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“Are you kidding me?”
“Yes, we are literally on backup power right now”
Six was serious in his assertion and Kapkan was furious,
“What, princess, don’t want to have a snowday?”
“Snow Day!” Jäger called out from where he was, wrapped in a blanket,
“See, the German gets it” Tachanka was thick with his accent as he looked at Kapkan, face slightly obscured with his jacket,
“We aren’t school children, unlike some of you I’m used to training in the cold”
“You can train in the cold if you want, but I think me and Jäger need to spend some time in the snow.” Tachanka laughed and Jäger beamed.
“Yeah, we can make a snowman.” Bandit walked towards Jäger and the smaller man opened the blanket, and they snuggled under it. Kapkan rolled his eyes.
“You can do whatever you want today, just don’t die or break anything” Six looked at Tachanka and walked out with Zero. Tachanka got up and walked towards the door,
“Where are you going?” Bandit and Jäger got up to follow Tachanka.
“We’re going outside, why don’t you join us so you can be our snow princess”
“I’m not your princess” Kapkan scoffed and groaned before following the fellow operators.
Tachanka grabbed a pair of gloves, “did your mommy knit those?” Kapkan teased his comrade,
“No, it was my grandmother before she passed”
The braced themselves and opened the door immediately feeling the even colder air slap their faces, “Блядь, its fucking cold”
“Don’t be such a wimp” Tachanka teased, his face was covered by a balaclava but Kapkan could tell he was grinning.
Bandit secretly grabbed a handful of snow before lobbing it at Jäger, “What the fuck Dom!”
Bandit laughed and Tachanka grabbed some snow, “Don't even think about it”
Kapkan pointed at Tachanka, “oh but I think I have to princess” Tachanka laughed and threw the handful at the hunter,
“Oh you mother fucker” Kapkan ran to Tachanka and knocked him over. Bandit and Jäger started piling snow together to make the base of the snowman.
“I’m going to freeze my ass off,” Rook complained.
“Classic French” Glaz slapped his back and joined the Germans. Kapkan and Tachanka were still struggling on eachother. Kapkan had the upper hand, given that he started out on top, but Tachanka had the strength to make all resistance crumple. It wasn’t long until Tachanka had Kapkan pinned into the snow,
“Ready to give up princess?” Tachanka was close enough that kapkan could feel the heat from his breath.
“I’m just waiting until you lose stamina old man” Kapkan doubled down on his struggle but Tachanka just tightened his grip. He was ready to give up but Jäger interrupted them with a whistle,
“You two should get a room”
Bandit joined, “if you’re going to kiss just do it already”
They snickered and Kapkan immediately turned red. He pushed the older russian off of him and kicked some snow onto his side. Kapkan got up and looked at their snowman progress. They had the first ball complete and its size was slightly impressive, Jäger was working the second ball and Bandit started on the third.
“Aren’t those two cute” Tachanka laughed and I looked up at him,
“I guess”
“You guess? Drop the tough guy act and admit their cute, princess”
Kapkan rolled his eyes and aquiested, “fine, they’re cute”
Tachanka’s laughter punctuated the snowy silence. Jäger looked up from what he was doing to look at Bandit, he saw confusion coiling on his face and accentuating his forehead wrinkles. He watched as the defender continued struggling with the snow. He put his ball down and walked over to the older man,
“Can’t figure it out?”
“If I can sell drugs I can make a snowball”
Jäger laughed at this, “you sure?”
He crumbled the snow and yelled, throwing it into the air, “Scheiße! Damnit!”
“Hey, calm down” Jäger squatted down and and grabbed his hands, “watch what I’m doing”
He grabbed some snow and compacted it before rolling it in the white fluff, slowly increasing its size while compacting it. Bandit watched as he did this,
“How are you doing that”
“I’m patient” He glared at Jäger, “and I did this a bunch as a kid”
Bandit looked at him to continue, “We would go up to Dresden with my uncle to see some friends” He smiled and Bandit drank it in, “and me and my uncle would always make a snowman first thing”
He slowed in his progress and seemed lost in the memory, Bandit wrapped his arm around the German’s side, pulling him close, “That’s really cute Mari”
He blushed and returned to the task. Once he had a dense ball that could be rolled around he handed it to Bandit, who grabbed his wrist, “I guess we have to make this our winter tradition”
“I would like that”
He let go of the smaller German, “thanks” he grabbed the medium sized ball.
Bandit started rolling it while Jäger went back to his snowball. Jäger finished and set it on the first ball, then he waited for Bandit to finish his. Bandit brought his ball over and set it on top, finishing their tower,
“Nice job”
“I didn’t most of the work”
Jäger sneered at his assertion, “Whatever”
Bandit looked at him and lowered Jäger’s balaclava, and kissed his exposed lips. It was intimate, and passionate, yet somehow light. Jäger closed his eyes until Bandit pulled away,
“You did really good Mari”
“Since when were you this affectionate”
“I guess the cold puts me in the mood”
Jäger laughed at Bandit before Kapkan broke their conversation, “I think you two need to find a room”
He pointed at them and they all laughed. Jäger got up from where he was and Bandit put his arm around Jäger, he pulled out from the grip, “I have to get stuff for its face”
Bandit pouted and Jäger grabbed a carrot and some rocks. He handed the carrot to Bandit and he put it in while Jäger gave it some eyes. He stepped back and admired his accomplishment,
“You two are actual children” Kapkan scolded and Tachanka hit his side,
“Hey we’re all children on the inside”
“Whatever” Kapkan scoffed and Tachanka threw some more snow at him. Jäger looked at their creation and frowned, Bandit looked at him,
“Is everything alright?”
“Its missing something”
Before Bandit could respond Jäger ran back inside and emerged with a pair of his goggles. Bandit laughed while Jäger put them on. Bandit took the balaclava off his neck and put it on the snowman. Jäger leaned his head on Bandit’s shoulder and the man put his arm around Jäger’s waist, pulling him closer. They admired their creation while enjoying each other’s warmth before Glaz spoke,
“Seriously get a room before you two start fucking”
Jäger chuckled but didn’t move,
“C’mon Timur, let them have their fun”
The Uzbek grabbed Glaz’s hand and pulled him, “Where are you going?”
“To get some cocoa, the kids are done with their snowman”
The Germans scoffed at the Russian’s statement, and Fuze followed Glaz back into the base. Kapkan and Tachanka followed shortly after. Jäger stayed in Bandit’s grip,
“Look what we did”
“I know, you’re really cute when you make something”
“I make things all the time”
Bandit moved slightly to look at Jäger, “Yeah but this is sweeter somehow, it's not nuts and bolts it's something we made. Together”
Jäger felt red in his eyes, “seriously when did you get this sweet”
“When did you get so cute”
Jäger scoffed, “let go get some cocoa”
Bandit kissed Jäger. Bandit was ready to go inside but Jäger stopped him, “what is it?”
Jäger took off his gloves and handed them to the German, “I want to remember this”
He pulled out his phone and motioned for Bandit to get in the frame, he rolled his eyes and compiled. He grabbed Jäger and pulled him into a hug, smiling with his teeth at the camera. Jäger took a photo and looked at it,
“This is definitely going on our Christmas card”
Bandit laughed, “What about your family?”
“We can deal with them later”
He buried his face in Bandit’s shoulder and followed his footsteps back to the base.
Once they had taken their gear off they met with the other operators in the mess hall and grabbed a cup of cocoa. Kapkan poured some vodka into his cup,
“Really princess? You need alcohol already”
“Yeah to deal with you all”
Tachanka’s laugh boomed, “you know you love us”
Kapkan drank some of his cocoa and poured more vodka into his cup,
“Your just too old to keep up with us”
“You’re older than me!” Kapkan laughed.
Jäger wrapped his hands around his cup and drank in its warmth. Bandit picked up on this and pulled the smaller man into his grip, to which he sank into it. Kapkan looked over and scoffed and of course Tachanka noticed this,
“What is your problem?” Tachanka said this in a hissed whisper but to Kapkan it might as well have been screamed,
“It’s nothing”
“I know it's something”
“Alex just drop it”
“Maxim-”
“Sasha, c’mon”
Tachanka raised his hands in defeat. By the time they finished their cocoa Bandit had grabbed a blanket and had it wrapped around them. The Germans slipped off to their room and the Russian made their way to their rooms. The defender’s room was somehow even colder than the mess hall. Kapkan shivered as he entered and he bit down on his teeth as he changed and got in his bunk, he heard Tachanka’s bed struggle under the man’s weight in the dark as he laid down. The blankets weren’t enough so Kapkan unpackaged a thermal blanket, he could hear Tachanka slightly chuckle from the loudness of the blanket. He wrapped himself in it below his other layers of blankets. He sat in the dark for some time as he waited for sleep to reach him, but the cold seemed to be a sleep repellent. Tachanka broke the silence,
“Is everything okay Maxim?”
Oh for fuck’s sake, “Yes, I’m just annoyed we couldn’t train today”
Tachanka stewed with this for a second, “You're lying”
Kapkan mumbled at the Russian’s ability to read him, “I’m not-”
“But you are” Kapkan sat in the silence and waited for Tachanka to respond, “Maxim tell me what’s wrong”
“I’m just tired and I don’t, like taking days off”
“And that’s all?”
Kapkan could feel the alcohol coursing through his blood, and unfortunately to his brain, “well, no- but it’s nothing”
Tachanka hummed and rolled off his bed without Kapkan noticing. He got on his knees and put his arms on the bed, resting his head on his hand. Kapkan jumped at the sudden creaking making a loud sound with the blanket, “scared ya princess?”
Kapkan scoffed and Tachanka replied before Kapkan could, “tell me”
Even through the low light Kapkan could see how little Tachanka was wearing, “how are you not freezing to death”
“Stop ignoring my question”
Kapkan rolled his eyes, “It’s really nothing Alex”
Tachanka got even closer, “You can tell me”
Maxim stared at his friend, his eyes seemed to glow even in the darkness. They stayed there and time seemingly stood still, Kapkan felt blood rushing to heart and brain. He stopped his heart for a moment and leaned into Tachanka, connecting their lips. It only lasted a second until Kapkan pulled away, leaving a shocked Alexsandr,
“Maxim-”
“No, I’m sorry I don’t-”
“No it’s fine I just wasn’t ready” He stopped for a second, then he returned the kiss. It was passionate and deliberate. Tachanka moved the multiple blankets out of the way and exposed Kapkan to the cold,
“Hey!”
He shut him up by returning to the kiss and pulled himself into Maxim’s bed, wrapping his arms around him, feeling the smaller man’s body. Kapkan nestled into Alexsandr’s arms and felt the heat radiating off his chest. He played with the slightly gray chest hair and Tachanka laughed,
“Stop that tickles”
“Deal with it old man”
He grabbed Kapkan’s wrist and looked at him, “Sasha”
“Yeah?”
“I love you”
“I think I do too”
Maxim smiled at these words and fear finally loosened its grip on his heart. He pulled the blankets up and relaxed into Tachanka’s grip. Alexsandr’s warm breath puffed into his ear rhythmically, and the breathing eventually turned to light snoring in his ear. Maxim was consumed with ease as he felt the reverberations through his body, and he finally let sleep take his mind away.