"I didn't uhm-" Kalos looked back and... yeah. She kinda did jump out of a window. Did she have to explain that, really? Nah. She settled for a sheepish shrug. What was done was done. There was no going back that way now. "I guess I did..."

She put her feet down and tried not to jump at the shock of cold that absolutely went straight through rough material she used to cover her feet. Kalos had insisted she was fine. So. She kinda had to be, now. She was all too happy to take his arm, his hand, whatever he was giving in the presence of Zorro, Kalos was accepting.

And then he took a step away? Were they too juicy of a target when standing together? She took one slippy step back towards the wall and had to hold her hands out to keep her balance. She stopped before she fell on her butt so it was fine. She also noted that there was still overhang here. Under the roof, she had an easier time ignoring the vast openness of being outside.

"Please don't go." She squeaked as something dripped on her from the edge of the roof. "I mean, if it's Zorro m-maybe could I throw the ball? That makes him go away and we- I—" she corrected herself since clearly there wasn't a we and Rowan was eager for distance "—I can make a run for it while he's busy. Or you can throw! You're good at that."

She was making everything so difficult on everyone and she hated that, but didn't know how to just stop being the way that she was.

Rowan saw Kalos react to the snow under her feet and tried not to frown. She was clearly cold, or at least didn't like the sensation of the wet and icy ground, but Rowan felt stuck. He couldn't just...pick her up now that would be creepy and inappropriate. He was pulled from his gloomy thoughts as Kalos began to slip. Rowan quickly reached out to help steady her, letting his arm linger outstretched just a moment longer. Just...in case she needed something to hold onto.

The girl's nervous tone of voice caused Rowan to frown, just slightly. The boy looked away, noting Zorro's location. Rowan could feel his heart sinking. He was making everything awkward.

He had to...do something. Or say something. Or just...something.

"I...uhm...wouldn't suggest running...unless you're good at ice skating" Rowan punctuated this by sliding a little on the ice.

He gave another glance in Zorro's direction, nervously chewing on his lip.

"If you throw the ball Zorro might...get the wrong idea and think you want to play with him..." A small smile worked its way onto his face. "But...I won't stop you if you want to give it a try."

Rowan took a deep breath, putting his plan together.

"Let's...walk together. I'll keep Zorro away from you...and uhm...if you're worried about slipping you can grab my arm."

The shifter boy blushed again, hoping the cold masked it.

"Does that sound...uhm...okay?"

He gave his hand back to her and Kalos had to resist climbing up his arm to get off the ice. If she would move out from under the roof where the sun could properly heat things, it wouldn't be so slippy. Kalos steadied herself with Rowan's help and poked at and scooped up some of the snow from beyond the roofline. It was definitely more powdery, though it seemed to have a hard crust of harder snow she had to poke through. Kalos had noticed that Zorro had plowed right through some of the deeper drifts in his enthusiasm.

"Okay. I won't throw anything for Zorro." Though, it did look kind of fun. That was best left to the expert. Though... she did have a hand full of snow...

Kalos threw the snow at Rowan. Having not packed it first, the snow disseminated into a large poof that caught on the breeze and went just about every direction for a moment. Large flakes caught in her hair, eyelashes, and clothes and she laughed in delighted surprise.

The sudden movement of snow startled Rowan, getting the attention of his bestial mutation. He could feel his pulse racing, his mind filling rapidly with warnings of attacks and the need to fight back.

Any and all thoughts of danger, or fighting, were immediately squashed by Rowan as he turned to face Kalos. The way the drifting particles of snow and ice caught the afternoon light...it was almost magical. The boy stood, eyes wide and blushing cheeks, knowing he was starring but unable to look away.

And she was laughing

Rowan felt the anxious knot in his chest immediately relax for the first time in days. Maybe he hadn't completely messed up.

The shifters guard lowered, the boy letting out a little laugh. He followed Kalos' lead, breaking apart the hard shell of ice with his feet and gathering up as much of the soft powdery snow as he could. With a soft grunt he tossed the snow up above their heads, the snow raining down on the pair.

Rowan, now also snow covered, smiled in Kalos' direction, a large clump of snow landing on his nose.

"Heh...look! It's like we are in a snow globe!"

It never crossed her mind that she might be in danger from Rowan. So far as Kalos was concerned, there was only one active threat and that was Zorro. She was keeping tabs on him just fine and Rowan was happy to help keep that buffer so it was fine. She was fine to throw snow at a shifter.

"This is my first snow that's not in a snowglobe." Kalos admitted while trying to catch a fat flake from the wafting snow Rowan had thrown. It fell through her fingers and she had to scoop more snow just to get a proper look at it. "I mean, I've seen it out the window, but it's... differenter than I thought it'd be." She didn't want to say "colder" since she wasn't supposed to be cold. She was cold. It was fine. She'd get used to it, right?

Kalos dumped the snow from her hand and shook it out, careful not to lose her finger caps. That didn't really make her warmer, though. She pulled down her sleeves to cover her hands and stopped playing in the cold wet stuff. "Did you grow up around snow?" Kalos reached out for Rowan's arm or hand.

Rowan watched Kalos play with the snow with a slight smile on his face. The word differenter caused the boy to let out a soft laugh.

"Snow is kinda a weird thing. Sometimes it's heavy and wet, and good for making snowmen, and sometimes it's light and fluffy." He gave the snow a little kick, sending a puff of snow up into the air. "This time of year it's normally icy though. Which is rough, unless you like ice-skating."

The boy glanced over his shoulder, seeing that Zorro was getting close again. So, as was becoming an odd routine, Rowan told the dog to wait a safe distance from Kalos, shuffled over, and gave the ball another chuck. With Zorro again occupied, and Kalos safe from the dog, Rowan returned.

Just as he got back he saw her tugging on the sleeves of her sweater. Dang. She must be getting cold. Back to the mission at hand, getting Kalos back inside. He blushed slightly as Kalos reached out to him, the boy offering his arm in return. It would provide her with support in case she slipped, and he wouldn't have the risk of being distracted by holding hands with a girl.

Once the two's arms were entwined Rowan began to lead, walking the two carefully towards the school's entrance.

"Yeah, I've always lived in places with snowy winters. When I was little I lived in a smaller village though, and it always felt like spring would rain away the snow early." The boy looked out over the school's property and towards the city. "But, of all the other school's and places I've lived, this is the biggest city. Sometime's the noise bothers me, especially at night."