CASTLE MADE OF SNOW

Inspired by 'Castle made of snow' from Alexander Rybak

Disclaimer: I don't own Arthur or Kiku

The rain pattered against the window, the sky gray and full of clouds.
Arthur stared out of the window, sitting in a grey chair in the white room, at nothing in particular. Normally the sun would illuminate the white apartment nicely, but due to the permanent rain the last weeks everything seemed just grey and lifeless.
Arthur continued to stare at the grey sky, the grey streets and grey apartments.

Life was boring.
It never had been exiting or interesting anyway and the rain made it just more worthless.
Maybe Arthur's thinking was at fault too but that didn't matter.
When he remembered his little brothers who found everything interesting and could made fun out of everything he sighed.
Maybe it was his thinking that made the world boring.

He had lived in a small village when he had been young; it was a nice village, but boring. There weren't any children, only old people who didn't do anything the whole day. They would stay in their houses, complaining about the cold or the heat and drinking bitter coffee. Some of them were nice but too old to play.
As far as he remembered life was boring.
So when he had finished school, he had decided to go to a college in London, hoping that it would be more interesting in a bigger city.

At first it had been.
The first days had been hectic and confusing, but with the time everything became routine and boring. The same grey skies. The same boring lectures. The same students around him. The same work every day. Everything was the same, day after day.
Life wasn't sad… but boring.
His brothers were boring because they didn't change, always predictable and happy.
His parents were boring because they were older by now too, drinking bitter coffee and complaining about the heat or the cold.
Not that they had ever been interesting.

Arthur sighed again.
He probably should go to his lectures but he didn't want to. He probably should turn the light on at least but he didn't want to.
It wouldn't change anything. The grey would just become lighter but not less grey. Not more interesting or exciting.

His friends were planning on meeting this evening but Arthur had already said that he wouldn't come. They would talk about the same things they had talked about yesterday and the day before. They would drink the same beer they had drunk yesterday and the day before. He would just sit in the corner doing nothing, like yesterday and the day before.
Boring.

Maybe he should get himself a girlfriend like his friend had suggested.
But the girls around here were boring.
They all would talk about the same trivial things, giggle at the same unfunny jokes and wear the same short skirts.
Arthur sighed again.
His mother was already worried since he never had had a girlfriend.

He stared at a particular big drop on the pane which slid slowly down.
Was living such a boring life even worth the problems?
Arthur had heard of many people who jumped down huge buildings, tired of living.
Was he tired of living?
Probably.

But who could assure him that dead was more interesting?
People always said that after your death you would go in heaven and be surrounded by the things and persons you cherished the most.
Sadly he hadn't anything he cherished the most.
Being surrounded by a huge empty, grey blankness…
This didn't sound exciting.

Life and death were somehow the same. Both far too boring to live. Or to be dead.
Arthur sighed again, seeing the big drop vanish at the bottom of the window. Another drop had already taken its place.
Maybe he should just go to sleep.
Fleeing in the not existing dreams he never had. Maybe the sun would shine when he woke up.
Not likely.

Arthur heaved himself out of the chair and lumbered through the dark grey apartment into his bedroom.
He stared at his bed; the rarely lively green was the normal greyish, sick green.
He didn't even bother to sigh; it would just sound like it had minutes before.
With a soft thump he let himself fall on his bed.
It wasn't too cold to sleep without covers, but neither was it too warm to sleep with them.
Arthur closed his eyes. The blackness was at least a little bit different than the grey world but not less dull.

Slowly the sleep came, taking the consciousness evenly away.

When he opened his eyes again, the sky was still grey but it didn't rain anymore.
And it was cold, far too cold.
Arthur looked around confused, had he left the window open?
The sight confused him even more.
He sat on the deck of a huge wooden boat. Not the ones with which the tourists nowadays would travel to warmer continents, but a huge wooden pirate boat.

He got up slowly, realizing that he wasn't wearing his sweatshirt anymore either but a red pirate coat.
Arthur stared blankly down on his clothes.
Was he dreaming? But he never dreamt. He always had a blank, dreamless sleep.
Maybe this was a new form of blank dreams?
Surrounded by nothing but grey water, coldness and an empty huge boat.

Arthur was pondering if he should jump in the cold, grey water just to see what would happen, when the wind picked up and the ship started to move.

Arthur shrugged inwardly as he walked to the railing. It probably wouldn't have changed anything anyway. He probably would've woken up, back in the real grey world.
He could stay in this grey world just as well.
Arthur stared at the grey horizon for a while.

Suddenly he saw a white something in the distance.
The boat swam closer to the something and Arthur identified it as a tiny island made out of snow.
His eyes widened a bit at the sight. He rarely saw snow.
The boat rammed the island after some more time passing, and stopped.
Nothing happened and Arthur stared at the island.
Was he supposed to leave the ship?

Slowly he stepped on the railing and jumped down. The snow cushioned his fall.
When Arthur turned around the ship was gone.
He stared confused at the ocean. This was weird.
But somehow… it also was interesting.

Arthur walked through the white and untouched snow, and even though the cold was biting his skin it felt good.
It was amazing how the snow stayed so purely white even though the sky was so dark and grey.
He continued to walk when suddenly a small white castle appeared in the distance.
Had it been there before? Arthur hadn't seen it, but he hadn't seen it appearing either.

Arthur stopped in his tracks, a weird feeling engulfing his chest.
The white gates of the castle opened slowly and a boy stepped out of it.
From the distance Arthur could see that he had black hair and was wearing a white uniform.
He tried to walk further to the boy and the castle for a weird sensation pulled him, but his body wouldn't move.
The boy, as if he didn't noticed Arthur in the snow, pulled out a brown instrument and started to play.

The sound of a violin sounded over the snow, circling Arthur slowly.
It was a lively tune, melancholic and happy at the same time, and it made Arthur's heart skip a beat.
The boy moved through the snow, never stopping to play, and where he walked the snow melted slowly, leaving bright green grass.
The snow continued to melt as the boy continued to play and soon the whole space around Arthur was green, the sun slowly illuminating the scenery.

Suddenly the boy stopped and the wind picked up.
His warm, brown eyes locked with Arthurs as the wind picked the petals of the flowers and the world became white once more due the white flowers.
The world and the boy disappeared slowly under the white curtains and Arthur felt as if he was losing conscious again.

Arthur jerked up and looked around frantically.
He wasn't sure if he was disappointed or happy to see his bedroom again, but he let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding.
The sun had come out, he realized and looked at his window. The sky still wasn't blue, but the sun illuminated his bedroom nicely and felt warm on his skin.
Arthur sighed again, his heart still pounding a little bit too fast in his chest.

He didn't believe that he would be able to sleep now anyway, so he got up and stretched.
He could go out and drink a coffee just as well.
As he walked through his apartment, grabbing his keys and his coat, he realized that it didn't seem so grey anymore.
The sun really did do wonders.

Arthur took a deep breath when he stepped out of his apartment. The air smelled fresh and clear, something rare for London.
He walked through the streets, avoiding the glittering puddles.
The now blue sky made the normally grey streets shimmer blue and Arthur couldn't help but smile at the sight.
The wind picked up a little bit and made the trees rustling a soft melody.
Again, Arthur's heart felt lighter.

Just when he wanted to enter his favorite coffee shop he dumped into a smaller person.
"Ah, I'm sorry!" Arthur exclaimed when he saw that the boy had fallen down by the impact.
Warm brown eyes looked up at Arthur.
"Don't worry", the boy smiled and got up, rearranging the hat he wore about his black hair.
Arthur bent down to pick up a black violin case and gave it to the smaller boy.

"Still, I feel guilty. How about a coffee as an excuse?"
The boy looked troubled. "You really don't have to…"
"But I want to!" Arthur grinned and opened the door, "I'm Arthur Kirkland".
The black haired boy smiled finally and followed the blonde.
"Kiku Honda."