allowed to see me before the wedding. Remember?” Buffy said.
Liam froze and turned panicked eyes to the door. “Why are you here then?” From behind him he could dimly hear snickers from his friends as they derived great amusement from his hysterics. He paused in his terror long enough to glare them before returning his attention to the door. “You’re not gonna change your mind are you?”
“Not since you’ve reassured me that you’re going to go through with this by freaking out at the top of your lungs,” she said wryly through the door. “I’m just here to tell you that I’m not gonna leave you you goof.”
Liam started to breathe again after that pep talk and was fairly sane by the time he stood waiting for Buffy at the front of the church. He watched as Gunn and Faith walked down the aisle, then Fred and his mother, Wesley and Willow, and then there was, to him, an interminable pause. He was about to storm down the aisle and search for his bride when his mother grabbed his arm and held him in place. Exactly the same way she used to when he was five and wanted to chase pigeons at the mall.
Buffy appeared and he couldn’t feel anything below the neck. His whole world narrowed down to the small blonde skater in white. Somehow he managed the appropriate responses.
Liam looked absolutely magnificent, Buffy thought as she reached for his hand. He squeezed and smiled at reassuringly. Buffy felt a little glazed over through the whole ceremony. Liam was Catholic and had wanted a Catholic ceremony. Buffy determinedly *did not fidget* through the interminable ritual. Finally came the vows, rings, and the words she had been waiting for all day. “I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
And then they were kissing and there was no bad there. There was no bad for the rest of the evening even though Wesley got so drunk he barfed on Fred’s dress, Xander tried to dance and looked like Travolta having a seizure, and Anya insisted on toasting them. “I hope you have many excellent orgasms and that any children you have are very attractive and not before Xander and I have had any children.”
Everyone but Buffy and Liam’s mothers flushed while Joyce and Justine both shouted “Hear hear!”
Willow came over while the newlyweds were happily gazing into each other’s eyes and naught else. “Hey, am I interrupting anything?”
“Yes,” replied Buffy. “But go ahead anyways.” She tore her attention away from her husband, who whined at the loss of totally devoted attention. “Oh hush you.”
“I just wanted to wish you guys well and tell you people are starting to wrap up for the evening.” Willow smiled as her friends looked up eagerly at the news. “Yes you’ll be able to go home and practice making your mothers into grandmothers soon.”
“Willow!”
“Oh stop it. You were thinking the same thing.” Willow grinned a little more widely.
“True,” replied Liam and was punched by his wife. “Will I have to report you to the police for spousal abuse?”
They said goodbye to everyone at the reception and drove home. Liam practically ran to the bedroom and waited eagerly for about five minutes before he realised Buffy wasn’t about to appear. “Buffy?”
“Coming!” she shouted back from the bathroom.
“Well I’m not and I don’t know why,” he groused at the bathroom door.
“Funny,” she responded acerbically. “What? You can’t wait for like ten minutes?” He was about to respond when she appeared in the doorway dressed in a white corset, thong and long white gloves. “Worth waiting for?” she asked.
Liam made some vague vowel sounds before leaning down to kiss her. It began tenderly but before long she slipped her tongue into his mouth, stroking his tongue and driving him insane. Somehow he managed to get them to the bed and sat down, pulling her after him to straddle his legs. He leaned over to kiss down her neck, feeling his wife’s small hands undo the buttons of his shirt.
Buffy felt the last button go and grinned wickedly before leaning down lick at his nipples. Liam gasped and convulsively pulled her back up. His hands found the laces on her corset and undid them. He gently reached out to cup her breasts . . .
And the doorbell rang.
The couple stared at each other, unable to believe that someone had to call then. Buffy reached for a robe and wrapped it around herself before going to answer the door, leaving Liam to figure out what to do with his raging hard on.
At the door stood Henry Mackenzie looking sheepish. “I was wonderin’ if I might speak to Liam for a bit,” he said.
Buffy shook herself and said, “Come in. Liam sweetheart? I think you’d better get out here.”
“I don’t care if someone’s dead, it’s our wedding night and whoever it is can just . . . Dad.” Liam came to a halt and stared at his father standing in the living room.
Henry flushed as he took in his son’s state of dress. “I’d best come back another time.”
Liam was about to agree when he saw Buffy’s look. “It’s alright Dad. Why’re you here?”
“I watched your competition yesterday. I just . . . I’m sorry son. I misjudged ye.” Henry said softly. “I guess I just wanted ye to be more . . . I don’t know. Can you forgive me?”
Liam looked at his father. “What brought this on?” he asked, unwilling to hope.
“When your mother left I had a lot of time to think about what I’d done,” Henry told his son. “What kind of a man asks his wife to choose between himself and his son?” He held his hands out in a gesture of supplication and waited for Liam’s response.
There were tears in his eyes as he pulled his father into a hug. “I’m sorry I was such a disappointment,” he whispered.
“Never,” Henry told his son firmly. “I was wrong and I should never have said the things I did.” He pulled away and smiled. “You’ve got yourself a great lass there Liam. Don’t let her get away.”
Buffy grinned at the two men. “I’m not going anywhere. I can’t wait to get to know you better Mr. Mackenzie.”
“Call me Henry,” the older man said. “I’d best go apologise to my wife. Where is she stayin’?”
Liam gave his father directions and saw him off. When he turned around, Buffy had taken off the robe and was playing with the top of the corset. “Where were we?” she asked him. Liam just scooped her up and carried her off to the bedroom.
*****************
It was a month later in Beijing that Buffy heard the announcer say, “Next up, Buffy and Liam Mackenzie!”
She glanced at Liam, about to chew him out, when she noticed he looked as confused as she did. They went out and danced their short program. Buffy immediately stormed over to her coach. “Giles! Did you tell them I was supposed to be announced by my married name?”
“Yes,” he replied, “And before you start after me about my doing so, need I remind you that you wished for part of your new image to include the fact that you are a married pair?”
Buffy paused, looked for support on the matter she knew she wouldn’t get from her husband and grumped off. “Fine,” she said over her shoulder.
Later that evening, Liam joined her in their hotel room bed. She turned away from him. “Buffy-“ he began.
“Don’t.”
Liam forcibly turned her over. “Sweetheart, I know you don’t want to be known as ‘Angelus’ partner’, but don’t you think I worry about the same thing?”
She sighed. “Angel, it’s not just that.” Buffy reached out and cupped his face in her hand. “You helped me find myself. Be a person on my own. I just . . . I’m a little scared about losing me.”
He pulled her against him. “I guess I wasna helping by wantin’ to be called ‘the flying Mackenzies’.”
“Besides. I don’t wanna have to jump through flaming hoops and stuff.” Buffy giggled at the joke then became serious again. “I can’t help feeling that maybe you want a little wifey type to suit your manly image,” she said.
“Never.” Liam looked her in the eye. “I love you as you are. All the weird things you do, those insane American things you like and the way you can’t read maps and argue with me every time we get lost because o’ you.”
“Hey!” She was about to protest when he pulled her down and kissed her.
***************
They stood around, waiting to be called up to the rink for their turn on the free skate, listening to the Canadian team sing behind them.
“When you eat your Smarties/Do you eat the red ones last?”
“You okay?” Liam asked her, shooting an irritated glance at the team behind them.
“Do you suck them very slowly/Or crunch them very fast?”
“Yeah,” Buffy said and snuggled into her husband’s side.
“Eat that candy coated chocolate/Now tell me when I ask,” they sang.
Liam whipped around. “Will you two ever shut up!?”
“When you eat your Smarties do you eat the red ones last?” replied the other pair.
The PA came on. “Will Liam and Buffy Mackenzie please come to the rink?”
“Come on sweetie,” Buffy said, laughing. “You can kill them later.”
The Canadians smiled and waved and started to sing again. “Hockey Night in Canada! Hockey Night in Canada! Hockey Night in Canada Canadaaaa!”
Out on the ice, Buffy prepared for their make-or-break performance. They were in the lead as of the short program, but it was a thin margin and their free skate was tough. She nervously settled her gauzy blue and grey outfit one final time. She was dressed to look as ephemeral as possible so as to contrast more with Liam’s solid black outfit.
Then they settled down, standing with their backs to each other, waiting for the music to start. It began with a soft chant and Buffy slowly spun, reaching out to Liam, taking his hand and slowly circling the rink. Then they moved into the first lift. It was a long one and there were a lot of position changes overhead before she came down.
//Over the waves, you call to me
Shadow of dream, ancient mystery//
They went straight into the side-by-side spins. Ten rotations on each leg, the camel spins were in perfect unison as they turned. Buffy could feel the utter perfection of the moment. Each change came at the end of the line. Just as choreographed. Liam moved with her with perfect synchronicity.
//Oh how I long for your sweet caress
Oh how I long for you gentleness//
It had been hard to fit the jumps in, but this had been one of the few perfect spots. They did their combination, Quad axel, followed by a quadruple toe loop, flawlessly. Liam felt the energy flow from himself to Buffy back to him again. There was nothing to describe the moment. He was flying.
//Torn between sea mists and solid land
Nights when I’ve ached for a human hand//
Their second lift wasn’t as complicated as the first, instead it was a simple, but hard, straight one-armed lift, held for a long time. He lowered her back down and immediately prepared for the next move, their signature.
//I’ll come to you while the moon shines bright
But I must go free with the first streak of light//
The quad throw was normally tough, but tonight it felt as though they could not set a foot wrongly. They came out of the lift, and pulled close. Liam’s hands found her waist and tightened slightly in reassurance. Buffy squeezed back, and then she was floating through the air. Four turns in a quadruple axel and a perfect landing. Liam was right there for the spiral sequence. The arabesque took them around the rink to the applause of the audience.
//Over the waves you call to me
Shadow of dream ancient mystery//
Just as with the first verse, ten rotations each leg, ten per line. The combined spin was unusual. A Bielman spin, Buffy on one leg, her body forming a perfect oval with the other leg as Liam did a sit spin below, then a changeover into a tight two-footed spin which had them wrapped around each other, their legs tangled together.
//Oh how I long for your sweet caress
Oh how I long for your gentleness//
They came out of the spin to do a quick spread eagle before pulling into death spiral. Liam looked into Buffy’s eyes as he slowly let her down. She slid out in a widening circle until her body was skimming over the ice. Almost, but not quite touching the surface beneath her, Buffy looked weightless and Liam felt pride surge through him as he realised yet again that she was his.
The chant began again and they were in the final stretch. All that was left was the second jump combination and the footwork. It was an act of bravura to place the second set of jumps at the end when they were so tired, but Liam couldn’t feel it. Buffy was beside him and he felt her presence and the music lend him an energy he never knew he had.
Buffy exchanged glances with her husband and saw the sheer joy in the movement in his eyes. She had been tiring, but that one glance made her smile and she rocketed into the jumps. There was no flaw and the rotations matched perfectly. A perfect four on the lutz and then they did the quad Salchow landing with perfect synchronicity. They did their closing footwork sequence with a background roar in their ears dimly identified as the crowd cheering.
They heard the music fade away, finishing in the centre with their arms wrapped around each other. Slowly the couple pulled apart, their eyes locked and they smiled at each other. Finally the sounds the audience was making broke through the moment and both felt their exhaustion. Liam turned and smiled at the crowd then spun Buffy into a kiss. “What was that for?” she asked breathlessly.
“Because you are the most wonderful woman on the face of the Earth and I want you to know it,” he replied. Then he smiled, just for her, and said, “Maybe we’d best take our bows and clear the floor.”
Buffy giggled but didn’t reply as she curtsied, and then went to wait in front of the cameras for their scores. The girls-who-pick-stuff-up-that-was-thrown-on-the-ice appeared with the usual flowers and stuffed animals, as well as stuffed shamrocks and some homemade things that seemed to be pillowcases covered in Celtic knotwork.
And a blushing little Chinese girl brought out a pair of green silk boxers with an indecent proposal written on them. Buffy smiled and took them from her, holding them up so the camera could take in what was written on them. The cameraman shot her an “are you serious?” look. Liam just buried his head in his hands.
And the scores came up. “The technical scores: six-point-o, six-point-o, six-point-o, five-point-nine, six-point-o, six-point-o, six-point-o. The presentation scores are: six-point-o, six-point-o, six-point-o, six-point-o, six-point-o, six-point-o, six-point-o.”
The crowd roared and Buffy shrieked and leaped up and down, hugging her husband. Under cover of the crowd’s noise he said to her, “I can’t wait to get you home so we can celebrate in private.”
“Me neither,” she replied as they went to wait for their medal.
The End
Part 1
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Glossary:
Bielman spin - Woman spins on one leg and pulls the other up behind her, holding the blade in her hands making her body into an oval
axel - a kind of spinning jump and one of the hardest to do
spread eagle - the skater spreads his/her legs into second position, feet about a yard apart pointed out and glides sideways like that
loop - another kind of spinning jump
Russian split jump - instead of a split jump with one leg behind and the other in front, the legs are spread sideways during the jump
illusion turn - the skater turns on one leg and the essentially goes down while the leg goes up and then goes up while the leg goes down
scratch spin - those spins where the skaters turn really really fast and you wonder why they don't fall over afterward
backward scissor kicks - basically the idea is to jump, kick one leg up, then the other, and do this all while in the air. Doing it backwards means the kicks are behind instead of in front. Known properly as a butterfly kick.
side-by-sides - when pairs skaters do the same spins or jumps simultaneously - the challenge is to try to do them in perfect unison
flip - another spinning jump
split triple twist lift - this is a kind of overhead throw. The man picks up his partner and throws her straight up, making her spin like a football in flight overhead. The split part refers to a more difficult move than the standard twist, where the woman screws with the momentum by opening her legs and then closing them right before she's actually tossed. This link isn't perfect, but it should help give you the idea.
death spiral - the final product of the move is the man crouching on the ice and slowly spinning while he holds the woman's hand and turns her. She is all but lying down and the only thins holding her off the ice are her one skate blade and the man's hand. This is a move that relies very heavily on centripetal forces
camel spin - the leg in the air and the skater's body are supposed to form a flat line centred over the supporting leg
sit spins - the skater bends the supporting leg until he/she is almost sitting on the ice and sticks the other leg out
toe loop - another spinning jump, this one gets an assist by having the skater plant the toe of his/her skate in the ice to add momentum and height to the jump
spiral sequence - basically a section in a routine where the skaters are looking to cover the most ice on a single move, usually done on a spread eagle glide or one arabesque
two-footed spin - where the skater is turning on two feet instead of one
lutz - spinning jump
Salchow - spinning jump named for its inventor and pronounced sow-cow