Work Text:
“Snowfall is expected to stop this Monday, the twenty-first - however, the depth has already exceeded six inches in some places, so please be careful making your way to work. I will now announce the trains currently delayed or not in service…”
Ren shifts as he wakes, propping himself up on one elbow and blinking blearily at the television. It’s the only real light in the bedroom at the moment; the windows are half-covered with heavy, wet snow, blocking the scant sunlight from reaching inside.
In an abundance of caution, Ren had shut down Leblanc for a few days; this snow was bad enough that most schools had canceled as well (which they don’t really do, barring an apocalyptic weather event). He has enough high schoolers working for him that will absolutely try to make it, even in this weather, and the last thing he wants is for any of them to get stranded.
However, the itch to make coffee persists - Ren rises from bed, stretching his cold-stiffened limbs, intent on heading to the kitchen to get some water boiling. There is a large lump under the blanket next to him - it stirs, with a whiny little groan, hands darting out from beneath the covers to snatch his arm.
“Noooo,” Ryuji begs sleepily, voice muffled by the blankets. “It’s so cold.”
Ren chuckles, his heart warming a little; Ryuji’s never been a fan of the cold. “I’m just gonna make some coffee, and get the furnace going.”
“We’re out of wood,” He groans. “You’re gonna have to run out to the cellar storage.”
“Dude,” Ren laughs, “I told you to fill it back up before the storm.”
“I did. It’s just been cold as balls.”
Ren sighs. Well, it has been pretty cold. He supposes he’ll get the coffee on, and then dress up and go and get some more firewood. He’s still not used to having a fireplace as opposed to a forced-air system - Sojiro has always been a bit old-fashioned, though, so Ren supposes it makes sense. It also doesn’t often get cold enough in Yongen to necessitate even using it.
As always, he and Ryuji are unlucky to the extreme. Ren loves living here - taking care of Sojiro’s house, while he retires up north and close to Futaba’s college - but this house is a lot of work and it’s no wonder Sojiro opened Leblanc so close. With a grunt, he steels himself and hops out of bed - a shiver runs from the bottom of his feet and up his spine as they make contact with the frigid tatami floor. I really need to install heated floors in here, He thinks to himself, wondering if they could scrape together the money to do so. It’s a small comfort, but it would be worth it.
The house is snow-quiet as he wanders down the hall to the kitchen. It’s a different kind of tranquility from typical mornings; the birds do not sing, he does not hear cars and trains zipping back and forth on the nearby main street through the subdivision. Instead, there is just the sound of the gentle wind, soft plops as snow falls from the branches of the trees.
It’s peaceful.
Making coffee does not take long; he prefers espresso but Ren can’t really be assed to go through all that work right now, so he just fills the french press instead, letting it brew as he grabs his time-worn trench coat and his winter boots. The coat’s seen a lot of wear over the years, the elbows beginning to look a little threadbare and the edges a little warped and wrinkled. However, as always, Ann picks out good pieces; it still has a lot of life in it yet.
The wood’s buried in the snow; Ren curses himself for not bringing gloves as he brushes a large drift off the pile and removes the tarp. “Oh, thank god,” He murmurs - they’re still blessedly dry, which means they won’t have to worry about it cracking or popping in the fireplace. Ren grabs a couple logs before carefully replacing the tarp and hauling them back inside, fingers aching from the sharpness of the bark and the cold nipping at his nerves.
“Yuji,” He calls as he shuts the front door behind him, toeing off his boots. “I’ve got the firewood.”
Ren doesn’t get a response - typical - so instead he works on loading up the fireplace, grabbing a few sheets from a week-old newspaper and crumpling them up inside for tinder. There’s still some unburned stuff left from the day before, so he tries to light that first - with a little elbow grease and some prodding, he has a good little fire going in no time and the house slowly begins to warm.
Ryuji emerges from the bedroom just as Ren is pouring their cups of coffee; wrapped in the comforter and his hair a spikey mess, he shuffles into the living area and plops himself down in front of the fire, rubbing his hands together in front of it.
“Trains still down?” He asks, voice deep and rough from sleep in the way Ren is so fond of.
“M-hmm,” Ren slides the french press to the back of the counter, expertly nabbing both mugs in one hand before crossing the hall into the living room. He sets himself down next to Ryuji; his partner immediately rests his head on Ren’s shoulder with a soft, pleased sigh.
“Gimme,” Ryuji reaches out to snag what he knows to be his mug from Ren’s hand, unlooping it from his fingers. Ren prefers the mugs from Leblanc - the wide, thick porcelain mugs that could almost be used like small bowls - Ryuji prefers more standard coffee cups, and it’s become a bit of a tradition of his to find strange ones at the secondhand store. This one in particular is an amalgamation of English, reading Princess I Am Me Sparkle in glittery pink text.
“Just black?” Ryuji groans, but he drinks it anyway; Ren laughs a little. He’s such a baby sometimes.
“Can’t make it to the store for milk or cream,” Ren tells him, rubbing Ryuji’s back with his free hand. “Sorry.”
“S’okay…” He still looks a little crestfallen as he sips at his coffee; it’s so, so obvious he’s making a face but desperately trying to hide it. No matter how much black coffee he drinks, Ryuji has never been able to get past the bitterness. Ren introduced him to cold brew a few summers ago - Ryuji liked that a whole lot more, but this isn’t exactly the weather for an ice coffee.
“How’d you sleep?”
“Good,” Ryuji nuzzles a little closer to him, burying his head in the crook of his neck. “S’cold.”
“I know,” Ren laughs a little, looking up and out the window. There’s snow piled up on it, too, but he can see it falling gently through the frosty glass. “Worst storm we’ve had in a while.”
“Reminds me of a few years back.”
Ren smiles. The memory is bittersweet; both a terrible day and a very, very good one. In hindsight, it was all rather silly, how it went down. “Yeah?”
“M-hmm.” Ryuji presses the back of his hand to his mug, warming his knuckles. “You nearly froze your fingers off.”
Ren just hums in response, sipping his coffee and leaning a little closer. They were all sorts of fucked-up back then, tangled up inside about their relationship - what it was, what it meant. They’ve mostly gotten it figured out, but they’re both still learning how to… how to be together. Even years down the line. It’s gotten easier, but Ren’s not sure if it’ll ever come totally naturally. He’s not sure if that’s what it’s like for more… orthodox couples, but… he’s okay with it. More than okay with it, actually.
They sit mostly in silence as they impart themselves with caffeine; it’s not as if they need it considering the weather, this will probably be a stay-in-and-watch-bad-movies kind of day, but at this point it’s just force of habit for the both of them. Ren likes habits, likes the monotony of daily life. His life. Their life. He likes that Ryuji is home at the same time every day and so is he; he loves that they go grocery shopping together every friday, cook dinner together. This snow day might be a bit of a departure from that routine, but Ren enjoys it all the same. What is life without those little irregularities?
“Hey, Ren?” Ryuji looks up at him; when Ren meets his eyes, a hand is unthreading his fingers from his coffee mug, setting it down on the floor nearby. Their fingers intertwine; Ren feels a deep sort of satisfaction in his soul. Everything is just as it should be.
“Yeah?” Ren asks, raising a brow.
Ryuji’s face splits into that goofy little grin, half like he’s about to crack a joke and half like he’s just happy. “I love you.”
Ren smiles - he finds himself doing it more and more often these days. “I love you, ” He responds immediately; Ryuji giggles like a schoolkid and practically tackles him onto the floor. “Hey!” Ren protests, trying to wiggle out of his grip. “It’s cold!”
“C’mere, then.”
Ryuji wraps the comforter around the both of them; their legs tangle together and they lean precariously against one another as they watch the dancing flames in the fireplace. Maybe they should take this day to clean the house, or get some other chores done, but… nah. Ren isn’t going to spoil this moment with the mundanity of real life. They’re in their own little bubble right now, so perfectly shielded from the world and its stressors and Ren is just so happy to feel normal .
As happy as they are, life isn’t perfect; Ryuji still walks a little funny, Ren still doesn’t talk to his family. Running Leblanc is stressful in a way Ren never anticipated, and Ryuji’s got his own stuff going on. Photography, helping the track team at their old school…
They’re busy. So, one day to do nothing? It’s a rare blessing.
“You think the others are okay?” Ryuji asks, pulling Ren out of his little whirlpool of thoughts.
“I imagine they’d text us if they weren’t,” Ren hums, looking up at the counter and spying his phone - mercifully silent and free of notifications.
“They know they can always come here, right?”
“If they can even make it here,” He snorts. “But, yeah. Of course.”
Ryuji looks grateful. Doesn’t he know this is his house, too? “...Good.”
“You know both of our names are on the deed.”
“Yeah, I know, I know, but-” Ryuji gestures aimlessly. “This was Boss’ place. Y’know? You’re his kid, not me.”
Ren’s heart swells with affection - not only for Ryuji, but for the grumpy old man who gave them this house, who has supported him unconditionally for the years since he moved to the city. Sojiro’s adopted him in everything but name - though, Ren thinks, he probably sees both him and all of his friends as his own. He’s just like that. Even the high schoolers Ren has employed - Sojiro looks out for them just like he looked out for Futaba, for him, for Ryuji and Haru.
“I think we all are, in a way,” Ren muses aloud.
“...Yeah,” Ryuji smiles. It looks, for a brief moment, like he’s come to some satisfying conclusion - like he realizes the found family he’s happened upon is here to stay. That, too, makes Ren feel warm.
“Should we shovel the walk?” Ryuji asks after a short while, eyeing the window with mild reluctance. It’s still coming down pretty good out there and will be for a while yet. Maybe they can go out there and build a snowman… or, a snow-cat? Mona would probably think it’s real.
“...Later, maybe,” Ren shrugs. “I don’t think we have to until it stops. Plus, I doubt anyone’s coming through here, I haven’t even seen plows.”
“...Cool.” He smiles, looking pensive for a moment, “I don’t really wanna go out there.”
“What, no snow angels?”
“Mmmm.” Ryuji leans up to press a wet, sloppy kiss to Ren’s cheek. “I could maybe be persuaded into a snowball fight.”
“Oh, you’re so on.”
Mona seems to have woken up later than the both of them; the little cat plods into the living room with a meow of greeting. He’s started to get a little gray around his eyes, some mild stiffness to his limbs - he’s not old, but their pet is definitely a good reminder of how much time has passed.
He and Ryuji both watch as Mona parks himself right in front of the fireplace, purring loudly; Ryuji scoffs at the indignance of it all and Ren just laughs, ruffling his partner’s hair.
“He has fur, ” Ryuji sputters.
“Doesn’t mean he doesn’t get cold.”
Ryuji rolls his eyes. “I’m gonna kick your ass in that snowball fight.”
“We can go right now, if you want,” Ren offers, raising a brow.
Ryuji worries his lower lip between his teeth, sinking down further into Ren’s arms; he seems awfully comfortable. “...Later,” He says finally. “This is nice.”
It is nice. It’s domestic, intimate, normal. Ren Amamiya never really thought of himself as a normal kind of person. He’s a troublemaker, he likes to stir the pot, he thrives off chaos, so… enjoying something as simple as sitting by the fire with his partner?
It’s strange, in a good way. In the best sort of way.
“I feel so warm, ” Ryuji sighs in satisfaction, taking Ren’s hand and brushing his lips over his knuckles.
“...Me too.”