A/N: Yeah, so here's the second chapter. It took a bit longer than expected cause I've been busy and annoyed with due to some extremely annoying flames. Stupid people think their opinions are going to change something I've done.

DEDICATIONS: Sinwen Periedhel, Poisoned Honey, Les Lapins Mauvais, and, most importantly, MegR and JessJ, without whom this fic would not have been written at all.

DISCLAIMER: Its Shakespeare's, not mine. I wish. And I don't own Brian Boitano, either, who is referenced. If you don't know who he is....he's a really cool figure skater. But you probably all know that, just from the South Park Movie. So....yeah.

CLAIMER: The Thomas. Hamlet's camera. The other skaters. Hamlet's mad skating skills.

FICLET!

Hamlet bounced out of the car before it had even fully come to a stop, which earned him a glare and a warning from Thomas. "Come on, Horatio, let's go!" He opened Horatio's door, bouncing about.

Horatio scooted forwards and got stuck once again. "HamLET," he whined. "I'm stuck again."

Hamlet stifled his snickering as best he could and grabbed Horatio's hands. "Okay, ready? Let's go!" He pulled Horatio with all his might, finally succeeding in tugging the blonde out of the car. Horatio stumbled, falling into Hamlet, who caught him, narrowly avoiding falling over himself. "GEEZ, Horatio!"

"I'm SORRY! I can't stand up in this thing!"

"Or sit down, or sit up, or get in the car, or get out of the car…"

"Yes, yes, I get the point!"

Hamlet grabbed the figure skates out of Thomas's hands. "Come on, let's go!" He dragged Horatio down to the pond, which already had at least twenty skaters on it. "Here, sit down and put these on," he said. "I'll show you how."

Horatio tried to sit down…honestly tried. He ended up tipping over and falling flat on his back in the snow, landing hard. Hamlet stared down at him, shaking his head and sighing. "God, Horatio, can't do anything, can you?"

Horatio moved to sit up and shoot back a snappy retort….and found he couldn't sit up. He couldn't move at all, could only roll back and forth. The puffy jacket was preventing him from sitting up. He rolled back and forth on the ground with more force, trying to propel himself into a sitting position, but it just wasn't working.

Hamlet stared down at him. "……Horatio…..what.....are you doing."

Horatio kicked his legs. "I can't sit up."

"What are you talking about?"

"I CAN'T SIT UP!" He continued rolling about, kicking his legs to try and push himself up, but it just wasn't working. "This damn jacket!"

Hamlet began laughing again. "Oh, God, Horatio, I wish you could see yourself!"

"HamLET! Shut up and help me!"

"No way! This is much too amusing!" The blonde looked absolutely ridiculous, rolling about on the ground in a blue parka two times too big for him and a blue and green ski cap with a fluffy pompom on the top. Long legs flailed about, laces on his snow boots coming undone and flapping about. A crowd was beginning to gather to watch the show.

"Hamlet! I'm serious! Help me!" Horatio heard a noise that sounded suspiciously like a camera going off. "…..are you taking pictures?"

"……..nooooooo….." Hamlet said slowly in that overly innocent aren't-I-too-adorable voice that he put on whenever he knew he was doing something bad. Unfortunately, Horatio usually fell for it because he couldn't resist those big green eyes. Not this time, he told himself firmly.

"Hamlet," he growled. "Help. Me. Right. Now. Or I go home."

"How will you get anywhere? You can't even sit up!"

Oh yeah. Horatio pondered it for a few silent moments. "….I'll crawl….on my stomach."

"Okay…." Hamlet paused, then his face brightened with a triumphant look as he thought of something else. "How will you get home without the car?"

"I'll fucking hitchhike."

There was a pause. "Oh, FINE!" Hamlet bent over and grabbed Horatio's hands. "I can't let you do that. You're too damn cute…someone would definitely pick you up and then you wouldn't love me anymore."

"Who said I loved you to begin with?" Horatio shot back.

Hamlet grinned. "Touché. But you're not fooling anyone…its totally obvious." Horatio blushed against his will. Hamlet hauled Horatio to a sitting position, and the blonde came face to face with a crowd of people who had all been watching his desperate struggles.

"…..I really, really hate you, Hamlet," he said under his breath.

"Aww, no you don't," Hamlet grinned. He waved his hands at the crowd. "Go away, the show's over."

Still giggling a bit, the crowd dispersed. "Okay," Hamlet said. "I'll show you how to put these on, now." He sat next to Horatio and kicked off his boots, pulling the black figure skates on and lacing them up. "See, they're just like shoes till you get to the top, and then you just pull the laces around the little metal things and pull them as tight as you want, and then tie them off!" He finished his. "Ta da! Here," and he handed over the second pair of skates, "you do yours now."

Horatio kicked off his boots and then, trying to lean forward to put the skates on, found he couldn't do that, either. "DAMN THIS PUFF PARKA!"

Hamlet snickered. "Here, let me do it." He took the skates from Horatio and knelt in front of the blonde, tugging the skates on as Horatio turned a terrific shade of crimson at Hamlet putting on the skates, being so careful not to hurt Horatio. "Those feel alright?" he asked, adjusting them. "I didn't do them too tight, did I?"

"…..no…" Horatio managed.

"Too loose?"

Horatio shook his head, trying to swallow the lump in his throat. "No." Hamlet grinned.

"Good. Let's go." Taking Horatio's hands, Hamlet tugged his best friend to his feet. Horatio nearly fell over right away, not at all used to the thin blades beneath his feet.

"HAMLET!' He made a wild grab for the brunette, legs nearly slipping out from under him. Hamlet laughed, but not in a mean way, his grip on Horatio tightening.

"Don't worry, I've got you…I've got you." His voice was very soft and soothing as he tried to calm down the frantic Horatio. He tugged Horatio's hat down a bit further with one hand, sliding one arm about the blonde's waist. Horatio's tight hold on Hamlet relaxed a bit and he took a deep breath. He suddenly became very aware of his new proximity to Hamlet. Staring into Hamlet's smiling green eyes, Horatio found himself completely unable to speak, his heart pounding wildly (though whether from his near fall or Hamlet's arm about his waist, he couldn't say).

"You okay?" Hamlet asked, and Horatio nodded wordlessly. "Okay…let's try this one again, shall we? Don't worry," he said, seeing Horatio's eyes widening, "I've got you." His arm tightened about Horatio's waist, sending a blush up onto that pale skin. "One step at a time." They slowly moved forwards, Horatio wobbling severely.

"Hamlet….I honestly don't think I can do this….I mean…I can't even handle the skates on the ground…how am I supposed to handle them on ice?"

"Don't worry about it….believe me, it's easier on the ice."

"…really?"

"I swear to God." They reached the ice and stopped. "Okay, stand really still for a minute," Hamlet said, moving away from Horatio. He glided easily onto the ice and then turned to face Horatio again. "Okay, give me your hands."

Horatio complied and Hamlet tugged him gently forward until Horatio stumbled onto the ice, gliding right into the brunette. "HAMLET!"

Hamlet laughed, arms wrapping about Horatio. "Don't worry, I've got you." He held the blonde a few moments longer then he needed to (and longer than he probably should have), loving the feeling of Horatio pressed close to him, fingers clenched in his jacket, Horatio's face against his shoulder, blonde hair ticking him as it teased against his face. He could feel Horatio's heartbeat, much faster than it should have been, and he hoped it had something to do with the fact that his arms were wrapped tightly about Horatio's waist. Finally, he slowly and reluctantly released his hold on Horatio, holding the blonde away from him. Horatio stared up into his eyes, blue eyes wide with some emotion that Hamlet didn't recognize, but he thought he could wager a pretty good guess as to what it was. Horatio's breath was coming in quick little puffs, becoming clearly visible wisps of cloud as they hit the cold air. "Horatio?"

"Yeah?" Horatio answered, a bit too fast.

Hamlet took a deep breath. "………you ready to try again?"

"……oh." Horatio looked vaguely disappointed. "Yeah…..okay."

"….okay." Surely that wasn't what I intended to say. He eased backwards, letting Horatio slowly slip out of his arms, hands gliding down Horatio's arms until their hands met and he caught those pale graceful hands in his own and held on. "Okay. Let's go. I'll help you till you get a hang on it, then I'll let you go." He began skating backwards, Horatio stumbling along after him. "No, it's more of a push to the side," he instructed. "You glide…." He pulled Horatio to a gentle stop. "See, you have edges to your blades, an inside edge and an outside one." He lifted one foot, demonstrating. "That's how you skate. See….okay…..sit here for a minute." He guided Horatio over to a bench on the edge of the ice. "Now watch me." Hamlet reached into his pockets and pulled out his gloves, tugging them on. "Oh yeah….and put these on." He pulled another pair out of his jacket pockets and tossed them to Horatio, who complied. Turning his back on Horatio, Hamlet pushed off onto the ice, making full use of the edges on his blades to glide gently away. "See?" He spun easily about to face Horatio. "It's easy!" Turning off, he began skating faster, making rapid loops about other skaters. Horatio watched, slack-jawed. He knew Hamlet took skating lessons but he had never expected him to be quite this good.

Hamlet skated circles around all the other skaters, grinning at Horatio the whole time. Making a lap around the ice, he sped up as he neared the spot where Horatio was sitting. "Hey, Horatio, check it out!" He crouched down, slipping easily into a shoot the duck, gliding on one foot past Horatio, who laughed. Straightening up, Hamlet grinned, reaching the spot just across from Horatio on the opposite side of the pond. "Horatio, watch this!" he called out, then turned and went into a complicated bit of footwork.

"You're such a show off!" Horatio hollered after him, unable to shake the grin from his face. Hamlet laughed.

"You know it!" Skating back over, he did a hockey stop, spraying Horatio with ice shavings. "You ready to try this again?"

"Okay….as long as you don't expect me to do any of that crazy stuff you just did," Horatio teased.

"Ah, come on, you'll be doing shoot the ducks by the end of the day," Hamlet said.

"What's that?"

"The first thing I did there, in the crouch on one foot."

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Horatio acted appropriately incensed. "No way, you crazy fool!"

"Okay, fine, I'll settle for you just skating by yourself."

"That I think I can handle eventually."

"Sure you can. Now just push off on your edges like I told you." He watched for a moment, gliding backwards with Horatio's mittened hands in his. "Almost…a little more on a diagonal than you're doing right now….yeah, that's it!"

Horatio smiled. "Is that okay?"

"That's more than okay! You're getting the hang of it real fast! You want to try it alone in a few minutes?"

"Umm….okaaaaay," Horatio said slowly, not at all sure if that's what he wanted to do, but not wanting to get called a pansy again.

"Okay…..here goes, then!"

"Wait, Hamlet, no!"

But it was too late, the brunette was already skating teasingly out of Horatio's reach. Horatio stumbled a little, but managed to catch his balance, gliding slowly and choppily along, but he was gliding! He was actually doing it! He looked up at Hamlet, huge shocked smile on his face.

"Told you you had the hang of it," Hamlet said, grin on his face as he skated a bit farther out of reach. Horatio's smile widened.

"This is really fun!"

"Of course it is," Hamlet said. "Come on, Horatio, it's my favorite sport! Therefore it must be fun, because I never do anything that isn't fun!"

Horatio laughed. "Too true."

Quiet smile on his face, Hamlet spun easily about, turning his back on Horatio, and began skating faster. "Come on, Horatio, catch up."

"Hey, no way, that wasn't part of our agreement!" Horatio objected, but nevertheless picked up the pace a bit. Hamlet laughed, spinning about to face Horatio again.

"Look, Horatio, backwards!" He teased, gliding easily backwards, hands behind his back.

"Look, Hamlet," Horatio said, imitating the teasing tone of Hamlet's voice, "Other skaters!"

Hamlet's brow furrowed. "Other skaters? What?" His eyes widened suddenly as realization hit him. "OH!" He spun about and skidded out of the way, narrowly avoiding a collision with a mother and her two kids. Hamlet tried to stop, but no dice. He slipped to the side, tripped in an ice rut and went sprawling onto his stomach, sliding a good few feet across the ice before slowly coming to a halt. "…..owies."

Horatio slowly skidded to a stop next to Hamlet and shook his head at his friend. "…..nice one, Hamlet."

"Shut up," came Hamlet's muffled voice. He pushed himself up to a sitting position. "God, that hurt."

"Maybe if you weren't such a show off," Horatio teased. Hamlet gave him a smug little smile.

"It's not showing off if you've got the moves to back it up."

"Oh? And you think you have the moves?"

"Pffft, I don't think, I KNOW."

"Then show me your skills, Boitano!"

"Fine, I will!" Hamlet stood up with much more grace than Horatio knew he would have under such circumstances. "Watch and learn, grasshopper, watch and learn." And he skated off, picking up speed as he made a large loop about the pond. When he reached the halfway point, Horatio noticed a change in the way Hamlet was skating. He stopped gliding, one foot went out in front. Then, before Horatio could even really ponder the change, Hamlet did a little half turn and next thing Horatio knew, the brunette was airborne, doing a little jump. Horatio's eyes were huge. He had no idea that the jump was just a simple salchow, had no way of knowing. All he knew was that it was nothing he could ever hope to do.

Hamlet grinned at him, skating past. "You like that one, eh? Here, check this one out!" Again Horatio could only pick out the change in the footwork seconds before Hamlet launched himself into the air again, this jump more impressive than the last. "Loop jump," Hamlet called over the ice. He had no idea that people were beginning to stop and watch him; he only had eyes for Horatio. Again he went off, cutting through the middle of the ice. "Here, watch this," he called, "you'll like this one!" And he went into a series of split jumps, each one a bit higher and showier than the last, then did one last jump, landed, and went right into a flying camel spin. Horatio got dizzy just watching him; he had no clue how Hamlet could do it. The spin seemed to go on forever, turning into a sit spin, to a regular one foot spin, then, without even slowing down, Hamlet brought it to an abrupt halt, throwing his arms out in a very overdramatic gesture as though to present himself to Horatio. However, what greeted him was not just Horatio, but an audience of at least thirty people.

Hamlet blinked in surprise, and then the applause started. Huge grin lighting up his face, he gave another flourish and then bowed dramatically to each side. Horatio shook his head. Finally, the applause died down; Hamlet skated over to Horatio.

"Where did you ever learn to do that?" Horatio demanded. Hamlet grinned.

"You like that, huh? I've been taking lessons since I was five…one would think I'd have some sort of skill by now."

"Skill?! Hamlet! It was incredible!"

"Really?"

"GOD, yes!" Horatio shook his head. "I could never do that."

"Well, you've got to start somewhere," Hamlet said. "So keep skating."

~tbc~