The Embodiment of Persephone (Oneshots)

~one. snowy stars~

Arriving at the designated area, Ash grew nervous with anticipation. She had only met the other once previously, and that was around the comfort of others. This time, it was a solo date. No one to comfort and relax her anxieties. She leaned on the side of her car, her jacket hanging way down low to her knees. It was a rather thick beige coat lined with soft white fluff trim. Her thick and fluffy blue sweater could be seen underneath, thick grey pants protecting her legs from the nipping cold. She shivered slightly, an anxious tick of hers mixed with the bitter cold. 

'Who's idea was it to meet in Maine at this time of year?' Ash thought as she sighed and opened her car door to retrieve her hat. She pulled over the knitted snow-colored hat she oh-so loved as she continued to scan the area. Unknown to her, someone was creeping up behind.

Shay always liked to play tricks on Ash. They've only met a for a week a few months prior to present day. She would play the subtle tricks, just to keep her on her toes. From tapping on her shoulder and looking away real quick or whispering her name and acting like it wasn't herself. Jump scaring Ash however? That was an idea she could get behind. She wore a heavy navy jacket to compliment her white undershirt that was tucked into a pair of dark grey pants. Her boots crunched though the snow, sneaking from tree to tree as she approached the car.

Ash heard a twig crunch behind her and turned around real quick. She narrowed her eyes as she approached the  noise, to investigate. What if it was a bunny? As she found the subject of the noise, she couldn't help but notice the footprints that surrounded it. Quickly becoming panicked on who is around the area, she runs back over to the safety of her car. Looking back over to where she just was, she wasn't expecting the loud cry from behind her.

"BOO!" Shay called out as she grabbed onto Ash's shoulders. Using her super spy skills, she managed to avoid her glance and find a good hiding spot to use to scare her prey. 

Ash jumped more than what was normal, letting out a small yelp as she quickly turned around and raised her fist in self-defense. Her hand instantly dropped as she realized who it was. Shay immediately broke out into a fit of laugh.

"That was not funny! You gave me a heart attack." Ash huffed, crossing her arms after she pushed the other away slightly. Her face grew red. Whether that be from the cold or the embarrassment of her reaction, it was unbeknownst to Shay.

"C'mon! You know it was little funny, Love." Shay let out a few more laughs before extending her arms out and hugging Ash. She planted a small kiss on the top of her head, being just a hair taller. Still holding the other in her arms, she pulled back and smiled. "You look cute in the snow."

Ash scoffed at the random compliment, as her face heated up from the simple fits of affection. She rested her chin on Shay's shoulder, hugging lazily back. She smiled a bit out of Shay's sight. "You look cuter. Don't even." Ash poked Shay's side as a playful gesture, her smile widening.

"Hey- don't act rude then pull this soft-cute act on me. You know I can't resist it." Shay smiled and pulled farther away to reveal Ash's hidden smile. She quickly frowned, trying to hide her trail. Shay smirked, placing her hands on her own hips. "So. You think you're so sly huh?" Shay bent down to the ground and placed her palms to the white fluff that was littered on the ground. She combined and compacted the snow between her two hands, standing back up and bringing her arm back, preparing to throw the snowball.

Ash was already running away when she first saw Shay make her move toward the snow. Her boots were running as fast as they could to the nearby forest, hiding behind a rather large tree with low-lying tree limbs. She took a deep breath, watching her breath float all around her, moving up. Taking this as a sign, she began to hop and climb up just the mere 8 feet above ground, trying to camouflage herself. Below the tree, Shay was once again moving carefully, trying to track down Ash. She followed her boot prints and noticed they stopped suddenly at the base of the tree.

Looking up, Shay began to ascend as quietly as she could. Reaching a tree branch and lay on it, she tried to look around for the beige coat. Just as she turned her head to the right, a snowball came flying up from the ground and hit Shay's left eye with a thud. The sudden attack sent Shay into a panic, causing her to lose her balance and fall off the branch. A small yelp escaped her, as she prepared herself to fall onto the ground.

The ground never came.

Although it wasn't the most comfortable landing ever, Ash managed to catch Shay from breaking her tailbone. She stumbled forward at the initial impact, struggling to keep her own two feet under herself. "Hang on-!" She held onto her partner tightly, falling backwards onto her back rather than the other. She wind got taken out of her, still holding onto Shay. They both let out groans, before breaking out into winded laughs.

"How did you manage to get below me- AND catch me?" Shay let out many cut off laughs, rolling off of Ash's stomach, but instead next to her into the snow. She turned her head to face over towards Ash, snow littered all over her dark hair.

Ash held onto her stomach, struggling to catch her breath. After a few moments, she managed to form a sentence. "I'm not the best catcher by any means. I felt bad, I didn't mean to hit you off! And it's all in the stealth, baby!" She cheered loudly, stretching her arms out and beginning to move her arms up and down. Shay, realizing a clever joke to be used to her advantage, stood up and waited for Ash to finish. Ash stared curiously from her spot, finishing after a minute. Shay offered her hand and helped her up, smirking while showing Ash what she had done.

"Look. You're a beautiful snow angel. My snow angel." Shay crossed her arms and turned her head to see Ash's reaction. 

Well, was hoping to see a reaction. The most she had got was a widened eye with a red face blooming from her cheeks. After a few moments, Ash's gloved hands came up and covered her face. Shay let out a laugh, sniffling from the cold. She wrapped an arm around her shoulder, nudging her slightly. "C'mon. We'll go back to your car and get ready for sunset." Shay watched as Ash slowly brought her hands away from her face, leading them back to the opening.

The entire point of the trip was for Ash to show off her new telescope. Ash has always been very fond of space, especially viewing everything up close. She unloaded her telescope from the back of her car and set it up with the high definition lens on, angling it point at a certain constellation. 

Shay watched as Ash set up the telescope, one unavoidable thought popped into her head. She couldn't resist asking the question, and blurted out before she could think, "I really want to eat that telescope. It would probably taste like... chocolate." She looked up at the stars glistening above, as a few laughs escaping Ash. 

"You're so crazy. My favorite constellation is in the telescope right now. It's Virgo!" Ash took a step back from the lens, allowing Shay to take a look. She stepped closer, peering in. The circle was perfectly filled with the stars. She gasped as she saw how they briefly changed color from afar. 

"I've never seen something like this... It's so cool!" Shay took her eyes out and looked at the stars with her naked eye, going back in the telescope, comparing the two. "It's crazy!" Shay turned over to Ash and brought her into a hug, and she hugged back with a bit more force. Shay let out a laugh and pulled back from the hug, looking at Ash, kissing the tip of her nose with a "mwah" sound. She tilted her head for a second, questioning something. "Why is Virgo your favorite?"

Ash smiled at the trap that Shay had walked into. She giggled as she pushed back some of Shay's hair and fixed her coat. "Well Lily... You see, the constellation Virgo is normally associated with the goddess Persephone. And you my dear, are my Persephone. It reminds me of you." She gave Shay a slight smile, barely being able to see her reaction in the night's glow. 

Shay's eyes locked with Ash's. They both admired each other, seeing the reflection of the stars in each other's eyes. Shay took Ash's cheeks in her hands and pressed their foreheads together. A low and quiet "I love you," left Shay's lips first, then followed by Ash's. They both moved to the ground where they had set up a blanket and some pillows, looking up into the stars, being lulled to sleep by each other's presence. The two had planned for a date previously, since they both wanted to see the snowy stars.