Work Text:
“Roy, no.” Jason said with an exasperated huff. “You go on ahead if you’re so keen.”
“But Jay, just let go and have some fun. I’ll even pull you along if you want.”
“There is no way in Hell that you’re going to be dragging my miserable ass all over this ice.” Jason said firmly, despite his feet sliding unsteadily beneath him.
Roy had thought that an ice skating date would be romantic and fun, not knowing that Jason Peter Todd had never stepped foot on anything that was not ice on a sidewalk.
“Babe, you’re doing so great though. Look, you’re not still holding onto the wall with those little kids!” Roy said, motioning to said side of the rink.
“Yeah, but they were just doing that to warm up, and now I can’t stop tripping over the damn little bastards while they zoom around.” Jason retorted, making another indignant noise. God, he could be so cute when he was frustrated.
“Here, then let’s try something different then.” Roy skated behind his partner with practiced ease, and Jason’s eyes followed his movements with a jealous heat. The redhead wove his arm around the other, planting a spread palm firmly in the small of Jason’s back. “Skate forward slowly, I won’t push you, I’m just here to support you.”
Jason rolled his eyes at the pep-talk in disguise, but started moving forward despite it. His knees were slightly bent, but still unsteady from his nerves. Roy applied some pressure to his back to make him more aware and the muscles beneath his touch relaxed some. Instead of leaving him, the tension instead transferred to his upper body, and soon Jay’s arms were thrown into the mix— literally.
“Jay, baby, why don’t you try and focus on something else? It’ll help you to move a little easier.” Roy suggested with a soft tone, knowing that Jason was only growing more irritated.
“You know, the snack bar sounds like a great thing to focus on. How about we head there then?” Jason deflected half-heartedly. Despite his growing annoyance, the man’s ego would never allow him to be bested by something as simple as Ice Skating, so Roy was confident that Jason was not ready to throw in the towel just yet.
“Here. Listen to the music they’re playing.” Roy said, bringing Jason’s attention back to the ice with a touch of his hand. “Feel the beat and try to move with it. I’ll take care of the steering, for now.”
Jason did as suggested, face going blank as he took in the holiday music playing over the rink’s overhead speakers. Soon his body was slightly bouncing along with the energetic pace of the song, and his feet were planting and picking themselves up in time too. Roy took one of Jason’s hands as he started to gently steer them away from the edge of the rink, and Jason’s grip tightened slightly with the anticipation of misstepping at the change in direction.
But it never came.
They kept skating smoothly along, and Jason released the breath he had not realized he had been holding.
“See Jay, told you you could do it!” Roy said excitedly, loosening his hand and skating a little farther ahead of his partner.
Though Jason, with his ever-present Robin skill, made an instinctual move to regain support from Roy by reaching out for him. Next thing they knew, they were both sprawled out on the ice. Jason’s face was heating up with embarrassment and Roy half worried that he would melt the ice with that much heat. He could not help himself and let out a laugh at their predicament.
“W-What the hell, Harper?!” Jason sputtered, palms sliding on the ice as he scrambled to either get himself up or help Roy too, which he looked like he was considering not doing now.
“Nothing babe, just glad to see you’re trying your best, that’s all.” He leaned forward and planted a kiss on Jason’s slightly parted lips, reveling in the heat that he found there, which was a stark contrast to his own chilled ones.
Jason’s cheeks got impossibly redder at the honest praise. He leaned forward, chasing those retreating lips, but Roy stopped him.
“As much fun as this is, my ass is starting to freeze to the ice, so could you please help me up?” he said with a quirk of his eyebrow.
Jason dumbly nodded and got up to his feet shakily.
They tried getting off of the ice for a good while, with each accidentally pulling the other down time and time again. But, despite all of the spills and dampening pants, they both wore radiant smiles on their faces.