Chapter Text
Sportacus and the kids stepped back to admire their newest snow creation.
“It looks amazing, you guys,” Sportacus said with pride, “You did a great job with those blueprints, Pixel!”
“Thanks!” Pixel said, grinning.
“Are you all clear on the plan?” Five cheers were his response, “Alright then. We have five minutes. Everyone to your stations!”
It was the thickest snowfall Lazy Town had experienced in a number of years. The snow had begun yesterday afternoon and had only just stopped early in the morning. Now, in the late afternoon sunshine, Robbie Rotten opened the hatch to his home and looked out. There had to be at least a foot of snow out there. The grey clouds that had covered the sky most of yesterday were gone, though the air was still cold. Robbie thought longingly of his warm armchair bellow him but climbed out of the hatch anyway. He had promised Sportacus he would meet him in front of town hall.
Stuffing his gloved hands into his jacket pockets, Robbie started forward into the snow. There wasn’t much that would get him to leave home on a day like this. Normally he would curl up with a mug of hot chocolate and relax. But Sportacus had almost begged him to come out and, well, how could someone say no to a pair of bright blue puppy dog eyes? Especial when the owner of said eyes could twitch his mustache in a way that made Robbie laugh every time.
Robbie snorted, shaking his head with a grin. This time last year he wouldn’t have said yes. He would have taunted Sportadork and stubbornly remained at home. But nowadays, he didn’t see the harm in coming out to play with the kids a few times a week. Some of the best times he and Sportacus had had together since they became… they had been teaching the kids new things. Robbie still dressed up sometimes to give the kids new ideas on how to play together, or just to see how long it took before his over-the-top acting inevitably made Sportacus crack up.
Granted, the past few months hadn’t been perfect; the kids could still be too loud, Robbie still ate too much junk food for Sportacus’ taste, Sportacus still ate too much sports candy—
“FRUITS AND VEGETABLES!” Robbie had cried once, “Say it with me! Fruits! And! Vegetables!”
“I know what they are, Robbie! But the kids will like them better if they think of them as candy!”
“But you don’t have to call them that when we’re alone!”
“I need to keep it a habit or I’ll slip up in front of them!”
“Oh for FUCK’S SAKE-- Don’t roll your eyes at me!”
— but honestly, Robbie would have been a nervous wreck if everything had gone too smoothly. He would have been endlessly waiting for the other shoe to drop. The way things were now, there were just enough disruptions in their harmony to set him at ease.
Robbie had been so lost in thought he hadn’t noticed how close he was to town hall. It was already apparent why Sportacus wanted to meet here.
On the lawn outside the hall was a fairly large igloo. It was wonderfully crafted; all the bricks of snow were layered evenly in a dome shape with a small opening at the top. The entrance was small, Robbie would have to crawl in, but it appeared structurally sound. He felt like kicking it like you would a car tire, just to see how sturdy it was, but he resisted. Didn’t want a crying child on his hands should he knock the whole thing down. Crying children were the Absolute Worst.
“Sportsnow?” He called at the igloo, “Are you hiding in there? Because hiding is my thing and you can’t steal it from me.”
How did the kids and Sportacus build this so silently? He walked around the igloo, making sure no children were about to jump out and pelt him with snowballs. When he was reasonably sure he was safe, Robbie ducked down and peeked into the igloo. The opening wasn’t big enough to give him a good view but he could make out a pair of blue snow boots.
He smirked, “Golly, whatever could be waiting inside?” he said, voice dripping with sarcasm. He heard a chuckle from inside. Robbie snorted and began crawling through the short tunnel.
Sure enough, there was Sportacus, sitting on the snowy floor with his back against the far wall. He was smiling up at Robbie, “Glad you could make it.”
Robbie put a hand to his forehead and continued speaking dramatically, “Good sir, am I meant to rescue you from your ice prison?”
“I think the rescuing can wait,” said the elf, much to Robbie’s confusion. Sportacus leaned to one side and called to the exit behind Robbie, “Okay, everyone! Go!”
There was a lot of noise behind Robbie suddenly, and he spun around. Several hands appeared to be stacking snow to block the way out. “Hey!” He knelt down again to crawl out but he wasn’t fast enough. In place of an entrance was now a solid wall of snow. Giggles could be heard from the other side, as well as the crunch of snow as small feet retreated.
“Don’t get mad,” Sportacus said behind him, “It was my idea.”
The igloo was high enough that Robbie only had to stoop slightly when standing. He did so now as he turned back to face Sportrap, hands on his hips, “Getting us stuck in here? That was your idea?”
“I figured it was my turn to capture someone,” Sportacus said brightly. While he certainly wasn’t wrong, Robbie was a little unnerved that he thought holding someone against their will was something to be done in turns. “And it’s just snow, it’s not like we couldn’t get out if we needed to.”
“That’s true…” Robbie was still waiting for an explanation but it seemed Sportacus was taking his time on that. He patted the ground next to him and, with a resigned sigh, Robbie sat beside him against the snow wall. It was then he noticed the two thermoses next to Sportacus. One blue and one purple. He also noticed how calm Sportacus seemed. Usually, even when he was sitting still, the elf was moving in some way. His leg would shake or he would drum his fingers against his arm.
Before he could ask, Sportacus held up the thermoses and spoke, “I have a surprise for you. Do you know what day it is?”
A spike of fear ran through Robbie and he turned the date over in his head. Was is Sportacus’ birthday? No they had celebrated that in the summer. Robbie’s birthday? No that wasn’t for a few months. It couldn’t be their one year anniversary because Stephanie and Trixie had marked that day on his calendar in glitter pen with lots of arrows and hearts.
“If it’s National ‘Trap Your Romantic Partner In An Igloo’ day, you can’t get mad at me for not knowing,” He finally said.
Sportacus laughed, “Good try but no. It’s our 6-month anniversary.”
Oh no, was that something couples usually celebrated? Was he horrible for not realizing?!
Robbie must have looked as horrified as he felt because the elf quickly went on, “I didn’t expect you to remember! I know it’s not a big deal to a lot of people. But you’re my first, well, everything, so I wanted to do something special.”
“Like trapping us in an igloo.”
“Well I didn’t think of that until last night.”
Robbie chuckled and shook his head, “You’re cute when you try and plan nefarious schemes.”
Sportacus turned pink, which Robbie had been aiming for. The elf cleared his throat, “A-anyway, I made you something.” He handed Robbie the purple thermos.
Robbie took it. He opened the top and sniffed the contents. “Hot chocolate?”
“Pixel looked up a recipe for the ‘Ultimate Hot Chocolate’. I made it last week for the kids to test and they swore you would like it. I hope they’re right.”
“You made this?”
“Yup!”
“You handled sugar just for me?” Robbie frowned, “Unless this is some healthy version or something.”
“No, that’s in here.” Sportacus held up the blue thermos.
Touched that the elf would risk cooking with sugar just to make him happy, Robbie took a small sip. ‘Ultimate’ was right. It was sweet, rich, and chocolaty. He took another mouthful and groaned.
“This is delicious!”
A breath of relief exited Sportacus when Robbie tried the hot chocolate. He had made it sound like no big deal but honestly, he had made the recipe four times before the children declared it perfect. It was so full of sugar and chocolate that Sportacus had been reluctant to even give it to Robbie at first. But Robbie had made him sugarless cake back when they were still just friends. Robbie, who went usually went pale at the word ‘sugarless’. If he could do something like that, so could Sportacus.
Smiling at his success, Sportacus unscrewed the top of his own thermos and took a sip. Wonderful, sugarless cocoa.
“So,” began Robbie after a moment.
“So,” Sportacus agreed. Robbie elbowed him.
“So this is your plan? Literally chill in an igloo and drink hot chocolate?”
“Well I was trying to think of a place we would both be comfortable relaxing. Just the two of us.”
That had been a problem they discovered early in their relationship. The bunker Robbie called home was too stuffy for Sportacus. He couldn’t flip around or move too much without knocking something over. The airship was too high for Robbie. Any time Sportacus had even been able to convince him to come up, Robbie had been too tense the whole time to properly relax. He had always demanded that Sportacus just land the thing but—
“It’s an AIR ship. It’s meant to be in the air.”
“If it wasn’t meant to land it wouldn’t have LANDING GEAR, SPORTASTUBBORN!”
“I need to be able to see the whole town. I need to protect everyone!”
“You can’t even take a break from being a hero for an hour? For ME?”
— Sportacus had objected strongly. Most of their time together was spent in town, either with the kids or just taking walks. It was hard to find a place they both enjoyed where they could be alone.
“And your first idea was ‘igloo’?”
“Not my first idea but I thought it was the best one. The kids promised to leave us alone while we’re in here and we get to enjoy some fresh air.” A pang of unease coursed through him, “Unless, are you too cold? Was this not a good idea? We can leave if you—”
“No no! It’s great! Just,” Robbie seemed to scan him up and down, “You’re… okay being in here?”
It took a beat for Sportacus to realize what Robbie meant. When it hit him, he felt something warm settle in his chest, completely separate from the hot beverage, “Oh! Yes, I’m fine in here. It’s plenty big and I had them leave that gap in the ceiling so we’re not completely surrounded. It helps that we’re not really stuck. We can leave when we want. We don’t have to, say, wait for someone to come by and pull a lever—”
“Okay you made your point.” The taller man scowled but the effect was countered by him leaning his head on Sportacus’ shoulder. With a cheeky grin, Sportacus wrapped an arm around Robbie. He always felt so loved when Robbie showed concern like that. Sportacus wasn’t used to being taken care of. It was nice to have someone he could depend on.
“If you need me to move so you can jog in a circle of something just let me know,” Robbie said, “I’m not even sure how you’ve been able to stay still this long.”
It was a mark of how used to each other they’d become that there wasn’t even a hint of mockery in Robbie voice. Sportacus again felt himself smile at his thoughtfulness.
“Actually, it turns out making igloos is exhausting work. Especially when you follow it up with pushups and squats. I’m pretty tired.”
“Never thought I’d see the day.” Robbie took a sip from his thermos, “How did you all make such a strong igloo? I love you but your crafting skills are atrocious.”
“The kids did most of the planning. I just put snow where they told me to.” He kissed the top of Robbie’s head, “But thank for the confidence.”
“Well you can’t be good at everything. That’s why I’m here.”
Sportacus snorted but didn’t answer. Instead he drank from his thermos and enjoyed his snuggle time with Robbie. They talked about a few things: what Robbie was working on, the big day of sledding the kids had planned for tomorrow, “What are you talking about, I’m definitely a better kisser than you”, “Prove it”, and a few other topics.
Finally, Robbie capped his thermos and put it down, “It probably goes against everything you hold dear but you have to make this hot chocolate again.”
Finishing his own drink, Sportacus sighed, “Well if you insist.” He was starting to get jittery. They had been in here for nearly an hour. As nice as it was to spent quiet time with Robbie, he couldn’t remember then last time he had sat this long. In such a small place.
He took a deep breath, It’s not small, he reminded himself, and you can leave whenever you like. Like now, in fact. Let’s leave now.
It was plain to see just how pent up Sportacus was. Robbie caught one look at his face as he put down the thermos and sat up, “Let’s leave.”
Sportacus turn to look at him, alarmed, “What?”
“You need to do a back flip or whatever and I need to unfreeze my butt.” He stood up and offered a hand to Sportacus, “Let’s go.”
A look of disappointment crossed the elf’s face, “I- I’m sorry Robbie.”
“It’s fine.”
“No it’s not,” He took the hand and stood up, “I should be able to sit and relax. Resting is good for you. Why can’t I do it?”
“Oh I don’t know, maybe because you’re a sports elf? It’s against your nature? Do you really need me to tell you this?”
Sportacus wasn’t looking at him, which annoyed Robbie. He was staring down at his boots, “Still. I’m sorry.”
They were still holding hands and Robbie now rubbed his thumb against Sportacus’ palm in what he hoped was a reassuring way. “If it really bothered me,” he said quietly, “we wouldn’t be celebrating our 6 month anniversary.”
Blue eyes met his, finally, and Sportacus said, “You’re sure?”
“Fuck yeah.”
There was the laugh Robbie loved. Best sound in the world. Sportacus leaned up and kissed him, smiling against his mouth.
They collected their thermoses and Sportacus led the way out of the igloo, breaking down the snow wall that blocked the exit. As soon as they were out, Sportacus did a few back flips. Robbie marveled at his ability to keep balance even in the snow. He shook his head and jogged after the jumpy blue blur, idly wondering what he could do for their one year anniversary that could top this.
“Careful not to break your neck. If I have to deal with these kids all by myself I’ll never— get away from me with those freezing hands of yours!”