Title: Of Snow and Mildly Sweet Ice Cream
Pairing(s): Tezuka/Fuji
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, Humour
Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis never was and never will be mine.
Summary: Tezuka and Fuji enjoy a good hot meal, dessert and each other's company in winter.
"Isn't it too cold to be eating food like that?"
"It's alright, ice cream won't kill me," Fuji replied in a sing-song voice as he picked up a small tub of apple and vanilla flavoured ice cream and placed it in the empty basket casually slung over Tezuka's arm.
Shrugging, the bespectacled man moved from his spot near the entrance of the supermarket to the meat section and scanned the rows for some beef strip loin to add to the hot pot they were planning on having for the day's dinner as his lover wandered off and returned shortly thereafter, hands filled.
Cheerfully depositing plastic bags of onions, leeks, enoki and shiitake mushrooms, cabbage, a small carton of eggs and a bottle of sake into the basket with a grin, Tezuka raised an eyebrow at the petite man as his arm sank under the combined weight of all the new items.
"It's cold and I am hungry," Fuji said by means of explanation, not quite answering the unspoken question but it was enough for the other who had years of experience reading the unique, cryptic language that only Fuji Syuusuke employed. Tossing in a couple of shrink wrapped styrofoam plates laden with beef to round up the list of items they needed, Tezuka turned towards the check-out counter and took a few steps before he felt the weight bearing down on his right arm lifted.
"The queue's long. Will you go and get the car? I will be out once I have paid for the items," Fuji explained as he adjusted his grip on the handles of the basket he had taken from Tezuka for more comfort.
Seeing that the man was adamant about being the one to wait in line, Tezuka nodded and headed out by the automated sliding glass doors, suppressing a shudder as the biting winter gust hit him at full force, cutting through thick jeans and the fur-lined jacket he had worn over a simple t-shirt. Trudging over to where he had parked their Toyota, he quickly got in and closed the door, starting up the engine as soft strands of music came to life from the radio.
Approximately fifteen minutes later, Fuji came out with a bundle of bags and walked down short steps to the car waiting for him in front of the supermarket.
Tezuka watched as fine snow settled softly on the other's hair and clothes. Combined with the pale face and rosy cheeks, wind-swept hair and soft smile, it seemed like a picture perfect photo from a tourist attraction book. Shaking his head when Tezuka made a motion to get out and help him open the boot, Fuji shifted the bags all to one hand and lifted the boot lid with his other.
Carefully placing everything in, he closed the lid, made his way over to front seat and got in.
"It's warmer in here ne?"
"Ah."
Tezuka flicked the hall light switch with a well planted elbow as he carried the bags into their cosy apartment, heading straight for the kitchen (he refused to allow Fuji to carry them) while Fuji closed the door behind him and exchanged his shoes for a pair of fleece slippers as he dusted his coat a little, scattering bits of snow onto the floor before hanging it up.
The heater was doing its job too well; it was barely two minutes and he was already feeling warm and comfortable in just jeans and a tutleneck. He chuckled and helped Tezuka shrug out of his own jacket upon seeing the other so deeply engrossed in getting started on the food preparation that he had neglected to even take it off, walking back to the entrance hallway to hang it up beside his own.
While Tezuka brought out the cast iron pot, Fuji removed all the food from their plastic bags and laid them out on the kitchen counter, with the exception of the ice cream which he placed into the freezer compartment.
Together, they washed and prepared the ingredients in an efficient manner and then neatly lined them up in the pot, adding soy sauce, sake and sugar in before covering the lid and allowing the food to cook.
"Mhmm, that was good~"
"A cup of tea now would be good."
"I want some dessert." Getting up, Fuji went back into the kitchen and returned minutes later with two small bowls.
"I wanted something warm to complement the satisfying hot pot we just had. I don't think ice cream fits into that category."
"Don't be so narrow-minded. Here," placing a bowl in front of his lover, Fuji settled down on the other side of the kotatsu with his own bowl and started spooning small bites of the sweet confectionery into his mouth, humming softly with pleasure as he savoured the creamy texture of milk melting upon touching his tongue and tasted the mild sweetness of apples whipped together with vanilla.
Looking into his own bowl and expecting to see pink, the taller brunette instead saw green and white. Testing with a small scoop proved his suspicion that Fuji had secretly added a tub of Matcha and Vanilla ice cream to the basket.
"Was that the reason for getting me to bring over the car?"
"You are no fun; here I thought I could keep you guessing a little while longer."
"It's good."
Fuji flashed him a bright, genuine smile and that was all that was needed.
~Owari~
A/N: I am working on a couple of multi-chapter fics but in the meantime, here's a short one cause it's been awhile since I last posted up any fics. It's kinda rough since I didn't do any planning; just wrote it as the ideas came to my head and didn't do any editing whatsoever too (it's two plus in the morning here and I need to sleep lol). Hopefully this will make someone's day reading it :'3 I will try and post up one or two more short fics these next few days if time and muse permits.
It's Christmas and I just had to post something season-fitting, hence this story, not to mention the fact that I am in a good mood from discovering a store that sold matcha and vanilla ice cream. It was very good =w=b