Work Text:
Lilac
I looked at the ground covered in white, soft, sparkling flakes drifting down towards it from the sky. They danced in the light wind that had been blowing the entire night, ever since I had climbed up onto the wall at around 2am. The snow had been a barely there dust then, but now it looked fluffy, like a blanket covering the entire world. It was the first snow of the year, just two weeks before Christmas as well.
The snow reminded me of last year, of everything that had happened, the good and the bad things. Of half freezing while sitting next to Seraph, of watching over him, of bloodied snow after fighting to protect him. Of feeling it soak through my clothes as he made me fall apart and swore his eternal love to me, even when I couldn't understand it back then.
This year would be different. Better. Or not better, I conceded, because there was nothing better than getting Seraph in my life and for myself. All of December and January had been a singular gift from the moment his life seed had started taking over for his heart, everything had been a present for me.
As I stared down at the snow glimmering in the light of the rising sun I decided for myself that after all the hardships from last year, I would give Seraph the most wonderful Christmas this year. It would be his first one, his first real one too.
There was a ruffle, a sound I knew by now. It was the sound of Aury's wings. And sure enough he landed next to me a moment later, dark eyes studying me and a soft smile on his face. “Calm night?,” he murmured. I shrugged. “It snowed,” I replied because that really had been the only interesting thing to happen. “Are you here to take over for me?”
I wasn't particularly eager to chat, even if I liked Aury. All I wanted was to go back to the Love Shack and see Seraph, hear his laugh and hold him after not being with him for the night. And Aury knew all this by just looking at me, it seemed, at least if I had recognised the knowing glint in his eyes for what it was. He nodded and I had to try to not let out a relieved sigh. “Good. I'll be gone then. Chilly today,” I answered. As I walked past, back to the ladder, I gave him a nod, glad that my mask hid my red cheeks from view. “Tell Seraph I said hi!,” Aury called after me. I answered with a non-committal wave as I climbed down, the darkness of the container enveloping me. My cold fingers felt stiff around the steps of the ladder so I willed them to warm up. I wanted to get back home as fast as possible, but not at the cost of falling and breaking my neck. Also, Seraph would not appreciate that.
I made it out alive and with all my bones still intact, which left me trudging through the fresh snow back towards the RV. There was light on inside and I could see a tall, rangy figure moving behind the glass, even from this far away. It made a smile appear on my lips, completely and utterly effortlessly. My steps became faster, snow flying away left and right as I hurried towards the door, forcing it open the moment I could reach it. “Seraph?,” I called out over the wheezing of our cattle and the clatter of something in the kitchen. “Lie-lack?,” came the almost immediate answer and only a moment later a grey head peaked through the doorway, large eyes blinking at me and teeth glinting in a bright smile. “Lie-lack! Y-you're home!,” he cheered, arms reaching out to pull me into a hug as he hurried to greet me. “Y-you're so cold! I m-made tea!” His nose was pressed into my hair, I could feel his chest vibrate in a soft purr beneath my ear. Everything about having him this close made me relax instantly. “You made tea?,” I murmured into his leathery skin. “You are so sweet, Anata.” His fingers ran over my back but I could barely feel it. Which reminded me that I was still in my coat, boots and gloves. And that made me think of something else.
“Put on your sweater,” I ordered softly, taking a step back to untangle myself from Seraph until I could look at him. “Let's go outside. Before I take off my jacket, let's go and enjoy the snow.”
My heart leapt in my chest at the way his entire expression brightened. “Lie-lack and Seraph h-have a s-snow day?,” he piped. “Yeah. A snow day for us, just you and me.” The way I liked it best. And the way he lit up at the mere thought of us spending time together outside, even if we did that almost everyday, made my knees go weak. I pressed closer, lips touching his shoulder through the mask that I hadn’t taken off yet and most likely wouldn’t anytime soon if we were going to be spending the morning outside. “Go. It’s cold, you need to dress warmly,” I reminded him softly before I began to carefully push him away. He whined, pressing forward to fight my hold for a moment, but it was only for show. If he hadn't allowed it I wouldn't have been able to move him even a fraction of an inch and we both knew it. It still got me to smile behind my mask, which appeared to be the thing he had been aiming for. When it happened he relented immediately, slinging off into our room to get his sweater.
While Seraph was busy getting changed I set about pouring the tea he had made into our beat up old thermos. In addition I also prepared two of our cups to take outside. Sitting in the snow together, drinking warm tea sounded like a perfect start into the winter morning.
I had just finished packing a small bag for us when long arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me back into a chest, covered by soft fabric. A nose nuzzled into my hair. Seraph purred softly. “W-we go now?;” he murmured while his hold on me tightened until we were properly cuddled together. “Yes. If you let me go, we can leave,” I replied. Slowly he untangled from me, not without a small whine that showed me how little he actually wanted to step away.
I turned around to look at him and frowned as I examined him. His sweater was drowning his rangy frame, keeping him cosy and warm. That wasn’t what bothered me. What sat wrong with me was how his long neck was completely bare and exposed to the harsh wind outside. Wordlessly I took off my own scarf and stretched to wrap it around his throat,once, twice, tying it into a neat knot afterwards. Even through the fabric of my gloves I could feel the warmth of his skin. Then, I pressed a kiss to his chin. “W-why did you d_do that?,” Seraph rasped, all his eyes staring at me. “N-now you’re cold!”
“I won’t be cold,” I reassured him, caressing his cheek. “My jacket is warm and I can flip up the collar. Your neck will get cold. I don’t want you to be ill, Seraph.” He chuffed quietly, tongue lolling out to flick over the apple of my cheek in a quick kiss. “I w-won’t be ill,” he told me decisively. “B-But I will w-wear it, J-Jesse.”
Satisfied I nodded. I patted his cheek one more time before I picked up the tea. Our fingers twined together and Seraph and I slipped out of the Love Shack into the crystalline snow. Only my footprint marred the image of the perfectly white world. Up on the wall, against the clear sky, we could see Aury’s silhouette. He waved at us, Seraph waved back with his free hand.
I led him toward the clear area over by the side of the river. It wasn’t completely frozen over yet, the soft splashing of the water against the stones a comforting noise in the background. I set down our tea and turned to look at my beastie. “What do you want to do, Anata?,” I asked softly, cupping his cheeks again. They were already darkening into an almost black, the cold flushing them. It was always such a lovely sight to see.
Seraph tilted his head, moving my hands with it. “Riig said that y-you can build p-people with snow,” he told me, a hopeful lilt to his voice that either came from wanting to do it or wanting praise for knowing something. It took me a moment to completely comprehend what he meant with building people, but then it clicked. “You want to build a snowman, Seraph?,” I asked softly, watching the way his eyes lit up carefully. “That is such a good idea, Anata! Let’s do that!”
His smile was so brilliant it took my breath away for a moment. Stunned, I stared up at him, hands falling away from his cheeks. My reaction caused his gleeful smile to turn into a teasing one. He knew exactly what he was doing to me. I huffed, trying to seem annoyed as I shoved him away but ultimately failing at it, spectacularly so. Didn’t matter, I didn’t want him to think I was angry at him anyway. “For a snowman we need three big balls of snow,” I instructed. When I glanced up I could see his lips pulled into a grin so dirty it could’ve rivaled Edin’s. I frowned. “You are not about to make a joke about my balls, are you?,” I ground out and he snickered, telling me he had totally been planning to do just that. “You’re spending too much time with Edin and Charlie,” I decided as I turned around to begin gathering snow into a small globe. I pressed it tightly, trying to make sure it wouldn’t fall apart again.
After a moment I could feel Seraph’s familiar presence right beside me. He watched over my shoulder, warm breath fanning over my hair and ear as he tried to take in how I pressed and formed the snow. Slowly he gathered some himself, copying me.
Between his big palms and long fingers the snowball looked almost comically tiny, but as always he handled it with care. “You’re doing so well,” I praised him, loving the way he looked at me afterwards, so happy and roud, as if hearing it from me was all he needed to be content. “When we have one about this size we can start rolling it in the snow until it’s big enough.”
Again, I did it first, allowing him to watch me as I slowly rolled the ball in the loose, powdery snow. It felt a little awkward at first but soon I was completely absorbed in the task of completing the chest of the snowman. So much in fact that I almost bumped into Seraph. “H-how big do we n-need it?,” he asked when I looked up at him, his head tilted, wide eyes blinking at me.”We need one big one, one small one and one that’s right in the middle of those two,” I murmured distractedly, gaze always straying down to his lips. I only broke out of whatever had gotten into me when he chuffed and began rolling the bottom part of the snowman again.
For a while we worked quietly. It was peaceful, not saying anything but always feeling the other nearby, hearing his steps in the snow mingling with the songs of the birds that where slowly waking up. I finished the chest and head of the snowman in about the same time it took Seraph to complete the bottom which he sat up underneath a large tree.
He insisted on being the one to lift them on top of one another, even though the snowman would barely reach my chin even after being fully stacked. I Let him, content to observe how excited he was.
When all three parts were piled on top of each other Seraph eagerly turned to me, waiting for what we would do next. It made him look a little like a giant, overexcited puppy. I had to grin at the thought. “Now we need two sticks for arms and stones for eyes and also something like a pine cone for a nose,” I explained when he chuffed impatiently. “I’ll get the stones. Could you take care of the pinecone?”
Seraph’s chest puffed proudly and he straightened up to what was almost his full height. “Y-yes, Lie-lack!,” he assured me, long arms already reaching for the branch above our snowman. He grabbed the pine cone and carefully pulled on it to get it free.
I didn’t think much about it and turned away, which turned out to be a mistake. There was a crack, a small, surprised shout from Seraph, and then icy cold powder covered my head, a good portion of it sliding into the neck of my jacket and soaking my back. I gasped at the sudded chill, a shiver wrecking through me before I could suppress it. Slowly I turned back, wide eyes on my beastie who looked shocked, but the corners of his lips were twitching dangerously.
He lost the fight only a few seconds later. “Now Lie-lack is my s-snowman!,” he wheezed between raspy chuckles. Had I not been so cold I would’ve probably appreciated his amusement and joking. But I was freezing and wet now, which meant that all I could think of in that moment was retaliation. I picked up a bit of snow from the ground while Seraph was busy laughing, formed a snowball as quickly as I could and without thinking threw it square at his chest.
The laughter cut off abruptly. Seraph turned to me, all large, desbelieving eyes and gaping mouth. It hit me, a little belatedly, that he might not understand that snowball fights were a friendly thing. Before I could reassure him that I was not angry with him and hadn’t meant what I had done to be anything but fun, he reached down. His large hands worked a little like shovels in the loose snow, which he scooped up and threw at me. The white powder hit me square in the face, leaving me with flakes stuck in my lashes and very glad that I had not taken off my mask. I tried to glare at my beastie. “You will regret this,” I proclaimed, already forming another snowball to throw at him. With another loud laugh Seraph took off, back towards the clearing in front of the camp. And I followed, ready to continue our fight.
We were completely and utterly soaked by the time we made it back, both from the snow we kept throwing at each other and the sweat coating our skins. But at the same time I was laughing freely as Seraph chased me, our roles now reversed. I didn’t even think to check if it was still Aury up on the wall or someone else who got to see us like this.
When Seraph tackled me to the ground I tried to squirm away, breathless and panting, but the only thing I managed was to turn until we were facing each other. Then I went still.
Seraph was beaming down at me. “G-got you!,” he told me, teeth glimmering as his smile got impossibly wider. “Yeah,” I breathed out in reply. Slowly I relaxed into the snow beneath me, allowing him to keep me pinned to the cold floor. “We forgot our tea,” I told him absentmindedly, even if it barely seemed important now. Seraph chuffed in return. “We g-get it l-later.”
I nodded and fell quiet again. When his cold fingers came up to caress my cheek, right over the edge of my mask, I barely flinched. “J-Jesse,” he rasped and a shiver went down my spine. Then his fingers slipped beneath my mask, pulled it down gently. I let him, already anticipating what he would do next. When his tongue flicked over my lips I parted them without resistance, allowing him in readily. I didn’t even care that anybody could come out and find us like this at any given moment.
Seraph’s taste filled ym mouth, his warmth seeped into me, making me feel cozy all over. Without thinking I reached up to cup his cheeks, urging him a bit closer. The way his breath hitched made my stomach flutter pleasantly.
We kissed until I shivered and trembled, the warm feeling in my chest not enough to keep myself from being affected by the cold. I sniffled again. “Maybe we should go inside. Daisy is probably done preparing breakfast by now,” I whispered. Seraph was so close that I could see the colorful flecks in his dark eyes. He nodded, tongue flicking over my cheek one more time before he fixed my mask back in its place. “Y-yes. L-let’s have b-breakfasta dn warm up,” he agreed and moved away to let me get up. Immediately I missed his warmth but the way his fingers tangled with my the moment I was back on my feet soothed me. I allowed him to pull me along, into the camp and towards the diner.
Inside I leaned against the counter, Seraph wrapped around me again. His sweater was wet and sticking to his skin, much like my shirt beneath my jacket and my hair that had half fallen out of its ponytail and was now plastered to my forehead and cheeks, hopelessly tangled together. I caught Rig’s eyes across the room and he grinned at me, ambling over to join us together with Gloam. “You two look like you got into a fight with Jack Frost,” he teased when he reached up, picking at seraph’s sleeve. My beastie grinned, first at him, then at Gloam. “W-we had a s-now day!,” Seraph told them excitedly, “W-we built a s-snowman and had a s-snoball fight!” He rambled on about it, the snowman and how he had accidentally covered me in snow and how we had forgotten our tea. I caught Daisy’s eyes as she listened to him. She winked at me knownligly and I couldn’t help but blush, forever grateful that my face was hidden.
“That sounds like you had a good morning, Seraph,” Gloam told him gently when Seraph stopped his retelling of everything we had already done today. “Y-yes!,” my beastie replied. “T-the best m-morning!” His hands around me tightened and my heart leapt into my throat. I couldn’t say anything, just press into him to let him know I had enjoyed our time together just as much. When I glanced up at him he was already looking at me, the glint in his eyes telling me he knew exactly what I wanted to tell him.