The Snow Days

The touch of frost pierced through their gaiters and stung their cheeks as the howl of the wind blew past their ears. The crunch of snow was felt beneath their boots as they trudged along the frigid mountainside.

“AHH! IT’S TOO DAMN COLD!” Vent, A young man with short, pitch black hair, and deep purple eyes shouted as he sneezed lightly, holding himself as he shivered. The snow slowly piled on top of him as the girl he was traveling with turned around with a teasing look in her eyes.

“What? You DID bring your heated jacket, right?” Aleis, a young woman with short, less-than shoulder length gray hair, and vibrant green eyes, said as her smirk could be seen through her gaiter. She held a lockbox in one hand that had a subtle luminescence around it.“Of course I did! I-I’m not THAT much of an idiot!” He snapped back as he unzipped his outer jacket 

to reveal a black heated jacket layered underneath.

Aleis walked up to Vent, her back to the wind as she slipped off a glove and placed her palm on his 

chest.

“Oh, it’s cold…” She said as she felt the chill on his jacket before pausing for a brief moment to 

think. “…have you tried turning it on?”

Vent was mildly shocked at the suggestion before reaching into the jacket pocket and holding down the power button. But nothing happened.

“I-I can’t believe I fell for that…” He said softly. ”D-DOESN’T CHANGE THE FACT THAT I’M STILL F-F-FREEZING!" He shouted as he struggled to connect the zipper to his outer layer while his hands trembled from the cold. “I-I swear it was working last night.” He held himself once more, shivering.

Aleis put her hand on his shoulder and smiled.

“You’re an idiot, you know that Vent?” She chuckled lightly. “Of course I believe you. But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s not working. It IS vital to not freeze to death, so we’ll have to do something about that.” Her breath was visible as she exhaled, briefly thinking of a solution. “Let’s find somewhere to set up and take a break. We’ll see what we can do.” She turned towards the alpine with a thick white blanket of snow ahead. “Stay close.” She said in a firm tone. “I don’t want you collapsing.”

After quite some time of traveling through the snow, Aleis’s posture and rhythm became sluggish.

“H-Hey Aleis, you doing okay?” Vent asked as he noticed.

Aleis stopped and began coughing as she held her hand over her mouth.

“Aleis!?” Vent exclaimed as he closed the gap to check up on her, but was abruptly stopped when she fell backwards, knocking Vent off balance as they both fell in the snow.

“Sh-Shit!” He panicked as he sunk into the snow with Aleis over him. He thought of how to approach the situation as he held her. “R-right!” He remembered what to do as he dug through his pockets. “What?!” He patted himself all over as he could not find what he was looking for.“You’re so cute when you’re flustered.” Aleis chuckled lightly with grin on her face and one eye open as she continued to lay on top of him.

“What does that have to—— w-w-wait wait wait, you’re okay?!” He looked off to the side in annoyance as his arms fell to his side. “You almost gave me a heart attack… don’t, just don’t do that again.”

“I’m sorry I’m sorry.” She said with a giggle in her voice. “I couldn’t help myself, you’re just too easy 

to tease.”

“…” Vent looked away as his face turned red. He was no longer shivering as the warmth emitted from Aleis’s jacket heated him up enough to take his mind off the cold. “Could have been a better 

way…” He said in a low voice.

“Yeah, maybe you’re right.” Aleis stood up and dusted herself off as she turned around to face Vent and held her hand out.

“…at least you’re okay.” Vent blushed as he reached for her hand and stood up.

“Let’s get out of here.” She said with a smile on her face.