Frankie Kazarian wakes up slowly, stretching out his limbs and yawning, blinking lazily into the muted light pouring in through the drapes. It doesn't look like sun, or even the standard light coming from a cloudy Midwestern winter day, so he slowly gets up and shuffles over, pushing the drapes to the side so he can look out properly. Snow, snow everywhere. He grimaces, rubbing a hand over his face, suddenly feeling the cold. Grumbling, he wiggles his toes against the floor and huffs out a sigh, turning to pad back to bed.
He's barely made it halfway when the door creeps open and there's Christopher Daniels, looking surprised to see him awake and moving. "Oh, hey, Frankie," he says, blinking hard. "I didn't think you'd be up yet."
"Snow was bright, it woke me up," he grumbles, waving a hand towards the window.
"Ah, right," Daniels says. "Well, I brought you something." He sets a tray down on the bed and Frankie blinks at it.
"Hot chocolate?"
"Hell yeah," Daniels says with a grin. "It used to kind of be a personal tradition of mine. Whenever the first serious snow hit, I'd start my day off with a mug of hot chocolate. Haven't done this in years, but I thought considering how everything's been going, why not start doing it again, right?"
Kaz hums, still a little sleepy as he settles back in on the bed and pats the spot next to him, Daniels quickly moving to sit down next to him. They collect their mugs and Daniels eagerly sips his, exhaling through the steam. "Ah! Perfect," he declares, smiling at Kaz as he drinks from his too.
"That is really good," he says, glancing over at Daniels. "Thanks, man. Just exactly what I needed." They sit in silence for a few minutes, then Kaz looks up. "Know what my first snow fall tradition was?"
"No clue," Daniels shrugs. "What?"
Kaz smirks. "Get dressed warm, and meet me outside in about 20 minutes."
Curious, Daniels shrugs, moving to stand. "Alright, see you out there, then."
Kaz watches him go with a smirk before finishing off his hot chocolate in a flourish and then rushes to get dressed himself.
"Ok, Frankie," Daniels says, walking out of his apartment complex, eager to see what Frankie has planned. "What's the big-"
His words are cut off abruptly by a snowball exploding right in his face. He sputters and spits and gapes at his best friend, hunched over laughing uproariously. "Oh, it is on now, Kazarian," he huffs once he's gotten over the shock of it all. He rushes to prepare his own snowballs and Kaz immediately straightens up, realizing just how capable of a snowball preparer Daniels is.
"Uh oh," he mumbles, hurrying to make some more. From that point on, the snowballs fly fast and thick, and other kids and adults join in, and it's messy and chaotic and it's the most fun either member of SCU has had in months.
"Give! I give!" Kaz cries out finally, overwhelmed and defeated after Daniels sneaks up on him and pours a large armful of snow down his coat, drenching and freezing him almost immediately. "Hell," he whines, squirming and shivering.
"You started this," Daniels tells him, standing over him with a smirk. "I finished it."
"Yeah, yeah, shut up and get down here," Kaz grumbles, getting a grip on his coat and bodily forcing him down into the snow next to him.
Danels yelps when his hood drops down and his bare skin touches the snow, but he doesn't move, content to lay next to Kaz and look up at the grey clouds slowly moving overhead, hinting at more snow later in the day. "Thanks for this," he says softly. "I didn't realize how badly I just needed a laugh, you know?"
Kaz rolls over and stares at him, leaning up on one elbow in the snow. "Yeah. Well, likewise, thanks for the hot chocolate. Best wake up call I've had in awhile."
"I'm glad you're spending the holidays here," Daniels admits, never quite looking away from the sky.
"Me too," Kaz says, his gaze fixed on Daniels' face until he finally looks over.
They smile at each other and when Daniels reaches out, Kaz meets him halfway, squeezing his hand.