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This new planet followed the familiar weather patterns of Earth to nearly a tee. It functioned like clockwork; that is to say, nearly too perfectly. From the first day of December, snow had begun to pour down from the gray clouds that had encroached on the sky since autumn.
It figured that a certain hyperactive, endearing outdoorsman would want to partake in the snow before too long. It had taken minimal pestering on Jake’s part to convince Dirk to join him for a snow day outing. Despite the lingering tension between the two of them, Dirk found that he still enjoyed Jake’s company too much to pass up spending time with him.
“Look at the size of those snow piles!” Jake whistled, releasing a cloud of breath between his teeth. “This new planet sure is something, isn’t it?”
“They’re just like the leaf piles in autumn,” Dirk commented. “Only 100 times more likely to give you frostbite.”
Jake laughed, a hearty, familiar sound that still triggered a swooping sensation in Dirk’s gut. He brushed it off; this wasn’t the time to be getting sentimental. This was just a friendly outing, nothing more.
“Race you to the top!” Jake challenged, taking off towards the nearest mound of snow without so much as a warning.
Even with Jake’s unfair early start, Dirk managed to keep a decent pace with him. The snow packed and crumpled under his boots, providing little traction. Dirk was by no means out of shape, but as for Jake…there was just no winning against him!
At the top of the hill, Jake assumed a triumphant pose, slinging his arms wide. “You’ll have to do better than that, Strider!”
A competitive instinct urged Dirk onward. “Best two out of three, English. With a fair start, this time.”
Jake narrowed his eyes, but they held the same competitive glint Dirk could feel in his own. “A challenge, eh? Well, if it’s a race you want, it’s a race you’ll get! You’re on.”
The two boys positioned themselves side by side at the snow pile’s peak. Dirk centered himself, his eyes locked on the next snowy hilltop. This one was steeper, but just as climbable with a little extra effort. He could pull it off, no sweat.
…And maybe, just maybe he admitted to some part of himself, he was hoping to impress Jake just a little in the process. Not that he expected it to do him any good, but it was a nice thought.
“On your mark, get set…” Jake trailed off. “One, two…Bob’s your uncle!”
On instinct, Dirk darted out as soon as Jake’s voice rose. He only realized what Jake had said after he was just over the hill’s ledge, stumbling to an undignified halt.
“Three!”
Jake finished the countdown and took off, leaving a befuddled Strider in his wake. So much for a fair start…
Still, Dirk refused to give up without a fight. Hurriedly tucking his jacket tighter to his body, he pushed off the ground and soared down the slope. Jake was already at the base of their next target, but the steepness of it should slow him down just enough…
Pushing his legs harder, Dirk put all his effort into covering as much ground as possible. He ended up right on Jake’s tail, riding the momentum from the last hill to give himself a burst of speed. All seemed to be going well—Jake had his eyes locked on the prize, oblivious to his friend’s approach—until the pair crested the peak.
By then, they were neck and neck, Dirk a mere step away from surpassing Jake. But then, in one faulty calculation of trajectory and velocity, Dirk flew forward too fast. He could already feel himself tipping over the other side of the slope, and on instinct, he reached for something to grab ahold of. That something turned out to be, of course, Jake English.
The pair ended up tumbling down the snow pile’s other side in a heap, rolling head over heels and coating their jackets in powdery snow. Thankfully, there was a decent snowbank near the bottom to catch their fall, though that did little to soothe the bruises Dirk was sure were already forming all over his body.
As they came to a halt against the gentle, chilly wall of snow, Dirk realized where he’d ended up: he was sprawled back in Jake’s lap, his head resting right underneath his chin. A blush roared to life on his face, which he instinctively tried to cover with a gloved hand. The whole ordeal was made worse by the fact that his awesome anime shades had slipped off during the fall, lost somewhere in the sea of snow.
Dreading Jake’s reaction, Dirk stayed silent. Maybe if he played the cool, stoic card as he so often tried to, this would pass without a hitch.
To his complete and utter surprise, however, Jake began full-on laughing.
This wasn’t one of his amused chuckles or awkward snickers, either. This was uninhibited, gut-busting laughter that bellowed deep from within him. One look at his face revealed his eyes were clenched shut, and his mouth was open wide.
The blush on Dirk’s face chose that exact moment to deepen ever further. Excellent timing, Dirk wryly thought.
“Blimey, Dirk,” Jake managed between chuckles. “Shall we call that a tie, then?”
Dirk is currently unavailable at the moment, he wanted to say. Try again later when his brain isn’t short-circuiting. God, it was times like these when Dirk wished he still had AR around to answer for him.
Still, Jake hadn’t protested to his and Dirk’s position. He hadn’t even attempted to put any distance between them; if anything, he’d hunched over a little closer. Damn it all, Dirk’s heart leapt into his throat; always a sure sign that he was about to do something reckless he’d probably regret later…
Fuck it, Dirk thought to himself, and grabbed the unzipped edges of Jake’s outermost jacket. He pulled the flaps around himself, effectively trapping him inside the jacket with Jake. The interior was a fluffy, fur-like material, but he could barely focus on it with Jake pressed literally right up against him.
The instant Dirk had settled into place, Jake tensed. Just as he’d predicted earlier, Dirk immediately regretted everything. What else could he have expected? Jake wouldn’t be comfortable being back together with him, not after everything that happened. Dirk was the Prince of Heart, a literal heartbreaker by the definition of his god tier title. He couldn’t be anything else.
“Sorry,” Dirk mumbled, pulling away from the cocoon of Jake’s jacket.
To his complete and utter astonishment, Jake reached around to pull him back. “No! It’s…okay.”
Deciding it better not to look a gift horse in the mouth, Dirk settled back in. It was awfully comfy in there…if Jake wanted him close, he’d be the last person to refuse.
“Here,” Jake offered, his hand fumbling around in the snow and returning with a pair of signature triangular shades. Rather than place them in Dirk’s waiting hand, Jake slipped them over his nose all on his own. He righted his own spectacles a moment after, crooked but otherwise unharmed by their tumble.
Emboldened by the definite flush that had reached Jake’s ears, Dirk pieced together, “Are you…I mean, after all of…could we…?”
“I’ve scarcely thought of anything else since arriving here,” Jake exhaled, catching Dirk’s intent. “Even before that, honestly…heh.”
Now, it was Dirk’s turn to laugh. He only procured a series of short, huffed chuckles, but it was enough to let the repressed smile on his face shine through. “Yeah…same here.” Confidence resurging, he joked, “You can’t exactly corpse-smooch a guy’s decapitated head and expect him not to pine over you for the foreseeable future.”
Laughing in turn, Jake hugged Dirk closer against him. “Right then. Consider us a team: lovers in arms, the Prince and the Page, back at it again!”
Jake’s enthusiasm melted Dirk’s heart quicker than any of his god tier powers could. “Now that is a goddamned Christmas miracle if I’ve ever heard one.”
Thus ends the sixth day of Christmas.