He was marching in knee-deep snow and hated every minute of it. He wasn’t fond of the white substance to begin with – it was cold and wet and cold - but he was on the way to develop a heartfelt hatred towards it. Why had he agreed to come to this planet?

Because of his second, that’s why. And the High Commander insisted. You don’t ask questions when the High Commander insists on something, you just do it and try to look happy about it.

The High Commander – he heard some of the humans call him Todd – didn’t seem to be bothered by the snow. Or the freezing cold that penetrated their fine leather uniform the very minute they set foot on the planet. He even mentioned that the weather was surprisingly mild for the season.

The young Commander on the other hand thought they were going to freeze to death. When Todd caught whiff of that though surfacing in his mind, he shamelessly laughed at the young wraith before pointing at a section of the scenery, saying that he’ll find his second in command in that direction.

So the young wraith started walking in said direction, praying to the ancestors that this trip would be over soon. When he was certain that nobody could see him, he crossed his arms and hunched to protect himself from the icy wind.

Ten minutes later, it started snowing. He cursed under his breath, his already “cheerful” mood turning even gloomier. And he had to put up with this frozen hell because his good for nothing second in command packed up and waltzed off to some winter holiday his clan celebrated every century!

He was missing that bastard. He had this ridiculous crush on him for almost fifty years, and he felt lost without his SIC’s good natured teasing. The way his second teased him, it almost made him believe that it wasn’t a one-sided thing. What a ridiculous thought. His second never showed any indication that he was interested. Not in the least.

He was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice that someone had sneaked behind him. Suddenly, something hid the pale light of the sun from him and he gasped, blinking up at it with a mixture of surprise, confusion and fear.

It was an arm and part of a very warm looking cloak hanging from it. His gaze slid over the arm to the face of his seconds, wearing an uncharacteristically soft expression.

“Are you cold, my dearest Commander?” he asked in a soft voice. “Come, I know a place where you can warm up.”

He wrapped the cloak around the shorter wraith, shielding him from the cold and the falling snow. They were close, too close to be considered polite. His second must have thought it was the only way to keep him warm at the moment, and he really didn’t mind. He carefully snuggled closer to the warm body of his second, and for a moment, let himself hope that it might be the beginning of something.

---

Merry Christmas to everyone!

I finally had some real time to draw and relax, and I ended up drawing these two, Sam and Neil. Yaaay, I love them so much!
I wanted the pose to look similar to the one in "Next Generation", to show how else it can be interpreted in a different context.
And I wanted to do it to make fun of Sam's ever present dislike of cold. Neil can't be bothered by it, it's his homeworld after all, but I put some out-of-duty-winter-clothes on him anyway. And an ugly red scarf, because green+red=Christmas.

As for the silly little writing I did, they both love the other. They just don't seem to be able to tell it. Oh, they are trying all right, but the message doesn't seem to come across... poor kids.