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Colder, warmer, white hot.
Felix was no stranger to storms and cold weather. Especially growing up in Fraldarius, he had seen his fair share of storms and blizzards that showcased Mother Nature’s power, and how she did not discriminate with her victims.
Snow heavy and deep it covered villages as if they had never existed in the first place, a blank canvas. Hail so blunt it could break bones and spirits. Gusts of wind so strong they could nearly match the power and destruction of hurricanes, tearing down anything and everything in their wake.
And every single time he heard the sound howl through the trees, or through an open window in Castle Fraldarius he could only think of her.
Annette.
Annette had always demonstrated great control over the element, but not like this. How could anyone have control over this?
From behind, he could hear her splutter and spit as the wind whipped strands of her hair into her face.
Felix squeezed his hand tighter around her wrist.
Anyone who wasn’t used to trudging through snow measuring knee-high the way he was would struggle to push onwards, never mind Annette whose uniform demanded she wear small pump heels – and those thin white stockings provided no insulation at all, no doubt she’d be freezing cold, rapidly losing body heat. He had no choice but to drag her through the snow, he had to find them shelter and fast.
The skies had darkened dramatically, the sunset oranges and yellows had been replaced with dreary greys and bitterly cold winds that felt like tiny needles piercing into any skin that was on display.
There was a blizzard brewing, Felix could feel it in his bones, it was second nature, instinct.
It would be crazy to claim he could feel her heartbeat throb in her veins through the tough leather of his glove – he squeezed her wrist tighter once more.
He had to protect her.
All the air nearly escaped his lungs the moment he heard Annette squeal, his stomach dropping from the idea of harm befalling her so soon – he quickly whipped his head back to study her, but she’s squinting, focusing on something in the distance, smiling and pointing.
“Felix! Please tell me I’m not imagining things, and that looks like a cabin of some sort?!”
He followed the direction of her finger and lo and behold – there was building in the distance, but whether he’d refer to it as a cabin was up for debate, he’d personally describe it as a ‘shack’ more than anything else.
Shack, cabin, whatever. It was shelter, and it would have to do.
It was beyond freezing now, the temperature was continuously dropping, and Felix felt he had a moral obligation to keep Annette warm.
***
By the time the pair arrived at the run-down cabin, the sun had already completely set. Leaving the world around them covered in a blanket of darkness and twinkling stars above, the moonlight shining down provided a tad of illumination – and despite that, Annette seemed nervous and unsettled.
She shuddered out a cold sigh, her warm breath lingering against the cool air for a moment as she shivered, arms rubbing up and down her sides with nervous eyes flicking around the room, “Brr – Um, so. First order of business, we find candles or something to light up this miserable place?”
Felix scoffed, no . The first task was to deal with the now broken door, the hinges were barely holding on with how harshly he had to beat it down in order to actually enter the dilapidated building. He had nearly sent the damn thing flying into the next room with how hard he bashed it with his shoulder, dust had practically exploded in their faces in the process.
With Annette’s kitten sneezes momentarily distracting him for a moment, he pondered how her first instinct wasn’t to dust the entire place from top to bottom.
With the help of the moonlight filtering in through the torn and translucent curtains left abandoned, he eyed the silhouette of something tall and solid tucked in the corner.
A wooden bookcase, and it looked like it was made from solid wood too.
“Huh, it sure is dusty in here anyway – HEY! What are you doing!?”
Annette cried out as Felix tipped it over, a few old and frayed books that had been left behind tumbled out and onto the floor. Their pages seemly blank, words faded and lost to time. Annette would surely mourn.
She would definitely mourn what he had planned to do with them later.
“Barricading the door,” Felix replied with a huff, wood groaning loudly as he pushed the bookcase into position by the door, “Give me a hand, hold the door closed in place.”
“… and then we get some lights sorted, okay?” Annette said, with slight hesitation.
After a few moments of team effort and strained pushing, the door would finally be secure, Felix exhaled tiredly, at least Annette would be safe now, and surely the bookcase would be heavy enough to keep the battered door closed and protect her from the treacherous weather outside – although, the window panels did shake as the wind hit against him. Would it be within their best interests to barricade them shut as well? The last thing they needed would be shards of glass flying towards them and cutting them open...
Felix turned to Annette to ask her what she thought, and suddenly, the small mage had appeared right beside him.
Right beside him, as close as possible.
He sucked in a breath of surprise from the sudden closeness, despite the darkness, he could see the reflection of the stars from outside, and how they sparkled in her eyes. Felix could hear her swallow nervously, and she replied with a small voice.
“… Now the lights? Please ?”
-And it was his turn to swallow nervously, he cleared his throat and then nodded.
“… Yeah.”
***
The next task was to find substitute kindling. Anything that would burn sufficiently enough to keep them somewhat warm throughout the night – of course, it would also provide the light that Annette so desperately seemed to need.
Despite the pairs' presence in the small hut and the heavy lifting and manoeuvring of the bookshelf, Annette’s breath would still linger in the cool air of the cabin. After every time she spoke, whispered or sighed or shivered. It would dissipate from her mouth to the roof like a poorly lit chimney. Her cheeks were rosy, and the tip of her nose was red, and as adorable as he thought it looked clashing against her snowy-pale skin, she was probably cold to the touch.
Felix had already decided mentally that he would be using the books discarded from the bookcase as kindling – no matter how much Annette would squeal as he tossed page after page into the fireplace – but he doubted how useful they’d actually be. They’d surely burn too quickly, they were better suited towards getting the initial fire started rather than keeping it going.
The cabin itself was small. It consisted of a small rectangle shaped ‘main’ room, that had a dainty kitchen setup in the left-hand corner, a shabby window overlooking it. A fireplace against the right hand-side wall, two tiny rooms against the back wall, and a small double bed between the doors that led to them.
The main area had near enough already been searched upon entry, there wasn’t any furniture besides the tipped over bookcase that was now blocking the door, the bed in the middle and of course the kitchen cabinets just had to be hammered into the walls themselves, if push came to shove, he could maybe pry the doors off of them to burn.
The previous owners had obviously taken all of their furniture with them, either that or bandits had ransacked it.
Annette remained close behind Felix, right on his heels like a lost puppy separated from its master. He had no idea what had got into her, wouldn’t it make more sense for her to search the other room while he searched this one? She was adamant about remaining close to him, so Felix didn’t question it, he just looked over his shoulder every once in a while as she lingered.
With his last remaining torch in hand, he stopped to open the first door, the hinges creaked quietly and in the darkness of the room, Annette’s depth perception must have been off because she bumped into his back with a small squeak. Her face planting between his shoulder blades and her small, dainty hands landing on the small of his back – her touch sent a rush of electricity up his spine. He tossed his head over his shoulder to look at her in question, and she looked back in return, one gloved hand remaining on his back, the other rubbing the tip of her nose.
“S-sorry, I didn’t realise you were so close.” She replied, still remaining so so close. Unmoving.
Did they really need kindling? He was already feeling hot under the collar from her proximity.
Felix grunted in acknowledgment, and with a small shake of his head he attempted to gather his thoughts and focus on the task at hand. Squinting through the open door and into the small box room in front of them.
Annette’s hand still remained on his back.
Nothing, absolutely nothing. The room could be considered practically empty.
The walls were plain, cold and boring. With nothing to decorate them, no shelving, no cabinets, no wall hangings or paintings, only the dust outline of a previously hung mirror – which was in pieces now on the floor.
Broken shards of glass decorated the cracked tile flooring beneath their feet, surrounding the steel tub that placed centre of the room.
Felix hissed in annoyance, and Annette groaned in disappointment behind him – her hand still remaining on his back – as they stared into the bleak room in dismay.
Damn , he didn’t have time to stand around in distraction, no matter how lovely her hand felt against his body. They were wasting time and losing their light, his torch was burning faster and dimmer than expected. At this rate, if they didn’t find suitable wood soon, Felix would have to comfort Annette throughout the dark, dark night himself. Keeping her huddled up and warm, who knew her childlike fear would affect him so dearly?
. . .
Which, now that he thinks about it, isn’t such a bad idea –
No, no, nope. Felix shook his head again, an attempt to shake his thoughts of affection out of his head. All of their hope rested on the possibility of finding what they needed within the next room. He pulled away from the door frame, Annette’s hand slipping away from him, with the intention to march straight towards the next room, but something grabbed him. Something hooked around his fingers. Something pulled him back by the hand.
He froze on the spot.
She had reached out to grab his hand.
Annette had reached out to hold his hand.
How could something as miniscule as her touch on the small of his back or the sensation of her fingers wrapped around his cause his heart to thump so violently in his chest, as if he was on the battlefield? As if his life was in danger?
And how come it was so oddly terrifying and exciting at the same time?
Annette laced her fingers more confidently through his, moving to stand close to Felix’s side, her small round face, perfect with freckles adorning her cheeks and nose, like carefully placed paint splatters on a masterpiece staring up at him with those steely-blue eyes, that reminded him of the reflection of a clear sky against the steel of his blade.
He slowly turned his head to look at her, the rest of his body remained forward and still.
Felix was never a fan of direct eye-contact, but he swore, every time he would meet her gaze, he thought she was more beautiful than ever.
“...Please, just humour me.” She said, so meekly, so shy. Her free hand fiddling with the brooch of her shawl nervously.
How could he refuse? When she looked at him like that, so small, and so vulnerable. Annette was putting all of her trust into her evil, villainous enemy.
“… Of course.” He replied, despite the thump of his heart and the wobble in his voice, he squeezed her hand tighter.
Then, Felix would make his way towards the next door, taking his time to wade through the darkness, hand in hand with Annette, soaking up every ounce of warmth that seeped through her gloves to his skin.
***
Annette had referred to Felix as villainous many, many times – but now, Felix was starting to consider her choice of words. Perhaps he was as evil as she described him, because the joy he felt whenever the dim light of his torch met its end and finally snuffed itself out was glorious to him.
Of course, the joy didn’t come from knowing she was uncomfortable in the dark as the shadows took over the small cabin, consuming everything around them, no.
It was the way Annette held onto him. Her body leaned into his with a small squeak, the way her free hand found its way to his stomach, chest, arm, patting it’s way down to hold onto his wrist. Anything she could get a hold of.
Felix wasn’t sure if he’d be able to let go of Annette’s hand ever again.
At least it was great timing, because his torch only decided to kill itself upon the discovery they made in the next room. A tall, thick, solid wooden ladder. Placed perfectly centre in the middle of the empty room, face down on the ground.
As the pair were both magic users, they knew the importance of keeping your reserves high and ready to go at a moment’s notice, especially in cases of emergency like this. Thank the Goddess his torch lasted for as long as it did, Felix couldn’t bear the thought of Annette keeping this dingy place alight with her own magic for the entire night – but she could spare several minutes.
Their fingers still intertwined, Felix would use his free hand to pat his way down to her waist, there was no point in playing coy right now. He gripped onto her tightly and sternly called her name.
“Annette. You’ll need to let go for a moment. Give me a light, I’ll break the ladder down.”
Annette sucked in a breath, and then exhaled with forced confidence, “Alright-alright, I can do that! It’ll be alright.”
Gingerly, he’d release the mage from his grasp and fire would boom to life in the centre of her palm, providing Felix with a small amount of light, but a small amount was all he needed to balance the ladder against the wall and smash it to pieces with his boot.
***
“Wh-what are you doing!?”
Annette had, indeed, squealed as Felix tossed book after book into the fireplace. It wasn’t his fault, it had to be done, the pages burned rather well and the embers bounced off each other. Hopefully they’d catch onto the broken ladder pieces soon enough.
“You’re overreacting.” Felix stated bluntly, as he raised his arm to throw another book in as he knelt in front of the hearth. Annette had planted herself firmly beside him, arms wrapped around one of his, an attempt to halt his crimes. She would tug him back and forth, reaching out briefly to chase his hands and pull the dusty pages away from him. In her mind, books were sacred, historic and something to be preserved and saved – but if Felix had to, he’d burn hundreds of libraries just to keep her warm.
Suddenly the fireplace burst to life, sparks of embers had danced with one another, jumping from discarded page to discarded page until they finally burst into light on the broken ladder pieces. The flames illuminated the entire room.
It had obviously been well worth the sacrifice, because as soon as the warmth bled out from the mantel, Annette settled, melting in place on the floor beside him, arms still wrapped around one of his all snug.
“-oh.”
With the light of the fire hitting against their skin, her features were on display for him, exhaustion was written all over her face. Tired, her eyes were heavy. She sighed with relief, and the kindling crackled, drying her fears away in the process –and with another sigh, she snuggled in closer, choosing to lean her head against his shoulder.
Felix, ironically, found himself frozen – despite how the fire melted Annette’s worries away.
Her world was no longer wrapped in darkness, her main concern. She was no longer jumpy, or a fidgeting mess, she longer needed his comfort but –
How come she was nestled in so closely to his side?
He swallowed the ice in his throat away.
“… better?” Felix asked, quietly.
“Yes …” she whispered back, tired, “You’re keeping me warm.”
Slowly, he repositioned his arm from her grasp, choosing to wrap it around her waist instead, pulling her in closer – and Annette hummed in satisfaction, accepting his silent offer and huddled in as tight as she possibly could.
She tilted her face up to look at him, and he almost stopped breathing entirely. Her face was so close to his now, close enough that if he just dipped his head down a few centimetres, he’d be able to press his lips to her forehead.
“Thank you, Felix.” she said, with such gratuity in her eyes.
“...Don’t mention it.” He mumbled.
***
The crackle of a fire had always relaxed Felix as a child, as a teenager and even as an adult. And evidently, it had the same effect on Annette – because her body was limp against his side, snoozing quietly on his shoulder.
Unbelievable.
She had rested her eyes for what? Two, three minutes? – and that’s all it took for the ginger mage to pass out beside him.
Unbelievably, adorable.
Felix’s arm was still snaked tightly around her waist, and at this point it was the only thing keeping the woman upright, he sighed. This was no good, as lovely and cosy as it was holding the woman of his dreams in his arms, all the while basking in the glow of the fireplace – he knew it would be better for her posture and health if she rested properly, laid back in the bed.
Luckily, the room was small enough that even if she were several feet away from the mantel, the heat of the flames would still reach her while tucked under the blankets.
With a deep inhale, the swordsman rose to his feet, a sleeping Annette bundled in his arms. He looked down at the snoozing woman, she was so beautiful, the light danced back and forth across her features, highlighting her adorable proportions, her small nose, delicate lips and her pink cheeks. She was as light as a feather, no trouble at all to carry. Felix stood in front of the hearth, allowing himself to soak up the sensation of having Annette in his arms. Safe and sound.
The urge to place his lips against her forehead was getting stronger by the second.
Cautiously, Felix walked the same distance to the bed, which was only a few steps.
It was a shame he’d have to release her from his arms, but alas, she needed to rest. Felix carefully leaned over the bed, preparing to lay Annette down into the covers – Goddess, they were dusty, but within this cabin, it was all they had.
He placed her down, legs and bottom first onto the mattress, one of his hands remained splayed across the top of her back, ensuring she wouldn’t drop to the bed too suddenly. Annette’s arms were wrapped lazily around his neck, and he gently grasped one of her wrists, ready to pry them away from him and continue setting back into the bedsheets.
But Annette stirred awake, grunting with hesitation she tightened her hold of him, keeping her limbs firmly wrapped around him.
“... Felix, don’t…” she said, voice quiet and cracking with sleep.
“… what?” he questioned, and he felt Annette’s grip loosen, just enough for him to tilt his head back to look at her – and she tilted hers back too, looking into his eyes as he searched her face for an answer.
“… Stay. Stay close to me.”
Just like that, all the air emptied from Felix’s lungs. He couldn’t find it in his heart to reject her – mostly because he didn’t want to. He wanted to hold her for as long as possible, as long as she’d allow. Not only that, but he could feel his face flushing, just thinking about keeping her within his arms.
He allowed Annette to pull him down with her onto the bed, the dust scattered from atop of it, falling over the sides and onto the floor. Before he knew it, he was laying back against the pillows, with Annette nestled into his side, resting her cheek on his chest. His heart was beating fast, the sound was surely similar to that of an army’s worth of horses’ hooves thumping as they charged into battle. He prayed Annette would make no note of it. This didn’t feel real.
With his arm wound around her waist, he tugged her that tiny bit closer, she looked so cosy, so beautiful warm huddled into his side – he couldn’t hold back any more. The longer he stared at her, the more he had to show her his affection.
Felix craned his neck, tilting his face down to plant his lips against her smooth skin –
To kiss her forehead.
His heart stilled for a moment at the sound Annette made in response, a small hum of happiness, comfort, reassurance. Felix didn’t think Annette could snuggle in any closer, and yet, she attempted just that. Squeezing as close as possible, her legs now entwining with his under the blankets.
The fireplace crackled, the wind howled, and the snow continued to fall outside.
Felix had never felt happier to be stuck in the middle of nowhere.
Annette hummed once more with satisfaction, “...Maybe the snow will fall all day tomorrow, too.”
Felix smiled, “Maybe it will.”
He could only hope.