"Oh great, it's snowing even more," Jade said, as she stumbled around The Land of Frost and Frogs. It had been an hour since she had first entered the game, and she was already feeling overwhelmed. She had to breed frogs, light a fire, kill monsters, become a god, and now, to make matters worse, it had begun to snow even harder than it already was! The dress she had made for herself was warm, but the flakes were piling up deeper and deeper. Soon, she could barely walk through it all. Her eyelids were heavy, and she was afraid that she would fall asleep. After all, who could come to help her in this storm? Jade could barely walk, and slumber seemed more and more inviting with each passing second. She found a spot that was relatively clear of snow, and settled down into sleep. "I'll only sleep for a little while..." she thought as she drifted into her nap.
Dave jumped down into a snow drift, and immediately regretted it. "Damn, why does Harley's planet gotta be so cold? Mine's hot as fuck!" As he climbed out of the drift, he looked around, and decided to walk in the direction of the volcano in the distance. "She'll definitely be this way. Definitely." While wandering through the snow, he wondered where Jade was. The mountain certainly wasn't getting any closer, and it was still snowing just as hard. Coming to an open glade in the jungle, he looked up. Gazing at the white sky, he contemplated where he should look for Jade. Continuing on, he found a spot relatively clear of snow, and decided to take a break. When he sat down, the ground felt odd. Almost… alive! Jumping up, he brushed the snow off Jade's body. "Aw, here you are! Snoozin' in the snow, Harley? C'mon, you're tougher than that!"
When she woke up, the first thing Jade saw was Dave's shades. Barely conscious, she managed a feeble, "Hey." She was shivering violently, and could barely sit up. She felt on the verge of passing out again. Dave picked her up, and she felt that she could rest in his arms until he got her to safety. Sighing in relief, she fell asleep once more.
Picking Jade up, Dave immediately saw that he had to get her out of the snow; preferably inside her nice, warm house. She was only a few degrees away from hypothermia, and there was no way this cool kid was going to let his friend freeze to death. Trudging through the snow, Dave had only one thought on his mind, to get Jade to a warm place. After what seemed like a lifetime of walking, he spotted her home very nearby. When he got to the door, though, he soon discovered that it was locked! "Leave it to her to lock her door on an almost empty planet." Dave spotted a window fairly close to the ground, and figured it was his best bet on getting inside. Hoisting Jade up onto his shoulder, Dave managed to unlatch the window, open it up, and get himself and Jade through the opening without any bumps or scratches. Since he had no idea how to work the transportalizer, he had to walk up the entire flight of stairs to Jade's bedroom. Walking through the house, Dave noticed all the pictures of Jade, Grandpa, and Becquerel hanging on the walls. He lingered on the pictures with just Jade, and couldn't help but blush when pictures of her in a bathing suit popped up. At last, they arrived at Jade's room. Dave laid her down on the bed, and went to find more blankets to warm her up.
Jade sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes. She looked around the room in disbelief. "Wha- how did I get back here?" She got up out of bed, pushing the ridiculous amount of blankets off, and stumbled over to the wardrobe, picking out her comfiest pajamas. As she pulled up the bottoms, she heard a bowl crash to the ground behind her. Dave stood just inside the doorway, his face as red as his typing color. Soup was spreading across the floor. "Sorry…" Dave muttered as he hurried out of the room. After Jade was properly clothed, she went outside to find Dave sitting just outside, still flushed a furious red. "Oh, uh, sorry about that," he stammered, blushing even more. "It's, um, fine," Jade said, her face colored just as much. "Would you like me to get you some more soup? You're probably still freezing." As Dave stood up to head back to the kitchen, Jade stopped him. "No, it's fine. We can just stay up here. You know, together," she whispered shyly. "I know! I can show you my Squiddle collection!" Jade shouted. "Yeah, that would be pretty sweet," Dave said, happy to have an interruption. Jade spent nearly ten minutes rambling about her stuffed friends, while Dave sat listening intently. After a few more minutes, she changed the subject. "Oh, you're probably getting bored now, aren't you?" Dave jerked awake as she spoke. "Nah, I'm just a little tired. Carrying you through all that fucking snow wasn't easy. You mind if I grab some z's?" Jade seemed flustered, but agreed. "Would you like me to tuck you in, cool kid? Or are you too cool for that?" Jade smirked. As she pulled the covers up to his chin, Dave could feel himself becoming drowsier. Just as he was about to fall asleep, she leaned in and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Good night, my knight," she whispered as he fell asleep.
When Dave woke up, Jade was sitting on the edge of the bed, watching him. "Hey Harley," he said, still not quite fully awake. "Hey Dave," Jade replied. Looking out the window, Dave noticed that the snow had stopped, and was even beginning to melt. "You were asleep for a long time," she said. "I managed to light the forge, and make my planet a lot warmer! Maybe now I can wear this really fancy dress that I made earlier!" After a short pause, Dave stepped out of the room, without a sound, so Jade could get dressed. When she came back, she was dressed in a sleeveless black dress with green flecks, and a green dog's head near the top. "Damn, Harley. You look awesome," Dave said, blushing some more. "You really think so?" Jade replied, beaming. "Yeah," Dave said. "Hey let's go find those frogs you gotta get," he mentioned. Jade hesitated in the doorway. "You know, maybe we could, um, spend a little time, you know, not worrying about that stuff? Just a little bit?" Dave wasn't sure how to react, so he just came back inside the room, closing the door behind him. "Well, what do you suggest we do, then?" he asked slyly. "Oh, just listen to music or whatever." Jade then proceeded to her workbench, upon which was an old cassette player. She brought it over to the bed and sat down. "My grandpa had a ton of old cassettes just lying around, and they're actually pretty good!" she said, popping in a blue tape. "Well, let's see what your pops had!" Dave said, sitting next to her, very close.
As soft, romantic music began to drift from the player, Jade leaned into Dave's side, savoring the moment. They both knew they only had a little time to just sit together, but they had every intention of making every second last. Dave tentatively put his arm around Jade's shoulder. While the music filled the room, and the snow continued to melt, even faster than before, the two were content to just sit in each other's arms for a short while. "Hey Dave?" Jade asked, breaking the silence. "Yeah, what is it, Harley?" Dave replied. "What are we going to do after all this?" Dave pondered the question for a while, then said, "I have no idea, Jade. I just want to stay with you, is all." They lay in each other's arms for a while longer, not wanting the music to end. Jade had never been happier to just sit and do absolutely nothing, with Dave by her side. As the music began to fade away, they turned to face each other. As they leaned in closer, Jade could hardly believe that what she thought was about to happen was actually going to happen. When their lips met, it was the most astounding sensation Jade had ever felt. Dave wrapped his arms around her, holding her close and secure. Jade shyly stretched her arms around his waist, hugging him back. She leaned into Dave, pressing up against his torso. She could feel his heartbeat. It was pounding like the bass of the song that had just ended. When they pulled away for air, Jade whispered to Dave; "Do you really feel that way?" He pressed his forehead against hers, and whispered back. "Of course, Harley," punctuating the confession with another kiss. He leaned back, and Jade hugged him harder than ever before. Dave craned his head up, and Jade snuggled up so that she could reach out and kiss him once more. They sat like that for a long time, content in the fact that they were together and simply holding each other. She wished that the moment could last forever, but then Dave sat up. "C'mon," he said, standing up. "We have work to do." With that, he offered her his hand, and they stood up to go outside.
"Holy shit! This place got hot fast!" Dave wiped sweat from his brow, and picked up another frog. "I don't get how these frogs are just popping out from nowhere," he muttered, trying to balance a second frog. Walking back the way he came, he remembered his and Jade's kisses, and how much he wanted to do it again. Spotting her in the distance, he blushed slightly. By the time he was back, the blood had gone from his face. "Thanks! I think we're almost done!" Jade grabbed the frogs from Dave's hands and put them on the pedestal of her machine. Dave didn't understand at all how it worked, but he wasn't going to let that on to her. After a lot of whirring and clanking, a new frog hopped out of the portal of the machine. "Nope," Jade muttered. "So what, we gotta find more frogs?" Without answering, she went back inside to change into her Iron Lass Dress. Dave sat on the edge of the enormous skyscraper that had been built from her old house, waiting.
Once they had both been flown down, and Jade had changed back into her black dress, they went to find more frogs. Wandering the jungle filled with the croaks of the amphibians, she thought about the time they had spent in her room together. She felt giddy inside, and kept reliving the embrace over and over in her mind. She had become so engrossed in the memory that she nearly passed the special frog that she had been looking for. They had been crouching behind a large, mossy rock, burping incessantly. She picked them up and walked back towards the tower. Spotting Dave in the distance, she began to hurry. When she had drawn nearer, she saw that he had found both of the frogs that she had asked him to find, even quicker than she had found her pair. "Hey, you got your frogs!" he shouted. Grinning from ear to ear, she looked past his head at the volcano that was now spewing smoke into the sky. Squinting, she could almost make out a black shape, with wings, a dog's head, and a sword. Whatever it was, it seemed to be flying in their direction…