✧*~☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙ - .*☆

Steve's eyes opened slowly. White cold light streamed in through his window and he could barely see outside of the window from where he laid on his bed. But he could see that the sky was extremely cloudy and snow had begun to fall. Snow was always nice. It wasn't unusual for Hawkins to get sporadic snowfall but it was still nice. He sighed as he rolled over and that's when his eyes landed on a sleeping Asling. Her back was turned to him and he could see bits of her dragon tattoo peaking out from behind her halter top. Asling refused to change out of her new clothes at the end of the night, she was so enamored by the new clothing she wanted to wear it as much as possible. But right now she looked so incredibly peaceful. He could see her back rising and falling as she soothingly breathed in her sleep. Steve smiled softly to himself. He got up and out of bed and decided to go down stairs to make them some breakfast. The stairs creaked lightly under the weight of his feet and as soon as he made his way to the cold hardwood floor he yawned and stretched his arms. Pancakes on a snowy Sunday morning sounded like a great idea to him, so he got started on making just that.

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"The sky is sprinkling flour on everything."

Steve turned to see a sleepy Asling with a blanket wrapped around her and a terribly confused expression on her face. Steve only smiled before he turned back to flipping the pancakes, this time he made sure to sprinkle some chocolate chips into the batter.

"That's called snow, Allie."

He said as he flipped another pancake.

"You don't have snow where you're from?"

He asked.

"We do in the mountains but not in the village where I'm from."

She told him.

"I've never seen snow before."

Asling added as she sat at the table and waited for him.

"Wait, seriously?"

Steve asked.

"Yep. I've never been to the mountains where it snows so I've just never seen it."

She replied.

"Why not?"

Steve asked, scooping the pancakes on to a plate and bringing them over to the table where Asling sat.

"No one goes to the mountains in Scanthia."

She told him as if it were obvious.

"No one except the Moon People."

"The what?"

Steve asked.

"The Moon People."

Asling replied.

"They're a wild people who live in the mountains."

She told him.

"Legend has it that they were once citizens of Scanthia but something happened, a battle took place, and they all left."

She told him.

"No one knows exactly why but no one bothers them and they don't bother us."

Steve brought two glasses of milk to the table as well as a bottle of strawberry syrup.

"Do you think you're ready to do some more training today?"

Steve asked, changing the subject and Asling had to pull her eyes away from looking outside a window at the steady snowfall to face Steve.

"Hm?"

She asked.

"Oh."

She added once she realized what he had asked.

"Yeah I guess."

She said.

"You don't sound so sure."

Steve replied.

"Well I've never seen snow before... I can't help but be distracted by it."

She told him.

"How about this,"

Steve said as he began to cut a bite sized piece off of his pancake that he had already drizzled in strawberry syrup.

"If you do a littel bit of training this morning then we can go out and enjoy the snow."

Asling's features lit up.

"Really??"

"Yes, really."

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"Okay, done."

Asling said curtly as she closed her book of spells and incantations that she had conjured out of thin air for her to study.

"That was fast."

Steve said from his spot on the couch where he had been keeping an eye on her while filling out a job application for the ice cream shop in the mall.

"I did my best to focus while the snow falls."

Asling said a bit defensively as she stood from her spot on the floor that was littered with books, parchment, and quills. With a wave of her hand it all disappeared though.

"Asling, the fate of your world and mine are in jeopardy and you get distracted by a little snow?"

Steve raised a brow at her and Asling smiled awkwardly.

"Alright."

Steve finally said with a sigh as he set the application down on the table and stood. Asling nearly squealed with excitement. She clasped her hands together over her chest.

"But you can't go out there in that."

Steve said as he pointed a finger to her clothes.

"Why not?"

Asling asked, face falling.

"You'll be too cold."

He told her.

"I'll get you a jacket of mine."

He said before leaving Asling alone in the living room. In Steve's absence Asling wondered over to the large windows that separated her from Steve's back yard which was now covered in a layer of snow so thick it looked like buttercream icing had coated absolutely everything. And yet snow still fell. It was so beautiful to someone who had never seen it before.

"Alright,"

Steve said as he came back. He was wearing a thick warm coat and and holding one for Asling. He also had a winter cap for her to match the toboggan he wore on his head but the one he had for her was bright pink and had a white pom pom on the top.

"These used to be Nancy's so I thought you would rather wear them than wear my clothes again since Nancy thinks they're so horrible on you."

He muttered the last part to himself as he helped her into the coat and placed the winter cap on her head. Asling beamed up at him excitedly, her green eyes sparkled.

"Arlight."

He said,

"Let's go."

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Within an hour Steve had taught Asling how to make snowballs, snowmen, and catch snowflakes on her tongue. She seemed absolutely enamored by everything he had to show her. The last snowy activity on his list was to show her how to make snow angels. The sun was starting to set now and even though it was cloudy, the sky was a slight orangey-purple. Steve laid down in a blanket of fresh snow powder and Asling laid down beside him, the two looking up at the cloudy sky as snow continued to fall.

"You open and close your arms like this."

Steve said.

"And do the same with your legs."

He added, demonstrating to her how to make the perfect snow angel. Asling watched him for a bit before making her own.

"Like this?"

She asked. Steve turned his head to watch her and smiled.

"Yeah, Allie, that's perfect."

He told her. She turned to look at him, catching his eyes on her and a smile pulled at her lips.

"I love it here."

She told him.

"Your world is full of so many wondrous things."

She added.

"Allie,"

Steve said her name softly.

"How long do you plan on staying here, with me?"

He finally asked.

"Well..."

She began.

"Forever."

She finally admitted.

"I don't exactly have a home to go back to."

She added.

"Kierran made sure of that."

Her smile faltered for a moment.

"But I'd like to stay in your world, with you, if that's alright."

"Yeah,"

Steve said a little too quickly.

"Yeah, that's just fine."