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There was nothing quite like waking up to a fresh snowfall. The light coming in through the windows was bright and clear and clean, there was a hush over everything, broken only by the crash of the waves on the rocks far below, and an entire day lay ahead with nowhere to go. Ren stretched luxuriously in the big bed. Her body was still humming pleasantly from this morning's lovemaking, and she thought nothing sounded quite so good as rolling over to go back to sleep before going for another round.

Her lover, on the other hand, had entirely different ideas. The Iron Bull grinned wildly at her as he tugged on his pants and hunted for his battered boots. "Come on, kadan, rise and shine. Think of all that snow!"

"Aren't you from the far north, where it never snows? Shouldn't you be huddling under the covers and wishing for it to go away? Dorian would be."

The Iron Bull dismissed the comparison with a sneer. "Dorian's a Vint. Vints are wimps."

"I'm going to tell Krem you said that."

"Go ahead. I've said it before, I'll say it again. Come on," he repeated with more emphasis.

Ostentatiously, Ren scooted across the bed into the warm spot he had left behind and gathered the covers around her.

"Don't make me come in there."

She had a fleeting thought about challenging him in hopes of distracting him and keeping him in bed, but in this mood he was most likely to pick her up and fling her, naked, covers and all, into the snow. "Fine. Let me get dressed, will you?"

"Just don't take too long." He flung the door open. About a foot of snow was piled up against it, and he lost no time grabbing the shovel they kept near the door and starting to vigorously displace the piled snow.

"You could close the door!" Ren called, dragging the blankets with her while she got up to hunt for her clothes.

"How can I shovel out the door if it's closed?" The question was reasonable, but the wild grin wasn't. She supposed she understood his enthusiasm—after all, he had grown up without snow—but it always startled her a little. He was rarely this much of a little kid.

The shoveled path from the door had grown larger and longer by the time Ren was dressed. She poked her head out the door, looking for the Iron Bull—and immediately was struck full in the face by a snowball. Spluttering, swiping at her face, she called out, "You're going to pay for that!"

"Oh, yeah? You have to catch me first."

With a growl, she ran after him, but his longer legs and greater height meant he could move through the snow far more easily than she could. Ren worked up a sweat chasing him before he finally slowed enough to let her catch him. She launched herself squarely at him, sending him over backward. His strong arms closed around her, carrying her with him, cushioning her fall with his body. Grabbing a handful of snow, she rubbed it on his face while he laughed.

"You think you're hilarious, don't you?"

"Right now, I think I might be freezing my ass off. You want to let me up, kadan?"

Feeling she had made her point, Ren climbed off him. Looking down at him there in the fresh snow, she was reminded of something she hadn't thought of in a long time, and she held up her hand to keep him from getting up. "Wait."

"What for? I have snow in places snow really doesn't belong."

"Should have thought of that earlier, shouldn't you? Wave your arms up and down. Like this." She demonstrated.

He pounded his fists against the snow.

"No, no, along the snow. So you're pushing it with your arms. Yeah, like that. And then do the same with your legs."

"You going somewhere with this?"

"Get up, let me show you."

He stood up, while Ren exhorted him to be careful and not move the snow, and there in the snow was a Qunari-sized figure, horns and all, with wide sleeves and a long skirt. "Looks like a saarebas with horns."

"It's a snow spirit."

Shaking snow out of the back of his pants, the Iron Bull frowned. "I see it, I guess. Not really a Qunari thing. Looks more like a Vint." Suddenly he lunged, picking her up, and tossed her lightly into a pile of fresh snow. "You do one."

"Bull!" She blew snow out of her mouth. "You could have asked."

"This way was more fun."

He really was incorrigible. Ren swished her arms and legs in the snow, getting up to look at her handiwork.

"Well, that looks much better than mine," the Iron Bull remarked.

Ren brushed the snow off her backside and shook it out of her hair. "Come on."

"I thought we were going to go in. Get out of these wet clothes," he said suggestively.

"Later. You wanted to have fun in the snow, remember?"

"Yeah, I guess I did. What's next?"

"Snowman!"

He nodded. "Snowman. I know just how to decorate it."

So they built a tall, thin snowman, gave it a big floppy hat made out of a fallen piece of tree bark, and stuck long pieces of straw under the hat. Stepping back, they surveyed their handiwork.

"If that doesn't call Cole to us, nothing would," Ren observed.

"Well, now you made it creepy."

She chuckled, leaning against him. "What's next on the snow day fun list?"

"Dry clothes. Warm fire. Hot chocolate."

"I am in favor of every one of those." Qunari drinking chocolate was a luxury Ren had grown to appreciate. Varric shipped them some every Satinalia, bless his heart.

As she turned to go inside, the Iron Bull caught her shoulder, holding her there in front of him. "Hey. Kadan."

"What's up?"

"Thank you."

She tilted her head, looking up at him affectionately. "Anytime."