Winter fic (NM)

Snow fell slowly outside the window, frost snaking across to obscure the sunrise outside that greeted the waking Ulirijians. Well, most Ulirijians were just waking. Pip had been up most of the night and had commandeered the kitchen, knowing at any other time he'd have to potentially suffer Soul hovering around and ‘advising’ him how to bake. Really, the sneaky knight just liked to swap his ingredients and this caused him to have to taste everything before adding it, to ensure they weren't swapped. He huffed lightly and rolled his eyes at the thought, Soul'd been a pain in the ass since they were children and now he only seemed to be getting worse and worse. Especially around Blair. As long as the knight didn't progress into aggression though, Pip would probably just keep a steady eye on him. He didn't like to fight, but he would if he had to protect the ones he cares about.

“Hm, okay… pies, cookies, muffins, and Kyra's lemon cake... I think that's everything, huh Melrose?” He mused softly, glancing at his feline companion. The golden margay was stretched gracefully across the entrance of the kitchen, sunning herself and keeping an eye out for any early morning guests. She rolled over with a wide yawn and a “mrrow”, as if she was confirming his statement. Pip chuckled lightly at her reply, and set to packing everything except two of the pies, a couple muffins, and half of the cookies up. He left a note for the staff before he abandoned the kitchen;

“From Pip;
The pies are for whomever would like a piece, and the cookies and muffins as well. Have a nice first snow of the season!”

Pip had packaged the rest of the baked goods in his room, setting the unmarked apple pies aside. This was a bit of tradition he had followed ever since he was a young child with his mother, but he’d changed it and made it his own; he still made pies for some of the homeless, but now he made some goodies for specific people in his life too. He would probably deliver Kyra's to her later, well aware that sending it was too risky. For one, it could be questioned as ‘poisoned’; but, also because he knew some parents confiscated their daughter’s mail before it got to her. Granted, he wasn’t terribly concerned over the second point, but he figured it’d be better to deliver in person…

He could deliver some of the goods, and a gift, right now though… he would probably wake Blair up in the process, but it'd be kinda like when they were kids-- merely reversed. With less snowballs, and no colds a day later. Pip would count that as a plus, he personally didn't want to have a snowball fight. At least, not until he got a nap and could properly aim with awake eyes. He mused on that on his way to Roman's tower, more focused on his thoughts than where his feet were. He was, though, tossed into reality when he accidentally ran into a taller man. The lack of greying hair though, let Pip know exactly who he'd stumbled into.

"O-Oh! Sorry, uh.. Sorry Soul! I, um, wasn't watching where I was going." The brunette was quick to apologize, stepping back a few paces and emerald eyes huge as he pensively watched the knight. He was often unpredicta-- suddenly Soul sneezed. And kept sneezing. Pip had to hold back laughter, a bit amazed. "A-are you okay?"
It took a moment, and Pip stepping back quite a bit before Soul's sneezes ceased. The knight pinned him with a steady stare, but seemed to quell any anger he held, calmly speaking, "I'm fine. Did you get a pet rabbit or something?"

"I-I... uhm, no? I mean, there's Melrose but she's a margay and um..." Pip quickly stated, shaking his head. He did add though, voice uncertain, "I... uh, do have a rabbit fur blanket for Blair? I-it was super soft a-and.. uh, I thought she'd like it?"

Soul forced a smile and suggested a bit desperately, "That sounds great for Blair, but maybe she'd like a quilt better? It'll keep her warmer at night."

"Maybe... I still want to give her the blanket though; if she doesn't want it, I'm sure Avi would enjoy it!" Pip replied, starting to continue in his trek to Blair's room. He looked back at Soul softly speaking, "O-oh... uhm, I have some cookies for you, but I think I should probably drop off the blanket first. So, you.. uh... don't sneeze over everything. S-sorry." He darted off after, chuckling at the frustrated snort by the knight at being 'rabbit blocked', in a way. He honestly hadn't a clue that would happen, but he was pleasantly pleased. Maybe if Blair was covered in rabbit, Soul would leave her be? That'd be a fun experiment.

The rest of the walk to Blair's room was relatively less eventful. He did meet up with Avidima though and gave her the apple muffins, which she seemed to like pretty well. He'd took a chance and thought she might like them, not really sure of her dessert preference so he went more bland. With that done, he asked, "Do you know if Blair is up yet?"

"Not yet. Are you going to wake her?" She asked, walking with him to his cousin's room. He glanced to her and nodded with a light smile.
"Yep! I figured it'd be kinda funny if I was the one to wake her up for the first snow of the season, you know? Since she is usually the first one up?" He chuckled lightly, eyes bright in amusement. He then tilted his head, curiosity sneaking into his gaze, "Hey, did you know Soul is allergic to rabbits? I just found out and it was, uh... pretty funny."
Avi laughed lightly and smiled just a faintly, "Indeed I did. I put a rabbit rug in front of Blair's door to try and ward him off."
"Oh, that's pretty clever! I got a rabbit fur blanket for her, that's how I found out."

By then they'd reached the Lady's door. Avidima went in first to see if Blair was awake yet and she, surprisingly, wasn't yet. Pip grinned and he slipped in; he first set her gift and cookies on her dressing table before approaching her bed. He sat down on the side of it and lightly poked her nose. It took her a few heartbeats but her eyes flickered open and she looked up at him in confusion. He couldn't help but break into a grin, mimicking the squeaky voice she had as a child, "Snow, Blair, Snow!"

Then she just cracked up laughing and lightly hit his arm, and shook her head. "You're such a silly goose!" His eyebrows lifted up goofily.
"Am I? But, my little flower, those were your words. Not mine." He teased her, grinning brightly.
"Yeah, when I was 5!" She giggled. He rolled his eyes with a smirk.
"Mmmmhmmm.... Perhaps, yes. But you still come crashing in my room over the snow, Little Flower."
"Pftt, that doesn't count!"
"Yes it does!"
"No it doesn't!" A wicked grin then hit Blair and she reached out lightning fast, tickling her elder cousin into submission. This is how it'd always been, ever since they were children. And any argument they had usually melted and fell into her favor, Pip yielding and neither really knew if it was just his pushover nature or because he just didn't want to fight about it. However, as quick as the debate came it faded.

"Hey, I got you a gift for the first snow!" He grinned brightly, jumping off the bed to pick up the parcel and set it in her hands. Blair thanked him and excitedly opened the gift, beaming at the soft fur. "Ooh, this is nice! I can always use a new blanket."

"Yep! I also made you some chocolate tulip shaped cookies; I figured you'd like them." He hummed lightly, also handing her the cookies. He smiled warmly when she tested one and hummed happily.
"This batch turned out pretty good, Pip! I really like how they look like tulips as well, its super cute!" Blair murmured around a cookie, looking up with wide eyes. She then grinned lightly, "Why don't we go and play in the snow? You know, like old times?"
"I don't know..." Pip's eyes grew wide, uncertain. He hadn't played much in the snow since they were little, and now that they were older... He shook his head, fixing his train of thought. His father couldn't bug him about it anymore. He could play. His concern melted to a gentle smile and he nodded, "Yeah, let's do it!"

.....

The light snow had fallen faster than Pip had thought, ducked behind a tree and ankle deep in the snow. They were all bundled up well enough though-- this war wasn't about to end any time soon! He peeked out and tossed a powdery snowball at Blair, laughing when the snow burst apart and splattered into white crystals on her coat. His laughing hiccuped when he was hit square in the chest with a large snowball, thrown by Avidima.

The three were reduced to light laughter and playful snow warfare for the morning until Soul crashed the party and Pip decided he should probably deliver that cake before it got much later.