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Looking after Magnus wasn’t always bad - the kid didn’t exactly get into that much trouble, so keeping him alive wasn’t as much of a challenge as he thought it’d be at first. However, as easy as it was to keep him from danger, what really sucked was the weather he had to bear (not even mentioning the clothes he had to wear). Blitzen considered himself to be fairly accustomed to cold but some days it felt like he was hanging around in Niflheim.
He felt really bad for Hearth who was far more used to warm, sunny weather. Half of the time he looked like he was on the verge of curling up in a ball and not moving. That’s why Blitz decided to at least help him out a little bit.
“How was it?” the dwarf asked, looking at Hearth who had just come back from, well, hanging out with Magnus. The elf just shrugged, looking really disinterested. You could faintly see how he was shivering, but he did try to hide it. Nothing could escape Blitzen’s keen eyes though. Hearth rubbed his nose to warm it up a little bit but decided to give up on the attempt, since it would just get cold again right after he was done. After a few seconds of silence, Blitz grabbed Hearthstone’s hand and brought him down to sit with him. That earned him a look of confusion from the elf.
“I really don’t feel like watching you freeze to death right now,” the dwarf said, smiling widely. “That’s why we’re going to sleep in the same bedroll tonight! Pretty clever, right? Body heat and all that, uh, stuff,” as much as he was trying to look confident and totally casual about this, he could hear his voice wavering. Cuddling was a totally platonic thing, right? Hearth wouldn’t be freaked out about this... However, as he saw the elf narrow his eyes even more, he could actually feel his heart wilt up and die. Yeah, way to go, Blitzen. Mess everything up with your stupid crush. Good job.
After a few moments of awkward staring at each other, Hearthstone just shrugged again and signed ‘Sure, why not’. Those few simple signs made Blitzen’s heart soar and he had to try as hard as he could to not pump his fist in victory. Totally casual and cool.
Unfortunately, it was getting a bit harder to maintain his composure, since Hearth immidiately laid down on his bedroll, intending to go to sleep already. Damn, Blitz was hoping he’d get some time to calm himself down and maybe slow down his heart rate - it was beating like crazy right about now. But well, it would seem strange if he just kept on sitting while the elf went to sleep. They were going to share body heat, right? No big deal.
Tentatively, he laid down next to Hearth who had his back turned to him. Not really sure what was the correct postion to assume while Platonically Cuddling™, he decided to lay down facing away from the elf. This seemed to be okay. Not too much touching going on but enough to feel warmer. Nice.
Blitz continued congratulating himself in his head. Meanwhile Hearthstone was laying on his side, gathering up the courage to turn over and hug the dwarf. He didn’t want him to freak out, he just wanted to warm up more. He definitely didn’t want to do it just because he wanted to be closer to him. Nonsense!
A few deep breaths later, Hearth finally turned over and slung his arm around the dwarf’s waist. The elf could feel his heart hammering in his chest - he was pretty sure Blitzen could feel it too. The fact that Blitz was probably aware of how nervous he was made him even more anxious, if that was possible.
Fortunately, despite his bold and kind of gay move, the dwarf didn’t give much of a reaction. Hearthstone wasn’t sure what he was expecting - him to throw his hand off? That’s ridiculous. Blitzen probably didn’t even think much of this. He definitely didn’t have an internal freakout, just like Hearth did.
Blitz was having an internal freakout. His friend was most definitely hugging him right now and Biltzen could most definitely feel the elf’s heart beating wildly. He was trying hard to not start squeaking or making any other high-pitched noise. Honestly, not doing anything was probably the best route. Just relax and enjoy this, right? No problem. He could totally fall asleep like this. Hearth was probably sleeping now anyway. Not long and he’d hear his obnoxious snoring. Blitz just had to stop stressing and there wouldn’t be any problems. Yeah, that’s a good idea...
~*~
To be completely honest, the dwarf had gotten kind of used to being woken up by the sound of cars honking and traffic in general. It didn’t even phase him at this point. However, this morning felt a little different. He was infinitely more comfortable and his nose was filled with the smell of pine needles. Mmm, nice... Wait, pine needles?
Blitzen’s eyes shot open and he was met with the sight of his elf friend looking at him with now wide eyes and a slight green tint to his cheeks. The dwarf was going to get up immidiately but instead he felt his limbs freeze and just gaped a little, not moving at all. Hearth’s cheeks got even greener and he drifted his eyes away from Blitz. A few moments passed with Blitzen looking at Hearth with slight terror in his eyes, unable to move. Probably because their legs were all tangled up - that would make standing up slightly more difficult.
Eventually, Hearth slowly got up, still obviously avoiding Blitz’s eyes. The elf ran his hand through his hair but didn’t do much besides that. Blitzen could feel a knot forming in his stomach at how awkward this was. He was just about to say something when Hearth got off the bedroll completely, turned away from him. Hm. Either he was mad at the dwarf or he was blushing far too much to want to show his face. Blitzen preferred the second explanation. He sighed a little and got up as well, dusting off his clothes (not like there was any use in that, they were filthy either way).
The dwarf tapped his friend’s shoulder to get his attention. Hearth turned his head towards him (his face was still a little green) and gave him an inquisitve look.
“Uh, you okay, buddy? You look a little off,” Blitz said, smiling sheepishly. His question earned yet another shrug. As hard as the elf was trying to look not bothered by this, the shoulder shrug didn't cause Blitzen to forget just how hard his friend was blushing a second ago.
“So, did you feel a little warmer? Did I help you?” the dwarf continued his questioning. At that, Hearth sighed and signed ‘Yes, it was a. Little better’. He hesitated and then added 'I enjoyed it'. That caused Blitz to smile a bit wider.
“We can totally do it again, right? You know, platonically,” he blurted out the last part without even realizing it which is why he was confused at first when Hearthstone raised both his eyebrows in surprise. It took him a moment to catch on to what he had just said. Oh crap.
“Uhh, haha, I mean...” he was cut off by Hearth raising his hand to silence him. The elf looked at him intensely before signing ‘It doesn’t have to be platonic, does it?’. However, right after he signed that, he made a slightly terrified expression, turned on his heel and proceeded to walk away as fast as he could, leaving behind a very confused and flustered Blitz.
The dwarf looked in shock as the elf practically ran away. He felt like his brain stopped working for a second. Did he interpret his signs wrong? No, that didn’t happen anymore. Did Hearth really just imply what Blitz was thinking? Was that right? Finally, his brain unfroze. For a second he considered going after him but if Hearthstone started running, Blitzen would never catch up. He settled on sitting back down on his bedroll. Then, he hid his face in his hands and grinned. Maybe next time didn’t need to be platonic.