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“What do you want for Christmas?” Steven asked.
May's eyes gleamed. “I want to see snow.”
Sinnoh was too easy, and they'd both been to Kanto and Johto hundreds of times before. Steven bought two tickets to Unova and kept it a secret until they were at the airport gate. May squealed, seeing Castelia City scroll across the announcement screen, and hugged Steven so hard that he dropped their suitcases.
--
The vacation lasted a week. Five days in, the sky had remained stubbornly blue, the weather cold enough to make Steven's joints creak.
“You're getting old,” May said, wrapping his hands in the tail ends of her scarf to keep them warm.
Instead of walking in the cold that day, they rode the subway to Anville town. They spent the afternoon walking in and out of the heated old train cars on display, which had been adorned with wreaths and twinkling lights.
“We could visit some caves, if you want,” May said, her fingers tightening around his.
Steven shook his head, smiling. “I can visit the caves here any time I'd like,” he said, “but I'd never come here on my own. Thank you.”
“What are you thanking me for?” she said, laughing, “stop being so polite.” She reached up with a smile, ruffling his combed silver hair. “It's just us.”
--
“I'm sorry,” Steven said. The sun was setting across the snow-barren streets as they watched from the top of the ferris wheel, and they were leaving Unova tomorrow.
“Oh, Steven, you can't control everything.” May leaned into his shoulder. “It's okay.”
Steven didn't say anything, just anxiously looked at the sky. May gave a little sigh and grabbed his chin, turning him back to face her. “Repeat after me,” she said, her eyes serious as a smile turned up the corners of her mouth. “I love you, and I've had a wonderful time.”
“I love you,” Steven began.
“And?”
“It's acceptable,” he said. May rolled her eyes and leaned forward, pressing her lips to his.
--
They woke up the next morning to find a foot of snow on the ground and their flight canceled. May bolted out of bed with a cry of delight and raced to the window, breathing fog onto the chilled glass as Steven made phone calls to the company and the airport, purchasing new tickets and pushing his workload back a day. By the time he was done, May was already dressed for the weather outside.
“Last one to the snow has to buy breakfast later,” she says, eyes twinkling.
He padded across the carpet towards her in his pajamas, watching her chin tilt up as she maintained eye contact. “That's hardly fair,” he said, unzipping her coat.
“It's snow,” May said, but didn't resist as he slipped the coat from her shoulders. “That's what we came here for.”
“What about those things you said last night?” He was onto her sweater now, pulling it over her head; she lifted her arms up, and her hat came with it. “Besides, I had other plans for this morning.”
May shook out her static-charged hair and squirmed as his fingers found her ribs. She leaned up to meet Steven's kiss. "But," she whispered against his mouth.
"It'll still be there in a few hours," he murmured.
--
As payment for her patience, May pegged him with the first snowball after lunch.