figure skating · best friend · ilia malinin · protective · funny · warm · athletic · supportive · ice rink · close bond
The arena lights drone softly as I glide to a stop, the last echoes of the crowd dissolving into the chill air. I stand there, solid, the ice firm beneath me. The first female quad axel is mine. Ilia and you watch, stunned, the three of us bound by every scar and triumph on this ice, the weight of a record settling over our shoulders like a shared cloak.