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S N O W B A L L F I G H T
lev haiba
w a r n i n g s : none
c a t e g o r y : fluff
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As predicted by the weather forecast, this winter had brought snow and not just a few passing flurries here and there; the ground had been covered with enough that if you weren't careful, you'd sink further than intended.
Inside your home, nestled deep beneath your covers and unbothered by the world around you, it was a moment of pure relaxation. The warmth surrounded you like a friendly, comforting hug as it threatened to lull you into a deep sleep. Just on the brink of falling, a soft thud tapped against your window.
The sound drew you from your drowsy state as you looked in that direction, but noticed nothing. It was merely just a passing sound, maybe a twig that fell from a tree, you assumed. Dismissing the noise, you tried your best to return to that peaceful state once again. Your eyes fluttered shut only to hear the soft pat against the glass once more. This time, it was louder and it came with a faintly muffled voice you could barely make out. The voice had called your name.
With the very little energy you had, you pulled the covers away from your body but recoiled instantly as the rush of cool air hit you. The amount of regret you had to leave such a safe and warm place made you quite annoyed. You were already up, you might as well see to the completion of the action and so to your window you trudged and opened it. The unwelcome winter's wind whistled past your face, but not just the breeze. At that same moment you just so happen to narrowly dodge an object that whizzed past you furiously.
Frightened, you shift your gaze down to the ground from your high vantage point of the second floor of your house. The offender of the attack from earlier stood outside and was waving his arms happily to get your attention. None other than your best friend Lev. He was beaming proudly once he saw you at your window, "Yo!" he yelled to you, "for a second I thought you weren't home!"
Before you answered him, you glanced behind to see just what he had thrown into your room but a sinking feeling in your gut told you that you already knew. Your eyes were just a confirmation because on the floor, like you guessed, was a shattered ball of snow with its melting bits starting to puddle on your wood floor.
"Lev!" You whipped back around to shout. You backed away from the windowsill to frantically collect the scattered bits and pieces of ice on your floor. Having scooped most of it into your hands, you rushed back to toss it out the window. "Why would you throw a snowball in my room?! What are you doing here?" You yelled, disappointed in his lack of judgement.
He shrugged, nonchalant and carefree, "I didn't expect you to open your window when I threw the last one! Did you like it? Should I throw another one?!"
"No!" You fired back. It was so sudden without hesitation that it even caused Lev to need a moment to process your reaction.
Though, he was quick to laugh, bending down as he began to collect snow in his hands once again, "There's plenty of snow down here and not enough in your room!"
"Don't you dare!"
His smile was quick to slip into a devilish grin you knew all too well, "Make me," he taunted, waving a handful of snow while he feigned gestures as if he'd seriously throw the snow in the direction of your room.
"Lev Haiba! If you do, you're so dead!" You warned impatiently.
"With the amount of times you've said that already, I should've been dead since last year!"
You crossed your arm against your chest and huffed, "Well don't make me kill you!"
"Then come down and let's settle this with a snowball fight!"
"No thanks."
Lev raised an eyebrow, not liking that answer from you as he tossed a handful of snow up in the air and let it fall to the ground once again. "My my, just look at all this snow that can be flung through your window," he provoked.
You knew there would be absolutely no way to get out of this without being covered in snow one way or another. Either you went down to greet the snow and the pest outside your window, or the snow would do the introductions for the both of you like earlier. You groaned and held up two fingers, "Give me two minutes. Then you'd better watch your back Haiba."
"Oh man, I'm sooo scared of the shorty that's out to get me. I should start running," Lev exaggerated, dropping his jaw sarcastically. He really knew how to get under your skin.
You rushed to hastily throw on any additional articles of clothing that would shield you from the harsh battle that was about to take place. Most importantly, you made sure not to forget gloves otherwise you;d never hear the end of it from Lev. Then it was a sprint to get down the stairs and out the door. Still in that same spot, Lev was standing in front of your house and his head was gazing up at your window. But once he heard the loud ruckus from you shoving the front door open, his attention quickly shifted to you trudging towards him.
"You talk big for someone that's about to regret his words in two seconds," You gritted through your teeth, already reaching down to gather snow in your fists.
Lev smiled and he began to do the same, "I talk big because I am. You on the other hand... what's your excuse shorty?"
"Eat this!" You shouted, launching the compact iceball of death through the air, hurdling in Lev's direction. Target acquired, it hit Lev square in the shoulder, shattering upon impact.
Small particles sprayed him in the face as he shook his head to and fro, "That all you got? This is going to be a quick fight." He took a step forward and initiated his own attack. Without time to properly get out of the way, you could've sworn the speed at which he threw it would break a baseball pitcher's record. Maybe Lev was in the wrong sport? The missile of snow crashed into your chest and its impact had a significantly larger effect on you than your snowball did to Lev. You staggered backwards by a step and felt the site of bruising even long after the snowball disintegrated into nothingness, blending back into the ground. You certainly didn't expect him to actually go all out in this fight. He beamed brightly, clearly proud of his efforts but that was only the beginning.
The two of you continued to fling snowballs at one another as you both ran about your front lawn, laughing and dodging the flying projectiles. The wind whipped just as furiously as your snowballs and the tips of your noses became pinker by the second and your cheeks a crimson.
In the cold, you could only last so long. You fought valiantly for several minutes, but fatigue and the frostbite caught up to you eventually. You lost your footing and you stumbled to your knees, hearing the snow crunch beneath your weight. At this point, you can't even feel your fingertips or toes anymore and your gloves were soaked. That rushing quick change from earlier did not provide you with enough layers of warmth to continue for much longer. But after Lev's childish prank from earlier and your stubborn pride, you'd rather surrender to frostbite than admit to your defeat. Hell would need to freeze over too before you lost this petty war.
A cough escaped as you huffed every breath you took. Down for only a few seconds, you shakily tried to rise to your feet once again only to fall back down into the snow. Your shivering was only getting worse and these last few moments had you too focused way too deeply on yourself. You scanned the vicinity but your snow enemy was nowhere to be found.
"Lev?" You tried to call, but it came out with the volume of a whisper through your chattering teeth.
Not a moment later, you felt something- someone wrap around your shoulders. You looked down to see sleeves of the same jacket Lev had been wearing and a gentle weight rested atop your head.
"Stupid. Is winning that important to you?"
Lev's voice quietly came from behind you. His chin had been resting on your head briefly but he lifted it all too soon. He pulled you up from behind, and there was no way you could doubt that he felt just how much you were shivering in the snow. Lev repositioned his arms that had been wrapped tightly around your shoulders to slide them down and placed his hands over yours; he took diligent care to intertwine his fingers with yours. The back of your head leaned against his chest, you heard him hum lightly, "Let's go inside and get you warm again," he said even softer.
There was no point to argue with him anymore, not when a giant such as Lev was already leading you to your house. He paused only at the doorstep to come in front of you and dust your jacket of excess snow. His eyes wandered from the specs of white to your face, then closely to the light-blue tinge of your lips and the flushed pink of your cheeks. You were like a primary student's paint pallet of color and the white snow had been your canvas.
A smile tugged at the corner of Lev's mouth and he lifted his hand to lightly brush your bottom lip with the gentle touch of his thumb and trailed down your cheek with his index finger. The subtle gesture was short lived, but a fiery imprint ghostly lingered where he had brushed your skin. He led you inside and went straight for the couch. Forcefully, he tugged on your hand that caused you to lose your balance.
You came crashing down into the couch, but Lev waited for that. He brought you into his lap and relaxed all the way down with you curled into his chest. He brought an arm around you and held you dearly as the two of you lay cuddled side by side into one another. In the past when you were children, maybe the two of you huddled close together like this for fun, but it felt different now. Lev hadn't done something as bold as this before. You assumed his kindness for pity in your moment of weakness outside and tried to move away to give him his space, but his arm held you firmly in place, letting you know he truly wanted you there.
"If you stay in my arms, you'll warm up faster. I'm quite warm," He proclaimed only so you would hear it; his words were barely louder than a coarse whisper.
Something about his tone, the circumstance, maybe even just Lev in general, felt more comforting than usual. You may have never openly admitted it, but you did enjoy the time you spent with him. Lately, a lot more than ever before. Whether it be a plausible spark of feelings or knowing it would be significantly colder if you were to leave his side now, it made you wish you never had to leave him. You selfishly wanted to stay bundled in the warmth of Lev's embrace for as long as possible.
And that warmth was better than any hug a blanket could provide.