Eeek, forgive me- a. cause of the long time it too to update, and b. because I think I just totally butchered the characters. -hides- Oh well.

Anyway... this is more of a fun filled one, so.. uh... don't mind the randomness too much.

Enjoy! And thanks to all the reviewers of the last chapter! Glad to see it was liked so much. -happy-

Warnings: Shounen-ai, little language. Ruwalk/Tetheus, Kaistern/Alfeegi, all others are straight couples.

Dragon Knights Snippets: Skating

There are two types of people in the world, Kaistern thought. Those who can skate and those can't.

It was pretty amusing to see who fell in which category.

Winter had been particularly ferocious this year, and for the first time in many decades, the large lake behind the castle grounds had frozen over. Kaistern, accompanied by three eager knights and one Ruwalk, had rallied everyone to come ice-skating. The gals had immediately volunteered to bring warm food and hot cocoa, and so it had turned into what Kaistern liked to call, in his incredibly original mind, 'The Ice-Skating Picnic Outing.'

It had been a quick matter to see who had previous experience on the ice, and who had stepped on it for the first time in their lives. After a couple minutes to familiarize themselves with the ice, only a few had come out unscathed and zipping off along the ice.

Rune and Tintlett had good-naturedly given up after repeated failed attempts to even stand, opting instead to sit on a log at the edge, sipping hot chocolate as they watched everyone. Kaistern guessed that living in the tropical faerie forest, they rarely experienced snow, much less ice. Delte was in the same boat, though she had tenaciously stuck to it, but after several scrapes that had only led to a wobbly stance, she had decided to join the other two faeries into conversation.

Thatz and Kitchel had turned out to be unnaturally good, zipping circles around everyone. They claimed it was because of a contest they had forfeited their rivalry to join during their thieving years. The prize must have been pretty good to have forced them to work together, Kaistern mused, remembering the bickering they displayed on a constant basis when they'd first met under the Dragon Palace. Of course, nowadays they made up for that bickering with long absences from which they came back giddy, and in Kitchel's case, giggly, which was never a good sign when dealing with women. In fact, Kaistern figured it wouldn't be too long before they mysteriously disappeared together again.

"Bet I can beat you one-lap around," Ruwalk swept up from behind Kaistern, grinning widely.

"You're on," Kaistern smirked, "Eat my… uh… ice-chips."

"Smooth."

They laughed, then exchanged competitive glances before setting off at full speed, bodies bent forward to get the most aerodynamic form as their legs pumped powerfully. Raseleane's hat flew off as they zoomed by, Lykouleon reaching out to catch it and slipping, falling into a sprawling heap at his giggling queen's feet. Alfeegi and Tetheus craned their heads from their safe spot next to the railing that surrounded part of the lake, staring open-mouther- or almost, in Tetheus' case- at the other two speeding officers.

"Woohoo! Go Kaistern! Kick his ass!" Rath cheered him as Cesia clung to his arm to keep her balance, and Fire did a little air dance. Whether he was cheering Ruwalk or Kaistern, the little dragon didn't elaborate. A survival tactic, since Kaistern suspected it was Ruwalk (the man had always been generous with his food towards Fire) but going against his master's preferences was probably not a smart thing to do.

Zoma skated out of the way as Kaistern and Ruwalk neared him, neck-to-neck, rooting for both of them. Ringleys decided to join the race, flying from Zoma's side, a little glowing sphere flittering between them. They hadn't been able to find a pair of skates in his size, so the little faerie had to settle for flying among them, alternating between Zoma and the other faeries' side, as well as Kitchel occasionally.

"Wow, you two are fast," he said cheerfully. His little wings fluttered happily, clearly enjoying the fact that he could easily fly twice as fast as they were skating, and so flew circles around their heads.

The finish point was almost there, and Kaistern had managed to get ahead by a couple feet, but Ruwalk was gaining on his fast.

They couldn't remember where exactly the finish point was though, and so they ended in a draw, collapsing to ground and trading good-natured jibes as they fought to catch their breath.

"I… went easy… on you, remember that," Kaistern said between gulps of air.

"That's why… your face is… beet red, right?"

Kaistern grinned, hoisting himself back on his feet and helping Ruwalk up too. They skated lazily back to the railing, where Tetheus was watching Alfeegi's rather pathetic attempts to move forward. Ruwalk made a rather conspicuous entrance by skating backwards with the minimum amount of effort. Tetheus simply laughed at his lover's attempt to rub it in their face how much they sucked, but Alfeegi pouted.

"Show off," he muttered.

"At least I can skate."

"But you can't beat me," Kaistern interjected, resting his elbows on the railing. Tetheus sipped his hot chocolate as Ruwalk hooked his arm around his.

"I was this close!"

"Anyway… how's it going with you two?" Kaistern grinned.

Tetheus shrugged, his lips twitching into a small smile, "I'm not answering."

"It sucks," Alfeegi sulked from the floor, and Kaistern laughed and helped him up with one hand, kissing his forehead.

"Leave me alone, I can do it myself," he said, only making Kaistern laugh harder. Alfeegi struggled up, only to have his legs fly out from under him again, "Ouch."

The other three officers laughed, and Alfeegi glared at them venomously.

"You have no idea how much I hate you."

"Why don't you let me help then, 'Feeg?"

"No!" Alfeegi insisted, "I'm going to learn how to do this on my own."

"Glaring at the ice won't make it nicer towards you," Ruwalk pointed out.

Alfeegi ignored him, clumsily skating away from them. To his credit, he only fell twice in the ten feet he managed to travel.

"I'm gonna skate a bit more. Coming, Kaistern?"

"Nah, I think I'm gonna stay here for a bit. It's funny to watch Feegi."

"Alright," he said, patting Tetheus' arm before speeding off again. Tetheus and he sat there quietly, getting a few good laughs at Alfeegi's increasingly successful, but still pathetic struggling. He flailed his arms, frustrated, and stomped rather childishly on the ground, which only resulted in another tumble.

"Isn't he cute?" the Blue Officer said cheerfully, leaning his elbow on the railing as he placed his chin on his hand. Tetheus merely shrugged, as either answer would have been wrong to say, and Kaistern grinned, "I bet you're jealous that I get a cutie like that, while all you have is Ruwalk."

Tetheus rolled his eyes and chuckled, to Kaistern's mild confusion.

"yeah, cause Kaistern likes someone who keeps him on a short leash."

Kaistern eeped and whirled around to look into Ruwalk's mischievous face.

"Oh, hey Ruwalk," he said nervously.

"Yup, you like being dominated like a pup to a big bad wolf."

"I do not!"

Kaistern pouted as Tetheus watched with amusement, "What, you think I do every little thing he asks and bend to his every whim? For your information, it's me who has him wrapped around my little finger."

"Kaistern!" Alfeegi wailed pitifully from his spot on the ground. He struggled up on the slippery ice only managing to slip again in a tangle of limbs again.

"Coming!" Kaistern said immediately.

Ruwalk snickered and Tetheus smirked.

"Riiight. He has you licking off the palm of his hand."

Kaistern huffed, "Well, I bet you're not the one in charge either, so don't talk."

Tetheus decided to interfere before Ruwalk either lied, or said something that would embarrass the black officer, "I think you better go, this is the third time he's tried to get up."

"Oh, right," Kaistern blinked and set off, trailing gracefully across the ice to where Alfeegi was sitting with his arms crossed.

Ruwalk turned to Tetheus, wrapping his arms lazily around his neck to lean up and kiss him, "I think he's the one who should be jealous, don't you think? After all, he doesn't have a witty, wonderfully lover like me, right?"

"Definitely," Tetheus responded, kissing Ruwalk's playful grin away.

"Geez, you and your butter-flavored toffee," he mutered, leaning comfortably against the black-clad officer as he licked his lips, trying to find remnants of the sweet flavor.

Tetheus lifted a questioning eyebrow, and Ruwalk shrugged.

"I found your stash in your room. It seems like you're always eating one, cause you always taste like it."

The eyebrow went up further, "When have you been in my room alone? I'm always with you."

"Secret," Ruwalk smiled, skating backwards a couple feet, laughing as Tetheus tried to lunge at him, but his feet very nearly gave out and he took hold of the safety of the railing again.

"Ooh, I like this, I can say whatever I want and you can't reach me."

"That's if you're trying to spend your whole life on the ice, by which time I will have learned how to skate."

"What a sport," Ruwalk laughed, "Here, I'll teach you."

He then proceeded to roughly pull Tetheus from his comfortable spot against the railing, sending him flying into Ruwalk, and the both toppled backwards onto the cold ice.

Tetheus glared down at Ruwalk as he burst out laughing, biting his nose teasingly before easing himself off the brunet and gingerly standing up.

"Not funny," he muttered as Ruwalk's laughing faded and he stood up too.

"It's okay, the ice likes you, really," he laughed again, taking Tetheus' arm and pulling him forward again. The Black Officer valiantly held out on his own for three full strides before slipping on ice dust and landing harshly on his back. Ruwalk couldn't help laughing again at the image of Tetheus laying sprawled on his back before sitting up and rubbing his backside.

"That's it, I will not be made a fool of," he mumbled darkly, "I am the Black Dragon Officer, the head of security-"

"And you can't skate."

Tetheus graced his lover with the coldest gaze he could muster. Then he stopped, looked up at Ruwalk, and said, "Can you help me up?"

"Of course, honeybun."

Ruwalk only narrowly managed to evade Tetheus' swipe at his head.

Alright, here are thereponses I said I'd write!

Lady Eos: thank, I hope you keep on reading!

Puppy: I actually like all the f/m pairings in DK, even ones that are more implied. Ra/Cs, Kit/Tz, Ru/Tint, Lim/R, delte with anyone (lol), Rima/Feegi...thank you!

Kage:Het hides too Lol. Thatz and Kit are just so quirky and dynamic they're fun to work with, but I don't bring that out to its full extent... Kiss Kiss is awesome isn't it? I adored it!

Angstluver: Thank you, I'm glad you foudn it funny. And ever since you said that about Tetheus falling on his butt I haven't been able to get it out my head. lol/

Vera-chan: Thanks for all your support! I'm glad you liked it.

Peophin-chan: Thanks, it took me a while to find the right wording to express what I had in my mind.

Evalita: O.O :gasp: Yes! I have to! Gil/Bierrez...and I have a good scenario in my mind too! oomy, i've got to write that sometime...

Lost and Far Away:I love that name, lol. Poor Cesia. She's either liked or hated, lol. Glad you liked the last one, though it was depressing... :pats Kaistern:

Blackcat: thanks.

LIzzy: yeah, I gotta figure out something for a Rune/Thatz chapter...

ShadownDown: Yeah, eventually I'll have another Ruwalk/Feegi soon, I guess right now I'm trying to go for greater diversity, and to finish writing all those that I've had stuck in my head for a while. Tetheus sleepign is amusing, which is why I put it there. ... O.o woa. That'd be sooo creepy if one of the charac went to past and saw Nadil and Lykouleon... yeah... wow. That would be creepy beyond he11.

Aerith: Thanks.

Kitty2Satana; Good, you got the scans. They're pretty cool, aren't they? I love Gil's outfit and hair... Thank you so much!

Old Fiat: I found the comment about me sounding like your friend mad at you amusing. Hm... skinnydipping's a bit out of my range :sweatdrop: I guess I shirk nudity? Who knows though.

Capella: Cue cards::lifts one up- 'I'm an idiot': Rath- "I'm an idi- what?" LOL. I acutally just felt like having her have wings cause they're pretty. And actually, I do havea semi-shoujo-ai smippet halfway typed up :snicker:

THANK YOU EVERYONE :happy face: