Apaixonar: The act of falling in love.//OxO//Romance//CLOSED

Henry relaxed slightly. "Kai, if you broke your hand building something, would you stop? When you like doing something, injuries can't stop you." Inside his head, the words made sense.

Babe shot Henry a grateful look as Kai sighed. "Of course not. It's not my past times that mom doesn't like, though."

"Mom doesn't get it, man. Dad be damned, hockey is one of the few things I'm actually good at." Babe said, tugging a hand through her hair. "And I love it. Everything about the sport, from my team, to the ice, the chill and adrenaline rush and the cheering crowd when you score. It's my robotics."

"Well, let's be perfectly honest here. Babe could also go into a singing career. But to be fair, there's a difference between something you can do and something you want to do. And you want robots. Which is awesome." Henry straightened up, glancing over at the clock and then back at Babe.

Kai studied both of them, looking back and forth between them. And then he sighed. "You both have a point. I won't tell mom." He seemed to know that was exactly what Babe needed to hear.

Babe pulled him into a tight hug, before jumping up. She grabbed her bag off an arm chair, and turned to look at Henry. "The other's are gonna be here soon, aren't they?"

Henry grinned at Kai's answer, grabbing his own bag. "Probably. I'd say we have about three minutes to warm up, Hawk might already be here." His relief was evident on his face as he turned to the door.

"You hang out here, or come out and watch, but stay out of trouble, alright?" Babe pointed at her brother as she walked backwards towards the door.

"Yeah, yeah. Just go do your thing, you jock." Kai shot back, sticking his tongue out at her.

Henry laughed as he headed out to the bleachers, sitting down to lace up his skates. "So, ah, Babe, about this competition thing? Not that we have to do it, we could totally not do it."

"Nope. Kevin has to face the music, man." Babe plopped down next to him, slipping on her own skates. "Now quick, help me come up with something to make you both do."

Henry gulped, watching Babe out of the corner of his eye. "This is probably a terrible idea. What if… We could have someone lay in the middle of the ice, and we could both try to jump over them?"

Babe stilled, looking a little pale. "That-that's not something you want to mess with, Jacobs. If somebody-I'm not taking that risk."

Henry's smile slipped away. "You're right. Nevermind, it was terrible." He turned back to his skates, tieing them with well practiced knots.

"I-" Babe turned to look at him, needing him to understand her fear, for whatever reason. "It;s not that it;s necessarily a bad idea. I just…I don't want to be to blame if somehow, an accident does happen."

Henry looked back up at her, nodding gently. "I know. it isn't worth getting someone hurt." Especially if it meant hurting Babe.

Babe visibly relaxed with a sigh, and then perked up a bit. "But, you did give me an idea. Not my best idea, but hey, save that for the prize, right?"

Henry watched her carefully, hiding his nerves as best he could. "What kind of idea are you talking about?" His tone was hesitant, but still slightly eager.

"Oh, I'm not gonna spoil it that easy." Babe grinned, standing and somehow managing to walk easily on the skates. "You try and think of a few prize ideas. I've gotta go grab some things."

Henry sighed and rubbed his head as he watched her go. What had he gotten himself into? He sighed heavily and pushed off onto the ice, circling the rink with an even, precise strength.

Babe was still gone as the others showed up, and only arrived after they were all on the ice. She had two buckets balanced on each arm, full of equipment, and a wild grin on her face. "Who's ready to play?"

Henry slowed to a stop and tilted his head, looking at her nervously. "Babe, what is this?" The other boys skated up and lined up around Babe, looking at her curiously and waiting for an explanation. Hawk sat back, willing to give them all the time for their shenanigans they would need.

"Line up on the red-line!" Babe ordered, ignoring the questions. She shot Hawk a wink, before waving for the guys to move. "What are ya waitin' for, a written invitation?"

They shuffled into place, bumping each other and whispering. Each of the boys kept an eye on Babe, watching her for any hints of what she was planning. Hawk set down a folder and leaned forward to watch easier.

Babe looked different. Unlike her usual relaxed, easy going demeanor, she was straight backed, and something about her made others seem more inclined to listen to her. "You get to do pro drills today. How fun is that?"

Henry raised an eyebrow as he watched Babe questioningly. Pro drills? Babe, what do you mean pro drills? He shifted, sliding a little sideways on the ice.

Babe smirked at the confused looks on everyone's faces. "That's what the challenge is. I'm puttin' you cupcakes through a series of drills, set up like an elimination competition. Whoever makes it to the end is the winner."

Understanding slowly dawned on each of the faces, and a cautious smile showed on Henry's face. He was fairly confident that if Babe came up with these, he'd manage to get through them. There was no way any of the boys could beat him when it came to drills.

"Alright, enough gawking." Babe said, quickly, and with a practiced ease, setting up the first drill station. These were drills she'd done since she was a kid, but she figured they hadn't. She caught Kai in the stands, a grin on his face. "You'll be competing in pairs."

Henry paused. Pairs? Interesting. He leaned around, fidgeting slightly. The set ups were foreign, and he didn't recognize any of what she was planning. All they'd ever done for drills were straightforward, either running around the building, skating around the rink, or hitting the puck across the whole rink until you got it in the net.

"The pairs'll switch up, so each drill, you'll have a new teammate." Babe continued explaining while she set up, pulling out the whistle she'd stolen off of Hawk to string it around her neck. "First pair is your choice."

Kevin bumped Henry, a cocky grin on his face. "Totally ready, right twinkle toes?" Henry watched Babe with sad eyes, looking at her for some kind of help.
"Right. We'll see." Yeah, that was the best comeback he could think of.

"Watch it, [insert Kevin's last name here]." Babe said, shooting him a look. "Footwork is one of the main components of a few o' these. Anyway, thanks for volunteering you and your partner first."