Derek looks over to Rossi. “Coach? Is that... Is that a fourteen year old who can’t skate?”
Rossi raises an eyebrow. “Are you a fifteen year old who can’t be nice?” There’s a crash and a yelp and the new kid falls again, landing in a pile of limbs on top of a very concerned JJ. Rossi sighs. “He can skate, just not very well,” he admits.
“Coach, are you sure about this?”
“I wasn’t sure about bringing you on, and look where we are now.” Rossi nudges him with his stick. “Go say hi.”
Derek approaches the new kid with trepidation. He’s gotten up from his collision with JJ and is wobbling his way over to the locker room end of the ice. He’s going to try to join in the shooting warm ups and he’s going to get hit. “Hey, Spencer!”
The kid turns around, looking wildly across the ice for who called his name. “Huh?”
“That’s your name, right? Spencer?” The kid nods and Derek skates closer, motioning for Spencer to follow him to the boards. “Here, let’s get out of everyone’s way.”
Spencer follows him to the bench and Derek grabs his water bottle, taking a drink before turning to face him. Spencer’s holding his stick like a foreign object, all stiff and unnatural in front of him. Derek smiles, trying to put him at ease. “Hey, don’t worry so much,” he begins. “I’m Derek Morgan. I’m the captain, so I’ll be showing you around today.”
Spencer nods. “I’m Spencer Reid,” he says, voice soft and high-pitched. “Umm… yeah. That’s it.”
“Cool. How long have you played for?”
Spencer fidgets with the end of his stick, and Derek gestures for him to follow as he steps back onto the ice proper. Maybe he’d be a little more at ease on his feet. Sure enough, the fidgeting stops as he catches up and matches Derek’s stride as best as his gangly legs can. “I’ve played since I was five, but I-I stopped for a few- for a few years and I just started again. I’m going to college at, um, at Johns Hopkins.”
Derek blinks. “Oh. Alright. That’s cool.”
Spencer laughs nervously as they skate along the blue line. “Yeah, I know it’s weird.”
“It’s not weird, it’s neat,” Derek argues. And it is. It’s really fucking cool that Spencer is somehow a fourteen year old working on a college degree. For some reason. “What are you studying?”
Spencer looks at him and trips over his own feet before he can answer. Derek reacts on instinct, grabbing the back of Spencer’s jersey and pulling him back up. He pulls too hard, though, and practically picks Spencer up, much like a cat might pick up a kitten, by the back of his jersey. Spencer yelps and Derek moves quickly to right him, putting him down on his feet and brushing his shoulders off. Spencer just stares at him, blushing. It is cold in here. Derek’s blushing, too.
They look at each other for a few moments before Derek clears his throat, turning to keep skating. “So, um, yeah. What are you studying?”
Spencer coughs. “Biochemical engineering,” he responds. He looks like he might say more, but Rossi blows his whistle and then they’re heading off to center ice.
Biochemical engineering. Huh.
Rossi introduces the new kid as Spencer Reid and tells the rest of the team that he’s studying at Johns Hopkins. Alex, of course, thinks this is the coolest thing ever and immediately jumps the kid, endearing herself to him and spending the rest of warmups talking his ear off about some nerd shit. For that reason, Derek doesn’t get another chance to talk with Cute, Clumsy, and Gangly until Rossi pairs them up for a skating drill.
“Morgan, I need you to help Spencer with this drill. It’s just some inside-outside edge stuff, but I want you to take him down to the other end and work some crossovers. Backwards, forwards, everything.”
Derek looks over to where Spencer’s talking with Elle and JJ. He doesn’t really look the hockey-playing type, and Derek’s not really one for charity cases. It’s with tired trepidation that he points Spencer in the direction of their own personal drill space and sets up to teach him crossovers.
“So, show me a couple times around the circle. Counter-clockwise, best crossovers you can give me.” Derek gestures to the circle and Spencer raises an eyebrow.
“I can do crossovers, you know.”
“Good. So show me how.”
Spencer takes a few steps and throws himself into the circle. Derek watches carefully as his skinny little frame tries to settle into some sort of rhythm. He’s losing all the force on his inside foot, coming right off his toe as soon as it goes under. His torso is all over the place, shoulders skewing to the outside every time he gets a bit off-balance. It’s not that he’s weak, but his lack of balance is making him afraid to go faster.
“Okay, okay, that’s enough,” Derek calls. Spencer slows and comes out of the circle next to Derek. “So, that was… something.”
Spencer’s face falls. “Was I really that bad?”
Derek backtracks, unable to tolerate the look on his face. “No, no, no, it’s alright. I know what we need to work on, and it won’t be too hard to get you caught up.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m always sure, kid. Now watch the way I hold my foot when I make my inside stride.”
Front crossovers turn out to be as easy of a fix as Derek thought. Back crossovers, though, are a different matter. Spencer keeps falling before he can so much as get up to speed, so Derek decides it’s time for a new approach.
“Here, hold my hands,” he says, reaching out to take Spencer’s gloves in his own. Spencer scrunches his nose in confusion, but goes along with it. “Now, I’m going to skate forwards and you’re going to skate backwards. I’ll hold on to you the whole time; all you have to do is focus on your form.” Derek pulls him into the circle and gives him a gentle push.
Spencer starts a backwards c-cut and Derek follows, keeping just enough speed to urge them along without pushing too hard. “Like this?”
“Exactly. Now, get your inside foot in there. Right, just like that. Push, flat, extend. Push, flat, extend.” Spencer manages a wobbly inside stroke and grins. “Yes! See, you’re getting it.”
Derek’s not really sure how long they go around like that for. All he knows is that the dizziness and the ache in his legs and the burn in his back sort of fade into the background every time he meets Spencer’s eyes. It’s not weird, it’s just that when Spencer smiles, it makes Derek’s stomach hurt like he’s eaten something too sweet. He’s not even sure if the rest of the team is still on the same drill. It doesn’t matter.
As they go, Spencer tells him about Johns Hopkins and his roommate and his favorite and least favorite professors. Derek talks about his sisters and the team’s losing record and his dad, for some reason. Spencer laughs and Derek laughs back. Spencer steps and Derek steps to match. They go faster and then slower, and then change directions awkwardly, without letting go of each other’s hands.
Eventually, Spencer hits a chip in the ice and lurches backwards, pulling Derek with him. Derek doesn’t reach quick enough and the two of them tumble down to the ice. Derek lands on top of Spencer and their cages press together and Derek’s hand is on Spencer’s shoulder and Spencer’s trying not to look at him and their legs are tangled and oh, Derek should probably get up now.
Blushing furiously, he pulls Spencer to his feet. Spencer hangs on even after he’s righted himself, looking into Derek’s eyes and chewing his mouthguard. “Sorry,” he giggles.
“Don’t worry about it.” They stand like that for a few more moments, chests almost touching. The puffs of steam from their quick breathing mingle together. Rossi blows his whistle.
“Hey, Morgan! Reid! Time for two on twos!”
Spencer blinks and Derek laughs. “I guess it’s time for two on twos,” he says, disentangling himself and starting down the ice. He looks over his shoulder. “You coming?”
“Of course,” Spencer chirps, and they skate off together.