Chapter 2: Chapter 1 – We can totally pull that off

Oliver pumped his legs on the pedals of his bicycle as he flew past christiansborg palace. He knew that so long as he hurried over Knippel's bridge he could use the momentum gained from going down the bridge to pass a chain of green lights, a chain he desperately needed if he wanted any hope of getting to his part-time job on time. There was one slight extra challenge this day in particular, but he was sure he could still make it.

"what are you hurrying so much for, at most, you'll be fifteen minutes late" Emma, the challenge, said from where she sat behind him on the carrier, it was, perhaps, ever so slightly illegal to ride a bike this way, but her bicycle had been stolen today, and that was also illegal. that, of course, didn't actually make what they were doing less illegal, but he needed to go in that direction either way, and she didn't want to walk all the way to fencing practice.

"and that wouldn't normally be a problem for most, but when you have a slight reputation for being late, it starts becoming a real possibility that you'll get fired," Oliver said.

"You know, you could get around this problem entirely if you just go directly after school instead of playing videogames with me" she drawled, and even though Oliver couldn't see her face, the instincts he had honed almost every day since the very moment they met when they were five told him that she was, at that very moment, looking at him as though he was still the same kid who fell head-first from the monkey bars. in his defense, he was very confident that he could reach up again with his hands after deciding to hang from his legs for a bit... besides, she really could have looked up, then maybe he wouldn't have landed on her.

"Because I do make it sometimes, and I'm so sure I can make it every other time," Oliver said before he stopped speaking to conserve energy going up the bridge.

as Oliver focused purely on pushing the bicycle forwards, the only distractions he felt were his school satchels rhythmic thump against his left leg, the slight tug he felt in his red scarf whenever the wind blew it into Emma's face and she moved it away, and the slight bite of the Danish early spring even through his white shirt, and maybe his own slightly too long blond hair as it blocked his view. that is, until he was halfway up the bridge and a new distraction appeared, in the form of the ship sailing towards them. the large sailship was clearly molded after renaissance ships, not an original, of course, since if it was it would be truly strange how it managed to sail with neither oars nor its sails up in either of the tall masts. The masts were definitely large enough for them to require the bridge to rise.

"Uh, Oliver, you can slow down now, there's no point if we have to wait either way," she said, nervousness seeping into her voice as she perhaps already knew after their long friendship what he would say next.

"Nah, we can totally pull that off," Oliver said with a reassuring smile over his shoulder.

"Oliver, we might be able to make it, but is there a reason why we should try to make it in the first place?"

"Well, you know how I said that there was a real possibility that I could get fired? well, it's more of a very real reality that I will be fired. he actually already tried to fire me once, and I think the second time trying to fire someone is when you become serious about doing so" he said.

"that's too bad, it really is, I know how long you've spent saving up for your mom's gift, and I get that it's always just the been the two of you and no one else, but we can collaborate on the gift if you need it, just, please wait for the ship to pass," She said.

"Alright,” he said with a sigh, before continuing with grand enthusiasm “if you want to give up the experience of the year, give up the adventure of jumping over the gap of a rising bridge in a feat never achieved before, give up a moment of glory to remember for the rest of your life because of fear for a quick fall into a bit of chilly water, then we can wait and watch the moment you could tell your kids about, the moment that solidified our friendship for eternity sail by, then we can do so," Oliver said.

"first of all, we've been best friends since kindergarten, we stay with each other all the time, and you and your mom celebrate Christmas with us even when my parents are at each other's throats. our friendship is already eternal. secondly, if I were to have kids, I would never tell them about the time I jumped a rising drawbridge"

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Oliver paused for a moment, before asking hopefully "so... there is going to be a time where you jumped a rising bridge drawbridge?"

“Fine,” she said with a sigh of reluctance “…I guess it could be sort of fun," she said, amusement and anticipation rising in her voice, betraying the slight smile she tried to fight.

Oliver whooped with joy as he sped up even more than before, putting every smidge of power he had into racing along the bridge, past the long line of stopped cars and the slightly fewer cyclists as he rode a race with the slowly rising bridge. already it was at an eight-degree angle, creating a small but noticeable gap of fifteen centimeters, and it was only widening faster. oliver could practically already see how it would go, he knew he wasn't the strongest physically, and he knew that if it went beyond an angle of twenty degrees, it would be too steep and too far. if he kept being the one responsible for pushing them forwards, they wouldn't make it.

"Emma, we need a new pair of legs, it's time to switch," he said, pulling his legs to his chest after determining it as the only possible solution.

she instantly understood what he wanted her to do, and she reached forwards from behind him with her legs and started pedaling faster and harder than he had before, pushing them forwards fast enough for them to reach the rising section and jerk up to climb the bridge just in time for them to make it over when there was still only a gap of thirty-three centimeters and come down with a hard thump on the other side before speeding down the other half of the bridge, half laughing at their success, half at themselves as they recognized it as something very stupid.

"one day we will both die because you talked me into something stupid," Emma said with a quiet chuckle as she jumped off right at Copenhagens Historical Fencing Society, her HEMA club.

"no, one day we will almost die because I talked you into something, but it'll turn out fine, just like earlier, besides, what would your life be without our adventures, you know, other than fewer moments of panic," Oliver said with a smile, not seeing the slight concern in her eyes at his disregards for even the possibility of something going wrong.

"Well, I'll be off now, I still am almost going to be a bit late, and-" he froze. Emma froze. all around them, everyone on Amagerbro street froze. Oliver didn't freeze in fear or surprise, at least, not the kind of surprise he expected, which was contradictory, yes, but also the only way to describe the kind of surprise where a friend jumps from around a corner. it was mundane, understandable, and expected. this wasn't. no, this was something else. something far more primal, because whatever the sensation just beyond his senses was, it was something unique. he didn't understand how he felt it. he didn't see it, he didn't hear it, yet just as he knew when he was seeing something, he knew that it... was. even if he couldn't explain it even in his own mind. what is this feeling? before he could process the new sensation so fundamentally different from anything before it appeared, the second surprise of the minute appeared, although at least this one was understandable in its nature, as in, he could actually see it... even if seeing things appear out of nowhere wasn't commonly classified as good.

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