2
The four of them stood in the snow, looking out over the sparkling expanse of the frozen lake. Mr. L was bundled up in a thick black coat with a fluffy green scarf and earmuffs, O'Chunks was wearing a fuzzy sweater that gave him the appearance of a large, angry bear, Nastasia had donned a simple white coat alongside a bubblegum pink hat and a pair of pink gloves to match her hair, and Mimi had dressed herself in an outfit that made her look not unlike a gingerbread house.
"Got the skates, L?" Mimi asked, her eyes twinkling with delight at the winter scenery. Snow was still falling, covering the trees, the ground, and them.
"Yep," Mr. L replied, holding up a black sports bag. He set it on the ground and unzipped it, pulling out a pair of ice skates for everyone. Everyone sat down and quickly replaced their shoes with the sleek, brand new skates. Nastasia had gone out and bought them, making sure to get the correct sizes.
When they tried to stand up, they almost immediately fell over from the change in balance. "Say, does enyone know how teh stand in dese things?" O'Chunks asked, brushing snow from his sweater.
"Does anyone know how to ice skate in the first place?" Mr. L queried. Everyone shook their heads.
"Well, this is certainly interesting," a lilting voice said from behind. The four turned and saw Dimentio floating there, bundled up tightly in a black winter coat and matching purple scarf. He cocked his head a little, looking at them with his usual smile.
"Eh, yer back from whatever yeh were doing?" O'Chunks inquired, not expecting the jester to have returned from his mission so soon.
"Yes, I've just returned, if that's what you asked with that hideous accent of yours. Though it took some days, I got what I needed." Dimentio replied.
"And just what would that be?" Mr. L said, a little suspicious of the jester's rather happy tone.
Dimentio just waggled a finger. "That's for me to know, and you to not." He floated closer and allowed his feet to sink into the snow. "Now what are we doing here? Are those ice skates I spy?"
"Yup!" Mimi replied cheerily. "The Count said we could celebrate Christmas! I've never had a Christmas before!" She smiled, almost bursting with happiness.
"Really?" Dimentio responded to the news with a smile more honest than his previous one. "Well, you're in for a treat as delightful as having a swarm of puppies lick you to death. If I heard correctly, none of you know how to skate?"
"I guess not," Mr. L answered, rubbing his chin. "Should of thought of that, huh?"
"You are fortunate that I happen to be quite masterful in the art of ice skating." Dimentio said. "Perhaps I can show you a thing or two."
Mr. L snorted and Mimi looked incredulous. "You know how to skate?" she asked. "When did you learn how to do that?"
Dimentio gave a wily smirk, turning away a little. "What better way to pass the cold winter months? Now, allow me to demonstrate." With a snap of his fingers, his pointy black shoes were replaced with a pair of skates that looked well-loved. With a gleeful leap, he bounded out onto the ice and started gracefully skating around. He did a few rapid laps around the lake, carving figures and doing tricks and clearly having genuine fun, before returning back to his fellows.
"You're really good at that," Nastasia commented.
"Why thank you, my dear," the jester returned. "Why don't you all start by standing up?"
After many, many attempts at finding their balance on the razor thin edges of the skates, they eventually managed to stand for longer than a few seconds. O'Chunks cautiously tested out his weight, making sure the ice wouldn't break under his bulk. Mr. L and Mimi hung back a little.
"What's wrong? Is the Fearless Thunder afraid of a few bumps and bruises?" Dimentio taunted.
Mr. L frowned and stepped out onto the ice without hesitation. He flailed around a lot before recovering and gradually slowing to a stop. "Now what?" he called.
"Figure it out," Dimentio said with a laugh, purposefully leaving the mechanic stranded several feet from solid ground. Mr. L groaned and looked a little afraid, unsure if someone would come rescue him if he needed rescue.
O'Chunks had already managed to fall flat on his face. Mimi half-skated, half-flailed her way over to him and breathlessly said, "Golly, this sure is fun!"
O'Chunks groaned. "Sure, lass…" With effort, he got up and attempted to move forward again, resulting in a fall onto his back.
Dimentio came out onto the lake and skated circles around them, darting in between the three of them effortlessly. "You're as hopeless as an astronaut adrift in the void of space. Pay attention to your balance and the distribution of your weight, and you should be able to feel which ways your body needs to move. Nobody taught me to skate after all, so I'll let you figure it out the same way I did."
With that, he left them to earn their bruises and returned back to the shore, where Nastasia was sitting demurely on a rock. Dimentio slowly skated backwards along the shoreline. "Come now Nastasia. You don't wish to have any fun?" he asked her.
Nastasia shook her head. "I don't think this is for me."
Dimentio smiled and changed direction, still going backwards. "How do you know if you haven't tried? Falling isn't so bad."
The self-appointed secretary looked a little sad. "I don't know how you guys can even think about having fun at a time like this. The heroes are-"
She was cut off by Dimentio, who had teleported in front of her and held up a finger to her lips. "Don't worry about anything now. Why don't you try to relax?"
At that, she looked even more disheartened. "How can I? Count Bleck is depressed, the end of the world is approaching, there's so much to do…"
Dimentio wondered just why the Count was depressed when he was usually so stoic, but stored that tidbit of information away for later consideration. He paused for a moment before gently taking Nastasia's hand in his own and pulling her up. She wobbled, but he didn't let her fall. "Forget all that, for just a few moments. This is worth it, I promise."
Nastasia looked at him like he had just turned into a Goomba. He couldn't explain why he wanted to cheer her up, and thought that perhaps it was the Christmas in the air.
"Um…ok…" she agreed. While he could float in the air, Nastasia could do no such thing, so he helped her take the few steps over ground and onto the clear blue ice. Her feet parted, and she would have fallen if she hadn't immediately grabbed onto him. She blushed, and the jester smiled genuinely, gingerly extracting her arms from around himself and taking hold of her hand again.
"Relax," he said. "Listen to your body and let it balance itself. Don't panic, don't flail around. You'll be fine."
He skated slowly beside her for a while before Nastasia asked, "Why are you so cheerful? It's…odd, for you."
He paused to look at her. "…Let's just say this is the first Christmas where I've had people to celebrate with, and we shall leave it at that," he said curtly, not wanting to say anymore about himself.
Nastasia nodded and resumed skating, a little less shakily and with a little more confidence. Dimentio noticed. "See, you're already getting better."
"Nothing to it," she joked with a slight smile. She glanced over to where Mimi, Mr. L, and O'Chunks were starting to get the hang of it as well. Mimi seemed to be doing the best of them, her excitement overtaking any encountered difficulty. She was giggling and taunting the boys, challenging them to races and competitions of fanciness.
They continued skating for a long while. Dimentio taught her some of his easier tricks, kindly applauding even when she messed up. Eventually, the cold had seeped through their warm clothes and into their bones, and then it was time to head home and get some hot cocoa into their systems.
Dimentio guided the both of them over to rejoin the other three. Their eyes bugged out when they saw that the two of them were holding hands, but he didn't let go despite the blush that was creeping up under his mask, thankfully unseen. With a snap of his fingers, he sent everyone back to Castle Bleck before questions could be asked.
Count Bleck sat abandoned in the living room, watching the fire flicker and dance in the fire place. While everyone was out having fun, he was alone with his thoughts, and, worst of all, his memories. He was holding an open book, but he'd long ago ceased to read after he found himself reading the same paragraph for the fifth time.
It was a fantasy adventure novel. He'd read it before, in what seemed to be a long time ago. The heroes always won in stories like these. Would his story go the same way? The Count felt tears spring to his eyes, and allowed them to trickle down his face to drip quietly on the floor. This would have been a perfect night…
He heard voices coming down the hallway. The others must be back.
"Dimentio, how come you like to skate if you can fly? Isn't flying better?" he could hear Mimi ask. Dimentio had actually expressed a liking for something?
"You see, flight and levitation are effortless endeavors for me. But skating on ice takes much more effort of body and skill of mind. It's more rewarding." Dimentio responded with what was an unusually straight answer.
Count Bleck quietly closed his book and left it on the arm of the plush chair he'd been sitting in. The tears were still flowing, one by one, so he quickly retreated to his room before anyone could see. Once safely sequestered away, he caught a teardrop in his hand and looked at it. He was still mourning her, it seemed. Christmas, a time for being with loved ones, was the worst time for him. Without his other half, what was there to be happy about?
Nastasia walked down the hallway, sipping at her cocoa. Having made some for the others and seen them all off to bed, tired out by the day of activity, she was headed to bed herself. She paused when she heard a sound, so faint that she might be imagining it. Following some instinct, she walked toward her boss's room, and it became clear to her what it was she was hearing.
Someone was crying. A pang went through her. She'd heard the Count cry before, sometimes in his sleep when they'd been traveling together, but it hadn't been so anguished in a long time. Quietly cracking open his door, she saw him sitting on his bed with his back to her. His shoulders were bowed, and he was looking at a photograph or a painting, though from her position Nastasia couldn't see what was pictured.
Another sob wracked his body, and she left without making a sound. She knew she couldn't comfort him, not when he let himself go like this. Only one person could possibly offer him comfort at this time, and she felt jealously rush through her, quickly followed by guilt. She wanted so desperately to be with him, but what she should really want was just for him to be happy, with her or no.
Reaching her bedroom, she put her mug on her nightstand and settled down on her bed for a good, silent cry, her feelings even more scrambled by today's events.
A/N: I'm sure you're all sensing a little DimentioxNastasia here. There's nothing wrong with O'ChunksxNastasia, I just don't like the feel of it. I could see Dimentio having a slight attraction, friendly, if not romantic, and at least a little respect for Nastasia's intelligence.