Lenga had gotten halfway along the handrail when she heard something behind her.

“I’m back,” a getting-too-familiar voice said.

“Oh, joy,” Lenga sarcastically replied. She turned so her back was leaning against the rail and she could see Jake, wearing rollerblades and, as usual, annoyingly grinning.

“How cheery!” he said. “I was almost considering giving you some skating related assistance, but I just realized that you’re a stranger.”

Lenga slapped her forehead and scowled. “This is GaiaOnline, for Pete’s sake. You could see my username if you just hovered your cursor over me for a few seconds.”

Jake raised an eyebrow. “Really? We’re online? I can’t imagine why a virtual girl would willingly cling miserably to a handrail when she could be…” and suddenly he leaned forward and took both her hands, “actually skating,” Jake finished as he started skating backwards with Lenga in tow.