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Norton stepped outside of his room quietly, making sure to shut his door carefully before taking off to a certain mercenary’s room. He knew everyone would be sleeping, and took this as the perfect chance to have some fun with the only person he could stand to be around in the manor.
He opened Naib’s door and stood at the doorway for a minute, admiring how peaceful the mercenary looked sleeping before deciding it was time to shake him awake and ruin his delicate slumber.
“Naib… Wake up,” Norton said quietly, not wanting to wake up anyone else but Naib.
The smaller man opened his eyes slowly before realizing what woke him up. He immediately sat up and gave Norton the stink eye, quite annoyed to be awoken by the prospector.
“What do you want Campbell?” he groaned, reaching for the ponytail he left on his nightstand and fixing up his hair.
“It’s snowing outside in the garden, I’ve never seen snow before and I want you to come with me,” Norton said, not hiding the excitement in his voice.
Naib got up off his bed and walked towards his closet, putting on an old heavy winter coat that probably hadn’t been used by him since before he came to the manor. “Is there any reason as to why you want me in specifics to come with you, Campbell?” Naib asked, looking up at Norton as he zipped up his jacket.
There was a specific reason, but Naib didn’t need to know that yet. Norton shook his head, “I just didn’t wanna go alone and I’d feel bad if I woke up Emma this late.”
“So you’ll feel bad if you wake up Emma but you’re perfectly fine with waking me up?” Naib frowned, playfully punching Norton in the arm.
Norton gave the mercenary a grin, “Absolutely. Plus I know you enjoy my company so I’m just giving you more chances to hang out with me.”
Naib scoffed as they quietly made their way into the hallway, “You’re the only person I hate being around in this whole manor. Don’t get it twisted, Campbell.”
The prospector just gave him a gleaming smile, linking their arms together as they tiptoed their way to the door to the garden. Norton put his hand on the door handle, hesitating before opening it. “Is there a problem?” Naib asked, looking up at Norton’s flustered face.
“No. Sorry. I just got lost in thought for a second. Are you ready?” Norton looked back down at Naib, staring into his gleaming blue eyes.
“I don’t care for snow, I’ve already seen it a bunch of times. Just open the door or I’ll do it for you,” Naib snorted, getting inpatient as he was still tired and desperately longing to go back to the warmth of his bed.
Norton opened the door slowly, stepping onto the patio. His eyes widened and a small “O” formed on his mouth as he let go of Naib’s arm to stick his hand out and watch snowflakes fall and melt onto his hands. Naib stared at the taller man, a bit amused since Norton rarely let his guard down around anyone and seemed to be enjoying himself for once.
When Norton first came to the manor he refused to speak to anyone. Any interaction Naib had with him only seemed to piss off the prospector so he kept his distance until the incident happened. Naib smiled a bit, thinking about how Norton slowly opened up to him after that day.
“Subedar, are you even listening to me?“ Norton glared down at the smaller man, a snowball in his hand ready to fire at the mercenary.
Naib snapped back into reality and nodded his head. “Sorry, I just got lost in thought. What is it?”
Norton hesitated, looking away from Naib and up at the night sky. Snowflakes were starting to pile on top of his head and he looked like he was starting to grow grey hair, which made Naib laugh. “What are you laughing at?” Norton frowned.
Naib shook his head and shrugged. “Nothing, is there a problem, Campbell?” he tugged on Norton’s coat collar, trying to make the taller stay focused on him.
“It’s so cold, but I like the feel of it. The snow in Leo’s doesn’t feel like this snow. This snow feels real almost..” Norton trailed off, looking down at Naib and letting out a soft sigh.
The mercenary could definitely tell something else was going on with Norton and he didn’t want Naib to come see the snow with him just for the hell of it. “Is there something on your mind?” He pried again, looking back at Norton and admiring the scar that covered half of his face. It kind of made the prospector look cute, but Naib would never say that out loud. He’d be long dead in his grave before ever letting those words slip through his mouth.
“Do you ever wonder what would happen if we were released from this place? Do you think all of us would go our separate ways and pretend being put into these stupid games over and over again never happened? Do you think any of us would try to stay in contact with each other?” Norton said suddenly.
Naib blinked, processing what Norton said before opening his mouth slowly and then closing again. He frowned, thinking about what his answer would be. What would he do if he was released from the manor? He had no idea if his mother was still alive and he wouldn’t be able to start up the career path he was on before he came to the manor again. “I think I’d be homeless, Campbell,” he finally replied.
The prospector let out a small laugh and shook his head. “I wouldn’t let you be homeless. Actually think about it for a second though, Subedar. If you had the chance to be free of this place would you still make an effort to stay in contact with the people you met while living here?”
Naib was a bit taken aback by Norton’s persuasion to answer his question. He looked away, staring at a leaf on a bush that was about to fall off because of the pressure of the snow on top of it.
“It depends on who I would want to keep in contact with. None of the people here have formed close relationships with me for me to want to continue being in their lives if I didn’t have the choice to anymore. I think continuously interacting with people I met in a bad environment would give me PTSD from the things that I have been through while staying here, so I would likely want to cut contact off with everyone,” he finally said.
Norton looked a little hurt from Naib’s answer but the look of defeat was quickly replaced by a small smile on his face. “You wouldn’t even try to talk to me still? I thought I was your favorite,” he teased, trying to hide the pain in his voice which would’ve been successful had Naib not been standing not even two inches away from him.
“Campbell, if you have something to tell me then just say it. Stop asking me questions about impossible possibilities because it won’t help you get an answer for your actual question. You’re always upfront about things, why are you being like this? Are you forgetting I can read you like a book? Your teasing isn’t fooling me,” Naib snapped, glaring up at Norton.
The prospector looked taken aback by Naib’s sharp reply, his eyes widening before breaking eye contact and shoving his hands in his pockets. They were silent for a minute, the only sound that could be heard was the wind pushing around the snowflakes that were falling from the sky.
“I’m sorry,” Norton finally said quietly, letting a soft sigh out.
Naib immediately felt remorseful and cursed himself for being a bit harsh on the taller man, as he knew that he was the only one Norton could relatively stand to be around if it wasn’t Emma. “I just want you to tell me what’s on your mind. I know you didn’t want me to come out here with you just because it’s your first time seeing actual snow, I know you wanted to make seeing snow a special moment, what are you waiting for, Campbell?” Naib whispered.
Norton looked down at Naib and bent his head down, pressing his forehead against the other’s. “You drive me crazy, Subedar. I can’t ever stop thinking about you and wanting to get to know you better. You hurt me terribly whenever you seem to not be interested in my company but I can’t stand not being around you so I just put up with it. What scares me the most is that I don’t even think you feel the same way about me,” he confessed.
Naib’s cheeks flushed red and he bit his bottom lip that was starting to become chapped from the cold air. He was too stunned to respond, his heart racing in excitement and surprise. “Norton..” he smiled softly before cupping the prospector’s face with his hands.
They stared at each other, both too afraid to make another move. Norton cleared his throat before leaning closer to Naib and slowly kissing him on the lips. A soft sigh escaped Naib’s mouth as he melted into the kiss, rubbing Norton’s cheek with his thumb.
“I’m tired of pretending I hate you, Subedar. You’re the only thing on my mind when I sleep at night and I can’t go another day without letting you know how I feel about you,” Norton said after they broke apart.
“I really wish you would’ve told me this a lot sooner because I’ve been getting tired of it too, Campbell. Is this why you wanted me to come out with you in the snow?” Naib asked.
Norton smiled and nodded. “Just one more thing,” he said.
Naib tilted his head in confusion before being met with a snowball thrown at his face. He froze, spitting out snow from his mouth before glaring at Norton. “Oh you’re in for it now, you stupid fucker.”