Hey everyone! It's me again, this time with a Free! fanfiction. It's based on an imagineyourotp prompt (I love that blog, it's fantastic) and was written as a request. Hope you enjoy~!

(Oh, and a side note: however they did it, Rin and Haru made up before the start of this fic. Just something to note.)

Dares (and the inconvenience of Rin's pride)

With his love for water, especially swimming, winter was a season Haruka found difficult to appreciate. He vastly preferred being able to dive into bodies of water on sight, but with the majority of these being frozen throughout the snowy times, it was nearly impossible to spontaneously strip and do as he pleased. As such, the quiet teen had developed a dislike for winter as a whole.

This year, however, everything was to change.

For the first time since elementary school, Rin and Haru had been on good enough terms to constantly be around each other. Nagisa had been the first to giggle at them, claiming (secretly) that they had feelings for one another; it wasn't long after that when Makoto and Rei started agreeing with him. Sure enough, before summer had ended, the redhead had led his quiet friend away from the rest of the group, taken his hand, and looked him in the eyes.

"Haru... You... I want you to be mine!" Nerves had taken Rin over, causing him to yell the demand in a rather less affectionate manner than he had been planning to do. Haru had blinked slowly at him.

"..."

"Well?"

"... Okay." Just like that, the two had started a relationship, much to the delight of their friends. Kou admitted to having "shipped them for months already", while Nagisa merely grinned with pride. Only Nitori had reacted somewhat unexpectedly, claiming to have thought that "senpai wasn't into that kind of thing". Rin had rolled his eyes.

Now, as they walk hand-in-hand down the frost-covered streets of their hometown, Haru smiles a tiny, almost invisible smile. He would never admit it in front of his boyfriend, but he's very pleased with the whole situation. Rin is outright grinning. They've been dating for several months already, yet the only sign of trouble they've come across is Rin's extreme jealousy, which shows itself all too easily whenever Haru is around others too much. It's not that the shark-toothed teen won't let his dolphin socialize, it's more that he knows Makoto has a crush on Haru and wants to keep his lover for himself. To Haru, it just seems like Rin is possessive (not that he minds). Rin squeezes Haru's hand.

"You see that lamppost there?" he questions, indicating one by pointing at it. "When we were little, one of Gou's friends got her tongue stuck to it. She was almost in tears, but me and Gou were laughing."

"... That's not funny."

"Aw, come on Haru, you didn't see it."

"Still not funny."

"Fine, if you wanna be like that..." By now, Rin sounds a little irritated; Haru is taking his story too seriously, he thinks. After a brief hesitation, he pulls his boyfriend onward. Haru stands still.

"What's the matter?" asks Rin, turning his head to look at the other.

"... I dare you to lick it."

"What?!" Rin blushes, getting the complete wrong idea for a moment before realizing what Haru actually means. His blush deepens a little as he clears his throat. "H-Haru, that's stupid."

"I still dare you." Stubborn as ever, Haru doesn't budge an inch.

"Come on, let's go home."

"... Chicken." At this, Rin's eyebrows raise. He senses a challenge. Ever since he was little, he has never backed down from a dare, especially not if it could impress someone else.

"Fine," huffs Rin indignantly, tugging Haru over to the post before stopping short. He takes a deep breath, sticks his tongue out, and steps closer to the cold metal object. I won't get stuck. There's plenty of dumb kids who do this, and I won't be the one among many that actually gets stuck. I know I won't.

"Nnnggg!" complains Rin as his tongue fastens itself to the pole. With a comical expression, he breathes out heavily through his mouth, trying to unglue himself, but it's too late; he's firmly adhered.

"..." Haru says nothing for a moment, then softly starts to chuckle. While Rin usually finds Haru's laugh very cute, it angers him this time, and a frown settles on his features. He's now looking very annoyed while still stuck licking a lamppost. The sight makes Haru laugh that little bit more.

"Ssstahp!" Rin half-lisps, half-spits. This is hilarious, in Haru's opinion. "I ssswearh to god Hawuka, I wiww kiww youh!"

Before Haru has the chance to laugh harder, Rin lets go of his hand, using it instead to shove his boyfriend toward the post. Without shame, Rin takes advantage of Haru's moment of shock (and open mouth) to seize his tongue and slap it onto the frozen metal.

"...?!" Haru finds himself stuck to the opposite end of the pole from Rin. It takes him less than a second to realize that Rin has effectively trapped them both in an awkward and rather unnecessary situation solely because he couldn't stand to be laughed at. Very mature, Haru thinks sarcastically.

For what must have been at least fifteen minutes, the both of them remain as they are. Passerby either ignore them, or giggle all-too obviously. Of course, this upsets the shark boy much more than it should, so he eventually resorts to glaring at every single person who happens to look their way. His boyfriend only glares at him. Neither of them says a word to the other, each thinking it to be his boyfriend's fault that they're in this situation.

That's when the true awkwardness begins.

"Hnn!" Rin exclaims, pointing in the direction of the sky. It's beginning to snow; Haru looks like a rebellious teenager that has been locked outside in the rain with the amount of I'm-pissed-at-you-vibe he's radiating. Realizing he's not helping them any, Rin gives the other an apologetic look. Haru still blames him.

"Haru-chan? Rin-chan?"

"Nagisa!" both Rin and Haru try to say at the same time, but it ends up sounding more like "Naghisha". They look to see a smiling shota holding hands with a confused-looking Rei.

"What're you two doing here?" asks Nagisa with his head cocked to the side.

"… It wash sssupposhed to be a date." Rin is now plain embarrassed at having to be found by these two, of all people. Meanwhile, Haru is concerned with something entirely different. He locks gazes with Rei, signaling that he wants the other to answer the same question.

"U-um, Nagisa… Haruka-senpai is, erm…" Rei scratches at the back of his head. Somehow Nagisa seems to know what he means.

"Oh! Me and Rei were, um…" his confidence stops short.

"We're also on a date," Rei confesses after a minute of tense silence.

"Huh?"

"Yep! We are. We didn't tell you guys, but, erm, we're also going out!" In an attempt to stop himself from blushing, Nagisa smiles a strangely awkward smile. Silence follows.

"Oh, um, are you two stuck there…?" With an equally uncomfortable smile, Rei looks at the pair of idiots that have glued themselves to the lamppost.

"No, we're here becaush we wahnt to be," comments Rin sarcastically.

"Hold on a second…" Ignoring the other's rude reply, Rei puts his backpack on the ground and fishes around in it. He produces a thermo-canister, presumably filled with tea. "This may sting a little," he warns as he unscrews the cap and pours some of the hot liquid onto the section of the post that Rin is stuck to.

"Ow!" Just like that, the sharp-toothed boy is freed from the icy piece of metal. Rei proceeds to do the same to Haru. When they've both gotten over their scalded tongues, they thank the other couple before heading off in the direction of Rin's house.

"… Well that was awkward," Rin notes when Nagisa and Rei are out of earshot.

"I still blame you."

"Aw come on, Haru, don't be like-"

"My tongue's cold."

"What?"

"My tongue's cold." Rin's unsure how to react to Haru's rapid switching of topics and decides to only reply to his last statement for the time being.

"But you just had hot tea poured on it, how can it be cold?"

"It's still cold." Haru doesn't even try to explain himself.

"… Hmmm…" A mischievous glint enters Rin's eyes. "Then open your mouth."

"Hm?" He's a little taken aback by the redhead's demand, but complies nonetheless. Rin steps close enough to Haru that the shorter teen's heartbeat quickens. Cupping Haru's chin with his left hand, Rin pulls his mouth open a little more before French kissing him.

"Big brother, where are-" Kou stops short when she spots Rin and Haru standing a few paces away from the door, wrapped around each other and kissing passionately. She smiles to herself, happy that the two of them found each other.

Haru, meanwhile, smiles just a tiny bit, having gotten exactly what he wanted.

Yay, no angst this time! Let me know what you think in a review, I'll love you forever. Oh, and flamers... I will devour your souls. I'm not asking for flames so don't even think about sending them.

Everyone else: Thanks so much for reading!