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Dante pauses with his shovel half-buried in snow. He tilts his head up, nose in the air. His mouth gapes open.
Aster raises an eyebrow at him from his comfortable seat on the mansion steps, huddled next to an outdoor heater in a thick fur coat.
Dante responds to his pointed expression with a violent sneeze, head flying forward involuntarily as he tries to direct the spray into the crook of his arm. Granted, it's so frigid, any fluid leaving his body likely freezes as it comes in contact with the air.
Aster laughs behind his mitten-ed hand. He brings an insulated cup of tea to his mouth— Dante can see the steam rising off of it and sniffles in envy.
"Why am I doing this, again?" Dante asks. Suited to the scorching heat in Solaria, he still has trouble adjusting to winters in the Light Territory.
"Because you loooove me," Aster says, blowing Dante a kiss. "And because we're expecting company in an hour and I can't have anyone slipping on my property. It's a liability."
Dante huffs. He adjusts his scarf, a soft and warm cashmere that Aster had wrapped around his neck with a fond smile before patting him on the behind and handing him the shovel.
At least it's not still snowing, he thinks to himself. And Aster is sweet enough to sit outside with him, even if he isn't going to do any of the heavy lifting.
"Though I will say," Aster sits back, crossing his legs. "I'm surprised you're still shoveling."
Dante grunts as he hurls a load of snow over his shoulder, adding to the pile that lines the garden path. "Why?"
"Well, Sun Lord," Aster emphasizes his title. "Couldn't you just… melt it?"
Dante pauses again and turns slowly towards his dear vampire. "You gave me a shovel."
"That doesn't mean you have to use it," Aster says. His lips twitch at the edge of his cup, seconds away from losing his composure.
Dante stares at him. For some reason, he had not questioned the practicality of shoveling snow when he had the power of fire at his fingertips.
"Don't stop now!" Aster says, "I was admiring your determination."
Dante straightens up and extends the shovel towards Aster with one arm. "Your turn."
Aster surprisingly gets to his feet, and steps gingerly down to the path, taking the shovel from Dante. "I suppose fair's fair," he says, bending over and grimacing as he flings snow to his side.
Dante doesn't plan to let him get very far, now that Aster has enlightened him to new snow removal possibilities.
He melts the ice on the front steps while Aster's not looking.