Spirit Animals One-Shots

Snow [Devin x Karmo]

It was a cold day.
Devin felt perfectly at home in the chill, though Karmo certainly didn't. The Niloan boy shivered, wrapping his red cloak around himself.
"I don't understand how you can survive this cold." Karmo muttered. Devin looked over at him. Unlike his companion, he didn't even wear a cloak. He simply had on a grey sweater, that seemed to be a little big on him.
"I've lived in Eura my whole life," Devin shrugged, "Trunswick gets colder than this. You haven't felt a brutal winter until you head up north."
"In that case, you won't catch me up there." Karmo awkwardly inched closer to Devin, finding that the Euran boy radiated warmth.
  "You were up there." Devin chuckled.
  "Never again."
  As the two carried on with their walk quietly, Karmo began to notice.. little white things, falling from the sky. At first, he thought they were from the trees. Perhaps some kind of seed. But, when one landed on his arm, he examined it. Not for long though, as it dissolved after a few seconds.
  "Devin?"
  Devin looked over at him. "What?"
  "What is this stuff?" Karmo waved his hands around at the mysterious white things, his expression one of confusion.
  Devin was quiet for a moment, then bursted into laughter. "Snow?"
  Karmo blinked at him, a little embarrassed.
  "You've never seen snow before?" Devin grinned at the Niloan boy, his eyes suddenly bright.
  "No. I'd never even been to Eura before the whole Conqueror thing. Even if there was.. snow, then I was probably in a jail cell and couldn't see it." Karmo sniffed.
  Devin stopped in his tracks. Karmo came to an abrupt halt beside him. "What?" He asked.
  Karmo nearly laughed when Devin stuck his tongue out to the sky. Oddly enough, Devin was really.. giggling.
  "What are you doing?" Karmo finally gave up and laughed with him.
  "It's fun. You stick your tongue out and catch snowflakes on your tongue." Devin began to walk again, a permanent smile on his face.
  "Snowflakes? That's what these are?" Karmo scampered after the other boy.
  "Yep, and when enough fall to the ground, it creates a white blanket of snow. If you're lucky, it'll only swallow your foot. Not so lucky? Have fun getting your leg out of a few feet of snow." Devin snickered.
  "Has that happened to you before?" Karmo could feel his excitement growing. He'd never seen snow before, and it sounded so interesting.
  "It's happened to everyone. My father had to pick me up to get me out."
  Karmo clamped a hand over his mouth to keep himself from laughing at the image that played in his mind.
  "But, the unfortunate part is," Devin went on, "snow is cold. So we better start heading back before our toes freeze off."

  Karmo couldn't tell how long he'd been watching the snow fall for. It had covered the grass in a clean white layer, just as Devin had said. Devin was nearby, enjoying a cup of tea as he read a book.
  It was an altogether peaceful feeling. The quiet turning of pages in a book, the beauty of the snowflakes falling from the sky, the warmth of their room. Karmo exhaled slowly, taking all of it in.
  "Pretty."
  Karmo jumped, looking up at Devin, who was sipping his tea beside him. How he got there so quickly and quietly, he wasn't sure. "Yeah." He agreed.
  They stood there together for a few seconds in silence. Out of curiosity, Karmo peeked over at his roommate's beloved beverage. "What kind of tea is that?"
  "Herbal." Devin responded wearily, knowing what was coming next.
  Karmo pulled the cup close and took a sip, much to Devin's disliking. "Go make your own."
  "But yours always tastes better."
  "I'm a Euran, of course I make it better!"

  Karmo picked a bit of snow up off the ground, flinching at the cold. It was lightweight, and soft. If it wasn't so cold, it would almost be nice to hold.
  He dropped it again, wiping his now wet hands on his pants. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Devin doing.. something, with the snow in his hands.
  "Hey, Karmo!" The smaller boy called.
  Karmo perked up, making his way over to him. What he saw when he reached him confused him. It was snow, of course, but in a ball. How could it stay in a ball? Didn't it crumble?
  "Allow me to introduce you to a snowball. It's easier to make them when the snow is packed, meaning it's easier to mold," Devin explained, dropping his current snowball and picking more snow up, making another one, "you just gently press it all together and then smoothen the sides to make it a ball. You know what we do with snowballs?" Devin had a mischievous grin on, one that Karmo didn't trust.
  "Obviously not something good, judging by your face." Karmo inched away.
  "Snowball fight!" Devin yelled, throwing his snowball at the taller boy, then scampering off.
  It hit Karmo directly on the shoulder, some sliding down his neck. He brushed it off and shivered, but a smile appeared on his lips. He picked up his own snow, carefully forming a ball.
  Something moved. Karmo immediately whipped around, throwing the snowball at Devin, just as Devin threw his own. Two balls of snow soared through the air, and soon two shrieks of surprise followed.
  A flurry of laughter carried through the chilly winter air.

  Karmo sat under a few layers of blankets, gripping a cup of tea that he'd begged Devin to make him. He'd succeeded.
  The two boys were silent now, warming up after their fun adventure outside. Devin sat across the room, writing something with a quill. Karmo watched him, as there wasn't exactly anything better to do. Devin had obviously noticed he was being stared at, but just hadn't decided to say anything.
  "Devin." He spoke up suddenly.
  "Hm?" Devin grunted, glancing at him.
  "How long does snow stick around?"
  "In Eura, it starts to melt a little after Spring begins. Winters seem longer than they're supposed to be." Devin answered, then continued to work on whatever he'd been working on.
  Karmo nodded slowly. "Cool," he murmured, "cool."

  I wrote this when it actually snowed in southern Ontario lmao. Also I'm gonna start to use an emoji to represent me in my little notes so uh. - 🦐