The next day, and indeed the next weeks, are quite the bore for young Alunya. As the oldest male in the household, Antares is quite busy doing chores and working on the farm, leaving his little brother once again without his playmate.
It isn’t all boredom for the younger boy, though; he is now getting old enough that Reia starts putting him to work, and he would help scrub dishes, make meals, and even mend clothes, freeing up Reia to spend more time tending to their plot of crops and putting food on the table. It isn’t play, of course, but at least Alunya got to feel helpful. Besides, if there is one thing Alunya isn’t, it was “lazy”. He put his all into every task, whether it was for fun or just work that needs to be done.
But it isn’t long—even though it feels like an eternity to Alunya—before the harvest season tapers off. With less work to be done, Antares has more free time once again, and Alunya can spend time with him. The changing of seasons is first felt as a chill breeze in the air, and then…
“Snow!” Antares exclaims, rolling out of bed with renewed energy. He’d had enough rest by now to stop feeling sore from all the labor he had had to do last season, and is ready for the new season. “Alunya, wake up! It's snowing!” Antares pops his head up over the edge of the top bunk where his brother is sleeping, smiling excitedly.
Alunya blinks and rubs his eyes sleepily as he sits up, but all semblance of tiredness vanishes as soon as he sees the blanket of white covering the ground outside. He springs up and rolls out of his bed… On the top bunk. Antares yelps in fear as his brother falls from the top bunk, and without even thinking, Antares dives down and reaches his arms out, catching Alunya as he lands with a heavy thud right into Antares’s open arms.
“A-Alunya! Be careful!” Antares scolds as he sets Alunya down gingerly. “Heavens, sometimes I wonder how you haven't broken every bone in your body…”
“It’s alright, I knew you ‘d catch me!” Alunya replies smugly, dusting himself off before racing over to the window. “Woaaah, there’s so much already this year! C’mon, let's go play outside!”
“Not so fast, you two!” Reia chides from the doorway where she had appeared, evidently attracted by the ruckus. “Neither of you are going anywhere till you’re properly dressed and finished your breakfast!”
[...]
Breakfast is a much less extravagant affair than during the harvest festival. The perishable leftovers from the festival have all been used up by now, and while there is still some salted meat from the old guanaco leftover from the festival, that is a rare treat that Reia was trying to make last. That leaves just freeze-dried yams and cornmeal, the typical staples of the village.
Despite that, the brothers still eat with gusto, if for no other reason than because they want to get outside before the snow lets up. Fortunately for them, and unfortunately for most everyone else, the snow shows no sign of letting up; for the first snowfall of the year, it is really quite the impressive showing.
As soon as they finish eating, Reia has the two of them bundle up in the warmest clothes they have lying around; a thick wool tunic and trousers, Alunya additionally wearing a cap with ear flaps while Antares has to settle for a simpler hat that just wrapped around the ears.
Alunya races outside into the snow, feeling it crunch under his feet as he runs around, almost slipping but managing to stay upright. When it's snowing, even just being outside is fun! He holds out his tongue, hoping to catch a snowflake…
…And instead catches a snowball in his face, the cold powdery ball coming undone as soon as it strikes him, leaving him with a mouthful of snow which he promptly spits out, rubbing his face clear to see Antares already packing another snowball, a crooked half-smile on his face.
“Got you!” Antares proclaims. Alunya narrows his eyes competitively, and when Antares lets loose another projectile, Alunya dives out of the way to the side, rolling in the snow and covering himself in the white powder, the fine-grained snow cushioning the force of impact. As he rolls, he scoops up a handful of snow and flings it at Antares; it is not properly packed, and mostly just scatters in midair, but some of the snow still lands home as Antares brings his hands up over his face to shield himself.
“You got more snow on you from dodging than you would have if I just hit you, you know.” Antares teases dryly, as he runs back behind the side of the building where he can pack his snowball in peace.
Alunya takes advantage of the reprieve to pack a large handful of snow together. “It’s the principle of it, Ari! You don't just let your opponent hit you!” Alunya calls back, holding the snowball back and ready for when Antares finally comes out. Antares glances out from cover for just a split second to hurl his own at Alunya, and Alunya fires back, but by the time the snowball reaches Antares’s position, Antares has already ducked back under cover, while Alunya gets another mouthful of snow for his trouble.
“Alas, I’ve been stricken down!” Alunya bemoans, reaching his hand out for the heavens before falling onto his back dramatically, sticking out his tongue and closing his eyes to mimic being dead. Antares peeks out from cover.
“Aw, I didn't hit you that hard!” Antares protests, as he leaves his hiding spot. Alunya spies one eye open, smirking.
“True!” He suddenly slams his hands together over his head, collecting another snowball, sitting up and hurling the snowball in one motion. Antares, startled, isn’t able to react before receiving the massive snowball straight in the face and falling back, though Alunya isn’t sure if he had actually struck him harder than he had meant to, or if Antares is just playing it up like Alunya had.
“Woe betide, I have been brought low by my perfidious foe!” Antares laments, while Alunya stands up and strides over to where Antares is, offering a hand. Antares accepts it and pulls himself up, shivering.
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“It's not per… Perfidi…” Alunya struggles with the word before giving up and just shaking his head. “It's just called being cunning! Like a good hunter!”
Antares rolls his eyes. “Uh-huh, sure.” He sticks out his tongue at Alunya and pulls down on his eyelid.
Alunya shoots Antares a competitive glare. “Oh, now you’re asking for it!” Turning around, he digs his feet into the gaps between the stones on their house and climbs up onto the roof, a probably altogether awful idea, considering how slippery it is. “All hail Alunya, Lord of Snow!” Alunya proclaims, plopping down on top of the dome shaped roof and gathering a great ball of snow, hurling it down at Antares from on high.
Antares yelps and holds his hands up to shield his face, looking around for cover, but Alunya’s high vantage makes it difficult to evade him. Alunya bombards Antares with snowball after snowball, and Antares starts ducking and weaving trying to evade them. The first few snowballs Antares throws back in retaliation sail past Alunya, as it is harder for the boy to aim upwards.
But he is nothing if not tenacious, so after narrowly avoiding one of Alunya’s rapid fire attacks, with a more tightly packed snowball than before, he lets fly another projectile. “I, Noble Antares, shall free the snow from the tyranny of Alunya!” Antares postures loudly.
The snowball strikes Alunya right smack in the middle of his chest. Whether it is the impact of the snow, or just Alunya’s typical overplaying of impact, the boy falls backwards… onto the loosely packed snow on the roof, causing a miniature avalanche as he slides off the roof backwards, shouting as he did.
“A-Alunya!?” Antares panics, racing around the building to find Alunya on the other side, nearly completely buried in a big pile of snow which had fallen off the roof along with him.
Alunya spits out snow and pops his head out of the snow, blinking as he looks around. Lucky me, if it wasn't for all this snow that could have really hurt! As it is, he’s fine other than a slightly bruised shoulder. Alunya blinks, still dazed, while Antares hurries to start digging him out of the snow.
“Are you alright, ‘Lunya?” Antares asks, concern clear on his face. Alunya smiles sunnily up at him and jumps up onto Antares, knocking his older brother prone as they fall back on the snow together.
“Never better!” Alunya pronounces brightly as he rolls around in the snow, dragging Antares with him.
Antares gives a relieved sigh, and holds Alunya tightly. “Good…” He shuts his eyes tightly, squeezing Alunya before repeating “Good.”
With his head back against the ground, Antares’s snowy white hair blends in perfectly with the background, intermixing with Alunya’s own, as Alunya giggles softly and rubs his cheek up against his brother’s affectionately. Though Antares’s soft skin is cold to the touch after being pelted by so many snowballs, Alunya can still feel it heat up as his brother blushed.
But despite his embarrassment, Antares doesn’t push Alunya away and hugs him back gingerly, wrapping both arms around Alunya’s waist. Alunya squeals happily. D’aww, he’s reciprocating! I should fall off of rooftops more often, Ari is so cute when he’s worried about me.
The moment is interrupted when Reia wheels around the corner. “Alunya, are you alright? I heard a crash!” Reia frets, though she halts in her tracks when she sees Alunya draped over Antares.
“Hi mom! I’m fine!” Alunya announces happily, propping up his chin with one arm to allow him to look at her. Antares’ blush gets even fiercer and he shoves Alunya off of him, the younger boy issuing an undignified protest as he is unceremoniously pushed back onto the pile of snow he had made.
“Alright, that's enough of that.” Antares mumbles, embarrassed, as he sits back up.
“Well I’m glad you two are getting along, at least…” Reia mutters. “Be careful, though! I don’t want to see you getting hurt.” She lectures, waggling a finger.
“Yes, mom.” Alunya replies, perhaps a little sullenly.
Reia arches her brow. “I mean it, now. No more snowball fights, you’re too reckless!”
Alunya sits cross legged and crosses his arms, putting on his harshest pouting face. “Yes, mom.”
“Don't you Mom me, I’m just looking out for you because I care.” Reia replies tersely, before looking back. “You two behave yourselves now, I have to go make sure the food doesn't burn.”
Once Reia had left, Alunya sighs and falls over backwards with a thud. What a killjoy…
“It’s alright, I’m sure we can find other things to do.” Antares suggests, encouragingly.
“Hrm…” Alunya ponders, before starting to swing his legs and arms out. Antares cocks his head at him, confused for a moment before it clicks. Oh, he’s making a snow angel!
Antares flops down above him, so that the brother’s heads are pointing towards each other, and starts to do the same, though the cold snow has started to make his hands grow numb. Still, it's been too long since he could just cut loose and have fun, and Alunya is enjoying himself too, so he has to prolong it at least a bit.
Don’t worry, you have the whole winter ahead of you! Antares thinks to himself, smiling brightly. With luck, there’ll be plenty more snow until the dawning of spring and they can play outside every day. Snowmen, snow angels, snowball fights… Maybe we can even go ice fishing. Antares idly thinks about all the fun they could have that winter while shaping his snow angel. With his hands going numb, he decides to give himself a break and stuffs his hands under his armpits to help warm them up, before hopping up to his feet, careful not to disturb the outline he had made.
The two snow angels, his and Alunya’s, are nearly symmetrical, with Antares’ being just slightly taller and more robust at the shoulders—Though, as Antares often noted, the difference in height is getting smaller by the day. Antares winces at the reminder that at the current rate, Alunya will be taller than him soon enough. Still, There is something beautiful about the symmetry, isn't there?
Glancing back at Alunya, Antares watches his brother flop around and draw a wide ellipse in between the snow angels with his finger. “What are you doing?” Antares asks, curiously.
“Giving the angels their halo!” Alunya announces, clambering back up to his feet. “There, now they’re all done!”
“You should have put it closer to yours, then, you can’t even tell which angel the halo belongs to.” Antares advises.
Alunya shakes his head and smiles sunnily at Antares, holding out his hand in a thumbs up gesture and winking. “Nu-uh! They share the same halo!” The snow he had been playing in clings to his clothes, blending in with the thin, pristine snow-white hair he shares with his brother.
Despite the cold, Antares can feel his heart melt.
…Forget the snow angels, my brother is the real angel.