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The frost outside caused everything to shimmer in the few broken rays of the sunlight, that were struggling to fight their way through the clouds. If he let his fantasy run wild, II could almost pretend to hear all the silent, soft flakes settling on the ground, uniting with their countless brethren.
Staring out of the window he had made himself comfortable next to, he was idly drawing small, intricate shapes into the frost that had taken over the corners and bottom half of the glass. Focusing for a moment on the detailed patterns that now sat between himself and the endless paleness of the world outside, the only thing it reminded him of where the unintelligible scrabbles sometimes left in Vessel’s favorite notebook, after a particularly foreign dream had befallen the man.
He sighed, hoping for the snowfall to ease somewhen throughout the day, no way he could convince Vessel to indulge him and go on a walk with him otherwise. There was not enough clothing in the country to bundle the man up warm enough for the biting winds outside, that were pushing some of the snowflakes back up into the clouds now. That man, as hot as he was running whenever he was performing and pacing around the stage, was a human icicle any other time.
II decided to put on a kettle for some tea, the slight pull right within his chest tinged with the unmistakable frost telling him his beloved was most likely once again holed up under a mountain of blankets in a futile attempt to warm himself up.
As he was waiting for the water to boil, he set up two mugs, Vessel’s favorite having intricate paintings of marine life on them in swirling indigo, painted by IV, while his own was a slightly misshapen, all too colorful creation gifted to him by III. For a moment he thought back to the afternoon the four of them had decided to join a wine and pottery class, after already having indulged in a bottle or four of their own, and he marvels at the precision IV’s creation still displayed.
If only either of the other two were here, human furnaces they were.
He sighed and took the now boiling water to prepare their teas, steeping his own some moments longer as he added just a drop of milk and way too much sugar for his own liking to Vessel’s. Pushing the door to their cozy living room open, he maneuvered the slightly overfilled cups into the other room, barely smothering a chuckle at being proven right about the mountain of blankets.
“Darling”, he said softly, after setting down the mugs to free his arms to dig for his partner in the massive pile of cloth. “I’ve brought you some tea to warm you up?”, his digging was interrupted by a mop of disheveled curly brown hair popping out of another corner, part of an amber blanket hanging down into his face, covering one of the warm brown eyes.
Two arms followed the mop of hair, and the subsequent grabby hands being made towards the steaming cups was interrupted by part of the tower collapsing on top of the man. Unwrapping himself from most of the pile, now being covered only in his favorite blanket, a canvas of night sky, marked by his favorite constellations, Vessel motioned for II to come closer.
He took both mugs and set them down closer to the now faintly shivering form of his beloved, wrapping both arms around the man and pushing much needed warmth through their bond. Vessel relaxed into the hug for a moment, before gingerly reaching out to the steaming cup in front of him and taking a sip of the all too sweet concoction. A quick jolt of pain shot through their bond, followed by a tinge of embarrassment, as II tried his best to swallow the chuckle at the others attempt to cool down his tongue, the grin on his face betraying his intention.
He gently pried the mug from Vessel’s slightly warmed fingers and set it back down, before turning back to the man now waving a hand in front of his stretched out tongue, in an attempt to… cool it down? A chuckle escaped II, before he took Vessel’s face into his hands, “Want me…”, he smirked up at the man, “to kiss it better?”.
The taller man’s brows, momentarily furrowed in mocking anger at his partners amusement, softened and he leaned down to let II drag him into a soft kiss. A warm pleasure formed in II’s chest, as the bond between them now sent faint embers towards him, and he contently nuzzled closer into the other’s arms.
Spending all afternoon like that, the soft and calming sensation of being tangled with one another only interrupted by II adding another log to the fireplace, they watched the wind play with the curtains of flakes in the now dim light of a winter afternoon outside.
At some point, as II was brushing his hand through Vessel’s impossibly soft curls, both of them almost dozing off, he noticed the snow had stopped, must have stopped a while ago actually, and he hadn’t noticed. Yet the faint, almost eerie glow outside had barely shifted, only now it was an impossibly dense wall of misty vapors that interrupted his line of sight to the nearby tree line.
Giving up the notion of convincing the faintly snoring man that was cuddled up to him to still go on a walk that very day, he resigned himself to a comfortable evening in the confines of this place that was all theirs.
And a comfortable evening they had. Watching a movie both of them had waited to be released online, so they could avoid going into the nearby town, both of them had fallen asleep on the endlessly soft, and now thoroughly warmed couch of their living room.
Lazily opening his eyes, vision slowly focusing on the almost extinguished embers of their fireplace, II tried to blink the remnants of sleep out of the corners of his eyes. Their TV, long hours ago switched to the picture of the floating face of an old grandfather clock – a choice they had made for days, or nights, such as these – showed it to be far past midnight, the hands not quite reaching the witching hour yet.
Vessel had wrapped on arm around II, while the other was stuck underneath his chin, wrist twisted, in what would be the source of countless complaints the next morning, if he wasn’t woken up and dragged into a proper bed, that much II was sure of.
Slowly untangling himself, II brushed delicate kisses over the sleeping singer’s eyelids, before pressing another gentle kiss onto his lips. This seemed to finally make Vessel stir, and with some gentle phrases whispered, II managed to maneuver him into one of the bedrooms. Almost the instant the taller man’s head hit the pillow, and he snuggled under the duvet and blankets, he was soundly asleep again.
II moved to the smaller window on one side of the wood paneled room, to pull the curtains close, allowing them to sleep in for once. Looking out for a short moment, he saw the fog had lifted, twinkling stars visible in the night sky, the waning crescent shining clearly. That moment he knew he would get the romantic walk he had desired, when they would wake the next morning.
Staring through the frosted glass for just a moment longer, he admired the beauty of the wintery expanse, a last glance towards the nearby leafless tree line, now covered in icy crystals, reflecting the dim moonlight in their seemingly endless facets.
And it seems as if the trees are covered in diamonds.