"I still do not understand this Midgardian holiday custom, Darcy," Loki admitted.

Darcy huffed as she pulled her laces tight. "It's fun, Loki! To glide across the ice...it's kind of like dancing in the winter," she explained.

Loki fumbled with the skate on his foot, trying to manoeuvre the thin cotton laces. How is it that this Midgardian contraption posed such a problem to a skilled Asgardian? In fact, Loki had been lacing the fastenings to his own armour for hundreds of years already...surely he could figure this one out!

"Hmph!" Loki grunted as he realized that his skate was too loose around his foot.

Darcy kneeled down from her position on the frozen log in front of Loki. She undid the knot Loki had accumulated on his skate and retied it, pulling as hard as she could.

Loki looked down at her as she re-tied his skate. "I don't think I will ever become tired of seeing you kneeling before me," he teased.

Darcy gave a sharp pull on the laces and tied it tightly. "Ha. Ha," she replied dryly. Loki stood and held his hands out to pull Darcy to her feet. She grasped his hands and pulled herself up, feeling a few inches taller than normal. Darcy looked upwards and met Loki's grin. They were so close that she could just feel his breath, his lips within that perfect distance.

Just as he leaned in slightly to meet her lips, Darcy pulled backwards and walked gingerly in the snow towards the frozen lake. She held onto one of Loki's hands, leading him in the short distance.

They reached the edge of the lake and Darcy pulled her knitted hat further over her ears. The warm huff of her breath was visible as it drifted slowly through the air. Darcy smiled as she extended on leg onto the ice, and then shifted her weight to place the other.

"Come on!" Darcy encouraged. She smiled as she turned back to Loki. "The water's great!"

In all honesty, Loki had never gone skating on ice before. It was just not an activity that Asgardians participated in during the winter months. Darcy, however, seemed adamant on ice skating after the first snowfall so Loki obliged. After all, how hard could it be?

Loki placed one skated foot onto the ice, and found it to be quite unbalancing to say the least. Whoever thought that balancing on ice with two thin sheets of metal would be fun was...well, crazy! He shifted his body weight and found his foot to wobble ever so slightly. Loki placed his other skate onto the ice and immediately held onto Darcy's hands with both of his.

Darcy started to laugh.

"I'm glad you find this amusing, my dear. I will have you know-"

Darcy interrupted him. "The Great Loki of Asgard!" she bellowed in a silly British accent. "World famous figure skater!"

Loki started to glide forwards on his skates against his will and practically crushed Darcy's hands in his. Darcy had started to skate backwards, pulling his hands in hers. She was grinning madly, gauging his reaction.

"How is it that you are so skilled, Darcy?" Loki asked as Darcy pulled him closer to the centre of the lake.

"I used to go skating with my family during Christmas time when I was younger," Darcy said. She wriggled her fingers out of Loki's grasp and skated around to a spot behind him, leaving him practically paralyzed on the ice.

"Go on," she encouraged. "Try it, push out with your right leg while guiding your left leg." Darcy showed him by drifting across the ice smoothly, stopping just a few steps away in front of him by turning to face Loki.

It looked easy enough, but it was definitely harder in practice. Loki pushed with his right leg, but found himself completely unbalanced, wobbling back and forth by swivelling with his hips.

Darcy rushed forwards and grasped his flailing hands, meeting Loki's displeased expression.

"You would think that Frost Giants would totally kick ass at winter sports," Darcy noted.

"I wo-o-uld h-hardly call this a 's-sport'," Loki stuttered, struggling to maintain his balance.

Darcy smirked as she watched his feeble attempts at skating. She extended her arms away from his, wanting to take a look at his form. It was like watching a doe take her first quivering steps on earth.

"Don't worry, I still love you even though you're a terrible skater," Darcy laughed. She pulled on Loki's outstretched arms to reel him in, but apparently it was too quick for a novice. Loki fell completely off balance and tumbled backwards, pulling Darcy along with him. Darcy gave a short yelp and fell with her hands on the ice and her body on top of Loki.

"Oof!" Darcy cried out as Loki's hard chest knocked the wind out of her. She opened her eyes and looked into Loki's eyes. Instead of the irritation that she was expecting, Darcy recognized his signature mischievous grin on his lips. Loki reached up and adjusted Darcy's skewed glasses.

"Yes, I suppose I won't be trying out for these Midgardian 'Olympics' of yours quite so soon-" Loki started. He brushed a pale thumb over her flushed cheeks.

"-but I will certainly settle for your love."

Darcy laughed and she dropped her forehead onto Loki's neck. Loki could feel her laughter on his own body and couldn't help but smile. Darcy kissed him lightly on the neck and raised her head once again.

"Lucky me."

They kissed and all remnants of the cold simply melted away.

A/N: Happy Holidays! Hope you enjoyed :)