A lone snowflake drifted down, clinging to the delicate tea cup only to liquify and slide its way down the piece of china. Such events had been happening for the past half hour as a light snow fell silently upon this wintry morning. Even Alice had to admit to its peaceful pleasantness, so long as it remained only a light shower.

Well, relatively peaceful. The wintry wonderland stood interrupted by all of the rowdy noise which reached her from the back porch.

"Bull's-eye!" the all too familiar blonde shouted in victory as he hit his target with a fist-full of snow. If the one hair sticking out from his bangs wasn't enough to identify him, he let out a loud obnoxious laugh that could be heard for miles. "Surrender now Matt!"

"Alfred, that's not quite how this game works..." Matthew attempted to explain to his brother. Though as softly as he might say it, the swift movement he made to gather snow in his palm said he was far from willing to explain peacefully.

He didn't wait until Alfred was done with his boastful laughter before hurling it straight at him, effectively smacking into his forehead.

"Hey! That's cheating I totally won already!" Alfred argued as he wiped snow from his face.

Alice couldn't help but let out a noise of barely withheld laughter at Alfred's childish reaction. Both boys took notice and Matthew couldn't help but smile rather proudly at being part of the cause. Alfred on the other hand puffed his cheeks into an exaggerated pout, right before he tossed a snowball in her direction, the object smashing itself onto the top of her head.

Now it was Alfred's turn to laugh, rather loudly in fact. Preoccupied with clutching his stomach as he did so, he couldn't see the flash of anger in Alice's emerald eyes, her hand immediately reaching for the jacket laying against the back of her chair.

The next thing he knew he was being pummeled with snowballs. Well, what might pass for them anyway since they were pretty misshapen. Where the hell had that come from?!

"Matt at least give me some-" Alfred cut off his whining at his brothers unfairness to blink in confusion. "When did she get down here?!" he asked, pointing to Alice who was now standing by Matthew.

"Umm...well.." Matthew gave a nervous laugh, not sure how to explain really.

"You're the one that dragged me into this!" she insisted with a huff. She wrapped an arm around Matthew's as she glared at Alfred. "I'm joining Matthew's side!"

"What?!" Alfred shouted in disbelief. It wasn't because he thought it wasn't fair or anything, no he could win no matter how many he faced! Or so he thought.

"But Alice you hate snow and its kinda unfair that way so-" Matthew tried letting her down gently.

Alfred quickly interrupted them with his 'heroic' laughter. "Ha Ha Ha! Bring it on! I'll defeat both of you because I'm the hero!"

Matthew let out a sigh at his brothers stubborn stupidity. In what world did he have a chance of winning? Didn't he realize he was out numbered?

It obviously didn't matter to him as the barricades were formed and the snowballs packed. Somehow in the course of maybe five minutes it had turned from a snowball fight to a war-zone.

"Status report?" Alice asked, somehow ending up the captain of this team despite her inability to throw snowballs. She didn't quite have as well of an arm as Matthew.

"Restocked on ammo and awaiting orders, sir-I mean ma'am!" he sighed, this was the hundredth time he'd mixed that up it seemed, yet Alice still hadn't reacted.

"And the enemy?" Was all she asked, the look on her face clearly showing she took this too seriously.

"Umm..." He peaked over the safety of their snow pile. "Nowhere in sight. Probably in hiding."

Alice smiled smugly to herself. "Hmph. The coward... We've driven him back already?"

"It's because we make such a good team." he told her with a friendly smile, purposely subtly resting his hand atop hers as he went to sit down next to her.

Finally a moment alone together... No Alfred laughing obnoxiously, no nagging from alice, just peace and quiet. Wait... Where did the sun go?

Matthew opened his eyes, not realizing when he'd closed them. The first thing he saw though was a massive heap of snow big enough for a snowman.

"Ha Ha Ha! The hero always wins!" Alfred shouted triumphantly before dropping it onto the two.

Hours would pass before he would succeed at breaking the arguing of a drenched Alice and clearly unapologetic American. Despite her claims of him cheating, Alfred had still clearly won.

Okay, so maybe they weren't the perfect team, not that he'd remind Alice of their losing streak, but he'd always take Alice's side anyway. It wasn't a matter of winning, just that he could be by her side.