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Winter was a season in which Jouno felt he could not appreciate in even the slightest. He hated how the cold bit into his fingers, reddened his nose and dulled his senses. He hated the way the snow crunched beneath his boots, and the way in which the snow fell and melted upon his shoulders to form wet patches. He hated how he was forced to strive for warmth beneath a mess of blankets every night only to wake up just as cold. Yet most importantly, he hated the fact that it was Tecchou’s favourite season, and that it meant the taller man would use his newly founded joy towards the peculiar weather only to bother his colleague tenfold.
“You no longer deserve the liberty of my second apartment key.” Jouno muttered, head lifting from the wall of blankets he had buried himself in as he heard the door click open, a jingling of metal accompanying the movement.
“Why not?” The typically warm tones of Tecchou’s voice contrasted with the cold air that pushed through the door as it shut, and Jouno sank further down into his abode whence met with the breeze.
“My kitchen has smelled like red cabbage for days because you are in favour of abusing mine as opposed to your own!”
“I don’t think it smells..” Tecchou mused, mouth opening in perplexity as he pondered the man’s words for a second time before he spoke again, “how does red cabbage smell any differently to normal cabbage to you?”
“It doesn’t, I just know you’re fucking disgusting.” The other corrected, relatively proud in biting out such an insult.
“Well it’s actually not red cabbage.”
A lie.
“Yes it is.” Jouno snapped.
The swordsman huffed a breath of exasperation through his nose, lips pressing into a thin line as he bordered acceptance of defeat. Whilst the conversation had run flat, Tecchou knew well enough that it’d be picked up sooner or later – and the brune remained in preference of initiating such an interaction himself in place of creating opportunity for insult again. Though, it was strange that Jouno had sunk into silence this fast. Contemplation of shifting his colleague’s legs to create space beside him had left Tecchou to sit upon the arm of the couch instead, favourable of the ounce of peace he may garner from such a gesture.
Shifting upwards, Jouno, who had formerly laid unbothered in such a secure cocoon of blankets, now leaned back into the brune’s leg in a half hearted attempt to sway the other man’s balance and send him off the edge. Tecchou retaliated with a flick to the back of his friend’s head who soon sat up, swatting at the hand that dared to threaten his pride. Such lighthearted attempts of irritation towards each other warranted various giggles between them both before Tecchou paused.
The man sat in contemplation for a moment, finally having set on his topic of conversation to persuade the other into heeding to his ideas. For once, Jouno sat in anticipation, fixing his hair as he laid back up against the other.
“Let’s make a bet.”
“Why was I so expectant of something genuinely interesting? Go on.” He replied with a sigh.
“Beat me in a snowball fight and you’ll never have to witness my expertise in your kitchen ever again.”
“Or I could kick you out right now.”
Tecchou narrowed his eyes at this, bothered by Jouno’s unwillingness to join him outside. Jouno’s moods did tend to suit the season, however. It wasn’t something that particularly bothered the swordsman, he even found it to be quite interesting – it was the only consistent theme in the man’s mood; the foundation created by his environment, swayed further by the people.
“That’s true, but will you take me up on it?”
“It’s an awfully ostentatious proposal.. and freezing to death in my spare time doesn’t quite peak my fancy.” Jouno proclaimed, hand waving in the air dismissively as if he’d never truly considered the option in the first place.
“So you lose by default.” Tecchou deadpanned in mock aloof, head tilted as he tested the man’s adamance for a second time.
“Oh dear, your juvenility has swayed me again.” The sarcasm in his voice surely compensated for an eye roll Tecchou was sure he witnessed behind closed lids.
Jouno’s jaw snapped shut, sitting up almost instantaneously – he wouldn’t allow his win streak to be shattered so simply, let alone his pride. The man dragged himself from his seat and to the small coat rack adjacent to the kitchen, pulling a woollen bobble hat over his ears as he shrugged into his coat, gloves slipped on too. Dragging out the pair of boots his hand found first, he tipped his head up in the direction of his colleague, who hummed, the corners of his lips having curled upwards into that of a shiteating grin to which Jouno sensed the devilment of, shaking his head in retort.
“Get up then, before I carbonate your spinal fluid into a little fruit cocktail and force you to drink it myself.”
“That’s not very nice.” Tecchou feigned offence, standing up as he pulled a scarf from Jouno’s coat rack, wrapping it around his friend almost jeeringly who stared at him in utter vexation when he pulled it down from over his nose to reveal the slightest tint to his cheeks as he fixed it accordingly.
“Shut your mouth.” Jouno barked, pushing his weight up against the door as he turned the knob.
Upon hearing the hinges click open, the wind hit Jouno like a bullet, and he shivered under his veil of limited warmth before finally stepping out. His nose twitched under one of the many snowflakes that had danced in the atmosphere as it settled on him, melting away to reinstate a coldness that Jouno cringed at. The time in which he’d given himself to adjust to the change in temperature had left him partially inattentive – and it wasn’t long before Jouno realised such when he turned to his friend to speak again, arms crossed over his chest.
“Right, so what are the rules determining who wins—” His sentence was cut short when a burst of snow exploded against his shoulder, catching him off guard as he slid across the icy floor with a yelp.
“We’ll see, but as far as I can tell I think you might be losing right now,” Tecchou declared, winding his arm back as if his barrage was pre prepared, “maybe I should’ve given you a headstart.”
“You cheat , Tecchou!” Jouno hollered, digging a hand into the snow beneath him as soon as he could bring himself to compact the handful of the white ice into a ball before launching it into his now enemy’s face as the flakes burst open upon impact, showering his jacket in the remnants.
Jouno couldn’t possibly stifle the giggle that left him in response to such a retaliation he had carried out – yet it was as if Tecchou aimed to murder the other man, moulded missiles sent in the other’s direction as opposed to anything tennis ball sized. Glistening fragments of ice shattered against the two of them, scattering across the ground as they skipped around each other with means of dodging and correcting their aim. The brune made no effort to hide the wide grin that highlighted his features so well as he watched his colleague turn away to supposedly treat, giving Tecchou his grand opportunity to grab Jouno by the hood, stuffing a handful of pure ice down the man’s back once he had pulled him backwards.
Screaming, Jouno tore his coat off his shoulders, kicking his feet through the snow to scatter the ice against his assailant as he reached down the back of his shirt, shaking the snow out as he jumped from the cold.
“You ass! You are beyond horrible!” He shrieked.
“I think you should build up a better tolerance to this kind of thing.” The way Tecchou spoke so impassively contrasted with how stupidly comical he actually found the matter as he brushed himself clean of the snow.
“Shit, that was so fucking cold you bastard–” Jouno continued, shuddering as he dragged his coat over his shoulders again.
“Well yes I think we would both be worried if the snow was warm..” A retort of such audacity warranted another kick of snow in Tecchou’s direction again before the swordsman pulled the other to him by his wrist.
“What now?” Jouno asked in rhetoric.
“We dance of course.” The reply was spoken as if it were a given, yet the other did not offer a response to such randomness other than a halfhearted laugh and a raised eyebrow, followed by a slight hum when Tecchou pressed his palm into Jouno’s. Neither of them were strangers to surprises, best it be that they then chose to create as many as possible.
Almost reflexively, he placed his hand on Tecchou’s shoulder as the swordsman’s own free hand supported Jouno’s back – and Jouno realised an almost unheard of elegance in the way Tecchou stepped. He was gentle yet so deliberate in the way he moved. Jouno’s heart almost jumped half a mile at the way Tecchou seemed so effortlessly proficient in his advances. Movements were not savoured so much as expressed in the moment as they giggled in between muddled steps – mostly on Jouno’s behalf, loose in the way they allowed each other to overstep what would be considered customary within an actual ballroom. The tranquillity of the snow that waltzed in the air around them set the pace better than any music could have.
The brune guided the other man across the snow as if Jouno were a vase of the most delicately crafted glass, and Jouno knew he was held as such. At once, Tecchou brought his arm upwards with his hand still in Jouno’s, twirling the other man on his heel just to pull him back, hand nearly settling upon his teammate’s hip, before he felt the ice shift beneath his feet.
Tecchou’s eyes widened once he was tugged back by Jouno – who had presumably also lost his balance, thus sending the two of them to the floor. Sitting up only to shake the snow from his hair, Tecchou spared himself a moment to laugh before looking down at the other who laid there with his lips subconsciously pulled into a smile that warmed the swordsman’s cheeks.
“I didn’t know you could dance.” Jouno spoke after a moment, smile falling upon his realisation of it.
“I didn’t know you were that bad at it.” The other snarked, brushing himself off as he stood, offering an arm to his friend who used him as an anchor to pull himself up.
“Well you didn’t let me warm up.”
“Oh of course.”
The silence was spared for a moment when Jouno clicked his tongue instead, shifting his hands into the pockets of his coat as he scoffed, most likely in response to his own thoughts. Which meant Jouno was thinking. It was never a good thing when Jouno was thinking outside of missions. Given, he was the most intelligent man Tecchou knew, yet perhaps too intelligent for his own good, so much so that Jouno could so easily be dubbed self-conscious.
The brune could almost see the way in which the other’s train of thought wove in and out as Jouno’s lips pursed for a moment, as if about to speak before he inhaled so sharply again. He was held so carefully under Tecchou’s scrutiny as he didn’t receive any form of retaliation. They shared many silences between each other, there was nothing uncomfortable or awkward to the fact – it was a reassurance even that they could sit so fruitlessly in nonchalance. Though such an abrupt change in Jouno’s outward demeanour peaked Tecchou’s interest the most, though even still, he knew it was better to give Jouno the time and mind before he spoke.
“Tecchou.” Jouno spoke not before exhaling through his nose sharply, though not casually enough for such a thing to be watered down to a result of the temperature.
“Hm?”
“I don’t want to– well,” he stopped himself, restricting himself from so much as facing the other man whose eyes he felt holding him under such pressure, “I hope I don’t end up ruining anything. I doubt I would of course, I don’t think you’re like that but–”
“Jouno..” Tecchou mumbled in an attempt to keep the other on track.
“We’re not middle schoolers, I sound like a child– I really like you.” It was almost as if Jouno’s thoughts were broadcasted, and Tecchou appeared entirely dumbfounded for a moment.
“You–”
“I really, really like you and I know it’s not ideal, it’s not ideal at all we’re fucking hunting dogs but I–” Jouno felt all the blood rush to his face at once, heart pounding against his chest when he felt warm hands compliment his equally as warm cheeks when his head was tilted upwards.
Worrying his legs had given way out of embarrassment, Jouno’s fingers curled into Tecchou’s coat when he felt the brune’s lips against his own. He felt his mind skyrocket, crowded with an abundance of thoughts he felt in that moment he would never be free of – his world shifted entirely, moving so suddenly at a speed that he felt he could collapse in the moment.
Such a kiss ended as soon as Jouno felt that it had started, heart sinking into disappointment when that warmth had left him. It was odd. He’d never experienced such a thing before, he was no stranger to action on impulse, he’d kissed people before, he’d initiated various intimacies or so he’d thought – though he was so utterly perplexed. There was no ice-cold feeling shooting through his veins that usually existed when he felt compelled to have done something similar. Everything else he had done was fast paced, no feelings were shared. He’d never cared. There was never a warmth like this, and Jouno felt his heart stutter at this newly founded feeling.
“I don’t think our job prohibits anything of the sort–” Tecchou started.
“That’s not what I meant and you know it.” There was a mellowness to Jouno’s voice.
There was a quietness to the severity that typically resembled the man before him, unheard of yet Tecchou could recognise it so simply. Tecchou’s hands moved to take Jouno’s in his, who flinched at such a movement, as if still frightened he could completely lay waste to the predicament he’d created.
“I like you too.” The brune soon settled on.
“Oh shut up.” Jouno snapped at such nonchalance, letting go of his hands as Tecchou queried this response in bemusement all before throwing his full weight at the other, the two men tumbling into the snow again.
Rolling off of his partner and onto his back instead, Jouno suppressed a giggle as he stretched his arms and legs out – seemingly enjoying the snow much more than he had before. The two mutually made equally as pathetic attempts of making snow angels, and much to Jouno’s surprise his was ruined as he turned to face the brune, a split second of thought leading him to turn over and place his own kiss to the swordsman’s lips, a thumb barely grazing over his cheek until he fell back again.
“Are we–” Tecchou stopped himself, anticipating Jouno’s response halfway through.
“Yes, I think so, shut up now please before my brain implodes.”
Perhaps this change in attitude was that he had a positive association to make now. A negative mental association with an environment was understandable – maybe that was half of Jouno’s bitterness, though in foresight Tecchou now knew he could alter this, and he swore to himself that he would to the best of his abilities if he were to stay with Jouno.
“I think you’re beautiful.” Tecchou hummed to himself, standing as he helped the other to his feet as well.
“Quiet. I’m cold.” Jouno waved a hand dismissively with the slight pull of his scarf upwards to shield his cheeks.
“I’ll carry you back inside then.” The declaration was made as the swordsman swung an arm under Jouno’s knees, the other supporting his back when he lifted the other off of his feet.
“This was not an excuse for you to manhandle me!” Jouno wailed.
“Would you like hot chocolate as well then?”
“Shut up!”