Chapter Text
The festivities of the previous day had died down, but the Curry household was still full of spirit.
“Morning, Mera.” He brushed her hair away from her face.
She groaned a bit, still exhausted from yesterday. Her eyelids fluttered open, and she tried her hardest to force them open. “What’s for today?” She yawned, rubbing her eyelids.
“Today’s boxing day, which in the Curry household means…..Christmas movies and all the things we missed yesterday.” He laughed. His face lit up like it usually did.
Mera cocked her head in response, unsure of what the usual Christmas activities were.
“Well, there's snowman building, and tobogganing and a few more things I think you’ll like.“
“Mhmm. I do like that. But what are snowmen?”
“You’ll see, Mera. You’ll see.”
After breakfast, Arthur rushed to get them outside to build their first snowman. He had shown her more pictures of snowmen that he had built in the past, and she soon understood what they were, blocks of snow with facial features which were limited to rocks, sticks, and weirdly, carrots. They wore gloves on their hands, even if it wasn’t too cold since they were both used to the freezing temperatures below land. Arthur wore a grey beanie as well. Arthur started rolling a small ball of snow on the ground, rolling it in a circle to make sure it would be as even as possible. He pressed down slightly, packing the snow tighter to make sure the snowman would be stable.
Mera joined in, crouching beside him. They made their way around the lighthouse, going around and around until they were both slightly dizzy, but with a sturdy ball of snow at their feet.
“That’s good,” said Arthur, as they rolled it until the ball reached the front of the porch, the first layer of the snowman done.
“And we keep doing that?” asked Mera.
Arthur let out a grunt of approval. “That’s right.”
So that was how they spent the next 2 hours, building the rest of the snowman, circling around the lighthouse as the snow had built up around the base and Tom would have needed to shovel it away anyway.
Halfway through, Mera grew a bit cold, unused to the cold winds that blew near the shore. She stood at the porch, hands wrapped around a hot chocolate, a grey scarf knitted by Atlanna around her neck. To contribute to the activity, however, she used her hydrokinesis, which she guided the slightly melted snow into the path of the large snowball Arthur was rolling.
Finally, the snowman was built, with legs, body and a head. They had gone down to the beach to collect smoothed down pebbles, even if Mera had insisted that she could just get a few without going down the beachside. They went anyways, despite her protests, though she had a better time than she thought she would.
They walked on the snow-covered stairway that connected the lighthouse to the beach. She was scanning the sand, eyes searching for smooth pebbles.
“Arthur!” She covered her face with her hands, as he crouched down and flicked water at her face. She usually wouldn’t be that annoyed, but the cold was really not helping. He splashed her again, this time effectively dousing the grey scarf.
She ran to stand as far away from him as possible, flicking her hands in an upwards motion, letting a puddle hold itself inches above his head.
“Okay, okay! I’ll stop!” He held his hands up in protest, afraid of the puddle, threatening to drop at any second.
She let her hands drop, guiding the puddle further away from him, though she let a few droplets splash onto his face.
Mera smirked; it wasn’t like him to be scared by a mere puddle of water.
He slapped her lightly on the arm as they walked further along the beach, their eyes trained on the ground for smooth pebbles. He had his arm wrapped around her shoulders, shielding her from the wind. Soon later, he had retrieved 5 stones, though not the smoothest, and Mera had an identical amount that she had retrieved from the ocean, using her hydrokinesis. Her stones were more smooth due to the waves that brushed upon shore every few seconds.
They went back up to the snowman, finding that it had melted quite a bit in the afternoon sun that had arisen. They packed a bit more snow around the base, hoping that it would be enough.
After a quick bite with Tom back in the house, which was a refreshing break, they went back outside to finish the snowman. Arthur had snagged a carrot from the kitchen for the nose.
They waved goodbye to Tom as he drove off in his pickup, heading into town to buy groceries.
“Here,” He handed her the stones, plopping them into her outstretched palm.
She arranged them onto the snowman, two for the eyes, five for the mouth, and three for buttons along the body. She picked up sticks that were lying around nearby, snapping off the ends so the sticks had two ends, resembling hands.
He stuck the carrot into the centre of the face, holding his hand underneath it for a few seconds to make sure it wouldn’t fall. After securing it, he pulled the scarf of Mera’s neck and wrapped it around the snowman. Lastly, he placed his own beanie onto the snowman. He stepped back to look at the finishing touches and smiled at the end result.
He dragged out the old toboggan that Tom had built for him years ago from the side shed. "What's the sledge for?" asked Mera, as they were walking up a slight hill behind the lighthouse. "It's for sliding down the hill." He laughed. "You'll like it."
When she sat onto the front of the toboggan, it didn't seem that scary. Yet when Arthur climbed in behind her, holding onto her hands which held onto the thin rope, it seemed like they would slide forward forever.
"Arthur, this doesn't seem like a great idea. You know how I am with heights."
Arthur stared on forward, glancing down the hill. In his view, it wasn't too steep. He had done it countless times before, rushing down the hill every year with his father, with or without snow. "You'll be fine."
She took a deep breath, closing her eyes, praying to the Gods that she wouldn't die. She knew she was being irrational, but land activities sometimes scared the hell out of her. "Okay, let's go."
He let out a yell of delight, pushing them forward to gain the momentum they needed.
The wind lashed in her face, her braided hair smacking Arthur dead in the eye. He didn't mind, however, though his grip on Mera's hand tightened as they reached the part he remembered was the steepest.
They arrived at the bottom of the hill, shoes covered with snow.
"How was that?'
"That was insane!" She laughed. She leaned back into Arthur, and he noticed a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Again?" She asked.
"Hell yeah." He smiled as they made their way up the hill again, ready for more and more runs.
Runs and runs of tobogganing flew by, and soon they went back into the house, curling up on the couch as they put on Arthur’s favourite Christmas movie: Home Alone.
There was a shrill ring of the doorbell that finally diverted both of their attention from the screen.
“That’s dad. I’ll get it.” Arthur stood up to get the door, leaving Mera still curled up on the couch.
The men put the groceries onto the kitchen island, laughing and chatting about Tom’s day.
“Saw the snowman outside, I’ll get a picture of you and Mera.” She heard Tom’s voice travel from the kitchen.
“Yeah sure. Thanks pops.”
Arthur pulled Mera up from the couch, with her still leaning against him as they made their way outside.
The pair stood behind the snowman, posing for the camera. “Merry Christmas!” They yelled, as the white flashing camera light went off.