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Post by Angela on Jul 13, 2009 16:58:57 GMT -5
(this takes place in late February, 2009)
Zhenya had asked Danil if he would help out with a master class at the rink. All the skaters would be participating, from the beginners to the advanced. The class was being handled primarily by Zhenya, but also included Parker, Alice, Christian, Natalya and Phillipe, and Aleksei Ugarov. The rink was packed mostly with children ages 7-15, but there were students of all ages participating.
The class had been going on for about forty-five minutes now. Zhenya was correcting the awkward spread eagle position of a young 9-year-old boy named Jason. As he was doing so, he was lecturing to the other students. Danil observed, both as a guest coach and participant. Danil listened to Zhenya talking about proper position and technique.
"Now," he said, getting behind a 9-year-old boy named Troy, "we want the right turnout position, so-" He adjusted the boy's body, and gave a nod. "Now, let's see how well you do."
Danil shuddered as the boy did the spread eagle, much better than before thanks to Zhenya's advice. But something wasn't right with Danil...
Danil felt the man's hands on his hips, and one of them went down his leg, slowly, softly, almost accidentally, and touched...
"Danil!" Zhenya called out. Danil looked and saw everyone staring at him. Danil wondered what it was they were staring at. Looking down, he saw he was perfectly normal. "Would you care to give us an example?" his brother continued.
"Of what?" Danil asked.
The younger kids and a few of the older teenagers laughed. Zhenya chuckled.
"An inside-outside spread eagle, what have we been talking about for the past five minutes?"
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Post by marsha on Jul 17, 2009 15:49:28 GMT -5
Parker stepped away from the group of kids he was working with and walked over to Danil. He tapped him lightly on the shoulder. "Are you feeling okay?" He asked worried, it wasn't like Danil to space out. "We did the outside spread eagle first, then the inside... more kids had trouble with the inside," Parker filled Danil in on what he had apperantly missed.
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Post by Angela on Jul 17, 2009 15:59:28 GMT -5
"O- oh... of course, right..." He shrugged nonchalantly, slightly embarrassed. He skated out and did the inside spread eagle, perfectly.
"Any questions?" Zhenya asked, getting back to business immediately.
As questions were raised, Danil sighed, skating back to Parker. He had jumped when Parker tapped his shoulder earlier. "I don't know what happened, but I'm fine."
It wasn't like Danil to lie either...
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Post by marsha on Jul 17, 2009 16:11:10 GMT -5
Parker watched him for a second. Danil was a grown man and Parker didn't like treating him like a child, but he still was so concerned abour him. "Are you sure? Did you and Peter have a fight? Did something happen?" Parker wasn't going to press the issue, but Danil had to know that an answer like "but I'm fine" wasn't a good enough answer.
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Post by Angela on Jul 17, 2009 16:19:16 GMT -5
PDanil looked at Parker, shaking his head. "No, no, Peter and I are fine. It's nothing. I didn't get enough sleep last night. I'm just a little tired," he lied again. He had previously stated that he slept quite well,even went to sleep two hours early. Zhenya cleared his throat, signaling to pay attention, as he continued to give more advice.
Danil continued with the rest of the group for some time, and then they worked on the position of spins. Zhenya was once again commenting on proper position to increase speed in the spins' rotations, demonstrating with an 11-year-old boy named Aidan. As Zhenya demonstrated the new spin technique for the group, Danil said, "Stoi pazhaliusta." "Please stop," in Russian.
Zhenya stared at Danil, but took the disruption in hand. "Okay, for those who don't know, 'stoi, pazhaliusta' means 'Please stop,' in Russian." He turned to Danil. "You asked me to stop. Why, Danil?" It was as if he were expecting something.
Danil took his time answering. It was like he had a hard time concentrating. Then he had an idea. "You made a mistake..."
"Good, very good. What was my mistake?"
Zhenya's question left Danil silent. He had not been paying any attention at all, and struggled to remember what it was they were even talking about at that time.
"You were traveling!" one of the girls called out.
"That's right! I was traveling. Now, why was I traveling? Who would like to answer?" Zhenya addressed the group.
Troy answered, citing the poor entrance into the spin.
"Exactly. Great spins can only come from great entrances, and also that applies to jumps too." As he continued lecturing, Danil closed his eyes, sighing. He really was out of it.
"Pay attention!" the man's voice screamed in his ear. Danil opened his eyes. He felt the hands once again, this time on his inner thigh, brushing up against...
Danil shivered. He opened his eyes to see the students clapping. He had no idea what they were clapping about.
"Now, not too many people have tried that, but the reigning Olympic Champion certainly has a great version of it. So, let's see the master at work."
The students clapped, and Danil bit his lip. What was it they wanted him to do? He looked at Parker.
"What did Zhenya ask me to do?" he whispered so only Parker could hear.
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Post by marsha on Jul 19, 2009 0:16:58 GMT -5
"Your special spin combo from your free skate," Parker whispered. He didn't know what was going on with Danil, but he was already very worried.
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Post by Angela on Jul 19, 2009 0:36:18 GMT -5
Danil crinkled his face. How could he have tuned out so much so that he did not hear that? He smiled and skated into his spin: camels in both directions, then from the second one into a sit-cannonball-martini-change-camel-illusion-Graftstrom. He finished and smiled to the group as they clapped.
"So, you took note of the speed, the pure positions, and above all, the entrance. It was difficult, creative, innovative, and above all, essential to the quality of the spin. Displace one stroke, and the entire combination would be destroyed. The camel position is of interest to beginners. The camel is called the camel because of its 'hump' that beginners do at first. I see some of you little ones doing that. Correct position will come with time, never fear. Just observe this." He looked at Danil. "Give us a camel position without spinning, please, Danil."
Danil, who did not space out, nodded and got into the camel position without spinning. Zhenya came over and gestured to his body, pointing out his pure position, adding that it took years to achieve it. When Zhenya touched his leg, Danil instinctively lost his position and skated slightly away from him. Zhenya looked at him, puzzled.
"Sorry... I lost my balance," he lied.
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Post by marsha on Jul 19, 2009 1:04:40 GMT -5
That worried Parker even more. Danil rarely made mistakes, but he was clearly shakin by something. "Are you okay?" Parker asked, yet again.
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Post by Angela on Jul 19, 2009 1:13:07 GMT -5
"Just tired a little, that's all," he lied, shrugging. He tried to keep his composure.
"Well, I think we could all use a break. Let's go shower and have some pizza in the cafeteria," Zhenya said with a grin. The kids cheered and practically rushed off to the locker rooms. Zhenya skated over to Danil and Parker.
"You all right?" Zhenya asked.
"I'm fine," Danil lied, somewhat annoyed.
Zhenya frowned. "It's not like you to lie."
"I'm not lying," Danil said indignantly. "I'm fine."
"I mean about the camel. I was close enough to see. That was no loss of balance. As soon as I touched your-"
Without letting him finish, Danil skated over to the rink entrance and headed to the locker room. Zhenya looked at Parker, confused.
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