Work Text:
“Atahmpfff”, Enjolras wasn’t able to finish his command, somebody from the Math department had hit him in the face with another snowball and he tumbled backward.
“Asshole.”, Courfeyrac muttered as he fired back, aiming straight for the guy's crotch. Nobody had ever said that this war would be fought fair.
*
Actually, nobody had ever explained anything about this fight.
Courfeyrac didn’t even know how it had begun, just that he had been on his way to the cafeteria with Enjolras for their lunch break when a black-haired guy had grabbed them by their arms and dragged them to the open field between the buildings of the Humanities and the Chemistry department. A very serious looking guy with a hideous pink bobble cap had handed them a small snowball each and had pointed at the group of students, who were standing about 50 meters away on the other side of the field.
“Our friends over there have started it.”, he had explained pointing at a small guy and a brunette girl next to him, who were talking to their own allies, both of them rather invested.
“And then Grantaire over there," he pointed at the guy, who had dragged them there and was busy collecting more students, "brought people to help us and then they brought more people. And now it’s Humanities, Law and Social Sciences against all of Medicine, Engineering, Chemistry and I am pretty sure I saw some guys from the Math Department."
He had shrugged and shook his head slightly what made the bobble on his hat jump.
"I don’t know, just we can’t lose. I have a betting pool on us winning. And also I am Bahorel, second in command.”
Bahorel held out his hand in an exaggerated gesture and Courfeyrac took it, shaking it enthusiastically.
Sure, he should have actually spent his lunch break with getting lunch, but that had sounded like much more fun. Enjolras, on the other hand, looked anything but convinced.
"Aren't we a bit too old, to play games like this?", he had asked and Bahorel had just opened up his mouth to answer him when hell had broken loose.
Right in that moment, the others had seemed to have arranged themselves and they had reopened the fire.
Out of reflex Courfeyrac had ducked behind Enjolras, who to be fair was much taller than him, and so he thankfully had managed to come out of the first attack without much damage. Enjolras had gotten the worst of it as it had seemed. He had ended up with small pieces of ice hanging in his blonde curls and a red face, be it from the cold or from anger.
*
And after that Enjolras, naturally, had taken the lead guiding them into battle. Their answering attack had left more than a handful of students from the other side soaked and shivering. Courfeyrac, who had been staying at his right side the whole time, high-fived him.
The others still cheered when their enemies started to form new snowballs in a rather panicked fashion. But then Courfeyrac noticed that somebody else had taken over the lead for the other team.
The small guy had run over to somebody coming out of the med-department. Courfeyrac saw him waving and explaining in a rather exaggerated fashion. And then the other guy nodded and hurried back into the building, just to come back not much later with a determined frown on his face. And he was just as ready as Enjolras to shout out orders.
Courfeyrac should have been attentive on what the other side was planning, but his mind was terribly preoccupied because now that he could see the guy from closer, the snowballs that kept hitting him in the chest were his smallest problem.
The guy was gorgeous, he was tall with a studious look that was toeing the line between sexy and ridiculous. Courfeyrac wasn't one to judge, he hadn't seen enough of the guy, but damn he wanted to.
Another snowball hit him, this time in the head.
"Hey Curly, how about you stop staring?", the brunette girl from the enemy's side shouted at him. Of course, their leader turned around and noticed Courfeyrac staring. It would be pretty much debatable which one of the two of them was blushing more heavily. Because of the cold that was. Of course.
Courfeyrac pulled himself together, winked at the leader and hurried back to Enjolras, who was now debating with the black-haired guy and Bahorel, about what to do.
"I don't know, this is serious you guys. They are getting better since that new guy is there. I didn't even know Joly and Éponine knew such a cool person."
"Well, not everybody is such a loser as you are R.", Bahorel nudged his friend.
"Yeah, we have to take out their leader and then we can attack again.", Enjolras agreed.
Then he turned to Courfeyrac, fixing him with a frown.
"You think, you could do that?"
"What? Why me?"
"Because you are sneaky and also useless in battle. Take a detour over the Biology building, come out of the Math building, sneak up on him..."
"And then finish him." The black-haired guy interrupted.
"Ah yes, I was just about to say that...?", Enjolras looked at him expectantly.
"Grantaire, I'm Grantaire.", the guy smirked back at him. "Thanks, that's good to know.", there was something like a glint of attraction in Enjolras' eyes, but he pulled himself together fast.
"Shut up, Grantaire.", he added way too late.
Grantaire only snickered and hurried off, to tell the others about their plan.
Apparently, Enjolras' regime was more like a tyranny, because Courfeyrac had no choice than to follow his order and so he sneaked away to the Biology building.
*
It seemed like nobody had noticed his departure and as he sneaked up on the other group they were busy throwing badly aimed snowballs back at his friends. He found their leader easily enough he was standing at the back, overlooking the events. That was the difference between him and Enjolras, who was fighting next to Grantaire, at the front.
From up close the guy was even more handsome and Courfeyrac had to swallow. Could you ask somebody out, whom you had shoved into the snow earlier?
He was about to find out.
The guy didn't notice him, shouting something about a hole in their left wing and Courfeyrac grabbed some snow making a hilariously big snowball.
Closer.
Closer.
One more step.
Well, the situation would be much nicer if the guy would turn around and kiss him, Courfeyrac imagined shortly. Maybe one day... But he had a mission! He couldn't let Enjolras down!
So he took a last breath, stood up to his tiptoes and shoved all of the snow into the guys face.
Well, the shouting stopped at an instance, but Courfeyrac hadn't counted on the guy to wrestle him to the ground shoving a handful snow into his face as well.
"Did you really think I wouldn't notice that you were gone?", he asked, holding Courfeyrac down with one hand and sweeping away some melting snow from his own face. He was grinning and damn was Courfeyrac gone.
He could faintly hear Enjolras shout for his students to attack once more and he heard the trampling on way too many enthusiastic 20-something-year-olds.
He tried to wriggle out of the man's grasp, but he had him pinned to the ground.
It was only when Éponine shouted something, that the guy let down his guard and Courfeyrac was able to get free and shove the man face-forward into a pile of snow.
He came out of this, sputtering, with snow covering his hat and before he even managed to counter the attack, Courfeyrac took a handful of snow and shoved it into the front of his jacket. The guy jumped and let out an undignified squeak.
"Fuck that's cold!"
And then he was back at him.
*
It wasn't for several minutes later, when a shout made both of them stop in their game of shoving each other in the snow. It was only a bit unfortunate, that they froze right in that moment when Courfeyrac was more or less sitting on the other man's lap, a snowball just centimeters away from his face.
The scene in front of them was surreal, to say the least. And it made Courfeyrac what he had missed in the last few minutes. Apparently, the Éponine had taken over the lead of the other side once more and now she had Enjolras facing a group of grumpy looking students, ready to hit him with their snowballs.
Enjolras, being the man he was, was facing them with an expression of utmost pride.
"Guys get ready. In three, two..."
"Wait!", Grantaire had stepped between them.
"It's my fault, I was their leader before. I am one of them! Shoot me with him."
He looked at Enjolras, holding out his hand.
Enjolras took it with a small smile.
The girl only rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, whatever. Come on guys shoot them, aim for the face!"
Courfeyrac heard a snort from below, which startled him. A shit, he was still sitting on the other man's lap. Awkwardly he got up.
"So I guess the war is over?", he asked, holding out his hand to help the other one up.
"I think so.", the man mused.
"Well, since you are no longer my enemy, how about some coffee?"
He smiled at Courfeyrac, who couldn't help but roll his eyes affectionately.
"That sounds great. I am Courfeyrac and I am sorry for trying to smother with snow, it was for a higher cause.", he winked and the man let out a barking laugh.
"Good to know, that you take your snowball fights seriously Courfeyrac. I am Combeferre."