LET IT SNOW
Disclaimer:
Oh the fic might be quite frightful
But Butch's characters are so delightful
They're his, not mine, you know
Just borrowing them so they can play in the snow!
Rating: K+
Warnings: DxS of the fluffiest variety. Post-PP.
This one is for GhostDragon02, who was in search of some DxS fluff involving snow. Since she was kind enough to draw a picture for me from my fic, Ghosts in the Closet, the least I could do was oblige her with a fluffy little winter one-shot. Posted without a beta-test, so it'll probably have a few more errors than usual.
Let it Snow
Danny made his way through the crowded halls of the Amity Park Mall, shopping bags gripped tightly so he wouldn't lose them as he pushed his way through the throngs of people. Gritting his teeth, he tried to remind himself that he'd vowed to have a positive attitude about the holidays, but the crowds were getting on his last nerve, and if he heard "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" one more time—particularly given the issues his own mother had with the guy in red—he was gonna provide some editorial commentary to the mall's sound system via his ghost ray.
On the upside, most of his Christmas shopping was done. Books on the paranormal for his parents, a psychology book for Jazz, and a gift card to Tucker's favorite electronics store. The only gift he had left to buy was for Sam, and it was proving to be an exercise in frustration. Usually, she was easy to shop for. Anything from the Skulk and Lurk would be a sure hit, as would a CD from one of their favorite bands, or even some novelty Halloween item he'd picked up in the clearance bins in early November would do. But this year was their first holiday as a couple, and Danny didn't want just a regular gift. He wanted something special. Something that would light up her face and make her smile and would tell her how much she meant to him.
Finding such a gift, however, proved to be a fruitless task. She didn't like jewelry or flowers or the usual romantic gifts, and anything else he could think of seemed to say I like you more than I like like you. It was enough to sour even his most valiant efforts at holiday cheer. Fortunately, he was meeting Sam and Tucker in the food court, and since Sam loved the holidays, he hoped her good mood would rub off on him.
His hopes faded, however, when he reached his destination and found Sam slumped over, her head resting face first on the table. Danny slid into a seat beside her, giving Tucker a questioning look across the table. Tuck merely shrugged in response, and Danny turned his attention back to Sam. "Excuse me, but I'm looking for my girlfriend. Maybe you know her? She's usually kind of cynical, but Christmas always turns her into Susie Sunshine. Seen her anywhere?"
Sam sat up and gave him a baleful glare. "What? You're the only one allowed to have an occasional bad holiday?"
"No, but what's wrong?"
She sighed. "My grandma just found out last night that an old friend of hers died. She flew back to New York this morning for the funeral, so she won't be home for the first night of Hanukkah. That means it's just me and my parents, and you know how they can suck the joy out of anything."
"Oh, come on, Sam. They're not that bad."
Her answering glower lowered the temperature more effectively than his ice powers ever could.
"Okay, okay!" He put his hands up in surrender. "They are that bad."
Her gaze softened. "It's not just that. I feel so bad for my grandma. She's at that age when she's losing a lot of her friends, and it would really help if we could all just be together on the first night of Hanukkah. And to top it all off, it's, like, seventy degrees out! How am I supposed to get into the holiday spirit in the middle of a major winter heat wave? If I could just go sledding or have a snowball fight or something, then maybe I could get into the holiday spirit even with Grandma away. But no. It has to be sixty-freaking-seven degrees out! Thank you, global warming!"
She plopped her head back down on the table, and Danny slipped a comforting arm around her shoulders. Usually she was the one who kept him in good spirits during the holidays. If only he could return the favor. If only there was something—
And then it hit him. There was something he could do. The perfect holiday gift, just for Sam.
"Danny, where are we going?" Sam tried once more to peek under the blindfold he'd made her wear, and he slapped her hand away.
"Stop that! I told you, you'll see when we get there. And if you keep making me slap your hand away from that blindfold, I might lose my grip on you." Since they were flying at the moment, him losing his grip on her would have been a Very Bad Thing.
But they'd arrived. Danny landed on the hill just outside of town, under the tree—their tree—the same one where he'd given her his father's class ring, making them an official couple.
Sam's nose wrinkled as her boots came to rest on the ground with a soft crunching sound. "What was that? It feels like—" Danny removed the blindfold and her eyes widened. "It is! It's snow!"
The whole hill, including the tree branches above them, was covered in a thick layer of pristine, powdery snow. It glistened in the glow from the strand of battery-powered Christmas lights he'd strung on the tree, the only source of light, since the sun had set an hour before, and the moon was only a crescent. Leaning against the tree, with a big red bow, was a sled. It wasn't a new sled—it was the same Danny had used every year since he was a kid—but he knew Sam wouldn't care about new or shiny. In fact, knowing her, she'd probably prefer the sled they'd used for years. Draped across the sled was her winter jacket, which he'd snuck out of her closet earlier.
He smiled as he watched her take in the scene, her eyes round with delight. Finally, she turned to him. "Did you do this?"
Shrugging, his smile widened. "Nothing a little judicious use of ice powers couldn't accomplish. Happy Hanukkah, Sam."
She launched herself at him, almost knocking him to the ground in the process. "Thank you, Danny! It's perfect! It's the best present ever."
He hugged her back, relishing the feel of her in his arms, and the happiness in her voice. No, Sam. This is the best present ever.
After a moment, he stepped back from her. "Well, if we're gonna play in the snow, we'd better get to it. Ice powers or no, it's still a warm night, so it's gonna start melting soon." With that, he transformed to human form, complete with his own winter jacket.
Sam went over to the tree to retrieve her jacket and slipped into it, then set the sled down on its runners. "Whaddaya say? Wanna go for a ride, Fenton? Or are you chicken?"
Crossing his arms, he arched an eyebrow at her. "Who you callin' 'chicken?' Bring it on, Manson."
Two hours, several dozen sled rides, and a few snowball fights later, they found themselves back at the top of the hill, lying on their backs side-by-side as they made snow angels. Or, by now it was more slush angels than snow, but Danny didn't care.
Sam didn't seem to care, either. She'd been smiling steadily for the past two hours, her holiday blues completely banished by their childlike play. Her slush angel finished, she sat up, looking down at him. Her jacket was soaked, and a trickle of water dripped off the end of her nose. Reaching up, he brushed at it with his thumb. "You're wet."
"So are you." She leaned down and kissed him, and she tasted like snow which, somewhat ironically, sent warmth through him. When she finally broke away from him, she looked into his eyes, her own deep with emotion. "I love kissing you in the snow. It reminds me of our first kiss."
He frowned up at her. "Our first kiss was a fake-out make-out, and there wasn't any snow."
She punched him in the shoulder. "Our first real kiss, I mean." Then she sighed. "Danny, thank you so much for this. You have no idea how much I needed this. It really is the most perfect gift I ever got."
"You deserve the perfect gift. You... this... us... it's the best thing that ever happened to me."
She arched an eyebrow. "Better than getting ghost powers?"
"Better than getting ghost powers," he confirmed with a nod. "But it's all kind of a package deal, since that was because of you, too." He reached up and toyed with a strand of her hair. "And I really like the whole package."
Her smile lit up her face and sent another wave of heat over him. "You're not so bad yourself, Ghost Boy." And then she was kissing him again.
"Happy Hanukkah, Sam," he breathed between kisses.
"Merry Christmas, Danny."