Snow Day

[abyssum_invocat]

It had been several weeks and several dates since Sinthia had met and begun seeing Illya, and she was watching it rain and freeze outside the glass wall of her dining room with Avi's head on her bare feet, looking over her banking account online as she sighed. They'd had plans for the evening until the weather had changed and the temperature dropped; both of them being accustomed to cold weather they could have dealt with it, but Americans tended to shut down their cities over ice.

But the phones still worked, so she called him, standing up and looking out at the balcony, shining with slick ice and sparkling frost.

"...Illya? I'm glad I caught you at home. How is the weather by you?"

Comments

[red_peril]

"Sinthia, hello. I am glad to hear from you. It is icy and cold and I am bored out of my mind. Everything in the neighborhood is closed," He made a noise of disbelief. "Americans panic in this weather," he let out a sigh, looking out the window at the snow and ice filled streets below his apartment. "This would be nothing compared to winter in Siberia." In the prison, work did not stop just because the weather became a little colder.

[abyssum_invocat]

"I know," she said, sighing. "It's very boring here too, everything is shut up tight against the ice. My balcony looks like it's coated in glass."

She put a hand to her window, and saw the warmth begin to fog the glass. "I'm bored too. And lonely. I wanted to see you tonight." She wanted more than that, but the winter storm and the city's vast--in her opinion--overreaction to it had gotten in the way. "This weather is perfect for a snowball fight."

[red_peril]

"Here too, there are long icicles hanging off the railings on the balcony." He put his hand to his own window. "It is perfect for many things." Illya breathed on the window and drew a heart in the fog from his breath. "Making snow fort, ice skating," It was silly and romantic, but Sinthia made him want to be romantic. He drew an arrow through the heart. "I have an idea. We could meet in the park and play in the snow. And then you could come back with me to my place and we could make a fire and have dinner."

[abyssum_invocat]

Sinthia couldn't help the laugh at his suggestion of making a snow fort--she hadn't done that in a very long time, and it sounded entirely appealing right this moment. "I think I have to take you up on that," she said. "I have to put on clothes for outside, though. But I could meet you in the park in half an hour, maybe."

It would take her some time to dig out her rain boots from the closet and get through the traffic-less streets, but she made it, bundled up for the cold, but still out in it anyway. It was beautiful to see the park so pristine, only marred by the footprints she'd left into the middle of one little glade.

[red_peril]

"I will meet you there." It took Illya only a few moments to change into warmer clothes. He waded out into the snow, completely undaunted by it. The layer of ice was covered with snow and so wasn't a problem for him to walk in. It was dark already and he was fond of how the snow muffled sound and made everything seem hushed. There were few other people out in it. Although he did see a couple skiing down the street as he walked into the park. The park was wearing a beautiful coat of snow. It made it look so clean. Times like this he missed Moscow. Since they lived on either side of the park, they usually picked a place somewhere in the middle to meet.

[abyssum_invocat]

She came to him more slowly than he to the usual place in the middle of the park, the vast expanse of pristine snow making her slow down to watch the straight going of it, add if the world was presently dusted in mica to make it shimmer.

Sinthia write simple jeans and a black shirt overlaid with a bright pink sweater so she wouldn't look so stark against the snow. She raised a hand to let Illya see her, as her breath rose in a fog when she called his name. "This looks just like home," she murmured. "Only more peaceful. It feels like we're alone in the city, doesn't it?"

[red_peril]

He did see her before she raised her hand. The bright pink sweater made her very visible against the white snow. Illya couldn't help but smile when he saw her. He waded through the snow to her. It was less difficult for him, being taller. He wore black jeans and a red sweater with a leather jacket lined with shearling. He had a silver gray fur ushanka perched on his head, which made him look even taller.

"Dobroye utro dorogaya!" When he reached her, he leaned down to kiss her. "It is beautiful. It does look much like Muskva." Sometimes he missed his home there. The small apartment he had lived in with his mother. "I find it amusing how everything shuts down here when there is a little bit of snow and ice. You would think the world was coming to an end the way Americans act."

[abyssum_invocat]

Sinthia too had fur around her face, only a little darker silver than his, framing the hood of her coat in contrasting silver. She was dressed lighter than most people would be in the cold, but still warm enough to have fun. "It's been a long time since I've seen a ushanka," she laughed, tilting her head up to meet that kiss and lingering in it, comfortable with Illya especially since they were alone.

"Moscow? No, no. The palace square in St. Petersburg, maybe," she teased him, reaching for his hands. "Americans are weak," she said with a twist of a grin. "It gets to freezing temperature and they start to whine."

[red_peril]

"Da. The palace square would be beautiful. I like New York like this. It is the only time it is truly quiet. Peaceful, as you said." He knew she was teasing him. "You would laugh. I bought the ushanka here in New York. It had a little Soviet pin on it. I kept it because it was amusing." He took hold of her hand. "That is alright, they can stay inside and we can have the park all to ourselves."

[abyssum_invocat]

Her fingers were cold, gloveless as she was; Sinthia had simply kept her hands in her coat pockets on the walk over to keep them warm, and she had walked rather than bother trying to dig her car out of the snow. A little exercise wouldn't kill her, and the effort of moving through snow barely got her heart rate elevated.

"It's such a busy city, this is true. But that's part of the appeal," she agreed, lacing her fingers with his and kissing the back of his hand fondly. She liked Illya, genuinely did, and showed him often. "And what do you intend to do with me, alone, in a snowy park?" she asked.

[red_peril]

Illya wore a set of fingerless gloves. When she put her hand in his, he hoped it warmed hers a little. "Well, you said something about snowball fight and I said we could build snow fort," he grinned as she kissed his hand. "We could do both."

[abyssum_invocat]

She chuckled, and kicked up a little snow as she leaned into Illya's side. "We could do both. But probably the fort first," she said. "Shelter is important, don't you think?"

That wouldn't stop her from bending to pick up snow and tossing it at her boyfriend, though. And laughing.

[red_peril]

He laughed, shaking snow from his face, "You will pay for that!" Letting go of her hand he reached down and grabbed a handful of snow to throw back at her. So much for building the fort first.

[abyssum_invocat]

"Gladly," she laughed, reaching up to block the snow, which thankfully wasn't hard-packed into a ball and disintegrated when it struck her arm.

She bent to gather another fistful, packing it into a sphere to throw it at him, aiming for his shoulder. She had a damn good throw, it should be said, though the snow wouldn't hurt him. "You should throw faster, Illyusha," she teased.

[red_peril]

For a big man, Illya could move fast. Leaping behind a conveniently placed park bench, she missed him and hit the bench. "You should find cover!"

He scooped up handfuls of snow and packed them quickly into balls. Laughing, he fired them back at her as quick as he could. His aim was usually very good. But as they were playing, he didn't bother aiming that precisely.

[abyssum_invocat]

Sinthia could dodge extraordinarily well, and she took cover behind a thick pine tree as she packed more snow, laughing at their play; she hadn't had a snowball fight in years, decades even, but it was fun to laugh with someone. She didn't mind being hit with them, and got a few shots in of her own in the quick moments while he was gathering more snow.

She moved like she was accustomed to fighting, though; the way she covered herself, the way she drew out his fire more than giving her own, that was curious for a woman with no obvious ease with weapons. "Wait, wait!" she called, still breathlessly laughing as she dusted herself off. She had a packed snow ball resting in the hood of her coat for a surprise.

[red_peril]

It had been years since he'd played like this and he was having great fun. She got in a few good shots, which he mostly blocked, though one nearly knocked the furry hat off his head. He leaped up from behind the park bench and had just thrown in her direction just as she popped out from behind the tree and yelled 'wait'. The ball of snow smacked her squarely in the shoulder. "Sorry! Sorry!" he cried out. "What are we waiting for?"

[abyssum_invocat]

"I need to catch my breath," she laughed, leaning back against the tree and shaking the snow out of her hair; her nose and cheeks were turning pink from the cold as she moved closer to Illya, playing very well like she was shivery and needing a break from the snowball fight.

As soon as she got close enough for her little ambush to work she scooped her hair back, reaching for the snow in her hood and tossing it squarely if gently at Illya's face; it wasn't hard-packed and would dissolve into the powdery fluff that dusted them both. "We were waiting for that."

[red_peril]

"Ah! You sneaky little minx!" he said brushing snow from his face. But she had gotten close enough, he rushed from cover and tackled her into the soft snow. "You are very tricky!" he laughed, looking into those mischievous eyes. Then he leaned down and kissed her.

[abyssum_invocat]

She squeaked when he tackled her into the snow and balled up, laughing as he loomed over her and kissed her sweetly. Sinthia liked Illya's kisses and lingered in this one, sliding her hands into his coat around his waist as she brushed her nose against his.

"So are you," she murmured, looking up at him. "You're a very good thief, Illya. You seem to have stolen away any desire I had to see other men."

[red_peril]

"Your hands are freezing," but he did not mind her warming them beneath his jacket. "That is good, then I won't have to hunt them down like dogs," he teased, leaning in to kiss her again. When their lips parted he licked his. "I had given up looking. Then you walked into the tattoo parlor and I thought my heart would stop if you didn't agree to go out with me."

[abyssum_invocat]

His tease got a snort of laughter from her and a tiny quirked smile, eyes gone soft behind thick lashes as she watched his face.

"When I saw you I thought you were like the rest of them," she murmured. "And then you talked to me, and I had to know more about you. I don't think I could have refused you then any more than I can now." And she couldn't, of course; she hadn't felt the fluttery, light feeling like this in years, not in a very long time and never for this long that she could remember.

[red_peril]

"I am so glad I talked to you," he said with a grin, getting up, he offered her his hand. "Really? You would not refuse me anything?"

[abyssum_invocat]

"It would have to be something extraordinary to make me say no right now," she said, accepting his help standing and dusting herself off. "Were you going to ask?"

She pushed the loose snow out of her hood, shaking her head to get all of it out of her hair, only moderately successful. Being stuck in the snow had chilled her and she shivered in her coat despite not being wet from the frozen flakes. "Illya... Do you want us to be a serious couple? Just us?"

[red_peril]

As she stood, he helped brush the snow off her. Illya was a little startled by her question. He hadn't thought of asking her that really. Because he already thought of them as a serious couple. He hadn't looked at anyone else since he and Sinthia had started dating. In truth, he hadn't really been looking before.

He noticed her shiver and pulled her close to warm her. "I do not know if I can be serious," he joked, pulling a straight face. "Really, I would like that. I have not even considered being with anyone else since we started going out."