The first time Cress saw snow was from the inside of the Rampion. She had watched as they descended from the sky, the snowflakes falling gently down with them, as they landed with an ease that Cress had come to appreciate over the months of delivering the letumosis cure.
She'd been staring out the window with large eyes, frozen to the spot much as the snow stuck to the ground. She had seen the world covered in sand that got in her hair and clothes and felt the dry heat that parched her throat. She had seen the beautiful shimmering walls of Artemesia. She had even seen the lush green of the gardens of Kai's palace once they had been visiting.
But never had she laid eyes upon such a pristine white-covered world.
They had landed near a cabin, where a scientist spent his days away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The cabin wasn't a far cry from the woods. Cress could see the leafless trees not too far in the distance. They were first to get the medicine to the doctor, who would use it to create more, so that they could last longer on Earth instead of having to make another trip back to Luna.
Cress jumped, shaken from her thoughts, when she felt a hand suddenly press against her shoulder. She turned and looked up at Thorne, who was looking down at her with a look of both confusion and worry on his face.
"Are you alright? You've been staring out of this window for a while now and I know nothing out there could be a better sight to see than I am," he said, half-joking, half serious.
Cress smiled and looked away, feeling a blush come up on her cheeks. "I've just…never seen snow in person before."
"Well, now's your chance Little Lady," Thorne grinned and held his arm out to Cress, which she looped her own arm in.
Just as she did, she saw Wolf and Scarlet nearing them, Wolf carrying a crate of vials of the medication.
"Well, let's get going. No time to waste," Scarlet said, tossing Cress a jacket. "You might want to cover up." She turned and began opening the hatch as Cress pulled on the slightly big coat.
An icy breeze flew inside of the Rampion and Cress immediately zipped the jacket up. Stepping outside, Wolf just blinked, coatless, while Cress had to suppress a shiver as her feet landed on the snow, producing a satisfying crunching sound that was unlike when her feet had stepped on fallen leaves, but still nice in its own way.
Despite the immense cold, Cress grinned. It was beautiful!
"Welcome, welcome," the doctor called, trudging through the snow, his white hair blending with the snow. Scarlet and Wolf nodded, nearing him.
Cress prepared to trudge towards him to, but found herself shrieking in surprise when a sudden force hit against her back. She turned, wide eyed, scanning the landscape for an attacker.
But she only saw Thorne with his hands behind his back, looking at the sky, whistling.
"W-what hit me?" she asked with wide eyes, a bit afraid and perhaps just a tad bit still paranoid from their previous adventures with Levana.
Thorne stopped whistling and finally looked at her, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "The first rule of snow, sweetie, is to always be prepared," his suddenly whisked his hands from behind her back, showing a perfectly shaped snowball in his gloved hand, "for a snowball fight."
With that, he threw the snowball in Cress' direction, who let out a squeal of surprise and turned away slightly, though the ball still hit her arm.
"Two can play that game!" Cress shouted back, excited to play the game she had seen in a net-drama, wasting no time in scooping up a ball of snow in her bare hand. Then she squeaked and dropped it. "I-it's freezing!"
Thorne raised his eyebrows and dropped his prepared snowball and trudged over to her. He took her reddened hand in his and splayed out his fingers, looked at her, then placed a gentle kiss on each fingertip. A furious blush spread from her face down to her neck as butterflies flew in the pit of her stomach, reminding her of the time when she had been in bed, barely able to move, with Thorne placing sweet kisses all over her.
His eyes were twinkling with that sexy, mischievous glint. He took his gloves off and placed them in her hand. Before she could protest, he cut her off. "I'm used to the cold and there's probably another pair in the Rampion. For now, you'd just better watch out."
He ran away, giving them distance, as Cress bent down and scooped up more snow, this time her hands properly protected. She threw a snowball, who ducked easily and scooped up another snowball and threw it at her almost in the same beat.
She laughed, barely dodging it, as Thorne scooped up more snow.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, she realized that Scarlet, Wolf and the doctor had gone inside already. But truthfully, besides the fact that she was able to be useful and help people, Cress lived for moments like these.
With Thorne.
So even though she was getting pummeled by snowballs and it was so cold out that she could see her breathe…Cress decided that she loved snowy days.
