Work Text:
The spirit of the season was running rampant in Bog Harbour, schools had finished for the holidays and the whole town was seeing a record breaking amount of snow.
While Bob was sitting in the living room silently lamenting the fact that the snow and icy roads may negatively impact his business, his children were overjoyed at the weather, quickly changing into their winter clothes the second they saw all the snow coating the ground.
Bob looked at his children, “So, I take it you three won’t be helping out with the restaurant today.” He sighed, not surprised in the slightest.
“Uhh, do you see what it’s like out there Dad?” Louise said “We can work in the restaurant any time, but this? This could be a once in a lifetime opportunity!”
Bob knew that there was no point arguing against them when snow was involved, “Well, have fun.” He said.
“Oh! and make sure to come home if it starts snowing too heavily!” Linda yelled from the kitchen, “I heard we could be getting even more snow, and I don’t wanna have to go and dig you kids out of it!”
“Ok Mom.” Tina said kindly as she picked up her sled.
“Hurry up Tina!” Louise shouted eagerly, “The snow is gonna melt if we wait too long!”
Before long, the Belcher children arrived at the park, they gazed upon the snowy terrain with wonder, itching to jump right in and play.
“Dean Martin didn’t know what he was talking about at all!” Gene exclaimed, “This weather isn’t frightful! It’s beautiful!”
“Guys… I think we might be in heaven…” Louise said before quickly sprinting off to the top of the hill, “Come on! We’re not gonna have fun just standing here!”
The three kids reached the top of the hill and took turns sliding down on their sleds, as they enjoyed the winter weather, a familiar face also arrived at the park.
“Oh hey Rudy.” Louise greeted, “You here to sled too?”
Rudy nodded, “Yep! This snow is great!” He exclaimed.
“And this time there’s no Logan to hog the entire place!” Louise added, “Well anyway, it was my go next, but you just got here sooo, wanna go ahead of me?”
Rudy raised an eyebrow, “You sure?” He asked.
“Yeah, go ahead, consider your Christmas gift.” Louise insisted.
Rudy thanked Louise and slid down the hill, cheering from the thrill, Louise followed him down not long after. After a while of sledding, the group decided to have a snowball fight, two teams of two, Tina and Gene vs Louise and Rudy, first team to have both players hit three times loses.
It was a well fought battle, with Gene and Rudy both being taken out, leaving it to a one-versus-one between the two Belcher sisters. But right as Tina had a clear shot on Louise, her attention shifted to something else. Louise promptly took the opportunity to hit Tina directly with a snowball.
“Haha! Yes! We did it Rudy, we won!” Louise cheered, running up to her friend and offering him a high five which he quickly accepted.
“I mean, you did most of the work, but yeah!” Rudy replied.
“Hey, what’s wrong T? You froze on me there, you could've won!” Louise asked.
Tina continued looking up at the sky, watching as snowflakes fell one after another, “It’s starting to snow again… do you think we should head back?”
Louise looked at Tina as if she had grown three heads, “Head back? Tina we’ve just got here!” She replied, despite knowing that they had been out in the snow for at least an hour, “Look, Mom said we should head back if it starts to snow heavily, this is just a few flakes, we’ll be fine!”
Tina agreed, but still felt concerned, not taking her eye off the falling snow.
Everyone else continued doing their own activities, Gene attempted to make a snow angel whilst Louise and Rudy worked together to build a giant snowman, or a “Snow Titan” as Louise liked to call it. But Tina kept watching as the snow began to fall quicker and quicker.
“Brr, it’s getting kinda cold Louise…” Rudy said.
“Yeah… maybe it’s time to go back…” Louise agreed, “Just gotta add one… last… touch.”
Gene watched in horror as his newly created masterpiece was filled in by the falling snow, “Damn you nature!” He screamed, “You wouldn’t know good art if it slapped you in the face.”
Tina’s concern turned into panic as she quickly leapt into action, “Gene! Louise! We gotta go home now! It’s snowing like crazy!” She yelled out between shivers.
“Yep, I’m… done….” Louise said quietly, shaking like a leaf from the cold, “L-Let’s go.”
Gene looked at the sky as he walked over to his sisters, “You win this time snow! But I will be back! And I will make a hundred snow Genes!”
The Belcher siblings and Rudy all gathered by the entrance to the park.
“W-Well, i-it was f-fun playing with you g-guys…” Rudy said, “I g-gotta get home or my Dad will be worried s-sick!”
Rudy went to walk off, but was interrupted by Louise.
“Wait! Isn’t your house like, ages away from here?” She said, “Rudy! You’ll freeze to death!”
“She’s right, you know.” Tina agreed, “The snow is only getting w-worse.”
“W-well what do I do?” Rudy asked.
“Come with us!” Louise offered, “Our place is much closer, you can stay t-there and we’ll call your Dad to pick you up!”
Rudy nodded in agreement and followed the three to their apartment.
Bob and Linda were relaxing on the couch when the door to the apartment flew open. Their three kids along with Rudy spilled through the door, panting and covered in snow, Louise quickly slammed the door shut as soon as everyone was in.
“We made it…” Louise said, steadying herself on the stairs.
“I thought I told you to come home before it started snowing heavily.” Linda scolded
“Sorry, the snow started falling quicker than we expected…” Tina explained.
“It’s my fault really… we should’ve left when Tina first noticed the snow falling again.” Louise admitted.
“Well, at least you made it back ok, now come on up, you gotta get yourselves warmed up.” Linda said.
The four kids walked up the stairs, quickly swapping their wet coats for dryer and warmer ones.
“Hey Rudy.” Bob greeted, surprised to see him, “What brings you here?”
“I was at the park with Louise and the others when it started snowing again.” Rudy explained while trying to warm himself up, “My place was a lot further away so they offered to let me stay here until my Dad can pick me up. Speaking of which, can you call him for me?”
Bob nodded and grabbed the phone to call Sylvester, meanwhile Rudy walked up to Louise, who had swapped out her winter coat for her cardigan.
“You alright Rudes?” She asked with guilt in her voice, “Sorry, we should’ve left the park much earlier…”
“It’s ok Louise, I’m fine.” Rudy assured her, “And besides I had a lot of fun.”
“Mmm, yeah, ok, I’ll be sure to tell him.” Bob said before hanging up the phone, “Well the bad news is, your Dad can’t pick you up Rudy.”
“WHAT?” Rudy cried out.
“Both his car and the road are completely covered in snow, and he can’t shovel it because, well, it’s still snowing.” Bob explained, “But the good news is you're welcome to stay here until the weather clears up.”
“I mean, thanks but, when will it stop snowing?” Rudy asked.
“The forecast said that it could keep going for the rest of the day.” Linda answered, “But it’s ok, if you need to we’re happy to let you stay overnight, you can sleep in Gene’s room, or the couch if you’d prefer.”
Rudy looked around nervously, “I don’t know, I’ve never had a sleepover before…” he said.
Louise put a comforting arm around Rudy’s shoulder, “Hey, it’ll be fine, we could play Burobu or something to pass the time.” She offered.
“Ok…” Rudy said nervously.
“Would any of you like some hot chocolate to help warm you up?” Linda asked.
Louise, Gene and Tina all replied with an instantaneous yes.
“Well, I could have it, although chocolate gives me a rash.” Rudy admitted.
“Ok! Three hot chocolates and a glass of warm milk coming up!” Linda sang as she went into the kitchen.
“Come on Rudy, I’ll show you my Burobu collection!” Louise said, grabbing the boy’s hand and leading him to her room.
The evening went on with the snow showing no signs of stopping, but Louise and Rudy spent their time playing with Louise’s Burobu toys and reading her manga.
Late in the evening, Louise and Rudy were both sitting on the couch watching Elf. Louise had never bothered to watch it before, but Rudy had insisted it was great so she agreed to put it on. And to give credit where it’s due, the movie was pretty funny.
“You were right Louise, this was a lot of fun…” Rudy said before letting out a yawn, the busy day finally catching up to him, “I… had a great time today…”
Louise smiled, “See, I told you sleepovers can be fun!”
They continued to watch the movie until Louise suddenly felt a weight on her shoulder, she looked over to see Rudy’s head resting on her.
Louise’s face began to heat up slightly, “Rudy? What are you doing?” She asked to no response.
she went to move Rudy off of her, but heard faint snores coming from her friend. She didn’t want to disturb his rest, so she begrudgingly let him stay there.
Louise couldn’t explain it, but having Rudy resting on her shoulder made her feel warm inside, a different kind of warmth to how she felt getting out of the snow. It was weird, although she couldn’t say she hated it.
Louise smiled and continued watching the movie, her eyes getting heavier and heavier with each passing moment.
“Louise, Rudy, it’s time for bed.” Linda said walking into the sitting room, only to see both kids sound asleep on the couch.
Linda smiled at the sight, she made sure to discreetly take a photo of the scene before gently picking up Louise, taking care not to wake her up and carrying her back to her bed. She then returned and put a cover over Rudy, ensuring he would keep warm throughout the night. Linda and Bob then decided it would be best to get some sleep themselves.
The snowfall finally began to slow as everyone in the Belcher apartment slept soundly.