"Vidar," she breathes, my name forming a cloud of frost in the air between us.
"You came back." My voice sounds strange even to my own ears, layered with harmonics that betray my emotional state.
"I told you I would."
We stare at each other, feet of space between us that feel both vast and insignificant. In that moment, I see the changes in her more clearly—the slight blue undertone to her lips, the way frost forms and fades around her fingertips, how the snow beneath her boots doesn't melt but rather compacts, recognizing her as kin to winter now.
"I felt you," she says, breaking the silence. "Even in Canada. Getting stronger each day."
"And I, you."
Another silence, charged with everything unsaid. She takes a single step forward. Then another. The distance between us shrinks, the air growing thick with possibility.
"I couldn't stay away," she admits, voice barely above a whisper. "I tried to be practical, to give myself time, but..."
"But?" I prompt when she doesn't continue.
"But this isn't something that responds to practicality." Her eyes meet mine, dark and certain. "I needed to see you again. To understand what's happening to me. To us."
The last threads of my restraint snap. In two strides, I close the distance between us, gathering her into my arms with enough force to lift her feet from the ground. Her camera is crushed between us, forgotten as her arms wrap around my neck, her mouth finding mine with equal hunger.
Cold meets warmth in that kiss, winter and humanity colliding in a rush of steam and frost. Where we touch, patterns form and melt, responding to the surge of emotion that overwhelms rational thought. My glamour falls away entirely, antlers expanding to their full size, skull mask emerging, claws extending where my fingers tangle in her hair.
She doesn't pull away, doesn't show a moment's fear at my transformation. Instead, she presses closer, her body heat searing against my cold, her hands exploring the impossible angles of my true face with wonder rather than horror.
"I dreamed of this," she gasps when we break apart just enough to breathe. "Every night."
"As did I." My voice resonates with multiple tones, no longer attempting to sound human. "Though I never expected—"
"I know," she interrupts, understanding without explanation. "I came back sooner than either of us thought I would. But I couldn't wait. I needed—"
This time I interrupt her, my mouth reclaiming hers, my arms tightening around her waist. The camera between us digs uncomfortably into my chest, a reminder of the human world she comes from.
"Your equipment," I manage, pulling back slightly.
She glances down, a small laugh escaping her. "Right. Probably shouldn't crush my livelihood." She unslings the camera, setting it carefully on a nearby rock with her pack. When she turns back to me, her expression has changed from amusement to something deeper, more primal.
"I missed you," she says simply.
The words strike somewhere deep in my chest, a place long frozen that now cracks open like spring ice breaking on a river. Five centuries of solitude, and this human woman missed me after mere weeks apart.
Snow begins to fall around us, responding to my emotional state, but it doesn't fall naturally. Instead, it swirls in protective circles, creating a curtain of white that shields us from the outside world. A private sanctuary in the open wilderness.
"Show me," she whispers, her fingers tracing the edge of my skull mask. "All of you. No holding back."
The request should frighten me. For centuries, I've hidden my true nature, shown humans only what they could comprehend without terror. But her eyes hold no fear, only fascination and a hunger that matches my own.
I let the last vestiges of glamour fall away. My form expands slightly, growing to its full height. The antlers branch outward, crystalline structures catching the dim light that filters through the snow curtain. My skin shifts to its natural blue-white, frost patterns embedded in the flesh rather than just decorating it. The skull mask solidifies, my eyes glowing from the sockets with winter's cold fire.
She watches the transformation with parted lips, her breath coming faster but not from fear. When I'm fully revealed, more monster than man, she steps forward and places her palm flat against my chest.
"Beautiful," she says, and the simple word undoes me completely.
The snow around us intensifies, responding to the surge of emotion her acceptance unlocks. My arms encircle her again, careful of my clawed hands against her human fragility. But she's not as fragile as she once was. The winter in her blood has made her stronger, more resilient to my cold.
Clothing becomes an obstacle, layers shed with desperate haste. Her thermal gear, my simpler garments—all discarded on the snow that doesn't melt beneath them. When we're finally skin to skin, the contrast is even more striking than before—her flushed human warmth against my winter-pale form, steam rising where we press together.
I should take her to the cabin, to the shelter and comfort I've prepared. But need overrides courtesy. Here, now, in the falling snow, with mountains as witness and winter as our only shelter.
