SHADOWs of GHOST: Oneshot Collection (Fortnite)

Christmas Short - An Icy Experience

Jules takes Fade ice-skating for his birthday.

~•~

"This is why Midas was asking me a million questions the other day."

Jules blushed, tugging her scarf a tiny bit over her mouth. "Sorry... I wanted to surprise you," she smiled lightly, holding up the drawstring bag she had prepared for him. In an attempt to find a last minute gift, she had sicced her brother on him just two days ago, hoping to find a hobby or certain interest that would suffice for a surprise present. Fade had apparently admitted to a longing to go ice skating, an annual tradition he had with his family, and she had set off upon hearing this to find the perfect pair for him. The only few places she could find selling skates were across the island from each other, and though she hadn't been able to find exactly what she was looking for, she was sure he'd love them nonetheless. "Happy birthday."

Fade took the bag and peeked inside, a smile instantly lighting up his face as he pulled out his gift. The shape of his skates highly resembled the high-top sneakers he always sported, and though they weren't the same colors (he didn't think there'd be any available in them anyway, seeing as his shoes were custom made), she had tried her best to find a pair in his favorites anyway: black and purple. He looked back up to her. "I almost forgot it was," he chuckled. "Thanks, Jules... They're awesome. My old ones were just plain black."

Jules' smile widened; mission successful. She sat down on the dock and set down her own bag, pulling out a pair of her own skates. Fade watched as she slid them on and took a confused glance around. There wasn't a rink here... but as he looked to the frozen lakebed west of Lazy Lake right in front of them, he put the pieces together. "We're... skating here?"

Jules nodded, lacing her skates up.

"You're, uh, sure this is safe?"

She laughed as he tentatively pressed his foot against the ice. Midas had brought her here to skate several times in the past, and she hadn't fallen through yet. This year wasn't going to be any different. "I checked earlier. It should be thick enough—it's usually safe anyway, as long as we don't... I don't know, fall down the waterfall."

Fade chuckled a bit at the last part, but it didn't quite ease his nerves. He sat beside her and started putting his own skates on. "Right... I just haven't been skating on, y'know, a real lake before. Just fake ice."

Jules scrunched her nose—where was the fun in that? "Fake ice?"

"Yeah, I went with family every year to a little outdoor rink somewhere south of our town... I think it was called..." He trailed off in thought, and a frown settled on his face at his inability to remember the name. With a soft sigh, he continued. "Well, we went to a rink, y'know, where there's usually a railing to hold onto. And the ice is actually... safe."

To be fair, it did sound a lot safer than what they had. She vaguely recalled a time years ago where Midas had fallen in while trying to demonstrate that the ice that year was perfectly fine, despite a gut feeling she had that told the opposite. It wasn't exactly a laughing matter then, but she couldn't help but smile at the memory. As smart as he could be, he was stubborn and prideful whether his calculations were right in the end or not, especially back in his teen years to early adulthood. He wouldn't touch a pair of skates afterwards, and would always be wary when she begged him to take her skating. Perhaps an ice rink was a better idea than the lakes, which weren't always guaranteed to freeze. "We've never had one. At least, not that I know of."

Fade gaped at her. "So, everyone just skates on a frozen lake, no one cares about falling through. Or you just don't remember because of the loop, right? There's no way."

"Well, when in doubt, we might as well blame the loop," Jules laughed, watching as he took his first steps onto the ice.

He held his arms in front of him as he balanced himself, and after taking a deep breath, he slowly slid his foot forward and pushed with his other, letting himself glide forward as he repeated the process. A smile lit up his face—it felt good to be on the ice again. Sure, he only went once a year, it wasn't the ice rink he loved to visit annually, and he didn't get to share this experience with his family, but the memories didn't bother him so much anymore. There were plenty of new experiences to explore on this island that simply took his mind from them, and he supposed one day, he would've become independent anyway.

Laughing faintly to himself, Fade made an effort to do a little spin, though it wasn't very successful and his foot almost shot out from under him. He managed to stop himself from slipping again; it wasn't until he heard a somewhat distant laugh alongside his that he realized Jules hadn't stepped onto the ice at all yet. He turned to her and followed her intent gaze, directly at the ice, and his smile faded, matching her hesitant expression. "You, uh... said it was safe, right?"

She only nodded at first, before timidly meeting his eyes as he glided over to her. "It is," she said, lightly tapping the blade of her skate to the ice in the same manner he had done at first. "Sorry, I just... haven't been on the ice in a while."

He offered his hand, and with another small smile, she took it, letting him lead her gently forwards. Her foot shot forward, but Fade caught her before she could slip. "How long are we talking about?" He asked with a chuckle.

"I'd say about five years," she replied, lightly nudging him away after balancing herself. In doing so, she pushed him a little too far, ultimately knocking him over. He grabbed her wrist and took her down with him, and they both laughed as they laid on the ice. They joined hands and hoisted each other up, and Fade decided to take the lead, guiding her in a loop around the lake, a gesture his sister would make on his first few visits to the ice rink. Jules snuck a look up at him, and couldn't help but blush as he smiled warmly at her—no, that was probably just the cold.

"Can I let go yet?" He asked. Before she could respond, Jules abruptly paused, throwing off his balance. He let go anyway as his arms flailed, and he found his footing shortly after.

Jules watched the sky intently; she swore she saw something soft and white fall in front of her eyes, and she held out her hand, a wide smile spreading across her face again as a few snowflakes landed in her gloved palm. All of the snow in the past week would occur heavily overnight and stop entirely in the day, and she had only been able to see the ends of the short blizzards when they were tapering off in the morning.

Fade himself stared into the sky, flinching when a snowflake landed in his eye. It had only snowed twice in his hometown last winter, though it was mainly ice, and it was breathtaking to see actual snow here every day so far. "Does it snow like this every winter?"

"Yeah, usually a lot more though," Jules nodded. "It's still getting barely past Hunter's Haven. The whole island was snowed over by now last year."

She skated back over to the dock and sat down, watching the snow as it started to pick up. Fade decided to take another loop around the lake before joining her, watching as she shook her head at every flake that landed in her face. "Midas likes the rain for some reason. I kinda prefer the snow," she said, resting her hands in her lap after tugging her scarf over her mouth again.

Considering what he had heard of before his arrival and the day they rode out to the storm, it wasn't a surprise. He could hardly look at rain the same way, either. But snow was essentially cold precipitation... "Snow doesn't work like the storm, right...? There's not just gonna be a blizzard because of it...?"

Jules shrugged. "I don't think we've had an actual blizzard since the storm came. Snow just... does its own thing, it falls at a constant every day or night for the month. That's why I like it, I don't have to worry about it like... well, rain and thunderstorms. It's predictable."

"Weird to think something around here is predictable for once," Fade said, and without realizing it, he entwined her hand in his as they continued his to watch the snow.