#atari-writes

"Oh my God. Hopper."

"Mmff."

"Hopper, look." 

"Mmmmfff."

"Hopper." 

Darting back over to the bed, you shake his shoulder.

"Mmmff, Jesus, wha-what, what's happened?" he grumbles as his eyes open blearily, his head turning to you.

Grinning, you point at the window. "It's snowed." 

"... What?" 

"It's snowed, Hop, come and look." Moving back to the window, you lean against the window frame, cupping your face in your hands as you gaze at the clean, untouched snow outside. "It's so gorgeous... All the kids'll be happy. I didn't believe the radio when they said it, but here we are. We can all go for a walk later, after we've had lunch... Can't we? Hop?" Looking over your shoulder, you see that his head has turned away from you and his eyes have closed, his lips parted.

"Hop."

Padding over to him, you sit on the edge of the bed and lean over, your hands either side of him. 

"Hop. Hopper. Jim."

His eyes open just slightly.

"... Jim, it's snowed."

  Heaving a very large sigh, his arms suddenly wrap around you and he pulls you down and rolls you both over, half lying on you with his face pressed into your neck. Huffing out a breath, you can't help but smile as you catch your lower lip between your teeth. Gently tapping his back with your finger tips, you shift slightly. 

"Jim, come on... Jane'll want to go out in it the moment she wakes up and sees it, which'll probably be in five seconds."

"Mmff."

"And it's pretty thick out there so that means we can make a snowman or three."

"No, it means I've got to clear it all so we can drive out," he mumbles against your skin, still not moving.

You shift again as his beard tickles your neck, your fingers running through his hair. "Well, I'll help you do it if you get moving. Right now." 

He inhales slowly, his hold on you tightening slightly as his lips brush against your skin. "Mmnh... That doesn't sound fun..." He begins to press soft kisses along your shoulder, mumbling, "That doesn't sound fun at all..." 

"Jim..." Your warning tails off into a breathy sigh as his lips move to your neck, your eyes closing.

He hums in response, his kisses travelling up to your jaw as one of his hands slides out from under you and-

Then you hear a loud exclamation coming from outside the bedroom door, accompanied by insistent knocking. 

"Snow! There's snow!"

Jim pauses as you bite at your lower lip to try and stop a laugh, your eyes opening. The knocking continues and his head drops down onto your shoulder with a quiet groan.

"Yeah, comin' in a second, kid," he calls as you grin, patting his back gently.

"Come on, Chief, we've been summoned."

"... now just move your arms and legs, like you're doing a star jump. There we go. Keep moving them, just a few more times... Aaand stop."

Carefully pushing yourself up, you get to your feet and step away from where you'd just been laying. Reaching a hand out, you help El up and brush some snow off of her back before placing your hands on your hips. Looking down, you both gaze at the snow angels you've just made, a smile on your lips. 

"Not too bad, huh?" you say, nudging your elbow against her shoulder gently.

"Pretty," she agrees with a nod, her smile mirroring your own.

"Hey, I'm sure they do look great but I believe someone promised they would help me."    

One side of El's mouth lifts higher as she looks up at you, and you arch an eyebrow, trying to hide your own amusement.

"I don't believe I promised anything, Hopper. I believe there was some sort of negotiation that one of the two parties didn't exactly participate in." 

You hear some muttered grumblings and turn, wrapping your arm around El's shoulders as she turns with you. Hopper stands halfway down the drive you had both cleared the month before to make access to the cabin easier, one hand on his hip, the other resting on top of a spade. He'd cleared a good third of the snow from it, but was evidently getting bored. 

Raising an eyebrow, his gaze flicks between the pair of you. "Could we reopen negotiations?"

"... Nah."

You and El quickly break apart, a gasp coming from her and a laugh from you as Hopper uses the spade to thrust a large quantity of snow in your direction. Stooping, you swiftly gather snow into your hands and mould it into a snowball. Moving your arm back, you tilt your head and raise your eyebrows.

"Hey, no. No. Don't you dare-"

"Oh, and why not? Scared, Chief?" 

"Scared? Oh, sweetheart..." A smirk hints at the corners of his mouth. "If you throw that snowball, you're declaring war."

"Well, that is how most negotiations end." Your arm moves back just a little bit further before you swing it forward, launching the snowball at him. 

Hopper, throwing the spade down, quickly dodges out of the way and scoops snow up, hurling a snowball back at you. Darting behind a tree just in time, you wait a few moments before peering out... Then you abruptly pull your head back just in time as another snowball whizzes past you. 

"Oh, Hop, you're gonna have to try a little better than that," you call out, a thoroughly smug smirk spreading across your features.

"Oh, like this?" 

Before you can whip round to face him, snow is suddenly shoved down the back of your neck. Yelling even as you laugh, his arms swiftly wrap around your waist, stopping you from getting away. Wriggling as you feel the snow sliding down your spine, you still can't help but grin.

"Urghhh, Hopper, God damn it, that's not fair... Jane, Jane, get him, please!"

Looking over at her as you struggle, just knowing Hopper's got the smuggest look on his face, you watch her try and make a snowball, though she uses too much force from her palms, the snow crumbling in her hands.

"Looks like we are gonna have to reopen those negotiations, huh?"

"Oh, just shut up, Hopper, you absolu-"

Then a snowball hits him in the face. As he grunts and releases you, stumbling back a few steps, you lift your head, mouth open, to look at El. She blinks and quickly moves her hands behind her back. Clapping your hand over your mouth, though it's unable to hide the fact that you're grinning, your head whips to the side to look at Hopper. A baffled expression is written across his features as he tries to process what just happened, wiping snow off of his cheeks. 

A snort escapes you before you can stop it.

His eyes flick over to you and he clenches his jaw, though you can see he's trying to not laugh himself. Taking a step back, you glance over at El, lowering your hand from your mouth.

"Oh, Jane, you're my hero."

"You know..." Hopper drawls casually, brushing snow off of his beard with his fingers, "... She didn't warn you when I had that whole pile of snow in my hand."

Your lips twitch and you turn your head to look at her, feigning betrayal as you press your hand against your chest.

"Oh... Is that so?"

Her eyes widen as they dart from you, to him and back. 

"Well, then..." Your tone is just as casual as Hopper's as you continue, slowly bending down to scoop snow up into your hands and mould it. "It looks like we've got us a snow war on our hands."

Straightening up, you suddenly spin and hurl the snowball at Hopper, watching it smack against his chest. Laughing as he grunts, you and El, grinning, both dive for cover behind trees, quickly beginning to make snowballs.

"Oh, both of you are so dead..."