Dancing on the blades, you set my heart on fire. (Backdated to the 14th)

[oldmantiger]

Kotetsu Kaburagi has a very bad sense of time. Not just in terms of minutes and seconds, but also in terms of days, weeks, months. It doesn't help that, as far as he's been able to gather, the castle is running around two months ahead of when he was back home. And that's before various strange happenings skew his sense of time even further.

But since shortly after getting together with Barnaby, there's one day he's been keeping an eye out for. After counting forward from the end of the first event he experienced where everyone was transformed, and the day he realized a couple of days too late was Barnaby's birthday, Kotetsu is reasonably sure he's pinpointed today as Valentine's Day. Now it's just a matter of what to do. Even here, he wants it to be special.

Eventually, he gets an idea that leads to him hunting up Jack Frost. Jack agrees that he still owes Barnaby for past events and agrees to Kotetsu's plan. From there, it's just a matter of digging up skates. The castle seems to feel it owes Kotetsu for literally not giving him and Barnaby a peaceful time together since before they got together, though. He turns up a closet full of skates of various sizes without too much trouble. These, Kotetsu gathers up and carries over to a newly frozen pond in one of the more wooded areas. He dumps them by the side of the lake - no reason he and Barnaby should have all the fun, after all - and sets to work digging up a pair for himself.

Once that's done, it's just a matter of getting in some hasty practicing so he minimizes how stupid he looks in front of his boyfriend. That shouldn't be too hard, right? He did used to take Kaede to her skating practice...years and years ago.

It turns out to be pretty hard. There's a lot of stumbling, flailing, and falling as he tries to figure out just how people make this look so easy. But he's fallen from and onto worse than this. So Kotetsu always gets back up and keeps trying to keep skating, even if he's obviously too lead footed to make much headway at this on his own. Jack, meanwhile, hangs around in a bare tree to watch the show.

"You sure you don't want any help?" he calls out every so often.

"I can do this," Kotetsu always replies stubbornly, as he gets back to his feet from his latest stumble.

Neither of them is being terribly quiet, though, and the skates are there for the taking if you can find one in your size.

Comments

[darkerstripes]

Toshi, on the other hand, has an atomic-perfect sense of time, even if he has his model's sense of timing much of the time. It took him a little while to adjust to the day and time at the castle, certainly, because the calendars didn't line up from when he left and when he arrived, but once that was done it was a simple thing to keep the tracking running.

So he knows exactly what day it is, and he absolutely plans to watch the cuteness unfold. He knows more than one adorable couple in this castle and he expects at least one half of each to do something dramatic and special for it.

When he catches on to Kotetsu's running to and fro his suspicions are confirmed, and he's grinning dreamily to himself as he follows the path Kotetsu took.

When he sees the frozen pond, his eyes really light up. Oh, Kotetsu you precious romantic. Barnaby is going to love it, Toshi is certain. At first he just stands and watches, grinning like a doofus and wincing in sympathy every time Kotetsu stumbles.

"You're going to be nothing but a bruise by the time Barnaby finds you."

[oldmantiger]

Of course Kotetsu sees Toshi when he gets close to the pond. He smiles and the android and waves, but otherwise is a bit too focused to try and chat much. If Toshi is content to sit and watch and not laugh, Kotetsu is content to keep skating. If he's going to have an audience for this, Toshi is the best possible audience. After all, there's no one besides Barnaby himself who can tell Kotetsu if he's really off base.

That said, he definitely feels like he's becoming one big bruise after a while. So when Toshi finally does speak up, Kotetsu seizes on the chance to stay sitting on the ice for a few minutes.

"What makes you so sure this is for Bunny?" he asks innocently. But he's smiling as he asks it in a way that should make it even clearer that this is all for Barnaby. Especially when Kotetsu can't help himself and immediately follows up with another question: "Do you think he'll like it?" And he can't quite keep the anxiety out of his tone this time.

[darkerstripes]

Toshi could never laugh at Kotetsu's pain, unless it was very specific, fun pain. It is a little entertaining to watch him futz around on the ice, though. For someone who can be so graceful in a hero suit, swinging around by a grapple, he's struggling a lot with this type of coordination. It almost makes Toshi wonder how he hasn't managed to hurt himself worse, doing the dangerous stuff he does. It is... kind of cute to watch him be clumsy though.

And then he just stays down on the ice. Won't it melt into his pants? Toshi shakes his head, still smiling, and gives in to the siren song of Kotetsu's cuteness. He goes rifling through the pile for a pair of skates for himself, and starts lacing himself in.

He glances up at Kotetsu with a 'really?' expression on his face, preparing a sassy comment before Kotetsu follows up with an admission. Ah, much better. Except for the tight whine of anxiety he hears there. Toshi sets a skate onto the ice, gracefully sliding over to where Kotetsu is, sliding to a skilled stop. He's no olympic figure skater, but he can move around with a certain level of control.

He crouches down, beaming at the hero. "He's going to love it."

[oldmantiger]

It was probably the obvious answer, all things considered. The one he should have expected. But Kotetsu still brightens visibly to hear Toshi say as much out loud. "Great! I hope you're right."

With his own nerves soothed, he turns his attention more fully to Toshi's presence - and his surprising skill on the ice. Kotetsu raises an eyebrow as he looks the android over, smiling wryly.

"Man, is there anything you're not good at?" He holds up a hand in a silent request for help up. "And on that note, do you think you can offer me some tips so I'm maybe not one big bruise by the time I go and see Bunny? I know I'm not that great at this whole 'romance' game, but I know that'd still probably kill the mood."

[dustless]

Be careful, they think, and they're about to call over. Until their eyes trace upward, and they see Jack Frost in the tree.

Frisk's foremost thought was about the ice thawing out with the spring creeping in, but Jack wouldn't let that happen.

Nothing for them, then. They're just a shadow in the trees, going on their way.

[havesomefun]

Kotetsu doesn't notice Frisk creeping by - he's too busy focusing on staying upright and moving. Jack, however, has been hoping for at least a few kids to come by and enjoy the rink. He knows that the arrival of spring will mean the gradual weakening of his powers. He genuinely doesn't want to think about what life will be like for him once summer comes and he's left with nowhere to run to. So he wants to do whatever he can to provide a little extra fun for the kids here while he can.

So he hears Frisk coming, and lifts his head to watch them out of the corner of his eye. Then he sees them trying to creep by, and Jack feels his heart sink. He casts about for something, anything he can stay to convince them to stay for a while, to let themselves relax and maybe start to cheer up a bit.

In the end, he doesn't trust his words...but his powers have yet to fail him entirely. So Jack holds up both hands in front of himself, and a snowball appears there, glittering with a faint blue light. He takes aim at the back of Frisk's head, and throws with an unerring aim.

The snowball splats against the back of Frisk's head, enchanted snow settling into their hair and along their shoulders and trying to impress into their mind as it does so the thought that there is something there for them. Come on, Frisk, don't let winter just pass you by. Have some fun. Strap on some skates and give it a shot. After all, there's someone here who can make sure you don't fall.

[dustless]

Frisk makes an undignified noise. (Moreso than usual.) It's cold and they were trying to be so careful, they don't want to talk to anyone when their chest's feeling so hollow.

...

It was a pretty good shot, though, 'cause they're not exactly close. They brush it out of their hair with a hand, and a tiny giggle escapes.

"Yeah, yeah, you got me," they sigh, glancing back at Jack.

They're not raring to play, but they're already standing straighter.

[havesomefun]

Jack will take what he can get. There's only so much he can do to influence someone, after all - even just getting Frisk to stop and take another look can count as a win when they look so down. The sound of that giggle still makes him smile in relief, before he launches himself off his branch to zip over and stand beside Frisk.

"Yeah, well," he says, playing at modest and kicking up a bit of slush. "Snowball fights are kind of my thing. So is skating, actually." He settles his staff across his shoulders before glancing back through the trees at Kotetsu's enthusiastic and uncoordinated efforts. "Unlike some people. Come on, Frisk, we found a bunch of skates! Why don't you hang out for a bit?"

[ojisankink]

Barnaby Brooks Jr., on the other hand, has an excellent sense of time. Since he's noticed his cellphone's clock still works, albeit with the caveat of counting the minutes and seconds from the day it was in his world, he's figured out the day difference and, since then, has been able to do the math in his head. Since getting here, however, he hasn't had much use for knowing the date. All he really got was a swell of guilt when Christmas Eve arrived and he couldn't visit his parents' grave.

But today is different. Even he can admit today is a special day, at least if you have someone you love. And Barnaby has one of those for... honestly, for the first time. He's eager to do something to make it special, then, and he takes that goal on in his very Barnaby way.

First, he researches. The books in the library have information on just about everything, so it isn't hard to find one on Japanese customs, even on the modern ones the castle shouldn't know about. He finds out about the chocolate tradition rather quickly, then, and though his relationship with Kotetsu doesn't exactly fit the mold, so to speak, he feels it's probably his best shot.

The kitchen is nice to him and provides him with the ingredients and pans he needs for the making of his dessert, though they also provide him with a map to the always stocked ballroom. He rolls his eyes and tosses that aside. It's actually not extremely hard to make it, though he does spill a bit of the mixture trying to pour it into the mold. Thankfully, he lets it set and decorates it without many other mishaps, and then all that's left is to place it in a little tray and track down Kotetsu.

Finding him, he's left... quite confused. At first, he's bewildered that there's such a solid ice pond when the weather was getting warmer, but a glance up in the trees gets him a view of Jack. He offers a polite nod to him before focusing his attentions on Kotetsu.

He... certainly is falling a lot. Why is he being so stubborn about this?

"You know, you should probably take a break before you hurt something, old man," he finally speaks up, though his wide grin betrays how he actually feels.

[oldmantiger]

Jack ducks his head as Barnaby looks up at him, but offers a somewhat shy wave in turn.

Kotetsu, meanwhile, had just been in the process of retying his skates when he hears the new voice speaking up. He lets out a yelp of alarm, before slumping back into the snowdrift he'd been sitting against and looking up sharply. "B-Bunny!" he stammers, looking quite alarmed at first. But then it slowly sinks in that yes, he is busted, and much more quickly than he thought he would be. And now he just looks embarrassed in a way even repeatedly falling hadn't managed. "Guess you found me," he adds, somewhat sheepishly.

But, being Kotetsu, he recovers quickly. He gets carefully up to his feet, actually manages to stay there, and then spreads his arms wide to encompass the pond, smiling a little bit proudly but mostly just so, so hopefully.

"Ah...surprise! Happy Valentine's Day!"

[ojisankink]

Of course Jack isn't exactly willing to talk to him, and Barnaby can understand that, after their uncomfortable first meeting. He'd like a chance to maybe offer his understanding, but maybe later.

Kotetsu kind of takes top priority today. He frowns a bit at the yell, but Kotetsu quickly seems to recover from that into embarrassment and then something excited and hopeful. Barnaby tilts his head at him.

"It's not that hard to find you when you're so noisy," he points out, but as Kotetsu spreads his arms and says that, all his snarky remarks disappear from his mind. A surprise? For Valentine's Day, and for him. He looks a bit more critically at the pond, at the skates gathered near a snowbank, and he recalls his constant visits to the skating rink as a child... and more importantly, his mention of those happy memories to Kotetsu. His face darkens rapidly, and he loses most of his usual charisma and grace.

"This is... you did this for me?"

[oldmantiger]

Kotetsu scarcely dares to breathe as Barnaby takes in the scene. He looks intently at his partner, searching for any signs of what the other man is feeling. He's getting better at reading Barnaby's moods - he's probably better than most, by now - but this is new, and therefore...harder, especially with his judgment clouded by his own anxiety. Mostly, what he can tell is that Barnaby looks to be momentarily at a loss for words. That could mean something really great! But it could also mean something really bad.

"Well...of course," he says, lowering his arms and looking surprised by Barnaby's surprise. And then, being Kotetsu, he deals with his own anxieties by babbling. "Do you like it? I remembered that you mentioned you used to skate a lot when you were a kid. I know it's been a while, and I didn't know if it was something you'd still want to do, but I figured, hey, we've got nothing but free time most of the time so why not give it another shot?"

Jack finally breaks his silence to call down: "Needless to say, I helped a lot!"

"He helped a lot," Kotetsu adds.

[realkidswearstripes]

Their feet don't fit in skates with these three large dinosaur-like toes, and they lack arms to put on shoes anyway. But little things like that will never stop this kid! Never let life get you down, right?

So they slide right out onto the ice, fearlessly, and promptly topple over to splat right onto their stomach. Well. Maybe it's safer this way, when you're a sad little klutz. Too heck with trying to skate barefoot! They'll slide around on their belly instead, scooting along with tail and feet to propel them.

"Hey! Hi guys!!"

[oldmantiger]

Kotetsu has been in the castle a while. He's gotten somewhat used to the sight of skeletons and furry goat people wandering around. This kid, though...this kid is still a new one on him.

But because he has been in the castle a while, and because he is Kotetsu, his first instinctive thought of What the heck? is quickly followed up with What the heck, you're so cute. One fellow sad klutz to another.

"Hey there!" he answers, trying to kneel down to talk to Monster Kid, and winding up falling over onto his butt again. "I think you've got the right idea about this. I can't stay up on these stupid things."

Jack, meanwhile, had tried to blow some snow along the ice into the kid's path to maybe cushion his inevitable fall. But even he hadn't expected the newcomer to be quite so enthusiastic about this, and he winds up a bit slow on the draw. He can't help but wince as Monster Kid tumbles over, either, but the sound galvanizes him to get up off his branch and hover over to investigate. "Sorry about that," he says to Monster Kid. "You okay?"

Kotetsu frowns. "You haven't asked me that the last couple of times."

"Because you're hopeless at this."

[realkidswearstripes]

"I'm okay!" No screaming, no crying, no upset, just a smile. "Don't worry about me, I've done this before!" Though they've stopped scooting around for now. Poor Kotetsu's going to hurt himself trying to follow and actually use the dumb skates. "Don't even worry about it, you're way better than me! I tried once and it was a disaster."

[oldmantiger]

No crying, just a smile. This is a weird armless monster kid after his own heart. Kotetsu knows he would probably do better following their example and just stay on his stomach. But he is trying to make this a special occasion for Barnaby, and occasions to laugh at Kotetsu are otherwise plentiful.

"Yeah, I, ah...don't think I saw any skates that'd fit you anyway," Kotetsu adds, somewhat embarrassed, as his gaze slides down to Monster Kid's very lizardy feet. He's embarrassed because...well, he's still not entirely sure what is or is not polite to say or ask a monster. Especially not a child monster. "Sorry."

Because he's been getting heckled by Jack for the last half hour, Kotetsu does brighten up at Monster Kid's reassurance. "That's nice of you to say, though. My daughter's really great at this, and my friend used to skate a lot when he was a kid. But I've never really done it."

[lostinmyway]

Grune, for her part, has absolutely no idea what day it is. In Luceti, it was easy to keep track of the holidays, because the Malnosso always gave them lots of reminders. Here, time...drifts.

It's a little surprising to come across so much ice, then, after most of the snow had melted. She spends barely any time at all wondering, though, because quickly her attention is drawn to--

"Oh, my. Hello, Kotetsu!"

Unfortunately, it hasn't occurred to her to look up to say hello to another friend. She's very sorry, Jack.

[oldmantiger]

By this point, Kotetsu is starting to get the hang of things. Enough so that the shock of being spoken to doesn't distract him from the reasonably straight line he's skating back and forth over the pond.

He brightens up immediately when he sees her, and risks a wave that doesn't destabilize him. "Hey, Grune! You want to skate?"

Jack, who is feeling quite peaceful and unoffended up in his branch, chooses that moment to speak up. "We probably found every pair of skates in the place. One of 'em should fit."

[lostinmyway]

It isn't just Kotetsu who brightens with this conversation; at the mention of skating, Grune's expression lights up.

She also looks around, behind her, and then--oh, up there!

"Hello, Jack! I'd love to go skating!" she adds to Kotetsu, and then off she goes to find some skates.

[oldmantiger]

"Great! Grab some skates and hop on."

He makes his way rather carefully over to the bank of the frozen pond to help her find a suitable pair. At least he can move the more obviously child-size skates out of the way.

"Do you know how to skate, Grune? I mean..." Here he snorts in wry amusement at himself. "Pretty much anyone probably knows more about how to skate than I do. I just mean I'd appreciate some pointers, if you've got 'em."

[lightofthestars]

By now, Tauriel has learned that if there is ice where it should not be, it is likely the work of Jack. Seeing him in the tree is no strange thing; she raises a hand, the back to him, in greeting.

But Kotetsu....

"What are you doing?" She frowns. "Are you stuck?"

It seems the only reason why he would be sliding and falling so much. Is Jack having a jest with Kotetsu?

[oldmantiger]

Jack offers her a jaunty salute in turn, before going back to watching the show. Though he doesn't miss the implications of her question, and grimaces at the affront to his good name. Such as it is.

Kotetsu just looks confused, which might answer Tauriel's question. "I guess I'm stuck trying to learn how to skate," he says, getting back up to his feet again and trying to stretch the ache out of his shoulders. "It's harder than it looks."

/late but kotetsu needs a chance to get his hat back

[buttercup_eater]

Caution, most people would agree, is of utmost necessity when going outside as a wanted criminal.

Chara doesn't really feel like being cautious. They feel more like shoving the first person they come across headfirst into a snowbank. But they feel even less like getting locked up in a tower with their own thoughts for an indefinite period of time, which they've already learned is the price to be paid for underestimating the castle inhabitants. So they're doing their best to keep their moodiness in check, at least until they've managed to both stock up on paints and squirrel themselves away to their favored passageways.

The castle isn't helping, however. Apparently the most recent... incident, wasn't enough, because it's decided to further screw around with Chara by making a door that would normally lead in the direction of the tower with the art room lead into the castle gardens instead. It's probably for the best that they threw on some winter clothes before venturing on their quest.

(Not that they're totally prepared for the last of the winter- they're still in bare knees and loafers. But they at least have a shapeless coat hand-sewn out of some random curtains, along with the hat they found discarded in the library when that crocodile monster attacked.)

Chara plans on just a quick jaunt to the nearest door back inside, but the sound of unfamiliar voices catches their attention. They take a moment, silently debating the wisdom of discretion vs. reconnaissance, before quietly slipping forward, keeping behind the trees and bushes.

It doesn't take long before they find the source of the sounds. Peeking around the side of a tree they can see a frozen pond, and on that pond is a grown man skating about. Or trying to, anyway, in between arguing about said attempts with a white haired person in a tree.

There's also a small pile of ice skates next to the pond, which warrants a thoughtful look. Chara remembers the ballet shoes they used in the past- they don't really know how to dance properly but they liked those. And the blades attached are pretty attractive, the edge of them like a sweet promise. Except the man on the pond is having enough trouble staying balanced on them, and Chara isn't sure how ice skates are supposed to hold up off the ice. And anything that hinders their mobility isn't good.

(Chara's lingering there long enough that Jack or Kotetsu should be able to get a glimpse of a pale child's face if they bother looking over- although Chara's reflexes are still good enough that they'll immediately duck away if so.)

/even later but thank you

[oldmantiger]

Jack and Kotetsu have settled into an easy and even a more obviously friendly sort of banter by then. But they've had enough visitors wandering by that they know to expect them now. It's Jack who looks around first at the sound of quiet footsteps. He smiles at the sight of them. "Oh, hey there!"

Kotetsu overhears this, and looks up just in time to see Chara bolt. He frowns, and his first thought is to just let them go...before he catches the briefest glimpse of what's on their head.

Holy cow. Talk about a Valentine's Day miracle.

"H-Hey, wait!" He tries to stumble off the ice, almost immediately trips on the skates, and has to spend a frustrating minute or so struggling to get them off. But after that, he can hasten after the child. Even if his socks wind up immediately soaked through, they're not as important as that hat. Hopefully his longer legs will let him catch up before they escape.

"Chara, hold up a sec!" He adds a slightly desperate: "Please?" Because now he can see that that is his hat. He never thought he'd see that thing again.

[buttercup_eater]

If Chara was ever particularly prone to cursing, the moment they had to duck back behind the tree and flee back towards the castle would have been a good one for it. As it is, they're pretty quiet at first, the sound of their feet crunching through the snow the only one they produce- until they glance over and see Kotetsu nearly fall on his face.

That makes them pause and is enough to startle a laugh out of them. It's a brief pause, only long enough for Kotetsu to get one of his skates off before Chara's dashing away as if their life depends on it-

And then they come to an abrupt halt when Kotetsu calls out their name. Slowly, they turn around, staring at him with a stony expression.

"...Have we met?" they ask, with every amount of chilliness an eleven year old child can put into a question.