The boughs of the trees heavy with snow, which glistened under the periodic glance of a distant sun... there were no birds calling, there is only the sound of the wind and one's own breath and heartbeat, and water, if there is a stream nearby... it was cold, but the cold is refreshing, and clears the clutter from the mind and body... indoors it is warm, and the scent of hot cocoa and pine wafted through the air.

Ryou snuggled his flannel shirt and took a sip of his cocoa. He wondered how the tips of his fingers and toes could be so cold when the rest of him felt just right. Ryou swung his legs under himself and continued to turn the pages in his book. Black Beauty, a tale of how humans are abusive little pricks and animals are the world's only salvation. Least, that is how Ryou had always interpreted it.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ryou took a peak up from his book to steal a glance at Seto. His eyes were fully fixated on his book. Ryou snapped his attention back to his own book, then up to the fire snapping in front of him. Ryou smiled softly, soaking in every ounce of perfect peace this vacation was. He sighed and let his body melt into his easy chair. He closed his eyes but could feel his eyes roll in Seto's direction once again. He slowly opened his eyes and quietly watched him turn the pages. He thought of how he would liked to be turned over right about now but felt it would ruin the mood.

Seto looked up from his book and Ryou turned back to his. With a groan, Seto propelled himself to his feet, leaving his book but taking his mug with him to the kitchen. Ryou watched as he walked away. "Too bad you can't see his ass through that robe," muttered to himself. Ryou sat up, grabbed his mug and downed the rest of his cocoa. He looked from side to side, looking for his bookmark. It was on the small coffee table to his right. He placed the bookmark in his book and made his way to the kitchen, own mug in hand.

Small tings came to Ryou's ears when he walked into the kitchen. Seto looked up from stirring his coco to see Ryou with his mug. Seto put up a one sec finger and turned to grab the kettle and held it up so Ryou as if to say, 'you want me to pour this?'. Ryou smiled bashfully. Seto gave a half smile in return. He took Ryou's cup from him and poured in the hot water. He grabbed a packed from the drawer and shook it before tearing the packaging. He poured in the powder then stirred it for him.

"Careful," Seto whispered as he handed it to Ryou. Seto then grabbed his own cocoa and made his way back to his easy chair. Ryou stood in the doorway, staring into his hot cocoa swirling, wondering just how he could have ended up with the man of his dreams.

A/N: Yeah... It shouldn't be surprising that at first I spelt 'cocoa' as 'coco'. Considering I am allergic to chocolate and can't have that kind of thing anyway. When spell check didn't catch it because it is a proper noun, I thought I was spelling it correctly. Thank you Kaibaman for telling me of the error. It has now been fixed.