Pairing: Phoenix/Maya
Prompt: Holiday vacation together
Word Count: 2,553
This is very loosely based on my first and only time skiing. -_- It wasn't fun. I also wanted to make Phoenix good at something for once. He's always so reluctant, I wanted Maya to be the one not wanting to do something, lol.
"Nick, when you promised we'd go on vacation, this isn't really what I had in mind."
Phoenix looks down at her, that 'I don't know what you're talking about' look settled on his face. Maya knows that look, because she's the one who perfected it. "What were you expecting?"
She wraps her arms around herself as she trudges through the snow. Phoenix is struggling to carry both of their suitcases as he walks beside her. "It's the middle of winter. I was thinking if we were going to go on a vacation over the holidays, we'd maybe be going someplace warm? Not somewhere even colder, with even more snow than we have in Kurain?"
Phoenix stares straight ahead. "We're almost there, and trust me Maya, it's really beautiful. I'm sorry the car couldn't make it all the way up here, but it'll be worth it, please just trust me?"
She frowns. "Fine."
They continue on for a short while, and Maya is staring down at the white snow to watch her steps when she hears Phoenix. "Maya, look."
She looks up, and through the flurries sees the cabin they've trekked all this way to get to. Her eyes widen. "Whoa, Nick."
He grins at her. "I told you it was worth it. This isn't some rustic cabin up on a mountain, Maya. Just wait until you see the inside."
She picks up the pace, now more excited to get there. When they finally reach the large front steps, Phoenix sets their suitcases down and pulls off the gloves he's wearing to more easily get the keys. Maya looks around, noticing how the snow has been cleaned off from the steps and away from the door.
"Does someone come take care of this place?"
Phoenix nods as he slides his key into the lock. "Yeah. A cleaning service for inside and snow removal outside, but they can't do the whole road."
"What are we going to do about the car?"
"It should be safe. It's remote enough out here, it's locked, and we didn't leave anything of value in it."
"If you say so."
He pushes open the door and starts dragging their things inside. Maya walks in behind him, stomping the snow from her boots.
"Wow, Nick," she breathes. "What did you say your parents do again?"
He smiles and starts to take off the layers and layers of winter clothing he has on. Maya follows suit.
"My mom is a doctor, and my dad is an accountant. They got this place when I was a teenager."
Maya looks around the cabin. It's beautiful, like the sort of cabin you'd see in an interior design magazine. The best part of it are the large windows, and the view outside. Snow and the mountains. It takes her breath away.
"Your parents are pretty well off then?" she asks.
He nods and steps into the living area, pulling their suitcases behind them. "Yep."
"So then… why are you so poor, Nick?"
"Maya."
"Sorry. I just mean… you complain about money all the time. They never help you out?"
"They paid my way through university and once I graduated and got a job, they basically cut me off. My dad was never the type to give handouts and I was never a spoiled kid, so once I became an adult it became my responsibility to pay my way through life. I guess they also figured a lawyer would be making more money." He shrugs. "It doesn't matter to me. I'm happy as long as I have you, Trucy, and Pearls."
She smiles. "And they are letting you use the cabin, at least."
"Well, as soon as I told them I wanted to bring my girlfriend here, they were all over the idea."
Maya giggles and sits down on the couch to watch Phoenix start a fire in the fireplace. "Why's that?"
He shrugs. "This is going to sound bad, and trust me, they do love Trucy, but… I think they want a biological grandchild. I don't know why, it's such an old fashioned thing to want when they already have a grandchild, but yeah."
"Ooh, I see. So they gave you permission to woo me with a nice romantic vacation in the mountains in the hopes that you'll get me pregnant. Is there a bear skin rug somewhere we can have sex on?"
"Afraid not."
She snickers. "Ah, well. I guess a bed will have to do."
He gets up once the fire begins to pick up on its own and settles onto the couch beside her. He wraps an arm around her shoulders. "The bed? Why the bed when there's a perfectly good couch right here, with a very nice view. It's even more beautiful at night, by the way. There's also a hot tub out back."
"Ooh. Well, maybe we can try everything."
"I like the way you think, Maya."
She laughs, and they get quiet. She's enjoying the crackling of the fire and how it's beginning to warm the room, until Phoenix clears his throat.
"On another note… Have you ever tried skiing?"
She furrows her eyebrows. "No. I'm not sure I want to, either. Strapping sticks to your feet and flying down a mountain? Seems a good way to die."
"I'm kind of surprised you don't want to try it. You always talk me into doing stuff I don't want to do."
She groans, but she knows she can't refuse when he uses that excuse. It is true, she makes him do a lot of things he doesn't want to do, so it's only fair she gives something she doesn't want to do a try for once. Besides, plenty of people do it, so it can't be that bad or dangerous.
Phoenix squeezes her comfortingly. "I'll teach you."
"Fine. I'll try it once."
Phoenix wakes her early the next morning, another change from the usual. She's the early bird in their relationship, and half the time she has to drag him out of bed. The bed in the master bedroom here is so plush and soft, with satin sheets, and the blankets on top as warm as anything. It's possibly the most comfortable bed she's ever slept in, and Phoenix is waking her up early to drag her out of it and up a mountain, only to slide back down it.
Still, she promised him she would, so she gets up and gets ready for the day. By the time she's ready to go, she probably weighs twice as much under the weight of all of her winter clothing. Boots, snow pants, a heavy jacket, gloves and then mittens on top of the gloves, a scarf to cover her lower face, and a thick hat pulled down over her hair.
Phoenix looks much the same, minus the extra pair of mittens and the scarf. He seems to be revelling in the cold, which Maya finds strange. She's used to the cold, living close to the mountains herself in Kurain, and he's not, yet out here he seems to really be enjoying it.
He takes her around to the back of the cabin and uncovers a snowmobile, just like the one she'd seen at Hazakura Temple a few years ago. Back then she'd never gotten to ride it, but seeing this one here now gives her a little boost of excitement. Even if skiing ends up terrible, at least she has the snowmobile ride to and from the ski lodge to look forward to.
She forces Phoenix into giving her a lesson on how to drive the snowmobile before they head to the ski lodge, and then forces him to let her drive there despite not knowing the way. Somehow he manages to guide her by pointing, and eventually they make it to the lodge. They head inside together to get geared up, but the more Maya glances outside to where she can see the lifts heading up the mountain with skiers from neighbouring cabins on them, their legs dangling high in the air, the more nervous she gets.
It doesn't help that when she finally gets strapped into some ski boots and attempts to step into the skis, she can't do it. The boots are so heavy, and she can't seem to situate them properly to snap down onto the skis until Phoenix comes over and lets her hold onto him for support. Once they're finally on, she's handed two little sticks with spikes, and sent on out into the snow.
She looks around, jealous of how easy Phoenix and everyone else is making this look. He manages to slide around on his skis with ease, but she can barely stand in hers.
"Niiick," she whines. "Help me."
He grins at her, cheeks red from the cold. "Okay. See that little hill over there?" He points, and Maya can see a much smaller hill with a pulley system as opposed to an actual chairlift. It appears to have little handles sticking out of it.
"You're going to go grab onto one of those, and let it pull you up that tiny hill. I'll be right behind you, so I can show you how to go down, okay?"
She nods, and waddles over to the lift. She gets her skis straight and grabs on to one of the moving handles. It starts to pull her up, and she looks behind her to make sure Phoenix is there. He is, just as he said, holding on with one hand and leaning back casually as the lift pulls him. She frowns again at how simple it seems for him, when she's there with knees bent, trying not to fall down and get run over by anyone else going up the hill.
When they make it to the top, Phoenix has to convince her to let go of the lift, and gives her a little push to help her situate at the top of the hill.
She listens intently as he tries to explain to her what to do. For something seemingly so simple, sliding down a hill, it sounds pretty complicated. When she thinks she gets it, he goes down first so she can watch. Once at the bottom of the hill, he waves to her.
She takes a deep breath and pushes herself closer to the incline. With one more push of her poles, she begins to slide down the mountain.
She realizes halfway down that she can't remember how to stop. Luckily the slope isn't that steep, and she managed to simply slow down. Phoenix slides over to her and wraps her in a hug.
"That was good for your first time, Maya, except you didn't stop properly."
"I know, I forgot. Show me how to do it again, and I'll keep trying. I want to get good so you can go up the mountain to the better slopes and not stay down here on the kiddy one waiting for me."
"Take your time. I don't want you getting hurt."
She nods, and he shows her how to stop again. This time she goes up the mountain alone, and tries again.
By the time she's gone down the same small hill for what seems the twentieth time, Maya feels like she may actually be getting the hang of this. She heads to the top once more and prepares to head down.
Halfway down the hill, she hits a bump in the snow, and starts to lose control. It's frightening despite knowing that even if she fell here, she's not likely to hurt herself. At the end of the slope, she's still struggling to catch her balance in order to stop, and ends up sprawled in the snow instead. She moves to sit up, expecting strong hands to help her and a low voice to soothe her, but it doesn't come. When she wipes the snow from her face and looks around, she spots Phoenix standing to the side, talking to someone.
She feels like a childish baby for it, but she can't help tearing up. She's embarrassed at having fallen down after trying to hard for so long, and then her boyfriend isn't even there to comfort her. He's getting bored of watching her and probably wants to get to the more difficult slopes, but it still upsets her. He's usually so patient and understanding, so she's not used to him outright ignoring her.
She somehow manages to get back to her feet on her own and starts to slide over to where Phoenix is standing with the other man, but she has no intention of stopping to talk to him. She's going inside.
He turns when he hears her coming. "Hey, Maya! This is my friend Joe from when I was a kid—"
She ignores him, sliding right past and into the lodge.
By the time Phoenix finds her, she's at the bar with a hot chocolate… filled with a little Irish cream. He takes a seat on the bar stool beside her.
"Maya… Is something wrong? You were doing so well out there."
"How would you know? You weren't paying me any attention."
"I'm sorry… I just haven't seen Joe for years, since I was a teenager. I was only catching up and you were doing so well I didn't think I needed to keep a close eye on you anymore."
She pouts. She feels selfish and needy, but she can't help it. "I fell down, Nick, and you didn't even know."
He looks surprised. "When did you fall?"
"Right before I came inside. You weren't there to help me up."
He wraps an arm around her shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Maya. I didn't realize. I should've been making sure you were okay."
"It's okay…" She sighs. "I guess I couldn't expect you to watch me constantly, especially if you were just catching up with an old friend. But I don't think skiing is my thing. I wouldn't mind if you came back out here by yourself to ski with your friend, but I don't want to. I can spend my day in the warm cabin until you get back."
He places a kiss on the top of her head. "Let's both go back to the cabin for today. You're wet and probably cold. I'll make the fire again and cook us something good and we can just spend the night wrapped up in a blanket by the fire."
She smiles. "That sounds nice. But really, tomorrow you have to come back out here to ski. I know you want to, and it's your vacation too, and we're here for a week so there's plenty of time to spend together. I can stay there for the day and cook dinner before you get back. Then maybe we can make use of that hot tub. I'm sure you'll need it after being out skiing all day."
He grins at her. "Sounds perfect, Maya. So I'm forgiven?"
She leans over to kiss him. "Yes, you're forgiven."
"Do you want to go?"
She taps her drink. "Let me just finish this first. It cost ten dollars, but I didn't think you would mind."
He sighs. "Of course not. I guess you deserve it after the day you've had."
She nods. "You're right about that."