Okay so I'm at my new internship at school and I have no work to do, I haven't posted in over a year, and I just thought of this after rereading my old stories so why not?


02: Warm

Pikachu shivered, the cold breeze dancing along her skin causing goose bumps to appear at an alarming rate. Winter wasn't the friendliest of seasons, and she was definitely not a fan of it. The cold air caused her discomfort and she hated fighting for extra body heat; wearing all the extra layers reduced mobility to a point she couldn't care for, and it definitely made her not miss being a human.

Which lead her to berate herself for choosing today of all days to walk around in her human body.

The bracelet that granted the power to her to swap from her Pikachu form to her humanoid like state required a cool down period. And the cold weather was proving to extend this period.

So here she was, frozen and unhappy.

But if anything could be redeemed from the frigid time of year, it had to be the environment.

Pikachu decided that snow was the most gorgeous when it first fell, and sat there untouched. No kids had romped through it yet and caused destruction, no cars had ruined it with their tire tracks- it was beautiful to look at undisturbed.

She also thoroughly enjoyed the sight of the white flakes laying on top of the pine trees. It was so cold, but it almost made her feel cozy. The snow made her want to curl up and stay there forever.

She sighed, and took note of the sight of her breath in front of her, as though it was teasing her that the temperatures were going to keep dropping and rather than wasting time walking around, she should hurry back to the mansion to warm up.

Pikachu decided to do just that.

The walk was quick but frozen all the same. She made sure not to zone out and wander so far off that the journey back was treacherous (because everything felt further when its below 20 degrees).

The mansion appearing in the distance led the girl to pick up her pace. Snowflakes flew directly into her face, thanks to the wind, inhibiting her vision slightly, and resulting in her tucking her face down further into the folds of her scarf.

It's too cold.

The younger smashers appeared in her peripherals, some laying on the ground trying to form snow angels, while others opted for launching snowballs at each other.

She couldn't help but smile, even the tiniest bit, at the kids for enjoying something she simply despised. She also admired them for toughing it out in the current weather- she was not interested whatsoever in being outside any longer.

Her eyes lit up at the sight of the large hanger, connected to the side of the mansion where the various vehicles belonging to some of the other residents are kept. The door leading in was wide open, and while this was good for her, making it extremely easy to get into the mansion now rather than walking around to the back door, she wondered what kind of lunatic would leave the door wide open when it's only 20 degrees outside.

She hurried in, sighing as the slightly warmed air met her face. Stomping her feet against the ground to rid herself of excess snow being carried in, she raised her eyes in search of the person responsible for the open door.

She frowned, unable to find the person of interest.

Unwrapping the scarf from around her neck, Pikachu began her walk to the next door leading inside, boots squeaking slightly against the cement floor of the hanger. She couldn't help but roll her eyes; noises like these were picked up so much easier with her heighted sense of hearing, and it bugged her, especially with the less than pleasant sounds.

Her ears perked up to a different sound. The low rumble of bass, coupled with other instruments- guitars and drums she decided- joined in a rose in volume the closer she got to the door.

She stopped when it became crystal clear, noticing the radio turned on and blasting some local rock station.

Looking to her right, she then saw the person in question bent over their arwing, looking as though they were lending some care to the small plane in the cold season.

She didn't get why Fox McCloud chose the coldest day of the week to do this, since the hanger doesn't retain the heat that the mansion carries. But then again, maybe that is exactly why he is out here now.

"Why did you leave the door wide open?"

The vulpine stopped what he was doing to peer over his shoulder at the owner of the voice for a split second before returning his attention to the arwing.

"It gets warm in here."

Pikachu couldn't repress the bitter laugh that escaped her. "You're ridiculous. It's 20 degrees outside right now and you're complaining about it being too warm?"

Fox looked back at her with an amused expression, eyes inspecting her from top to bottom.

"I guess I can understand why you're unhappy with that decision," he replied with a laugh.

"You should!" Pikachu cried, unable to stop the grin from stretching across her face.

She didn't find the situation funny. More so she didn't understand what he was thinking or why he was doing what he was.

"It's freezing. How can you be so warm?"

Fox shrugged, eyes floating around the room before returning back to hers, almost like he was searching for something else to hold his attention.

"I'm a fox. I have a full coat of fur on me."

Oh duh.

She bit her lip, a rosy color coloring her cheeks around the already red patches that sat there.

"I can't believe I didn't think about that," she replied, obviously embarrassed. "I'm freezing because I don't have any fur right now and you're probably overheating."

Fox chuckled, looking down at the wrench in his hands.

"Well I can't blame you for being upset about the weather."

Pikachu frowned. "I don't like winter. It's too cold and I feel like it's a fight for survival constantly."

"What about the holidays? The snow? You aren't a fan of any of that?" He posed the question, leaning his back against the side of the plane and crossing his arms.

It was her turn to laugh.

"I didn't realize this was turning into an interview."

He shrugged and offered her a small smile. "Just giving you some time to warm up."

She paused. "Figuratively or literally?"

"Whatever way you wanna take it."

Warmth danced on her cheeks, and she worried that the growing blush was going to become noticeable to the vulpine standing across from her.

She didn't know him very well, but she wasn't going to deny that she found him handsome and overall just very likeable as a person in general. However, those personal thoughts were going to remain personal.

Which led her to wonder what he thought of her as a person.

She fanned her now warm face with her hand, hoping he wouldn't think much of the action.

It was beginning to get too warm in here for her.