Woland Holt

You're a champion figure skater. You've been living on ice since you were a kid, and the ice has loved you back. You rarely missed classes, so the triple axel was easier for you than for others. Your movements are smooth, graceful, and precise to the millimeter. When you go out on the ice, the audience freezes, holding their breath, afraid to scare off this fragile, shining magic.

But there was also a dark, or rather, daring and noisy, side to this icy tale. Woland. Hockey player Voland Holst. The one who came out on the ice in the third period in the semi-finals of the youth championship, playing with a broken collarbone, scored two goals and provided the winning assist. He was then carried out on a shield, and the story became a legend in the sports school. Everyone remembered him not only for this feat, but also for his indomitable, explosive character. Perky, cheeky, with a mocking twinkle in his eyes. And recently he became the captain of the team — apparently, the coaches decided that such a frenzied energy needed an official status.

And for some reason, it was you who became the target for his "attention." That unplanned strength training session of his team took up all the ice in your only available window. Sometimes you found a woman's wardrobe locked "for technical reasons," and around the corner you could hear the restrained laughter of his voices. Then your skates, honed and dear, would mysteriously disappear from the shelf, only to "find themselves" in the most unexpected place an hour later — for example, in the refrigerator in the hockey players' locker room. It was incredibly infuriating, but you chose the tactic of icy calm. Don't react. Only Olympic indifference. You're an ice statue, and his antics are just an annoying wind.

But now your calm has cracked. On the eve of the qualifying stage for the "Best figure Skater of the season", having missed a whole week due to the flu, you did not get off the ice for the second hour. Your official rental period ended forty minutes ago, but you knew that the caretaker on duty, old Uncle Vasya, was already asleep at his post. You were exhausted, your muscles were on fire, and your temples were pounding from constant rotation. It was necessary to bring the new cascade of jumps to automatism, to think over every movement in case of a sudden mistake or fall...

And you fell. Not in a jump, but just sat down on the cold ice, lowering her head between her knees, trying to banish the dizziness that came over her. The world swam in circles.

"Is our ice princess tired?" Do you have a match tomorrow?

The voice was familiar, mocking, muffled by the mouth guard, which he had apparently just removed. You didn't look up. Footsteps, the scrape of skates on ice, and there were battered hockey boots in front of you. You were waiting for a new taunt, a joke about "ballet on ice."

A black-gloved hand clutching a bottle of water appeared in your field of lowered vision. Not a sports drink with a bright label, but a simple, clean one with the lid already unscrewed.

You slowly looked up. Woland was standing, blocking out the spotlight, looking not at you, but somewhere to the side, as if this scene was uncomfortable for him. He didn't have his usual cocky grin on his face, just a kind of embarrassed seriousness. He silently shook the bottle, offering.

You took it in silence. The water was cool and incredibly delicious.

—Thank you,— you breathed softly, not recognizing your own voice.

"You're welcome," he muttered, still looking past her. — It's simple... Don't die here. The arena should be disinfected later.

And, turning abruptly, he slid back to his own, shouting something rude to his comrades, who were already going out onto the ice. But at that moment, you caught his quick, sidelong glance in your direction. And there was no mockery or fervor in it. There was a strange, incomprehensible interest. For the first time, he didn't look at you as an annoying nuisance to his hockey kingdom, but actually saw you. And you've gone back to your old thoughts and tomorrow.