2: In The Snow
"I was thinking about building a snowman," Horace said.
Will chuckled and glanced around them, at the ground coated with white, crunchy snow. For the past month, it had been like this. There was certainly enough snow to make a snowman…
"I almost made one," Will replied. "Well, I wanted to make a snow Ranger, and put my cape on it and everything, but then Halt threatened to give it a silver Oak leaf inside of me."
Horace snorted.
"But we can build one tonight, if you want," Will said.
"It's dark… Would we be able to see?" asked the knight.
"See how childish we are? Yes, we would. But let's do it when we get to the bottom of this hill." The ground was starting to slope down ahead of them.
Horace laughed. "You're getting sarcastic," he said. "You've been spending too much time around your mentor… you should start spending more time with me."
Will's playful smile turned into one of sadness. "Yeah…" he sighed, "I wish I could spend more time with you. Knights and Rangers are kind of… separate, sometimes. Maybe I would've considered that second offer to become a knight if things were different between us back then." He paused, taking a moment to consider his next words. There didn't feel like there was anyone around, so he thought they were safe enough to say. "We weren't in love back then."
Horace shook his head. "No, I'm glad you turned it down," he assured him. "You're meant to be a Ranger, Will, and I'm meant to be a knight. Still… that doesn't mean we can't be together."
"You're right." And, just like that, Will was back to smiling.
The mood had dropped a little… and Will didn't like that. Between his training and Horace's life as a knight, he rarely got any time with him nowadays, let alone private time where they didn't have to hide their feelings for each other. So he decided to brighten it with a little… harmless flirting.
He leaned in sideways to Horace, bringing their faces close… and just when the knight thought for sure they were going to kiss, Will whispered: "Let's be together… lover."
A blush consumed Horace's face, and even though he was trying not to look so embarrassed… that was kind of impossible. He put his hand on Will's shoulder and playfully shoved him away, the way they would give each other a friendly punch on the shoulder. But Horace didn't know his own strength.
It was a combination of that, and how Will slipped as he tried to catch himself, that made him completely loose his balance and fall on his back. But the plane was sloped. Once he was down, he couldn't get back up, and he couldn't stop falling.
Horace watched from the high ground, helpless to save his boyfriend from tumbling down the hill.
"I'll… get… you… for… that…!" Will yelled, as he kept rolling. His words got quieter the lower he fell.
"S-Sorry!" Horace called. He didn't feel like it would help any, and he knew that Will was going to pummel him with snowballs when he came back up.
9: Grinding
(Modern AU)
When Horace walked out of the doors to his highschool, his eyes wandered to that same spot he saw Will at every day: sitting on the raised stone wall of the garden bed, right outside their school.
"Will!" he called.
Will turned his head, to where Horace was running up to him, then stood and smiled. He replied with a "hey", and then couldn't get any more out before they gave each other a quick peck on the lips.
The second thing Will noticed about Horace, after his general presence, was that he was carrying a skateboard under his arm. He gestured to it and said, "Going to ride it?"
Horace nodded. "Yeah. It's pretty difficult, but I've been practicing over the break, and I think I've gotten to a good level… I can even do a few tricks."
"Really?"
"Yep."
"Like what?"
Horace looked away, sinking into a semi-deep stream of thought. "Hm…" he mumbled, "well, I can flip it over and land on it… like, that little spinning trick where you jump up," he started gesturing with his hands, "and then when the board is right side up you land back on it."
"The kickflip."
"Yeah, the-" Horace's words skidded to a stop, and he stared, surprised at Will. But his boyfriend stared back, unblinking, not sure what was so unusual about him directly referencing a skateboarding trick to a skateboarder who didn't know the term.
"Kickflip," Horace agreed. "Oh, and I can do that, um… You put your heel on the back and fly up like you're on a ramp-"
"Ollie."
"An ollie. How do you know these terms?!"
Will laughed.. not like Horace was stupid, but because he was also surprised at himself. "Honestly, I don't know," he admitted. "I think I took a few lessons when I was younger… or I just picked them up somewhere."
Horace fought a smile, but it won pretty quickly and he didn't try to erase it once it was too late. "Well, I do know one term," he said, "and that's grinding."
"Can you do that?"
"I'm learning. Want to see?" Horace nodded towards the silver rail, accompanying the stair steps down the school campus.
Will wasn't so sure. He did want to see, yes, but there were a lot of people nearby for him to crash into, and besides, Horace could hurt himself. "I don't know…" he thought aloud, "it's pretty crowded."
"There're stairs on the less used side of school."
"You could hurt yourself."
"It's alright." Horace smiled with confidence in himself. "I get it most of the time," he said.
"You don't have a helmet."
Will should've guessed that Horace would reach into his backpack and take out a helmet. He sighed. "Well, I won't stop you," Will decided.
So they headed to the other side of the school, where there were doors offering a passage from the building, but it wasn't facing the main street, so only kids whose families lived in those houses on that street came out that way.
"I just had a thought," Will said, as Horace had his helmet buckled on and was setting up his skateboard to jump onto the railing. "Are you doing this because you want to impress me?"
Horace looked away from him, sort of sheepishly. That was an answer in itself. As a tiny smile was turning his lips up he admitted, "That's a big part of it."
Will grinned. "You don't have to do that…"
"But I'm going to! So watch closely, and trust me!" It was obvious, by his body language and tone that he was getting ready to do the trick…
And now Will's heart was really on edge. How good was Horace… really? He had only learned these tricks recently; their school break had only lasted a couple weeks. And if Horace was just doing this to show off…
But Horace could decide for himself what he could and couldn't do. It was out of Will's hands now, he thought, as Horace skated forward. He might as well sit back, watch, and have confidence in his boyfriend.
Please let me live, Horace prayed. He jumped up, with his board under him. Please let me live…!
Will didn't know Horace had landed until he heard the skidding and squeaking of the board against the rail. And, when he did, he let a big grin slide over his face.
The landing was difficult, because he almost lost his balance, but he landed (not on his face).
"Awesome!" Will cheered. He gave him a round of applause. "That was really good!"
Horace looked over his shoulder and grinned. That was exactly the reaction he had been hoping for… and he felt surge of confidence fill him. "Thanks!" he called back. "I think I-" That confidence left him just as quickly as it came. Even though he had stopped well after the landing, when he looked back over his shoulder, he shifted his weight from the middle of the board to the back edge. So it rolled out from under him like someone had snatched it away, and left him to fall on his backside. Horace hissed in pain upon the impact.
"H-Horace!" Will exclaimed. He ran down the stairs to him, because he was concerned. But being concerned didn't mean that he couldn't laugh, and he was laughing. Hard.
When he kneeled down and put his hand on Horace's shoulder, he could barely talk. "Are… are you okay?" he gasped.
"I am, but it's a little hard to think you're genuine when you're laughing!" Horace exclaimed. And yet, he was laughing too.
14: First Kiss
Finally… Will's skill seemed to be coming back.
Ever since he had been captured and taken to Skandia, the Ranger apprentice hadn't had much time to practice Ranger things. Now that he was free and preparing himself for a battle, he was devoting every second of his time to getting his skill back up to where it was supposed to be.
Even though he had improved vastly since he first started recalling the information, once and a while, his arrow would slip down a few inches below the bullseye… and he would sigh, and redo that shot.
One day, someone saw it.
"You missed," said a voice. It didn't sound mocking to him, or disappointed. The quite opposite, actually.
Will turned his head to the side, and found that Horace was leaning against a tree and watching him with a kind smile. Will returned it instinctively.
"You look well," Horace said, walking closer. "Are you?"
"Yeah…" Will nodded. The nod wasn't just for Horace. It was also for himself. "Yeah, I'm better."
"Good."
"What do you need?"
"Oh, um…" Horace glanced away, at the target with the arrow stuck in it, just barely missing the bullseye mark. "I just… wanted to make sure of that. That you're okay. And that your practice is improving, which it is."
"Thanks, mom."
Horace rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he said. "I'm just…"
Will's smile faded. Maybe Horace was actually being serious.
Suddenly the knight threw his arms around his friend. "I just missed you," he whispered. Horace was several inches taller than Will, so when he talked, it was like he was talking into his hair.
"I…" Will felt something inside of him snap, with his nose pressed into Horace's bare neck and his arms around him. It wasn't anything bad, but it was like a release of emotions that Will didn't know he had been holding back. "I missed you too," he whispered back, and fell into the knight's arms.
"I said that before when you returned, but I don't think you understand."
Horace pulled away, which was disappointing. But when he did pull away, it was just so that he and Will could stare directly into each other's eyes. And Horace didn't have to say anything to let Will know what he realized while they were apart.
The knight had waited for too long. He promised himself over and over again, when Will was away, that when they were reunited he would make his move. Even if it destroyed their friendship, and Will thought he was a disgusting person.
"I…" he began, but no words flowed out. He had to force them. "I didn't know until you were gone, how much I… I lo-"
Will stopped him, by standing up taller and pressing their lips together. Horace didn't do anything… for about half a second. He was still in shock during that time, but as he realized what was happening, he pulled Will into him and kissed him harder.
There might've been someone standing a few meters away, staring at them for all they knew. They just had to trust that there wasn't, because if one of them stayed alert, that would take away from the moment. Or minute. Or however long they were there, just kissing and holding each other close… wondering how long it would be before they'd want to break away.
