BEYOND THE RIFT: In This Frozen Wasteland
Title: In This Frozen Wasteland
Characters/Pairing: Grace and Des
Word Count: 453
Rating: PG
Summary: Grace mistrusts winter, because they don't believe in such things where she comes from.
Notes: Written for a spare prompt... thing. It was technically requested for the alphabet meme, but I already did something for this letter, so... whatever. kawaiispinel gets a surprise Grace-Des fic! (Except how I told you I was writing it in chat, so not so much a surprise.)
Disclaimer: Grace is actually mine. (Shocking, I know.) Des is kawaiispinel's. The Rift is a thing of doom, obviously because we picked the wrong one. Somewhere there's a Rift where everybody lives.
Technically, it wasn't that cold, for Chicago winter. Technically, winter had only just started, and last night's snow wasn't even an inch deep. Grace really didn't care about technicalities, because she was standing just inside the front door of the house, wearing a sweater, a scarf, and a thick jacket much larger than most people would consider really necessary, and she was still freezing.
Des turned around halfway down the drive to blink at her. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing! I'm just... thinking. About... well, to be perfectly honest, I'm thinking about how long it would take for frostbite to set in, or the likelihood of slipping on ice and, you know, cracking my head open..." She wrapped her arms around herself and tried not to shiver. A hat. She should get a hat...
"You don't have to come. If you want to-"
"No, I'm coming! If I leave you alone in that office, I just know it's going to blow up or someone's going to very politely kidnap you to the sewers or something, I just..." She took a breath, air stinging in her lungs, and winced. "It's so cold!"
Des stared at her for a second, and then laughed. Grace resolved to get impressively drunk and hit him very hard for that sometime. "Oh, come on, it's not that bad, Gracie! Shouldn't the cold affect you less anyway?"
"You mean because I'm an angel?" It occurred to her that having this conversation half-shouting at each other across the front yard was not the best idea, but... it was a little late for that. "No. No it does not, and do you know why? Because I'm from Southern California, and we are thin-blooded pansies who believe snow is reserved for ski trips to Lake Tahoe and certain levels of hell, and I hope you're happy that the one thing keeping me in this insane frozen wasteland is you!"
Grace stopped, breathing hard, icy clouds forming in the air around her face. Des eyed her like he was waiting for more, and finally smirked a little and asked, "You feel better now?"
She hesitated a moment longer, took a deep breath, and ran out to meet him, arms still wrapped tight around herself. "Little bit," she said, as Des wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she fell into step beside him, pressing herself tight against him in an attempt to leech as much heat as possible. "Get me inside as soon as possible and buy me a coffee, and I might forgive you."
"What, for Chicago?"
She looked up at him, with as much of a straight face as she could manage. "I'm holding you responsible."
Characters/Pairing: Grace and Des
Word Count: 453
Rating: PG
Summary: Grace mistrusts winter, because they don't believe in such things where she comes from.
Notes: Written for a spare prompt... thing. It was technically requested for the alphabet meme, but I already did something for this letter, so... whatever. kawaiispinel gets a surprise Grace-Des fic! (Except how I told you I was writing it in chat, so not so much a surprise.)
Disclaimer: Grace is actually mine. (Shocking, I know.) Des is kawaiispinel's. The Rift is a thing of doom, obviously because we picked the wrong one. Somewhere there's a Rift where everybody lives.
Technically, it wasn't that cold, for Chicago winter. Technically, winter had only just started, and last night's snow wasn't even an inch deep. Grace really didn't care about technicalities, because she was standing just inside the front door of the house, wearing a sweater, a scarf, and a thick jacket much larger than most people would consider really necessary, and she was still freezing.
Des turned around halfway down the drive to blink at her. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing! I'm just... thinking. About... well, to be perfectly honest, I'm thinking about how long it would take for frostbite to set in, or the likelihood of slipping on ice and, you know, cracking my head open..." She wrapped her arms around herself and tried not to shiver. A hat. She should get a hat...
"You don't have to come. If you want to-"
"No, I'm coming! If I leave you alone in that office, I just know it's going to blow up or someone's going to very politely kidnap you to the sewers or something, I just..." She took a breath, air stinging in her lungs, and winced. "It's so cold!"
Des stared at her for a second, and then laughed. Grace resolved to get impressively drunk and hit him very hard for that sometime. "Oh, come on, it's not that bad, Gracie! Shouldn't the cold affect you less anyway?"
"You mean because I'm an angel?" It occurred to her that having this conversation half-shouting at each other across the front yard was not the best idea, but... it was a little late for that. "No. No it does not, and do you know why? Because I'm from Southern California, and we are thin-blooded pansies who believe snow is reserved for ski trips to Lake Tahoe and certain levels of hell, and I hope you're happy that the one thing keeping me in this insane frozen wasteland is you!"
Grace stopped, breathing hard, icy clouds forming in the air around her face. Des eyed her like he was waiting for more, and finally smirked a little and asked, "You feel better now?"
She hesitated a moment longer, took a deep breath, and ran out to meet him, arms still wrapped tight around herself. "Little bit," she said, as Des wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she fell into step beside him, pressing herself tight against him in an attempt to leech as much heat as possible. "Get me inside as soon as possible and buy me a coffee, and I might forgive you."
"What, for Chicago?"
She looked up at him, with as much of a straight face as she could manage. "I'm holding you responsible."