A snowball in the face is surely the perfect beginning to a lasting friendship.
"Woah, sweet," Renji said excitedly, ankles and knees wobbling unsteadily on his ice-skates as Ichigo dragged him over a slippery patch of ice. "I bet I could do that," he said with a grin, pointing to the other side of the small pond where another of their college friends was skating backwards, skillfully so.
"Oh, yeah right," Ichigo said with an eye-roll and a laugh, letting Renji hold onto his arms with mitten-garbed hands. It had taken about an hour to convince the redhead to come out here so that Ichigo could teach him to skate, but now that he was here, he was obviously having a lot of fun, even though he kept falling on his ass. Ichigo never tired of making fun of him, which was just as well, because out on the ice, Renji couldn't hit him in the face with a snowball in retaliation.
"Dude, I think I've got it now. Lemme' try again," Renji said, his nose flushed red from the cold wind. He took a moment to fumble with one hand at the scarf around his neck and then fix the set of earmuffs covering his usual bandanna. Ichigo gave a warm grin, stomach tingling.
Renji had confessed his feelings to him about a month ago, and Ichigo had taken his time in replying, working out how he felt. Luckily, it hadn't become an issue that had gotten in the way of their everyday lives, which was mostly because Renji hadn't pushed Ichigo to make a decision just yet. At the time, Ichigo had been leaning towards no, and Renji had realized that and had told him that he'd back off if he would just seriously consider it, no matter how much time that took.
Well, Renji had kept his word, and so had Ichigo. He'd thought long and hard about it, and realized that whether he were to decide for it or against it, it wouldn't drastically alter their friendship if he didn't let it. It wasn't dangerous for him to take this chance, and he'd decided that he wanted to give it a try. Renji was a good guy, and Ichigo knew that.
Ichigo just didn't know how to say yes. What if Renji had taken his near-rejection to heart and had moved on already? What if Renji wasn't even interested anymore? What if he'd taken too long in figuring things out? Renji hadn't said a word on the subject since that day, just as he'd promised, but this left Ichigo wondering whether he'd forgotten or gotten over it.
Ichigo hoped that Renji still cared, because he had to admit that the idea of cuddling Renji's dakimakura-worthy body was very appealing, and the guy had been so nice to him lately that Ichigo hadn't been able to help but fall to for him. He didn't want to let this go, even if it was making his heart alarmingly soft. He wanted to give this a shot; he'd taken a long time to come to this decision, and he didn't want that to be in vain if it turned out Renji didn't feel it was worth it anymore.
It was a good thing that Renji was so damned determined about everything he did. Like now. Ichigo didn't know how many times Renji was gonna' try before he gave up. Luckily, that try-hard attitude applied to all aspects of Renji's life. He just had to hope that it also applied to his romantic interests.
"Gimme' a push, I'm ready."
"Okay." Ichigo grinned. He had been struggling to stay steady with Renji's larger body clinging onto him for support this entire time, but he didn't dare let Renji know that he was having a hard time standing up too. He enjoyed teasing Renji's poor skills far too much to give him the upper hand. Renji steadied himself as Ichigo gave him a push and let go of him like he was a dad teaching his kid how to ride a bike. Renji didn't fall over for a whole ten seconds that time, his arms flapping comically as his torso balanced back and forth wildly. The best part was always the involuntary moment of panic that crossed his face right as he realized that he'd wobbled too far to one side and was going down.
"Your face!" Ichigo laughed loudly as Renji crashed onto the hard ground for what had to be the fiftieth time. "That never gets old," he called, making sure Renji knew that yes, he was gloating. Ichigo would save the guilt for later when he was taking care of Renji's poor ankles, which were almost certainly sore beyond belief after all this time trying to balance on those rigid skates. At least Ichigo could stand upright without assistance. Renji however, wobbled no matter what he was doing, and had to hold onto Ichigo for support to even maintain a simple standing position.
Renji snickered from where he'd been laid out on the ice, sitting up slowly and clapping the frost off his gloves. To tell the truth, his back hurt more with each sharp jar to his tailbone as he fell, but having Ichigo's complete and utter attention was worth it, no matter how sore his ass would be tomorrow. Renji had been worried that confessing his feelings would spook Ichigo and scare him away, maybe make him cautious of physical contact, but his fears had been allayed almost immediately. Ichigo was an honest person with a deep sense of fairness and justice, and Renji had been foolish to think that it would change things. He was just glad, was all. Even if Ichigo didn't feel the same for him, nothing would be ruined. The world would go on.
"You okay?" Ichigo asked when he had sufficiently finished making fun of Renji's failure, betraying his concern. He held out his gloved hand for Renji to take so he could help him try to get up, and the care in his eyes made Renji's heart swell. Of course, the confidence went right to his head.
"Worried about me?" Renji said with a shit-eating grin as Ichigo tried to help him up. Ichigo immediately scowled and blushed, shoving him back down.
"No! Who cares if you fall?!" Renji sat down hard again, teeth clacking together. Ichigo stood there with crossed arms, nose in the air.
Renji just laughed, trying to climb Ichigo's body and get back onto his feet. "C'mon, lemme' keep trying, I'll get it!" Ichigo let out a 'pfft', almost falling along with Renji as his skates slipped. His stupid weight was too much. It was like trying to crawl out of the ocean onto a pool-floaty without being thrown off.
"Dude, the day you learn to skate is the day I go steady with you," he said casually, crossing his arms as Renji finally pulled himself up and held onto Ichigo's shoulders to keep steady.
Renji was quiet for a second until that sunk in, by which time he almost fell over again, foot slipping a little until he caught himself, nearly towing Ichigo down. "What, really? Sweet!" He grinned, trying to hug Ichigo, who blushed and shoved him away, glad that it was cold enough that he could explain away his pink cheeks.
Renji grabbed him again before he could fall, and Ichigo was quick to reply, not wanting Renji to get smug and obnoxious. He could already hear his annoying voice and see that stupid grin. 'Oh no, I've caught you now. You totally want to date me, you can't deny it.'
"Hmph," Ichigo pouted, bristling inwardly as Renji tried to regain his balance. "Tch', I only said that because you'll never be able to do it," Ichigo said harshly, rolling his eyes. "You suck at this."
Renji frowned in doubt, believing Ichigo for a second, but then he looked determined, still seeing that little bargain for what it was: Ichigo's way of saying 'go for it'. That was a challenge, plain and simple, and Renji was all about challenges. Realistically, if Ichigo didn't like him like that way, he never would have given him such an ultimatum. At least, that was what Renji was hoping. He didn't want to think that Ichigo was some conniving sadist who would jerk him around just to mess with him.
"Hmm," Renji mused. Was Ichigo just shy, then? Nah... Well, maybe he was. If that were so, though, then why did Ichigo say no back then?
"Wait, so when you turned me down, did you mean it or not?" he asked, confused. Ichigo shrugged, because he had meant it at the time when he'd said no, but now he was having second thoughts. He was just afraid of what would happen.
"You're on thin ice, man. I told you I don't wanna' talk about this," Ichigo said, getting heated and defensive. That had been their deal. Renji would refrain from mentioning that talk they'd had, and in turn, Ichigo would consider being with him. True, Ichigo had come to a decision, but Renji didn't know that and Ichigo wanted him to just shut up about it until he had worked up the courage.
Renji shrugged and went quiet. Ichigo had a very thin tolerance for these things. It was okay for Ichigo to flirt a little bit if he was feeling comfortable, but if Renji started flirting back, Ichigo got defensive and sort of violent. Renji understood. It was just a pride thing, and he'd signed up for this when he'd fallen for Ichigo. He could be patient, because he was pretty sure Ichigo would come around in the end.
The worst case scenario was that Ichigo was just trying to figure out how to let him down easy.
Renji shrugged, grinning in response to Ichigo's temper. "Fine, whatever, dude. I think you're just jealous cause' you know I'm gonna' be better at this than you," Renji teased, raising his eyebrows, his challenge ruined when he almost fell flat on his face.
"Hah!" Ichigo laughed, crossing his arms. As entertaining as it was to keep shoving Renji when he wasn't paying attention to watch him fall, they'd been out here for a while and Ichigo's legs were going numb. He didn't really feel like skiing later with the others. It would be nice to get a break for a while, maybe have some coffee - or hot chocolate, in Renji's case. "We should go back before everyone's too drunk to give us some peace and quiet," Ichigo suggested. Vacations were fun and all, but being packed in a cabin with a few dozen others was kind of exhausting, to say the least.
"What are you talking about?" Renji asked stupidly, obviously just trying to mess with him. "I'm gonna' get drunk too."
"Ugh," Ichigo said, head falling back as he fixed the black headband covering his ears. "C'mon, man, let's just go back to the cabin and play some Galaga."
"Platonically?" Renji asked in disappointment. Ichigo narrowed his eyes and gave him an unimpressed stare. "Fine, fine. You just don't like me. It's fine, really. I can take it. You should just say so," he said with acceptance, making Ichigo feel bad.
Ichigo was about to tell him how wrong he was, but Renji came out of his mood immediately, brightening up and interrupting his stutter-punctuated attempt at confessing.
"C'mon, let's go," Renji said with a grin, and Ichigo perked up, letting Renji grab onto the back of his pants so he could skate them to the edge of the lake.
It was already getting dark, and the early winter moon had risen, illuminating the light fluttering of snow falling to the ground.
I'll travel the sub-zero tundra.
I'll brave glaciers and frozen lakes,
And that's just the tip of the iceberg;
I'll do whatever it takes to change.
Hearing 'Baby, It's Cold Outside' for the third time on the holiday stations, Ikkaku gave a long sigh, cuddling under a warm blanket with Yumichika's cat. When was he gonna' get home? Ikkaku had made the house pretty and he wanted Yumichika to get here to see it. Candles just weren't as romantic when they're practically puddles, and they would be that way when Yumichika got here if he didn't hurry.
Ikkaku tried calling Yumichika one more time, getting sent straight to voice mail again, and he began to get worried. Was he in traffic? Maybe he'd forgotten that they'd planned to spend the night together, but how could that be? They lived together – surely Yumichika wouldn't just forget. Even if he had forgotten, Yumichika still should have come home, all the same, right?
It was a special night, and Ikkaku didn't want to cuddle the cat all by himself.
Ikkaku pulled on Yumichika's baggy Christmas sweater over his own, grabbed a cookie from the kitchen, and then collapsed on the couch again, checking the weather channel on TV. The reception wasn't so good because of the wind and snow outside, so he laughed a little bit as the weatherman's words were cut off at awkward intervals. At least the squall wasn't affecting the internet.
"Aw, no wonder. There's a huge snowstorm." Ikkaku closed his eyes, cozy and warm, but not as comfy as he could be with his sweetie in his arms. "He's probably just driving slow," he mumbled, falling asleep before he could notice that he was.
Of course, after hearing a challenge like that, there was no way that Renji could give up, even if Ichigo hadn't meant a word of it. After everyone that was crammed into the tiny cabin was sleeping, he snuck out into the night.
What a nice place to go on winter break. Renji marveled at the open sky, free from light pollution and lit up with thousands of tiny stars. The luminous moon was his favorite, making the snow around him glow enough that he didn't need a flashlight as he stomped down the crunchy path. This was what the night sky was meant to look like. It was so beautiful. It really wasn't so dark at all.
It wasn't too windy out, but it was far below zero; the mile's walk to the lake didn't take long with Renji humming dreamily about how fun it would be to poke fun at Ichigo when he learned to skate.
Then Ichigo would have to be his boyfriend, because he'd promised. Hah. Renji would have him caught, then. He grinned widely, finally coming upon the lake. The way he saw it, this should be the same as roller-blading, which he was good at. Keepign that in mind, he bravely put one foot out onto the ice, cautiously putting his weight onto it.
He walked like he was afraid of the floor falling out from under him at any moment: knees bent, flat-footed, and arms out. He probably looked ridiculous, but he gave a smile when he didn't immediately fall.
He didn't put his skates on, first finding wet patches on the ice with his boots and sliding on them. He'd get a running start and try to slide without falling, and soon it was getting easier to go longer distances, even succeeding in turning a little bit. He kept falling, of course, but that was okay, because he was quick in catching himself.
Ichigo watched from a distance, head resting on his hand, smiling when Renji kept falling on his butt. He couldn't help but 'aw' when he'd seen that Renji had snuck out to learn to skate, because it was clear that he was doing it for him. He watched for probably an hour, thinking about how he was going to ask Renji to be his boyfriend. It had to be perfect. He just hoped he hadn't kept Renji waiting too long.
Just as his head was beginning to nod from sleepiness, the sudden silence startled him and he realized that Renji had finally stopped practicing. Looking up, he saw Renji give a yawn and a stretch, no longer holding out his arms for balance as he stood on the ice. He hadn't fallen in the past ten minutes, and was doing much better. Renji straightened up then and started for his ice skates, maybe getting ready to go back to the cabin, but as he neared the place where his skates were resting, Ichigo's heart stopped. Renji had set his things down near some wooden poles that were sticking out of the lake where an old dock had been.
It was too late to call out to him, to tell him not to get close. Didn't Renji know that wherever something poked through, the integrity of the ice was compromised? Hadn't Ichigo explained that to him earlier?
For a moment, everything seemed fine. Renji walked over there with no problems, but as he leaned down to pick his skates up, his foot slipped. Ichigo held his breath as he watched Renji struggle to correct himself without falling, and then let out the air in relief as Renji balanced himself.
To his horror, as Renji's foot set down, a sharp crack sounded, followed by a litany of others, and Ichigo watched in horror as the ice surrounding Renji within a yard's radius just broke away, plunging him down into the dark water.
Ichigo stood up and immediately started running over there, coming to a stop at the shore of the lake. Oh god, he didn't know what to do. What should he do?! His eyes frantically scanned the hole to see if Renji was struggling or drowning, trying to get back out, but he didn't see anything. It was completely quiet. One moment his best friend had been there, and now he was just gone.
"Renji!" he called, panicked, no longer caring about being caught following him, just wanting to save him. Oh, this was all his fault. If he hadn't made that dumb bet, Renji wouldn't have come out here by himself! They weren't going to find him until spring, when the ice melted! The horrible oppressive silence pressed in on Ichigo from all sides. He was all alone in the night, and Renji was drowning in the cold water, trapped beneath the ice.
Ichigo put one foot out onto the frozen lake, testing the ice's strength. He'd jump in after that idiot if he had to.
"Ah! Help!" Renji cried, finally coming up for air, and Ichigo could see his hand desperately fumbling around as his head went back under. Shit, there wasn't time to get help. Ichigo had to rescue him by himself.
Wary of the ice breaking further, Ichigo stripped off his outer jacket and got down on his hands and knees, crawling onto the lake's surface.
Going as fast as he could and as lightly as possibly, he came within ten feet of the edge of that hole, panicking when he saw that Renji wasn't there anymore. Brushing snow off of the icy surface, he was sure he could see something moving down there under the ice. Shit, if Renji got sucked under and lost track of where the hole was, there was no hope whatsoever.
Adrenaline rushing through him, Ichigo got flat on his belly when he saw Renji splashing wildly in the water again, trying to grab the edge of the icy hole. Pieces just kept breaking off, and Ichigo held his breath in panic when the ice cracked loudly near him, as if not breathing would make him lighter. Falling in along with Renji would quite defeat the purpose of trying to rescue him.
"Grab it!" he shouted, holding onto one of his coat's sleeves and flinging the rest of it towards the hole. Renji grabbed onto the other sleeve, holding on. Ichigo wormed backwards, trying to drag Renji out of the water, but every time Renji got his elbow up on the edge of the ice to pull himself out, the ice couldn't support him and broke.
Ichigo heart was pounding faster than he'd thought was possible; he felt like was going to throw up. He wormed closer on his belly, wanting to hold a hand out to Renji, but knowing it was too dangerous. "Roll," he gasped, trying to reassure Renji to keep trying. That icy water had to be hell, and he could see Renji's limbs locking up. Renji was losing hope, he was giving up, shaking his head, but Ichigo told him to keep going. "You've got this," Ichigo said through chattering teeth, "Roll."
Renji's breathing was harsh and irregular as he got one shaking arm out of the water, the other holding onto the coat in a death grip. He gingerly placed his elbow on the jagged edge of the gaping hole, and then twisted his body, getting his knee onto the edge too, scootching himself closer to the surface. The ice broke beneath him as he rolled his way out, but he didn't fall back in, rolling and rolling until he couldn't move anymore.
Ichigo wormed after him on his belly, seeing Renji finally flop onto the ice on his back, completely soaked. He pulled Renji a short ways and then sat up, checking him over. There was ice forming in Renji's hair and on the outside of his coat he was wearing, which was absolutely saturated. Once Ichigo had dragged him to a reasonable distance, he took it off, knowing that it would make Renji heavier, but also that without it, he would freeze to death.
Leaving Renji lying there on the ice, forming a puddle, Ichigo tried to squeeze water out of the coat with shaking hands, then jamming Renji's stiff arms back inside of it and buttoning him up again.
Renji's skin was bluish and his teeth were chattering. The poor guy couldn't even move, and Ichigo scrambled over him, hauling him onto the snowy bank near the edge of the lake. "What the hell were you doing?" he shouted angrily, still so panicked that he didn't know what to do. He had to get Renji back to the house. Yes, and then he needed to change his clothes and keep him in bed. He'd be okay. They'd see a doctor. Renji would be okay. He just had to get him back to the house.
Renji didn't answer, not moving other than his violent shivering. Ichigo nudged him, trying to draw a response, seeing that Renji was coughing and starting to seize up, shivers dying away. From what Ichigo remembered about hypothermia, it meant that the body was giving up on keeping his organs warm.
"C'mon, no, no, no, man. Stay with me," he slapped Renji's face roughly to rouse him, drawing his head into his lap. Ichigo hunched over him, shaking him in frustration to try to get his teeth to start chattering again. Renji never gave up! He couldn't die! He had to keep going!
"You can't just croak now that I'm finally growing some balls. Fuck you! Don't you dare do this!" he shouted angrily, punching him in the chest a few times, icy tears running down his face. "Get up!"
Renji wheezed and tried to sit up, shaking his head with a gasp of a moan, going still again from exhaustion. He was just too stiff, too cold to function. His body was slowly giving out on him even as Ichigo watched. Ichigo choked, his cheeks burning as the wind seared the wet paths his tears were leaving. He hit Renji in the chest again, shaking him violently as if he could force him to get better. He didn't want to give up hope. Renji couldn't die because of some stupid joke he'd made.
"Don't do this, you can't fucking do this!" he shouted irrationally, weeping into his fist when he saw ice forming in Renji's eyelashes. His ears and lips were a sickly blue and his soaking hair was forming spiderwebs of ice crystals on it, hardening it. Ichigo shielded him from the wind, absolutely distraught. It wasn't fair. Why did this have to happen? Renji was going to freeze to death because of him. It was too late. There wasn't enough time.
"You can't!" Ichigo cried in despair, "We have to kiss on New Year's Eve!"
Renji coughed through his blue lips. "Really?" he choked out, teeth rattling together again so violently that he could hardly speak. Ichigo gasped and put his hands to Renji's face, taking off his gloves and putting his warm palms against his clammy cheeks. Gathering hope, he looked into Renji's eyes, trying to take him in his arms so they could try to make it home. He nodded repeatedly, trying to give Renji some motivation to keep going as he struggled to get his own coat onto Renji's stiff waterlogged body.
"Yeah," he promised, sniffing. "Just stay alive, or you won't get to do that," he threatened harshly. "Now, huh-" He grunted, trying to heft Renji to a sitting position, "Help me out here," he gasped as he dragged Renji onto his back, trying to stand up. He had to lower back down onto his knee once, but clenched his core muscles and stood. "You okay? Just stay alive," Ichigo repeated, huffing as he clomped through the dead snowy grass of the path.
"Okay," Renji said, his body's survival plan having kicked in again. He was shivering so much that it was vibrating Ichigo's chest. "I'm so c-cold. I can't move," he stuttered, tongue numb. "I feel like my skin is burning off," he choked out as the wind hit his face. "I've gotta' get back in the water," he mumbled, growing delirious and inconsolable. "Take me back to the water," Renji pleaded, teeth chattering, voice shaky. "Ich-Ichigo, it burns."
"It's okay, I gotcha'. Just ten minutes. Hang on for ten minutes," Ichigo begged. Renji was shivering violently, but that was good, because it meant his body hadn't given up yet. Ichigo just hoped his legs wouldn't give out before he could get Renji to the bathtub.
If you skate upon thin ice, you'd be wise if you'd thought twice
before you made another single move.
When Ikkaku woke up, it was one in the morning, and that realization made him startle. Yumichika still wasn't home, and there was the TV, still on, and his radio was still playing Christmas music. There was a severe weather warning on the TV, and Ikkaku tried to get a hold of Yumichika's phone again, fingers shaking. Was he okay? Where was he? Oh god, it had gotten so late. Too late. Something had happened. Yumichika always let him know where he was if things came up, and there hadn't been word from him for hours.
"Screw it," he whined, getting on the computer and entering Yumichika's phone number onto a website, locating his phone. Watching it for a full three minutes, Ikkaku saw that it wasn't moving. So Yumichika wasn't still driving, then. North Highway. That wasn't even on the way to their house! He must've gotten lost in the blizzard.
Throwing on a coat, he printed a picture of the map and ran outside, immediately getting a blast of cold wind in his face. Shuddering, he put his hood up, wading through knee-deep snow to his car, which had a heck of a time getting out of the driveway. He wasn't going to let Yumichika freeze out there, even if he had to look all night.
Driving as fast as he could in such horrible weather, Ikkaku's windshield wipers were on the highest setting. His thighs were wet as the snow on his jeans melted, and he bit his lip viciously as he began to shiver. He drove on the far right edge of the road, going slow enough that he could move over every time someone came at him from the other lane. "Where are you?" he mumbled as his eyes scanned from side to side, seeing nothing but darkness and whipping snow.
As he approached the green number that had been near Yumichika's phone on the map, he could see it in the distance just barely peeking out of the snow. It only took two more minutes of cautious driving before he saw a monstrous shape buried in the ditch on his right.
"Shit!" he shouted, braking and throwing the car into park, jumping out and fighting his way over there through the squall. Ignoring the stinging pain, he was up to his thighs in snow as he waded through the ditch, digging out the side of Yumichika's van, which was almost on its side. It had gotten too bad to drive and Yumichika had parked here, hopelessly lost, probably trying to wait out the storm. "Shit, shit," Ikkaku moaned, voice lost in the wind as he yanked at the icy door handle, tumbling in when he pried it open. The door slammed behind him and he fell down to the opposite side with a loud whump. "Ow!"
Rubbing his head and listening to the wind outside, he was afraid to look up and around, terrified that he might find Yumichika slumped at the wheel, neck broken and blood splattered across the dashboard.
"Yumichika?" he called, getting up and adjusting to the tilt of the vehicle, breath fogging in the icy air as he looked around the car. His boyfriend wasn't up in the driver's seat, although the keys were still in the ignition, which he took and pocketed. He didn't see any broken glass and the airbag hadn't gone off, so there hadn't been a crash, but were was Yumichika? Had he gotten out? Panicked, Ikkaku scrambled upwards, calling frantically.
Hearing a small noise from the trunk, he looked over the seat divider and hopped back there, seeing Yumichika balled up, covered in everything he could manage to pull onto himself. He didn't seem to be hurt, but he didn't look so good. It was so damn cold in here, Ikkaku's breath was fogging up in front of him. "I'm here, baby," he said reassuringly, rubbing Yumichika's shoulder and squatting close by him. "You okay? What happened?"
Worried when Yumichika didn't respond and just lay there limply, Ikkaku leaned down to him and tapped his back. Peeling the blankets and canvas up, Ikkaku felt his forehead: stone cold.
"Aw man, aw man," Ikkaku moaned in panic, gathering his sweetie into his arms and wrapping him tightly in the few blankets that Yumichika had luckily kept in the car. Bracing himself, he stood up in the sideways backseat and reached up for the doorhandle, pushing hard against the wind and climbing out.
Carrying Yumichika back through the snow bank was a nightmare, and it took him five minutes to get back in his car, laying Yumichika in the back seat and buckling him up with all three buckles so he could lay down but not get hurt in an accident. He got into the driver's seat and revved the gas, turning them around, swearing when the wheels just spun against the snow, not getting much traction.
"Babe?" he called nervously, looking back every so often as he tried to find his way home, following the quickly disappearing tracks he'd just made. He kept turning to check on Yumichika, who wasn't responding and was taking shallow breaths. In an hour, Ikkaku kicked their door in and practically chucked Yumichika on their bed, frantically stripping his lover's clothes off.
"Wake up, c'mon, wake up," he cried desperately, shaking him gently by the shoulders, dismayed at the paleness in Yumichika's face and the limp nature of his body. Yumichika wasn't shivering anymore. His eyes were open, but he wasn't answering him. "It's okay, baby, I'm here. You're gonna' be just fine." He didn't like how unconfident he sounded
Filling up some hot-water bottles and stripping off his own shirt, he held Yumichika's cold bare body against his chest and covered them under every blanket in the house. God, was he chilly, and Ikkaku had to cringe as he pressed Yumichika's frozen face against his hot neck. His hands were like ice, but Ikkaku still dragged them up under his arms despite the temperature shock. He lifted the blankets every so often to check him, and when Yumichika's nose started bleeding, he carried him to the bathroom, filling up the tub with warm water.
"Ikkaku," Yumichika croaked, beginning to shiver and shake all over. He shuddered and cried, the shock wearing off as he realized he'd been rescued. He had to have been so scared in there, waiting to freeze or starve to death, thinking they'd never see each other again. "Oh-hoh," he cried, and Ikkaku kissed him as his cold arms raised shakily to wrap around his neck. The heat of his skin had to feel blistering to Yumichika, and when he flinched back from the hot water, hissing, Ikkaku turned the temperature down, deciding to warm it up slowly.
Taking him back out of the tub until he cooled the water slightly, he wrapped him in some towels and set him on the toilet seat. He held Yumichika's head still and kissed his forehead, shushing him when he sobbed weakly. Yumichika clung to him, shaking horribly, and Ikkaku held him right back, rubbing soothing circles up and down his spine. "It's okay. Shhh, it's alright. You're home now."
He helped him get back in the tub, trying to console his weeping sweetheart; Yumichika's lips were blue and he held his own body weakly, shuddering and rubbing his arms as he pulled his knees to his chest, water lapping around his stomach. His teeth were chattering so much that Ikkaku couldn't even understand him when he talked.
"It's okay, it's gonna' be okay, babe. Just stay here and warm up a little, and I'll be right back. Stay in the water, but don't get your hair wet, okay? Just stay here, and I'll come right back to you," he begged, petting his poor head and kissing him continuously. "I'll only be gone for a minute," he promised, his calm attitude fleeing the instant Yumichika could no longer see his face. He ran out of the bathroom to their landline, ripping the phone off the wall.
"Hello? One-one-nine?" He could hardly speak to the operator in complete sentences, taking a few minutes to get everything straight, asking them what to do. From what the woman said, Yumichika's responses indicated that he'd be okay, but that he should see a doctor at a later time. Ikkaku had done all the right things, besides feeding him something warm, which he'd planned on doing anyway. "Okay, thank you. Yes, goodbye." He returned to his boyfriend, finding him huddling in the bathtub, up to his neck in the rising water.
"You're okay. You're okay," Ikkaku explained soothingly, sitting in the bathroom with Yumichika for twenty minutes, warming up the water until steam started to fog the mirrors up and Yumichika's skin was pink and raw. When Ikkaku felt it was time to take him out of the bath, he got some towels ready and dried him as quickly as he could, because Yumichika couldn't bear to feel the air against his wet skin.
Having calmed him down a great deal, he put Yumichika in some pajamas and buried him in bed again, staying up to keep watch. He checked on him all through the night, every two hours, and in the morning, Yumichika had a horrible cold, nose permanently pink and stuffy.
Their rooms were absolutely sweltering because Ikkaku had turned their space heater up so high, and Yumichika was nearly sweating by the time it was three in the afternoon.
"I cad breve," Yumichika said, blowing his nose when Ikkaku held a tissue to his face. "Cub in here and warm be up," he said with a weak grin, making Ikkaku smile in relief that he wasn't so sick that he couldn't make jokes. "Sorry I ruined our addibersary," Yumichika apologized when Ikkaku slipped in beside him and kissed him, drawing him into his arms.
"Eh, we were just gonna' laze around anyway," Ikkaku said with a shrug, leaning in to kiss up the side of Yumichika's neck, getting distracted. "Although, I was planning to make love to you until both of us were exhausted. Think that would warm up your insides?"
"Hm," Yumichika laughed. "Wouldn't I warb up faster if we were daked?" He bit Ikkaku's nose, "Kenshi-sama?" Ooh, whenever Yumichika called him that, it made him feel as young and hot-blooded as he had been when they'd met.
Ikkaku growled with a grin, kissing him and rolling on top of him, wasting no time in pulling Yumichika's pants down his legs, making sure the blankets stayed over them. "You don't have ta' tell me, sweet-cheeks."
In skating over thin ice, our safety is in our speed.
"W-why were you l-looking for me anyway?" Renji asked, sitting naked in the bathtub, arms covering his chest in what looked like a mixture of embarrassment and chilliness. Ichigo just dumped a cup of water over his head, causing him to sputter and wipe his eyes. Taking advantage, he leaned in and kissed his pink nose to shut him up, chucking some of his soap in the bath, professing that he needed to scrub.
"Shu-shut up," Renji said hotly, trying to splash Ichigo, who warned him that he'd wake everyone up. "Hmph," he pouted, shuddering violently as he ducked lower into the water.
"I was looking for you because you're the dingus who just decided to go outside at night when we're in the middle of nowhere. And it's funny to watch you fall on your ass," Ichigo teased, easing back when Renji lay his arms on top of his knees, resting his chin there as Ichigo tried to pin up his hair, which was drenched with icy water.
"You butt," Renji said miserably, sniffling and wiping his nose as Ichigo lay out some clothes for him and drained the tub. Renji stood up, water dripping off him in little rivulets as he shivered and held himself, grateful when Ichigo wrapped him in a towel and helped him sit down on the toilet. He knew he probably looked so stupid - a big man, naked, wet, and curling up like a scared puppy.
"Here," Ichigo mumbled as he helped Renji dry off, letting him keep a death grip on that first towel as he held his hair out of the way and dried the rest of his skin. Then he let Renji lean his head forward to wrap his hair up, and then helped him put on his pajamas. "Don't almost die again, or I'll kill you."
"Heh, you were worried?" Renji snickered.
"Shut up, or I'll throw you back in the lake," Ichigo threatened, shushing him as he opened the bathroom door and looked both ways down the hall, holding Renji's hand and tiptoeing him into their shared room, where several others were already asleep. He bundled Renji up on the floor, giving him all his extra blankets, and then got into his sleeping bag next to him, sitting awake while Renji shivered and sneezed in his sleep.
The next day, while everyone was gone skiing, they got some nice quiet time at the cabin. Well, it was nice for Ichigo, because Renji was sick in bed. He was so cute with a red runny nose and sleepy eyes.
Renji sneezed again, snot hanging off his face. "Oh," he said in surprise and dismay, frowning when there weren't any tissues nearby as if this were just a minor inconvenience instead of completely disgusting. Ichigo tossed him one and then took it back gingerly after Renji had wiped his nose. He'd missed a little bit, so Ichigo leaned back over with another tissue, pinching it around his nose until Renji blew.
"Gross," Ichigo said flatly, chucking it over to the trashcan, which was overflowing at this point. It hit the top of the can and then flopped pathetically to the floor with a piff. Whatever, that still counts. "Score."
"Yeah right, that sucked." Ichigo grimaced, because Renji needed to blow his nose again already. "Oh, thanks," he said when Ichigo handed him the tissue box and tucked him in again as he got up to get his soup and hot chocolate out of the microwave.
"You look like you're enjoying this too much," Renji mumbled, having left his hair down because his ears were cold, and no one else was at the cabin to see him like this. Ichigo shrugged malevolently, grumbling that that was his line. Renji gave a dirty smirk, glancing up to him as if he wanted to pinch his butt. Ichigo glared, getting the sentiment. "Am I cute or something?"
"Psh," Ichigo said, rolling his eyes and getting flustered, "No way. More like you're so ugly that you're cute." Renji shrugged, mumbling that that was pretty much the same thing.
"What, so you won't kiss me cause' I'm ugly?" Renji asked, sitting up in bed. Ichigo demanded that he lie down and stop squirming.
"No, cause' you're sick," Ichigo answered, shoving Renji back down and going back to his textbooks. As soon as he did, he could hear the covers rummaging. 'Oh for the love of god, Renji, lie down already.'
"So if I wasn't sick, you would kiss me?" Ichigo turned back around, and Renji was sitting up again. He gave him an unimpressed look, because this was reminiscent of the bet that had almost caused Renji to drown out in that icy water.
"Dude, this is exactly how you got into this mess. Stop it." Ichigo threw his notebook at Renji to make him stop sitting up. Renji fell back on his elbows but pried himself up again.
"But, you just promised-"
"Dude. Stop," Ichigo demanded.
"I'll stop if you get in here with me," Renji said, wiping his nose on his wrist, which made Ichigo give a mock-gag, but all the same, he crawled under his blanket nest with him.
"Just till' they come back," he insisted. He lay his head down on Renji's chest, which wasn't so good, because Renji was congested and his breathing was wet and loud. "Just till' they come back," he repeated louder, expecting an answer.
"Yeah, sure, sure. I'll wake you up when they do, so go to sleep," he said, but Ichigo would be damned if he'd ever trust him when he had on a smirk like that.
"I can't believe I fell for such an annoying little shit," Ichigo grumbled, scowling deeper when he felt Renji's chest shaking with laughter against his cheek. "Shut up."
"Hm? What?"
"Shut," Ichigo sat up and then shoved his hand on Renji's face, pushing him down into the pillow, "up. And stop laughing!" Renji was quiet for a minute, before snickering again, humming dreamily and coughing occasionally as he played with Ichigo's hair and put a little pigtail in it with his hairband.
"Ugh, you make me sick," Ichigo said with a sigh, closing his eyes and not moving from where he lay on his chest, letting the pigtail stay in. Renji flicked it a couple times with his finger, tugging on it.
"Fuck you," Renji said sweetly, going on with petting his head and feeling him up under the blankets. The way Ichigo saw it, Renji was way too sick to be horny, but maybe he'd underestimated him. Well, some people thought cabins were romantic.
"Bet you're really warm inside. Help me out. Doctor's orders," Renji said huskily, and Ichigo gave him an A for effort. It was hard to sound sexy with a stuffy nose, but Renji could almost pull it off. Even so, he wasn't about to spread his legs with Renji sick and recovering from almost dying. Besides, he was the med student, not Renji.
"Doctor's orders, my ass!"
"That's sort of like what I just said," Renji sassed somewhat innocently. Ichigo clobbered him with a pillow.
Snow drifts build up and enfold us,
as we wait out this winter storm.
So we snuggle close in the darkness
and keep each other so warm.