Chapter Text
The ice doesn’t care, it doesn’t care if your tired, it doesn’t ask for you last name, it doesn’t soften your fall, and it doesn’t care for your tears. The ice doesn’t care, but it stays. That’s exactly how Sharp liked it.
Sure, the ice is cold and brittle, but it’s also calm, it’s constant. Sharpness Conexion. His name weighed heavy, but only when the world was watching, when it was just him and the ice everything felt lighter.
And as the sun broke the horizon it was just Sharp and the ice.
Sharp adored ice skating, not what ever the new scoring system was - the one that favoured flare and skill, he adored what ice skating used to be — when it was an art not a event.
He loathed the new generation of skaters the ones that only reached the top because the rules changed, because the judges cared more about ability and strength than elegance. Figure skating should be artistic, a form of expression, not a series of jumps.
As Sharp glides around the arena, he watches as a skater steps onto the rink with the practiced efficiency of someone who’s done this time and time again. JudeLow Sasso. One of the up and coming starts, one of the skaters that only touched fame because of the new rules.
Jude was know for his ability to land any jump, turn and spin every time, with the efficiency of a machine. He was probably Sharp’s only true completion for the gold medal, ironic how they were supposed to be on the same team.
So, before most people got out of bed, before the morning assembly, before they even unpacked, the two skaters destined for gold, circled around the rink never talking, never interacting.
And the two stayed in this stalemate waiting for the other to leave, or fall, the tension growing with each second, until Jude almost fell, Sharp saw Jude’s skate hit the ice at the wrong angle, saw the brief flash of panic on Jude’s face, the panic that turned into calculation, as Jude spun around pushing his face down and leg up, barely releasing the momentum.
And that’s how it stayed, Sharp playing around with beginning of his performance and Jude jumping again and again constantly adjusting.
And as the clock reached nine, the two both exited the rink on opposite ends.
The next time the two stood within 10 meters of each other was during the room assignments, the paper was stuck on the wall, the both of them glaring at it like it was the cause of world hunger. Somewhere along the list under room fifteen, Sharpness and JudeLow where written together. The rest of the team found it hilarious, Tai kept on snickering, Parker had winked at Jude at least five times, and Saps was hunched over shoulders shaking, the rest where in various stages between giggling and full on cackling.
Jude and Sharp stood frozen, both not sure one whether this counted as harassment or if killing the other could be counted as self defence.
And that’s how they got here, the two of them passively aggressively existing in the same room, yet avoiding the other like the plague. The tension in the air was sharp, and cold. Something was bound to happen eventually.
That something happened when Sharp walked into the main area and on the TV screen was a collection of acting routines, with Jude scribbling furiously on a notepad, currently he was watching a performance done by Ferre, Sharp had seen it to, he was in the crowd when it was preformed.
When Ferre finished the routine, Jude skipped forward to another, this time done by ItzRealMe, and as he swapped between the two performances, he realised what Jude found so interesting. The two performances were done to a similar beat yet Itz’s one felt smoother, less choppy, and Jude had realised why.
“What” The effect was instant, Jude stiffened, closing the notebook.
“What what?”
“You know, what did you realise?”
Jude’s brow furrowed, trying to figure out if this is all one elaborate trick. Sharp stared, not threatening, just really curious.
“Itz’s jumps when Ferre lands.”
The silence beckons Jude to continue.
“Itz jumps on the beat where as Ferre tries to land, but you can’t calculate the time you spend in the air exactly, so he lands slightly off beat sometimes.”
“Huh, you know you jump like Itz.”
“What? Thank you?”
“No, I mean it, I was watching you jump this morning and you jump with the same accuracy as Itz, and with the same power too.”
Jude hummed in response turning back to the TV, as Sharp heads out to talk to Spongs and Saps. And something about the silence has changed not enough to be noticed but the change is still there.
And that night when the two of the the head out to skate again the tension is slightly warmer, still there though. As the two of the begin the usual avoid the others side of the rink and secretly smiling when the other falls, Sharp wonders why Jude ever answered his question.
But as the two glide on the rink their coach finally arrives. ItzRealMe.
The two both glide to a stop, half in awe that he really decided to coach them. The rest of the team enters the rink filling up the once empty space.
And as Itz enters the rink he starts the session.
“Twenty laps around the rink. Now” And he proceeds to smirk as the collective team groans.
And as Sharp and Jude start their laps Itz stops them, “I’ve heard a lot about the two of you, I want see what’s true. Right now show me two quads”
Sharp glanced at Jude who he motioned for Sharp to go first. Sharp pushed his blades into the ice, marking it in careful lines, feeling the ice flake off in small pieces. He travelled backwards pushing his skates backwards, gliding with practiced precision.
He pushes his left leg back, kicking his toe slightly into the ice, pushing himself up, clasping his hands by his side, counting the rotations.
1, he felt the wind rust past his face.
2, he felt his ponytail loosen.
3, he felt the clicking of his skate blades.
4, he felt the ice beneath his skates.
He pushed his blade backwards, wobbling slightly, flaring out his hands in response he kicks is toe into the ice again, and as he spins through the air he feels the slight difference in height. And as he starts the third jump, he feels his skate nick the floor
He pushes his torso down lifting his other leg, and prays he doesn’t eat a chunk of ice. Somehow despite how close he was, Sharpness doesn’t fall. A voice in the back of his head screams about coping Jude, but he pushes it down.
“Nice save, work on your consistency though.” Sharp nods, a weird feeling bubbling inside of him, he’d been complimented on a save that wasn’t even his own.
Jude waited idle near by waiting until Itz gestured for him to go. With practiced precision and little to no start he drove his skate into the ice preforming the first quad with an ease that surprised both Sharp and Itz. And the minute his blade touched the ice, he pushed off again.
It stunned Sharp how much power Jude had, a bit too much power apparently, because after four spins he was still slightly off the ice. This apparently caught Jude off guard too as when his foot finally touched the ice, his knee buckled. Sharp watched as Jude’s eyes sparkled again, with the same calculation Sharp saw this morning.
Jude pushed his entire body down tucking himself into a sitting spin. And Sharp watches in a mixture of wonder and horror as Itz smiles, a small one the screams this one has potential.
And that part of Sharp, the part that despised Jude for being so strong technically, and for rivalling him, for being so good, for how easy winning came for him. The part screamed at him for talking to Jude, copying him. And even deeper down he saw the power Jude had and realised Jude would probably win gold, take his spot at the top of the podium.
Why did Jude have to come along now. Right before the biggest completion of his life, right before the fucking olympics.
The rest of the afternoon blurred past Sharp, all he could think about was that smile, that silent acknowledgement.
Later that night after dinner, Jude and Sharp sit opposite of each other, aggressively stabbing at their food, though if either them had the energy they would kick the other.
Sharp still had no clue why Itz had pulled the two of them here, he would much rather sit with the rest of the team, and he’s sure Jude would too, although it’s not like he care what Jude thinks.
And as the two of them sit there in passive aggressive silence, staring at the food like it had personally condemned them to eternal suffering.
Then the vibe changed, going from oh god fuck the heavens and the hells and all the gods that condemned me, to the heavens scream for me but I find the hells warm enough.
Jude and Sharp look up in sink somehow both sensing the change in atmosphere. Standing before the table, is Marlow. The Marlow that holds the top three scores of all time in ice skating history, the Marlow the broke the world record eleven times, the first of the two skaters in history to complete the Super Slam.
He light coming form the window caught the edges of her hair, forming a halo around her head. The cafeteria was silent, the kind that whispered of legends told time and time again.
Sharp, stared at Marlow, the one skater he looked up to more than the rest, the one he would always aim to beat. From the corner of his eye he saw Jude look up to eyes widening in confusion
“You know Itz has told me quite a lot about you two,” Marlow smiles softly
Itz who was standing behind her adds, “What she’s saying is that she’ll be joining us on the ice tomorrow.”
Somehow the two of them manage not to look like idiots as Marlow and Itz walk off. And as the cafeteria chatter started again, Jude and Sharp sat there in utter awe and disbelief.
“Marlow is coaching us? Did I hear that right?”
“What else could you have possibly heard?” Sharp snapped back, although there was slightly less bite. Going through hell together was apparently really good at forcing people to like each other.
“I don’t know but my brain is legit mush from all those spins.”
“Honestly, for real though. Like did we have to do ten of them?”
“I have no clue but honestly that part was easy, I hated the coping performances part.”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN that part was easy, bro my legs were shaking by the third one!”
“Like I said easy,” Jude smirked, and suddenly all camaraderie was gone between them.
“Bro what do you mean, the coping was hard? Like you just move your arms fancily, and do a few turns.”
“Just?! Bitch I ate the fucking ice like seven times in one routine.”
“Skill issue,” Sharpness sang, sticking out his tongue at Jude. If looks could kill Sharp would be a dead man thrice over, honestly the only reason he was still alive was probably because neither he nor Jude could stand up for more than 2 minutes.
Jude sunk his head into his hands, “You are fucking insufferable, oh my God —”
“Yes, you called?” Sharp smirked.
“God please give me patience, actually please give me strength, also forgive me for my actions.” Jude muttered
“I think you said it wrong.”
“I think I’m going to smash your face in.”
“As if you could reach me.” Although Sharp pushed his chair further form the table.
“You know what,” Jude smiled lifting his head out of his hands.
“What? — Jude what?” Sharp was pushing further and further away form the table.
Jude smiled stabbing at a mushy eggplant with a fork, he then proceeds to chase after sharpness with a soggy eggplant.
That’s how the two talented protégées in the second half of this century end up running around the near empty cafeteria, one chasing the other with a soggy eggplant.
One of the few people left, excluding Marlow and Itz who were ‘eating’, betting on if Jude would catch up to Sharp, was the rest of the skating team. The group of the sitting on a long table, food left forgotten or finished on the plates.
Sponges slid fifty dollars across the table, “If someone trips Sharp and Jude, I’ll pay”
Several people reached forward, the one that snatched belonged to ParkerGameBrain. Sliding the 50 bucks into his pocket he stands up a screams to the top of his lungs.
“REMEMBER THE RABBIT INCIDENT”
Jude’s head instantly swivels, his body does not, and he ends up tripping over something between his feet and the souls buried beneath them.
Sharp also looks at Parker too, but he stops running, unfortunately for him Jude is close enough to him that they fall like a stack of dominos.
Sometime between hitting the floor and falling through the air the two of them react, Sharp spins around completely and Jude catches himself with his hands. Leading the quite the position. Sharp lying on the ground with his elbow’s propped against the carpet, Jude onto of him arms extended just enough that his head isn’t on Sharp’s chest.
For a few moments they stay like that breaths mixing, then Jude hears a small snickering, he turns to Sharp, “Are you laughing at me?”
“Yes, I am, what are you going to do about it? Kiss me?” HOLY SHIT WHAT JUST CAME OUT OF MY MOUTH
“That’s probably the only reason I’d kiss you?” OH, GOD, WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT??
Sharp sputters for a bit, before gaining his composure “So, what’s the bunny incident.”
Jude’s face flushes crimson, “Rabbit, not bunny, and it nothing, forget you ever heard about it.”
“What’s there to hide — Bunny.” WHY THE FUCK DID I SAY THAT??
HOLY SHIT, WHAT DID HE JUST CALL ME!!! “Nothing, nothing at all, don’t you agree — Princesses.” WHY AM I PLAYING ALONG??
In the distance someone whistles. “Dam, get a room.”
The two instantly end up on opposite side of the cafeteria, it is only then when the watch in horror as Itz slides Marlow a twenty.
“I see the both of you have energy to spare, don’t worry tomorrow will be harder! I’ll see you both at the rink, 6:30 sharp.” And with that both Itz and Marlow depart.
A synchronised groan comes from Sharp and Jude, as the rest of the team recover from the shock, bursting into a chaotic mess, of screaming, laughing and paying up bets.
Somehow Jude and Sharp manage to escape from the rest of the team and the two of them collapse in there respective bedrooms, somehow managing to keep up the glares while barely being able to walk.
Sharp sits on his bed, looking towards the moon. He thought about something his mom once told him. Something about love. He forgot about it.