Iced Cocoa

December 8th

 Alec POV

"So, are you ready to get on your first ski lift?", I asked. Magnus was a little pale, I noticed, so I took his hand. "Don't worry, it will be fine.", I said and squeezed his hand. "If you say so.", he chuckled, still a bit scared. "Come on, we have been on the baby slopes for long enough, time to move onto the actual beginners slopes.", I smiled and pointed at the grab lift on our right. "You're going to get us on that thing?", Magnus asked with shock in the eyes. I couldn't help but laugh:" Hey, it's super simple- The grabs are shaped like anchors, we are going to stand there, it will come from the back, we grab it and you sit on one side of the anchor, and I sit on the other one- just watch everyone else do it, it's fun!" "I mean, do I have a choice?", Magnus laughed and I squinted:" Nah, not really. Come on, you said you wanted to try something new!"

As we arrived at the front of the line that was at the lift, I could sense how nervous Magnus was. "Come on, just hold onto the grab, okay? It will be fine.", I said and positioned us in the lifts lane. "Have a good one!", the worker yelled as the grab came from the back and I held onto it, making sure both of us were on it properly. "Oh my god that's fast!", Magnus exclaimed and I laughed:" It will slow down." And it did. "Make sure to keep your skis parallel, I know it's a bit tricky but stabilize your ankles.", I advised him. "I'm trying.", Magnus replied, his hand grasped around the metal. With every second I could see pressure fall off of him. "Okay it's actually quite cool!", Magnus finally exhaled in relief and I nodded:" It is." Both of us took the time to look around and notice how we were so close under the clouds, it seemed like we could touch them. The mountain chains framed the endless amounts of white, glittering snow, reflecting the sun that shone through the clouds. Today, there was no snowfall at all which gave us perfect vision of the scenery.

"Now be careful when getting off, it is quite slippery up there.", I warned and pulled the grab from behind us so we could just let go of it as soon as we arrived at the top of the lift. "Okay sir!", Magnus obeyed and I let go of the grab in order to slide away from the ski lift to clear the lane for the people on the lift behind us. When I stopped to look around I saw Magnus struggling to find his balance a bit. "Try to find your balance!", I yelled, but my advise came too late. With a short squeak Magnus slipped and fell into a pile of snow. "Are you okay?", I yelled, a bit worried despite it not being a crazy fall. "I'm good! I just don't know how to get up.", Magnus replied. "I'm coming!", I reassured him as I walked up the little part of the slope I already needed to slide down in order to give Magnus enough space to get out of the lift.

"You sure You're not hurt?", I asked as I finally was by Magnus' side a few seconds later. "Nope, I'm good, there's just snow everywhere.", Magnus grinned at me. "Alright, let me help you.", I laughed and reached out my hand in order for Magnus to take it. "Okay, now try to get up, I'll help you by pulling.", I said as Magnus' hand was finally in mine. "Nope.", he contradicted and pulled my arm into his direction. He didn't even give me seconds to brace myself so, completely surprised by the sudden force in his direction, I slipped as well and fell into the snow right besides him. Magnus burst out laughing:" I didn't think it would work!" "So you fell on purpose?", I asked laughing, trying to get the snow off of my face. "Nope, but I decided that I might as well make it fun for me.", Magnus exclaimed, still bursting out with laughter. His laughter was so contagious, I couldn't help but join in. "So me falling is fun for you?", I laughed, getting my skis in order. "You facial expression when you realized what was going to happen was priceless.", Magnus chuckled and gathered his sticks in order to get up. It took me only seconds to get back onto my skis, but Magnus was struggling. "If you expect me to reach out my hand again, you're wrong.", I laughed, "besides, there's something on your face." I bent down and took off my glove in order to wipe away the snow that was stuck to his cheek. My cold fingertips felt like ice against Magnus' burning hot face. With a smooth gesture, I stroke the snow off of his soft skin, not being able to resist the urge of examining his face up close. He was absolutely beautiful, his features as delicate as feathers, eyes of the color of almond, shaped a bit like cat's. "Thank you.", Magnus said and grabbed my arm, this time to actually pull himself up.

"Good to go?", I asked and Magnus nodded. "How are we getting down here?", he then asked. "We are going to carve- you tilt the tips of your skis to the left in order to ride to the left, then to the right to go to the right- just always switch, watch me.", I explained and demonstrated what I meant. "That looks, uhm, difficult?", Magnus stuttered and I chuckled:" It's not. When you are facing down the slope, try to get the tips of your skis close to each other and your heels away from each other- like a piece of pizza. And when you ride to the side, keep them parallel. Pizza, Fries, Pizza, Fries- keep that in mind, then it will be just fine." "Well, you weren't mistaken with the lift, so I'll try.", Magnus sighed and managed his first couple of turns. "You're doing great!", I cheered and smiled brightly- he really was making some awesome progress and I couldn't wait to finally actually ski with him.