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Whoever thought songs about wishing for snow was a good idea needed a good smack in the back of the skull as far as Red was concerned. Even if his Sweetheart stood on his shoulders, the snow out there would still be way over their heads! Only people built for snow, had way too much energy, or were frikkin’ giants should be out there right now!
While Red drew inappropriate things on the slightly fogged up window, Sans was happy they were both inside. Last night’s snowstorm dumped way too much fluffy white stuff out there for his liking. He’d much rather cuddle with his Mate… while snuggling in a soft, warm blanket… and sip on hot coco with much tastier white fluffy stuff on top. So what if the cup was 50% whipped cream…
Being their house sat on a corner, with a yard on one of the street sides, they liked to watch out one of those windows. It was easier for people watching, be it the neighborhood kids playing or the adults trying to deal with it. He felt bad for the poor schmucks that had to unbury their driveways and/or cars and the unfortunate delivery people that had no choice but to do their best getting to people’s front doors. At least some of the kids and teens helped many of the older folks shovel off their walkways for a few bucks.
Sans tried not to laugh as Red nearly fell over with a yelp when a snowball smacked the window right where his face was. “that snow reason to get scared…” He grinned and blew a kiss as Red flipped him off.
Trying not to snag his new sweater with his sharp claws, Red tried to make sure he didn’t get anything on it. His proudly stated ‘Merry Bah Humbug and a Happy Fukkoff’. It also had a picture of the Grinch flipping the bird while dressed like Ebenezer Scrooge. The one Sans got was just as good with that wrapping paper meme on it. The one was s’posed t’say ‘LET it SNOW’ but ‘cause of the way it was ‘wrapped around it’, it looked like it said ‘LE TitS NOW.
Being that they were on the second floor, there was only one person that could’ve thrown that snowball. Sans laughed as the second Red looked back out the window, he gave that person a double middle finger. Most of the people actually playing in the deep snow were kids, but there was the rare adult joining in here and there.
Those adults included their crazy roommates… or more like the more enthusiastic of the two who dragged his much lazier brother out there… much to his dismay. The short, energetic Skeleton was also obviously cheating with his magic so he could walk on top of the deep snow. While he worked on trying to make a snowman at least a story high to ‘fight’ a pretty accurate snow sculpture of himself, his brother was napping on a solid snow poff with his name scrawled on it.
Seeing the hand signals that the blue ball of energy was giving them, it was obvious that he wanted them to come out and join them. Looking at his Mate, Red asked “don’t he realize we’d be buried an’ lost in th’ snow ‘til spring if we tried t’go out there?” The only blizzard he wanted to deal with was made outta ice cream with tasty stuff mixed in.
Sans glared at the deep snow that their tallest roommate was half sunk into as he stayed ‘afloat’ on the hard packed snow poff like a life raft. “he knows we can’t cheat like he can… we’d need those racket looking things people wear on their feet…” At least the lanky Skeleton always wore orange so he’d be easy to spot if he ended up getting buried.
It was pretty likely that Blue had carried Stretch out there and might be tempted to do the same to them. Red’d rather do that of his own volition fuck you very much. They were outta hot coco and topping and they wouldn’t get more made for them unless they went outside and ‘earned it’. Yeah they could make it themselves, but it never came out as good.
With a ‘fuck it’, the two of them shortcut to the kitchen with their empty mug and at least placed in it the sink. They’d never hear the end of it if they didn’t… didn’t mean they hadda wash it though. They’d just get the look that said ‘I appreciate that you tried’ before Blue rewashed it himself. He gave the same look to his own bro so it wasn’t just them.
As the two of them sat on the kitchen counter, Sans looked around in thought. “soooo… wutcha think we can use?” They were on their own this time since it wasn’t worth dragging their roomies back inside to help with their little problem.
They couldn’t use any of their roomie’s stuff since it was all way too big for them… minus using something like a sock or mitten as a sleeping bag. The fact was, the two of them were Bitties… tiny versions of Monsters that some jerks treated like dumb pets. They were both about the height of a can of pop, though Red was a bitty taller. At least they lucked out on the Swap bros ‘adopting’ them since they both thought the whole ‘pet’ and ‘owner’ thing was a bunch of crap.
Instead, they were considered roommates… equals… well unless it came to cooking and cleaning. Even Stretch let Blue take over for all of them between the energetic Skeleton doing a much better job and the fact that the three of them were all lazy bastards. Blue was perfectly happy about that as long as the others helped with other things like keeping track and taking care of the bills or fixing things around the house.
So back to the current predicament, what could two tiny Monsters use for snowshoes. “…dunno sweetheart… don’t think i got the spoons t’make somethin’…” They both snickered as Red waved a spoon in his hand.
Looking closer at it, Sans mumbled “…spoons could work… they’re kinda the same shape… but the metal ones might stick… what about plastic ones?” They could even break part of the long handles off to make ‘ski poles’.
Nodding in agreement, Red added “yeah… might be a bit too heavy and awkward… ‘least plastic ones c’n be broken t’make ‘em shorter… an’ without gettin’ yelled at …” He found two plastic ones and tied them to his feet with some thread he had on him. Twist ties might be better but he didn’t think the ones he had would be long enough to go around the scoopy part of the spoon.
Watching his Mate, Sans mumbled “…they’re kinda wide when ya got two of them next to each other…” At least they could use their magic to open stuff like drawers and cabinets. He poked around a few of the ones with random stuff in them in case something looked like it would work better.
With an annoyed huff, Red took them off. “…yeah… kept almost trippin’ and they bottoms were kinda slippery… bet they’d be worse out on th’ snow…” He could scratch the bottoms up to give them some grip but he’d still have to walk bowlegged if he didn’t wanna catch them on each other.
As crafty as Blue could be, they were both sure he could make actual tiny snowshoes for them if they asked, but they weren’t gonna bother his fun right now. Sans also remembered seeing some people using ski poles to help them walk in them. He guessed it was to help with your balance, so you didn’t fall over with the cumbersome things.
Poking around in the drawer Sans found straws… too flexible, toothpicks… too small, a pile of twist ties… those could be used to attach whatever to their feet, same with the pile of rubber bands… “hey… what about these?” He stood up and held out a few oddly shaped thin, flat wooden spoon things.
They were almost shoulder height and shaped kinda like a tall skinny hourglass some board games came with. The last time someone bought a pack of those little ice cream cups, that were still like a bucket of ice cream to them, it accidentally had two sets of the little wooden spoons in it. There was no sense in throwing them out in case they could be used for something.
Seeing Sans’ find, Red perked up and headed over to get a closer look. “wood ya look at that… think we gotta winner…” he grabbed a pair from his Mate and started figuring what would work better to attach them to their shoes. He had thread, rubber bands of all sizes and twist ties.
Digging around some more, Sans also found some wooden chopsticks and a bunch of those sticks that Stretch used for his corndogs. “one of these might work for ski poles…” He tossed both on the counter along with some popsicle sticks. There was prob’ly more stuff they could use in Blue’s crafting bins but he wasn’t about to mess with his perfectly organized but packed full hobby room. You needed a road map to find where anything was in there on your own.
Red felt the Chopsticks were way too long but a good thickness and the round corndog sticks were skinny and might not have enough grip in the snow. Technically they were also too long but they’d be easier to snap to make them shorter. The popsicle sticks were a good height but might be awkward to hold so that the flat side pushed against the snow. They could work for skis if they wanted to go that route, but they’d need something glued on top to attach their shoes to.
Looking at their options, the two of them ended up going with the wooden ice cream spoons with a rubber band crisscrossed in front and behind their foot. They snapped the corndog skewers to make them shorter, wrapped some rubber band along the top to make a better handle and bunched up one near the bottom since they usually had those ring things. They figured it was either to have something to push against or it kept it from sinking in the snow as much.
Now they just hadda bundle up so they didn’t freeze their tiny little coccyx’s off… granted they prob’ly should’ve done that before attaching the snowshoes but whatever. Not like they couldn’t avoid walking in them by just shortcutting anyways. “…ya ready sweetheart?” Seeing a nod, they shortcut to the closest window to where their roommates were.
Yes, they could just blindly shortcut outside, but they had no idea if where they aimed was gonna have them end up buried in the middle of a snow pile. It was safer to see where they were aiming and then go from there. They both agreed to aim for the round patio table that was thankfully mostly snow free due to being under a permanent shelter. That way they still had a higher vantage point to see where to head next.
Once on the table, they needed to decide if they were gonna trek all the way over to the much larger Skeletons on foot or hope Stretch didn’t move and shortcut on top of him. It didn’t take long to decide since they were lazy and the bright orange hoodie made a great target. They we both glad he was used to them shortcutting onto his shoulders so hopefully he didn’t startle and YEET them into a snowbank.
Luckily, Stretch rolled onto his back with his hands behind his skull, giving them a much safer place to land on. Now the lanky Skeleton could quickly see it was them and not a random small animal landing on him. The last time that happened it was a squirrel. Thankfully the furry little thing landed in a pile of raked leaves and scampered off like nothing happened. The high-pitched girly scream Stretch made had them all laughing for several minutes… much to his dismay.
Shortcutting together, the pair of Bitties landed on Stretch’s chest and let out a “…’sup” so that the supine Skeleton had a head’s up it was them. Seeing a honey-orange eyelight peeking at them from a barely opened socket, they waited for him to bring an arm up. That way they knew he was about to support them, as he sat up, so he didn’t accidentally dump them into the snow.
With a chuckle, Stretch kept the Bitties from falling as he sat up enough, so he was still partially supported by the snow lump. It was supposed to be a snow sculpture of himself to go with the rather detailed one Blue made of himself. His own was accurate enough if you looked at him curled up on his side asleep… and maybe if you squinted. “finally decided t’join us?” Looking closer at them, he noticed the additions to them. “whachu got there?”
Unable to help himself, Sans blurted out “a smoothie…” as Red let out a snort next to him. “dunno if these’ll work… can ya slowly put me on the snow and grab me if i start sinkin’?”
It took Stretch a moment, but he quickly realized they were wearing makeshift snowshoes or skis so they didn’t sink in the deep fluffy snow. The snow was past his knees but to a Bitty it’d be like getting dropped in a deep lake or ocean. “snow problem, pal… just don’t flake out on me…” Glancing over to make sure his bro wasn’t planning on throwing any snowballs his way, he gently set Sans on his feet on the snow.
Holding his non-existent breath, Sans was relieved that they seemed to work and that he only sunk in a tiny bit. Of course, Stretch’s puns helped calm him down too. “icy what ya did there…” As he practiced walking around, he saw Stretch set Red down nearby. They both made sure they didn’t stray too far in case they needed a quick rescue.
Waving his arm, Stretch called out “hey, bro… check this out!” The Bitties seemed good as long as they stayed away from where anyone had walked through the snow. That way they wouldn’t need to worry about any ‘cliffs’ or sudden drops. He was still gonna keep a close eye socket on them just in case since they didn’t wanna end up with Bittycicles.
It was a good thing Blue was as strong and fit as he was since he wanted to make the biggest snowman possible. Snow seemed light and weightless until you had a large amount of it. As Blue made his way across the deep snow, he was glad he could use his little trick to essentially walk across the top without the need for snowshoes. Especially since he was shorter than many of the adult Humans and was often mistaken for a Stripeling. That and after last night’s storm, the snow was about waist deep for him.
Once he was close enough to the Bitties, Blue stated “Oho! Very Clever! I’m Glad You Decided To Join Us Of Your Own Free Will And Not Due To Any Involvement Of My Own.” He ignored Red giving him his usual rude gesture and continued. “Those Seem To Be Working Well, But If You Want, I’m Certain I Could Make Actual Snowshoes And Ski Poles For The Both Of You.”
The two Bitties answered with a shrug since these seemed to be working good enough, but they knew he liked to do crafts and make tiny stuff for them. One of the times Red saw someone lookin’ up Bitty stuff, it was freakin’ expensive. Stuff usin’ a tiny fraction of what the ‘normal sized’ stuff did shouldn’t cost the same or more. One of their roomies usually made stuff for them themselves or had someone they knew, that charged a fair price or trade, make it for them.
Hands on his hips, Blue proclaimed “Now that the two of you have joined us, you can make your own snow sculptures!” He waved his hands towards the slightly taller snow sculpture of himself in hopes they would do more than make a lump like his lazy brother. Granted Stretch had a point that it did look much like he did when he curled up on his side to nap.
Looking at the very detailed snow sculpture and then at the lump that Stretch was lounging on, Sans gave his Mate a nod. They both scooped up an armload of snow, shortcut to the top of the snow lump, and then proceeded to make their own snow lumps. Seeing the grin on the tallest Skeleton’s face, he knew exactly what they were planning.
Once the small snow lumps were done, Stretch curled up on his side and waited for the Bitties to do the same. That way they could mirror their complete snow sculpture before his bro could argue it wasn’t ‘accurate’. He didn’t miss the suspicious glare Blue gave them before ‘stomping’ away to work on his massive snowman.
Blue attempted to ignore the snickering from the three lazy Skeletons as he went back to adding more snow to his snow monster. With a lowercase ‘m’. It was ‘attacking’ the brave and magnificent snow-him as snowy him defended his lazy… er… curled up terrified brother and roommates! He also made certain it was far enough from the house so that if it started to melt, it wouldn’t fall onto the house. Granted it might look amazing like that… it would be less amazing if it damaged their roof or windows as it fell.
After another hour of playing in the snow, it was time to go back inside and get warmed up. Granted Skeleton Monsters didn’t get cold as easily as the more fleshy types. It could get uncomfortable and even painful when ice and snow got in their ‘joints’ and affected the magic holding their bones together.
Blue made plenty of his homemade hot chocolate for them all to get warmed up with. Of course his didn’t have a mountain of whipped topping on it like the others. Still, he was glad he was able to get his small roommates outside to enjoy the snow for once. Being they’d been productive, he didn’t even scold them for leaving a mess on the counter. They gave him some fun new project ideas to work on that would make nice Gyftmas presents for them after all.
It was snow use to argue otherwise, the Bitties had a nice time out in the snow. Granted they loved the coco afterwards a chocolot more than that. Later, three out of four of them spent the rest of the day napping, curled up under a fuzzy blanket that Blue put over them. Maybe he could secretly take a short nap of his own before anyone else was the wiser.