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Even though her family might argue she was too old for 'childish' things such as playing in the snow, Alise was always determined to do the exact opposite of what was expected of her. Being a proper young lady? Psh, who had time to be some boring snobby rich girl when she could be Lepus, the (self-proclaimed) Defender of Justice, the (also self-proclaimed) Cat Whisperer, the... uh... well, a bunch of other cool stuff, really. She just overall was a really cool person that was destined for better things than sitting in a mansion all day and being all hoity toity judgmental and stuff. Well, actually, Alise was cool with the mansion part, so as long as it was haunted, anyway.

The first snow of the season was upon them, and Alise had rushed out of the house at the first opportunity she got. They'd actually gotten a decent amount, none of that measly little 'flurry' stuff that didn't stick and melted too fast, and Alise was determined to make the most of it. Besides, there was no school, on account of both the snow and it being Christmas break, so it wasn't like there was any homework to do! Not that Alise would have done it either way, but still.

"Fufufu... insolent mortals, your time has come!" Alise declared, startling a nearby group of children, who were building a snowman. Given her reputation among the other neighbors on her street, though, they weren't all that spooked for long, and instead went back to their playing in the snow. It was just Alise, the weirdo who thought she was some sort of sorcerer or whatever it was she was going on about on any given day. The kids had long since learned from their parents that ignoring her was the best option, given her usual antics... not that that ever sat well with Alise, who just wanted someone to take her seriously. Frowning, the teen realized she wasn't going to get anywhere like this, trying to communicate with neighbors who wouldn't give her the time of day, and marched onwards, continuing her walk.

Technically, Alise didn't have any real destination in mind, other than simply getting out of the house and maybe checking out downtown to see if any weird stuff was happening like it tended to do during the holidays. Maybe there'd be some baddie to beat up, or something cool going down she could take part in and show off her skills... A stray snowball snapped her out of her thoughts, as she rounded the corner a couple streets down, smacking her in the face. Oh, oho... so that was how it was going to be, huh? With a devilish grin on her face, Alise turned on the unsuspecting group of children whose snowball fight she had been caught in the crossfire of.

"Ohoho, you dare to challenge me?" Alise said, looming over the kids, "I'll show you my true might! Bring it on!"

Gathering up handfuls of snow, Alise joined in on the fight, fully intending to go all out in beating the kids at their own game.

(523 words)

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The chimes jingled for a final time while in his presence as Isiah closed to door to the bakery. It was just 10 minutes after 4, the end of his shift. Though he'd been there since 7:30 that morning, he would have stayed longer. Time at the bakery wasn't exhausting to him, not in the way most people found working. Maybe it was being surrounded by all the sugary goodness or the fact he just simply thrived when he was around others. But he didn't feel tired after a long day's work. And long day it was, being so close to Christmas and a Saturday. People had been coming in and out of the shop all day, every minute it seemed, to order sweets for the party they were hosting later in the day or to make orders for later ones. Christmas had never been his favorite holiday. But making after making so many cute little snowmen shortbread cookies or reindeer-shaped cakes, he was warming up a little bit to it.

In Isiah's family, both back in England and with his grandparents here, holidays weren't a very big deal. Usually his parents were too concerned with the business. They still remembered to give their only child presents under the tree. They even stayed to watch him open them and enjoyed a family meal afterwards. But that was the end of the activities. Work always came first. So while his friends were busy with family, he'd go up to his room and play alone with his new gifts until the time came when they were free to join him. Or rather, when they were free so he could pack up some of his favorite things and go over to their houses. His parent's never approved of his friends. Not that he could blame them. He had been a handful over in England and barely made any good decisions, including who he hang out with. There was one time, when they'd convinced him to smash this really expensive...,

Why was he bringing up bad memories now?

At least his grandparents weren't as bad. They'd devote the whole day to him, at least, their only grandchild not overseas. They were loving and supportive. But they were also in retirement and he didn't fault them for leaving him for the most part on his own, living in the basement apartment below their two-story house. It wasn't like he was sad about it. He was used to barely being noticed by his family by now. And, again. They were retired. They didn't have to deal with his punk a** if they didn't want to. He wasn't their problem. He was independent.

Now off from work, that was his destination. Home. Or, maybe his second destination. It might not hurt to stop by the closest store on the way there and grab some extra treats for his cat. And a toy. It was Christmas, after all.

The end of the block coming closer, Isiah took out his phone to check for any texts between his last break and now. As he was scrolling through the lists-Thomas having the most, as always-he rounded the corner, his feet instinctively knowing where to go even if his eyes weren't looking. His eyes should have been looking. Than he might have been alert enough to dodge the sphere of floating snow that slammed right into his face.

The impact made the blonde man back up a few steps, his one hand clutching onto his phone for dear life, his other instantly going to his face to hastily brush away the snow still clinging to his cheeks and nose. Even before he managed to get enough of it so he could see without water stinging his eyes, he could hear the whispers.

At first, there were normal voices of children shouting about how that snowball missed them or how quickly they got revenge for a well placed throw. Than they got quieter and silence befell the happy voices. By the time Isiah cleaned up his face, they started to sound fearful, like they were just waiting for the outrage from the adult at being pelted by a wayward snowball.

Isiah looked at them. They looked back at him, worry creasing their tiny faces.

Until he just burst out into laughter. The little faces quickly changed from one of confusion to one of amusement as they joined in the fun. Clearly this adult wasn't stuffy like the rest!

"That's was a good throw," he complimented them after he'd stopped laughing, the grin still plastered on his face. "Good arm, kid. But...." Pocketing his phone, he bent down to grab a handful of snow, quickly patting it into a round ball, and throwing it at the nearest kid, landing a shot to the heart. "I can do better!"

With squeals of laughter and "Gang up on the adult!", the kids all scurried to hide behind their mounds of snow in the park as Isiah ran after them, scooping up more snow along the way for another critical hit.

For a little while, he was lost in the fun of the game. Didn't matter to him that these were children younger than 10 and he 18, a fun game was a fun game. He let the stray snowball catch him without making an effort to avoid it. Sometimes he didn't have to pretend he'd been caught unaware. A few of these kids had amazing throwing arms.

But like many things in life, an end had to come.

"What do you think you're doing!"

At the high pitched screech almost directly behind him, Isiah froze in place, a half formed snowball in his hands. He turned around to have this strange woman in her 30s almost throw herself at him, her finger pointing very close to his face.

"What?" was the only word he could think of. Angry mom alert. In his experience, best to just be quiet and let them rage on.

"I asked what do you think you're doing, playing with a group of children! You're too old! I bet you're trying to kidnap one, aren't you? Charlie! Come here this instance, we're going home and having a long talk! No more playing without my supervision!"

A small boy in a blue suit slowly stepped forward, trying his best not to make eye contact with the man his mother had been yelling at. She grabbed the kid by the shoulders and quickly steered him away, giving one last "Hmph!" in Isiah's direction.

Shrugging his shoulders, ignoring all the stares around him, he addressed the children with a simple "I guess that's the end of the fun", waved to all the older adults watching him, and continued on his way to the store to buy some extra goodies for his cat.

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O w O

gonna claim one of them Snowflake Charms!