Round 1 Story Title: Sledding
Author: tarotgal
Fandom: Original Characters (Strokes)
Rating: G
Summary: Olly takes his niece out sledding and tests his broken gaydar.
Bunny: #70

"C'mon," Olly said, gritting his teeth. "Push!"

His niece, Maylyn, whimpered and pushed hard. Finally, her double sock-clad foot slid into the boot.

He sighed and patted her head, which already had a bright pink, wool hat on it. "All right, Pumpkin Pie. Are you ready?"

She was bundled up warmly, resembling something like an overstuffed marshmallow, but managed to nod and smile. With boots, snow pants, coat with hood, mittens, scarf, and a hat, Olly defied the child to be cold outside. He had on a coat, gloves, and a hat but he could take a little cold. The good news was that it had stopped snowing, but the powdery snow on the ground was the height of perfection.

Olly locked the door to his sister's townhouse on the way out and pocketed his keys instead of throwing them into the backpack he'd slung over his shoulder. "Hey, Maylyn!" he called as she grabbed the edge of her red saucer sled and skipped down the sidewalk. "Stay with me. Don't get so far ahead, okay?"

She turned and waited for him to catch up. Then she continued along, dragging the sled behind her. Olly watched it leave a light path behind it in the snow, bouncing over little bumps on the sidewalks that hadn't yet been shoveled. Olly took those sections more carefully, not wanting to slip.

The playground was in the center of the housing development, and there were about a dozen paths leading into it. Several of the paths were steep inclines on a hill that seemed to be there explicitly for the purpose of sledding. There was really no other reason anyone would use those paths, since there were so many others that were easier to walk along.

Over the past two days, Stokes had had a snowstorm which deposited more than twenty-two inches of snow. Olly had been stranded at the clinic for a day, though considering the number of injuries and sick people had come in, he was glad to have been able to help. And he was glad to spend his day off with his niece while his sister took care of her store. Maylyn had been talking of nothing but sledding all morning. Even the snap, crackle, and pop of her breakfast cereal hadn't slowed her down. And now Olly wasn't, either. "Maylyn, slow down," he repeated, just before she would have turned right and right and left his sight. He hurried to catch up, his paces faster than hers but he had less traction with his sneakers in the snow than she did with her boots and he didn't want to slip and break his tailbone. She stopped and turned impatiently, waiting for him to catch her up.

When they neared the first of the two breaks between the rows of townhouses, he saw a whole gang of pre-teen boys taking turns shooting down the hill. They fought about whose turn it was to go next. Then they went down in groups of three four so their weight would make it go faster or they went alone so they could show off their skills going backwards or spinning. Maylyn was a little intimidated by their boisterous cheering and laughing, and she hung back with her sled. She found Olly's hand and he squeezed it reassuringly. "Let's go check out the other path," he suggested. The second break between houses was slightly closer to the playground itself and, as Olly had hoped, a slightly younger crowd was there. "We have to wait for our turn," Olly told her when she wanted to go straight to the front and sled down. There was an orderly, small line already in place. He bent down, coming just short of putting his knee down in the snow. "Now remember what we talked about? It's just like a very big slide. We have to take turns so everyone gets a change to slide. And you don't go until the person in front has finished at the end or someone could get hurt. You wouldn't want someone to slide into your back, would you?"

She shook her head.

"Good girl." He squeezed her hand and then stood  back up to watch. There were only three kids in front of them. There was a couple with two little girls and there was a boy of about eight. The parents saw their girls situated on the sled and then pushed the girls down. The shrieks of laughter carried.

Maylyn reached down for Olly's hand again. "Unkey Olly?" she whispered and curled her finger to beckon him close again. He bent back down. Her cheeks and nose were a rosy shade against her darker toned skin. "Can you go down the hill with me the first time?"

Olly saw the worry and fear in her face. "The first time and as many times as you want, Pumpkin."

She looked relieved and, once again, impatient. The younger boy got ready at the top of the hill, waited for the little girls to get up and start their trek up the hill in the snow on the far side, and then launched himself forward. He sailed down the hill and wiped out halfway down, his little body sprawled out in his maroon jacket against the white snow.

Concerned, Olly was about to tell Maylyn to stay put so he could go down and make sure the kid was all right. But then the boy sat up, laughing hysterically as though he'd meant to do that all along. It wasn't until Olly saw him take his second run down the hill that he realized that was exactly what the boy had intended all along. Each time he executed his loss of a sled with the repetition of a trained stunt man, though his laughing seemed to ruin the mystique a bit.

When it was Maylyn's turn, Olly squeezed himself onto the red saucer and spread his legs. She sat down on the sled, between Olly's knees. Faced with nothing but a steep hill of snow, Maylyn suddenly got cold feet. She whimpered.

Olly patted her head. "I'm right here," he said. He wrapped an arm around her to hold her close and then pushed off with his other hand. Off they went!

The wind stung Olly's cheeks bitterly as they sailed down the slope. Maylyn shrieked for a moment, and the high pitch hurt his ears. Olly had to try hard to stay on the sled that was a little too small for him. And he had to hold onto his niece. And keep his balance. And steer them down instead of into a tree. But then the little girl's shriek of fear gave way to one of happiness, and Olly was rather amazed he could tell the difference. She was laughing by the time they reached the bottom of the hill. They came to a stop and Maylyn hopped right up, her face glowing with a grin. "Again!"

Olly insisted she get her sled back up, partly because this was her outing and she had to take responsibility, and partly because he was going to be in enough misery getting back up the hill wearing shoes that weren't waterproof. It didn't seem bad at first, but his feet sunk down into the snow several times, soaking his socks and slowly making its way to him through his layers of clothing. As he stood up at the top of the hill with Maylyn, his feet were freezing. "Do you want me to go down the hill with you again?" Olly asked, and Maylyn nodded.

The only difference on this run, was that Maylyn was excited from the start. So excited, in fact, that she threw her hands up in the air. Not only did that block Olly's line of sight, and he had to lean to the side at the last minute to keep them going straight down to the bottom instead of ending up too close to the playground and potentially hitting the wooden posts there, but her hand hit him right in the face. It wasn't hard enough to really hurt, but it was hard enough to make him wince in pain and utter a censored swear word. "Ow! Shoot- ow!"

When they got to the bottom, Maylyn turned and kissed his cheek. There was hurt in her eyes.

Olly pulled her close and hugged her. "I'm okay, Pumpkin Girl. Just... try not to do that again without warning me, okay?"

She nodded. He scooped her up onto his back and trudged back up the hill with the sled. He was winded by the time he reached the top. And his feet were beyond freezing and on their way to numb now.

They went down another two times before Maylyn decided she was ready for one on her own. Olly felt a little worried, but he trusted his little niece. And there was a pretty solid track over the snow now so, with her weight, there wouldn't be too much of a danger of going too significantly off course. He squatted down behind her, kissed the top of her head, and counted "Three... two... one!" He gave her a good push.

She had a perfect run down the hill. At the bottom, she even spun around twice before stopping. She cheered and grabbed her sled. She wobbled a second, slightly dizzy, then found her senses and started back up the hill. Olly had a huge, tight hug waiting for her at the top. "You're a champion! You were going so fast!" She beamed and begged to go again.

The excitement didn't wear off exactly, but the thrill of the playground she saw on her way down each time got a little stronger. And when the swings were free, she'd had enough of sledding. "Unkey Olly, I want to swing."

The fastest way down was by sled, so Maylyn sat on his lap and they went spinning and swerving down the hill together. She kept her arms to herself but shrieked with happiness all the way down. Then she got up and raced off to the swing set. "Hey, Maylyn! What do you think you're doing?"

She slowed, shoulders sagging, and turned around to wait for her uncle. He took her scarf from around her neck and tucked her hood strings into the neck of her jacket so she couldn't get either stuck on anything and choke herself. "Now there's snow and ice on everything so you have to be extra smart and careful, all right? Promise me?"

"I promise." As she ran to the swings, Olly found a vacant bench nearby. He called over to her. "I'll be right here!" She waved to him from the swing. She was already pumping her way into a large arc. So he wouldn't misplace it and so it wouldn't go to waste, he put on her scarf, the bright pink, purple, and white hello kitty looking quite stylish around his neck.

Olly opened up the backpack he'd brought along and dug out a thick, dry pair of socks. It was painful for a second to have his feet bare in the nipping cold, but swapping damp, cold socks for dry ones was heavenly. They'd get wet eventually, since his shoes were still wet, but at least now he'd get to retain the use of his feet at the end of the day.

Olly heard a chuckle and looked over at the next bench where a man sat, looking at him. "Great trick. I'll have to remember that one." The guy had short, curly hair and freckles on his face--possibly elsewhere.

Taking a chance, Olly waved the man over and stuck his glove out. "Olly," he said.

"Patrick," he said, with just a hint of an Irish accent. "Those are my two," he said, gesturing to two little boys of mixed race on the seesaw. "Jackson and Avery."

"Maylyn," Olly said, nodding towards his. "She's my niece."

Patrick nodded. "Oh she's adorable." Then, quickly, he turned away. "heh-heh-hehCHIH!"

"Bless you."

The man sniffed and exhaled slowly. "Sorry about that." He sniffed again. "So, Olly, what is it you do?" Was the man interested in him? Too soon to tell. "Apart from doing an excellent job looking after your niece."

Taking pride in his work, Olly answered, "I'm a doctor at the free clinic downtown and at the hospice on 32th Street."

"That's, ah..." he trailed off, apparently trying to find a tactful way of asking.

"The gay part of town?" Olly tried, testing the waters.

Laughing, "Well, I wasn't going to come right out and say that. But, yeah." There was silence for a little while, but Olly couldn't tell if there was tension or curiosity. "So are you...?"

Wondering how in the world it was easier to ask someone if he were gay than trying to talk about a general location, Olly had no reason not to be honest. Besides, maybe this was the man's roundabout way of hitting on him. "Yep. I am."

"Oh," said the man, who looked away for a moment.

Olly thought the man might be embarrassed or maybe even repulsed, but the man turned out just to be winding up for another sneeze. "uhhh-IhShihhhhh!"

"Bless you."

"Thanks." Patrick sniffed again.

Olly fished around in the backpack for a minute then pulled out a small pack of tissues. He opened the pack and pulled one out. "You sound like you could use one."

"For the win! Yeah, thanks!" He gave his nose a furiously strong wipe. He concentrated on the nostrils, not quite blowing. Then he pocketed the tissue. He cleared his throat and called out, "Jackson, let your brother off gently! Or we're going straight home. I mean it!"

The older of the two boys rolled his eyes and instead of dismounting the seesaw from the ground, causing his brother to go crashing down, he stood, straight-legged, and got off. The little one only had an inch or two until his feet hit the ground. They both scampered over to the jungle gym.

"God, I wish I had their energy," Patrick commented. "Sitting at a desk all day has zapped my stamina. Three years in law school and massive amounts of debt to sit behind a desk?"

Olly laughed. "Try medical school."

"When did life get so serious, huh? We start off like this, where the biggest worry is how fast to go on a merry-go-round, and we end up with mortgages and careers and marriages..." He caught himself too late. "Or, well, some of us do."

Oliver wasn't exactly sure how to respond, but he didn't need to.

"ihh-Hihshhhh-Chishhh!"

"Bless you. Twice."

Patrick took out the tissue and snuffled into it. "'Scuse me," he said sheepishly. Then he belted out, "Avery, please quit hitting your brother. Jackson, keep that tongue in your mouth and I don't care if you didn't touch him. Cough! And for the last time, no snowball fights!" He coughed into the tissue and closed his eyes.

"Can't help but notice you don't sound so great. Have you got a cold?"

Nodding, "The kids've been sick and just after they got better... well, you know how it is, yeah? Thought it might just be the cold weather, but pretty soon I started feeling like crap."

Olly nodded. He definitely knew how it was. "When you say crap... could you be a little more specific?"

"Oh, I dunno. Headache. Sore throat. Coughs. Sneezes, obviously. Just your standard, run of the mill, miserable, drag of a cold."

Olly was already searching through his bag. He pulled out a bottle of Excedrin and a box of cold medicine.

Looking surprised, "Quite a bag of holding you've got there!"

"What?"

"Nothing. Doesn't matter. I'd love... oh crap... huh-Shihhhh!" he snapped forward and straightened back up, wheezing, sniffling, coughing.

Olly handed over another tissue first, then the medicine. The man fumbled with it then took off his gloves. "Thanks," he said, swallowing the pills dry. "You're an angel, Olly." He handed the meds back and then blew his nose.

Olly looked over at the kids playing. He'd been watching Maylyn practically the whole time, but now he glanced over at the boys, who were going around in slow circles on the tire swing. It looked like they'd had just about enough of the playground now anyway. "Don't get me wrong, Patrick. I enjoy playing doctor even on my days off. And I'm enjoying having someone else to talk to here. But I'm going to suggest you round up the rugrats and go home to where it's at least warm. You're not doing your body any favors out here in the cold with that cold."

With a sigh, "God, you're so right." He cleared his throat and blew his nose. "My wife doesn't get home until six." So probably not hitting on Olly then. "So there's no hope of getting some rest. But, yeah, warm is good." He blew his nose again and shivered. "Warm is great, actually." He took a deep breath. "Jackson! Avery! Finish up. We're leaving in a minute!"

Olly stuck his gloved hand out. "It was good to meet you."

"Oh, hell, likewise." Patrick gripped Olly's hand hard, even through the gloves. "Thanks so much. I hope I see you around again some time."

"Take care." If Olly hadn't known any better, he'd have sworn the guy was interested in him. Maylyn ran over to him and climbed up onto the bench. "I saw how high you were swinging. Nice job."

She scooted closer and nuzzled her cold-nosed face against Olly's cheek. She glanced over at Patrick and the boys, who were taking one of the paths away from the playground. Then she whispered into Olly's ear, "Is that nice man your new boyfriend?"

Oliver laughed. Maybe it wasn't that his gaydar was off, like everyone said it was. Maybe he just hadn't ever lost the innocence of a child. "Ah, no. Just a friend, Pumpkin." He put his arm around her. "How about we take the sled down the hill one more time and go home for hot chocolate?"

The idea of heading back up the hill wasn't very appealing, but when Maylyn proposed to race him up the hill, he laughed then gave her the sled and a head start.