Oh thank goodness. The shape moved, and talked, and revealed a handsome golden man with pretty brown eyes. Vespasien could have cried. Thankfully, he didn’t, because he was fairly certain it would have froze, but he did laugh a relieved laugh.

I-I thought you may have been a tree! Thank goodness, I thought I was losing my mind! He quivered the entire time he spoke, the wind and snow slicing through his coat like it was made of butter. Gods, he wished he could remember what he’d been through to have such a shorn coat. It was a peculiar sight when he’d seen himself in puddles back during fall. Even now, it hadn’t fluffed out as it should.

I thought I was r-rather alone out here. G-G-Glad to see I’m not! His teeth clattered together with every word, but Vespasien tried very, very hard to remain cheerful.