Chapter Text
Thiago cursed to himself as he trudged through the heavy snow. Each immaculate snowflake stung his warm cocoa skin as they landed on his face. You could see nothing but miles and miles of dense whiteness covering all flora. It had already snowed 7 inches, and was determined to fall another 8.
Being the Brazilian beach boy he is, Thiago longingly wished for a hot summer as he zipped his jacket higher. Honestly, global warming might just be a good thing for him. It gets too damn cold during this season. And he won’t be alive when the world ends after centuries, so it doesn’t really matter to him that he rides in a gas car instead of an electric. On lighter, more environmentally positive news, at least he was going to the Bahamas for winter break, that’s something. Nevertheless, right now, Thiago genuinely couldn’t wait to go home and crack open a good book on molecular chemistry near the fireplace.
Deciding to take a shortcut, Thiago walked through the park. Fun fact, it was made in his family’s name, and it came after the construction of their home. His father simply wanted a nice, scenic view as he downed scotch after scotch. During this time, the park was almost eerie due to the silence and the lack of souls wandering about. He didn’t mind it actually…it almost felt serene, like he could bleed out here peacefully and all his problems would be buried away by the pristine snow. He couldn’t stop and admire the blizzard for too long though—the cold was starting to soak into his boots now. Thiago figured he’d better hurry if he didn’t want his toes to break off.
A couple minutes of traveling passed before Thiago froze—not in a physical way, but more figuratively. He saw a small figure trembling in the distance; they seemed to struggle to walk. Thiago never really was the caring type but currently, his curiosity was piqued. He hadn’t seen anyone outside today, especially in this weather.
He slowly approached the shivering figure to get a better look at them. They were hunched over on the ground, looking very disoriented.
“W-Who’s there?” The mysterious character sputtered out, “Oh please, please help me! I-I’m blind, a-and some asshole pushed me into the snow, and I lost m-my phone, and everything feels like the s-same, and I’m f-f-f-freezing—!”
They latched onto Thiago’s legs and looked up with big pleading eyes.
It was then when Thiago’s blood truly ran cold.
Alab.
Alab, in the flesh. Thiago’s worst enemy. The one he liked to torture and tease the most for their childishness and insufferable personality.
Freezing, whimpering, dying.
The way they shook was so pathetic. Alab was a sniveling, shivering mess…they must have been wandering for quite a while. But now, what they believe to have found—an anchor of hope, a savior from the bitter winter—was nothing more but a heartless force of evil, probably one of the worst people they could have bumped into this day.
Thiago started to grin, a sadistic glint flashed in his piercing green eyes.
“H-Hello?” Alab weakly asked, “Y-You’re a real person right? I’m not dead, r-right?”
Thiago couldn’t help but burst into a frightening laughter. This was way too good to be true,
“Oh you poor thing…you’re going to be wishing you were.”
His voice hit like sharp bullets, causing Alab to immediately recoil back. Their face went pale with fear.
“N-n-no, no no no no no! Thiago?! H-how?? Get back! Fucking hell, g-get back! Don’t you f-f-f-fucking touch me!”
“Look at you, a pathetic little lamb. Don’t you know it isn’t safe for helpless animals like you to stray off course? With no one to help you and your life slowly draining away from the frost?”
“I-I-I told you I got pushed!! And I can’t s-see where I’m going because of what YOU DID TO M-ME, REMEMBER ASSHOLE?”
“Bold of you to yell at your only chance of survival. I can save you from a certain painful death, you know.”
“N-n-not like you are going to anyways, y-y-you sick fuck. You’re gonna happily watch me freeze. All because of what? My stupid f-fucking sweater?? YOU ALREADY RUINED MY LIFE, AND NOW YOU WANT TO END IT?!”
Thiago scoffed, of course idiotic Alab still thought he picked on them because of their outfit. But Thiago never planned to explain his true reasons to them anyways, let them rot in their own darkness.
Alab was on the verge of tears. Actually, they would be sobbing hardcore right now if they didn’t freeze at their eyes. Thiago enjoyed the sight: a trembling Alab at his mercy.
Suddenly, right before Alab could scream anymore and take a swing at Thiago, they fainted on a bed of pristine snow. The hypothermia had been slowly setting in and it had now reached the brain. In a few minutes, the cold will kill most of their living cells, cut off blood flow, and stop the heart. Time was ticking down fast.
Thiago only stared deeply at their body. He didn’t feel any urgency to move. In fact, he felt…powerful, giddy from having the choice of determining the fate of Alab’s life. He could easily leave Alab here in the park to die. Call Thiago an sociopathic edgelord, but when you have to deal with someone THIS childish (who also stands as a tangible mark of your trauma haunting you ever since it happened) everyday, you really wish they could just disappear from your life entirely; no questions asked. How could Thiago pass up the chance to finally have the annoying pest be gone forever—and without any consequences as well. No one could ever incriminate the son of a family as powerful as his. He demeaningly laughed, revenge is best served cold as others say.
But before Thiago could turn around and take another step, an abrupt feeling hit him.
.
.
He didn’t want to leave Alab alone there.
Was it…guilt? Compassion? Something was keeping Thiago from abandoning the poor teen, but he didn’t know what. It made him uncomfortable, more so of his confusion than the emotion itself. He had a free ticket to get rid of Alab forever, to make all his greatest dreams come true…so why was he hesitating? He had wanted this exact plot to happen for the longest of time, AND HE’S GOT IT RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM. What luck! But that didn’t appease him. Thiago began fidgeting with his braid subconsciously; it was one of his very rare, yet very crippling, bad habits that he only does when he’s nervous, scared, or depressed. Oh, or uncomfortable…and he definitely was extremely uncomfortable right now. Has the cold affected his brain? Has it frozen over his prefrontal cortex that controlled logical decisions? Why, just why, does a small part of him want to rescue Alab?
…
After pondering darkly and heavily about it for what seemed to be a millennia, Thiago suddenly switched his actions to auto-pilot, brushing away all other possibilities to his dilemma except one: malice.
Something *clicked* in his mind—like a lightbulb illuminating brightly in the darkness or a puzzle piece fitting perfectly in the end.
“Yes,” Thiago thought to himself, “that’s it.”
He wanted to save Alab not out of the kindness of his own heart nor regret, but because he believed this death would be allowing them to get away too easily. I mean seriously, why take away his fun in Alab’s misery by ending it? He could continue torturing the wimp for years to come! And imagine the horrifying emotional damage they’ll receive when they realize their worst enemy saved their life!
Thiago grinned wickedly at the pure image of Alab’s mortification. Taking off his coat, he wrapped it around Alab’s barely breathing body as he picked them up with one arm. He checked their pulse—weak, but still steady—and continued walking home.