AN: My entry into the 2021 Kiseki Holiday Challenge, written for the ever amazing Mitriko on AO3! I was super stoked to have been matched with a fellow ReanxAlisa fan and hope she enjoys reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. And before I forget, a reminder to you all to check out her art on Twitter! Super cute stuff there :D
(Also, Rean is a child of the season and therefore has mastered the art of snowman construction. I will not hear otherwise).
crisply the bright snow whispered
His ears had to be deceiving him. They had to be.
"Sorry, I might've missed that last part," Rean began, his mind reeling at the sheer impossibility of what he'd just heard, "Did you actually say that you've never built a snowman before?"
"Yup, you heard right," Alisa replied casually, a little surprised (and perhaps a lot amused) at her boyfriend's visceral reaction to her offhand confession. "Just wasn't something I was able to get around to. You know how it is."
Saying this didn't do anything to settle him down was somewhat of an understatement, to say the least.
"B-But that's - I mean, everyone's - how?!"
Alisa raised an eyebrow, gesturing to the window and the view of Roer that lay beyond it, looking every bit the industrial metropolis that it was. "Uh, because whenever it snows here it gets cleaned up super quickly so the streets aren't blocked?" she asked rhetorically, smirking a little when she saw the put out expression on his face. "It'd have been kinda hard to make a good snowman out of beat up slush, Rean."
"... I guess," he agreed grudgingly, and was it her imagination or was Rean Schwarzer - the hero of the Empire, the famed Ashen Chevalier - actually pouting?
Would wonders never cease.
"If it's any consolation, I'd love to try someday. It sounds like fun."
"It really is!" he exclaimed, punching his fist into his palm with a wide grin, his chagrin vanishing as quickly as it had come. "We actually used to do it in Ymir all the time once the snowfall got heavy enough. All of the kids would get together and make their own with the adults coming around after and seeing which ones looked the best! By the time everyone was done it looked like the town had been taken over by an army of snowmen," he finished, his eyes glimmering with the light of reminiscence.
"Oh, wait a minute! I remember now, is that why so many of the houses had snowmen out front that time I visited when I was younger?" she asked, Rean's words conjuring up a fond memory of her own. "Because of a massive town-wide snowman contest?"
"Yeah! Well, kind of," he explained, looking a tad embarrassed, "I might have made it sound like a contest but... well, no one could really bring themselves to judge when everyone had tried their hardest, so..."
Alisa rolled her eyes, shaking her head in faux-disappointment as Rean's words trailed off. "Ah. Well, I guess it's hard to call it a competition if everybody wins and no one loses. I can only imagine what my mother would have to say about that."
Rean's brow creased. "I'd rather not. Your mother hates fun."
"Among other things," she said with a shrug, readily conceding the point. "But I totally get why you guys did it. I mean, it is supposed to be for kids and trying to judge something like that seems like it'd be super subjective. I probably wouldn't even know where to start!"
Her gaze narrowed when she saw his lips slowly twitching upwards, a sure sign she wasn't going to like what he said next.
"I wouldn't worry about it, Alisa. Seeing as you haven't even built one yet you'd probably be out of the running for the position anyway," he informed her, chuckling when she huffed and swatted his arm.
"Q-Quiet, you!" Alisa stammered, her glare growing more withering (and her blush more pronounced) when she saw his indulgent smile. "And besides, just because I haven't made one yet that doesn't mean I'm never going to! I just said I wanted to try, remember?"
Rean nodded slowly at that, his expression turning thoughtful.
"Interesting," he said, sounding very much like he'd come to a decision about something, much to her undisguised bewilderment. "I'm going to hold you to that."
Later on, she eventually decided it was nothing; that it was simply a conversation that, like so many before them, seemed destined to eventually fade into the background as the days passed, their brief moment of respite set aside for the sake of duties and obligations. Truth be told, that's most likely what would have happened had it not been for Rean gently awakening Alisa on a snowy morning in Ymir months later, a mischievous smile on his face and a bundle of old winter clothes in his arms.
"We're really doing this now?"
"Sure!" Rean chirped, looking far too enthusiastic for Alisa's liking. "We've had breakfast and coffee already and besides, this is perfect snowman weather. It'd be a shame to waste it."
Well, that wasn't something you heard everyday.
"... perfect snowman weather?" she repeated, sounding skeptical.
"Yeah, the temperature is just above freezing so the flakes are moist enough to stick together easily! Snow that's too wet just turns into slush and snow that's too dry and powdery doesn't stick at all. Really great for snowboarding and skiing, really bad for what we're trying to do."
"I'll take your word for it," Alisa said, unable to resist smiling a little as she wound the scarf tighter around her neck; in spite of everything, Rean's trademark enthusiasm was proving to be contagious as it always was. "How do we start?"
"With the basics." Picking up a handful of snow, he quickly formed it into a ball before kneeling down onto the ground and packing more around it, the sight calling forth the cherished image of a bunny that had been made in much the same way years ago. "Help me out?"
"Sure! What do I do?"
"You basically copy what I'm doing at first so we can make it larger. Once it's big enough, we start rolling it to make the base properly," Rean explained, giving the soon-to-be lower body a couple of pats. "After a couple of passes in each direction, we round it out and then flatten out the top a little to make it easier to put the next one on! Nothing to it, honestly. We'll probably have the bottom done in no time."
Master swordsman, seasoned instructor, snowman virtuoso. Rean Schwarzer was truly a man of many talents.
"Sounds like a plan to me," Alisa giggled, plopping herself next to him without a second thought. "Do we start now, or...?"
"Yeah, just - hold on a second," and she blinked when he reached out and gingerly brushed her bangs out of her face. "You had some flakes on them," he added casually, as if that was somehow supposed to be surprising when snow was descending with every word he spoke.
"You do realize it's still coming down pretty hard, right? You'll be doing that an awful lot at this rate."
He smiled and damn it, he never played fair, did he?
"I'm willing to make that sacrifice."
(She'd turned bright red and shoved him into a snowbank. Well worth it, in his opinion).
"Hey, it's starting to look like an actual snowman now! So, what next?"
"Well, now we do our best to make things a little less one note."
"Uh huh. And that means...?"
"First we pick up rocks to use for the eyes. And the mouth. We have a carrot for the nose, of course," he added, reaching into the bag he'd brought with him and pulling one out with a dramatic flourish, much to her amusement. "This is a pretty key step. After all, it'd be cruel to leave him faceless."
"Little bit creepy, too."
"Also that."
"I think we're almost done, don't you?"
"Yeah, I think so too. All it needs is that last crowning touch."
"Let me guess; rocks for buttons?"
"Even better. Could you hand me that bag again, Alisa?" and her eyes lit up when he pulled out a familiar looking red parka, a wistful expression on his face all the while.
"You know," Alisa began, reaching out to brush her gloved fingertips along the worn Thors armband that still boldly adorned the sleeve, "I was wondering where that went."
"I'm really glad I decided to keep it around. It served me well back then," Rean said, sounding very much like he had been reunited with a sorely missed comrade, "just like it'll serve us well right now. After all, I think our new friend could do with a splash of color, don't you?"
"I'd say so! Besides, red looks good on everyone."
Everything had come together remarkably quickly after that, barring a few more interruptions (with aim like Alisa's, not throwing a snowball or three would have been unthinkable) and the final result was a happy looking snowman, standing tall, proud, and - most importantly - stable.
"I still say that with enough time we might've been able to work out actual arms instead of just using sticks."
"Maybe?" he said with a chuckle. "I do have to say that the end result looks pretty good as is. What do you think?"
"Hmm. I dunno if I can answer, Rean. Someone seemed to think I wasn't qualified to decide things like that," Alisa retorted, shooting him a mock glare.
"True, but that was before you built one!" He slipped an arm around her waist, snickering when she grumbled and slid her hands into his coat pockets. "Consider yourself part of the circle now, Alisa. We're happy to have you."
"Yeah, yeah."
He grinned and said nothing, content to relax in the comfortable silence, a gentle breeze making the snow merrily dance to and fro. A quick tug at his sleeve, however, caught his attention soon enough.
"Hey, Rean?"
"Hmm?"
She paused, nibbling her lip.
"... Thanks."
He blinked, caught off guard. "For what?"
"For remembering. And for dragging me out of bed too, I guess," Alisa said, looking at him with a faint dusting of red on her cheeks and a shy, quiet smile.
"You're welcome?" he half said and half laughed, his hand coming to the back of his head in a reflex that he had never quite managed to get rid of. "It's not like it's a huge deal or anything. I'm just glad you had fun."
"I did." She sent a fond glance at the snowman (their snowman) before lightly sweeping some flakes away from his fringe, much to his surprise. "I had a lot of fun, Rean. Plus I got to hear more about your life and about some of the stuff you did as a kid, and I... I'm really happy that I got to be a part of it, somehow."
His eyes widened. This didn't go unnoticed.
"Uh, kind of, anyway! I know it's not exactly the same but I-I - ugh, you know what I mean, right...?" she finished, her courage failing her as she looked away in a rush.
(Now who wasn't playing fair?)
She gasped when he pulled her close again, her palms bracing against his warm chest, and the shiver that ran through her had nothing to do with the season.
"Rean?"
"I'm glad you're part of it too," he murmured into her hair. His lips ghosted across her crown, gentle enough to break her heart. "Not just this, but... everything, really. Everything that's past, everything that's to come... everything, Alisa."
And just like that, they were seventeen again.
A sharper gust of silvery wind blew through without warning, stealing away both her breath and her words and leaving nothing in their place; all that was left was for her to close her eyes and stand on her tiptoes so she could kiss him, her heart fluttering with every breath they took.
Goddess, how she loved his warmth.
"Everything, huh?" she teased when they could finally bring themselves to pull away, the joy running through her blood more than enough to make her forget about the cold.
"It's a great word. Has a nice ring to it, I feel."
"Smartass." Alisa playfully tapped him on the nose before settling back against him and gesturing toward their snowman again. "We did a good job today, didn't we?"
"We really did. That said, I have a feeling that next time'll go even better."
She raised a playful eyebrow. "Next time, huh?"
"Sure! You know, like a year from now. Maybe." He smiled at her, one that was equal parts hopeful and sheepish. "Er, only if you're up for it, of course. I'm not gonna make you join me again or anything - "
He was offering her an out. She didn't particularly want one.
"Rean."
"Yes?"
She smiled back. "I'd like that. I'd like that a lot."
"R-Really?"
"Really. I'm figuring out a way to do proper arms somehow, though."
He laughed as they turned to start walking, hand in hand, the sound of crisp footsteps echoing in their ears with every step. "That's pretty ambitious, but if anyone could, I'm sure it'd be you."
"Darn right."
"Hey, maybe you can tell me stories about when you were younger too! I'm sure you've got some little Alisa tidbits tucked away somewhere..."
"... We'll see. I'm not promising anything, though."
"Fair."
And all around them, like diamonds falling from the winter sky, the snow glittered on.