He doesn't take the subtle protests against him going out into account.

He doesn't take the cold that bites his frail shoulders into account.

He doesn't take the heavy snow that rains down onto his small figure into account.

It's been a month since the incident, and that was within that amount of time did it take realization that he was dead to sink in and sack him in the jaw at full force.

They had noticed, of course, how he seemed to finally realize the weight behind the trial they had covered the previous month.

It wasn't just some normal case which would be wiped from his memory like dust bunnies off Mister Wright's unused-for-seven-years desk.

News flash, Clay Terran's dead, folks! Stab wound to the chest, and he was out like a light! Coming up next, more breaking news that the Phantom still doesn't have an identity-

He takes the gravestone in front of him into account.

To the m - No, it hurt too much to imitate him, take two - To Heck with the snow that would probably bury him within the next five minutes, he planted his feet into snow-covered ground and just stared at the grave.

A bunch of bronze coloured chrysanthemum, nice try, whoever had left this there, but it's highly doubtful Clay'll like that. He's allergic to flowers, y'know. At least, Clay claims to be whenever he whips up a pot of jasmine or chrysanthemum tea. He suspects that Clay just really hates tea, but he plays along.

The small, delicate words that were engraved into the slab of rock, Clay really hated small text, drove him insane. He didn't have bad eyesight, but it made him really irritated when he had to read small text. Luckily for him, he wouldn't have to read this one. But it probably would be better if he could. Wait, no, nevermind, reading the words on his own grave would be downright creepy.

The grave right beside his. Clay would be happy to be buried right beside his mother. He remembered how Clay had cried on the night he lost his mother, it made him almost jealous that he had somebody to weep for, that he had a parent. Those two were probably dancing together in the sky right now-

Dancing.

Dancing involves songs.

Song.

It was snowing.

Heck.

He then remembered a few years ago, some movie was released that he hadn't bothered to learn the name of. Clay apparently went to watch it with his father, and Clay'd been crazy about it for the two months, driving him up the wall. He had not-so-subtly suggested that he watch it, but no, he always refused.

Maybe if Clay had suggested he go watch it, fine, maybe he would someday, but why did Clay think that his constant singing would convince him to watch that show?

Okay, the movie involved a lot of songs. He was fine with that. Clay kept singing them. He was not fine with that.

There were that particular song which he sang so much that Apollo begrudgingly memorized the lyrics to. It was hard not to remember something people say a lot, y'know?

"Yo, do you want to build a SNOWMAAAA-"

"No, Clay."

"Aw, c'mon, I was just kidding! Hey, y'know, you should sing it with me-"

"NO, Clay."

"Please?-"

"When Hell freezes over."

When Hell freezes over?

Well, Hell has frozen over.

He knocked on the piece of stone. Twice, thrice.

"Clay?" He asked, his voice almost completely covered up by the howling winds, but he was certain at least the stone managed to hear his voice.

"Please, I know you're somewhere..."

Oh Gods, he never thought he'd be singing, much less this song, be it in private or in public. Even with nobody around, he was pretty sure he could hear the other seven billion people of the population laughing at his attempt to match the tune of a song he had never heard before.

"I've been wondering where you've gone..."

He thought back to their concerned faces when they tried to persuade him to stay in the office instead of heading out in this ridiculous storm. How he had managed to make them allow him to go out was a mystery worth solving. They gripped his shoulder, patted his back, ruffled his hair, let empty words of encouragement escape their mouths as they tried to stop him from going into the chilly atmosphere outside the warm, cheery office.

"They say have courage and I'm trying to..."

It had been a month since the incident. He had been in semi-denial until he tried to call Clay's mobile phone when he was feeling particularly stressed over one of the cases. He was ready to wreck his desk, he just needed to unwind and talk to somebody and maybe hang out over lunch and-

[ Yeah, hey there! If you get this, you've reached my voice mail! If you're wondering where I am, I'm probably training for my SPACE MISSION! If you have something to say, leave a message after the beep! ]

[ Beep. ]

Space mission.

HECK.

It was at that moment he made the genius conclusion and realization that Clay's mentioned space mission had already happened and had already ended. Ended with a dead body, in fact. Then curse his eyes, because he started to have flashbacks. Suddenly, it seemed like only yesterday when he was staring at the photograph of a man in a spacesuit, his lifeless body laying on the floor with a blade in his chest.

He grabbed his stack of papers and chucked them at the wall, and that was when the rest directed their attention to him just in time to see his forehead say hello to his desk.

They were by his side in a flash, but he had already gotten back onto his feet and was heading out the door. They gripped his rigid shoulder, it must be hard for you, isn't it? They patted his stiff back, we're always here if you need to talk. They ruffled his disheveled hair, please don't go out in this weather, you'll freeze your horns off.

Nah, you know me, I'm forever fine. I'll be back in a few hours. Tore away from their grip, turned around and slammed the door - Ha, he could almost laugh at that, it sounded like part of the lyrics for another song Clay always sang.

"I'm waiting here for you, just talk to me..."

He didn't think about it a lot - ...Okay, that was a lie. He thought about it a lot more than he should have, but Clay was the closest thing to family he ever had. Clay was like a brother to him, and Clay felt the same. So naturally they were a little more close than friends. He winced painfully whenever somebody mistook them for being romantically involved. It just felt wrong to him, since Clay was more like family rather than lover. Maybe it was just because he never cared too much about romance, but whatever.

"We used to have each other..."

A friendly reminder that Clay's dead.

"But now I'm all alone..."

He had a vice-like grip onto the gravestone - It was what kept him standing upright - But now failed it's purpose as he fell down into a sitting position, though his grip on the edge of the stone was as solid as ever.

"What am I going to dooooo?"

He feels himself starting to shake, and although he wasn't wearing any winter clothing, something he just realized, he knew that his lack of warm clothing was the reason. He rested his bruised-from-face-desk-in-office-earlier forehead onto the stone.

"...Do you want to build a snowman...?"

He's shaking even more violently than before, and he can only hope Clay knows he's just so goddamn SORRY for not singing all those years before, when they still had time, before it was all too late.

He should've sang whatever Clay wanted. Heck, he should've sang every single song Clay knew until his voice ran dry, but it was too late now. Clay had always said his voice was like a beacon, guiding Clay back whenever he felt like he was about to get lost. Now, no amount of singing was going to bring Clay back. His ship had sailed out too far to sea, never to return, lost somewhere in the snow.

Please, I'll do anything, I'll even sing every single remix of that song if it makes you happy.

Then the wind howls especially strongly for a split second, and Apollo almost dares to hope he heard what he did.

"...Of course I want to build a snowman..."

Author's notes: This coming from a person who has never watched Frozen.

But I love the movie so much oh my Gosh.

I haven't watched the movie, but I have "Do You Want To Build A Snowman" and "Let It Go" memorized. I also pretty much know part of the story line. And I'm singing "Let It Go" with my brother in school. And I'm rambling, aren't I.

There's this tumblr post, and that's where the start of this sparked.

[ I want Apollo to sing "Do You Want To Build A Snowman". In the context of Clay is dead. The knocking on the door is him knocking on Clay's tombstone. ]

So yeah, basically.

Also, I purposely didn't mention Apollo's name. And it's probably really confusing. And I think the only name I used is "Clay Terran" and "Phantom" if that counts.

Whoops.

And does this count as a songfic? I think the rules said those weren't allowed, but I'm not sure if this counts as one...If it does, I'll just take it down.

And HAHAHA AT MY LAME ATTEMPT AT TRYING TO BRING THAT SONG INTO THIS FIC HAHAHA...

Also just to clarify, I'm not against Apollo being shipped with Clay. I just think of them as brothers more than anything.

Please R&R?