It happens relatively quickly.
Swords are swinging, Moogers are flying, and the Nighlock of the week is shooting icicles at them. It's the middle of February, so it's already sort of freezing, but it's nothing they aren't used to. Only when one of the icicles clips Mike hard in the chest, his whole body feels funny, and then tingly, and he can hear Kevin's voice as he sort of registers Kevin's hand grabbing onto his arm, and then it's all white for a minute.
"Mike!" Someone says. That same someone is shaking him, rather violently, and Mike tries to open his eyes as the same time he inhales too fast, cold air hitting his lungs and making him cough. "Mike, are you okay?"
Mike sits up, foggy headed, opens his eyes. Kevin's the one hovering over him, looking about as concerned as he looks annoyed. "Ow." Mike says softly, just barely registering how cold it's gotten.
Kevin's face softens, just a little, and he reaches out to put a hand on Mike's chest. "Are you hurt?"
Mike shakes his head, trying to figure out why it's so dark. "I think I'm alright. What happened? How long was I out?"
Kevin looks around them too, his face grim. "You got hit with one of the Nighlocks icicles. You were starting to dissolve-"
"Dissolve?" Mike interrupts, eyes wide.
"Yeah," Kevin confirms. They both take a short minute to look down at Mike's body, like it isn't obvious that he didn't dissolve, but hey, it's a disturbing thing to hear. "I was trying to grab onto you, and I guess I got sucked in too." Kevin stands, offers Mike a hand.
"Sucked in, huh?" Mike says, letting Kevin pull him to his feet. He looks around. It's suddenly obvious why it's so cold all of a sudden. They're surrounded by miles of snow, giant sheets of ice rising into the sky all over the place, and its dark, but everything around them is reflecting to tiny bit of light coming from above them so it's not too difficult to see. "Don't tell me."
"Yep," Kevin agrees, staring up at the tiny hole. "Inside the Nighlock."
"Beautiful," Mike says, turning his mouth into a thin line as he wraps his arms around himself. Of all the days to wear a thin shirt. "How high up do you think that hole is?"
"If that's the Nighlock's mouth, and this is its stomach, then he must have shrunk us. So it's probably something like 2 feet, only we're a fraction of our normal height, so relatively-"
Mike cuts Kevin off, rolling his eyes. "What I meant was, do you think we can use our powers to get up there?"
Kevin pauses, thinks. "If we can use our powers are all," he says after a moment, grimly.
Mike lets out a breath, is a little disturbed when he can see it. Without a word, they both get out their morphers, but they can't even write their symbols. Either the cold or the Nighlock's hoo-doo is preventing them from working, and as they put them back in their pockets, a cold gust of wind hits them hard in the back.
"Oh, come on," Mike says, annoyed. "This is ridiculous. How can there be wind?"
Kevin shakes his head, starts walking towards one of the ice sheets. "We should try and find some shelter," he calls over his shoulder.
Mike follows him, giving Kevin's back an incredulous look. "Yeah, I'm sure the Nighlock has provided us with a lovely cabin, a piping hot fire, and some toasty hot cocoa to while away the hours while we wait for the others to save us. That way, there's no pressure!"
Kevin doesn't answer, but Mike didn't really expect him to. This is getting serious fast, because Mike is pretty sure his body temp has already dropped a few degrees, and if they others can't defeat the Nighlock quickly, he and Kevin are going to be in real trouble.
Mike just hopes the Nighlock didn't retreat to the Sanzu River as soon as he grabbed them.
Kevin, because he's Kevin, manages to find a small outcropping in the tall ice sheet that provides a little bit of shelter from the wind. "We should try and conserve energy," Kevin tells him, sitting down. "Our bodies are going to need all the energy we have to keep us warm. Do you have any food?"
Mike shakes his head no, already starting to shiver. He's maybe starting to panic a little, and he's suddenly glad that he isn't alone as the realization that freezing to death just became a real possibility hits him. Even if Kevin is all he has for company, ridiculous, hard ass Kevin, Mike will take it over facing this alone.
"Let me see your morpher," Kevin says, holding out his hand.
"What for?" Mike passes it over.
"If I can get them to work, even if it's not enough to get us out, maybe you can summon some wood, and we could build a fire." Kevin mumbles, examining their morphers.
"If you can manage that, I will totally delete that picture of you in the tutu off my facebook," Mike says, cracking a smile.
Kevin gives him a glare and mumbles, "I won't hold my breath."
Mike wraps himself up into as small of a ball as possible while Kevin messes with their morphers. He tries not to think about the very real possibility that the battle is over, that the Nighlock is rehydrating in Sanzu water, celebrating its victory. That their friends are at home, desperately trying to find a way to lure the Nighlock out.
He tries to think instead of something calming, and he ends up replaying a level of Donkey Kong in his head, the ridiculous pixels somehow calming him. He jumps the barrels, climbs the ladders, miraculously doesn't get hit by the banana…
Someone is shaking him again, and Mike starts. He pushes weakly at the hands on his shoulders, feeling drowsy and then he feels his teeth chatter.
"Mike!" Kevin is yelling, his face a mixture of annoyance and rage and worry. "You can't fall asleep! That is the absolute last thing you want to do right now!"
Mike rubs at his eyes, shivers all over. "Sorry, I didn't… damnit its cold."
Kevin's face looks relieved, but his brow furrows in question. "We haven't been here that long. How are you so cold already?"
Mike tries to shrug, but his whole body shakes, making him hunch over into his knees.
"You got hit with the icicle," Kevin says, and then he's shuffling closer to Mike, and Mike feels an arm go around his shoulders. "Mike, talk to me. Come on Mike, when do you ever shut up?"
"Screw you," Mike says, but there's no venom behind it. He leans into Kevin's side, trying to leech any heat from him that he can. "Don't get any," he shivers, pauses, continues "ideas. My virtue is renowned."
There's a small smile in Kevin's voice when he replies. "Emily made you watch Pride and Prejudice with her, didn't she?"
"Sense and Sensibility," Mike corrects. "The chick from Titanic was pretty good, too."
"That movie is a terrible adaptation of the book," Kevin says, maybe because he thinks Mike's too far gone to care or remember, but Mike is making a mental note to harass him about it to no end. If they live through this.
"You get anywhere with our morphers?" Mike asks.
Kevin's arm tightens around his shoulders in response. Mike's still shaking, but his teeth aren't clacking together in a painful way anymore, so he's going to count it as a win. He's still hopelessly cold, though, and he leans his head onto Kevin's shoulder. He's a little surprised when Kevin feels as cold as he does to the touch.
"Hey," Kevin jostles his shoulder. "No sleeping. I'll pinch you if I have to."
Mike grins. "If we live through this, I totally challenge you to a pinch war. I'll win, no doubt."
Kevin's quiet for minute. Finally, he says seriously, "The others will get us out, Mike. Don't talk like that."
Mike doesn't say what they are both thinking.
He doesn't tell Kevin that they're probably doomed, that the others have no hope of finding them unless they can somehow get the Nighlock back out into the open. They've done it before, but it won't be easy. There are no guarantees.
"I have five siblings," Mike says instead. "I am totally the king of roughhousing."
"Five? Really?" Kevin asks.
Mike nods. "One sister, four brothers."
"Wow," is all Kevin says.
"Yeah, my parents were busy people." Mike jokes. He starts fiddling with his hands, trying to work feeling into them. No way does he want to live through this if he ends up losing a bunch of fingers and toes. Screw that, Mike thinks, and then proceeds to wonder about his priorities.
"My mom…" Kevin starts, and then continues, "she died when I was six. I think my dad wanted a bigger family, but…"
Mike lets Kevin trail off, shivers a little in the silence. Kevin pulls him closer.
"What's it like?" Kevin asks, voice light. "Having so many siblings?"
"Well," Mike says, gritting his teeth for a moment to stave off some of the cold. "I was totally prepared for the lack of privacy and the bathroom sharing when we moved into the Shiba house."
Kevin chuckles, actually chuckles at him, and Mike would be thrilled that he'd managed to loosen Kevin up for once if the chuckle didn't so quickly turn into a shiver.
"Oh man, this sucks," Mike says, shifting, lifting his head, rubbing his hands together to create a little heat, tucking them into Kevin's arms when he's done. "I wanted to go out in a ball of fire, you know? Lots of explosions, glory, heroic acts of bravery. Not this peaceful cold sleep crap."
"Mike," Kevin warns, but Mike grumbles.
"I mean it, Kevin." Mike says, shivering again. "This is a hell of a disappointing way to die."
Kevin sighs, and then his face is pressed into the side of Mike's face, his nose frozen and the rest of it chilled.
"Cold nose," Mike says, the corner of his mouth turned up. Kevin doesn't say anything back, just breathes into Mike's face, his breath slightly warmer than the cold air around them. Mike thinks what a picture they must make, their limbs tangled around each other, both of their faces flushed, breathing heavy. In any other circumstances, Mike would be absolutely terrified of being this close to Kevin. But desperate times, desperate measures and all that. To be honest, he kind of hoped he'd get to do this with Kevin when they weren't about to die, but beggars couldn't be choosers.
"We're not going to die, Mike," Kevin says without moving. "We're samurai rangers. We can hold on until help comes. I know we can do this. We're going to be fine."
Mike huffs. "That's nice, Kev, really. Laws of physics and limits of the human body aside, and all, but it's nice."
"If we believe in ourselves-"
"God, Kevin, it doesn't matter what we believe. We can't outlast the cold with our faith!" Mike says, and he flails a numb hand for emphasis.
Kevin breathes hard for a minute, fights off a shiver, and then seems to radiate more heat for a split second. Like he's willing his body to warm itself. "Not with an attitude like that," is all he says.
Mike can't help it. He smiles, belatedly realizing how cracked his lips have become in the freezing cold. "Man, Kev, I wanna see you put your mind to something besides being a samurai. Like ending world hunger. Or solving the nuclear missile crisis. If believing you can do it is all it takes for you, the world won't know what hit it."
Kevin waits for a moment before slightly asking "That a compliment?"
"Yes," Mike shivers, turning his head into Kevin's to fix him with a glare. "Because you need the ego boost."
"Do you ever say anything that isn't sarcastic?" Kevin wonders, and their eyes meet for the first time in a while, Mike realizes.
"You should really know me better than that by now," Mike scolds, and Kevin smiles a tight, pained smile at him.
They sit there, unmoving save for the shivers, their foreheads pressed together, their breath warming each other's lips. Mike is starting to get stiff, his body reacting to the cold and the ridiculous amount of energy it takes to shiver every thirty seconds. His butt is numb, he can hardly feel his toes, and the only part of him that is retaining any heat is the part of him pressed into Kevin's side, the part of his shoulders where Kevin's arm has been wrapped around him for the past half hour. And his mouth, where Kevin is breathing slightly warm breathes onto his lips.
Kevin is staring at his lips, Mike realizes distractedly. He has a focused look on his face, like he's trying to decide something. Mike thinks how easy it would be, almost natural, easily accidental, to lean the half an inch forward and touch Kevin's numb lips to his own. That's the part that would suck, Mike thinks. He'd get to kiss Kevin, but he wouldn't even get to feel it.
Kevin tilts his head down, closing his eyes, and Mike shifts a little bit. "Okay, Houdini. Start believing," Mike teases, trying to break whatever tension has formed. "Warm us up, already."
Kevin looks up, his eyes a little bit sad. Mike knows it's going to happens, he can feel it, can feel Kevin getting his nerve ready.
But for some reason, Mike disentangles one of his freezing hands, lifts it to Kevin's face and holds it there, keeping Kevin still.
"Nope," Mike says, shaking his head ever so slightly. "You don't get to do anything you wouldn't do if we weren't about to die a horrible tragic death by freezing."
Kevin looks at him, shivers, grins a little. "Mike," he starts, but Mike cuts him off.
"We're gonna live, right?" He says, and his thumb moves a little on Kevin's cheek. "Samurai rangers don't give up."
Kevin looks torn for a minute, like he isn't sure if Mike is bluffing, and maybe he is a little, but something gets through to Kevin. He shakes it off, and then he pulls back a little. "We should readjust. Try to keep more heat between us."
They end up with Mike in front of Kevin, Kevin's legs and arms around him, his back pressed to Kevin's chest, and it's a little bit warmer. They don't do much talking after that, and the time seems to drag by.
It must be hours by the time Mike tries to whisper out Kevin's name again. His throat is so dry from the cold he can't hardly get it out, and he has to close his mouth, try to wet his throat before he tries again. It's a good thing he doesn't have to be very loud, as Kevin's head is right next to his.
"Kev," he says, and Kevin's head twists a little bit. "Shoulda le' you kiss me. Regre'ing it now."
Kevin presses his face into Mike's neck, and they're both so cold Mike can hardly feel it. "Ask me sometime," Kevin says, his voice as horse as Mikes, "when we're warm."
Mike tries to grin, can't get his lips to move, and he wants to turn his head, to look at Kevin before he passes out, but his entire body feels so heavy that he can't manage it. He settles for giving Kevin's hand a tiny squeeze before he lets himself close his eyes…
He wakes up warm, too warm, actually, piled underneath blankets and is that a hot water bottle under his armpit?
"Mike!" Someone squeals happily, throwing themselves at him. He pushes out of the blankets, wraps an arm around blond hair-Emily-and grins. "I'm so glad you're okay."
"Feel like I got hit by a truck," Mike says, as Emily helps him sit up. "Tell me I didn't lose any toes."
"You've got all ten," Mia promises, handing him something warm to drink that Mike really hopes she didn't make. "Fingers, too."
"You're still a jerk, though," a familiar voice says from the doorway. Kevin's leaning against the frame, watching. He's wrapped in a warm robe, a grin on his face as everyone turns to look at him.
"What'd I do?" Mike demands, but he thinks he knows.
"You tried to die on me two minutes before they rescued us!" Kevin shoots, gesturing to the rest of their friends filling the room.
Mike shrugs as casually as he can, drinks some of the tea Mia handed him despite its flavor. "What can I say? I'm still working on my comedic timing."
Everyone laughs, conversation dissolves, and Mike chances a glance at Kevin when no one's looking at him. He's only distracted from the way Kevin looks sort of fond when Ji starts saying something about time off to rest.
"For real?" Mike says, suspicious. "A whole day?"
Ji smiles. "I'm just glad we got you both back in one piece. Take two days, if you want!"
Which is how Mike finds himself out in the garden the next day, laying in one of the cushioned lounge chairs, sipping a fruit punch, his ipod playing cheerful music in one ear. He's dozing a little bit when he hears footsteps come up beside him.
"Enjoying yourself?" Kevin says, as he blocks the sun hitting Mike's face.
Mike opens his eyes, squints, thinks carefully about what he says next. "Just enjoying the warmth," he says, and then gestures to the lounge chairs still sitting on the patio in the shade. "You're welcome to join me." Mike closes his eyes.
He doesn't actually expect Kevin to take him up on his offer, and when the shadow goes away from over him he tries not to be disappointed. Only then he hears some rustling, and a minute later a chair is being placed next to his own, and he opens his eyes and twists his head to see Kevin sprawling out on his side, his face relaxed, and his eyes closed.
Mike lets a smile play around his mouth before he shifts a little bit, and then he offers the ear bud he's not using to Kevin, who takes it and puts it in without a single comment about hygiene.
Mike closes his eyes, goes back to basking.
"This is nice," Kevin says quietly, sometime later.
"Yeah," Mike agrees, glancing over at him. He catches Kevin's eye, sees the alertness there, but also catches a hint of real happiness. "It's good to be warm again."
It's not enough bait for Kevin to take, apparently, because he just smiles, shakes his head, and closes his eyes again.
Mike doesn't mind, though, as he inches his hand over to Kevin's cushion, lets his fingers gently brush the back of Kevin's hand. Kevin's fingers twitch in response, and he lets out a contented sigh.
Their fingers brush idly against each other in the sun for the rest of the day.