Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Soft sea breeze and the distant cawing of gulls, plus the alluring scent of fried boardwalk food created quite the welcome atmosphere for Frostrock. While it was far from uninvited, it was nothing like his last home’s climate. He was used to a rather busy and noisy city, the hustle and bustle, as well as the numbingly loud background chatter, and to be honest, he felt it odd to hear the waves. He didn’t realize how long he was standing there after exiting the train there, his suitcase was still firmly gripped in his hand, as well as the backpack slung across his opposite shoulder. While he was very focused on the new environment, he was jarringly snapped back to reality as a passerby rushed by him to get to the new train behind him while bumping against his shoulder. Frostrock quickly looked back at the train, and then over to the path ahead of him.
He heaved his bag over his shoulder and started walking down the well worn paths to where he was supposed to be going. Apparently, he was meant to meet with his new roommate, Ice Mint, who he had found online. After a few emails and the first month’s rent about a month ago, they’d exchanged numbers and texted for a bit, he didn’t quite catch the drift that his roommate saw him as an amazing friend, and Frostrock saw him as a simple acquaintance, nothing more. Though they had exchanged pictures of themselves, Frostrock’s new room (which was currently quite empty save for some simple furniture) and some of the scenery. Ice Mint had even helped Frostrock get a job at his workplace. A buzz on his phone made him realize that he should probably stop his wandering and not knowing where he was going, he figured that texting his roommate would help. They were supposed to meet up, but Ice Mint said he had unexpected work. Luckily, Ice Mint had texted him first, the message popped up on his screen and he texted back:
@icemint - hey man! turned out they didn’t need me at work!!!!
did u leave the station? i can come pick you up
@frostrock - Near the station. I’ll walk back. Thank you.
@icemint - awesome! no probs, i’ll see ya in a bit!
@frostrock - Thanks.
While he didn’t mean to be so blunt through text, or show much emotion as he was feeling awfully emotionally drained, he did care for Ice Mint. He was a sweetheart, and he seemed to be someone he could trust, too. Albeit he was quite wary, he felt that trust was something that needed to be earned, and while Ice Mint was on the path of it, Frostrock didn’t feel open to being any bit vulnerable around him in any way. While he wandered back to the train station and sat on a nearby bench, his red eyes wandering until they met with a wandering gull. Maybe it was similar to the pigeons he’d seen in the city, but just a more …. aggressive one. It made eye contact with Frostrock, and his eyes widened in fear and confusion. The few minutes of prolonged eye contact with a seagull that felt like hours - was broken by the sound of someone clearing their throat - making the bird look away as well as Frostrock glancing up at the figure ahead of him.
“Hey man!” With his introduction being the same to his text, as well as his appearance matching near 1:1 to the image that Ice Mint had sent. “You must be Frostrock - either that or he’s got an identical twin who happened to meet me at the same location…. and at the same time too… hmmm.”
“Yes. You’re right.” He stops, then corrects himself, pale face flushing in embarrassment. “No- I mean. I am Frostrock. I don’t have an identical twin.”
“Hehe, no worries- I was just joking. Come on, everything in this town is walking distance, lemmie carry your bag at least? Suitcase? Ya look exhausted.” Frostrock hesitates, bringing a hand to touch his dark eyebags, then tightly holding onto his bag.
“No thank you. Thank you though. I am alright.” The taller of the men stands up straighter. He was already staying at Mint’s place for a cheaper price, and he’d gotten him a job too, the last thing he wanted to do was to burden him further. “I appreciate it, though. Would you like to lead the way?”
“If you say so … Oh! Yeah! Home! Follow me, man! Just a five minute walk.” Ice Mint grinned, waving the other to follow. Frostrock let out a small groan as he began to walk, his legs aching as he moved. While his legs from the knees down were replaced by prosthetics, there was still a decent amount of discomfort, he’d worn them for far longer than he was meant to. To be honest, he hadn’t gotten any sleep the night before as he was making sure everything was packed…. and the fear of leaving his foster mother’s home officially. It was jarring to see how empty his old room looked.
Either way, he pulled through, adjusting his bag and his suitcase, trailing Ice Mint like a lost puppy. By the time they’d managed to reach the apartment building, he felt like he was going to faint. Mainly the heat of the summer plus wearing a tight long sleeve turtleneck underneath a baggy t-shirt, and his long hair was thick and fluffy, falling all the way down to his knees when down. On the other hand, Ice Mint was wearing a tanktop and shorts, paired with some slides and a headband. Noticing something was up, he peeked over at the man beside him, and gently took the backpack off his shoulders, Frostrock being far too tired to do anything but comply. Mint’s expression went from a goofy grin to concern, then a more gentle and understanding smile. Frostrock was grateful for the nonverbal communication, how he didn’t seem to find Frostrock a bother at all. Like he understood how the other was feeling without even needing to speak, something that he found kind of hard to do right now.
After keying into the building and getting Frostrock his keys at the lobby, he led him over to the elevator so they could easily get to the fourth floor. They stood in comfortable silence for once, with Frostrock gripping the bars on the side of the elevator tightly to keep himself balanced. It was odd… he was used to awkward and uncomfortable silences, but this one was different. He found it peaceful instead of having his anxiety heightened. What he thought would be a long while was over in a short while with the ‘ding’ of the old elevator landing on the fourth floor and the slight squeak as the doors shifted open for them to exit. Ice Mint adjusted his roommate’s backpack and suitcase, stepping out of the elevator after Frostrock.
“Hey. Put your hand on my shoulder. We’ll go slow. Almost there, yeah? I’m sure you’ve had a really long day anyhow. You can crash on the couch until you feel ready to put sheets on your bed, well uh. ‘Bed’, I guess. It’s still a pullout futon. But it’s comfortable!”
A hand is firmly set on Ice Mint’s shoulder, and as they made their way down a hall of identical doors, Frostrock had to wonder how he’d remember finding it again and again. Ice Mint let out a satisfied hum as they reached a room near the end of the hall, taking his key out and then typing in the code on the pin pad. A little light flashed green and Mint entered the dorm as he picked his key out .
Taking in new surroundings for the second time today, Frostrock stood in the doorway for a moment. It was an awfully small apartment, two bedrooms, a bathroom with a tight fit shower, as well as a small living area. It lacked a kitchen, but Ice Mint made up for that with the trifecta of a microwave, old fridge and a coffee maker. Frostrock thought he’d probably get the most use out of the coffee maker. It looked comfortable, lived in, maybe it was the sun streaking in warmly through the window, but he had to admit it looked nicer then the pictures Ice Mint had sent him.
For once, Frostrock cracked a small smile, going over to the ugly beige couch and plopping down on it, wondering what the lumpy crochet blanket lopped over the arm of the couch was doing there. After lifting the weird thing and discovering a coffee stain, he lowered it and looked away as if he’d never seen it in the first place. Luckily Ice Mint was too busy setting his bags in his new room to notice. In the meantime, Frostrock had detached his prosthetics and carefully laid them to the side, curling up on the couch with his fluffy tail curled around him and his ears flicked back. He rested his head on one arm, and started to rest a little, although he felt like he had a lot of things to do . For one, he had to get stuff out of his bag and around his room. He also promised his mother that he’d call her once he got there safely, and he had to admit, he did want to see her young daughter, Frostie. He also felt like taking a shower, maybe eating something - he planned originally to treat Ice Mint to dinner as thanks, but maybe it would all have to wait. The dorm had a fresh minty smell that would make one think that the apartment must be extremely clean. While it wasn’t the opposite, it was not in any way minimalistic. There were tacky decorations, Ice Mint’s favorite being one of those talking fish: the weird kind mounted to a wooden board that tilted its head and front half to wiggle and open and close its mouth to a song. Somehow, he’d gotten a friend to “hack the fish” - as Ice Mint had said - so that he could hook his phone up and the fist would ‘sing’ whatever song he put on. Though it was kind of old, and had trouble discerning words from louder instrumentals when it opened its mouth. Both snowboarding and surfing trophies were placed carefully on the shelf of a bookcase, the rest of it being filled with other things. A green and yellow round teapot, a snowglobe with a plastic horse in it and nothing else. The ‘snow’ in the horse snowglobe was small pieces of yellow paper, and according to Ice Mint, it looked like it was raining hay, which made him crack a smile as Mint had described it over text. Some new things he hadn’t seen before were: a blue tinted bottle of cream soda with a rolled up message, a wide mason jar with a yellowy orange candle topped with dried lemon peels, and lastly a ceramic green and purple cat.
“Comfortable? Your bags are in your room, whenever you’re ready. And! And - If you’re up for it, I’ll show you around town tomorrow before work - did the boss send you your schedule yet?” Ice Mint smiles contently, sitting on the couch next to the corner where Frostrock was curled up. As much as the surfer wanted to reach out and gently lay a hand on his fuzzy head between Frostrock’s large and pointy wolf ears, he resisted and leaned back for a moment.
“Mmh…Thank you.” Frostrock sleepily responded, rubbing his eyes and continuing to lay there curled up. He hoped Ice Mint had enough space on the couch. “I have my schedule, I don’t work until two days from now, and training is from 1 to 6pm… so not too long. I think I’m getting paid for it too at least. And after such a short shift I’ll probably get more hours after it’s over.”
“That’s not so bad. And they need people there, not to mention I think you'll like it. You seem like you’d have the knack to run the rolled ice cream portion.” After letting out a tired sigh, Ice Mint looks back over at Frostrock, then stands up. “I’m gonna take a shower. Just . Yell if you need anything?” Frostrock gave him an expression of ‘I’m not doing that in a million years’ , so Ice Mint continued. “Really yell. The water runs loud. And how am i supposed to know if you need help or. Anything, really!” He assures Frostrock, standing up and lifting his hands over his head to take his tanktop off. Okay, maybe Frostrock shouldn't've been watching, or looking with such wide eyes for that matter… It wasn’t like he’d never seen another guy without a shirt on before, he’d seen plenty during his high school gym classes before he dropped out. Though this felt different in a way? First off, it didn’t help that he already found Ice Mint handsome, but he figured some guys were just like that, and one of them happened to be his new roommate. Though the other thing he noticed was the scars underneath the surfer’s pecs. He held his tongue while questioning about it. First off, he had just met this man in person, and for another, Ice Mint hadn’t asked about his legs, or the small scars on his hands either. Or the fact that he’d never been seen without the longsleeved black turtleneck covering all of his upper half, save for his head and hands.
Ice Mint takes no notice of Frostrock's expression, his huge eyes and his ears perked up, a slight twinge of blush on his pale cheeks. Frostrock didn’t seem to notice his expression either, to be honest. Ice Mint left the room and entered the bathroom with a beach towel (he couldn’t bother to get a regular towel, and accidentally went to the beach with a bath towel). After a solid fifteen minutes, he’d come out of the shower with the towel wrapped around his hair, it was a bit too big for it, but he’d made it into a turban of sorts to try and dampen his soggy turquoise mop. He was also wearing a pair of fairly tacky flower print shorts, of which he had quite a few pairs of. The one he had on now was a deep turquoise with pastel pinks and tiny hints of yellow in the center of each flower. Trying to balance the towel on his head, he wandered over to where Frostrock was curled up on the couch. He lowered his hand as if he was going to set it on his shoulder, though he could tell by the very slight rise and fall of his back that he was asleep. Although his expression was mainly hidden by hiding his face, Mint could see the look of slight discomfort and panic. That would explain his new roommate’s ever prominent eyebags. He didn’t comment though, it wasn’t his place to say at all, and they’d just met in person not even a day ago. Searching for a moment around the area, he found a plush blanket to unfurl and set gently over the sleeping wolf man.
It didn’t seem to bother Frost as the blanket was draped carefully over him, but the moment that Ice Mint’s hand accidentally brushed against his cheek, he woke with a start, breathing heavily. He pushed himself upright and clasped onto the blanket tightly, his eyes open , pupils darting around anxiously.
“Woah, woah.” Mint backed up slightly before sitting down beside him on the couch. He didn’t want to touch him - seeing how just the light graze had made him jumpy. Though he could see how the man was shaking slightly, the fear in his eyes, the way his ears were twitching, as well as his tail curled around him. “Deep breaths, kay? I don’t know too much about what’s goin’ on, but if I had’ta guess, a nightmare?”
“Y-yeah…” Frost breathed heavily, clutching the blanket to his chest until his knuckles turned white. Wow, what a great first impression, Frostrock. Now he knows how weak you are. What a freak you are, too. He won’t want to be your friend - no, scrap friend, roommate, anymore too. “Sure… something like that. I … I uh…” The sleepy man’s grip on the blanket slacked slightly, and he moved to rub at his eyes, then down to his hands, picking at them. He tugged at the already raw skin at the edges of his nails, and the rest of his hands were already rather red and any bits of jagged scabs he found on his hands from earlier made him want to pick them off again. It was more of a subconscious action if anything, rocking back and forth too. “Sorry.”
“Huh…?” Ice Mint blinks in confusion, taken aback slightly. “Why the hell are you sorry? Everyone’s got nightmares, yeah? Come on, man…” He moved his hands to pick up Frostrock’s own, and to Frost’s surprise, the other’s hands were very soft, and way more grounding then he ever thought. “Take as much time as you need. Did you want me to get you anything? Water maybe?” He checks his phone real quick, then sets it back in his pocket with a small annoyed sigh. “Hmh. We’ve got an hour or so before dinnertime, I think I’ve just got some ramen and spam and …. Oh- sorry. Too off topic. I guess uh… there’s some things we don’t know about each other?”
“...” Frostrock nods slowly, partially focusing on what Mint was saying, and the other part on his breathing and holding Ice Mint’s hands.
“Hey, hey. You should rest. And I don't mean sleep, though you need it…like. Laying here? I’ll make dinner? And tomorrow I’ll show you around more. Plus we need to go grocery shopping. I’ll make a list. You can make a list, too, of stuff you wanna eat?”
“I…I uhm. I wanted to treat you for the first night.” Frostrock spoke slowly, hands still and steady on the other’s hands, avoiding eye contact. “That was my plan. I don’t mind. Uh. I read somewhere online about this Italian restaurant/tavern that’s by the boardwalk… you’ve probably been there. I just … wanted to do something as thanks.”
“Oh! Yeah! I’d love to! But there’s no need to treat me to it, I’ve been to Basil Pesto’s place pretty often. He’s very chill, and kind of loud. His daughter’s a bit of a hard egg to crack, but she’s sweet.” Ice Mint smiled, not moving his hands away from Frostrock’s. “Hehe, are you sure you’ll be up for it? Like, it’s a slightly longer walk- “ I don’t mind carrying you if you need it - he wanted to add.
Frostrock made an affirmative grunt and nod, slowly pulling his hands away from the other, and reaching to the floor for his prosthetics, attaching them and pulling himself upright. “I’ll be there in a moment.” After glancing over Ice Mint again, his eyes lingering on the man’s chest: he cleared his throat. His roommate should probably not be going to a restaurant with a towel on his head and the whole no shirt + slides combo - even if it was something he’d do anyway. “You should go get ready. I’ll be set in about five minutes.”
He stands up and wanders over to his room. It was still decently tiny, maybe the size of two closets combined. It thankfully had a window , and the futon bed against the wall filled out most of the room. Glad to see that Ice Mint had just carefully set his backpack and suitcase on the bed and not opened it - not that he expected him to - he heaved the suitcase off the bed, and unzipped his bag to pull out the nicest clothes he could muster. He had a few outfits for interviews and first days of work, et cetera, he figured that’d work just fine. Setting on a pair of dark grey khakis and red sneakers, his breath hitched as he tried to figure out what to wear on his upper half. Slipping off the baggy t shirt he wore over the tight long sleeved turtleneck, he shrugged a button down over it and decided it was okay enough. Digging further in his bag he found fingerless gloves to put on too. Wanting to look a little better than usual, he pulls his fluffy hair back into a ponytail , then loops it into a loose bun. By now, he figured that he took far too long, and that surely Ice Mint would be ready by now- his assumption being primarily correct. Frostrock exited his room to pass the bathroom, where he found Ice Mint attempting to fix his hair, the two strands in the front not quite behaving. Well, one of the strands was more pointy and refined, and the other droopy. He watched as Mint very carefully stiffened it with gel and poised it in perfect position. It was then that he noticed Frostrock standing in the doorway, watching him.
“Oh! Hey man, ready to go?” he asks , turning now so Frostrock could properly see his full attire. It was surprisingly nicer than anything he’d seen Ice Mint wear before, which was usually sportswear or beachwear. Instead, his shorts were replaced with black sweatpants- not too noticeable as sweatpants, but comfort wear nonetheless. He had a shirt on at last, a short sleeved cream colored polo with a pastel greeny-blue windbreaker on top. It was an actual outfit for once, much to Frostrock’s slight amazement, and he looked fancy- if you could call sweatpants fancy. Whatever, it was pretty good, and he couldn’t complain. Normally Frostrock thought his style was pretty bad: he rotated through nearly identical outfits throughout the week. But even he knew that it wasn’t as silly as Ice Mint’s. In a way, it seemed kind of cute, actually, endearing, even, to Frostrock.
“Yeah. And don’t even think about bringing your wallet.” He warns with a small smile, patting a slightly thicker pocket on the side of his pants. While he didn’t notice it, his tail began to wag slightly too.
“Alright… I won’t argue on it, as much as I’d love to - maybe we can arm wrestle for it!” Ice Mint jokes, patting Frostrock on the back before leading the way out the door. He did bring his wallet anyway, ready to enact his secret plan to take Frostrock to his future job site (and Ice Mint’s current one) to get some ice cream after they were finished at the restaurant. Though he did figure they’d be there for quite some time as the owner was quite the talker… Mint figured he’d be the one yapping with him anyway, Frostrock didn’t seem like much of a talker.