Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 52nd cycle. Now cycle 53!

THIRD ANNIVERSARY CYCLE: It's late October again, and within this cycle I will be completing my third year of daily gleekathon stories and commencing a fourth! As in previous years, this means special things happening. I've selected my favorite stories from throughout the year, and I'll be treating them to something special. In previous years this included Prequel, Sequel, and POV Swap, and then Additional Scenes and Alternate Endings. This year I'm adding two new treatments: Genre Swap (I think that's pretty straightforward) and Element Change (I change one thing in the story, see how it affects the rest). Note that in both these cases and some of the others, there may excerpts directly transferred from the story it references. Also, since this year saw the addition of 'shift days', and since I suck at picking, I have selected 42 stories, to be treated two per day! So here we go!

This story is an Element Change to Baptism by Ice, a Artie/Lucy series story, originally posted on January 12 2012.

This is a double shift day. There will be one more upload today: The Notorious Lopez.

"Iced to the Bone"
Artie/Lucy (OC)
Artie/Lucy series extra
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)

The day had already started less than stellar for her, this much he knew. A few days ago her guitar had been involved in an 'unfortunate' tumble during Glee practice. It was not as though she blamed anyone, still it would have to be fixed. This morning though she had received the estimate on repairs and she'd almost dropped her phone.

"Good thing I didn't, I already can't afford the repair on the guitar," she'd told him. "Well, I can, but if I do… I said I wasn't going to dip into those savings…" she shook her head.

"I'll help," he offered as they moved down the hall, but she shook her head.

"No, I wasn't saying it so you would…"

"I know, but I want to," he insisted.

"Don't worry about me, I'll find a way," she smiled to him.

"You usually do," he confirmed, smiling back.

"Yeah, you just wait, I'm going to…"

Her words were cut off short, one beat before he felt the wave of sticky ice crash against him, and even though he had shut his eyes half a second before the blue stuff came at him, by the outcry he heard at his side, he knew she had been hit as well. Still feeling the sudden freeze, he shook his head to dislodge what he could of the bits of the Slushie resting on his head.

"Lucy? You alright?" he reached blindly toward her, quickly finding her hand and feeling her squeeze as soon as he did.

"Artie?"

"I'm here, it's okay," he promised, shutting his eyes before taking off his glasses, wiping his sleeve against his face – his shirt had already been hit, there was no point trying to protect it, and now he could see her, and how her eyes remained shut tight.

"I thought drinking these was a bad enough brain freeze, I take it back now," she shook her head.

"Can you see anything?"

"No, not a thing," she looked afraid she might slip and fall at any moment. "They got you, too?"

"They did," he stared down the hall, trying to see who it had been, although without his glasses there really was no point. "We should get to the bathroom, can you hold on?" She moved to hold on to his chair, and he had to pause and think for a moment. At least while he was taking care of her he didn't have to think about the uncomfortable feelings he was having after his own Slushie.

"I really shouldn't feel like having one of these right now, but it smells like lime and I kind of want it…" Lucy spoke up as they moved toward the bathroom, almost like she needed to hear his voice to direct herself even if she couldn't see a thing.

"Well I smell like raspberry…" he offered.

"Delicious," she teased.

"You know it," he smirked, less so when he felt his cheeks react to the movement of his sticky face. "Girls' room, boys' room?" he asked as they neared. "I'm not letting you go on your own like this."

"You pick, I've got your back… I think," she promised him, so he turned her toward the girls' room. He pushed the door carefully, glad to see there was no one.

"We're clear," he told her.

"Did you roll in the Slushie?" she asked, hearing what she had rightly interpreted as his wheels rolling along, sticking to the floor as they went.

"Yeah, but that can wait," he shrugged.

"No, I can help you," she insisted, while he reached for a paper towel and ran it under the water. He was ringing out the excess water, happy to see he had managed to get his hands clean in the process, when he felt her give a small shriek, her body twisting. "Ice! Ice, down my back, get it," she begged.

"I…"

"Artie, please? It's getting… ah!" she twisted again and he took a breath before reaching under and pulling out the green ice clump, which he dropped to the ground among other green and blue Slushie droppings. "Thanks," her voice showed the shiver that had run up her spine, and his fingers slipped back, releasing the hem of her shirt. He coughed, reaching for the paper towel he had gotten her, which now rested in his lap.

"Here, for your eyes," he reached for her hand and placed the towel in her palm.

"Thanks," she reached up, carefully cleaning at her eyes. "How are you with… you know, seeing."

"I'm okay, my glasses took most of it," he went back to the sink, running them under the water. He looked back, hearing a small noise come from her which he guessed was relief at getting her eyes opened, and then a moment later she was crouching before him, grasping on to the side of his chair to keep from falling before turning the towel around to a clean side and reaching to wipe at his face. He was briefly surprised at the gesture, and even without his glasses he could see her smirk.

"You got me in here, it's the least I can do," she explained, and he was just trying not to smile too wide. "So is this going to be a thing, now that I'm in Glee Club?" she asked. "Because if it is then I'm going to need some spare clothes in my locker."

"It's probably a good idea," he nodded. He wished he could tell her otherwise, but they were all getting much too skilled at Slushie removal for him to try and argue otherwise. It was also very easy to get lost in just sitting there while she cleaned him up, staring at the blurry image of her.

"Got another shirt under there, because you might want to take this one off," she told him, and he hesitated.

"Oh I've got a couple," he confirmed, and she smiled.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" she asked before helping him out of the dirty shirt. "You've got a good set of arms under here," she complimented, and he almost wished he'd been hit with a cherry Slushie, in case he might have started to blush.

"Well, the chair…" he justified.

"I know," she smiled. "I'd suggest you show them off once in a while, but that's all up to you, and I like your shirts, personally, so… whatever you feel like," she told him, continuing to clean his face. He reached for another towel, managing to run it under the water, though he wasn't sure it would be prudent to return the gesture on to her, considering the reach of area covered with the green ice. She would have had little to no trouble sensing his apprehension on this, and once she'd finished with his face she had taken his glasses and returned them to his face. She leaned in, kissing him briefly. "I should be careful, I just finished with you," she explained, pointing to her still sticky face.

"Don't care," he promised with a smile, and she kissed him again. He had half a mind to track down who was responsible for these Slushies, but in that moment he couldn't care less. They were okay, they were happy, so what was the point?

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!