Fragments #2

First Date

Winter Schnee took a deep breath and checked herself in her mirror. She was in one of her many apartments located throughout Remnant. It was after 10 PM and Winter had just finished a long dinner with yet another politician who wanted Pale Horse's services. The Colonel had since retired to his room on the floor below, stating that he needed to eat something.

Winter gave her clothing another run-down. She was dressed in a white lace t-shirt and matching skinny jeans. Casual, but classy. Her hair was tied in a single ponytail, while her fringe remained over her right eye. Simple but elegant slippers adorned her feet.

Satisfied, Winter grabbed the tray of food that she had prepared a few minutes ago. A bowl of rice, with a few side dishes of fish, meat and vegetables. Perfect for a young male with a rocking hot-

Winter immediately felt her cheeks turn red at the thought. Sure, she had watched as Cassian had grown from a small boy to a well-groomed, jaw-droppingly attra-

"Stop!" Winter shouted to herself. "Stop thinking about his-ARRRGH!"

After a few minutes of yelling, Winter managed to sufficiently calm down enough to think about Cassian without...delusions.

"I'm just giving him some food as thanks." Winter mumbled to herself, as she walked down the staircase that connected her apartment with Cassian's personal quarters. "That's all. There isn't any ulterior motive or anything. It's not like I fell for his cute smile, charming words and genuine kindness. No, it's not that at all…" Winter trailed off, perfectly aware of exactly what she was feeling. She had been talking to Fred about it all day after all.

Eventually, Winter found herself in front of Cassian's door. Taking one last breath, she knocked. That act alone would have horrified anyone who had seen it. Winter Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, knocking on her subordinate's door? But Winter didn't mind. After all, it wasn't like there was anyone else in the house save for the two of them. The thought made her cheeks redden.

"Hmm?" Suddenly, the door opened, revealing Cassian. Upon seeing Winter, Cassian blinked and rubbed his eyes. "Oh, Mistress. Sorry I took so long, I was busy doing-"

"CASSIAN GRAY!" A female voice shouted from inside Cassian's room, nearly making Winter drop her tray in surprise. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, LEAVING ME IN THE MIDDLE OF A CALL!"

"Ugh." Cassian groaned and scratched his head. He was wearing a loose-fitting jersey that slid off his shoulders and a pair of dark gray boxers. "Sorry about that mistress. She's rather impat-"

"CASSIAN IF YOU DON'T GET YOUR BUTT OVER HERE I'LL BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF YOU!" The voice yelled.

"Haaa…." Cassian sighed and gave Winter an apologetic look. "Sorry mistress, let me just take care of this and I'll get back to you alright? Actually, why don't you come in. I'll only be a minute."

"Thank you." Winter stepped across the threshold and into Cassian's room. With a start, she realised that this was actually the first time she had ever entered Cassian's quarters.

Looking around, Winter was struck by how personal Cassian's room was. Posters of books and shows covered the walls. A small bookshelf was stacked with a mix of comics and novels, all haphazardly stored in with no apparent order. A table with numerous weapons lying on it, along with various tools and bottles for adjusting and customizing them. A bed, surprisingly well made compared to the rest of the room, with two or three scrolls of varying sizes lying on it.

Finally, a small projector which was hooked up to his computer. The projector was currently projecting the face of a beautiful woman onto the only clear wall in the room. The woman had dark brown hair with light blonde streaks through it.

"Hi I'm back." Cassian waved at the computer. To Winter's surprise, the face on the wall reacted. She had thought Cassian had a model's face for his background.

"About time." The face huffed. "I'm sure you wouldn't keep your employer waiting, so why would you keep a lady waiting as well?"

"Because it was my employer who was at the door…?" Cassian stepped aside, allowing the computer camera to capture Winter's image. "Canna, this is my mistress Winter."

"Mistress? Cassian is that a kink thing-"

"No!" Both Winter and Cassian shouted. Canna, seeing their synchronised reactions, laughed.

"Anyways Cass, I'll leave you with your mistress-" Canna wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, eliciting a sigh from Cassian and a blush from Winter. "-so make sure to call me later kay? I can see what you meant when you said Winter was drop dead gorgeous~ " Canna gave Winter a wink. "Ciao!"'

"Canna-" Cassian shouted, but Canna had already hung up. The two of them were silent for a few minutes, the awkwardness of what Canna had ended with stifling any possible conversation.

"Sorry about that." Cassian finally said, turning his computer off and plopping himself onto the bed. Winter, after a moment, carefully sat down next to him. "Canna's pretty forward to say the least."

"Is she...your girlfriend?" For some reason, saying the words made Winter's heart ache.

"Girlfriend? You're joking right? She's my sister." A sense of relief flowed through Winter's body at Cassian's words. "Also, she's eight years older than I am."

"Wait, she's nearly 30?" Winter had thought that Canna had been no older than twenty-five at the most.

"And she has two kids aged eight and six."

"She's a mother!?" Cassian nodded. "Wow...that's crazy."

Suddenly, Cassian's stomach grumbled.

"Ah, I almost forgot to eat dinner." Winter was about to tell him about her meal, but noticed Cassian retrieve a black case from under his bed. Flipping it open, Winter was shocked to see a syringe and various bottles of liquid. "Normally I do this earlier, but Canna kept me for bloody ages."

"Wait." Winter put her hand on Cassian's shoulder, stopping him from continuing. "Is that your...dinner?"

"Yeah." Cassian replied, pulling his sleeve up and wrapping a piece of fabric around his forearm. "Atlas Military Emergency Rations remember?"

"Yes I do." Winter wrinkled her nose in disgust. For a week, they had been required to rely solely on the intravenous rations for sustenance. "But like the name suggests, those are meant for emergencies, not regular consumption." Winter looked Cassian straight in the eye. "How often do you use these Cassian?"

"Ah...well you see…" Cassian scratched his head and laughed awkwardly. "Um...18 times or so a week?"

Winter blinked. "You use them for most of your meals?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Well, outside of sleeping, training and my duties to you, I don't really have anytime to actually eat." Noticing Winter's horrified look, Cassian quickly added. "I do eat real food though!"

Winter looked at Cassian's trashbin, which was overflowing with junk food packets. Stomping over to his mini-fridge, Winter threw the door open.

Inside, stacked floor to ceiling, were ice cream sandwiches of various flavors.

"...This is what you consider real food?" A dangerous tone had entered Winter's voice.

"W-well...it uses my digestive tract?" Cassian offered weakly.

"...Here." Winter placed her tray of now-cold food on Cassian's desk. "Eat this."

Cassian peered at the array of dishes. "Did you...cook this?"

"Yes, so what?" Winter asked, her face flushing scarlet.

"Just curious." Cassian used the provided chopsticks to pop a piece of meat into his mouth. After a few seconds of chewing, he swallowed, before reaching for a piece of fish.

"How is it?"

Drip.

A tear fell from Cassian's face and onto the food. Winter, seeing this emotional response, found herself at a loss of words.

"S-sorry." Cassian stuttered, wiping the tears away. "It's just been...so long since I've eaten home-cooked food."

"Is it really that special?" Winter inwardly winced. That definitely came out wrong.

"I guess it's kind of stupid, me crying over something as simple as this." Cassian gave Winter a smile, seemingly unaffected by her comment. "My sister used to cook for me back at home. Our parents were always away on hunts, so it was really just down to her to take care of me. When I joined the academy, I always treated meals like a waste of time, hence the emergency rations. So it's nice to have a cooked meal." Cassian made a move as if he was about to hug Winter, only to stop himself just in time. "Thank you."

Winter blinked, feeling her cheeks blush at Cassian's heartfelt words. "It's...you're welcome."

Perhaps it was this tiny, almost insignificant event, which allowed their feelings to truly bloom.

Fluff. Fluff. Too much fluff.

Ferris