"We're lost, aren't we?"
From the tone in Erik's voice, Berwald could tell it wasn't really a question, it was a statement. A observation of the situation that he, himself, hadn't wanted to admit. The two of them stood under the glow of the street lights on a sidewalk somewhere in the city of Chicago. The stores around them were either empty or closed, and there weren't any people in sight.
They had been turned around a few times and then the signs stopped matching up to their (probably horribly out of date) guide book, the cell phone they had gotten for use in the states had been left in the hotel room. It should have been in one of their pockets.
Erik was looking at the guide book and was looking back and forth from the street sign to the book. Each time his face got a little angrier. Angry little puffs of smoke came out of his mouth as he muttered to himself.
He flipped the pages the best he could with his gloves on. Everything Erik did sounded angry.
They had decided to visit the windy city in winter it was supposed to be a nice mini vacation for the two of them. They'd had been here before, but only in a professional sense and hadn't gotten the chance to see the leisurely side of the city. The whole trip had been Berwald's idea, and it had gone well until now.
The only sounds around them were the distant background noise of traffic, the eerie way it sounds like a beast roaring, the humming street lights and their own breaths.
"I think here is were you got us lost."
"I didn't get us lost." He stands next to the shorter man and grabs it with one hand, not to take it but to tilt it so he can see the page. Erik points to the last street name that he recognizes.
They could try to find a person, or a phone, the nearest gas station, someplace. They weren't worried about dying out here, just maybe dying of embarrassment if someone found out. They were the ones to remind others to take precautions, to prevent this sort of thing from happening.
So there they stood, in the orange glow of the street lights trying to find their next move. He looked in all directions he could see in, perhaps it would be best to retrace their steps and head in the direction that had the most foot steps left in the thin layer of snow that coated the area. It had been shoveled away in a few places and piled up in others but for the most part he could see paths and routes that people had taken.
He glances down at his companion to suggest this but is stopped by the look on Erik's face. It is a odd mixture of 'I can't believe this is happening' and 'what did you get me into?' and he finds it rather…adorable. Which is a word that he doesn't often use when describing Erik.
"What are you so happy about? We're lost, it's sun down and it'll take hours to find the hotel."
He doesn't say anything at first, but after a moment…
"I don't mind being lost with you."
That seems to take some of the anger away, and a small smile bloomed on Erik's lips.
He knew that eventually they would find their way back to the busy streets and back to their room. They would laugh about it, but not tell anyone else.
For know they will go looking and searching, together. Wandering, talking, joking.
It wasn't so bad to get lost with the one you love.
