Snow and Fire As a pair of purple, furry gloves covered pink lips and a cold nose. A loud exhale was heard. Small wisps of steam slipped through the gloves, but most of the hot jet of air was directed back at the maker. A soft sign was heard with a hint of impatient. A small cough, then footsteps, then the opening and closing of a door. Then silence. ------ A deer nuzzled its nose gently through a soft layer of snow that coated the grass underneath. A sudden snap was heard throughout the forest's desolate white land. The sound echoed softly until the deer's keen ears pick up the sudden sound. With a sudden jerk of the it's head, the deer looked up from its feeding to spot any potential dangers. After a moments time and no more sound the deer went back to it's feeding. Then once the grass was gone, the deer moved on. Once the deer was out of sight, soft crunching could be heard walking away from the deer; leaving a trail of footprints behind. ------ Inside a small cabin on the outskirts of a village, in the middle of nowhere, there sat a girl in front of a fire with a grey turtleneck clinging to her body. A quick shiver was stopped as the girl leaned closer to the peaceful fire. With a soft sign of satisfaction there wasn't much on her mind besides- a nice hot cup of tea and a girl. But it was strange how only those two things could fluster and sooth her mind so quickly. With that the girl got up from her spot of warmth and walked back into a small kitchen that lead to the front door. The girl's tawny hair flowed behind her delicately. She grabbed the teakettle and turned on the gas stove. After a couple of clicks from the stove a low fire burst out. Turning a knob down, the fire went down and the girl placed the teakettle under the sink and waited for it to gain a certain weight. Then she placed it onto the stove and went back to the couch in front of the fire. ------ A figure was walking towards the same cabin. Hands dug deeply into a light blue jacket's pockets. Dark flowing hair had been tied up into a ponytail and was hidden by a black skullcap. The figure was small and petite; making anyone that was looking from afar know it was a girl. She had bright dark-green eyes and was even more luminous with her white face from the lack of sun. She was short, but strong. Her face was beautiful, yet when someone got on her bad side, it would be the last thing you would see before waking up in the hospital. But there was only one person that she could never seem to scare, although she was secretly glad that she couldn't. As the cabin's door was well in sight, the girl started to jog. Passing a window she saw movement but paid no heed to it. As the girl pulled one of her blue-gloved hands from the depths of her jacket's pocket, she opened the door to see the tawny haired girl looking back at her with a smirk. "You're late, Nat-su-ki," a Kyoto voice reached the shorter girl's ears. ----- As a small blush started to form over her cheeks, Natsuki turned her head away from the Kyoto-ben and just pouted. "You could at least close the door, I'm getting rather cold," the older girl said teasingly as she hugged herself emphasizing the fact that she was cold. Natsuki looked at her for a second then walked in and closed the door behind her. The dark haired girl grabbed the hat off of her head, tossing it to the side where a basket of hats and gloves were. Then she shook off her boots and kicked them to the side, one landing upwards, and the other feel down to its side. She tried to take off her jacket, but it got caught on her elbow and it kept slipping out of her gloved fingers. As an amused girl watched the scene of entrapment unfold before her, she watched for a moment's time before placing her cup of hot tea down and helping the poor girl. Natsuki didn't understand why it wasn't coming off but stopped when she watched the other girl walk over to her. The tawny haired girl grabbed Natsuki gently, pulling her arms down in front of her and she carefully plucked the gloves off of the cold fingers, before tossing them to the basket with the hat. The taller girl then moved onto the jacket, with a small smirk covering her face, she slid her fingers underneath Natsuki's coat. And with it already unzipped and unbuttoned, the Kyoto-ben just slipped it off of Natsuki with ease. Natsuki could feel the older girl's breath on her face and felt a sudden heat in her cheeks and an unexplained yearn in her chest. "Shi..zuru..." Natsuki let the name escape her lips before the older girl leaned in closer. The sound of the jacket slipping to the floor with a sudden thud was barely noticed. "Ara ara, Natsuki, it looks as though you might have a fever," Shizuru knew this was the perfect opportunity to take advantage of the situation, but she knew Natsuki wasn't exactly ready. This was the first time they had gone on vacation together, alone in the middle of nowhere. Natsuki looked up at her in sudden shock, her cheeks even redder, "Arrghh! Shizuru! I don't have a fever. You've gotta be the one with one to be thinking so delusional like you are!" she stormed pass a victorious Shizuru into the living room. ------ After a moments time, Shizuru walked into the living room with two cups in her hand. She found Natsuki sitting on the couch in front of the fire. Staring at it, thinking. She didn't know what about though. Sometimes I wish I could just tap into that head of yours. Shizuru thought to herself as she looked upon the girl before putting her smile back on and approaching the girl. She coughed to clear her throat and the approached the, now-aware Natsuki. With a sweet smile, Shizuru leaned over the couch over the dark-haired girl that was looking at her, and handed over a semi-hot cup of hot chocolate, topped with whip cream and marshmallows. Natsuki took the offering reluctantly, not knowing what it was at first, but once she recognized the wonderful aroma and then gleefully took the hot chocolate, looking upwards at Shizuru, "Thank you," Natsuki whispered before looking down at the drink and slurping up the whip cream. ------ Shizuru slithered over to the other side of the couch and sat down next to the dark haired girl. She took a sip of her tea and then placed it down onto the table a few feet in front of them. Snow. Shizuru thought, as she looked at Natsuki's cup, how appropriate, Natsuki's cup had snowmen and a barn in the background. Fire? She said, looked down at her own mug. It was the mug that she had given Natsuki for her 17th birthday as a joke. It read; "You're hotter than Hell," Shizuru laughed at the mug at first, but she knew what the truth was--- Natsuki was hotter than hell. ----- After sitting peacefully and reminiscing over times she had once forgotten, Shizuru leaned on Natsuki. Resting her head on the dark haired girl's shoulder. There was nothing. No tense feeling, or uneasy silence. All there was was a hand wrapping itself around her waist. Shizuru was slightly shocked by the sudden action. Natsuki had never really been the one to do these things. Then after a thought, Shizuru cocked her head towards Natsuki, but only looked at her from the corner of her eyes. And there it was. Exactly what she had thought it was going to be. ------ Natsuki's face was growing redder and redder as the moments ticked by. She was shocked herself, that she had actually done that. It was an awkward position, Natsuki knew it too, but it was somehow comfortable. It's not like she hasn't hugged Shizuru before, and this was like an informal hug, or a semi-hug. Something along thoughts lines. "M-Man... This fire sure got hot... All of a sudden," she noticed Shizuru was looking at her and turned her face away, still holding onto Shizuru. ------ After Shizuru's laughing and a great heat rise in the house, even the fire was beginning to sweat, things started to calm down. Shizuru nudged herself into Natsuki's arms, which both where wrapped around her now. Pressing their bodies together, Shizuru felt the simple, yet pounding, beat of Natsuki's heart. Taking the moment, Shizuru turned around, still in Natsuki's arms. Pushed herself off of Natsuki, but up at the same time. Now she was on top of Natsuki at eye level. Their mouths were even so close to each other's. "Do I make you nervous?" Shizuru whispered as a shot of cold air wisped through the air directed at Natsuki. Heart beating in her ears and pounding everywhere else, Natsuki didn't stop to think why the air was cold, but she didn't care. All she knew was the fact that she was pinned to the couch with Shizuru hovering oh-so close to her, and for some reason, she didn't feel weird or uncomfortable in the position. She actually somewhat liked it. Natsuki shook off the sudden realization and all was heard from Natsuki was a gulp and a quick nod. Then Shizuru leaned in towards Natsuki. Breathing picked up. The fire cracked as apiece of wood collapsed from being burnt all the way through. Then there was silence.
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