Snow days

Locke belongs to a friend of mine. This is a really close friendship. No romance.

SNOW DAY
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Itami pulled on her thin hoodie before slowly pulling the door open and walking out.
Locke was still passed out on the couch, completely exhausted after eating all the sugar in the house the previous night.
Itami pulled the door shut behind her, shivering as the cold air hit her exposed skin.

"Holy crap it's cold!" She hissed to herself.
So this was the stuff they called snow? She'd seen rain, freezing rain, acid rain, hail, and ice.
She'd never seen snow before.

She lifted her hand, her sleeve falling back as she reached out in front of her.
A small snowflake landed on her palm.
"It's...so pretty." She talked softly to herself.

"'TAMI!!" Locke launched herself at her back. "How dare you come out her and play without me?!"

Itami shrieked and fell forwards, face first into the snow.
"Luck.." Her voice was muffled.

"What?" What the heck was Itami talking about?

"Pleaaasse..get uf if mer."

"Oh.." Locke stood up. "Sorry."

"I'd hardly call it playing, Locke." Itami said as she slowly rolled over and stood up.

Locke pouted. "Of course it was playing! You went out in the snow without me!" She crossed her arms with a huff.

"I've never seen snow before this morning, Locke." Itami frowned as she watched her friend pout because of her.

"See! You were-" Locke stopped mid-sentence and blinked. "Wait. What?"

"I never saw snow before. I came out here to see what it was."

"Itami!" Locke exclaimed. "There's no way you could have never seen this stuff before!"

Itami pushed some of the white substance around with her boot. "I'm serious, Locke."

Locke gasped. That was impossible! There's no way Itami couldn't have seen snow before! She grew up on a mountain, for the sake of granola bars!
Not believing her friend, she picked up a handful of snow. She balled it up between her hands.
And she threw it!

Itami, at that point, had turned around, ready to walk back inside.

The snowball hit Itami in the back of the head.
She froze and turned around, staring at Locke.
"Locke. What was that?"

Locke had her game face on.
The face she used to challenge her opponents.
She smirked and bounced another ball of snow in the air.
She threw it at Itami, hitting her in the arm.

Itami stared at the spot where the snow ball hit.
She looked between her arm and Locke with wide eyes.
Her focus finally settled on Locke.
"How'd you do that?"

Locke laughed. "What?" She threw another snowball. "This?"

Itami nodded. "Yes. That. How'd you do that?"

Locke was overcome with a sudden sense of seriousness.
"All I did was make a snowball, 'Tami."

Itami tried to walk towards her, but slipped on a patch of ice.
She hit the ground with a grunt.

Locke lost all seriousness as she fell to her knees. "Your killin' me!" She couldn't control her laughter.

Itami crawled over and dropped a pile of snow on her friend.

Locke stopped laughing, and sat up quickly, the snow dropping from her.
"Hey!"

It was Itami's turn to laugh. "You deserved that!" She fell backwards, laughing.

"How?! All I did was throw balls of snow at you!"

Itami couldn't stop laughing.

Moving quickly, she attempted to bury the other girl in the snow.

Itami picked Locke up by her collar and frowned.


"Excuse me, young human." She kept her face blank. "Please don't do that." And she dropped Locke in a pile of snow.

"'TAMI!" Locke jumped in the air. "It's in my jacket now!!"

But Itami was nowhere to be seen.

"'Tami?" She looked around slowly.

"BOO!" Itami launched herself at her friend, pulling her to the ground with her.

"WHAT THE FU-!"

"Don't finish that sentence." Itami covered Locke's mouth with her cold hand.
"Teach me how to do what you did earlier." She told Locke. "And I will not take you captive." She released Locke.

"All you do is this." Locke picked up a small pile of snow. "And you squeeze it. And you make it round." Locke tried several times to teach her friend.

Finally, Itami got it. "Hey. Hey Locke." Locke had her back turned to her, thinking Itami would never get it right.

"What?" She turned to face Itami.

"CATCH!" Itami threw it at Locke's stomach.

"THIS IS WAR, 'TAMI! WAR!!!!" Locke exclaimed as she retaliated.

They went on like this for hours, 'till both were freezing and soaked.

"Come on, Locke. We should go in." Itami picked the complaining girl up over her shoulder.

"HEY!!" She pounded on Itami's back. "I'm the same freaking size as you, you jerk!!"

"Shut it, Locke." Itami's voice lacked emotion, the way it was when she spoke to anyone but Locke or Maxwell.

"But 'Tami..." She pouted as she went limp.

Itami carried her inside. "Your cold. Warm up." She dropped Locke on the couch.

"Pleeeeaaaassseee?????" She begged, trying to walk back to the door, past Itami, who stood in he way. TRYING.

"No." Itami pulled her hoodie off, icy water dripping from it.

"As an early Christmas present?" Locke gave Itami puppy dog eyes. "Please, 'Tami?"

Itami locked the door and walked into the bathroom, hanging her hoodie in the shower.
"No." She replied before Locke had finished her sentence. She sat on the couch, still in her wet jeans and boots. "What's Christmas?"

Locke dropped the box of granola bars, her hair dripping water down her face. "Wha-" she sputtered. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'WHAT'S CHRISTMAS'?!?!"

"Your going to get sick. I suggest you change." Itami was indifferent, avoiding her friend's question. Her eyes and voice lacked the wonder she had shown earlier, the first time she saw a snowball, the first time she had seen snow.

"Your strange."

"I know." Itami yawned, busying herself with wringing a portion of her jeans in her hands.

"Asking about Christmas as if you don't know." Locke's voice faded, letting Itami know she had walked into a different room.

Locke finally plopped down next to her friend. "Your still all wet." She tried to copy Itami's tone.

"I know. Now tell me what Christmas is." Itami brushed her hair away from her face, scratching at the stray strands that clung to the skin near her eyes.

"No." Locke stared straight ahead, copying her friend's position.

"Whhhhyyyy???" Itami whined, staring at Locke.

"Because you already know."

"NO I DON'T!!" She flung her hands in the air before walking off.
Locke sat there, thinking of a way to explain Christmas in a way Itami would understand.

Itami finally walked back into the room, her hair (somewhat) dry, and her combat jeans on.

"Well...Christmas is a day when family...and friends....get together. They have fun, and eat a lot, and they give each other presents." Locke nodded. That was a good explanation.
Absolutely perfect, for that matter.