On Perception and Love
If anyone asked Ranma what his biggest weakness was, he would probably laugh for a minute at the idea of Ranma Saotome being weak in anyway, then grudgingly admit to his body's intolerance of extreme temperatures. Simply stated, when it was hot Ranma could chug one-hundred liters of water a day and still feel the headache, nausea, dizziness and everything else that came with dehydration, and when it was cold could put on at least four jackets and still freeze his martial artist ass off. A large part of his would like to blame this condition on his curse, but since neither Ryouga, Xian Pu, Mu Tsu, or his own idiot father seem to have the same problem, he figures it can't be that.
Consequently, this happens to be one of the many reasons Ranma is glad he left the Tendo dojo behind to travel with Ryouga. Ryouga never questions it when Ranma suddenly decides that Hokkaido is getting to be a little too cold and that Yamaguchi might just be a good place to find some decent martial artists and a few new techniques, and maybe they should just head down that way and see what they find. He just helps Ranma pack up the tents along with the rest of their gear, and smiles knowingly as he catches Ranma's ice cold fingers in his forever temperate hands. Usually Ranma will just scowl and pull away, tugging his three pairs of gloves on as he walks off with Ryouga matching pace at his side. Sometimes, though, he does appreciate how Ryouga always seems to know what's bothering him and how to fix it without making him feel like a worthless idiot (unlike his last love interest), and will stand still long enough to let Ryouga's warmth seep in and mutter a shrinking 'thank-you' before walking off.
On the other hand...
"It's so hot!" Ranma moans despairingly, shaking the last of the ice from his drink into a plastic bag and throwing it on top of his bowed head.
Ryouga shoots him a puzzled look. "But the temperature gauge at that bank we just passed said it was only a little above twenty-five."
Ranma gives another loud wail and collapses against a street pole, stripping out of his pack (his shirt is already inside it) and leaning heavily against the canvas. Ryouga smiles slightly and shakes his head at his boyfriend's over-exaggeration, before pulling Ranma and his pack up and tugging them inside a nearby air-conditioned café. As Ranma nuzzles the cool linoleum gratefully, Ryouga spreads a worn map between them and says,
"I bet Iwate has some good dojos."
SnM: RyougaxRanma is one of my all time favorite pairings (any usual readers of mine will note the one other RyougaxRanma fic in my archive and kindly ignore it as it was written when I was a sophomore in high school and isn't any good). I've been meaning to write something for this fandom for awhile (though actually I've got a couple longer fics in mind), but I was watching through the series recently and noticed how much more bother Ranma always seems to be about the temperature than anyone else. I don't know if he actually is really sensitive to it, or just likes to whine, but the thought came to my head that if he could just travel with the seasons then all would be well.
100 liters is equivalent to roughly 26.42 gallons. The normal human needs to intake about five gallons of water a day to avoid dehydration.
25C is equal to 77F.
For reference, Hokkaido is waaaaaay up north, Yamaguchi is waaaaaay down south, and Iwate is waaaaaay up north, but not quite as north as Hokkaido. If you're really curious as to the actual locations just go google 'Map of Japan' and you'll get a pretty good idea.
As always, please r&r. The more reviews I get, the more inspired I am to keep writing.