Slippery Slope (Rhett)

[Ulrich Schneider]

Rhett wanted their first "date" to be an ice skating date, and Ulrich agreed. The German knew that Rhett was still learning how to ice skate, so he would have to be there to help him out, just like when the roles were reversed when Rhett was teaching Ulrich how to swim. Hopefully though, one of them won't end up coming inches away from death.

Ulrich didn't own a pair of skates, but luckily there was a vendor at the lake taking advantage of the frozen surface by renting skates out to anyone willing to pay. The German dressed warmly in a thick, camouflage jacket, khaki pants, black gloves, and a black Call of Duty beanie to keep his head warm.

The air was cold and a fresh layer of snow covered the ground. And as they got on the busy, Ulrich noticed a few people were shivering. They must have underestimated how cold it was. Sitting next to Rhett, Ulrich took off his gloves and took hold of Rhett's nearest hand. He was excited about the whole dating thing. It was a brand new experience for him, and even if it made him a little uncomfortable being in public, he tried to stay optimistic. He wanted their first date to be fun. "Your hands are cold," Ulrich mentioned as he squeezed a bit tighter.

When the bus arrived at the right stop, the pair got off of it and made the short walk to the lake. It was frozen, as expected, and there were plenty of people skating across the surface. Some looked comfortable on the ice while others were falling down and busting their asses. People of all skill levels were present.

Ulrich walked toward the vendor with the skates and rented a pair for himself. He admired the metal on the bottom. With a bit of sharpening, it could function as a fine knife blade.

He slipped the borrow skates on his feet and carefully made his way toward the ice while looking back at Rhett. "I'll try to catch you if you fall," he said said as he put his arms out, urging Rhett to join him.

[Rhett Goddard]

Rhett didn't like using gloves. There was something about not being able to be nimble with his fingers that bugged him, even if there were no plans of picking any pockets or anything like that. Even if he wasn't stealing anything, and he had stopped doing so for some time now, he'd always be a pickpocketer no matter what, and thick gloves, like those used to keep your hands warm, they made him feel constrained, heavy and slow. That's why his hand was cold when Ulrich grabbed it, but in between having it held like that, and the couple of kisses that were interchanged between them, both got reasonably warmer.

Unlike Ulrich, Rhett did own a pair of ice skates. Well, in all honesty, they weren't his per se. He had stolen them last year when he had come here with Odion for the first time. Now, as he was shining new lights on things and turning over a new leaf, it made him feel bad that he had other person's ice skates. In a sudden flash of guilt and following his trail of redemption, Rhett followed Ulrich to the man who rented a pair for himself as well, leaving his other skates lying around in the snow for someone else to find and own.

"Good," Rhett said as he swallowed saliva while looking at the ice from the edge. "because I'm sure I will."

Taking a deep breath, he placed his right foot in the ice and pushed himself straight towards the German, who received him with his arms open into a hug that Rhett used to cling himself unto.

"Don't let go of me." Rhett whispered softly.

He was hoping Ulrich couldn't tell how vulnerable Rhett was being right now. It wasn't a side that Rhett let others see often, after all, he was quite a master of deception, but in the ice, grabbing Ulrich with such strength to not fall, there was little to no use in faking anything. Instead, Rhett took another deep breath and released Ulrich's hug slightly while grabbing his hand and squeezing it tightly.

"Ok, let's do this." Hands together, Rhett pushed himself forward.

[Ulrich Schneider]

Ulrich held on tight to Rhett's hands and slowly and carefully skated backwards at the same time (meaning Rhett was moving forward). He assumed everyone behind him would hopefully move out of the way, and they did. Ulrich kept the pace slow and steady, holding up Rhett's hands to help him keep his balance, and they spent a fair amount of time going around in circles like that, just getting used to the feeling of being on the ice.

After a while, Ulrich decided that it was time for Rhett to try and stand on his own. "Okay," the German said with confidence in his voice, "I'm going to let go now... so... don't panic... just move like you were moving while I was holding on."

Ulrich separated his hands from Rhett's, but he stayed at a close enough distance to catch the older boy if he lost his balance and fell. The German watched Rhett closely on the ice. He looked vulnerable, and it was quite an eye-opening experience for Ulrich. It was a unique sight to see. Rhett usually composed himself better. However, Ulrich didn't see anything wrong with it. Everyone had weaknesses, and as much as he hated to admit it, so did he.

"You're doing great," he said to reassure his date, "keep it up."

[Rhett Goddard]

As he was going forward, Rhett couldn't stop himself from having deja vus from both of times in the ice before. The second had gone far much better than the first one, and yet, his face and the ice met many times then. No blood was dripped, though, like the first time, which was quite a good thing. Hopefully, with Ulrich's help, he would not feel the disgusting taste of salt, ice and dirt.

And Ulrich was proving himself to be quite useful.

Following a straight line in the ice, specially with someone's help, had never been a problem to Rhett, so when Ulrich warned him that he was going to release him, Rhett didn't fear. It was still cute to see Ulrich having that slightly worried look, though.

"I'm fine..." Rhett reminded Ulrich and released Ulrich's hands.

He was now skating in a straight like by himself, pushed by the momentum he and Ulrich initially had. Rhett nodded at Ulrich and kept it up. As long as he didn't move, things were good, but by now, he was getting a little too close to the edge of the ice. He had to turn. He had to move.

"Emm..." Rhett muttered to himself and prepared to yell louder while turning his face around to look for Ulrich, who seemed to out of view. "Help?" Rhett's arm flailed around. "Randolf!"

[Ulrich Schneider]

Ulrich grabbed Rhett around his waist from behind and pulled their body's together when the older boy shouted his middle name. The German had only momentarily moved out of the way so Rhett would have enough room to turn, but apparently he wasn't quite capable of doing that yet.

"It's okay... I've got you," he whispered as he allowed them to come to a slow stop before reaching the edge of the lake. He then turned Rhett around so that they were face to face. "I told you I'd catch you, didn't I?" Ulrich smirked and even blushed a little. "You can trust me."

That was the truth. Rhett absolutely could trust Ulrich. He was a loyal son of a gun to people he cared about, and he definitely cared about the French boy.

"And... you don't have to call me Randolf," he explained, "well... unless you really want to..."

Ulrich pulled Rhett away from the edge and skated a short distance away from him. "Skate to me," he said as he put his hands up. "Like before."

[Rhett Goddard]

Ulrich appearing from behind made Rhett feel safe again. He nodded to the German and sighed in relief as they stopped softly. The following words, Rhett didn't have anything to say to that. He was in such an odd place and he felt definitely awkward. He was incapable of holding his own self together. No lies, no masks, no nothing, this was Rhett at his most naked state ever, and Rhett hoped Ulrich was appreciating what he was seeing, after all, that was Rhett's objective with this date: letting Ulrich see what lied below the French blonde's exterior.

What that was, though, was for Ulrich to decide.

"But I like Randolf..." Rhett said softly. "you don't?"

Rhett had never understood quite well why people denied or hid their middle names as if they weren't part of their names. Personally, Rhett liked his middle name a lot, and used it more often than Rhett, actually, although for different reasons. Calling people by their middle names was one of Rhett's quirks. He didn't quite know the reason behind it beside it flowing out of his mouth much more naturally than people's first names, but just as he started calling Odion by his name, and not his last name, at the ginger's request, and Lani as well, he would do the same with Ulrich as well if the German wanted to.

"No! Wait!" Rhett flailed his arms towards Ulrich again as the younger boy skated away. "Come back!" Gathering courage, the blonde tried his best attempt at pushing himself forward towards Ulrich, and started a slow straight movement with both arms slightly raised on his sides to keep balance. "Don't get far!" He whined. "Randolf!"

[Ulrich Schneider]

"No, Randolf is okay," Ulrich replied. He had no problem with his middle name, it was just weird for people to call him that. "You can call me that if you'd like."

And that's exactly what Rhett continued to call him.

Ulrich giggled, yes, giggled, when Rhett whined for him. He put his arms out and caught the older boy when he finally made it. "I knew you could do it," he said reassuringly before moving in for a solid kiss on the lips. It felt like the right thing to do. "You just need to move around more and you'll get better at it in no time."

Ulrich could already feel himself opening up more to Rhett. The French boy has managed to break through Ulrich's barriers and pull him out of his shell (at least a little bit). "I'm having fun," the German said seemingly out of nowhere as he skated away from Rhett once agian.

[Rhett Goddard]

The problem was exactly that: Rhett didn't want to move around any more. Past experience told him that if he did, he'd fall. It's not pessimism, no, in Rhett's mind, it was a logical conclusion pragmatically determined. Then again, he hadn't fall yet. This was by far the longest Rhett had stayed in ice without tasting it with his mouth. He could suppose it was a success, which he attributed more or less to Ulrich, but that he also attributed to not moving much and not trying to actually learn, but instead, simply trying to survive in the ice.

"Ugh..." Rhett felt frustrated again as Ulrich skated away and left Rhett standing there in the ice. "I'm not that much..." He muttered to himself as he looked around, trying to determine just how many people were looking at his embarrassing experience. "I'm not going there!" He yelled at Ulrich while crossing his arms in his chest and putting a serious face. "I'm staying right here..."

[Ulrich Schneider]

Ulrich smirked at Rhett's defiance. The French boy was stubborn, but there was one thing he was going to learn very soon: Ulrich is patient... very patient. He skated a few circles around Rhett before mimicking him by crossing his arms and standing the same way as him. "I can wait all day," he explained with a hint of challenging determination in his voice. The distance between the two boys wasn't very great. If Rhett focused, he could easily close the gap without falling down and busting his ass on the ice.

Waiting was one thing Ulrich was amazing at. It was a major part of hunting, especially deer. Deer can hear hunters coming their way and escape, which is why most deer hunters wait them out in deer stands high off the ground. Sometimes on the hunt, Ulrich had to wait hours before seeing a deer walk by. In some cases, a deer wouldn't appear for the entire day. It took extreme patience to hunt deer, patience that Ulrich developed into a prominent part of his personality.

"Do you think you can make it off the ice on your own?" Ulrich asked curiously as he looked over to the edges of the lake. They were close to the center, the farthest point from solid ground. "If not, you might want to get over here. I'd hate for you to freeze to death because you refuse to move." He wanted Rhett to skate to him. He wanted him to realize that he could do it if he tried. Ulrich knew Rhett was nimble, well-balanced, and physically capable of it. If he could do parkour, he could ice skate. He just had to overcome whatever barriers were holding him back and do it. It may not be perfect at first, but babies don't come out of the womb walking. They try at it out and practice until they perfect it. The same was true for Rhett on the ice. "Come on."

[Rhett Goddard]

Every single instinct in Rhett's body was telling him that this had been a bad idea. Not only was feeling more terrified and vulnerable with every passing moment, but it was visibly showing in his face and body language. There was no need on being good at reading people to see how uncomfortable Rhett was. He was definitely not having fun.

"I'm pretty sure I can wait too..." Rhett maintained his balance in his spot while doing his best in trying not to roll his eyes. "Oh, that," The blonde referred to getting out of the ice on his one. "that I most definitely can't." Rhett smirked a bit at the German's little joke. "So you'd let me freeze to death here?"

Rhett wasn't one to let his fears conquer him usually, but this was not because he was courageous, on the contrary, Rhett has always been a coward, he just happens to have a very low number of fears. He makes his best to avoid being in front of them, using his manipulative personality to deter situations from getting close to them, but once he has to face something he fears, Rhett becomes exactly what Ulrich was seen: helpless. Fragile. Soft.

"No, you come." Rhett extended his hand towards Ulrich. "I don't want to learn to skate, I came here to skate with you."

[Ulrich Schneider]

"I'm not going to let you freeze to death," Ulrich said followed by giving Rhett a devious smirk. "I might let you get pretty close to it though." If he could take a seat on the ice, he would, but since he can't, he skated a short distance back and forth with his eyes never looking away from the older boy. He wasn't ready to crack and didn't plan on giving in to Rhett's demands anytime soon. He sensed the French boy's fear, and one of the best ways to handle a fear was to confront it head on. If he gave up and skated to Rhett, he would never get over his fears. Ulrich felt like he was doing him a favor.

Rhett put his hand out, and the temptation to move in and grab it was high for Ulrich. However, he continued to stand his ground. Rhett would have to try a lot harder than that to get him to cave in. "How can you skate with me if you don't even want to learn how?" Ulrich asked curiously. "Look," he began to bargain, "if you skate to me I... I'll... do whatever you want me to do... one thing... anything... you name it." If that didn't convince Rhett, he didn't know what would.

[Rhett Goddard]

"Because you'll guide me." Rhett responded simply. "It's basic physics," Rhett left his hand still extended at the other blonde. "if you let me grab you, by the hips, maybe, and you skate, I won't have to do anything besides holding you... strongly."

At least it made sense perfect sense in Rhett's head. Then again, he still had to try it, and it certainly looked far easier, and fun, than lousily attempting to skate. Ulrich had probably missed the point on Rhett's words about what he had come here to do, it wasn't necessarily about "skating" with Ulrich, but about "being" with him. Rhett knew it was partially his fault, he knew Ulrich and his inability to see things beyond what they look, or at least to look at them as deeply as Rhett does. He wondered for a small second if he should make himself clearer now, but he decided against it upon the German's following deal attempt.

Finally placing his hand back down, trying not to over-think the fact that Ulrich had left it hanging, Rhett placed one foot in front of the other and pushed himself forward while using his arms to sloppily balance himself. As he neared the German, Rhett embraced him and squeezed him with as much strength as he could before locking lips with him for several seconds.

"You owe me." Rhett said without loosening his grip on the German one bit.

[Ulrich Schneider]

"I knew you could do it," Ulrich struggled to say through Rhett's tight hold around him. He had to pry Rhett's arms off a bit so he could breathe. "You're right... I do owe you," he said next, "but at least you know how to skate now. You're not very good yet... but you can't say you don't know how."

Ulrich began skating around slowly, moving in large, wide circles around the entire lake with Rhett in tow. He decided to let loose some small talk in the meantime. "What was life like for you... back in Europe?"

[Rhett Goddard]

If Ulrich thought that Rhett knew how to ice-skate only because managed to push himself forward a couple of meters, the German was very wrong. You couldn't learn to ice skate in less than an hour, specially when you had been trying it for more than a couple of times now. Rhett still did not know how to skate, he was simply using Ulrich to provide the movement and give him stability and balance.

"Huh?" Ulrich's question came out of nowhere, and luckily he couldn't see the reaction on Rhett's face. "Well..."

Rhett definitely didn't want to talk about it. He never talked about his past, even if it was very important to him. That was maybe one of the reasons why Odion was so right for him, because Odion was part of his past, and thus, Rhett either didn't need to talk about it, or it simply didn't bother. He didn't have secrets with Odion, as Odion had the same secrets as he did.

He just didn't know if he should share them with Ulrich right now, or if he should at all.

"I liked it." Rhett answered. "I like Europe. I may be going back after graduation."

[Ulrich Schneider]

"I've never been outside of this country before," Ulrich said honestly, "well... other than when I was born, but I don't even remember that, so it doesn't count."

He was far too young to remember Germany... or what happened to his parents. That was still a mystery yet to be solved by anyone. Ulrich never thought about it too much, and he definitely didn't feel like dwelling on it during the date. There was a time a place for sulking, and ice skating on a date wasn't it.

"Going to Europe sounds like fun." The more Ulrich thought about it, the more he wanted to take a trip there himself. He could head to Germany, visit some WWII historical locations, and maybe even explore where he was born. He saw it as more than just a vacation. It was like a journey of self-discovery. Maybe he could even try and figure out what happened to his parents? It was unlikely, but he figured it wouldn't hurt to at least try one day. "I might go there one day as well... to Germany I mean."