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The hot cocoa was comfortably warm, held around dark, gloved palms. A coat in slate grey relaxed over the hands, protecting a man with teal color pallette from the cold. Snow floated down in the December morning, the skies seemed pure white with clouds. The man with hot cocoa, Medkit, watched little children as they played around. They balled up the snow in their hands, their cheeks in hues of deep color, hats and hoodies with cutout holes for their horns to peek out. Medkit was rooting for the one in blue, a shit eating grin on the boy’s face. He balled up another snowball and threw it square in his green colored friend’s face, sending the kid into a playful flop in the snowy ground. Medkit chuckled silently, taking a sip of his hot cocoa. He was normally in the mood for coffee, but the holidays had him in a chocolate chokehold. His eyes danced off as the kids continued to play, now watching a couple. They held hands, walking around the park while giggling, her eyes completely on him. They looked so happy, it filled Medkit with a light warmth. He needed this.
He took a sigh, crossing his legs together and fixing the patch on his eye, letting his nerves come to a relief. Suddenly, without warning, two hands clasped over his shoulders, sending him to scream. He dropped his cup, the lid popping open and spilling overpriced cocoa. “What the hell!?” Medkit exclaimed, looking behind him. A shorter man, grinning like a criminal, and a distinct scar over his brow. “Missed me?” “Not at all, Broker.” The shorter man, Broker, giggled, patting the other’s shoulder. Medkit sighed out, a groan from his voice was let out. Broker noticed the spilled cocoa, “Whoops! I’ll buy ya a new one, bud,” he stated with his thick New York accent. “It’s fine, not the worst thing today…” Medkit’s voice trailed off, his eye also looking at the spill. He picked up the paper cup and lid, taking them to the nearest bin, Broker following. His cuff chain jingled, making the doctor look back at the runaway. “Do you still have that thing on?” Medkit asked, a raise in his brow. Broker looked underneath his coat sleeve, grinning once again, “What, can you take the damn thing off?”. Medkit rolled his eyes, shoving his fists into his pockets. “C’mon, were takin’ a walk.” Broker fished into Medkit’s pocket, pulling out the slender hand. Medkit could sigh and groan, but he only obliged. He hasn’t seen the man look somewhat normal in years, none of the three had looked normal in years; Medkit had his fair share of aging, yes, but Broker and Scythe showed it severely. Medkit could at least look in his 20’s still, and his ethnicity allowed him to get away with dark circles, being South American. Broker had wrinkles on his forehead, and everyday his body hair was more unkempt, but he still smiled brightly, and Scythe… Her body was abused and fabled beyond repair, you could tell she was a criminal by her scars. Medkit felt lucky enough that his only sign of aging was his tiredness.
“You never get out like this, Meddy… Somethin’ botherin’ ya?” Broker looked up at Medkit, his pale eye looking especially deeply. The doctor couldn’t help but look back at the runaway, thinking of why he’s being like this. “I don’t know,” He answered, looking down at the ground in shame. Medkit couldn’t help but fidget with his sleeves, furrowing his brows. Broker only nodded in return, understanding the awkwardness of the situation. The snow crunched under their feet, leaving prints of their soles behind, it brought back memories. “Remember when we used to play rabbit and hound?” Medkit spoke, “When we were younger… You were awfully good at hiding your tracks.” a small smile formed on his face. Broker chuckled, remembering their boyish youth as well, “That was fun… We’re old for that now, ‘nd I wish I was that young again.” Broker looked up at Medkit, a smile that felt genuine was imprinted on his face. Medkit let out a small noise of amusement. It was nice to talk with Broker as a friend, rather than him being someone more to worry about. Although the three were just a small posse on the run from god knows what, it was nice to have bonds with each other. Broker especially thought of them as a family, grouped up and ready to protect each other at any given moment. “I don’t think any of us want to grow up, but we always rush it when we’re younger. I could’ve embraced it more, but I didn’t.” Medkit’s eye seemed to get more weary, he seemed exhausted. The doctor had rushed his life, maturing too young in order to fulfill the desires of others. He always had big expectations for himself, but with the weight of his peers, his free time was even a study hall.
“Atta boy.” Broker would say quietly, looking at the two younger demons playing in the snow. One of them threw a snowball at the other, sending the kid into a playful fall. Medkit hummed, a small smirk formed on his face, “Were you rooting for him?”. “Yea, he kinda looks like you.” Broker smiled, and honestly, the child did look like Medkit. Sterling eyes, hair that was light in color, even their horns seemed similar, antler-like; the child had smaller nubs of antlers compared to Medkit, but he’d grow them out. If you put a younger Medkit and the child side by side, you’d assume they shared blood. The Medkit look alike let his guard down, though, laughing until the green horned child threw a snowball square in his face. Broker snorted, a laugh leaving his mouth at a mezzo forte, nothing too loud, but you could tell he was laughing at the ambush. “Hey!” The blue palletted child said at the green one, grabbing a heave of snow to throw back eventually. Medkit sighed in content, he felt relaxed in his muscles. It wasn’t very often when Lost Temple had snow like this, but everywhere had been colder since some member of SFOTH got pissed off, presumably Ice Dagger and their childlike temperament, being young in the head.
“Broker.” Medkit spoke in a low tone, almost like calling a timid puppy. “Yeah?” Broker’s head perked up, making Medkit hum in amusement. “I appreciate you crossing me, although you can be a headache, you’re nice to be around sometimes.” Medkit had a sincere smile on his face, which was odd for him, he usually never smiled. Broker grinned back with his cheeky face, “‘Course, Meds! It’s not often we hang out like this… Now let’s go get some hot cocoa, ‘m chilly!”. Medkit chuckled, obliging as the two walked off to grab another overpriced cup of sweetness. Snow fell a little bit lighter that moment.