Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Good." Morgan looked quite satisfied. "It should get better as long as you stay warm." Shifting to get a better seat, she folded her arms. "So you stay put, and we'll - I guess we can talk." She grinned. "Do you have any other brothers or sisters?"

"Great, Alucard!" Arthur grinned back at the child, pleased that he was so happy. "It's small, but that's good, because it means you can throw it." Alexander nodded, heaving his own slightly lopsided snowball at a nearby tree. It flumped on the ground a good three feet from the mark, but for a first try, it was decent. "You try!"

"My older sister says the same thing sometimes." Morgan admitted with an almost sheepish look. "Mom says it's the force of personality - that some people just have more 'out there' than other people do. And that people who do should remember not to overwhelm everybody."

Which was advice she tried to follow, most of the time. Not that it always worked, but she tried. "So what about your parents?"

"Again." Alexander agreed. Arthur nodded, throwing his own snowball. It whizzed into the upper branches of the tree, dropping a load of snow atop the nearest bench. He grinned. "Impressive?"

"No, it isn't." Morgan shook her head intently. "My big sister Aura isn't like that at all, and she's one of the best people I know." With a fond smile, the brunette nodded toward Marian, who - smiling and rosy-cheeked from the cold - was helping Valentine and Motoko with snowballs of their own. "Marian doesn't like being in front of people by herself, and she gets kind of nervous. So does my big sister Nikki, really. And I couldn't ask for better big sisters, or a better little sister. It's not bad, just different. Sometimes, you need different."

Well well. Apparently, her talks with her sisters and aunts were coming in handy after all.

Alexander clapped. "Good for you, Alucard!" He seemed to enjoy cheering the little boy on. "After this, we'll make snow angels. Have you ever made one?"

Morgan grinned proudly. "Now you got it." Then, laughing, she shook her head. "I sound like my brother. Feeling good enough to go play?"

"You NEVER made a snow angel?" Motoko's head popped up from where she'd been examining a snowball, violet eyes wide as saucers. "But - but that's the best part! It's better than a snowman!"

Marian smiled. "They're a bit like snowmen, Alucard, but in reverse." She explained gently. "Instead of making them out of snow you collect, you make a snow angel by moving the snow on the ground."

Morgan eyed Zarkis once more, then dug into the pouch at her hip and held out a round red stone on a chain. "Put it around your neck." She explained. "It works like the blanket, but you can run around with it. I always carry extra."

"Okay." Arthur pulled the little boy back from the blanket, into a clean patch of snow. "Now lay down, like this, with your arms out. Gotta stay far enough apart that it'll work." Alexander nodded, choosing a spot on Alucard's other side.

Morgan flushed slightly, cheeks pinking before she flashed Zarkis a slightly sheepish smile. "Thanks." Her eyes sparkled. Yes, she decided; she liked this boy. He would be a good friend indeed. Her grin widened, and she tugged at his hand. "Come on, I think they're making angels. We can make a snowman!"

"Now swing your legs out like this," Arthur made the motions carefully, slowly so Alucard could follow, "and move your arms up and down. That's it!"

Morgan laughed cheerfully, her voice rich and happy as she ran swiftly across the snow. "My brothers and sisters cheat." She called over her shoulder, eyes bright. "So I guess it'd be my first one, too. Come on!"

"Okay, little man. That's enough." Marian carefully slipped around the trio and hefted Alucard onto her hip, tucking the blanket in her hands firmly around his small shoulders before stepping back again. "You need to get warm, and it looks better from up here, anyway. See?"

Arthur and Alexander, too, leapt from their depressions in the snow, the smaller shaking white powder from his hair while his brother pointed to the outlines. "See? There's the head, there's the wings where we moved our arms, and there's the edge of the rob where we moved our feet. Just like stencil angels!"

Morgan grinned, reaching down into the snow and hastily scooping up a handful. Sure hands swiftly crunched the powder into a decent ball; unlike her siblings, it was clear Morgan, at least, had quite a bit of practice in making snow ammunition. Spinning around, she hurled her missile at Zarkis, giggling. "GOT YOU - " She started to yell . . .

. . . and quite promptly tripped over a stick half-buried beneath her feet, landing with a flop on her behind in a drift.

Alexander nodded vigorously to Alucard, opening his mouth to reply, when the sudden yell and thud caused him, Marian and Arthur to turn around. Even Valentine and Motoko looked up, eyes widening. Was that MORGAN in the snow, on her butt?

"Mori, what - " Marian's faint question was cut of with a louder snort of laughter at the stunned look on her sister's face. Motoko giggled, hastily slapping a mitten to her mouth to muffle the sound. Valentine ducked her head, trying to hide her growing smile; Alexander didn't bother, his own ear-to-ear grin wide enough to show off slightly pointed canines. Still, it was Arthur who laughed first, a loud, happy guffaw that threw his head back and made his green eyes sparkle. It was FUNNY!

Like a dam breaking, the others' laughter grew. "Morgan fell on her BUTT!!" Alexander crowed gleefully, almost dancing in place. "Ha, ha, she did!"

"We can see that, Alex." But Marian's reply was mostly drowned out by her own snickering, not to mention the two little girls giggling like maniacs. She shifted Alucard slightly on her hip so the smaller boy could see without having to move his blanket.

Morgan shed her startled expression and managed to look annoyed - for maybe five seconds. Then she laughed. "Teach me to throw without looking."