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Snow hummed happily as she gathered up scrolls, plants, books and anything else she thought Vers might want. She leapt onto the teleport pad, squeezing her eyes against the dizzying swirl of colors. With a quiet whoosh, she appeared at the cozy little cottage on the edge of the river that she shared with Vers. “Oh Vers~ where are you, my lovely seer?” she called, shoving open the door with an elbow. Spotting the clear table, she dropped the things she had dug up from her sanctuary. Still humming, she kept a careful ear out for a bell. With Vers unwilling to speak outside of prophecies, each room in their house had its own bell with a unique sound so that they could easily be found.
A dull chime echoed up, startling the vampire despite having been waiting for a sound. “Well, if you’re down in your lab then I doubt you’ve taken a break in far too long. Come on up and see what I managed to scavenge, I’ll make you something to eat!” she yelled down, starting to pull open cabinets to see what was there. After a few minutes of pulling out random ingredients and putting some back, she finally heard the door to the lab downstairs open and close. “Welcome back to the surface Vers, glad you’re still alive” she teased, not bothering to look back.
A quiet huff was the only sound from behind her as Vers stepped into the kitchen. They spotted the newly cluttered kitchen and grinned. She picked everything up and dropped them in the chest by the stairs to his lab to bring down later. They stepped around Snow to grab a drink and dishes. A thin ribbon of dark silver magic drifted through the air in front of the vampire. ‘If I have to eat, then so do you. I found some blood bottles in my cave that don’t look too old.’ it said, as Vers shuffled through a couple of cabinets. The words drifted away after a few moments, just long enough to be fully read, but not so long that they were a distraction from the stove.
“Aw you didn’t have to go digging those old things up for me, thank you. We unfortunately don’t have much, but! I did manage to make a pretty good soup if I do say so myself! Uh, provided none of the spices went bad…” she grinned. Taking the pot off the stove, she set it on a towel that Vers had placed on the table in preparation. Grinning at the mage that was already scooping some into their bowl, she took a seat next to them.
The two sat in silence, Vers slowly working her way through a couple bowls of soup, and Snow sipping at a blood bottle. ‘Thank you, Snow. I didn’t realise how long it had been until I heard you call out. I’ve been trying to sort out my dreams, unsuccessfully. Seeing too much to really understand it all.’ they signed, eyes closing against the bright light outside. They felt Snow grab their hands and tug them up. He followed silently, letting her guide them to her end goal.
Distantly, they could remember the time when Snow had learned magic beside her, the two of them almost inseparable. Snow had been the first person he went to when their Dreams were growing stronger and affecting their voice. Snow had been the one to insist on first learning sign language, then experimenting with their magics so that Vers could once again be able to multitask. She had been the one who, even after being turned, had secretly passed on theories and notes on what might work until Vers finally mastered making their magic into a visible stream, able to control the shapes and words it showed with barely a thought. Not better times, not really, but happier, maybe.
They felt cushions hit the back of his knees, and gratefully sank into the couch. She felt the couch dip slightly, and felt cold arms tugging them closer. Snow propped herself up against the arm of the couch, holding them close. “Well, I may not be able to help with your dreams, but I can listen or cook or bring you water or really anything else to help. And I can tell you’ve been fighting speech y'know, and you know that I like your spooky voice, it gets all soft when you’re not talking your dream-speeches.” she hummed, a slight teasing tone slipping into her voice at the end.
Vers smacked her arm, eyes still closed. They ignored her quiet laugh, thinking. “I missed you. It’s been a while since you’ve been able to visit. I get it, but I still missed you.” they whispered, voice warping and echoing, sending a chill down their spines. “I want to spend the rest of eternity like this, with you. No more wars, no more walls or pain or struggles. Just us, and our house by the river.” she said, still quiet, still shivery.
“I’d turn you, if you ever wanted it. Let eternity really be eternity. Outlive Paris, Asher, all of them. I’d watch the world burn with you if that’s what you wanted.” Snow replied, gentle, loving. A silent ache floated in the house they both refused to call home, something not quite love, not quite friendship, but an almost silent obsession. They would always belong to each other in strange ways. Part of Vers’ heart would always belong to Varya, but the rest was Snow’s. Just as part of Snow would belong to the version of Asher she once called General, the rest of her belonged to Vers.
Snow shifted, sitting up slightly. She poked at Vers’ until they turned around, sitting up as well and opening their eyes. She placed her hands on their face, pressing their foreheads together. Slowly, carefully, she pressed her lips to theirs, closing her eyes. Vers sighed, parting her lips and leaning into it. A moment of softness amidst the danger lurking outside. They pulled back to breathe, opening their eyes. Bright crimson met pale grey, as they stayed in place, foreheads pressed together, hands and arms wrapped around each other.
Here, in this little cottage by the water so far from civilization that anyone who knew about it would have called it the middle of nowhere, they could pretend. They could pretend that there wasn’t a war, that their visions weren’t causing them distress. Here, for the moment, they could just be Snow and Vers, whatever they wanted that to be.