Winter:
The garden that came with the Schloss was not so much a garden as an over-glorified park. More than 200 acres of lush greenery spread around the handsome structure of the main building, and there was a maze in the centre of it all that bloomed with flowers every summer. A pond lapped against rock somewhere to the east, and there was something resembling a miniature forest that shed bucketsful of leaves come every autumn.
But none of that was apparent now, under the white winter sky. The sun was nothing but a weak light in the sky, smothered by pale clouds, and there was nothing to be heard save for the faint crunch of shoes in the thick snow. Nothing except-
"Damn you, Eroica!" the voice of Major Klaus Heinz von dem Eberbach followed a faint splat! It was loud enough to shake the branches of nearby trees slightly.
"Oh, come now, darling," drawled Dorian. "You can hardly expect me to behave when there's so much of this stuff around." He held up another handful of snow as if to illustrate his point, already patting it into another ball. "And we agreed on first names."
"You agreed not to pull anything stupid when I promised to show you the garden," snarled Klaus. "I should have known better than to trust the word of an irritating, perverted, mindless thief," he continued furiously. But Dorian wasn't listening. He was gathering up more snow to pat it into a misshapen lump on the ground, with an air of concentrated earnestness that Klaus did not see often. Klaus drew closer, despite himself.
"What are you doing?" he asked. Dorian looked up at him, the sun making his gold hair sparkle faintly. Against the grey of the sky, his eyes seemed impossibly blue, and he smiled.
Making a snow fort, darling," he said. "Though it doesn't seem as though this snow is hard enough to be packed," he gave the misshapen lump another pat. "In England, now, and in Castle Gloria, we could always make the most smashing snow forts. But here it doesn't seem as though-"
"Of course it can!" Klaus never liked hearing that anything about the Schloss was inferior to Dorian's home. "You just don't know how, that's all. You Limeys never know how to handle anything." He pushed Dorian aside, a little gently than he would have before, and scooped up larger amounts of snow. "See? You're supposed to pack it down like this."
Dorian watched him intently, a little smile playing against the corners of his mouth. He began to imitate Klaus's movements after a bit, and with more elegance, if little skill. With the two of them- and Dorian was getting better- the lump was beginning to take some recognizable shape.
"Let's have a snow fight," he announced, pushing back his hair. The cold had tinted his cheeks pink, and he was laughing.
"Nein!" Klaus didn't ask what Dorian was laughing about. Artistic people were often slightly insane. "I was supposed to show you the garden, not to play games."
"Oh, come now, Major," Dorian pouted. "Look, it would be a shame to waste such a good fort. Please?"
I will not give in, Klaus recited to himself. I will not give in. I will not give in. Dorian was pleading laughingly, widening his eyes in a comical manner. "Fine," he snapped. "But just a quick game."
Klaus, Dorian reflected, was obviously superior in strength. The thief had already been splattered several times, just because he hadn't thought that the Major could throw so hard and so far. But he was lacking in speed and agility, both of which Dorian had in abundance, and the game that had started out innocently no more nearer being resolved than it was before. And now that the Major was starting to feel that he had a worthy opponent, he wasn't going to end it anytime soon.
Not that Dorian minded. Dodging snowballs was certainly easier than dodging bullets, and it was fun, to watch Klaus join in with as much enthusiasm as Dorian threw into everything he did. Dorian aimed another snowball, and caught the Major by the side of his face.
"You-!" he said, startled. He had obviously thought that Dorian had been farther away than that. As soon as he turned to face him, Dorian tossed his other snowball so that it exploded square in the Major's face. White dripped into his hair, a stark contrast against the black, and began to melt. Klaus was frozen, startled into showing his surprise clearly. He had told Dorian, in the middle of their mock-fight, that he had never been hit in such a manner ever. He had clearly enunciated the point, with the same air of pride as he had when he outlined his fight with a childhood football nemesis.
Dorian giggled, and the sound seemed to pull Klaus out of his trance. He began making steady headway for Dorian, who began to run. He tried to stoop for more ammunition, but every time he did, Klaus gained more and more headway. His feet, slightly numb, were beginning to lose effective mobile functions. If he could only manage to get away quickly enough-
Klaus collared him and spun him around, ignoring Dorian's squeak as the world whirled in a disconcerting manner. He tried to pull free, but only managed to pull them both down into the snow, Klaus planted squarely on top of him. There was probably no chance of escape now, Dorian reflected, but he tried anyway.
They wrestled in the snow for a few minutes, before Dorian was pinned down again. Klaus was glaring at him, the green eyes staring hard. There was an odd expression on his face, a mixture of disbelief and respect.
"You hit me," he said. "In the face."
"Sorry, darling," gasped Dorian. It was really rather hard to breathe, settled as he was in the snow. "Are you going to pay me back by suffocating me now?"
"Idiot," Klaus yanked him up abruptly and kissed him. Dorian's arms curled around him after a moment, hugging their bodies closer. When Klaus came up for breath, he muttered, "Anyway, you play dirty."
Dorian smiled back at him.
And you wonder why."