Author's note: If you are wondering what kind of au all of these fics take place in, I honestly couldn't give you a straight answer. There are going to be blatant references to the events and characters of TFTBL, but this domestic au does not occupy itself post-game, if that makes any sense (which it probably doesn't.) I just kinda write what comes to mind, and cross my fingers that other people enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. So with that, please enjoy! And please excuse any grammatical errors, I am editing this very late at night.
"Okay, I can tell you right now that no matter how many kids we have, none of them are going to be named Loaderbot."
"Aw, come on! Can LB at least be their middle name?"
"I'll... think about it. That's not a guarantee though, keep that in mind." Sasha said, sitting up in bed, and after predicting the sour look on Rhys' face, she continued with "You're honestly lucky you're getting that, that's the best compromise you can hope for at the moment."
It was late on a Saturday night in December, and the two of them were under the thick comforter, the room around them colder than usual. They were both having trouble sleeping, so they didn't see the point in trying to stop talking once they had started an hour earlier. The only light in the room was coming from the analog clock on Sasha's bedside table, and the small spaces in between the blinds where the streetlamp was shining in.
"Ugh, I'm hungry, you want anything?" Sasha shoved the covers away from her and stepped off the bed.
"Yeah, but we don't really have much in the way of food right now, do we? I was gonna stop at the store on my way home, it must have slipped my mind."
"I'm not gonna get any sleep unless I eat something. There is always that gas station just down the road, they are open way late." Sasha headed towards the closet to put on other clothes, but stopped halfway. "Wait a minute." She said, going to the window and parting a space in the blinds to look out.
"What?" Rhys asked.
"No way."
"What is it?" Rhys got out of bed and strolled over to the window, and made his own space between the blinds. "Oh, wow."
A blanket of snow was building itself on every exposed surface outside, and not a single track from a car tarnished the snow covered street. The neighborhood felt quieter than usual, the snow seemed to have brought a lot of the usual noises of the area to a halt. They both stood there for a moment, taking the sight in. This was the first snow they had gotten since they moved into this new house, so they had never looked out their window and seen the view this way.
"Are you still gonna go?" Rhys asked, stepping back from the window and sitting on the bed. Sasha turned around continued getting ready.
"I'm already up, I might as well. I was gonna take the car, but if the road is gonna be all snowy I'd rather walk. Wanna come with?"
Rhys thought for a moment, considering staying home, but taking a late night walk in the snow sounded pretty fun. "Sure, I figure we are both up anyway, and doing anything other than being in the snow when it is snowing is a waste."
Sasha rolled her eyes. "Spoken like a true adult."
"You can't fool me, you so want to be in the snow, I saw that smile."
"Okay, you caught me. I didn't get to see much snow growing up, so catching up on some lost time is looking good right about now," Sasha said, slipping on her boots. "You ready?"
"Yup totally, I plan to go out in the snow like this." Rhys said as Sasha turned around and saw him almost toppling over while putting on a pair of jeans.
"Need some help there?" Sasha asked, smirking.
"No, I am perfectly capable of putting on pants, thank you very much." Rhys said, finishing with his pants and searching for his shoes.
"Well that's good, because if you weren't, I would have to remind you that your zipper is still open."
Rhys' eyes darted down, and Sasha was right. "Why so focused on my crotch, huh?" Rhys retorted, hands going to his hips and staring Sasha down.
"Oh, shut up," Sasha said, laughing. Rhys fixed his wardrobe malfunction and put on his shoes, and they grabbed their phones and wallets. "Whose buying?"
"Eh, we'll figure it out when we get there." Rhys said stepping onto the porch and locking the house up. By their first few steps in the snow, they could tell it was only at a few inches, but the snow was still falling quickly and quietly.
"Its all so neat and smooth, I feel bad ruining it," Sasha said as they crossed the street over to the next block.
"Yeah, that's always the trade off. I remember doing a lot of sledding when I was a kid, even when there was only a tiny bit of snow, I would keep on going even when you could see the grass and mud poking through the slush. And once that part of the hill was completely void of snow I would just move my sled slightly to the left of it and start the cycle all over again. It sounds dumb, but it was awesome," Rhys said.
"That actually sounds really great, I didn't much of that at all when I was younger. You know what? We need to get a sled, I don't care if we are in our 20s, better way late than never. If all this snow keeps up, we should buy a sled, find a huge hill, and just go crazy, you with me?" Sasha looked up at Rhys hopefully.
"Do you even have to ask?" Rhys replied, grinning widely. It dawned on him that he wasn't holding Sasha's hand, and fixed that situation promptly. "Whoa, you're cold. We've been out here for like two minutes, and you hand feels like its been in a freezer."
"You know me, my hands are always chilly. Its fine, we aren't gonna be out here for long anyway."
Rhys rubbed his thumb across Sasha's hand, in the hopes that it would help at least a little. They were a block from the station when they saw the first car go by them on the road, leaving a slush mark in its wake, receiving a small chorus of "boo"s from both Rhys and Sasha, for ruining the once perfectly snowy road.
As soon as they got into the store they tried to shake off all of the snow on their jackets and in their hair, but most of them had melted already, so they gave up and started look for midnight snacks. Rhys made a B-line for the ice cream, and Sasha headed for the frozen pizzas. When they met up again, they both hand their hands full of provisions. "I'll pay, I already have my wallet out anyway," Rhys said, as they strolled towards the cashier counter.
"Aw my boyfriend is buying me a frozen pizza, who says chivalry is dead?" Sasha replied playfully, but flashed a small smile in Rhys' direction, her way of saying thanks. They bought their snacks while making forced small talk with the grumpy cashier (who gave Rhys a bewildered expression when he shoved the tub of ice cream onto the counter), and with all of their spoils occupying a couple bags, they set out into the cold again. It was snowing even harder now, each snowflake was the size of a dime at the very least.
"You can barely see our footprints in the snow from on the way here, I'm honestly surprised its still going," Rhys said, stepping over where his he had minutes before, back across the crosswalk. He looked directly up at the sky, it was one of his favorite things to do when it snowed, it looked like a giant army of polka dots was attacking the earth. He nudged Sasha on the shoulder and pointed up with one of his free fingers, prompting her to do the same.
"Oh wow, that's really weird," Sasha said, watching the snow flurry swirl around about their heads. They spent the next few minutes picking specific snowflakes from really high up and watching them float to the ground. Rhys was adjusting one of the bags in his hand, when before he had time to react, Sasha slipped and fell to the ground, swearing and clutching one of her ankles.
"Are you okay? Did you slip on a patch of ice?" Rhys asked, dropping the bags and kneeling down next to her, his eyebrows furrowed in worry.
"Nah, its what I get for wearing these damn boots in the snow, I have weak ankles as it is. Its okay though, its not that bad. Just help me up." Sasha said, holding her hands out.
"Are you sure?" Rhys asked doubtfully.
"Rhys its fine, I can walk, just let me."
He took a few moments, debating whether or not Sasha was putting on a brave face or not. Reluctantly, Rhys pulled Sasha to her feet, and to Rhys she seemed to be alright, but he wanted to double check. "Okay, just take a few steps, does it hurt to walk on that ankle?"
"No its perfectly okay-" She said before even trying to walk, and on her first attempt at putting all her weight on the hurt ankle, she winced in pain and finished with, "-never mind this hurts a lot more than I thought it would." Rhys quickly stepped forward and had Sasha put her hand on his shoulder, to keep her from putting any weight on her injured ankle.
"Well, I'll just carry you back, that sound okay?"
"Oh yeah, I've secretly been trying to get you to carry me around everywhere for months anyway, and now that I know all I have to do is fuck up one of my ankles, I'm all set," Sasha joked dryly, smirking through the pain radiating from her ankle.
Even though Rhys was still worried, he couldn't help but smile. "Okay, how about you hold the bags, and then I pick you up, and we get home, fix you up, eat our junk food, and watch a movie?"
"Sounds good, but to be honest I'd agree to anything that included going home as soon as possible, because I am very cold." Sasha said, examining her partially snow covered clothes.
"Okay, lets get you home," he said, grabbing the bags and handing them to Sasha. Once she had a good hold on them, Rhys scooped her up in his arms effortlessly and started walking along the sidewalk again. Sasha set the bags in her lap, and crossed her arms in front of her, shivering somewhat.
"Well this kinda puts a damper on our awesome sledding plans, huh?" Sasha said, disappointment lacing her tone.
"Its okay, its December. There is still a lot of time for snow, trust me. Its probably a sprained ankle, and I've had one of those before, it'll keep you laid up for 2 weeks at the most. How bad does it hurt right now?"
"It could be way worse, now that I'm not putting any pressure on it or trying to move it, its fine. Its a good thing you came with me, or I probably would have crawled all the way home. There is no way I would have called or texted you, to tell you that I fell down and needed you to carry me home, that's way too embarrassing." Sasha said, shaking her head at the thought.
"And crawling down the sidewalk for four blocks wouldn't be embarrassing?"
"It would be, but there is no one around. There would be no one around to see my dignity crumble into a million pieces."
Rhys stared at Sasha incredulously. Sometimes he forget how impossible stubborn she was. He wasn't sure that what he was going to say next was absolutely necessary at the time, but his mind wouldn't let him relax until he said it. "If something like this ever happens again, and I'm not there and you need help-"
"Rhys-"
"-Please don't just keep it to yourself. No matter the situation, even when you don't want to, you can count on me."
Sasha didn't reply, and the silence around them as the snow continued to fall was beginning to feel less peaceful, and more empty. Minutes passed before Sasha reached up, cupped Rhys' face in her hands and kissed him, stopping him in his tracks. Rhys pulled her closer still, and within moments Sasha's shivering ended.
"Okay, you don't need to worry. If something happens, I will tell you. And if you get in some kind of trouble, and you need your badass girlfriend, I'm there." Sasha said when their lips broke apart. She rested her head on the crook of his neck. "I would make it official with a pinky promise, but your hands and arms are kinda occupied right now."
"That's okay, I believe you."