A Battle in the Snow} Todd

The snow wasn't incredibly deep, but it was deep enough that it came up to Penelope's ankles. She was glad for having worn her snow boots, but wished now that she had put more than one layer of clothing on... and maybe a coat. Still though, she was prepared for an epic battle in the snow against Todd. She highly doubted she would win; actually, she predicted a tie in all honesty, but it would still be fun nonetheless.

Penny turned about in the snow so that she was looking at Todd, walking backwards. She had long since placed her bag of sweets in her never-ending back and closed it tight so that no snow would get it - that would be a pain to clean out. A small smile formed on her face. "The battle that everyone has been waiting for... Sir Schumucksalot versus Book Girl. Who shall win?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow as she leaned down to scoop up some snow, quickly patting it into a ball. She straightened back up and threw it at him, hitting him in the shoulder - she didn't have very good aim.

Todd shifted restlessly from foot to foot as he searched the ground, trying to put together a strategy that might stand a chance against his lovely opponent.

He looked up at her with a wide grin and immediately chimed in. "The climax of their lifelong rivalry, which will determine the true - hey!" he exclaimed, ducking to the side, though the snow had already exploded against his shoulder. "Let the games begin!" he cried, diving toward the ground and forming a snowball. He threw it toward her, hitting her in the thigh. He immediately scrambled for another one, trying to figure out exactly how tightly packed they should be and simultaneously checking over his shoulder to see if she was getting ready to launch one of her own again.

"You have to move fast, Mister Cross!" She called over to him as she bent down to gather more snow. When she stood up she could help but let out an, "Eep!" as a snowball hit her right in the thigh. She laughed, throwing the one she had just made rather blindly - unsure if it hit him or completely passed him as she ducked down the snow to make a couple more. She was trying to stock up, thinking it'd be more to her advantage if she threw a couple one after the other.

Penny grabbed her snowballs and quickly made to hide behind one of the larger trees. She bit her lip, smiling still as she peeked around the side of it, throwing one of her snowballs towards Todd.

"But my tummy is full of butterbeer!" he wailed, laughing as he ran to take cover behind a bench, though he felt one of her snowballs hit the bottom of his pants as he moved. He crouched behind it and gathered a heap of snow toward him. He started to work on making a few loosely packed snowballs. One of Penelope's landed on his back and he let out a groan of faux pain as he threw one of his in her direction. "I've been hit!" he exclaimed. This was an admittedly horrible hiding place as far as coverage went.

"Mine is too, but I'm not complaining!" Penny chuckled as she ducked behind the tree. She crawled out from behind it a ducked quickly as a snowball whizzed over her head. She continued to stay low to the ground, hoping that it would help her a little bit, as she sneaked towards Todd's hiding place, a bench - oh, he could really do better than that, couldn't he? She giggled and sat up, throwing one of her snowballs towards him and hoping that it made it over the bench okay. "Of course, Sir Schmucksalot, that's the point," she laughed before hurriedly making another snowball. She was moving around so much that the cold hardly bothered her any.

Todd worked on making a supply of snowballs and jerked slightly when one of hers landed a few feet from him. He peered through the slats of the bench and spotted her, definitely not behind her tree anymore. "You sneaky little hooligan! The sneak attacks are supposed to be my thing!" He fired a few towards her. It was obvious that this hiding place was only going to get him 'killed', so as soon as he saw an opportunity he sprinted to a particularly overgrown bush, its branches heavy with snow. He darted behind it, peeking at her through the leaves to check her position and attempted to catch his breath.

Penny let out a noise of surprise as she ducked down into the snow, covering her head in hopes to avoid Todd's snowballs - though she ended up getting hit in the back as they came down on her. She lifted her head up to notice that he had moved and was no longer in her sight. Uh-oh, that could be very bad. Molly stood up, a snowball held firmly in her gloved hand as she looked around. "Todd?" She questioned, sounding almost a bit vulnerable. Obviously, she was just trying to lure him out. "Where'd you go?" She called out to him, making her way over to the overgrown bush.

Todd stiffened as she neared his location. He hurried to make more snowballs and crouched down as low as he could to try and avoid being seen before he was ready. When she was only about ten yards away he sprang to his feet and fired toward her - though he made sure to aim lowish, as he figured she didn't actually need a face full of snow. "I am the sneak attack master!" he declared. He'd have to work on his battle cries.

Penelope bit the side of her lip and squinted her eyes as she looked about. She was completely taken by surprise when Todd when Todd jumped up and a snowball suddenly hit her in the chest. "Hey!" She exclaimed, laughing a bit as she threw one of hers at him. She leaned down to scoop up more snow, scrambling to hide behind the nearest tree once more.

damnit

Todd couldn't help but laugh at her surprise, which is why he didn't duck down in time to avoid the snowball she threw at him. It hit him squarely in the gut . He dropped back down to a crouch, chuckling all the while. Unfortunately, he hadn't seen where she'd went, so he was in the dark again. He decided simply to start tossing snowballs toward the trees, though that didn't pan out in his favor when he ran out and had to make some more. Panicking was going on his do not do list when it came to snow battles.

Penny bit her lip, crouching down low to the ground as she heard snowballs hit the trees and some whiz past. She scooped up some snow, patting it down methodically as she waited. When the snowballs seemed to stop, she peered around the tree and saw Todd making some more. She threw hers toward him before making another a few more. She stood up, holding the snowballs close to her as she sneaked around him and threw some at his back. "Sneak attack!" She giggled, sticking her tongue out at him.

Todd heard a few hit the ground next to him and one land on his shoe, but he didn't look up as he continued working on his ammunition. The snow muffled Penelope's steps and he didn't notice her sneaking around him until he felt a cold sensation on his back. "Stealing my mooooves!" he howled. He swung around, instantly firing his own snowballs at her and mirroring her as he stuck out his own tongue. "No more childish antics! This is war!"

Penelope laughed before letting out a high pitched noise and ducking down to avoid snowballs. She quickly picked up an armful of snow, but didn't fashion it into a ball. No, she stood up and smirked. "You wanted a war," she giggled before running up to him, standing on her tiptoes quickly, and dumping the load of snow onto his head. She grinned widely up at him before turning and scampering off - she needed to make more snowballs if he decided to retaliate.

Todd automatically tensed when she bent towards the ground and straightened again with snow in her arms. Though his curiosity won over his caution when he realized she wasn't packing it into a ball. He watched, perplexed, as she walked towards him. What was she planning to do? His eyes widened when the freezing stuff rained down on him, coating his hair white. He let out a moan and threw his remaining snowballs at her retreating figure.

"My dignity will be avenged!" He decided to take chase this time, tossing more all the while until he had to stop due to running slow on ammo and breath. This felt a lot like losing.

Penny giggled as she felt a few snowballs hit her back. She turned around, walking backwards and sticking her tongue back out at him. "I think I'm winning, Sir Schmucksalot," she laughed, clasping her hands behind her back and rocking to and fro on her heels. She watched him for a moment before leaning down to make another snowball. Her cheeks were flushed from the cold and she had snow at random places on her clothing. She hardly felt the cold, though, to caught up in the fun of things. She was definitely enjoying herself.

"I think you're a bully," Todd grumbled, but he couldn't help the grin that stretched across his face. "Your tongue's gonna freeze if you keep doing that, you know!" As soon as she moved toward the ground, he scooped up some snow and packed it tight before jogging over to her. He watched her with eyebrows raised, still gripping his snowball. He contemplated it for a moment before pinching off some snow from it and sprinkling it over her head. He just didn't have the heart to toss the whole thing on her head. "I think you're winning, too."

"I am not," Penny pouted. "I'm just trying to win." She snorted then before sticking her tongue out once more just to be defiant. As long as she didn't stick it to a pole, she'd be fine. When Penny stood back up, she noticed that Todd had jogged over to her and she looked up as he sprinkled some snow on her head. She blushed a bit. He was too close for her to throw the snowball at and she had already poured snow on top of him. She bit the corner of her mouth and moved back slightly to put some distance between them, when... she slipped. Her blue eyes widened and she reached out to grab onto Todd before falling into the snow.

[becauseihadtoforfeelspurposesdon'tkillme]

Todd smirked, shaking his head at her. He watched her back up slightly, and then start sliding towards the ground. He instantly moved forward to catch her when she slipped, firmly taking hold of her arms. He looked down at her, blinking in surprise. "Easy there, B.G.," he murmured, unable to ignore just how adorable she looked, cheeks flushed and snow in her hair. "You okay?"
((Oh, no, Alix. I definitely have to kill you now.
I'm going to smother you under the weight of my emotions and giddy Podd feels.

That is the slow, painful death you will experience.))

Penny's eyes were wide and she blinked up at Todd, who had caught her. Her already flushed face turned to a deeper shade of red and she took a deep breath. "Y-y-yes... I-I'm... f-fine," she stuttered slightly, not moving away from him. Curse her stupid stuttering. She had gone for so long without it only for it to rear its ugly head once more. She studied his face for a moment before casting her gaze away. She couldn't help but notice that she had dropped her snowball. Well, perhaps she hadn't won after all.

[this seems like an adequate death. I accept it <3]

Todd bit his lip lightly, nodding when she said she was fine. He noted the stutter and his eyes softened at the familiar sound of it. He gazed at her blue eyes until she looked away. "How does it feel to know you've defeated Sir Schmucksalot for the umpteenth time in a row?" he asked, voice soft as if raising it any more would shatter the moment. Because, as a matter of fact, for the umpteenth time in a row, he was feeling pretty darn defeated right now. This kind of defeat he could take with a smile.

"D-did I?" She questioned, her voice just as soft. She wasn't quite sure why, perhaps emulating it after Todd's. "I-I was pretty sure you had won..." Any time her stutter came out she felt defeated, but this didn't feel like a bad defeat. No, Penelope was quite alright with this. Though, they'd probably continue to disagree over who had won, but, unbeknownst to her, that seemed to be the pattern.

Suddenly, Penny's blue eyes glanced up towards the sky as small white flakes of snow fell down. "O-oh... l-look... it's snowing again," she pointed out. Hoping to make her blush and stuttering go away. It wasn't working too much. She wasn't sure why she was so easy to do such, but it always seemed to be worse around Todd.

Todd shook his head with a smile, though he knew better than to drag it on. His looked up when she pointed out the sky and his eyes brightened. "That it is," he said, tipping his face up towards the falling snow. His eyes flicked toward her and he sighed softly through his nose. Had she been with her memories at the moment, now would have ben the perfect time to kiss her. But this was perfectly okay, just standing there in the snow. It would be enough for him, it had to be. "The heavens are celebrating your victory," he couldn't help saying.

Penny's eyes stayed trained on the sky. It was really quite beautiful. The sun was starting to set and the rays were illuminating all the beautiful white snow around them. She took in a deep breath. Winter was her favorite season, no doubt about it. Penelope ran her tongue over her lips and glanced down slightly, tucking her hair behind her ear. Slowly, she glanced up at Todd and gave him a soft smile, blushing slightly. Her victory? If there was one, she supposed this would be the best way to celebrate it.

Penelope glanced down, entwining her fingers together. Her heart had sped up a little bit and she bit her lip. Her stomach seemed all aflutter and she wasn't exactly sure why. Perhaps she was getting a cold or something. Yes... yes, that seemed to be it.

[This is payback, isn't it? because... that killed me... dammit. PENNY REMEMBER SO THEY CAN KISS> D:
omgweshouldtotallyjustmakePennyfallinlovewithhimagain.]

((dhdhdh Well... it didn't take long last time...))

Todd stuck out his tongue and let a few flakes land on it. He figured he probably looked pretty damn childish, but he couldn't really care. It was gorgeous out here, and a prime example of why he loved the winter months. He forced his gaze from the sky and back to her as he cocked his head. "You cold?" he asked, voice still quiet but not as soft as before. He gestured to his jacket, knowing he wouldn't be needing it anyway and she only had her sweater.