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Carmilla wakes up to freezing cold and Loreli shaking her shoulder. “Carmilla! Get up, it’s-”
“Do we need to leave?” Carmilla tries to fight back her drowsiness and get on guard.
“No! No, it’s not bad at all, it’s wonderful!” Loreli’s got the type of enthusiasm Carmilla only remembers from before the Sirens, bouncy and excited.
Carmilla begrudgingly rolls off the mattress, onto the cement floor, and finally, with great effort, gets to her feet. “What is it?”
“It’s snowed out!” Loreli takes Carmilla’s hand and drags her out and away from any chance of going back to sleep.
She loses her annoyance when they’re outside, and she can see the snow. It’s covering everything, reflecting the sunlight in spangled patterns; sun finally deigning to peek out of the clouds after all these months. Everything looks beautiful and made anew and unbroken. She knows it’s an illusion, that underneath is the wreckage of a street, but she can’t help but love it anyway.
Loreli runs and throws herself bodily into a snowbank, getting up cautiously to preserve the imprint. “Carmilla, look at this, it came out so well! You can see the kimono folds and everything!”
“Neat,” Carmilla says, inspecting it. “We should...” She takes a second to try to think of Fun Snow Things. “Make a snowman. Have a snowball fight.”
“Yes, let’s- it’s so nice!” Loreli is radiant with excitement, hair still loose and snow dusting her cheeks. “Can I-” Carmilla nods, and Loreli pulls her in for a kiss, and there’s a beautiful second-
And then Loreli leans in further and hooks a leg on Carmilla’s, leaving her sprawled out on the snow. Before Carmilla can react, Loreli’s pushed at the pile behind her, and there’s a rain of snow coming down and leaving her to gasp and sputter.
“Snowball fight! I’m winning!”
“Oh, so you’re going to play like that.” Carmilla grabs at Loreli’s arm from the ground, tugs her down on top of her, and now they’re both sprawling on the ground laughing like they haven’t in years.
She would preserve this moment forever, if she could.