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Of course, it made perfect sense in the world of hallmark movies and hot chocolates by the fire.
The worst storm of the year.
On christmas eve.
Ren had company over; Etho twerking to Ariana Grande, BigB laughing along while sipping on a CapriSun, Impulse with a hand on the stereo, occasionally switching the music before setting it back to the Taylor-Ariana mix they had going. But those three were long gone. Impulse was the first, saying something about getting sleep and not wanting to be snowed in. Next, BigB had stumbled out to his car after many offers to sleep there for the night, and he was gone. Etho stayed collapsed in a chair, finally getting up in a horrific frenzy to get back to his base after Martyn had made an awkward comment about Doritos melting in the rain.
Martyn, of course, stayed. He always stayed when there was nobody else around, always finding some sort of excuse about his house being too far away to drive home now, and, in tonight’s case, the excuse was the dark, shadowing clouds outside, and the light rain only now beginning to drizzle the silent cabin.
It only began to rain too bad later in the evening, though. Martyn was reading a book he had borrowed from Scar about the true art of terraforming, and Ren was aimlessly pacing, waiting for water to boil so he could make hot chocolate. It was only 10 by now, and while Ren normally would’ve been quick to go to sleep on a casual night, he couldn’t bear to leave Martyn alone in case something were to happen. He only worried about this with Martyn, though; he would never wake Ren if he felt he could handle it on his own, whereas BigB or Impulse would wake him if there was an issue.
He was grabbing a few quilts from the hall closet to put on the guest bed for the night when the lights began to flicker. Damn it, he thought, wishing he’d payed more attention to the pouring rain and small balls of ice floating down and crashing into the gravel outside.
“Ren?” Martyn called, his voice higher and airier than it had been at the party, the lights finally shutting off for good as Ren heard the heat shut off.
Quietly, he grabbed a few flashlights from the closet as he rushed back to the living room. With a click, the room illuminated slightly as Ren’s flashlight turned on. He quickly handed Martyn a flashlight before making his way to the couch, offering up a blanket decorated with various woodland animals, which took a slight giggle from Martyn before either man spoke.
“Here.” Ren said, gesturing to the blanket the blonde was unfolding. “You okay?”
Martyn nodded before opening his big ass mouth to speak. “So.. right now we just wait it out?”
Smiling weakly, Ren agreed with beckoning silence, urging anyone to say anything, yet Ren only adjusted his blanket, setting a willing hand next to Martyn’s before leaning in to read a bit of his book. To be honest, it wasn’t that interesting. Just block gradients, but Martyn clearly liked it, and it was enough for Ren.
“Anyway,” He began, retracting his hand after a few seconds, getting up to bask in the receding heat. “Whaddouyu wanna do, man?”
Snapping his head up, Martyn’s face brightened, switching from a stressful concentrated face to an open-to-whatever type smile, his mouth lifting at the corners but not so much so as to act as if enjoying the power outage. “Can we make the hot chocolate?”
“Yup.” Ren said, smiling a bit as Martyn draped his blanket over his shoulders, looking somewhat of royalty and somewhat tired. “Hey, man, if you’re cold, I’ve got some more blankets in the closet, okay dude?”
“Yeah, thanks Ren,” He continued, the words pausing on his tongue as if there were more words on the tip of falling into the room, yet not enough to spill over and penetrate the impossible silence the both of them seemed to be struggling with.
They sat in silence before Ren came to and began to add to the water, emerging quickly from the stove with a mug filled with liquid, barely steaming in the cool air beginning to follow them into the house.
“Now, listen,” Ren began, to which Martyn let out a accepting sigh, sending Ren into a frenzy of thoughts, the only prominent one urging him to continue. “I’ll be honest, my dude, I dunno how long this is gonna last for.”
He paused here, studying the other man’s face for signs of reciprocation before moving on. “The power could, y’know, come back on right now! Or in the next 10 minutes, or the next 30, or an hour, or a few, y’know, dude? So, uhm.” Another slight pause as he stared intently at Martyn’s hair, trying to distract himself from the eye contact. “Uhm.” Clearing his throat, he put a hand on his forehead, trying to wipe away his symptoms of minimal exhaustion. “We- we’re gonna be stuck here a while, basically, man.”
Martyn wasn’t letting his positivity slip, though. He continued smiling, putting a hand on Ren’s, and instead pulling it away from his face, finally getting through to some eye contact with his host. “Well, there’s plenty to do, right? Why not light a few candles, Ren? Get some light?”
It was as if Martyn could read his frustration, but he decided not to voice his gratitude, afraid of admitting the shorter man was right.
A minute later, Ren had dug a lighter out of his cabinet, and with a sigh and a quick mumble about disorganization, he began to pull out dusty candles from a bin in the closet.
When the flame lit up the quickly chilling room, the only thing Ren could see through the clouding darkness was Martyn’s calming face, and suddenly he knew that he was glad to have him here on the supposedly happy night.
“You up for a game of Jenga, dude?” Ren said, trying to appear optimistic even with the goosebumps appearing on his arms beside a few ransom scars trying to escape the cold although they didn’t know anything compared to the man holding them.
“Yeah, sure,” Martyn said, leaving off the conversation for later as the men wandered the hallways before pulling out the game and taking it to the kitchen, setting down piece after piece in desperate silence as both regret and pride filled the room. Martyn’s regret for not leaving, but his pride that he had somehow saved Ren by being here. Ren’s regret for keeping Martyn, but his pride that finally, somehow, he had convinced someone to stay.
As the sound of rain against the window began to dull, Ren slid out the first piece, finding within it that all the bouncing doubts in his mind had settled; this was fine. This was good. This was all he had. Martyn was all he had.
“I’m totally going to beat you at this, by the way.” Martyn said, smirking as he pulled the middle piece from the very bottom, trying to show off as he placed it on the top strategically.
“Oh no, Martyn, I’m afraid you’re wrong.” Ren answered, pulling another piece, this time from the top as Martyn watched from his window of comfort.
“You sure?” The blond bargained, pulling another piece, this time from the dead center, and Ren met his eyes as the tower shook slightly. Chuckling to himself, Ren pulled another piece from the top, obviously upsetting Martyn with his inability to take any sort of risk.
Martyn, ever the challenger, pulled a side piece from the bottom, placing it on top.
Ren, still smirking, pulled out the other side.
This frantic banter between competition and comfort encased them, at least for the time being, until it was the 15th or 20th turn, and both men struggled to find any place to pull from.
“Having trouble?” Ren swooned, mocking Martyn as he pulled one of the last remaining pieces to begin a new row with.
Laughing, he pulled a piece from the top as the tower wobbled, reliant on the (lack of) support the two dudes had provided it with.
“God, you think you’re all that, don’t yo-” Martyn said, pulling a piece from the middle, then cutting himself off as the top half of the tower swinge slightly to one side, leaning in and then promptly collapsing.
Laughter erupted from the FUCKING DOGBOY as Martyn feigned a dramatic death, falling over while clutching a hand to his chest.
It was definitely a way to keep warm as the house cooled without the heater on.
To Ren’s surprise, he could no longer hear the faint pitter patter of rain on the roof. Looking back at Martyn, he suppressed another laugh and headed to the window.
Small, glittering flakes shuffled down outside the protective glass. Ren smiled. “Martyn, dude, come over here!”
The shorter man pulled himself, coming to stare at the window as the frozen ice fell down to the grass littered with white already, and Martyn’s hand found Ren’s as they watched the rain turn to snow in the cold. Martyn’s hand was cold and clammy to the touch, even as Ren ran his thumb along its surface, trying to be a good host even with the conditions.
“You good?” He asked, even though he knew what Martyn’s answer would be.
“Yeah, why?”
“You’re cold, dude.” He wasn’t going to pretend Martyn wasn’t; he was going to be honest to help his friends. “Do you want another blanket maybe? I’ve got plenty in the closet.”
Martyn nodded hesitantly, his face softening as Ren put an arm around his shoulder, guiding him to the closet as he found him a woolen blanket. Ren knew where he got this one- on Christmas a few years prior for a secret santa the hermits had done before their annual Christmas party.
Unfolding it lightly, Martyn pulled the blanket around himself (yes, on top of the other one, he’s just special like that), leaning into Ren while smiling lightly, offering up hope and protection like cards of a deck. “What other games have you got, Ren?”
Biting his lip, Ren walked to the cabinet, pulling out Sorry and Life and Candy Land. In the summer, he had thought about throwing away the games; but now he was happy he had kept them. Sitting on the ground in the kitchen, Ren grabbed a blanket, pulling it around himself to match Martyn, but the man was already lost in the setup of Life he didn’t notice.
The spinner made click-click-click sounds as it spun, the noise filling the air during the quiet parts, and being drowned out when they were talking loudly, openly. At some points they were silent; then one would whisper something funny, and they would both laugh; and then their voices would grow louder until laughter and conversations filled the room, until one would point outside at the piling snow, and they would go silent at the fact that nobody could really get out at this point to shovel, or drive, and much less fix the powerlines.
Then the energy and volume of the room would rise back up, suffocating the room as the players on the board moved on.
Giggles erupted as they reached the marriage squares, though, so much so that they just kept laughing, over and over again seemingly endlessly. And, honestly, it was a way to live.
Their fingers interlocked in silent sympathy, occasionally breaking to grab a sip of hot chocolate or to move a piece. Their conversation lapsed, little jokes and games continuing on. Their temperatures dropping slowly, and without recognition, until they moved in closer as they counted points and money to end the game (Martyn won).
Pulling out Sorry, Ren began to worry again about Martyn. It was particularly cold without the power heater, and he only had few blankets. It was as if the goosebumps riddling both their arms were calling, asking to be let in, but the dogboy ignored the cold, scooting forward towards Martyn by half an inch.
Their heads bumped as Ren ducked in to get his 4th card of the game without a 1 or 2. Martyn was thriving, though- he had already taken 2 tokens out of his home space.
Conversation had dulled since they began, the two resorting to slight nudges and giggles from time to time as they pulled cards. Ren finally pulled out a two, and with an exclamation of praise (both to himself and to the game) the silence settled back in.
“Hey, dude?” Ren asked halfway through Martyn’s turn, the blonde’s head shooting up so they could meet eyes. “You’re still good, right? Because- because it’s going to be okay, dude? Yeah?”
Wavering blue eyes met his as the other man nodded slowly, “I’m- Ren, I swear, I’d tell you if I needed anything.”
“Swear?”
“Swear.”
“Now I’m going to beat you at this damn game, dude.”
Quiet conversations drifted back and forth until Martyn won Sorry and they moved on to Candy Land, which, consequently, they separated slowly. It wasn’t purposeful nor motivated, but they just sort of… fell away from each other.
Shivering, Martyn drew a Princess Lolly, dragging him to the lead. Ren laughed it off, silently wishing he could say more as the night grew colder and colder, and, glancing at his watch , it was 11:30.
What a way to spend Christmas eve, all locked up inside, covered with blankets, surrounded by those he loved. I mean, sure, it was quite possibly one of the worst Christmases so far, but it still somehow appeared itself well.
Ren was still stuck behind at one of many bridges, trying to continue playing normally despite all the tired-cold hints Martyn was dropping, but when Martyn dropped a card, he decided it was time to step in.
“Martyn- Dude, you’ve gotta go to bed. You look all tired and cold and stuff, man.”
“I know.” He said drowsily, pulled his head into his palms. “I just.. I don’t wanna leave you alone, y’know?”
Guilt sinks into his chest. Martyn staying up to keep him company? He should’ve guessed.
“Martyn, you’ve seriously got to get some sleep, dude. Or at least another blanket. C’mon, you’re cold,” He said, grabbing Martyn’s hand to prove his point.
“Like you’re not.” Martyn snapped back. “This whole time, it’s always been, Martyn, want another blanket? Martyn, aren’t you cold? But you’re going to freeze too and it’s fuckin-”
Warmth seeped into Ren’s chest as he wrapped his arms around the shorter man, as he felt soft hands on his back and Martyn’s breath in his ear.
“Now go to fucking sleep, dude.” Ren said, pausing, as Martyn looked up at him.
“Ren, y’know, it’d be warmer if… y’know.” He said, an amused expression beginning to dance around Ren’s features as he tried to swat it off.
“What?” Ren asked, still with a hand placed carefully on Martyn’s upper arm, his thumb moving in slow circles to warm the man.
“Well, it’s gonna be cold if we separate now.” Martyn half-whispered quickly, ducking his head beneath his knees.
“Oh.” Ren said slightly tastefully, enough to egg Martyn on but not with too much enthusiasm. He often chose his words like this, stepping around the possible minefields, knowing Martyn wouldn’t outwardly care, but he knew the blonde took things personally sometimes.
Silently, he let the shorter man lead him to the guest room, and they fell into bed awkwardly, trying to be separate while still staying perfectly together.
They lay there, spread out, hands enclosed in one another, for a few minutes before Martyn rolled over to face Ren as he inched closer.
They were still about 10 inches apart when Ren looped an arm around Martyn’s waist, the small man squirming within his touch. Almost fatefully, Ren tugged on his waist, pulling Martyn closer so his waist was but 2 inches from Ren’s. THeir breaths faded into one for a second before Martyn took a hand to cup Ren’s face. His thumb eagerly bounced across Ren’s cheeks, dragging down to his mouth before it lay to rest on Ren’s chest. His other hand found residence in Ren’s hair, trying to decide whether to cup his neck or play with his hair. Ren’s grip on his waist tightened, his other hand finding the man’s back as they lay there, and for all Ren knew, this could be the end of the world and he would willingly accept if this was all he got.
“Are you warm enough yet, dude?” He asked, shoving his voice down to a hushed whisper as he choked out the end of the sentence, barely able to hear himself over his and Martyn’s heartbeats.
Martyn nodded, his blue eyes shining brighter than everything else in the room. Humming, Ren’s hand wandered upwards off of his waist, making eye contact with Martyn as his hand skittered along his chest, and then back down, his finger slipping under Martyn’s waistband before coming to rest back on his waist.
Suddenly they were even closer, their chests touching as they still managed to keep eye contact, their bottom halves now touching as their faces drew closer like a harsh mumble, their lips but a few measly inches apart, Martyn’s hand on his chest moving upwards into his collarbone ad lower neck, the other one still embedded in Ren’s hair.
For a second their legs parted, and then they twisted within each other, their bodies combining as if one warm snuggly person trying to stay warm, and Martyn smiled as Ren leaned in, their faces perfectly aligned, and gave Martyn a small kiss on the forehead, letting out a small giggle as his body pulled even closer into the man, finally becoming comfortable as he fell asleep in the arms of the man he loved.
—--------------
He woke up to the sound of the heater starting. It must’ve been at least a few hours of sleep before the fix. Looking at his watch, it was 9:35. So, yeah, a ‘few’ hours.
Martyn stirred beside him, and Ren realized they were still tangled up in each other, so he waited until Martyn awoke to begin moving.
Upon waking, Martyn smiled and pressed a kiss to Ren’s chest, his lips soft and peppery against Ren’s rough skin. Ren beamed at that, and, quickly, pulled Martyn back in again as the shorter man pushed his head into Ren’s chest, the feeling warm and very much miraculous as he patted the blonde on the back.
It was a christmas miracle, of course, that they had stolen their own piece of time, and that the heat had finally come back on, of course.
Laying there in Martyn’s arms, Ren couldn’t think of a better way to spend the season.