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Maya was never fond of winter.
Snow blankets the entire city, seemingly seeping out the colors all around her and leaving nothing but white, with the sun barely making its appearance everything just feels dull and lifeless, (and if Maya were to describe it, she’d say it’s like the color grey—her color) the once beautiful flowers blooming in the courtyard drowned in snow, the road can be so slippery, the night somehow becomes darker, but most of all, no matter how many layers of clothing she puts on, the cold still manages to seep through her bones with the feeling of being wet and not the kind of wet she likes.
And yet, those are nothing compared to the memories and the recurring feelings she has during winter—of how during this season, she feels the most alone. Coming home to an empty, dark house whilst the stories of her schoolmates talking about how their parents would be waiting with hot chocolates on the table, fun tales of playing in the snow, making snowmen, snow angels and what not screams in the back of her mind. Thinking why she has none of those.
Maya supposes she hates winter.
But right now with Maya trying to figure out how to make a snowball to get back to her blonde companion who managed to drag her out of the warmth confines of her room, she thinks how it might not be that bad.
She looks at her handy work. It doesn’t look like a ball at all or anything that’s supposed to resemble a ball in any way but she guesses it’ll do.
The brunette jumps out of the tree she was using as a shield against the blonde’s relentless attack, quickly spots Claudine scooping up more snow and throws it without a second thought.
It hits the blonde’s face.
Claudine stills. The snow in her hands falls to the ground.
Her once cold hands feels like its sweating now and Maya thinks it’s gross, she feels cold sweat run through the back of her neck and her clothes feels like it’s suffocating her.
Maya thinks of how she should run but she just stands there, looking at Claudine with snow in her hair and on her face, and Maya thinks she’s never been so beautiful, the snowflakes somehow shining, the white of the snow perfectly accentuating her ruby eyes.
The sun is barely out but it looks like the only rays Tokyo has been blessed to have this day shines down on Claudine; she’s shining and Maya is in awe.
She opens her mouth to say something but she’s been met with a force.
Maya falls on the ground, thankful for the thick layers of snow softening her landing but she can’t help the groan that escapes her mouth especially when Claudine falls on top of her. She feels vibration on her chest and hears muffled giggles from the blonde. Warmth spreads out to Maya’s chest, and if Claudine’s face weren’t buried in Maya’s chest she would have teased the brunette with how her cheeks are painted red at the moment.
Maya just smiles as she wraps her arms around the blonde who continues to laugh at her expense. She hears a “you should have seen your face” in between laughs and Maya can’t help but just laugh along in return for the blonde’s laugh is just so contagious.
She’s so warm.
Maya thinks of how she won’t hesitate to just lay there, with Claudine’s laugh in the air, her warm body pressed up against her— she thinks of how she has never felt so warm.
But Claudine’s laugh finally stops. She raises her head to look at Maya and lilac eyes just bores into rosy ones and Maya thinks about the fire in those eyes, and how she prays to God every single day that it will never go out—of how those eyes being the last thing she sees before she goes to sleep is enough to keep her warm at night and to keep lighting the fire in hers too.
“You’re staring.”
“You’re beautiful.”
She hears the blonde scoff as Claudine sits up comfortably on the brunette’s stomach and before Maya can let out a whine and tease about their position, the French girl pinches Maya’s cheeks, a smirk plastered on her face, “And you’re so vexing.”
Maya chuckles, she sits up and grabs hold of Claudine’s face and kisses her. The blonde gasps which gives Maya’s tongue the opportunity to enter and explore her mouth. Claudine lets out a moan as she tangles her fingers on the brunette’s soft locks.
Maya suddenly feels so hot but the sensation is quickly taken away with a sudden cold breeze. She pulls away as she feels Claudine shiver on top of her.
“Geez, you’re so sappy.”
Maya tilts her head to the side. “Pardon?”
Claudine’s lips are red and puffs with her cheeks rosy and she’s so so warm that Maya wants nothing more than to be closer to her.
“Kissing in the rain is one thing but making out while there’s probably a blizzard going on right now is a whole new level.”
Maya blinks and Claudine just groans. The French girl finally stands up and holds out a hand to Maya.
“Come on I’m cold and you probably are too. Nana said she’s making us some hot chocolates so lets go before Kaoruko or Hikari downs it all.”
Maya smiles, the warmth in her chest back again as she takes Claudine’s hand.
Warm.
The blonde leads them back to the dorms and to both of their surprise, no one seems to be home. All the lights are off, save for the kitchen, and it’s eerily quiet and it unnerves the both of them. It’s such a rare thing to come back to the dormitory being so… so devoid of life and Maya doesn’t know whether she should be grateful for once that there’s no chaos or be concerned.
“Maybe they’re all hibernating,” Claudine jokes as they remove their coats and make their way to the kitchen to grab the hopefully still warm hot chocolates.
And once Maya touches her warm mug, she can’t help the content sigh that escapes from her mouth. She takes a careful sip and god, the brunette feels like she’s floating in chocolatey heaven.
Thank gods for Daiba Nana.
She hears Claudine snort to her side and Maya playfully glares at her.
“You’re such a dork,” Claudine says as she sticks a tongue out. “Come on, let’s go to the den and warm up there.”
The blonde takes a hold of her hand and leads her there.
Once they arrive, Claudine quickly sets off to turn on the electric fireplace and in the next instant they’re both met with warmth that Maya has half the mind to strip off the remaining of her clothes now.
“You stay here, I’ll go get us some more pillows and blankets,” Claudine says and next thing she knows the blonde dashes out of the room.
She sets down her mug on the coffee table, she grabs the pillows on the couch and sets it down in front of the fireplace.
And Maya just sits there, waiting for Claudine to come back, staring intently at the make-believe fire, Maya supposes the fire is fake and so are the logs for it is an electric fireplace but a part of her wants to reach out and find out if it is.
She was about to until she feels a ton of soft cushion fall on her.
“What the fuck were you about to do?”
Maya breaks free from the pillows and just smirks, “Nothing.”
Claudine raises an eyebrow and Maya just shrugs. The blonde just huffs, letting it go for the time being as she spreads wraps her blankets around herself and joins Maya on the makeshift bed with their soft pillows. And once she’s settled in, the blonde holds out a hand to Maya.
“Come here you big dork I know you’re cold.”
Maya crawls next to Claudine and slips inside the blonde’s blanket, she wraps an arm around the rosy-eyed girl’s waist and rests her head on her shoulders.
“Geez Maya you’re so cold,” Claudine complains although half-heartedly as she wraps an arm around Maya’s too and settles her head on top of the brunettes.
“At least I have you to keep me warm.”
Maya expected a retort or Claudine teasing her of how sappy or cheesy it is but all she gets is a hum, the blonde tightening her hold on her and a soft, “I love you.”
Maya was never fond of winter.
But right now, in front of the fireplace, surrounded by pillows and blankets in the dim lit room with the girl who has her heart and is the reason for her fire, pressed so close to her that she can feel the rapid beating of her heart that reassures Maya she feels the same way, she thinks of how winter isn’t so bad after all.
This is warmth.
This is home.
“I love you too. Thank you.”