The Season's Warmth

The Season’s Warmth

(Note: this is a story to go with the Picture made by )

It was the tail end of winter, and the snow was coming like crazy, as if it had waited until the last possible minute to smack everyone in the face with six feet of crystallized water. In one particular household, though, things were going pretty well.

It was a simple gathering of friends at Leon’s new, much bigger house. Though it was a surprise. Leon had just been asked by his author, Ryan, to watch over a few animal OCs while a new home was being made for them.

Leon was happy to accept the job, however, Yukio, adoring the animals, invited a few friends to come see them. From there, it snowballed into a friendly get-together. Even Nicky and a few of his friends came to hang out.

“So who are these little tykes?” Haru asked Leon, holding the deer Leon was watching in his lap.

“These are apparently my animal forms.”

“My... my name is Grove,” the deer said timidly, a little intimidated by the tall, blue-haired boy. Haru looked down at Grove, past his big nose, and smiled.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Grove,” he said pleasantly, stroking Grove’s back gently. “I like deer. They’re cute.”

Grove was relaxed by the petting, “Thank you.”

“So, Leon.” Said Mike, as he came over, “how many animals are you in charge of anyway?”

“Well let’s see, there’s Grove, Kami, Don, Gallop, Wing, Rai, and Blue, so… seven.” Leon answered. “Where are they anyway?”
“I saw a donkey and a kangaroo somewhere in the backyard playing with Yukio,” Mike said.

“that’s Don and Blue!”

“What about the Horse, Wolf, and Tabby that lily and Mia are feeding?”

“Kami, Gallop, and Rai.”

“and that Falcon that just landed behind you?”

Leon blinked and turned around. Sure enough, there was a falcon behind him, regarding him with its beady black eyes. “Hello Wing.”

“Hi Leon. Blake told me to tell you to turn on the weather news,” the falcon said.

Leon raised an eyebrow, but did as told, clicking the TV on and changing the channel to the weather. What he saw surprised him.

“The snowstorm in the Arcadia, Colorado area is growing extremely severe!” the weatherman announced. “All residents are advised to stay in doors till 6:00 AM tom- AH!” right there live, the camera crew was hit by the full brunt of the Storm.

Leon swore, a rare feat. “What are we gonna do!?”

“I’ll get Yukio, Kami, Gallop, and Rai inside.” Mike ran off.

Leon looked at Haru, “There’s a grade A generator in the closet, for emergencies. Can you have it ready in case the power goes out?” he asked.

“Yeah.” Haru loped off to the closet and started rummaging around for the generator. “...Leon, why do you have a stash of cheap 7-Eleven fruit pies in your broom closet?”

“...Yukio’s secret stash.”

~~~

The snowstorm hit, just as everyone was inside.

“Whoa, it looks bad outside,” Kami said.

“I’ll say,” Nicky commented with a grimace. “It’s scary…”

“I hope there’s nothing like a... Snownado out there,” Blue said.

“A what?”

“You’ll have to forgive Blue, he’s got a wild imagination.” Don advised.

“Hm.” Nicky left it at that. “So, what to do while we’re all in danger of freezing to death?:

“Leon, the generator’s on!” Haru said. “The house should be back at full power right about...”

Bzzt! The lights and TV flickered to life.

“...now.”

“Leon.. how do you have a generator that can fully power this house?” Grove asked curiously.

“it’s amazing what combining magic and technology can create.” leon smiled.

Haru groaned. “That’s SO corny.”

“in any event, we’re stuck in this house until tomorrow... OH! I have a reason to use it now!”

“What’s… It?” everyone else asked at the same time.

“Come with me and you’ll see.” Leon walked over towards the living room.

In the living room was a fireplace. It was a simple enough one, made of red brick and blocked by a black grate. It was already piled high with unburnt logs, and a box of fire-starters rested idly beside it. It was just waiting to be lit, so it could help warm the place.

“Oh! A fireplace!” Wing said.

“I’ve wondered if we’d ever use it,” Yukio commented.

Haru looked incredulous. “You mean you’ve never used this thing, even in winter?” But then Haru remembered. “oh right... you just moved in here not to long ago... Let’s light it up.”

Nicky went over to the fire-starters and picked one up. “Anybody got a match or a cigarette lighter?”

Blake tossed Nicky a pack of matches. “Confiscated them from some kids playing with them.”

“Thanks.” Nicky took a match out, lit it with a quick strike against the side of the box, and set fire to the fire-starter.

“Good call, Blake, kids shouldn’t play with matches anyway.” Lily said, as Nicky lit the fireplace.

“We’re kids, y’know,” Nicky commented, as red tongues of flame blazed to life in the fireplace, devouring the wood they were born from.

As the flames raged in the fireplace, some of the animals couldn’t stop watching them.

“There’s something magical about these kinds of flames, that makes you wanna stare at them all night,” Leon commented. Indeed, the animals looked practically hypnotized by the fire. “Anyway, who’s up for hot cocoa?”

“Hot cocoa?” Kami the wolf asked, tearing his eyes away from the fire to look at Leon.

“it’s another name for Hot Chocolate, a warm chocolate drink usual for times like this. it’s good.” Lily explained. “Do any of you want any?”

“It sounds nice. Can I try it?”

“Sure,”

“We can all help with making some hot snacks.” Yukio said.

“that’s a good idea.” Mike agreed.

“I could use the practice,” Nicky added.

“I can whip up some brownies.” Lily said.

The group got to work, heading to the kitchen.

~~~

After drinking some nice warm hot cocoa, and eating a few tasty brownies and cookies, Kami came back to the living room, licking his lips from the yummy taste, and  noticed grove just sitting there, watching the flames.

“Beautiful, aren’t they?” he asked, coming over and sitting next to Grove.

“Yeah…” Grove said. “I like them…”

The two watched the flames for a little bit. Quietly, till.

“So, you’re Leon’s Wolf form apparently?” Grove asked, curiously.

“Yeah. And you’re his deer form?” Kami made a noise of disbelief. “That author guy’s weird.”

“Well, to be honest, I feel honored to play that role. Leon’s a really nice guy...”

“No kidding. I’m glad I play HIS wolf form. He’s an angel in human form in my opinion.”

The two animals laughed a little from that last comment.

“I’m glad I got to meet you and the others,” Grove said.

“Even the creepy blue-haired guy?”

“I mean the other animals, silly.”

“Oh.” Kami chuckled. “they are nice characters.”

“Who’s your favorite?”

“You, Grove. You’re the one I seem to be able to talk to the easiest. You’ve got to be my closest friend in the universe. It’s no fun living in the forest, where everyone’s a wolf, and their personalities are bland and boring,” Kami confessed.

“Boring?”

“You know, those paste-in village fillers, with little to no personality?” Kami huffed with annoyance. “They would always talk about the same things, day after day. Nothing new under the sun. Only ‘it was a good hunt’ or ‘we’ll teach you how to kill one day, Kami’, blah, blah, blah. The only wolf other than me with personality ws my mother, Luna.”

“You know, I… actually had the same issue in the meadow where I grew up. Only I had any personality. The other deer were “fill-in blands.” as i call them.” Grove shuddered. “It was horrible!”

“That’s why i’m looking forward to the new home, where we can play together, not having to worry about paste-ins, as I call them.” Kami said with a smile. He nuzzled Grove.

Grove giggled. “Yeah!”

Leon came over, “You two doing okay?”

The deer and wolf nodded.

“That’s good. Come on, there are more snacks waiting.” Leon ruffled Kami’s fur affectionately. The three proceed back to the kitchen.

~~~

Meanwhile, Nicky was busy cooking, the kangaroo named Blue at his side watching.

“You have to be very careful when you cook,” Nicky advised. “If you’re not really, really meticulous about everything you could end up making someone sick! or at the very least ruining the taste.”

“I see.” Blue replied. He sniffed the smell from the chocolate Nicky was making for his pain au chocolat. “...it smells really good…”

“can you give a small taste?” Nicky asked.

“Sure.” Nicky used a clean ladle to spoon some chocolate into Blue’s mouth.

“well?”

“it’s good, but a little... boring... Add a little chili powder to give it a unique yet still good taste, trust me.” Blue, at the moment, was sounding like a professional, much to nicky’s surprise.

“...huh. Advice from a kangaroo. I’ll be.” Nicky obeyed Blue’s order. Then he gave the chocolate a try himself. “WOW! that’s a taste! Thanks Blue.”

The little roo smiled. “So what are you making anyway?”

“Pain au chocolat. It’s a French dessert.”

“OH! I read about that, bread with chocolate in the middle. Kinda like a Chocolate filled cream puff, yeah?”

“A bit, yeah.” Nicky smiled. Then, he blinked. “Wait, where would a kangaroo read about French baking?”

“When you live in a barren outback with a bunch of bland roos and a mother that’s always busy, you’d be surprised how many times a kangaroo will go to a human library just to find something to do.”

“They didn’t kick you out of the library?”

“Not once.” Blue looked proud of that. “My favorite book is I Was Told There’d Be Cake.”

“Huh,” Nicky considered. “I always liked A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts myself.”

“But my favorite section was the cooking section, with all those cookbooks and recipes. I’m amazed humans have come up with all those different ideas for food... those there was an uncomfortable number of... unfavorable books... like... ‘Cooking with Kangaroo meat.’” Blue shuddered.

Nicky shuddered too. “That’s horrible!”

“I’m glad my creator hates that sorta thing... Now’s a good time to take the chocolate off the oven before it starts burning.”

Nicky nodded and got the chocolate away from the oven. It came out perfect.

“now to add to the bread.” Nicky said. Blue handed him a pastry syringe. “Thanks.” Nicky then started filling the small breads with chocolate, and within minutes. “All done!”

“Awesome, may I try one?” Blue asked.

Nicky grinned and handed Blue a pastry. Blue took a bite and was amazed by the flavor. “WOW! these are great.” Blue nuzzled nicky.

Nicky patted the roo on the head. “Hehe, glad ya like. That chili powder works wonders.”

The two smiled at one another and carried the pastries to the dining table.

~~~

In the living room, Lily was singing, performing one of her favorite songs, Rai and Mia watching.

“For the first time in Forever! Nothing’s in my WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!”

Mia clapped. “Great!” she complimented. “Bravo, bravissimo!”

“You’re a great singer, Lily.” RAi said.

“Thank you both of you. Though, there’s no one to share my talent with other than you guys and the other usuals, most of the people in Arcadia are just one-off characters with little to no personality. Save for percy who keeps hitting on me.”

Rai winced. “Ouch…”

“I wish the authors would give me a story or two letting me show my talents to new people. You know what I mean?”

Mia grinned. “You might get that soon enough.”

“At least you have usuals Lily. all I’ve got in the home I have is blands and borings, even my owner is a bland.” Rai grimaced.

Lily winced too. “That really sucks…”

“Yeah... I don’t wanna go back to that house... Which is why I can’t for the new home.” Rai said “Real friends, miles of free space and places and things to play at and with, all the natural food you can eat. It’ll be Paradise.”

Mia scratched Rai’s chin. “Yup! It’ll be your personal heaven.”

“So Rai, I can tell you like being around friends.”

“yeah, I’ve always believed that one needs friends in the world.” Rai said. He nuzzled Mia. “You two are good ones!”

“Thanks little guy.” Lily petted Rai gently on the back. Rai purred in response.

But then a smell caught his nose. “I smell... bread and... Chocolate?”

Lily smiled. “Nicky must be done with his chocolate croissants.”

“They’re called pain au chocolat,” Nicky’s voice replied.\

“I can’t pronounce that properly. Anyway, let’s go try some.” The three then proceeded to the kitchen.

~~~

Mike was chugging down a glass of cold water after trying nicky’s treat. “Yeesh, what’s in that chocolate?”

“Chili powder. Blame the kangaroo,” Jayden said, lying down on Mike’s bed. “I thought putting chili in chocolate died with the Aztecs.”

“Well, that’s hit or miss, depending on spicy food tolerance.” Mike sighed. “I guess mine’s not very high. How much chili powder did Nicky put in anyway?”

“He said it was only a pinch,.” Don said, coming over. “I guess I was smart not to try them, I can’t handle spicy food at all.”

“Makes sense, you donkeys don’t eat spicy food much.” Mike smiled and ruffled Don’s headfur.

“Well, honestly... anything beats having nothing but cabbages to eat. At the ranch I call home, the farmer only feeds me and the bland donkeys nothing but green cabbages.”

“What else do you like, then?” Jayden asked. “Carrots?”

“CArrots, Apples, Grapes, in fact, I like cabbage, but I prefer red cabbage over green.”

“OH! I have a good idea, be right back.” Mike ran off. Minutes later, he returned, holding Carrots, Apples, Grapes, and red cabbage. “How about a salad?”

“That’d be awesome!”

“Okay, one awesome salad, coming up.”

Jayden smirked, “i’ll cut the carrots and apples.” The two of them ran to the kitchen, leaving Don to sit on the bed and wait patiently.

~~~

Minutes to a half hour later, Don was escorted to the kitchen, where a big tasty, mouth-watering salad was waiting just for him.

“WOw... just for me?”

“All for you,” Jayden said cheerfully. “Bon appetit, little donkey!”

Don’s eyes lit up like the fourth of July, and he happily dug into the salad. All his favorite fruits and veggies were there, all tasting great. “Mmm! This is amazing!”

“i’m glad you like it. Jayden was worried you wouldn’t.” Mike said.

“It’s great! You two did awesome!” Don dug back in eagerly.

Jayden and Mike had smiles on their faces, though while Mike’s was out of joy that Don was happy, Jayden’s had a touch of pride in his own work. The darker-haired boy knelt down and patted Don’s head.

“Glad ya liked it,” Jayden said.

“So... you excited for the new paradise?”

“Yeah! I can’t wait for it to be finished... speaking of which, if Ryan’s got full control of this world, why can’t he just insta-build the paradise?”

“Rome wasn’t built in a day,” Mike said.

“I’ll bet he needed an excuse for this sto-”

“SSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHH! No fourth wall breaking” Don and Mike both said.

Jayden grimaced. “What the hell is your damage, the fourth wall’s already been broken.”

“You’re no Psycho Mantis, Jay-Jay.” Mike said.

“No one can top that video game lunatic of a fourth wall incinerator. So screw you.”

~~~

Wing felt a little left out with the others getting along with the humans. “Are there anymore humans I can try to get along with?” he thought out loud.

“Me, maybe.” The speaker was the one person every animal was trying to avoid: Haru. Even though Grove liked him, he was still an intimidating presence for his height and his rather jarring frown.

“Oh, you’re that really nice guy that runs the St Toby orphanage.”

“Me?” Haru shook his head. “No, that’s Ryan’s rip-off.”

“Then... You’re the Vocaloid that’s really popular?”

“Formerly.” Haru held out his arm for Wing to perch on.

The little falcon glided and perched on haru’s arm, being careful not to hurt Haru. “The other animals were quick to avoid you... something about you being intimidating.”

“Ah, that.” Haru chuckled. “Maybe it’s because I don’t like kids.”

“What?”

“I’m easy to annoy, so I’m not good with little kids. That’s the clone Haru.”

“BUt... in human years... I’m a child...” Wing gulped.

“Nah, I’m talking about, like, really little kids. Like kindergarteners and the younger grade schoolers. Older kids are easier to tolerate but still a bit annoying.”

“than you’d hate the Magic Forest.”

Haru crossed his arms. “Let me guess- every kid who comes in gets turned into a babyfur. Nicky told me about it. He said that wearing a sleeper on camera was part of the deal.”

“But it must at least be nice to be with Leon.”

“Well, yeah, the guy’s a damn angel. And I’m not talking about the screaming blue octahedron from Evangelion.”

“...You mean he’s a nice guy.”

“Yup. But on the upside, he’s far from a Sue.” Haru snorted. “You should’ve seen him when we first met. He was so far up in Sue-land he was fartin’ unicorns out his ass.”

“...um... translation? I don’t speak human slang.”

Haru facepalmed, “He was perfect. He never made a mistake, never got mad, never did nothin’ that wasn’t awesome.”

“...but he still does awesome stuff.”

“But he IS flawed. He’s overprotective, has a bad temper when you hurt his family,” he then whispered into Wing’s ear. “Plus… he’s a damn terrible cook. Lily and the other made all the snacks and food tonight.”

“I HEARD THAT!” Leon yelled in the distance.

“ONE THING YOU STILL HAVE IS SUPERHUMAN HEARING!” Haru shouted back. “Disregard him,” the blue-haired boy said to the bird.

“I think that was just for comedy, Haru.” Wing chuckled.

“Maybe.”

“You’re a funny guy, Haru. I like that.”

“Really?” Haru blushed and looked away. “Shucks.”

“Oh! You wanna go try Lily’s brownies?” WIng asked, his little tummy growling.

Haru shrugged. “Sure. I could use some meat on my bones.” He patted Wing’s head, and walked to the Kitchen.

~~~

Gallop was all alone, the other animals had a human to talk to, even Wing was getting with haru. (incredible, ain’t it). but he didn’t have someone to talk to... or so he thought.

“Hiya, Gallop!” Yukio greeted the horse.

“oh, Yukio.” the horse perked up, looking at the boy.

“You didn’t think we’d leave you all alone, did you?”

“To be honor, I wouldn’t feel bad if you did. I was always alone up in the hills... the others horse were-”

“Don’t tell me... lemme guess.” Yukio sighed. “They were bland.”

“how’d you know?” Gallop asked.

“I heard the same complaints from literally everyone else.”

“I see...”

“I’m guessing you can’t wait for the paradise.”

“Yeah... but I like hanging out with you and the other humans,” Gallop then whispers. “Sans Haru, he’s really scary.”

Yukio looked confused. “Why is Haru scary?”

“he never smiles.”

Yukio shook his head. “But I’ve seen him smile a lot.”

“He’s intimidatingly tall.” Gallop added.

“So?” Yukio said. “That’s a good thing sometimes. It means he can reach the net when he plays basketball… unlike me.”

“Good point.”

“Here. Take one of my cream puffs, Lily help me make them.” Yukio offered the horse said treat. Gallop took it and ate it. He chewed thoughtfully. “Well.”

With a swallow, Gallop licked his lips. “Mmm, that was really good.”

“That’s great, we made enough for everyone.”

“You know, between the Cookies, the Brownies, the Chocolate Crossants, and these creme puffs... I think we’ve got a dessert buffet.” Gallop let out a whinny-like laugh.

Yukio laughed too, patting Gallop on the head. “You might be right!”

“Wanna go get soome before the others clean the plates out?” Gallop asked.

“Sure!”

The two ran to the kitchen table.

~~~

Everyone was gathered and chatting.

“You’re getting along with Blue, nicky?”

“He encouraged me to add the chili powder.”

“And with my help, yukio made these creampuffs.” Lily said, as rai was chowing down on one.

Yukio grinned. “Couldn’t have done it without you!”

Overtime everyone was chating and eating the snacks.

“Guys, I have one final snack for us to enjoy.” Leon said, surprising everyone, though they doubted it would be good. “I followed the recipe to the letter, and, TADA.” From the fridge, Leon produced a plate of mini-cheesecakes.

Immediately Haru was on guard. “You… phoned the hospital that you decided to cook, right?”

To haru’s surprise, Kami, Grove, and Yukio each tried one.

“Well guys?”

“It’s great!” Yukio said.

Everyone gasped.

“This is really good.” Grove confirmed.

“YUM!” Kami added.

Nicky took one, looked at Leon, and partook.

“...not bad,” he conceded. “You used a smidge too much sugar though.”

“IT’S GREAT!” Rai said,

“Awesome.” Lily.

Everyone tried one, and everyone like it... but haru, he hadn’t tried it yet, and there were only two left, one for him, one for Leon.

“If this poisons me,” Haru warned, “I’m gonna punch you in the nose.”

“Deal.” Leon grinned and took his. The two ate theirs at the same time.

“...you didn’t screw it up... it’s... good...” Haru admitted.

Leon nodded, liking the taste. “Finally I get something right.”

Then, Leon’s Cuckoo clock chimed to show it was nine PM.

“Wow, it’s nine already.”

“I say we all hit the sack, tomorrow’s another day of play.” Yukio said.

“But what about beds?” Haru asked. “Surely there can’t be enough for all of us. You got any spare sleeping bags?”

Leon and Yukio pulled the side levers on their two couches, but instead of reclining they folded out into beds.

“Two large beds for Haru and Jayden, four guestrooms that Lily, Mia, Mike, and Nicky, Yukio and I use our own rooms and-”

“I’d like to sleep with Haru.” WIng said, suprising the others.

“May I share a room with Lily?” Rai asked.

“can I stay with Yukio?” Gallop added.

“Myself and Nicky please.” Blue said.

“Mike’s been really nice to me, I’d like to sleep with him tonight.”

“And Leon...” Grove said.

“Grove and I would like to stay with you tonight.”,” Kami finished.

Leon nodded. “Got it.”

~~~

Haru got ready for bed, and Wing nested himself in a nest set next to the bed.

“good night Haru.” Wing said, yawning.

“Hope you two don’t snore.” Jayden said, a little worried.

“Nah,” Haru said.

Wing shook his head. “Birds don’t snore.”

With a smile, jayden fell asleep, Wing and Haru following soon.

~~~

“You’re not sleeping in a kitty bed.” Lily said, picking rai up. “We sleep together.” She smiled, tucking the two of them in.

“Wow, thank you Lily.” rai purred as he snuggled with Lily. Good Night.”

“good night little Rai.” Lily said as the two drifted into gentle slumber together.

~~~

“I like you, but I don’t want kangaroo hair in my bed,” Nicky said. “Are you alright with sleeping on the couch?”

Blue shrugged. “Couch, bed, doesn’t matter, does it?”

“Not really.” Nicky smiled as he and Blue tucked themselves in.

“Night.” They said at the same time before going to bed.

~~~

Mike immediately picked up Don and tucked him into his bed. “Sleep with me tonight?”

“Sure, thank you.” Don smiled, getting comfy. “Good night.”

“Night, buddy.” Mike hugged Don gently and fell asleep holding the donkey tight.

~~~

Yukio set out a bed just for gallop. “No sense just sleeping standing up, give those barking dogs a rest.”

Gallop smiled. “Thanks, Yukio…” He laid on the bed as Yukio tucked himself.

“Sleep tight.” Yukio said, gently petting gallop’s head. Gallop nuzzled Yukio’s hand and closed his eyes.

Yukio smiled, before tucking himself into bed.

~~~

“Two beds for two good little animals.” Leon said, having set out two beds, one for Kami and the other for Grove.

“Thank you Leon.” Kami said, getting comfy on the bed as leon tucked him in.

“Thank you for agreeing to care for us.” Grove said, laying down as he was tucked in too.

“No problem! You guys are sorta… me, after all.”

The two animals chuckled.

“Night you two.” Leon said, tucking himself in.

“Good night.” Grove said.

“Night Leon.” Kami said.

~~~

That day would always be remembered, the fun times, the bonding moments, the tasty snacks, and Leon not screwing a recipe up.

But the one thing they remembered, especially the animals, was the warmth of that fireplace.

(It’s a good thing Haru made sure to put it out to avoid burning the house down.)