The snow flakes drifted ever so calmly to the ground, casting off bits of light that escaped from the over hang of clouds as if wishing keep the sight from being lost. The graying air and thick blanket of snow exuded a peaceful atmosphere, encouraging the drooping of eyelids. All of this was found in sharp contrast to exuberant shrieks of laughter that pealed endlessly from the street below. It would appear that all of the kids able to were out and about frolicking in this rare snow day. There was, however, one boy missing from the crowd.
The boy in question sighed, his breath fogging up the window pane of the hotel room that he had no place being in. Hyde couldn't believe his rotten luck. First, he'd been stuck with what must have been the least motivated human in the world. Then Eido had been dumb enough to let himself catch a bad case of the flu. Hyde had debated on staying back and helping nurse his book keeper back to help, but the boy had never been fond of germs. It had been just Hyde's luck to have a friend of his offer their hotel room to crash in while waiting for Eido to get better, and doubly was Hyde's luck that said friend was a fellow competitor in this battle to become king.
He rubbed away the fog with one fist and squinted at the kids playing below. They were probably all going to get sick from this cold, seeing as how much slush remained, the boy thought to himself. Sure, seeing as how Hyde made a habit to hang around a certain ice mamodo back home, it would make sense that he would be more tolerant of cold temperatures, but he wasn't. Sometimes the boy wondered if he was secretly a bear for wanting to hibernate through such cold temperatures.
There was a crack behind him as the door swung open and Hyde quickly slid down from his stoop. He fixed his eyes on the curled designs etched into the walls instead of bothering to turn around and look at the laughing older boy. It didn't take much of an imagination for Hyde to imagine Danny reaching up high as he tried to knock away what amounts of snow had managed to gather in the highly piled hair. In many cases, the thought would cause him to smirk or roll his eyes, but Hyde was too tired to think on it.
"Ah ha, can you believe how much snow is out there? I almost worked up a sweat pushing it out of the way so that I could reach the door to the hotel."
Danny laughed again as he flicked off the melted snow that had gathered around his cheeks. Truly, he wanted nothing more than to find some nice, warm grub to eat to fend off these oncoming chills, but these thoughts ceased when he caught sight of Hyde sulking in the corner. "Whoa … Hey, Hyde, are you okay? Is this about your book keeper, 'cause I'm sure that he's going to be okay. It's just the flu."
The boy muttered a response, but it was too low to hear and the older boy held his hand to his ear. "Huh, what was that? You're going to have to speak up if you want me to hear you."
"I said I don't like the snow."
Danny's eyes widened and he rolled back on his heels as if he had just been dealt a heavy blow and had the wind knocked out of him. Doesn't like the snow? He'd never heard of a kid who didn't jump at the opportunity to run outside and make snowmen or have snow ball fights and whatever else a kid wanted to do in the snow … as long as they avoided the yellow snow.
"You can't be serious, kid. Have you even ever been out in the snow?"
The boy scowled and rolled his eyes, "Of course I've been out in the snow before. That's why I don't like it."
Danny's eyes widened and he fought back the urge to yell out in frustration at such a bland response and instead he merely shook his head and moved to sit down beside the younger boy. "So what, did the snow beat you up or something?" Danny asked, hoping Hyde's answer wouldn't simply be an insult for saying such a thing.
Hyde shivered, just thinking about snow was reminding him of a time, or rather a boy, from back home. It would be more than a stretch to say that he and Reycom were friends, but still Hyde found himself often in their presence as if one party or another was subconsciously clinging to the other. Though that did not mean that they hung out all of the time, when they did, Reycom had a habit of dragging Hyde to the coldest areas that he could find. The habit was fitting for one who controlled ice, but it was still one that Hyde was not fond of.
And it was Reycom who unintentionally led to Hyde's disdain towards the snow. It happened two years ago back in the mamodo world, on a day where the snow fell similarly as it does now. The children had all abandoned their breakfasts in favor of staring in awe at the fresh blanket of white that had coated the land in their absence of sleep. At that time, they were all too young to have seen so much snow in one place and in such warm times, even for a certain ice mamodo.
Reycom had been elated, grinning from ear to ear in a way that made Hyde nervous, never having seen the boy act so openly excited in such a way. The blue haired boy gradually drew himself away from the group of children, looking about restlessly until finally he seemed to find what he was looking for. Without a single word of explanation, Reycom had walked back, grabbed Hyde's hand, and dragged him away until the two of them were standing in front of a large, frozen lake.
Reycom stared at it with the same odd excitement in his eyes, saying, "My parents told me that you can walk on water when it's frozen. I haven't been able to do it with my magic yet, but they said this stuff is better anyway."
Hyde nodded numbly at the statement as he grasped where Reycom was going with this, though not why they had decided to drag him along with them. What happened next was a bit of a blur, but somehow Reycom managed to convince Hyde to walk out onto the ice with him, blatantly ignoring Hyde's questions as to why. And at some point, once reaching the middle of the lake, a distinct cracking sound broke the muffled silence of the winter wonderland. Hyde was only able to open his mouth in question before the too thin ice gave way under the boy's weight and Hyde plunged downward, his question left unanswered by the other boy's blank stare.
The memory brought back the feeling of shock and nearly immediate numbing sensation and Hyde drew his knees up to his chest as he fought to keep himself warm. It was tempting to explain all of this to Danny, who had become an idle character in this story, but all Hyde could bring himself to say was this: "I-I was playing outside with s-some kid and the ice br-broke." The boy tried his best to still his voice, but the room was suddenly too cold for him to bear and he shuddered.
Danny was silent through this short explanation and, once he was sure that Hyde was finished, he wrapped his arms around them as if doing so could somehow protect the young child from the past. The older boy hadn't known Hyde for too long, but still his heart ached for any pain that the boy felt. "Okay, I get it. No snow for you. We can just hang out up here all day if you want, maybe watch a movie or something."
The young boy relaxed and let Danny hug him, too tired from worry to object. "Yeah … that sounds like a good idea. I don't know what movie I want to watch though."
Danny laughed, standing up and scooping Hyde up in his arms, earning a half-hearted punch from the now heavy-lidded boy. With that, he walked over to a deep red cough and dropped Hyde down on the plush cushions. "Don't worry about it! I'm sure I can find something for us to watch. But first I'm going to get us some hot chocolate. Can't completely ignore how it's snowing and all and you look like you could use something warm to drink."
Danny hummed to himself as he walked down stairs to the refreshments center downstairs that he had only realized dispensed free hot chocolate to those with a room. He had spotted the machine on his way up and had been planning on asking Hyde if he wanted a cup anyway. Things seemed to be working out just perfectly. After some manner of trouble figuring out how to work the machine, Danny returned to the room, balancing too cups nearly over flowing with hot chocolate. The boy bit back the temptation to throw back some of the drinks to prevent spilling, aided by his own chills, but the thought of drinking Hyde's drink made him want to gag.
Truly, he was ecstatic that the little guy had agreed when Danny offered him a room. Hyde could be a tough kid to deal with and Danny had trouble finding time to talk to him, both because of Mr. Goldo's job and Hyde's own stubborn nature … and, well, his own. For the first time ever, it seemed as if the two would be able to have a real conversation, one that wouldn't divulge into petty insults and backhanded jokes. This was something that he had been looking forward to ever since the two had met, and it had taken long enough to happen.
… And it would appear that it would take even longer still. For when Danny finally reached their room and pushed open the door, he found a certain red-headed child curled up on the couch, fast asleep. Danny sighed, placed the cups on a nearby table, and sat down by the boy's head. "You really have the perfect timing, you know that?"