Slapshots (Clement/Open)

"This is harder than I thought it would be."

Lyra turned and flipped her hockey stick, shouldering the curved end to her shoulder. Aw, the kid was already getting tuckered out...which was expected. Still didn't stop her from poking fun whenever possible. She had already attempted giving him an oversized stick earlier, which had been met with flat response.

"That's nothin' kiddo. Wait till you learn to keep your balance on ice skates AND try to make a shot past a goalie. It ain't easy."

And there would be time for it. If she recalled correctly, they still required permission to leave anywhere, much less to an ice rink. She still had to find one here, or close by enough to Pilot Ridge. This was still Vermont, there had to be one she may have missed! The equipment she managed to gather for the occasion was minimal as well: a goalie mask, hockey sticks, the balls serving as stand-ins for pucks and shin guards. It was like her brother's street hockey all over again!

"Can we do passing again?"

"No problem! You seem to be doing fine with the shovel and wrist shots overall. The snap shot and slap shot will take a bit of time to get right." Hell, her own shots still needed work, Lyra readily admitted that. It took technique and finding the sweet spot to fire a puck with acceptable accuracy to bypass a goalie. The girl flipped her stick so the curve hits the floor.

"Is that stick working out for you by the way? There's still the really tall one just in case." She'd thumb behind her, smirking. That particular hockey stick was comically over-sized when placed next to Clem. Totally worth it!

"It's easier than it looks to do it on skates. But that will be a lesson on its own." At least come time for the winter where it would merit skates. But given the newbishness of the sudden friendly, it would have to be one step a a time, just as anything in the world would be.

"Be fore you know it, it would all be muscle memory."

As for the resound "fuck you", Lyra grinned cheerfully. Exactly what she wanted to hear, the sweetest sound of reacting to a silly situation. Comically overgrown hockey stick - yes. Totally worth it! That and maybe she meant it, the runt could probably grow into it some day in the distant future. For now however, the moment was called into attention by the echoing clatter of her hockey stick against the floor.

"Most great goals follow a great pass. There's even an old hockey saying that "an assist is just as important as a goal", for one always leads to the other. The perfect pass is one that barely comes off the ice and right onto the stick of your teammate. We'll build to that as we go along."

She places her ball on the floor. Her bottom hand gripped a little more than a third of the way down the shaft of her stick, the top hand just underneath the end, and the puck resting in the middle of the blade of the stick.

"Forehand pass - you use this one when you see there's little to no traffic between yourself and the stick of your teammate. When you move forward, it should be one motion, including the follow through. As you move it forward, make sure to point your stick at your target on release." As she demonstrated, stopping short of actually hitting the ball into motion. "Key here is keeping your eyes on target, get ball or puck to your teammate."

NOW is where Lyra follows through, motioning the ball in one motion in his direction with a fair bit of speed. She would move away from him, picking another position in differing distance.

"Pass it back when you're ready, okay? Give yourself a little time to practice the motion and follow through." For now. With her, circumstances rarely remained static.