I apologise for how long it is taking for me to update this on here. Between University -- which is now out for the summer -- and my job, I have been incredibly busy. But I promise that I will get all of these up by the end of the holidays. And maybe even write a couple of other stories, with a more sunny theme -- because really, snow at this time of year? Hardly seasonal reading. But then, perhaps it's just a refreshing change.

Enjoy this one, guys. I'll try and update again in a couple of days!

--

The snow hadn't stopped falling all night. Ryoma stared out of the window and there was nothing. No people walking to school, no cars driving down the road. It was as though everything had stopped. A settled snow globe, that's what it reminded him of. All of the snow had stopped, waiting for another shake up to send the flakes into a flurry. He yawned and grabbed his slippers, heading downstairs for something warm to drink.

His Mum was, however, one step ahead of him as always. "The school is closed for the day," she said, placing a mug of hot chocolate in front of him. "You going to go out?"

Ryoma shrugged and blew over his drink, trying to take away the initial scalding hotness. "Don't know. Might go to the park or something."

"You should call Atobe, see if he wants to meet up. Such a nice boy." She started pottering around the sink, washing dishes and so on. Ryoma just stared at her back. She couldn't be serious.

He shook his head and sipped slowly at his hot chocolate. "I suppose I could."

Rinko turned around with a smile on her face, which suddenly made Ryoma very, very afraid. She was brandishing a piece of cloth, kind of tied at the top, almost like a little bag. "When you see him, give him these," she said.

Ryoma took the little cloth bag from her, and there was no mistaking the smell. "Cookies? You want me to give him cookies."

"A little present for him." She looked at him as though it was entirely normal to give someone a random bag of cookies, which granted maybe it was, but not for him.

He pushed the bag back and forth across the table. Maybe his Mum knew a little more than he originally thought.

--

"I wasn't expecting you to call," Atobe said as he walked up to the bench, settling down next to Ryoma. He looked slightly amused, and was - once again - wrapped up warmly in co-ordinating colours.

Ryoma held out the bag for him. "Here. From my Mum."

Atobe looked amused as he took the bag, untying the top to find a little pile of cookies. "Oh, so I impressed her so much that she felt the need to give me a present?" He picked one of the cookies up, and snapped a bit off. "Don't I get a present from you, Echizen?"

"No," Ryoma replied, rubbing his hands together. He didn't know why he'd asked Atobe to meet him in the park. It was bloody freezing outside today.

Atobe chuckled and the next thing Ryoma knew his chin was being gripped, and his head manoeuvred so that it was tilting upwards. "Say ahhh." Atobe smirked. Ryoma knew that all he could do right then was comply, so with a light dusting of pink across his cheeks he did so. Atobe leant forward, and it was only then that Ryoma noticed the piece of cookie between his lips. Atobe slipped it into his mouth, brushing his tongue against Ryoma's, and then retreating, leaving a soft kiss against his lips.

Ryoma chewed at the cookie, which was in fact very yummy indeed. Not that he'd expected anything less, of course. "Idiot," he muttered, standing up.

"Your Mother is a wonderful cook. You shall have to give her my compliments and thanks." Atobe bit into another of the cookies, looking as though he was enjoying himself immensely.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll tell her," Ryoma said, sounding slightly distracted. He picked up some snow between his hands and made a ball. Atobe looked slightly worried for all of a second.

"You better not be planning to chuck that at me."

Ryoma dropped it to the ground, and started to roll it across it. "I'm not."

Atobe looked sort of perplexed, until the ball started getting bigger and bigger. Ryoma stopped when it was roughly up to the size of his waist, and then started on another ball. Atobe just watched in amusement, eating away at his cookies as Ryoma started building a snowman. Ryoma didn't even know why he was doing it, just that he had - on a whim - felt like doing so.

It was a rather small snowman, he thought, even when he put the head on top. But he couldn't seem to bring himself to care. He slowly scooped up some snow and used it to mould some bangs, and flicky bits of hair off the side. He picked up some rocks off the ground - after a little digging under the snow to find them, of course - and used them for eyes and a mouth. He made sure that the snowman was smirking because really, that was the thing to do. He packed a little bit more snow together to make a nose, and then took a few steps back to admire his handy work.

"That's not a very good representation of me, Echizen," Atobe said, coming up behind Ryoma to take a closer look.

"You recognised it, didn't you?" Ryoma tilted his head to the side, and then conceded. "You're right though, something is missing."

He knelt down beside the snowman, moulding some more snow to make a little crown. This, of course, amused Atobe enough to elicit a chuckle, but Ryoma wasn't finished yet. Two more, slightly larger mounds of snow followed, being made into large circular ears.

Ryoma stood, brushing the snow off his hands and knees. "Ta-da." He said.

Atobe gave an indignant huff, and crossed his arms over his chest. "That is not funny. Take the monkey ears off at once."

"No." Ryoma laughed and eyed the snowman, which now looked rather amusing. "Make me."

The next thing Ryoma knew, Atobe was running at him, and then suddenly there was just cold. Well, he hadn't been expecting that, he thought, as he burst into laughter. Atobe had just tackled him to the ground, and knocked the snowman down with them, shattering it back into powder.

They both lay on the floor for who knew how long, laughing themselves breathless, Atobe sprawled on top of him.

Ryoma loved the snow.