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[sallyslingshot]

Alex had never seen snow before. For that matter, she'd never really even experienced cold weather before, at least not by most people's definition; there had been chilly evenings, days that seemed cooler than the rest, but she knew full well that it could have been much, much more than that. Having spent all her life in a climate so similar to

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[a_royal_bastard]

The return of the snow brought mixed feelings in Alistair. In a way, it was the first time since he appeared that the island truly felt even somewhat like Ferelden. It was comforting as much as it made him homesick. He'd been taking a walk in the snow with Duncan, who took to the snow as well as any mabari ought to. He stopped when he noticed a familiar face standing among the snow.

"Enjoying yourself?" he asked with a small smile when he realized she hadn't noticed him yet.

[sallyslingshot]

"Yeah, I am," Alex replied, still grinning as she turned to look in Alistair's direction, lifting one hand to brush snowflakes off her hair. She remembered him, had liked him well enough when they'd first met, and now, was kind of glad for the company. "I love this, the snow."

[a_royal_bastard]

"I'm still not sure what to think of the redecoration of my hut, but I have to admit, I don't mind the snow either," he said, glancing up at the sky. The snow seemed different here - cleaner, maybe, and the snowflakes were certainly bigger. "I haven't really seen it since I left Ferelden, when I was up in the mountains."

[sallyslingshot]

"Yeah, the pink is... a little weird," Alex allowed, nose wrinkling. As far as she could see, though, there was nothing about it to mind. The redesigned huts were warm enough, if lacking in right angles, and everything else looked nice enough to make up for it. "They had a lot of snow where you're from?"

[a_royal_bastard]

"It's cheerful, at least," he offered with a slight laugh. It wasn't bad so much as a little jarring. "There was enough in Ferelden, especially during the winter season. Especially up in the Frostback Mountains, which was always well-named."

[sallyslingshot]

"Yeah, sounds like," Alex laughed, head tipping back. Cold as it was, it felt good, too, a harsh but nevertheless refreshing shift from what she was so accustomed to. As if remembering herself, she shrugged, then added, "We had some snow, but nothing like this."

[a_royal_bastard]

"So this is your first snow? No wonder you're enjoying it," he realized. Even he still got a thrill, especially now that he had a place to go to to get out of it. "Well, I'm quite knowledgeable about it if you ever need any tips."

[sallyslingshot]

"I might take you up on that," Alex said with a slight laugh, nodding in agreement. It helped knowing that he wasn't from the same world she was, wouldn't be familiar with the area she was claiming to be from; it meant she could be a little more honest with her own lack of knowledge about this kind of weather. "God, it feels like I've been missing out."

[a_royal_bastard]

"That's because you have," he replied, sounding matter-of-fact. "You would be surprised how much you can do with the stuff. I should know, I'm quite confident I've done it all."

[sallyslingshot]

"Alright, like what?" Alex asked, eager, hands clasping in front of her. Maybe she wasn't properly dressed for it yet, layers not entirely making up for the lack of coat and scarf and other such things, but she was undeterred, too ready to take advantage of an opportunity like this. "Tell me."

[a_royal_bastard]

"You mean you'd like a lesson now?" he asked. He tilted his head thoughtfully, as if considering it. He nodded shortly after, motioning for her to follow him into an area with deeper snow. "Have you at least seen snowmen before?"

[sallyslingshot]

"Yeah, I've seen them," Alex said, almost like that ought to have been obvious. She'd seen pictures of them, at least, knew what they were meant to look like, and for her purposes now, that was enough. Following along, she bit her lip through a grin, and asked, "They have snowmen in places other than Earth?"

[a_royal_bastard]

"Apparently! Though I'm going to believe ours is far superior," he grinned, already leaning down to gather snow in his mittened hands so he could begin making the bottom of it. "Do you think you can find some stones and two sticks for me?"

[sallyslingshot]

"Yeah, no problem," Alex replied with a short laugh, like it ought to have been obvious. Even with a fresh layer of snow blanketing the ground, it was hardly what she would have considered a difficult task. The sticks were readily available, small branches hanging low under the weight of snow, that she snapped off the nearest tree, but the stones were going to take a bit longer. "Just give me two minutes."

[a_royal_bastard]

"Take your time. Duncan, go help her," he said, crouching down to gather more snow. It was the perfect packing type, luckily. Duncan was following along with Alex, stopping in one spot under a tree and barking. He looked over at Alex expectantly.

[sallyslingshot]

"Good boy," Alex said, because it seemed like the thing to say. Shooting the animal a smile, she crouched in the snow beside him; it quickly soaked through the jeans she'd been wearing, but she was, for the moment, enjoying herself too thoroughly to think much of it. A few moments of rifling through the snow to the ground below, with hands that were going to grow numb before too long, produced a handful of decent sized stones, and she stood to carry them back over. "These work?"