Closed Who needs "cool" anyway?

[Rose Glass]

Early on in her time at Hogwarts, Rose had realised an opportunity in the Courtyard. There was of course the large open space in the middle of the courtyard that was smooth, probably because it needed to be easily accessible, however it was also the main connecting point to a number of the pathways that lead around the castle. The further away from the courtyard, the pebblier, however it was still quite smooth around the edge, something that the first year had been excited to discover.

Over the last few months, Rose had been hesitant to get her skates out of their hiding place in her dormitory. Honestly, she felt a little childish, especially given they were bright pink and covered in white flowers. It was so far from the cool aesthetic she was trying to give off, but since Freddie didn't seem to be interested in her even when she was being cool (or cheeky, or smart, or supportive) then what did she have to lose? She'd ignored anyone that she thought was staring at her as she made her way down to the courtyard, skates under her arms, and took a seat on the bottom of the steps outside the entrance. The blonde slipped off her canvas shoes, before tucking her toes into the skates and strapping them up as tightly as she could around her ankles. This was something she enjoyed more than flying, more than running or swinging. Besides, she was good at it. Finally, tying her hair up into a little bun on the top of her head, Rose was ready.

The Ravenclaw clambered up from her position on the steps, ready to lose herself in the feeling of the wind against her face and hoped she wouldn't knock over and prefects or professors in the process.

 

[Freddie Lagowski]

Freddie lay starfished on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He didn't waaaaaaaant to do his homewooork. It was boring. And there wasn't any point. He already knew all the forks and trowels and stuff. Maybe he just wouldn't do it. Declan's spider ate it - oh no, big shame. Hmm. He should find someone with a cat.

He was gonna go play guitar.

It was sunny outside. A girl was putting skates on in the courtyard. Wait - that wasn't just a girl. That was Rose. Freddie stopped in the door - just stood there, twisting the ring on his thumb around. Maybe he should say hi. He wasn't avoiding her, or anything. He just didn't know if she was mad at him after the Ares stuff. Pink skates? With flowers on? That was really cute. Oh-

"Wait!" he said, running up behind her. There was a rock. He kicked it, and it just bounced away. "Oh. I thought it was in your wheel." He'd seen her fall over in his head, seen her go flying, and panicked. Ugh. Well... he was talking to her now. "You can skate?"​

 

[Rose Glass]

Rose had taken no more than two steps off when she heard someone telling to wait. What was it? Was she not allowed to skate? Sometimes at home there would be areas she wasn't allowed to, because she could have hurt others if she bumped into them. It wouldn't have been too far fetched to realise that she should have checked for warning signs before assuming no one would mind. She turned to see Freddie running up in her direction. She hated herself for it, but her first instinct was to take a few more steps away. Just careful steps, just to keep her distance. After everything that had happened with Ares, and the bruise that was lingering across his cheeks, Rose didn't need to have it spelt out to her what had happened when she'd left Freddie in the corridor that day. She'd offered to help him but instead he'd chosen to get involved with the boy he'd told her to ignore.

The blonde glanced down as Freddie kicked the only rock in the vicinity. There was no way that was getting stuck in her wheels and not just because it was bigger than the wheel in the first place. She'd paused on the spot now, unsure whether or not she should keep going. Suddenly it occurred to her that Freddie was now looking at her awkward skates, the pink blaringly obvious in the sun. She was about to lie, to tell him that they belonged to Rouge instead, only she couldn't bring herself to. If she lied, that meant she cared what Freddie thought about her, and she told herself that that was no longer the case. No, she didn't care anymore. Not much, anyway. "Yes, I can skate," she replied, feeling a little awkward, the conversation superfluous. What did he want from her? "Can.. do you?" she asked, wondering if that was why he was asking her now. She didn't take him for the type though, or if he did, he was probably one of those that rode a skateboard instead, or perhaps he was better on a bike.

 

[Freddie Lagowski]

Wait. Freddie knew that. She told him that, when they went to the park. Shoot. Well, maybe she forgot she told him too. They talked about a lot of other stuff, like music, and box forts. Rose talked way more back then. She was quiet now, ‘cause she was mad at him, probably. “No,” Freddie said. “I don't do exercise." Unless walking counted as exercise. He walked all the way round the grounds, like, five times a day, usually. Okay, more like three times. Five if he was bored. Anyway, he couldn't skate. That was just a bad idea. "How do you make yourself stop?" he asked. "How do you... brake?"​

 

[Rose Glass]

Rose couldn't quite stop herself in time from frowning as Freddie told her he didn't do exercise. Everyone did. What was he talking about? "You don't like it?" Rose was half hoping Freddie could skate too because then at least she'd have someone to go around the grounds with on eight wheels. The blonde glanced down to her shoes, "Um, there's a few ways," she wasn't sure if Freddie was just trying to be polite or whether he was going somewhere with his questions, to an apology for the other day, perhaps. "You can use these grippy bits at the back, or you just do what I do and move your feet like this," she arranged her feet so her toes were pointed toward, "It stops you moving forward although you might spin in a circle for a little bit." As long as there wasn't a huge drop in front of you, it did the job.

 

[Freddie Lagowski]

"Not really," said Freddie, hoping that sounded cool. He did like gym class, actually, but... he always had to sit out of the really fun stuff. Like dodgeball, and the parachute games. Skating looked fun, too. It was probably better than skateboarding. You didn't have to bend your legs that much, right? Yeah, but you still had to use your legs. And what if he fell over? He'd be going so fast, he'd knock all his teeth out. Or he'd fall on his back and make everything hurt bad again.

Or... maybe he'd just have fun. He watched Rose's feet. "That looks hard," he said. She wasn't even moving, and it looked hard. "Have you ever fell over?"​

 

[Rose Glass]

Rose wondered whether Freddie was just bored. Maybe he was taking pity on her and thought she wanted him to approve what she was doing. No, she didn't want to think like that. She didn't want to assume the worst when Freddie had never done anything to prove that was the case. "It's not that hard," she told him. At least, it wasn't that hard anymore. When she'd first started she'd had to hold onto the wall for hours. The blonde nodded, "Lots of times," she had no bruises to show for it though; they'd all healed since the last time she'd skated. "It's alright though, I heal pretty quick!" she smiled, not wanting Freddie to be concerned. On the topic of bruises however, Rose thought she'd have been a little insensitive not to acknowledge the elephant in the room, or in this case the bruise between Freddie's eyes. "Do you heal quickly?" she asked, unsure whether her bruises lasted as long as his did. It had only been a few days, granted, but she still hoped he'd understand it was a roundabout way of asking him how he was doing.

 

[Freddie Lagowski]

Hmm. Not that hard for Rose. Freddie fell over a lot even when he didn't have wheels on his feet. Just stood up and fell over sometimes. His balance was really bad. He looked at her, frowning. Wasn't she scared of getting hurt? Wasn't she scared of, like, breaking her ankle, or slamming into the wall? Just 'cause she healed fast, didn't mean it wouldn't hurt bad.

Freddie itched his cheek with his shoulder, not because it was itchy, but so he could look down. She was looking at his bruises. From fighting. He didn't tell her about hitting Ares, but she obviously knew. That was why she didn't wanna talk to him. She was still mad. "I don't know," he said. "Just normally." Should he say something? Or would she just forget about it, if he pretended like it didn't happen? “Are you gonna skate, or? I wanna see.”​