Whoops, almost forgot to upload this one. This request was for the Karyuu kiddos in the prompt snow.
The captain must have done some impressive bartering with the chairwoman to ensure we were stationed on Earth during the holidays. When we touched down, the men thanked him through tentative smiles before rushing off to meet with their families. The few of us remaining could at least understand his glowering, even if we didn't share it.
"Lighten up, Captain," Grenadier said as he smacked Zero's back. I winced for him. "Weather report says it's snowing, so we should at least head out and see it."
Snowing, just like back home. "We are on vacation," I said. "We shouldn't spend it on the ship."
"If the first officer of all people is telling us we can get off the ship, I figure we should take the opportunity," Unabara said. Grenadier shared his grin, but I didn't appreciate the joke. It didn't appear to faze the captain, chin in his palm as he glared down at his console.
After letting silence hold the air for a breath, he finally sighed, as if signaling his defeat. "Right, we can go out to eat or something." He removed his hat to run his hand through his hair. "I'm not drunk enough for this."
I was about to get onto him, when Grenadier jumped in. "You don't need to be drunk to have a good time. Hell, I'm sober sometimes, and it's not all that bad." He threw me a winning smile, and I glared in return.
"Don't antagonize Marina," the captain sighed, though his expression cracked into a tired smile. When he stood, the three of us followed, out to the frosted city. Snow blanketed the world in comforting, quiet white. The gray skies felt nostalgic instead of gloomy. I didn't feel cold, not like I could in the past, but the boys did as soon as we set foot outside the hangar.
"I lived on a desert planet too long," Grenadier said, kicking snow out from underfoot. "I forgot what a pain this stuff was."
"Should have brought a better jacket," Unabara said with a shudder.
The captain didn't appear to mind. Hands jammed in his pockets, he watched the sky or perhaps the little puffs of flakes coming down. They clung to his hat and shoulders. It lasted until Grenadier smacked a snowball into the back of his head. The captain stumbled forward and without his hands to catch him, fell face-first into the snow.
"Ten points!" Grenadier chimed.
Zero pushed himself up and turned on his navigator in a huff. "You don't get any points for hitting someone in the back! That's cowardly." Grabbing a handful of snow, he packed it into a ball.
"Says the person who pretended to pass out from a shot to the arm," Grenadier muttered as he scooped up snow as well.
"You two aren't actually going to have a snowball fight right now, are you?" I asked. "Weren't we going to go eat?"
Grenadier reached over my head and smacked the snowball down on top of it. "You need to lighten up too, missy," he said.
Clumps of snow covered my hair and shoulders. I was about to break a few of his toes with my heel when another snowball hit him in the face. "Ten points," Zero mocked.
Unabara took a few steps back, saying something about how he was too old for this. I imagined we were all too old for this, but that didn't stop me from packing together my own ammunition. Grenadier had to pay.
"Two against one isn't fair," he said as he found his captain and first officer glaring him down.
Zero shrugged. "Maybe you should have thought this through then."
"Lighten up," I said just before launching a snowball at his ear.
We arrived at the restaurant soaked to the bone. The captain's hair stuck to his cheeks, my uniform was wrinkled all over, and Grenadier's boots sloshed with each step. Unabara looked out of place in our group, still mostly dry.
Sure, we looked ridiculous, a bunch of adults ordering a round of drinks despite our appearances. But Zero's eyes shone with childish amusement as he pried his soaked gloves off. His reddened nose wrinkled as he laughed. It was by-far the best we could have hoped for, all of us loners stuck together.