Yuuma's furious growl boomed as he yanked a fistful of jacket and pulled the intruder away from the tomatoes. The bastard didn't even have time to react, but to fall backwards on their sorry ass. An unexpected familiar high squeak reached Yuuma’s ears, halting his next attack. The intruder scrambled to sit up and pushed their beanie aside. Wide blue-gray eyes and disheveled blonde hair emerged under the winter garment.

“Whaah, you scared me!” 

Yuuma recoiled backwards when he finally recognized the quirky artist’s frame. The fury on his face softened, but his brows remained furrowed in confusion.

“Y-you?! Why are ya here!?”

The rage controlling Yuuma’s fists subsided and a remorseful curse escaped his lips. On any other day he would have recognized the blonde's scent on time, but today it was fainter than usual. Almost non-existent, blending into the first snow and frosty nature.

To his surprise, Eri hopped up unfazed by the rough greeting and began to wipe snow and dirt from her pants. Keen brown eyes followed how the artist tried to catch each speckle from the fabric, but his gaze lingered on the curves of her rump. Especially when the blonde bent down to grab her fallen sunglasses from the ground. Sunglasses in winter?

A white fluffy bobble on Eri’s beanie swayed as she finally stood up to meet him. She took her time to carefully place her sunglasses on top of her beanie, testing Yuuma's patience. Once she was content with the placement, her grayish blue gaze gravitated towards Yuuma's browns. 

Eri’s fingers found their way to fidget on her jacket sleeves and a nervous smile rose to her lips.

“S-sorry for the intrusion. I was waiting for you!” 

“Huh?! Do ya hafta lurk around for that? Ya can just come inside, damnit.”

A frown between Yuuma's brows deepened when Eri shook her head and hands in rejection.

“Oh no no no, I wouldn't want to bother everyone, especially Ruki… Besides, I’m more than happy to wait in your garden. If… that’s okay with you, of course. If it bothers you, I will wait somewhere else in the future.”

Yuuma scoffed and dismissed the babble with a flick of his hand, “Just don't touch anything and maybe I’ll tolerate it!” 

Tension left Eri's tall frame and the lopsided edge in her smile was replaced with relieved softness. Yuuma followed with his gaze as Eri began to rummage her bag with enthusiasm. 

“So what did ya need m-”

“Here! For you!” Eri beat him to it and held out a colorful gift bag close to his chest. 

Yuuma glanced a dubious glare at the bag to cover up his genuine surprise. The warmth rising to his cheeks was only due to the frosty weather, right?

“Che, yer too early! Presents are shared later in the month.”

The blue-gray gaze flickered to the side for a moment, but returned with increased vigor.

“Think of it as a thank you and payment! I mean, for letting me visit your garden to do live studies!” 

A mischievous smirk slithered on Yuuma’s face and he leaned closer. 

“Live studies, huh? If ya need me t’ pose for ya, just ask. And maybe, if ya ask nicely with t’ right price, I’ll grant ya sum’ shirtless action as well.”

A noticeable crimson heat rushed to Eri’s cheeks with a splutter of incoherent noises. She averted Yuuma’s sharp gaze in haste and shoved the gift bag to his arms. Before Yuuma was able to yank her back, the blonde had already slipped beyond his arms reach with a swift hop. The towering boy cocked his head challenging the artist with his piercing stare, but Eri maintained her strategic distance. 

“I-I hope you like it! I wasn’t sure what your favourites were so I got different things.”

Yuuma let out a smug snort before focusing on the rustling mystery pouch in his hands. The gift bag had lost its pristine condition, blue paper all creased and the orange bow crooked. He felt an unexpected texture under his fingers, the paper was not smooth like a typical gift bag. Instead of the usual holiday patterns, the bag had painted carrots, candies and stars. At the corner of his eye, Yuuma could see Eri tilting her head and leaning closer, unable to resist her curiosity. 

“Heh, not bad doodles from a so-, erm, from ya.” 

Eri’s expression melted into a shy smile, her body swaying a little happy dance. Her dance was interrupted with an inhaled squeak when Yuuma unceremoniously ripped the bag open.  The orange bow dangled on the verge of dropping to the ground as Yuuma peeked inside. A grin widened on his lips when he found an assortment of sweet things: ingredients for hot cocoa, marshmallows, sugar cubes and a can of whipped cream.

“I knew you liked sweet things so I thought a hot drink would be appropriate for the season.” 

“Yeah, ya nailed it! Ya even got sugar-chan!”

The nickname resulted in Eri blinking and tilting her head, “Sugar… chan?” 

“And no one touches my sugar-chan, ya better got it memorized!” 

When Eri responded with a flurry of urgent nods, Yuuma turned towards the manor.

“No touching plants or anythin’, be right back!”

Technically, she didn’t touch anything by the time Yuuma got back from inside with a more weather appropriate outfit, but based on the angry bark he thought otherwise. 

“The heck!? What’s with the army of snow pests!?”

Kneeled Eri turned her head pouting at the blasphemous remark, “They are not pests! They are snow bunnies!

Brown eyes glanced at the forest, “Then take yer bunnies elsewhere, not in my garden!”

“They are here to guard your garden from other animals, like snowy guardian angels.”

Eri spread her hands guiding Yuuma’s gaze to the nooks and corners where she had crafted the snow bunnies. His counter-arguments slowly simmered down, as he witnessed how the artist had placed the white constructs out of his usual routes and in places that were vulnerable to unwanted visitors. Yuuma huffed in defeat.

“Why did ya haft’ make so many?”

Blue-gray gaze glanced at him while responding with a matter-of-fact tone, “There is safety and strength in numbers! But also so they won’t get lonely!”

A bark of a laugh escaped Yuuma’s lips, brows scrunched together in disbelief. Instead of challenging the blonde’s logic, he pushed a steaming mug into her hands.

“Here, bet yer hands are icicles from doing ‘em with yer bare hands! Don’t ya have mittens?!”

Eri blinked at him and then at the mug, “Oh. Yes, so cold indeed.” 

Yuuma squinted at the sight of Eri rubbing her palms in exaggerated manner on the mug's surface. The frown deepened on his face when Eri peeked under her bangs, and then averted his gaze. Am I doing this right?

A loud groan escaped Yuuma’s lips and with a one long stride he was squatting in front of the jittery artist. Eri flinched from the sudden proximity and piercing gaze of the brown eyes with malachite speckles. 

“Yer supposed t’ drink it! Is yer brain made out ‘f snow?” 

The blonde let out a flabbergasted huff, puffing her cheeks in the process like an irritated hamster.

“Y-you said not to touch your sugar-chan!”

A thump of Eri’s foot seconded her objection. Yuuma rolled his eyes and yanked the mug out of the artist’s hands. The steaming liquid sloshed just barely over the edge and the towering boy raced to lick the escaping brown drops. While maintaining eye contact, with each slow lick, a pink hue increased on squirming Eri’s cheeks. He finished his tease with a self-satisfied smirk and a proper swig of the mug. 

“Now ya have my permission t’ have sum sugar-chan”, Yuuma licked his lips and passed the cup back to the blonde.

When Eri hesitated, gaze flickering between the mug and the squatting boy’s face, Yuuma forced his expression to relax and nodded with encouragement. A small tentative sip resulted in a second more greedy gulp, and a delighted hum in between. Wintery light glimmered in her sky blue eyes like a glittering powdered snow, and with a blink it was gone. A recurring itch that Yuuma was not able to scratch. 

“Hey, no wasting the goods!”

Yuuma lunged forward, a hunt gleaming in his intense gaze. A warm gasp wafted against his face as he licked the whipped cream from the corner of the surprised blonde’s mouth. Not a kiss, but just barely, and a heat intensified in his gut to chase more. 

Instead, his ear was assaulted by an inhaled shriek and the crimson face receded away from him with a descending jerk. Eri scrambled to regain her balance, Yuuma chased after her, and the hot chocolate soared out of the mug with a melodramatic arc. Whatever did not land on Eri’s winter jacket and pants was now soaked in the snow under her. Eyes wide like Ruki’s dinner plates, Eri hesitated with a quivering lips to meet Yuuma’s gaze. 

“I-I’m so sorry… I w-wasted your sugar-chan…”

When moisture started to pool into the cloudy sky eyes, Yuuma closed his to collect all the remaining willpower to not explode. His nails dug deep into his palms, frantic breaths puffed out of his nose like an overboiling teapot. But he was determined to do better, not to repeat the same mistakes from the past. As his own respiration settled, Eri’s had escalated into shallow and agitated gasps. Yuuma opened his lids, only to meet foggy unfocused eyes staring into nothing. 

A chill traveled Yuuma’s nape, searching his memory for an urgent solution. With cautious movements, he slowly raised his hand. Eri flinched away as she sensed the closing palm, but the towering boy proceeded to advance until his fingertips met with the blonde’s scorching cheek. When the artist didn’t avoid his touch, Yuuma covered the skin with his whole palm, giving experimental tiny pets with his calloused thumb. 

“Yer safe.”

Erratic breathing intensified with wet gasps. Grimacing, Yuuma utilised his other hand and sandwiched the blonde’s face between his palms. 

“Yer safe, enough with the waterworks.”

While Eri didn’t calm down from the stern command like he had hoped, Yuuma took it as a small victory when the rainy sky eyes finally gained back their focus. Eri closed her lids, and warmth pooled into Yuuma’s gut as he felt the blonde leaning into his palm. With each composed inhale and exhale, the paralyzed state finally yielded. A rueful smile rose to Eri’s lips and Yuuma refused to acknowledge his heart skipping a beat when the artist covered his palm with hers. 

Eyelids opened, revealing moist azure pools shining with gratitude. Eri ducked her head and sniffed a feeble thanks, followed by another sorry. Yuuma stifled an upcoming groan and settled on placing a few awkward pats on the unchackled cheek. 

“Yer face is almost as soaked like yer clothes.”

The remark spurred Eri into a shocked action, she stood up in a rush, now chilled, hot chocolate dripping everywhere. 

“Oooh noo, I can’t go to work like this!”

Eri grimaced and hurried an apologetic bow at Yuuma, who was busy licking random cocoa and cream droplets on his skin. 

“I-I promise I will come back and make this up for you.”

Yuuma shrugged and stood up stretching his long limbs, “There’s still plenty in the kitchen. I’ll call a cab for ya.”

But Eri had already collected her belongings and was hopping towards the forest treeline, “Thanks but no need! I know a shortcut!”

Yuuma’s brown hair whipped the air as he turned to shoot a flabbergasted glare and shout at the receding blonde, “The fuck is a shortcut through forest!?”