Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters used, the world of Harry Potter and everything involved with it belongs to JK Rowling.
Hogwarts - Assignment 11: Health & Fitness: Yoga - Task #5 Tree Pose: Write a fic set entirely outdoors.
Summary: James tries to impress Regulus by showing off his survival skills, it's a shame that he doesn't really have any.
"You know, I'm really starting to regret this whole adventure thing you spun my way, this is a bloody disaster Potter," Regulus muttered into the darkness. His words were muffled as he pressed his face deeper into the thick woollen scarf he'd secured around his neck.
"It's not that bad Reggie, come on, you can't tell me you haven't had fun," James gritted out, his jaw tense as he tried to stop his teeth from chattering.
"You had the wrong bloody map and we ended up wading through a freezing cold river." The words were harsh, yet not unwarranted. The whole day had been exhausting and all Regulus wished for was to be back at home, tucked up in bed with a pile of blankets and a scolding mug of hot chocolate. "Now we're stuck here, in the freezing bloody cold, sopping wet and lacking anything of use."
"I can fix that," James mumbled, the words unheard over the howling wind. Struggling into a standing position, he began to swing his arms in circles, slowly shifting the stiffness that plagued the frozen limbs.
"So you're going to miraculously make us dry, reclaim our tents that were swept away and somehow make it stop being so bloody cold? Be my guest James," with a disregarding wave of the hand, Regulus refocused his attention on trying to stay as still as possible, attempting to maintain the lingering shreds of body heat he had left.
"I mean, I don't control the weather...and I can't get the tents back," he paused in thought, his exhausted brain struggling to find any way that he could help the situation. "I suppose I could try and start a fire though."
With that he was off, shuffling his way off the steep river bank and edging into the looming woods beyond them. All he needed was some twigs and leaves, some kind of kindling, and he could at least try to fix the mess he had lumped them into.
So much for attempting to impress Regulus with his wilderness survival skills.
~oOo~
Regulus tried to maintain his composure, his lips twitching as he struggled to stop the cackling laugh he desperately held back from escaping. His grey eyes were completely focused upon the man in front of him, and his truly abysmal attempts at creating even the vaguest semblance of a fire.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck!," Annoyance swarmed the words as James' frozen fingers struggled to maintain their grip on the flint he had scavenged from the deepest pocket of his trousers. With every strike of the flint his grip slipped and his fingers fumbled, the added pressure of Regulus' intense gaze did nothing to help the matter, if anything, it gave him some kind of severe performance anxiety.
"Maybe it will respond better to kind words, as opposed to you cursing at it repeatedly," the sarcastic drawl did nothing to help James, as he battled with the childish want to stick his tongue out at the teasing man opposite him.
With one last flustered growl, he struck the flint and the tiny embers caught alight. Relief swarmed his body as he huddled over the small flame, nurturing it with the scarce amount of leaves and twigs he had collected, praying that a giant gust of wind wouldn't wipe out the hard-fought progress he had made.
A slow clap from Regulus had him looking up from the burning embers, swiping at the unruly curls that obscured his vision. He tried not to show how relieved he was that he'd managed to create a small flame, but he knew his grin was a little too wide given the circumstances.
"Congratulations, cave man made fire," despite the biting words themselves, there was nothing but warmth and relief in Regulus' voice, and as he huddled closer to the open flames James realised the younger man must have been freezing as he watched the almost futile attempts at survival.
"Well, I always try and aim to please Reggie boy," the swagger was back as he sauntered over to Regulus, sitting just close enough for it to be considered a slightly more than friendly distance.
The pair of them gazed into the fire, the flames growing gradually larger, steadier as they finally felt warm for the first time in hours. It was like sinking into a scalding hot bath after a long day, the rushing heat warming their bones and finally allowing them to relax, to take in the scenery around them. A rushing river that had almost swept them out earlier that day, after James had tripped on some rocks, unfortunately their tents had been lost as Regulus struggled to haul him upright and out of the fast flowing current.
If it had been any other day, if they hadn't already both almost died from drowning and then hypothermia, Regulus supposed the location could have possibly been considered romantic. Except now all it held was memories of him almost freezing his arse off in soggy trousers while watching James prat about with some twigs like a blithering idiot.
~oOo~
The hooting of an owl deep within the words was what finally broke the tranquil silence between the pair. James jumped, reflexively extending an arm towards Regulus in an involuntary move of protection. Regulus just buried his face deeper into his scarf and prayed that it would all be over soon. As soon as day broke, they were heading back home, he wasn't staying outside for one more night.
"Just an owl," James murmured reassuringly, shrugging back into an almost stationary position beside Regulus, whose only response was the arch of one finely groomed eyebrow, plucked to perfection.
"The fire is going out," Regulus noted, both of them shifting in place as they scanned the surrounding area for any wood, yet there was nothing. It was much too dark for either of them to go wandering into the woods now, all traces of lingering daylight had vanished some time ago, and it was back to them and the bitter chill of the night.
~oOo~
The chattering of their teeth was all that could be heard over the gentle rushing of the river. No matter how deep they buried inside of their clothing, it wasn't enough to ward off the biting cold that nipped at their noses.
"I think we're going d-die out here," James spat the words out like acid on his tongue.
"D-don't be s-silly P-Potter. I'm f-far too superior to die out here," Regulus struggled to smirk as he spoke for the first time in hours.
"Fuck it, I'm going to d-do something y-you're going to hate," the mumbled words barely registered in Regulus' mind, the cold having made his thoughts turn foggy as he continued to struggle to stay awake.
"B-but, this might b-be the only option left," James paused, glancing at Regulus and noticing the pale blue lips,before nodding resolutely.
He shuffled closer until they were touching, turning to envelope Reg within his arms, the combined body heat between them doing little to warm them up through the layers of clothes. James knew that the quickest way to warm them both up was through skin to skin contact, but that seemed a bit presumptuous of him to initiate. Although, he supposed that if he left it too long to do anything Reg probably wouldn't make it through the night if the temperature continued to drop.
"I r-really hope me saving your l-life, c-cancels out how m-much you're going to hate me for this,"
"Why are you c-cuddling me?"
"Not cuddling, h-huddling. You know, for warmth." His cheeks somehow managed to still blush red, even in the biting cold.
"F-for warmth my arse, just d-don't get too excited while you're subtly t-trying to cop a feel there Potter."
"Oh p-piss off Regulus, I'm s-saving your life here!"
"Is that what they c-call it these days? S-saving lives?"
"Blimey you're impossible!"
"Yeah, b-but you love how impossible I am," Regulus bit back, unable to stop himself from burrowing further into James' embrace.
"Of c-course I bloody love you, why else would I try to impress you with a relaxing weekend away?" James was flustered. He hadnt meant to let his feelings slip like that, but he just couldn't contain them any longer. He blamed the warmth of Regulus' breath against his neck, it was very distracting.
"Perhaps next time you should just book a h-hotel, I'm rather partial to a hot tub too." Regulus grinned slightly, the first happy emotion he'd felt all day as he placed a chaste kiss against James' throat, the only place he could reach without moving from his cocoon.
"S-so, if I asked you on another date, you'd say yes then?"
"Provided it d-doesn't involve the outdoors, I'd happily say yes."
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