Ash fell like snowflakes through the late Christmas sky, coating the cobblestone below in a blend of Small Heath blown remnants of the churning factories and the delicate flurries falling down from the open heavens. Through the sky consumed in a hue of deep indigo, the snowflakes fluttering down from the clouds hidden within the evening's shadows, twinkled as they caught the glow of sparking embers and reflective lantern light.
They landed upon the shoulders of a man bathed in a darkness that not even the approaching twilight hour could match, their flakes of frozen crystals clinging to the wool of his long black coat. Dusting the fabric that kept his flesh warm in the blistering winter winds, in a breath of purity that hadn't descended upon the tarnished soul in quite some time. But as the snowfall continued its glistening tumble upon the Birmingham streets, the wind simply blew the flakes wherever they may fall, not sparing a single soul in their ethereal descent, no matter how tainted that soul appeared to be.
Thomas Shelby's tracks printed themselves behind him in the dusting of light snow, marking his steps as though the light of the hidden moon might just pierce through the dense indigo sky and illuminate his trail for his cerulean eyes to find. The streets were scarce, nearly abandoned as the souls who had homes to reside within and families to celebrate with, were surely indoors and out of the frigid cold that threatened to cling to his very bones.
For despite the fabric lined with warmth and comfort that Thomas wore tailored to perfection upon his strong physique, the material was no match for the winds that gusted through the night. Howling its presence through the atmosphere that stung with the vicious cut of the biting cold, tearing through exposed flesh and freezing over any source of moisture found. For Thomas's cigarette nearly froze to his lips, as he lifted the stick burning with its own delicate source of heat and took a drag, exhaling a cloud of smoke that intertwined with his own breath left frozen and visible before his eyes.
Perhaps, his presence had caught your eye through the thin sheen of the linen curtains or maybe, it was simply that Thomas's presence was emphatically felt. An intangible sensation that you could feel in the depth of your chest whenever the second eldest Shelby brother came calling, as though Tommy had gone and all but left a part of himself residing within the beating strings of your heart and whenever he came back around, it pulled with a force that alerted you to his presence that had returned to make sure what he'd left behind was surely being taken care of.
It pulled you away from the warmth of the flickering fireplace, illuminating the family room with a citrine gleam that heated the walls but it was the laughter and shared smiles of those you celebrated the holiday with, that heated your soul. But as you rather felt Tommy making his way down the cobblestone, under the blanket of darkness that permeated a cold so ghastly you feared for those less fortunate left out in its clutches, you abandoned the warm for the cold.
Stepping out of your house, you were instantly met with the unwelcoming embrace of the December season. Having slipped from your family's company before they could even realize you were gone, you hadn't grabbed your coat hanging from the hook nor the comforting warmth of the boots that would keep away the cold of the collecting snow. You stood simply in the deep burgundy dress pulled out just for the holiday, with a cardigan wrapped tightly around your frame that was already beginning to shiver out in the source of pure and unscathed frigid cold, and wool socks that rather absorbed the chill off the cobblestone rather than banish it from your flesh.
But even as you felt the fluttering of your lashes that blinked away the cold pricking of tears in your eyes, watering from the bitter winds that lashed against the exposed flesh of your face and felt your teeth begin to chatter softly, it didn't deter you from venturing further into the cold and meeting the man approaching half way.
