For Colloyd Week, Day 5: Snow. Modern AU! (These are all already up on AO3, just super slow cross-posting things here).
Lloyd turned the key in the ignition over and over again, but no matter how much willpower he used, the truck just wouldn't start.
"Man…" He laid back against the seat and sighed. The cold mist of his breath formed in the air before him, all while he watched the falling snow slowly bury the windshield. Guess they were staying over again.
"Lloyd, don't force it." Dirk tapped against the half-open car door with the edge of his knuckles. How his dad could walk around in sub-freezing temperatures in just his casual clothes, Lloyd had never figured out. He was garbed in basically two of his jackets himself, the interior of the truck barely giving him much warmth. "The engine's not gonna work in this weather."
"Gaah, but if I can just…" Lloyd reached for the key again, the truck sputtering and gurgling each and every time he turned it. "If I can just turn it on and let it warm up a little!"
"That doesn't actually do anything, you know."
"What? Yes it does!" Lloyd turned the key an extra time to prove his point. The truck then gave a bit of violent-sounding cough that made Lloyd jump. "Uh, never mind."
Though a bit worried that his son would somehow break his vehicle, he only chuckled. With each passing moment, his thick beard caught more and more snowflakes, flecking it with specks of white. Even through all his frustration, Lloyd mused how his dad could pass off as Santa Claus with the right clothes and laugh. He'd look just like the guy that played as Santa when he was younger, the one who would come to the house when Genis would stay over and Raine would watch them, and when Dirk always had a last-minute commission to finish up so he couldn't be around for the presents and… wait a second.
Dirk bellowed a laugh that also sounded really familiar suddenly, but then opened the car door wider, letting in the biting wind. "Come on, I can check on the engine. Why don't you go to Colette in the meantime? Give her something to do on a snowy day."
"U-um, yeah. You're right." Lloyd unconsciously huddled in his double jackets as he got out of the truck. He was immediately up to his lower calves in the snow, his boots saving him from his socks getting soaked. Winter out here was always brutal. His dad was, meanwhile, waist deep in it, and of course didn't seem to be bothered.
The house was already covered in white wherever it could reach, his balcony drenched in snow, hopefully not too much that it would break. He'd have to remember not to go up there and slip again… Opening the front door with a bit of difficulty (already the lock was freezing up!), he was met with a wave of heat from the fireplace in the further living room. He was about to shrug off his jackets when he heard a happy whuff from the side.
"Noishe!" he greeted, thankful to put his freezing hands against the dog's thick and fluffy fur. But where there was a dog, there should have been… "Uh, where's Colette?" Last time, she had been seated at the dinner table by the fireplace.
Had she gone upstairs? Or to the other room? But then Noishe circled around him, snout pointed towards the door where Lloyd just came in through. "She's outside?"
Whether Noishe could understand was up for debate, but he answered Lloyd with another whuff.
"Agh, but it's so cold!" Lloyd was a little put out that he would already be leaving the warmth of the home. But if Colette had gone, he had to follow. Hopefully she hadn't gone far… but where would she go? There was one place, maybe –
A soft buzzing in his pants pocket. Lloyd reached for his phone, the small flip model very scuffed all around its edges. Someday he'd get a new one, maybe. Opening it up, he already knew who the text was from.
Hi, Lloyd! ^_^ Sorry for leaving so suddenly… But I wanted to explore! I'm waiting for you at our favorite place!' This was then followed by a string of heart emojis, a few stars, and some doggy paw pads, too. Lloyd was always astounded at the cuteness of her texts.
He heard a soft sound of something brewing in the kitchen next to him, a familiar smell that was comforting and already gave him ideas.
Well, at least he wouldn't go to her empty-handed.
He found Colette underneath one of the tall, overarching trees, just by the path within the woods. Out before her, there was a lake, its surface frozen, reflecting the sun brighter than ever before.
It hadn't taken long to find her, Lloyd already seeing her deep footsteps on the pathway, and a few places where the snow was disturbed the most – a sign of her tripping.
Rushing up to her, his breath coming out in puffs in the air, he saw that she had her arms spread out in the snows, looking straight above.
"…Uh, you okay?" he called out, hoping that Colette hadn't tripped onto the deep snowbanks here and couldn't get up. Because if it hadn't been for the flash of red from one of his spare jackets that she wore as he walked by, just peeking at the edge of sunken snow, he might have missed her completely.
At his words, a head streaked with snow-covered blonde hair raised up. She turned to him, her cheeks red from the cold, probably so numb – but it didn't stem down her smile.
"I'm good!" she told him. "I was just waiting for you until we were ready to go."
"Yeah, but… out here? It's freezing!" And with that, he walked up to her, handing her another jacket that was identical to the one she wore, and the ones he wore, too! He owned a few copies of the same set, but that meant he had plenty to give to Colette when she wanted some. "Here, I don't think just one is enough."
She took the jacket gratefully, decked out with several silver buttons, the collar decorated with white strips sewn into the seam. She always looked so happy when she gave him his things to wear. "Oh yeah, and I made sure it's clean, too!" He really had to stop giving her the ones he was just wearing…
But that wasn't all! "Here!" he said as he handed her one of the bright red thermostats he carried, grinning. "It's hot coffee."
Colette took the thermostat in gloved hands, their color a bright fuzzy pink with those little pom poms stitched to the side of them. She even had a matching scarf to go with it, which Lloyd thought was pretty handy. "Thanks, Lloyd!" Though as she held it, she paused. "Hm, or is it cold?"
"Hey, I made sure it was hot this time!"
"Hehe, I'm just teasing you!" She settled on the snows, not minding at all that it covered up to her knees. "Is the truck okay?"
"Nah, the engine's all messed up. Or the battery or… something." Lloyd didn't really know much about cars. "I think we're going to have to stay for the night again."
Colette didn't look at all disappointed. "That happens a lot whenever we visit your dad, doesn't it?"
"You know, it does! I wonder if he has something to do with it…" Dirk always liked having them over so maybe… but then again he doubted his dad could suddenly control the weather. "I didn't think the snow would be this bad though. Sorry."
She shook her head. "That's okay! It's… I like the winter here. In the city, the snow always gets all dirty with the cars. And then they clean it up the next day before you can do anything in it." She said this while putting on the second jacket, brushing out the snow from her hair.
Lloyd raised an eyebrow. "What were you doing just now anyway?"
Unfastening the top of the thermostat, Colette took a careful sip of the coffee. She closed her eyes as she did so, and then lowered the thermostat from her chin to look at Lloyd with a wide smile. "Making a snow angel!"
That was the cutest thing he ever heard. He could only grin and laugh, the cold suddenly seeming not so much of a problem anymore. "You're such a dork."
By then, he was seated next to her on the snowbanks, overlooking the lake with its frozen sheen. They were close enough for their shoulders to touch, eager to get any warmth they could. "Did Noishe not want to come?" Colette asked.
"Nah, he's scared of the cold. Don't ask me how though." Lloyd took a sip from his own thermostat, pleased to know that the coffee was actually hot! He had worried for a moment there. "Hey, how come you went out all the way here?" It wasn't a long walk, but with the heavy snow that blanketed both sight and sound, the path wasn't the easiest to tread anymore.
Colette fiddled with one of the jacket buttons on the side, it still being so big on her, draping her shoulders like a cape, but enough to keep her warm. "I wanted to see if we could swim in the lake again," she said with a shy smile.
"Wh- But it's freezing!" He felt like he said this before. "And, also, the lake is actually frozen."
"Yeah, and it's so pretty looking too. Maybe we can ice skate on it!"
"I think the ice is kinda fragile…"
Colette looked down at her huddled knees. Both had really gotten close to the other, the snowflakes still drifting over them. Lloyd felt them on his cheeks, on his hand that had reached out for Colette's, feeling her warmth even through their gloved hands - her yarn-stitched mittens against his thick sports gloves.
"It's like our special place now, isn't it?" she said. "We've come over here every time we visited."
Lloyd gripped her hand tight, remembering the first day out in the early summer sun, Noishe paddling in the lake and getting their clothes wet with a furious shaking out of his fur. "Yeah… I like it better though when it's sunny."
Colette pouted a little. "The snow is nice… We can do other fun things that we can't do back home!"
"Huh? Like what?" Living out in their city apartment, he supposed it wasn't easy to have the usual snow fun like snowball fights and snow angels. Maybe that was what she wanted? "If you wanted to play snowball, just know I'm the best at it!"
But before he could keep gloating, she leaned into him for a kiss.
The tip of her nose brushed against his own as she kissed him, cold from the chilly air. It contrasted with the heat of her lips over his, a hint of her breath leaving into the air in the form of already dissipating mist. He kissed her back just as much, the action natural, right and so very warm. There wasn't much sound from the woods, the snow muffling most of it, but he could hear the soft gasp she gave when she kissed him, and the pulse of his own heart in his ears.
When she pulled away, Lloyd stared at her with a bit of confusion. "…Can't we do that anytime?" he asked. Not that he didn't mind it…
"Hm, maybe," she said, but then her smile turned into a grin. "But not this!" Suddenly an avalanche of snow from Colette's hands showered onto the top of his head. She must have gathered that up during the kiss.
"C-c-cold!" He flinched from the sudden chill, where bits of the compacted snow slid into the back of his jacket. Colette laughed at his ordeal, which only sparked a competitiveness that overtook him suddenly. "I have to pay you back, you know!" And with maybe too much enthusiasm, he gently tackled her to the soft snows, getting it everywhere on them. Both thermostats were thrown to the ground, the coffee now indeed, getting quite cold.
"Ah! Lloyd!" she protested, but had already wrapped her arms around him as they embraced in the snow.
One day, they'd get to curl up together on the couch back at their apartment, draped in multiple blankets and sipping hot chocolate. But Colette was right though, they probably wouldn't be able to do these fun things except for right here, so they might as well make the most of it.