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Eli woke up early this morning. He usually rose just in time to make it to breakfast, but something seemed different today, cold and fresh. He opened the curtains to see what had disturbed his well-deserved rest, and realized it was snowing. His breath fogged the windowpane as he sighed in wonder. “Nature is truly beautiful…” Checking the wall clock, he realized that breakfast was in an hour. Brooke Rose was still fast asleep, but he got dressed anyways to go outside and enjoy the fresh snow.
Deciding that going through the main door might wake up somebody, he decided to go out the window. As he opened it, the shock of cold air made him giggle in delight. Carefully, he stepped his foot into the icy flakes, not wanting to slip. His leg sunk down into the layers of snow. Hopping over the windowsill, he pushed the pane of glass back down and regained his balance. Eli was most certainly not dressed for the weather in his homely seer’s robes, but the chill was lost on him as he looked around the snowy gardens.
Way off to the side, he spotted a strangely-shaped figure. The garden’s recent expansion had left Emma busy. She had finished it yesterday, and he knew she wouldn’t have left any bushes in that area. He trudged through the snow to investigate. As he grew closer, he realized it was a poorly-constructed snowman. He also noticed several dents in the snow that looked vaguely like… angels? He peered in them, and noticed most were empty. However, one had a person in it. “Aesop?”
Aesop sat up out of his half finished snow angel. Wide pearly-grey eyes focused directly onto him, mouth curved in a smile. “Hello, Eli. It’s a nice morning today, don’t you think?” Eli had never seen Aesop without his mask before. His skin was soft and clear, with a defined jaw and dusty pink lips. “Yes, snowy weather is my favorite. It was rare back home.” He sat down, enjoying the feeling of the snow cushioning his legs. Aesop lay back into his snow angel, and asked, “Eli, have you ever made a snow angel before? My mother used to make them with me. They’re very pretty once they’re finished.” Eli shook his head. “There was never enough snow for anything like that, just a light ground covering.” Aesop grinned- was this the first time Eli had ever seen Aesop actually grinning?- and replied, “I can teach you!”
Even though snow angels didn’t seem very complicated, Aesop had a certain finesse to making them that he tried his best to pass on to Eli. And he did a good job of it, Eli had to admit. His first snow angel was a thing of beauty- “good enough for a museum,” in Aesop’s words. His second was even better, and by the fourth, Aesop had officially promoted him from pupil to graduate. “You’re going to be better than me if we keep up like this.” Eli blushed at the compliment. “Oh, we certainly can’t have that! What’s next, I learn to embalm and I become better than you?” he teased.
Aesop laughed. It sounded like chimes in the wind, hung from a tree branch a hot summer day to listen to for years to come. Only, it was winter. But the wind still blew in winter, and Aesop still laughed. “Maybe I’ll take up seeing the future, then. What type of bird should I use as my companion? You’ve got the owl for yourself.” Eli spoke, hardly realizing the words he said until a second after he said them. “A pair of lovebirds.” Aesop raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “Oh? And why’s that?” Eli was never good at impromptu explanations, especially when he was talking to someone so beautiful, but he tried his hardest. “So you can take one and I can take the other. And every day, we will meet up and let our birds play with each other.”
Aesop had stopped laughing, but a hint of his smile remained, all the same. “If you wanted to be in my company more often, you should have said so. I would be happy to go with you wherever you like.” Eli’s eyes opened wide, barely able to contain his happiness. “Is this a date?“ Aesop was much calmer, but a flush had started to rise to his cheeks as well. “Do you want it to be?” Eli giggled gleefully, and Aesop thought it sounded better than any music he had ever heard. “Let’s make it one, then. Demi’s bar after dinner today?” Aesop gave Eli a kiss on the cheek, confirming his hopes. “It’s a date.”