Crash

31: Happy Birthday!!

Nathan-

I woke up to Lyra pulling my arms off of her early in the morning. She stood, stretched, and woke the fire before reaching for my jacket.

"Where're you going?" I mumbled, catching her hand.

"Check traps," she yawned sleepily.

"Hmm, no," I grinned.

"Huh?"

"We didn't reset them yesterday and we both need to sleep in."

"Why didn't we reset them?" She mumbled sleepily.

"We have 200 pounds of elk?" I suggested.

"Oh yeah," she giggled and tossed my jacket back.

"So come back here, cause we're sleeping till noon," I spread my arms to welcome her back to bed because it was the ass crack of dawn and we always woke up at the ass crack of dawn. Lyra didn't hesitate to climb into my lap. I laid back with her pulled tightly to my side and yanked the blanket back over us.

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"Um Jay," I muttered.

We had slept till noon. Maybe longer. I got up to go to the bathroom and let Baine out. When I opened the door, I was hit in the face with a cold wind.

Lyra groaned sleepily, "Close the door."

"Jay it snowed," I chuckled.

"What? Already?" She sat up and rubbed her eyes.

There was a fucking foot  of snow on the ground already. I stood in the doorway and looked around outside. Every thing was white and icy but the river still flowed.

Lyra appeared beside me, " Oh wow, it's beautiful."

The wind buffed us in the face and she hid behind me, "But cold, very cold. Close the door."

I chuckled, "We have to let Baine out."

But Baine wouldn't go out. He stared outside like he'd never seen snow before. 

He hadn't. This was his first winter. I nudged him gently and he stepped out one paw at a time until both front feet were out. He sniffed the snow and snorted.

"Dude come on, it's fucking cold," I nudged him again.

He looked at me before running outside. Baine realized it wasn't all that cold to him because of his thick fur and began to play in the snow.

"Lyra look," I laughed.

She started laughing when she saw him too. I grabbed my camera and took a few pictures of him playing in the snow. We called him back inside. Lyra made me wipe off his paws before he came into the cave any further.

We sat around all day in a nest of the fur pelts we'd collected. I went out only once to grab some meat.

"Man I wish we had hot cocoa," Lyra moaned and put down her now fur lined coat.

"I remember you like hot cocoa, right?" I grinned at her.

"Oh yeah, I love hot chocolate," she smiled. Baine walked over and flopped into her lap. She stroked his fur and rubbed his ears.

"Well as soon as I get you home, your first cup is on me," I said, picking up my camera to flick through photos.

Lyra sat up to twist her hair into a bun, "I'll hold you to your word then."

"First snow day, smile," I pointed the camera at Lyra.

She rolled her eyes but smiled, used to me taking pictures now. Baine looked up just at the right time. I clicked the button and looked down at it, "Beautiful."