Work Text:
“I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, "Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.”
― Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass
It had been a decade of living with enhanced senses. Zelos and Colette were the most sharply affected by this, but even Presea and Lloyd had their own problems with it. Thankfully, most of the problems had evened out over the years—not going away fully, but they’d either learned to deal with them or they’d become more regular.
Lloyd’s senses were the most stable of all of theirs. Sometimes, everything was way too bright and sharp, his eyes unable to relax their focus on the tiniest details. Those were times he needed to just—take a nap, usually, and force his eyes to calm down. Those days didn’t happen often though. Usually it was just, days of things looking sharper, every leaf on a tree distinct and clean and distracting to his brain.
Presea’s leaned more towards under-sensitivity than the opposite. Her personality came out so much these days though, in her facial expressions she did nothing to hide even though her voice struggled with inflection. Or at least, inflection in the way she wanted it. There had been more than a few confusions with what she was saying versus how she said it that everyone was grateful she was so straightforward in how she spoke.
Colette’s noise sensitivity was still the worst of it for her, sometimes the electricity in the walls screeching its white noise in her ears, and sometimes dulling it to below average where she was struggling to hear people speaking right next to her. Ear plugs and a notepad were her constant companions now to make up for it.
Zelos was of the personal opinion that he got the short end of the stick, but he was well aware he was biased. He rarely had issues with his hearing or with how sharp things looked, but temperatures were a rotating batch of issues. Sometimes not feeling them to the point of burning his hand on a pan, or a summer breeze suddenly freezing him to the bone as though he’d been dumped in an ice bath. It often lingered for hours, and the frustration of it made him want to gnarl through his fingers; he knew it wasn’t actually below freezing out, but his body was convinced thanks to the aftereffects of a Cruxis Crystal that hadn’t developed quite all the way, that a change in two degrees of temperature was in fact an emergency situation.
Spending winters in Altamira had become a tradition for Zelos basically since the reunification. No snow, and still a lively city to suit his tastes. It was bonding time for him and Regal in the early years; much of the city had its holiday celebrations, and Regal was happy to include him in his.
The others of the group would filter in and out as they could over the winter months, joining them for a few days or a few weeks as their schedules allowed. He had a decade of good memories—good winter memories, even—here in Altamira. Watching fireworks over the ocean, building sand castles with Seles, racing Colette and Lloyd on wings, eating fresh pork from the spit in Regal’s grandfather’s yard, Sheena’s tipsy giggles and her hand in his as she balanced on the bridge railing.
This year was a freak year of freezing temperatures all around. Even Flanoir dropped even colder than they usually did, the shipping lanes in frozen solid. There had been a coordinated effort with the Renegades to make sure they still had aid and supplies since they didn’t have any other way in or out of the continent.
Zelos had gone downstairs to where the hotel staff had set up space heaters and fire pits in the lobbies for their guests, hoping that between that and the wine it would warm him. It hadn’t done anything to his brain, but his palms were pink from how close he’d been holding them.
When he returned to his room, he could see where Lloyd was cocooned into the blankets, only the top of his head poking out. Zelos leaned over him to check if he was awake, unsurprised when he wasn’t. There was also a familiar trunk, tucked into a corner by the wardrobe, that hadn’t been there this morning.
The sound of gentle splashes came from the bathroom. He followed the sound, knocking before entering. The bathroom was spacious, with a generous bathtub and separate shower. The chill in his bones eased a little with the amount of steam in here.
“Hey.” Zelos leaned against the counter, looking down at Sheena in the tub. She’d slapped a heat talisman on it. How long had she been in there? “When’d you get in?”
“Couple of hours ago. Had lunch with Presea.” There was a faint tension in her jaw that meant she was in pain somewhere. Her bad hip, statistically. Cold tended to make it act up. “You coming in?”
He smiled slanted and self-conscious. “Wasn’t sure if you wanted company.”
Sheena rolled her eyes. “Get in here.”
Zelos disrobed, hoping she wouldn’t notice the way his fingers shivered and struggled with buttons, giving himself a quick wipedown in the shower before stepping into the bathtub. He waited for Sheena to shift up to get herself settled before he sat in front of her.
“You washing your hair today?” she checked. At his headshake, she took her ribbon from her pile of clothes and wrapped his hair up in a bun before more than the ends could get wet. Then she pulled him back into her, pressing her lips to his neck as hello.
The tub smelled of her bath salts and herbs, an unfortunately familiar concoction. Still, between it, the gently steaming waters of the tub, and Sheena’s bodywarmth, the cold was being chased from his bones in a way he hadn’t been able to shake since the wee hours of the morning. The tension that had been steadily ratcheting up in his body eased as he turned into Sheena, resting his forehead against her neck, the water lapping up over his shoulders.
“How’re you feeling?” he asked, running his fingers over the offending hip. There was no wound to be found. It had been Healed for ten years, no blemishes to be seen.
“This winter’s really kicking our ass,” she grumbled. “We got snow back home.”
“Damn.” Mizuho didn’t get deep snow. The surrounding mountains did, but Mizuho would get maybe some frosty slush. On particularly cold winters, they would get maybe an inch or two of snow. Nothing compared to places like Meltokio.
Then again, this winter was bad all around. A crazy winter storm from Flanoir had been icing the surrounding regions. Even here in Altamira, the fountains had turned to ice sculptures overnight, and there had been flurries by the beach.
He sent a minor First Aid into her hip, hoping that it would at least help with the pain. He felt it when she slumped more into him. He covered one of her hands in his free one, the other still tracing abstract shapes on her skin. It was nice to just enjoy the warmth together, her nails scratching idly at his sparse chest hair.
They soaked in there for a while, dozing on and off. At some point, Lloyd shuffled into the bathroom a bit later, rubbing at his eyes. He sat on the edge of the tub, leaning in to press a kiss to the top of their heads. “Didn’t hear you come in,” he told Sheena.
“You were out,” she chuckled, reaching up one hand to hold his. “Figured you needed your sleep.”
It had been a rough night; the cold had suddenly snapped into Zelos’ bones while he slept and refused to leave. He’d been shivering uncontrollably, teeth chattering. Lloyd had piled blankets and wrapped himself around him in an attempt to help, but then he’d been so hot it had been hard for him to sleep.
“Ha, guess so.” He traced a fond hand across Sheena’s ribbon where it trailed across the back of Zelos’ neck. “You guys gettin’ out soon?”
“Why? You wanna join us?” Zelos waggled his eyebrows, lounging back against Sheena.
It only made Lloyd laugh. “I think we’ve tried enough times to fit three people in there.” And while two adults could fit decently comfortable, three was a tight squeeze. Lots of bruised knees and elbows. “I’m asking ‘cause I’m hungry and I wanna know if I’m bringing the food in here or not.”
“...Tempting as that sounds, eating with wet hands sucks.” Sheena nudged Zelos forward so she could brace herself to get up and out of the tub. Lloyd grabbed her a towel, offering a stabilizing hand as stood up.
He opened the towel wide and wrapped himself and the towel around her, rubbing it against her skin and making her giggle. “Hi,” he said, leaning down for a kiss.
Sheena hummed against him. “Hi.” Reluctantly, she pulled away from Lloyd’s arms, going for the stack of clean clothes in the corner.
“Did you have a nice nap?” Zelos asked, happily stepping into Lloyd’s open, toweled arms.
“It was okay. Would’ve been better next to you.”
Zelos’ ears burned, pressing his lips to Lloyd’s. What else was he supposed to do in response to that? “I’ll remind you about that when you’re complaining about our cold feet,” he teased, bundling into the towel a little. The cold wasn’t as vicious as it’d been last night, driving daggers into his very being, but he knew he was colder than he should be in a steamed room.
“Socks exist!”
“But you’re so much warmer than socks,” Sheena chimed in, grinning and pulling her hair through the collar of a long-sleeved shirt that was definitely one of theirs.
“Ugh.” Lloyd rolled his eyes, but he was still smiling.
While Lloyd dashed out to get food from one of the cafes on the lower floors, the other two laid a dry towel across the bed so it would be easy cleanup after dinner, and wrapped the extra blankets around themselves like a cloak. Sheena was still moving a little stiff, not quite limping. Zelos tugged her over to sit, taking the ribbon from his hair and braiding hers neatly; she hated sleeping with loose hair. Which is how Lloyd found them, bundled under a small mountain of fabric.
He laughed softly at them as he turned and tugged the nightstand to be more parallel to the side of the bed, laying the tray of food on top of it. “Ms. Lina was working the counter, so she set us up with some soup! Looks good too.”
Ms. Lina was one of the older ladies that had worked at the Lezareno Hotel pretty much since it was built. She’d started as a maid, and found her way to the kitchens and stayed there. And she—much like many older ladies—had been charmed by Lloyd’s manners and enthusiasm for food and had pseudo-adopted him as a nephew of sorts. Especially since he was friends with Regal, who she remembered watching grow up.
Zelos perched his chin on Lloyd’s shoulder to look at the spread. Empanadas, some kind of noodle dish that was spicy enough to burn Zelos’ nose from here, and three bowls of soup, thin broth over rice and vegetables, with strips of chicken floating around.
Unsurprisingly, Sheena made grabby hands for the noodles. Her spice tolerance was rivaled only by Genis’, who had tastebuds of actual titanium after growing up with Raine. Lloyd passed Zelos a bowl of soup, and kept one for himself, scooting up onto the bed beside them, shoulder pressed against Zelos’.
The soup helped, as did a few bites of Sheena’s noodles, which made him cough and his eyes watered. He was still chilled, but his ribs didn’t feel like icicles had formed anymore. He leaned in to kiss Sheena’s lips clean of sauce, chasing the sharp spice.
“Better?” Lloyd asked, draining the last of his broth.
“Much. Thanks, babe.” He tugged Lloyd in for a kiss too. They decided to save the empanadas for later, with Sheena tossing a warming talisman on the covered plate before burrowing back under the covers with them.
Sheena shrieked as Lloyd’s cold fingers tugged her leg over his hips, which he just grinned and called payback.
“You suck,” she grumbled into his collarbone, feeling Zelos’ arm settle over her and onto Lloyd. Zelos tossed his hair back over his shoulder and settled in close, hypersensitive nerves finally settling somewhat.
“You love us,” he teased, and she could feel his grin against her shoulder.
“Yeah, he’s right.” Lloyd rolled a little so that Sheena was more on him, bringing Zelos’ weight to settle more on her. It made it easy to feel the gentle rumble of his voice in his chest. “And you know how much I hate admitting that.”
“Hey!”
She smothered a laugh, bringing Zelos’ hand up to kiss it better before returning it to Lloyd, who tangled his own fingers in his, curling close to his chest. It would change overnight; Lloyd was like an octopus and would inevitably turn and sprawl all over them, limbs everywhere, but he liked to at least pretend that their weight on him would do anything. And Sheena was an early riser, always waking up well before the other two, so when she made her escape, the boys would curl into her warm spot, assuming they didn’t try and convince her to stay. Which worked about forty percent of the time.
“Sweet dreams,” she said, and they echoed it back to her.