I had never seen much snow in my life, and it was a beautiful sight to behold. White engulfed the landscape and it continued to flutter down, decorating any untouched areas. Icicles dangled from rooftops and tree branches and ponds had frozen over, people were out skating on the bed of ice. It was cold out as well so I had picked up a scarf to wear.
My friends were amongst me, some getting into a snowball fight, others making snowmen. A blue hedgehog was trying to make a speedy escape after hitting his counterpart with a snowball, and angrily chased him halfway down the park. The same hedgehog had smacked the white bat next to me with one as well, and she had hoisted a flailing red echidna into the air and tossed him at the prankster. Unfortunately she only barely missed. I couldn't stifle my laughter.
I must have fumbled and made a silly comment, unaware that my cheeks flushed a deep red as I waved my hands frantically at how the female bat began laughing at me. She's so pretty, I'd think. And she was. She was gorgeous. She was the kind of woman who could have any man she wanted with just a wink of the eye, though most of her priorities involved great riches, specifically jewels.
I had awkwardly tried to improvise, I hadn't exactly realized that at the moment I had sliced off some ice hanging from a tree branch with my psychokinesis and was idly trying to meld it into the shape of a pentagon—or, more accurately, a smaller version of a chaos emerald. I was too lost in my own concentration to notice any commotion around me.
Trying to forge something like this took a bit more work. I was always trying to find ways to improve my powers, improve my battle skills. By now I was as fast as, well, the fastest hedgehog alive when I was flying. I could pick up even larger objects than before and I didn't become fatigued as quickly as before. And now, I could actually snap or cut things in half. I was getting better. Much better.
I was being unusually careful with cutting the sides of the ice, knowing that if I were too rough with it it would shatter. I had forgotten the initial reason I was even attempting this, but before I knew it I had completed the third small "ice gem". I had actually managed to cut them all just right, to where each side was as symmetrical as I could get them. They weren't perfect, but they looked good for a first time trying to carve something out of ice. I was now working on a much larger block of ice I had been able to cut out of a small puddle of water. This one was looking the best. I had dusted off any grime or twigs and it was as clear as day when I lifted it up to the sun to look at it.
When I looked back down my fur stood on end to find the white bat had approached me and was staring at me with a curiosity that she only bore for things that were mysterious, hard to get. Like her raven-furred friend, the eldest hedgehog among us all. They were best friends, but he had an unusual way of piquing her interest.
She looked at the small sculpture that I was holding mid-air and a smile appeared on her face. "Wow. Did you make that, kiddo?"
And this was another one of those moments where I wished I knew how to talk to girls properly. My tongue was a little tied. I was the kind of person who never did well in social situations to begin with. "Uh...y-yeah, I did. Several of them."
I lowered the largest ice-gem and levitated the smaller ones in the air next to it. I wasn't quite sure if it was me imagining things, or if I had spotted a sparkle in her eye with a look of admiration as she eyed the sculptures. I knew she was aware that these weren't real valuables, they were just scraps of ice that I had took interest in shaping into something else. Which is why it somewhat confused me as to why she even showed a bit of interest to what I had made.
Still, she continued smiling. "They look good. I didn't know you could do that."
Compliments made me fidgety and I naturally laughed a little nervously. Not to mention that it was a compliment coming from her, which was a bit of a rarity. I didn't expect her to say that and in a awkward habit I scratched my cheek a little. I wasn't oblivious to her selfishness, I knew how she was. But I had seen her show a bit of kindness several times, though it was mostly directed at the ultimate life form, as we all knew him.
She seemed to have warmed up to me. Maybe not entirely, we didn't know each other personally, she just...had a nicer way of approaching me. She still smiled at me. She'd still laugh at my bumbling around, how I stammered. She hadn't given me any sort of cold shoulder yet, though that was possibly because I had succeeded in keeping myself from delving too far into anything, especially if it was personal. I doubted I'd be comfortable overstepping into that zone anyway. But at the moment, I was happy. And having her take notice to the carvings I'd done made me feel just a little bit more confident.
Often times I'd question myself as to why she made me feel this way.
"I, uh," I stammered slightly. "know you're not...really sentimental or anything but...you can have them if you want?" I started fumbling again and lowered the 'gems' into her hands. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if she refused the sudden offer. "Er...sorry."
She blinked several times at the items that now lay in her grasp. She opened her mouth to respond, but then—
Out of nowhere I was hit with a snowball, startling the crap out of me and in a fit of embarrassment my powers flicked on and I lifted up a good bed of snow from the ground and tossed it at the culprit, who was evidently still harassing others with his attacks. Lucky for him he was only grazed and darted out of the way, leaving the snow to land on top of the echidna.
Besides me, she erupted in laughter again and I couldn't help the blush that came back onto my muzzle. That was when she raised a hand and ruffled the quills on top of my head and by then my mind lagged and my mouth stopped working.
"You're so cute." She snickered. "And I'll make sure these don't melt anytime soon. Thanks." She winked at me.
Still grinning, the white bat opened her wings, turned and fluttered away towards the eldest hedgehog here, landing and dusting off any remaining snow from the previous assault.
She had winked at me.
I smiled widely, savoring it while it lasted. She was so far off from me, I knew what I felt was a very futile and somewhat childish thing to feel, but I was content. It wasn't like she needed to know, either. It would probably be best that way anyway, because it would be easier for me to let it go.