Do You Want To Build a Snowman
[Continuous Series, 12 Days of Christmas 2014]
Rose grunted softly, Kanaya's sharp – and thankfully skilled – teeth scraping against her sensitive neck. Her fingers curled into fists, grabbing handfuls of the troll girl's shirt, tugging her closer as the kisses and nibbles became more intense and Kanaya's skin began to flicker. Rose was tempted to let her feed then and there; a quick drink couldn't hurt TOO much.
"Kanaya," she breathed, tugging at her girlfriend's hair.
"N-no," Kanaya replied, pulling away, her skin returning to its regular ashen pallor.
"Really, it's fine," Rose replied, tugging down the neckline of her shirt. "I can take it. I'm not that frail."
"I believe you, you really are strong," Kanaya said with a smile. "But I fed yesterday, and we both know that feeding from either of you too frequently is detrimental to your health." Rose pouted and Kanaya folded her arms. "Now, Rose."
"Yes, yes, I understand," she sighed, melting into her girlfriend's arms and kissing Kanaya's neck. "Can we go walk this off?" Kanaya raised an eyebrow. "You know how your kisses get me, don't pretend," she grinned, grabbing Kanaya's hand and pulling her out of their room and into the hall where Terezi and Dave were approaching.
"Oh hey," Dave said, nodding at them. "We were just about to come get you two lovebirds. Meteor's passing through another dream bubble."
"Yes? We haven't paid much attention to dream bubbles for a while now," Rose frowned.
"This one's special," Dave said with a wink. "C'mon." He and Terezi led the way out the meteor and up topside, where it was being dusted by a layer of-
"Snow," Rose said, surprised. "That's surprising. We usually don't get weather patterns on the meteor."
"Look who it is," Dave said, thumbing behind him. Rose followed his gaze to a ghostly version of Dave and Jade, waving from the Land of Frost and Frogs, which had merged with the meteor.
"That makes sense," Rose smiled. "Are you going to go hang out with them?"
"Well duh," Dave smirked. "You not coming?"
"I think I'll stay behind with Kanaya," Rose smiled, gripping her girlfriend's arm, who blushed a soft jade.
"Suit yourselves," Dave said, giving them a half-hearted wave as he went to join the others.
"So," Rose said, turning to face Kanaya. "What sort of traditions do the troll race have for snow?"
"Snow?" Kanaya said, smiling confusedly. "What kind of traditions would we have?"
"Well, Christmas for instance. Or making snow angels or snowmen." Kanaya blinked. "You didn't even have Christmas?"
"No? What is it?"
"Christmas is like… Well, two thousand years before I was born, a boy was born with godlike abilities and he raised an army to fight tyranny and our race has celebrated his birth since then." Kanaya scrunched up her face.
"You're being facetious again."
"A little," Rose smiled. "But it's a tradition that families get together and give gifts and awful fruitcakes and ugly sweaters, and we celebrate a jolly, fat man in red who comes down our chimneys and gives good girls and boys presents in their sleep."
"He breaks into your house?" Kanaya asked, face pale and horrified. "That's awful!"
"You should hear the one about a woman who steals the teeth children lose and replace them with money. But yes, Santa Claus is his name."
"I'm so sorry you had to grow up with that," Kanaya replied sincerely.
"Oh it wasn't so bad. The occasional, surely lecherous, glances toward my nubile preteen frame were well worth the gifts he left behind." Kanaya shuddered and Rose chuckled. "But no, you've never made a snow angel or a snowman?"
"I don't know what those are," Kanaya replied deadpan.
"Hm, I see." Rose took a few steps back, spread her arms, and fell backward into the snow.
"Rose!" Kanaya said, rushing up to her. "Are you alright?"
"Look," Rose said, very seriously. "You have your arms spread, and you wave your arms up and down like this," she demonstrated, "and your legs back and forth like this. It forms a figure with a dress and wings, see?" She stood up in her snow angel, which looked like the picture perfect angel.
"I… think I see?" Kanaya tried.
"Don't you have angels in your culture?"
"You mean the terrible mythical demons with awful feathery wings?"
"That does sound about right." Kanaya observed the angel and shrugged.
"Sorry, Rose. I don't see it."
"Well, the snowman we can at least agree on. Here, start packing some snow, like this." Rose packed a snowball and held it out. Kanaya nodded and packed her own. "Excellent. Yours we will use for building the snowman."
"What about yours?" she asked. Rose aimed for the staircase, paused a moment, then threw the sphere. As it soared, a head of shaggy black hair and nubby horns appeared.
"Hey guys, have you seen Terez- BLUH!" Karkat cried as he fell backwards down the stairs, forcing Kanaya into a laughing fit, Rose chuckling as they watched him go.
"It just keeps happening," Rose noted, shaking her head. "So! Let's begin. First you take the snowball, and then you roll it in more snow, packing it further." She began to roll the snowball through the snow, Kanaya watching, mesmerized. Finally, Rose had a large snowman base and presented it to Kanaya, who gave a small applause. "This is the bottom part. The abdomen, you could say, of the snowman. This part requires no decoration, and will remain plain. While I'm rolling the second part, could you fetch some sticks? Or just anything long and straight."
"Broom handles, perhaps?" Rose nodded and Kanaya scurried off into the meteor to look for some. Rose rolled the next ball as the two Daves, Jade, and Terezi approached.
"Oh sick," both Daves said simultaneously. "We building snowmen?"
"That's eerie," Rose replied. "But yes, I'm teaching Kanaya the intricacies of snow architecture."
"Sick," the Daves said, high fiving. "Alright," Rose's Dave said – or rather, the Alpha Dave. "You and Jade make yours, me and Terezi are gonna try and beat it."
"Oh you're on!" Jade cried happily, giggling and running off to get snow. Kanaya returned and paused, seeing the two other snowmen in progress.
"We have visitors," Kanaya said, handing Rose a broom handle and Dave's Derringer.
"Indeed we do," Rose sighed. "Regardless, these will do nicely. This is the thorax, see?" She hefted the large middle part up onto the bottom, sticking the straight items in the sides. "And these are his arms. Some people add coal as 'coat buttons', but I think that's a little silly, and I don't think we have coal." Kanaya nodded. "Now the head." She rolled the last one around for a little bit, finally perching it on top of the middle, etching a little smiley face into the front. "And there you have it. One prestigious snowman."
"It's wonderful," Kanaya smiled, circling around it. "May I decorate it?"
"Of course. I would assume your snowmen – or, rather, snowtrolls – should have horns, but I have no idea what to use for that. Kanaya perked up and dove back into the meteor for supplies as Rose moved over to the snowman competition that was underway.
"Alright sick, Rose come judge these snowmen," Alpha Dave said and she moved to observe them.
"Wow," she snorted, looking over the two sloppy snow sculptures. "They're. Interesting?"
"Yeah, me and other Dave coordinated," Alpha Dave said. "See, look, mine's Sweet Bro and his is Hella Jeff."
"Wait, I thought mine was Sweet Bro," other Dave said.
"Oh c'mon, are you fuckin' kidding me, man? You're ruining me. This is supposed to be Sweet Bro?"
"Yeah seriously look at it this way. No, TURNWAYS. There you go. See?" Rose retreated to her own snowtroll, which was now decorated with a pair of cracked glasses, a flowing scarf, a little black shirt with his own symbol (three circles on top of each other) and a pair of horns that resembled snowflakes.
"Wow," Rose said, sincerely this time. "It's amazing."
"Really?" Kanaya replied, not looking directly at her. "I wasn't sure if you'd think it looked good."
"No, dear, really. It's wonderful." Rose took Kanaya's chin and kissed her deeply, stroking her hair. "It looks beautiful." Kanaya blushed deeply and glanced toward the stairs.
"Perhaps… we should retreat to our room?"
"I agree," Rose smiled, taking Kanaya's hand and heading past Karkat's unconscious figure to their room.