~~~ Double Upload: make sure you read the one before this ~~~

"Why did you do that?"

Cole looked down at Kazimir who sat on the stone bench he stood beside, head bowed as he did up the laces of his ice-skates, hair trailing over his shoulder and hiding his face.

"Do what?" Cole asked.

"Present the queen with that narwhal tusk," Kazimir said.

Cole laughed. "You knew what it was?"

"On sight. Did you ever really believe it was a unicorn horn?"

"Heck no, unicorns don't exists. I stole it was another pirate ship I sank some months back and brought it with me because it's the perfect type of gift to present to the queen – pretending it's from her husband."

"And again, why?"

"Because if she's seen to receive such dramatic gifts from the king, her position is safer and she's happier."

"What do you care of her happiness, I thought you didn't like her."

"I don't. But Dalton asks me to do such things and I love Dalton."

Kazimir straightened up, pushing his hair back from his face, "And why should Dalton care if she's happy or not. She's horrible to him."

"Because he wants a mother," Cole said, as if it were obvious, taking a seat beside Kazimir.

Kazimir looked at him, surprised the thought hadn't occurred to him.

"He wants a mother who loves him, as any son would. I want such a thing – thankfully I have it. I love and adore my own mother, what about you?"

Kazimir was silent for a moment, before nodding slowly. Of course he adored his mother; she had always been there for him. Naturally Dalton might wish for the same thing.

"So he does what he can to make her happy," Dalton continued, leaning back on his hand and looking out over the lake.

It had frozen as he had predicted. The ice was like opal, glittering in the dusk of the setting sun and the fiery torches that lined almost the entire lake, set up earlier that day by servants under Dalton's orders. The stone benches had been cleared of snow and the half dozen pavilions and gazebos around the lake were cleared and done up with blankets and cushions and hot drinks.

Kazimir and Cole had been the first to arrive at the lake.

Kazimir had found skates that fitted well and were worn in enough as to not destroy his feet and set out without waiting for the others. Cole had followed almost instantly, a pair of black battered skates slung over his shoulder.

"So you make Dalton happy by making his mother happy," Kazimir summarised.

"That's about it," Cole said.

Kazimir was quiet, looking down at his skates, wriggling his toes, making sure he really was going to be comfortable.

"Who is your mother?" he suddenly asked, looking at Cole.

Cole blinked, startled by the question before looking at Kazimir. "A whore from the Northern Quarter of the city – I wouldn't recommend going there. Someone as pretty as you will scream 'target'."

Kazimir stared at him, simply stunned that he could refer to his mother – who he claimed he adored – in such brazen words.

Catching Kazimir's thoughts, Cole shrugged. "It's true," he said, "There's no denying what she is. She certainly won't pretend to be anything more than she is. She's done well for herself. Used to be a street girl but His Majesty took a shine to her and she was one of his ladies for a time."

Kazimir looked at him quickly and Cole smiled.

"No, I'm not Dalton's half-brother and that's not why I watch out for him. My father is, in fact, also a pirate – the occupation runs in the family. My Ma became one of his ladies after I was born, after Dalton was born to. That's how we got to know each other. We were both living in the palace and were both miserable with the situations we found ourselves in."

Cole tilted his head to the side, looking up at the sky as starts started to bloom.

"I resented being the unwanted child of a concubine. Dalton was a lonely kid who no one noticed. We became fast friends and it stayed that way ever since."

"What's the king like? He's clearly a lover of the ladies."

"He's a womaniser," Cole said bluntly, "Maybe I'm biased because I side with Dal, but I think he's an awful person. Ugly and cruel – not physically of course. He's very handsome but... well I don't like him, even if he did set my mother up for life."

Kazimir looked away, across the lake as the sun set still lower and the ice turned red in the firelight.

"What's your mother like?" Cole asked and Kazimir stood up.

"An exile," he said simply and walked away, stepping onto the ice and gliding away.

In a second, he released a long, slow breath and a smile formed.

This.

This was one of the few things he loved – truly loved – about being human. The ability to transform his body, to gain legs, gave him something he could never possibly hope to do in his true form.

He slid across the surface of the lake, taking his time, it had been a while since he had last skated but it came back to him as easily as swimming.

Perhaps he could still do the spinning jumps he had learnt over the years.

It only there was music.

He missed music.

There wasn't enough music on land.

Cole stayed on the shore, watching Kazimir as he glided away, smooth and easy as if he spent every day of his life on the ice. He knew when he had been forgotten.

Kazimir started to dance, flowing along the water, graceful as rippling waves in the middle of the sea, lose hair flaring around his face, shadowing it but not hiding that smile.

He hadn't seen Kazimir smile like that.

He hadn't really seen Kazimir smile actually.

But he was smiling now.

Lost in his own little world as he span across the ice, arms out to guide him, his steps light and sure, switching from one leg to the other, warming himself up.

When he jumped, he launched so high and so far, Cole sat bolt upright, sure he could crash, but Kazimir landed perfectly, knee bending for a second to stable himself before floating backwards, hands pushing into his hair, pulling it from his face, revealing relaxed features, closed eyes and contented smile.

He was so happy on the ice.

Perhaps it was something he did often at home.

He certainly seemed to feel more comfortable with the ice than anywhere else.

Heck, maybe Cole should have been jealous of that frozen chunk of water.

A hand on his shoulder made him glance up to see Dalton and the others.

"That took you long enough," he said.

"The ladies needed to change," Dalton said, nodding back to Cynthia and Aeralie who had changed into shorter dresses which wouldn't catch on their skates.

Cynthia looked comfortable enough, if not unsure.

Aeralie looked completely out of her comfort zone, clinging to Perry until Kazimir spotted them and came over, the blade of his skate carving up the ice as he skidded to a stop.

"Come, let me teach you how to dance," was all he said, before he took Aeralie's hands and pulled her onto the ice.

She looked like a baby duck, scrambling to hold onto him, Kazimir saying something to her that the others couldn't catch.

"I guess he really is good on the ice," Dalton said absently, watching Aeralie as she straightened her posture.

"He clearly enjoys is," Cole said.

"Are you just going to sit here or are you actually going to skate?" Dalton asked.

"I'm enjoying the show," Cole shot back.

Dalton rolled his eyes. "You know, if you like him so much, why don't you talk honestly to him instead of flirting like you're trying to get money out of it?"

"Excuse you, my beloved prince, I'll have you know we were having a very civilised conversation before you turned up," Cole replied snootily, sticking his nose in the air.

"You? Civilised, what nonsense," Dalton said and Cole snorted before waving Dalton away. The prince stepped onto the ice and glided away with the same easy grace as Kazimir.

Their movement were very similar in fact. Cole watched the long graceful limbs and sure, elegant moves of both men as they skated across the ice, confident in every step, enjoying every moment.

Both lost themselves in the movements.

Jazz and Cynthia stepped onto the ice, Jazz with the ease of someone who spent all this winters on the ice. Cynthia, a little less sure but she had clearly skated a fair bit some time in her life because the balance and style came back to her fast enough.

Cole looked back at Perry.

"Are you going out there?" he asked.

"I want to dance with Aeralie," he said and Cole almost started laughing at the adorable honesty of his crewmate.

"Well why don't you ask her?" he said, chuckling. "Go over there and ask if Kazimir would let you teach her to skate."

"Do you think he will?"

Cole thought about it for a moment, then smiled and pushed to his feet.

"I'll make him," he said.

"What?" Perry asked, looking at him but Cole was already pushing off, gliding across the ice, heading straight for Kazimir and Aeralie.

Kazimir spotted him and moved Aeralie out of the way seconds before Cole shot passed, catching Kazimir around the waist and dragging him away with a cry of shock, Kazimir gripping him tightly to balance himself.

Perry appeared at Aeralie's side in a second, catching her to stop her from falling and the pair watched as Kazimir and Cole went spinning away, wrapped in each other's arms, Cole laughing, Kazimir snarling at him.

"Sorry about that," Perry said, steadying her. "I didn't expect him to do that."

"Hell, he really can't keep his hands off Kaz, can he?" Aeralie grumbled, pushing herself upright and letting Perry lead them around in slow, easy circles.

"He's unusually clingy, I admit that," Perry said.

"You should warn him that Kazimir will break his heart. Humans can't honestly fall in love with merfolk."

Perry looked at her. "Then... what's all this nonsense about Dalton?" he asked, unable to control himself and wincing.

Aeralie just looked at him however.

"Dalton doesn't react to me the same way other men do," she said simply. Then she smiled. "You shouldn't trust those feelings you have for me either."

Perry's mouth thinned. "Don't forget that I'm not all that different from you," he said, a chill wind blowing around them, catching their hair and clothes.

"Oh yes," Aeralie said, as if she'd forgotten, though her tone was too breezy, revealing she hadn't forgotten. "A sky spirit, correct?"

"Something like that," Perry muttered.

Aeralie suddenly shot him a grin. "So what? You're feelings are real? And what are your feelings?"

"You're pretty – on the outside," Perry shot back and Aeralie laughed. "You shouldn't mock someone who has feelings for you," Perry said, his voice lowering, "You wouldn't like it if Dalton mocked you."

Aeralie's laugh cut short and she looked at him, then across to Dalton who had skated over to Cole and Kazimir, stopping beside them, the trio talking companionably.

"I'm..." Aeralie stopped, her expression darkening. She looked puzzled by something.

Perry started to ask what when something caught Cole's attention on the shore and he turned – arm still locked possessively around Kazimir's waist, dragging him around with him – waving to someone behind them.

Everyone looked around to see three young ladies on the snowy banks.

The one in front was slender and delicate, her fine doll-like features striking against her long, straight, pitch-black hair that was pinned up with jewelled ornaments, her skin as white as the snow around her.

The one to the left of her was slightly taller, with dark skin and a hundred, wild corkscrews of chocolate brown hair that matched her dark skin and big brown eyes.

The third, to the left, was pretty and blonde, her big eyes fixed on Dalton as he turned to see who had caught Cole's attention.

"Princess Mai!" Cole called, grinning, "You're just in time."

The middle lady smiled and curtsied, the other two following suit.

She opened her mouth to speak when Dalton spun towards them.

He smiled.

And it was unlike anything Kazimir or Aeralie had seen before, bright and dazzling and open, all his emotion, all his happiness appearing without a care for who saw and judged.

He pushed forwards across the ice, racing over the lake to the shore.

Princess Mai stepped out of the way as the blonde stepped forwards, her smile forming to match Dalton's and she held up her arms just as Dalton reached her, throwing his arms around her, stepping lightly onto the bank and lifting her right off the ground, hugging her tightly as she started laughing.

Aeralie and Kazimir stared; no one else seemed all that bothered by the extreme display of affection.

Cole glanced at Kazimir.

"Dalton's lady," he said simply, "Princess--."

"No, no," Kazimir cut in, "I know who she is... Princess Daphne."

~~~

Aren't I nice? Double upload for no good reason other than i wanted to lol

Don't forget votes XP

Next Up: Monday

Art By: Yes, Yes, i decided to use a shot from Yuri On Ice - like c'mon, Viktor is stunning! Give it time and we'll hear some of the music from that show as well

Side note: Does the gif work? At the top? because MY GOD! This last half hour of trying to get it to work!

And I couldn't make up my mind between a shot of fictional legend, Viktor Nikiforov, real legend Evgeni Plushenko, beautiful star Yuzuru Hanyu or dark horse Maxim Kovtun! Like so Many choises! I'm glad I didn't have to choose a female dancer for this chapter, jeez!

Examples (in order) if you don't know the names: (Lot's of spins and jumps lol)