NOW I RULE THE WORLD

       “Guess it can show that the Phoenix is ready to start over anew.”

With it shedding it’s old feathers, it’ll go up in flames before it comes back to life, ready to be stronger and better than ever.

Vasco didn’t know too much about skating himself so he didn’t know how skating competitions ran, nor did he know how to watch someone skate and just know that they were talented. Sure, he’d heard of a few skaters back at home, but he didn’t really watch any of the competitions that were televised. He was the type that may be interested, but not so invested to keep following a competition for a specific competitor that he didn’t know anything of.

Now, he at least knew one of the competitors this time around, so perhaps he’ll actually try to watch the competitions Grand Prix this time around. Supporting a friend is always something that he was willing to do after all.

He listened to JJ speak with confusion. A dragon that croaks? Like… a frog? The story was an odd one, but Vasco felt like he could understand what JJ was getting at? If he starts to feel the pressure, then all he needs is to hear the cheers of his fans, right? At least, that’s what he thought JJ was saying at any rate.  

If he was able to help out in any way, then Vasco was willing to do anything. Cheering for a friend (by this point, Vasco already considered him a friend) was never an issue. If JJ was as hardworking and dedicated to skating as he seemed, then Vasco was more than willing to become a fan who cheers him on for when he needs it most.

       “Yeah, it sounds like a good story.         Squats? I’ll take you on, but what kind? Lunge, weighted, or standard?”

Squats were a part of his daily work out routine so he had the confidence that he can do a decent number of squats, but with a skater who had to work their legs, he didn’t know whether or not he could actually beat JJ in this competition. 

“Where were you from before you came to this city anyway? Perhaps I can introduce you to the skaters who represented your country. Though, that might mean you would root for them instead of me. Well, no problem I’ll be so impressive you won’t be able to look at anyone but me.”

JJ sure was full of some kind of confidence. It was the infectious kind though, the kind that got the entire crowd being him. Even when he lost, his fans often still cheered his name. It filled him with an intense sort of guilt. He only deserved to be cheered for when he was winning, he gneuinely did think that. 

It made him want to go the extra mile to please the people around him. So he was full of it, himself, but his attitude was exuberant and abundant, with seemingly an undefeatable amount of energy. JJ channeled that energy even into his gestures as he spun around to think, his fingers on his chin. 

“Weighted squats, we’ll use the same weight and same speed, and see who can do the most repettitions.”

JJ had not gone the extra mile yet though, so he quickly stepped out of his pants and shoved them into a locker to reveal a pair of red shorts underneath. He picked up one weight for himself, and then before picking the other handed one off to Vasco as a friendly gesture. 

Vasco was the type of person who enjoyed supporting others whenever he could. It was very easy to make a fan out of him so as long as you loved what you did and you had a good attitude. If you had those two things, he’ll be your fan.

       “That sounds like it would be a beautiful performance.         Would you make some of the feathers look like maple leaves?”

He was purely guessing based off the fact that JJ was proud enough of himself being Canadian that he literally had it tattooed on his body.

JJ’s moment of hesitation did not go unnoticed by Vasco, but he didn’t particularly think much of it since he didn’t believe that JJ’s hesitation stemmed from fear. He didn’t know what the reason behind the hesitation was, but as long as he wasn’t scared of Vasco, that’s all he could ask for.

       “I guess so, a loyal knight fighting for his King, huh?         Wonder what the dragon would be though. Intense fans? Pressure?”

It couldn’t be an angry parent harping on him, right? If that was the case, sorry JJ, you are on your own there. Vasco couldn’t offer his help in that regard. He played along with JJ’s scenario because it sounded fun and it poked at his childish, heroic heart.

Staring up at the sign of the place he part-timed at, he looked over to JJ to see that he was doing some stretches, so he started to do the same. The best time to stretch was right when the muscles were warmed up after all.

       “Fine by me, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.         Only way to get stronger is to take everything seriously.”

Why bother going easy on each other? That’s an insult to your rival if you go easy on them out of pity or some other nonsense.

       “I’d say working on the legs, like the quadriceps?”

“Oooh that’s a good idea. Fall is the season of change after all, I’m going to revitalize myself like the trees do when they come back to life, even if it means shedding some of my old beautiful feathers.”

JJ as he stood up again, was already making plans. He was a man out to conquer the world after all. It was not entirely for his own sake, though, hearing people cheering his name always made him feel better - but he set out to conquer the skating world to fulfill a promise to his fans. As much as he love dhimself, and he was loved by them, he also loved them back. 

Even if it was a little self centered, what he skated for was love in the end too. Oh, but that was a difficult thing to express in words. Maybe he would be able to tell somebody like Vasco that one day. He hoped so. 

“Pressure... huh?”

The reason he had moved to this town, was because he cracked under the pressure of the grand prix final. Another thing he found impossible to say. So instead, he spun around in dramatic fashion as if he were on the ice and pointed dramatically. 

“The great dragon who croaks when he opens his mouth instead of breathing fire, you and I are going to slay it. However, I am going to be affected by his curse, I’ll be pulled underneath the murky waters, until I hear something, JJ, JJ! It’s you calling for me, and that gives me the strength to break free!”

He finished acting out his story in the midst of his stretches and looked at Vasco. 

    His parents were ice dancers? That probably explained why they were also JJ’s coaches. She found it cute to say the least - having ice dancers for parents then having them be your coaches. “Well, that would be change - imagine if you did get into pair skating, the world would be in shock.”

    Mila raised an eyebrow as JJ whipped out a pen and pad paper from his pockets. She twitched slightly, not expecting the fact that he had those things with him. “I assume you always have those with you?” She chuckled as she accepted his autograph and gave him a nod of thanks.

    “To one of the handsomest men that I’ve ever met, with love, Mila.” She said as she wrote them on paper.

“It’s a courteous to my fans. I couldn’t disappoint all the people who obviously want my autograph, that would just be rude.”

JJ had never been rude in his life. At least he thought so. He tended to be oblivious on these things, or at least had a different opinion on what constituted rude than most. He eagerly though held out his hands to take the autograph back.

Having your ego affirmed was always a good thing in his mind, but also it was nice to just to see Mila play along. The two of them were not in direct compettition with each other yes, but they were still both skaters. He wanted to feel it a little too, the respect and interactions with your peers.

“I doubt I could be as good as my parents though, they really saved me you know. When those others coaches would... ah.”

A pause.

“Well, if I could find somebody as beautiful as myself I might consider pair skating. You almost qualify, dear Mila.”

“Coincidentally, I have thought about pair skating for a while. But it’s not like you’d actually trade pair skating for the singles.”

Mila continued to smile at JJ, a sense of guilt building up inside her - had she forced him to say something that he didn’t want so say? She would like to believe so. Mila had seen the male breakdown in a Grand Prix and to but it bluntly, she didn’t want to see it again.

“I actually prefer my milk in a bottle.” Mila chuckled, “And as for autographs, why not? That’d be fun.” 

“Well my parents were both ice dancers, so I know there’s a lot of prestige to that sport as well, Unfortanately I don’t think it’s for me, could you imagine me sharing the glory?”

JJ said with an odd tone of self depreciation. Odd for him at least, or perhaps he was so oblivious he did not even realize he was being self aware. Both were possible. He removed his thumb from his chest though, and  reached into his pocket. He was skating with a jacket on, though he liked the outfits worn in compettition pockets were nice to have. He produced a pen and a pad of paper that he kept on him specifically for signing autographs. 

Just like JJ was easily excitable, Vasco was the same once you could get him to feel comfortable enough around you, which honestly wasn’t all too hard. He was like an overgrown puppy who could easily get attached to you as long as you showed that you were friendly towards him. Prove that you are a ‘good guy’ and not a ‘bad guy,’ and Vasco can immediately pin you to be a potential friend.

He laughed to himself as JJ shouted something about being the king of the world as he ran. Such a funny guy he is! If he’s the King of the world…

       “Haha, then I’m the Hero of the world!”

Of course he wouldn’t miss his chance to mention his close ties to loving super heroes, now could he? Heck, his nickname ‘Vasco’ came from his favorite super hero of all time! Whenever possible, you’ll see him flying into action if he sees anyone in the need of help.

JJ was surprisingly a very good sport about losing, which was a good quality to have, made him a lot easier to talk to. Not having to walk on eggshells around a man with a hurt pride always made for an easier friendship to deal with. Too many people back at home that could not accept losing worth a dime!

       “You’re just an egg that wasn’t ready to hatch yet.         Just wait and you’ll hatch into a phoenix one day.”

It was a good race and JJ showed good sportsmanship by not taking the loss too hard. For this good show of sportsmanship, Vasco held out his hand for JJ to take so then he could hoist him back up and onto his feet.

        “Challenge me to another race any time and I’ll take you on.”

JJ felt an odd amount of comfort from those words. If it was not obvious enough about him already, he hated losing. Still, he had to keep face when he was losing. No matter what he felt personally, he was still with another person. A potential fan he could not let down with poor attitude. 

Which is why he immediately stuck a thumbs up in the air, from the ground that he had flopped down onto to catch his breath.

“I should make that my theme for next year then, a costume with red and orange feathers, I’ll be the most beautiful phoenix to take flight on ice.”

JJ saw a hand out in front of him. Ah, this was what they called sportsmanship then, or the companionship between two athletes. JJ had never really gotten along with other skaters well. At least ones that were not his direct family. He noticed he had hesitated for a moment, and took Vasco’s hand even stronger to make up for that fact when he did. Letting himself be lifted up, then standing next to the man.

“If I’m the king, and you’re a hero. Does that make you like a brave knight that helps the king, and comes to save him from a dragon when he’s kidnapped?”

There he was being enthusiastic again. He finally let go of Vasco’s hand though, and moved forward to look at the gym in front of him. He put his hands on his hips, and leaned to the left, and right, a sort of warmup stretch for his warm up stretches, mostly to just burn his excitement. 

Sawako was meeting up with JJ today so she could teach him how to sew just as promised. She was at a rather crowded place and she ended up trying to hide within the crowd. It wasn’t like she was trying to hide from JJ, it was just that crowds tend to make her want to withdraw herself from them.

She was looking at the ground, sometimes at her feet, waiting for JJ to arrive. She soon heard her name being called, causing her to look up and seeing JJ wave at her, calling for her as well.

She waved back as well, but not as enthusiastically as him then lowered her hand as he got closer. She raised a brow, surprised but also happy to hear that he was getting a head start. She looked down at his hands, seeing how they were covered in bandages. She chuckled, taking his hands and looked up at him ❝I’m glad you’re getting a head start, JJ-sama. I’ve brought the sewing kit, so whenever you’re ready, lead the way.❞ She lets go of his hands.

JJ was not sure what he was expecting. Perhaps a kiss for all the booboos that were lining his hands. He supposed just having his hands taken up was just as nice. Her touch was surprisingly soft, he did not even wince even though his hands were covered the both of them with nicks and scratches. However, it was also a brief sensation.

It was a good thing he did not skate with his hands, he thought. Otherwise his eagerness could have been reckless. JJ put his hands on his hips. “Alright, normally I’m used to leading but this time I’ll bow out to you the expert.”

Vasco nodded his head, understanding the mindset that JJ had. When you were to become a professional anything, you are thus a representative of not only a team but often your country as well. Your actions will always reflect someone else and so people always have to be mindful of their art. In JJ’s case, his art was skating.       “That’s a good way to think about it, because then you’ll only improve.        Keep skating for the world to see how great you are, I’ll root for you.” Always a guy willing to cheer someone on for trying their best. He respected people for their determination and their efforts to work towards a goal. Vasco knew just how hard it could be so he could never look down on someone who was hard at work on anything that they held dear, whether it was weight loss, skating, or studying.

A somewhat of a sheepish expression showed as he was being complimented as being nice by JJ. It wasn’t too often when he could actually talk to someone long enough to have them tell him that he was nice. It was a happy thing and he couldn’t help but let the corners of his lips raise up into a smile.       “Yeah, the people in Bellevue are really nice, so this is a great place.” An enthusiastic boyish smile appeared on his face, taking well to the idea of racing to the ‘finish line’ being his part-time work place.       “Alright, let’s do it! Last one there is a rotten egg!” There he zooms off into the distance, determined to win this competition of speed and endurance. He wasn’t that fast of a runner, but he did have endurance at the very least.

JJ’s smile brightened immediately when Vasco said he would root for him. It meant he had at least one fan in this city. Somebody to impress, somebody to endear, somebody to perform for. Strange enough though, when smiling around this new man his smile felt less like a performance. He would have to think on that later, if he managed to think about it at all.

He was too busy focusing in on the race. It was Vasco’s fault for nudging his competitive side, along with stroking his ego. He should have known that he was too easily excitable. The rush of adrenaline getting to him, his bangs whipping in the wind, he pushed himself as far as he could. 

“I’m the king of the world wahooo!!!!!!”

JJ shouted as he ran. 

Then he lost. He saw Vasco overtake him, fell behind because he had pushed himself too far at the start. He lacked Yuuri’s stamina, or Yurio’s ability to add points to his jumps through complicated technique. He lacked in a lot of ways, it hit him all at once and he flopped backwards onto the ground. 

Perhaps that was just exhaustion. He was breathing heavy for a little bit, before he started to chuckle and look up at Vasco. “I’ve been bested once again. I truly am the rotten egg. Fear not though, I’m not discouraged. This is just going to provide me more motivation to beat you next time, alright.”

Vasco was a naïve person who was also gullible to boot. He would probably believe anyone no matter what it was that they told him. JJ could tell him that he was a president or some super hero, and he’d believe him. There was a reason why he was told by many people back at home that he was pretty stupid. Not to say that he was an academic nightmare, but he didn’t exactly use his head the way he should.

       “Just like you, huh? Haha, that’s great, then. Sounds like we’ll really get along.”

He laughed a bit to himself, keeping the fact that he wasn’t exactly what most would consider ‘smart’ to himself. He didn’t need to deflate JJ’s sails after all. Though he was a bit weird, he was a good guy. Nothing was wrong with being a bit eccentric after all!

With their destination being the 24 hour wellness center, he started jogging towards the building when he realized that JJ wasn’t following him. He started jogging off in a random other direction. It didn’t take long for JJ to recall that he didn’t know where he was going and then he started jogging over to Vasco instead. There seemed to be more truth to what JJ said before. They had a bit of similarities with each other.

As JJ joined him, Vasco set off to jog towards the 24 wellness center, making sure to keep track of where JJ was. Can’t have the Canadian getting distracted and therefore getting himself lost. Neither could he allow himself to force JJ into taking his pace if it was too much for him. 

       “A rink? Ah… I don’t know about that, but there probably is one.         You could probably look it up online for an address.”

Since he wasn’t an ice skater, nor someone who had skating as a hobby of his, he didn’t know any whereabouts of any skating rinks for JJ to use for practice.

       “It’s a bit different from home, but this town is nice. I like it.         Do you have any opinions on it so far?”

JJ gave him a salute as he kept pace with jogging He noticed the other man was keeping close to him. The answer was obvious though, it was because he naturally wanted to be around JJ. He was just a person that people wanted to be close too after all. Wasn’t he amazing?

“It’s a bit different from my home too. As my tattoo says I am from Canada. I don’t think just one country is enough to control me though even though I am their representative. I would rather think of myself and my skating as belonging to the whole world, you know?”

He was just running his mouth again he had not really answered the question. JJ had spent so much time skating growing up, his parents were skaters, his brother and sister both. His first happy memory, was skating when the other children had fallen and smiling when he impressed his parents. He had other hobbies but, as for a town you could call home, well as long as he had skating he was fine. 

“More than a town, I just want to get to know the people living here! If they’re all as nice as you then I think this town will be just fine. I mean nice, NICE!”

He shouted the last part and jumped into the air as he did so even though it was completely unnecessary to do while jogging. He just could not resist the temptation to show off. It seemed while he was running his mouth though, their destination came in sight.

JJ was somehow able to pick Sawako out of the crowd. Even though she tended to blend in, or hide her appearance, almost as if it was on purpose. JJ who always wanted to stand out could hardly understand that behavior, but on this day it hardly mattered as he pinpointed her immediately and began to wave to her loudly. 

    “You probably have that in Canada too, you know.” 

    Mila chuckled before crossing her arms, “I didn’t even weasel anything from you. But I’m glad that my technique worked.” She nodded, she didn’t intend to squeeze the truth out of him - she just wanted to mess with him a little.

    “I see, so you’re here to find yourself.” Mila stated, almost like she had discovered something. “I’m not going to hold that against you, we all have our moments. You’ll get through yours, you are JJ after all.” She smiled.

“Yes, what about in Russia? Do you get your milk in bag or carton form? Or do you prefer to take your milk straight from bears?”

JJ bantered back. He preferred to keep the mood light and snappy because he did not want to think to the heavier things he had just admitted to. All skaters dealt with the nerves in differet ways, but when it happened to JJ it felt like he wasn’t even himself anymore.

❝I should be able to have some herbs for that…❞ She tilts her head to the side, going the the mental list of her herbs that should be able to calm someone’s nerves. She blinked, raising her hands and shook her head ❝A-ah, no no! I-I’m just helping that’s all!❞ She felt embarrassed that JJ had said she’d be his savior. She just wants to help, that’s all.

She got startled when JJ suddenly slammed his hand onto the table in such dramatic manner. She tried not to look around her in order to avoid the stares. She giggled at how the other was willing to make sure he stays on top.

❝We’ll just start with patches, it’ll be simple.❞

JJ was already on a mental plan to dominate the sewing world. After all, he was JJ why participate in something if you did not plan to excel in it. He slowed a little bit though, as he saw Sawako giggling at him. 

No, she was supposed to be impressed. JJ tilted his head to the side for a moment in confusion.She really was a strange girl. Even if he had no right to think that by his own standards he ended up doing so anyway as he reached out to touch her fingertips. 

It was always a good thing to meet someone else who worked out to keep themselves fit. While their reasons for keeping fit were different, that didn’t matter so as long as someone was willing to work hard to maintain a good physique.

        “Sounds like a good plan. I was in the middle of my jog so it works out.          How many miles do you normally run a day? I run 10km daily.”

He forgot just how far he’d ran by this point, but he saw no issue with starting over and running a bit more than his usual 10km run. With JJ mentioning miles, Vasco started calculating in his head to try to convert his km into miles. If he were to translate 10km into miles, how many would that be again? Approximately 1.6km for each mile. Round that down to 1.5, and divide 10 by 1.5 to get roughly 6.6 miles. So he runs just a bit over 6 miles daily.

        “If I convert that into miles, I run a bit over 6 miles daily, I think.”

Upon seeing JJ jogging in place, Vasco started to mimic the action, intending to jog with him on the off chance that JJ just started jogging off in any random location. Instead, JJ suggested that they jog together and Vasco was in charge of deciding where they were going to go.

        “Up to me? Ah… let’s see… we can try the 24 hr Wellness gym?          Would that be okay with you? It’s a bit away though…”

He did mention that he part-timed at the wellness gym before and it sounded as though JJ was interested in it, so why not stop by there first? Only if JJ was willing to jog a bit of a distance to get there, that is. If he is willing, then Vasco would start jogging to lead the way.

JJ was quite glad that Vasco took him seriously right away. Not everybody believed initially the physical hard work that went into keeping a figure skater’s bod in prime conditions. Defying gravity took a lot of boldness after all, is what JJ told himself. He should try making that into a catch phrase 

“Nice, you’ve got brains as well as brawn. Just like me! That’s what we call the complete package.”

JJ realized he should have just asked for it in kilometers, he was canadian after all. He did not want to devalue the effort made by the other man. So with the same amount of energy as he usually had he complimented him and cheered him on. Either way it was roughly equivalent to the amount of running that his routine required. 

“That’s perfect! The longer the journey there, the more exercise we’ll get on the way.” 

He was always willing to go the distance. Of course he insisted on going in his own JJ style. Which is why immediately JJ began to jog off in a random direction. Until he realized he did not know where he was going, and jogged back to Vasco. 

   Mila squinted her eyes as she observed the male’s actions. If she were someone else, she would have bought his excuse - but Mila knew that he was probably just running his mouth to get away from the conversation.

   "Ah well, you both have that sense of determination in you. That’s one thing you have in common.“ Mila chuckled as she observed the male in front of her. "And Yuri does have a way of encouraging people, even with that poison tongue of his.”

   "So, aside from ice cream, is there any business that you do here?“

“I wanted to see what milk looked like when it wasn’t in bags.” 

JJ’s second excuse was as bad as his first, perhaps even worse. He stared at Mila’s suspicious expression for a second, and turned his head to the side. Before this what had they been talking about - he should really pay attention to people besides himself.

JJ stuck his lips out, “I’m the king JJjust follow me - see, I encourage people too. We all do it in our own ways.” Oh, he was pouting how childish. He tilted his head as far as it could go, before finally looking back at her. 

Did JJ perhaps forget that he could have gotten beat up by those thugs earlier? In his eyes, that was the very definition of him being threatened, even if he was a bit too dense to realize it. Well, that wasn’t that big of a deal, so it’s simple to just let the idea pass.

      “Yeah, you do have a nice physique, and you do look very strong.        That doesn’t stop them all the time. Sometimes they just want a fight.”

He knew from plenty of experience that some guys just constantly had this itch for fighting that never seemed to go away. Their tempers flare at the mere sight of someone having just a bit of an attitude. Don’t get them thinking that you were looking down on them either, then you were signing yourself up for a free black eye consultation.

      “I wouldn’t recommend walking around shirtless. You’ll get sick.”

Health conscious, Vasco didn’t want JJ getting himself sick because he mistakenly thought that by simply walking around shirtless he could deter anyone from trying to cause him bodily harm.

      “Hm? Not at all, I don’t mind if you wish to follow along.        The more the merrier, right?”

The way that JJ seemed to deflate once he asked his question cause him to raise a questioning eyebrow. The man who exuded 110% confidence looked anything but confident right now. He nodded his head along with JJ explaining his mental process of going to the station to take a bus around the town to slowly get himself used to the area.

      “Are you not very good with maps? Those are useful to have.        For me, instead of taking a bus, I just jogged everywhere.”

Not only could he could get his daily jogging in, but he also got himself more familiar with the area as he jogged through different places.

JJ did not see himself as dense. He thought he was merely focused entirely on his own point of view. His JJ style, something that others had a hard time seeing. It was the reason he had gone through so many coaches before finally being coached by his two parents. 

That was not to say though that he did not listen to others, or he was not currently glowing in the praise that he was being given. He smiled widely and truly and brought his bushy brows up, and his eyes on the man in front of him. 

“Maybe I should skip the bus then! I’ll jog, it will double my miles jogged for the day easily.” 

JJ said conveniently skipping the question that pertained to him and reading maps. That could be answered on a later date anyway, if it ever came up. He started even to jog in place, already seeming to have found his next internal tangent.

“Let’s jog right now then! There’s no need to go to the bus stop anymore so where shall we go? I guess I’ll leave the destination up to you.”

     Yuuri tried to offer a laugh at the literal understanding of poke, but it came out rather awkwardly instead; hopefully JJ’s boisterous attitude would allow him to overlook Yuuri’s clear discomfort. 

     “Hang out with you?” Although JJ had a point and Yuuri really didn’t have anything better to do, was it really so bad to hang out with another person like this? Yuuri always had trouble with it, but just like many other changes in his life, that didn’t have to be set in stone. Moving to Bellevue was like a second chance in that aspect, so even if it was JJ of all people, Yuuri felt as if he couldn’t say no.

     “…Alright.” There was a good chance that Yuuri would be drinking in vast amounts on account of his uneasiness, but even then, it could be… fun.

Did Yuri Katsuki not realize his own intimidating aura? JJ wondered for a moment. The boy seemed for the most part unaware. JJ would not put being clever and hiding his more dangerous side under what the japanese called a ‘moe’ outward persona outside the realm of possibility though. 

He was clever. His name was cat- suki after all. Of course while JJ was composing a one sided narrative in his own head, he had stopped paying attention to the world around him. Really, he should learn to listen to others it would improve their opinions of him for the most part.

Is that how it was? Well, if it meant that JJ wasn’t going to judge Vasco like most others did, then all was fine in his book! It’s always great to make a friend who doesn’t judge you based on the many tattoos that you have!

       “That might work, or they’ll think you’re getting threatened.”

A common misconception that many had about him. He could look scary and could very well be a danger when upset, but he was a gentle puppy for the most part. It made him sad whenever people doubted him and thought of him to be some kind of low thug.

The way JJ had stopped for a moment to bask in the praise, Vasco had almost immediately apologized, fearing that he may have somehow insulted the guy. Instead, JJ thanked him and stated that they could share work out tips if they wanted to. He’s a good guy.

       “That would be pretty cool.         I work part time at the 24 hour wellness gym as a trainer.”

Learning different tips that he could possibly use to help others was always a welcomed thing.

       “So what do you need to get to the station for?”

JJ looked at Vasco confused as to why he was absolutely convinced people would judge him. He lacked what most would call empathy. It simply did not occur to him that Vasco’s life experiences were different from his. 

“Me threatened? But I’m so big and strong? They should notice my muscles at least. Should I walk everywhere without a shirt on so they’ll see.”

JJ said, seriously considering this for a second. Then his mind changed as often as it always did. He listened to Vasco’s description of his job only for his excitement to grow. 

“Then you’ll have no problem following me along right? I’m glad, it seems you’re just as talented at working out as I am.” 

It was actually meant as a compliment. He was the king JJ, just follow him. That was his motto. It absolutely reeked of self confidence. A confidence that seemed to drain from JJ the moment he heard that question.

    “Ice Cream?” Mila let out a small nod of acknowledgement, she knew it was probably a lie anyway - based on what happened to the male skater. She let out a sigh as she held out her hand for the male, “I’ll help you get up.” 

    “Well, Yuri doesn’t actually like the fact that you were looking down on him. He’s Yuri like that.” Mla explained, “I’m just actually glad that he hasn’t sent a cacophony of cusses towards you,” She chuckled. “He’s a child with a very colorful vocabulary after all.”

    “So, JJ, what’s that favorite ice cream brand of yours?”

“It makes sense you know, I spend most of my time on the ice. I should collect a number of frozen dairy treats that are cool on my tongue, it reminds me of my passion.” He was quite obviously running his mouth at this point. He was in shock, he had no idea even how he had made such a clutzy move as to fall. A master such as him.

“Brand, uhm... Chocolate? No that’s not a brand.”