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Michael drops the last couple of logs in the self-made firepit and breathes out a flame to bring the campfire alive. He finds Luke and Calum rolling the tree stumps towards him for them all to sit on and as soon as they're in place, Michael plops down between them, satisfied that they managed to set up a camping trip all on their own. He can't wait to tell his parent that they were wrong, they could live on their own, even though it's only been a couple hours and a lot could go wrong before they had to go home again.
It’s getting pretty dark already, which, of course, Michael thinks. We’ve planned this so that Ashton could spend a lot of time outside, duh!
“Ash! It’s safe to come out!” Calum half-yells and seconds later the zipper of the tent is being opened and out emerges Ashton with a ridiculously large floppy hat.
He frowns when the three other boys laugh at him. “What? It’s better to be safe than sorry!”
“Sorry man,” Luke breathes in to catch his breath. “it’s just, the hats get sillier every time.”
Ashton huffs and walks over to the campfire, sitting down next to Calum. The two boys quickly engage in a conversation about God knows what, whilst Michael looks intently at the fire he created. See? Fire isn't all Death and Destruction with a capital 'D". This, too, he can't wait to tell his mum.
A cold breeze passes and though it’s really not that cold to Michael, (the boy is turning Dragon, for God’s sake!), Luke shivers, successfully catching the attention of his friends.
“It’s not fair that you guys aren’t bothered by the weather, honestly.” He scrunches up his nose and Michael can’t help but think how cute he looks when he’s annoyed.
“You should’ve been born a werewolf, mate. It’s much cooler.” Calum laughs. “Or, well, hotter. I guess.”
Luke pouts, but it’s evident he’s not too bothered by it. “Fuck off, you know both my brothers turned werewolf!”
“What are the odds.” Calum replies with a grin. “You’re the only Merman in a family full of Faeries and Werewolves I know.”
Luke reaches his leg out to kick his curly haired friend, but he jumps up quickly and avoids the hit.
“Well, I think it’s really cool.” Ashton says.
“What?”
“That you’re a Merman! I’ve always wondered what it was like underwater. You’re so lucky you get to spend so much time there.”
Luke blushes. “Well, it’s cool I guess. I’d much rather live on land, though.”
“Really?”
“Yeah! I have you guys here, so what’s the point?”
“Awww, Lukey!” Michael coos, making him blush even more.
In the corner of Michael’s eyes, he notices Calum constantly shifting his position. He throws his legs over each other and bounces up and down, it looks like he’s trying to stop himself from doing it but it’s clear he’s boiling with energy and can't sit still. Wait.
Michael looks up at the sky, sighing when he sees the full moon. That explains a lot.
“Cal?” he asks.
The boy looks up at the mention of his name. “Yeah?”
“Why exactly did you pick this date?”
He seems to hesitate a bit before he answers. “Well, because it gets dark early so Ashton is- Ashton can go outside safely."
Michael raises his eyebrows at his friend. “You sure it hasn’t got something to do with, I don’t know, the moon cycle?” Calum's eyes widen and Michael smirks. He's got him.
Calum sighs and looks down in defeat. I fucking knew it!
When Calum looks up again his eyes glow a faint gold and he flashes a grin with a mouth full canine teeth. Before Michael can say anything, Calum jumps up and starts running away from the camp. None of his friends make an effort to stop him as he’s taking off his clothes and dropping them along the way, and when he’s out of sight a loud howl cuts through the night sky.
“That asshole fucking planned this trip just so he could wolf-out and have some fun without us!” Ashton says, acting offended.
Luke throws his head back and sighs. “And we didn’t even notice him getting hyperactive, he’s getting sneakier and sneakier!"
"Forget sly foxes, wolves are the real enemy here!" Ashton laughs.
Another cold breeze brushes past and Luke shivers almost comically, making Michael and Ashton snicker.
“Shut up.” He hides his face in his hands. Fuck, why does he have to be so cute!?
Michael moves over slightly, hoping it would look smooth but he knows very well that’s pretty unlikely as he shuffles awkwardly closer to his friend on the log. Luke doesn’t seem to mind when he reaches for his hand and holds it.
Luke looks up at Michael, with his other hand still on his face, and blushes even more (is that even possible?). Michael doesn’t breathe until Luke drops his hand and scoots closer to him, until he’s almost glued to his side. Now it was Michael’s turn to blush.
Luke buries his face in Michael’s neck, and he freezes at the intimacy. This was so much more than he anticipated. Michael shifts slightly but Luke stops him. Michael can feel himself get warmer at the physical contact.
“Don’t move, you’re really hot.” He whispers into his neck. Michael heartbeat picks up and he feels goosebumps forming at Luke’s words.
The younger boy moves away all of a sudden, his hand behind his neck awkwardly.
“Shit, I mean you’re warm like. Your body is really- You’re like the sun, I mean, my personal ray of sunshine and you’re really hot. Warm. Temperature.” He moves to hide his face again but Michael grabs hold of his other hand, not feeling so awkward he might mess things up anymore because frankly, Luke was just as awkward as him.
“It’s okay.” He says and Luke smiles at him, then cuddles up to Michael’s side again when he opens his arms. This time, however, Michael throws an arm around the boy and holds him close as he leans his head on his shoulder. He feels weirdly protective over him.
“Guys, you’re making me jealous. I’m all alone over here.” Ashton says. He's sitting alone on the log which Calum abandoned a couple of minutes ago, pouting.
“Oh, come here, you cold-ass sulking vampire.” Michael sticks his tongue out at his friend, feeling a little smug that he's now the only one with a hot body temperature. In a second Ashton’s cold arms are wrapped around his waist, and his head is leaning on Michael’s other shoulder. He can’t help but feel proud.
The three of them sit like that for a while. Michael is happy to share his body heat, even though Ashton’s cold hands never seem to warm up. He knows for a fact that Luke must be around the same temperature as him now, as he’s kleptotherm and adapts to his surrounding’s temperatures.
This is why they wanted to go camping in the first place, so they could all cuddle together and not get weird looks of ‘A Vampire with a Werewolf? Discusting.’ and ‘That poor Merman is going to die with the Dragon. What a shame.’
Michael is content.
Until Luke begins to cough like he can’t breathe.
Ashton is off him in the blink of an eye and disappears into the tent. He runs out of it with a bottle of water, opening it and handing it to Luke.
Luke takes it and gulps it down in record-time. He takes a couple of deep breaths and lets out a shaky sigh.
“You okay?” Ashton asks, ready to get him another bottle if he needs it.
“Yeah,” he croaks out. “yeah I should’ve just, paid attention. I’m not being careful enough.”
“Hey that’s not true.” Michael squeezes Luke’s hand. “You’re still learning, so is every one of us. We've got you, don't worry.” Luke smiles up at his words, and falls back onto Michael’s shoulders.
The sky’s turned into a deep, dark blue, and if it wasn’t for the fire crackling in front of them, Michael was sure he wouldn’t be able to see a thing.
Luke stand up without warning, and Michael nearly falls over due to the sudden lack of support next to him.
“I saw a lake when we arrived earlier. I think I’m gonna go check it out.” He announces, and starts walking.
“Whoa, Luke, wait!” Ashton says, and the boy turns around. “Yeah?”
“You sure you wanna go alone? What if you can’t find your way back?” The eldest boy sounds concerned.
“I could go with you!” Michael blurts out before he can change his mind. It wasn’t a particularly good idea for him to go near a large body of water, but if it meant he could be with Luke, that would be more than okay for him.
“No way, Mikey. You’re on fire duty.” Ashton says.
“Seriously?! Dude, I only know how to make fires, not how to put them out.” To prove his point, Michael breathes out a flame into the campfire, causing it to roar higher. His vision clouds yellow and he knows his eyes are lighting up, so he stops. He’s satisfied when he sees the look of defeat on Ashton’s face.
“Fine. You two go off. Be back before sunrise, please. I don’t want to waste my time all alone.”
Michael jumps up and runs towards Luke, who’s trying to hide his big grin. “It’s because you’re a vampire, Ash. You’re predestined to be a lonely brooding creepy man!” Michael laughs before he disappears into the darkness, hoping that Luke knows the way back because he can’t see shit.
Turns out the lake isn’t that far, much to Michael’s delight, and Luke’s already started taking his shoes off. Michael curiously peers into the water. It looks dark and ominous, and he can’t see the bottom of the lake which adds to his anxiety. Was Luke seriously going to swim in that?
He turns around and watches Luke take his shirt and jeans off, folding them neatly and putting the pile behind a rock. He flashes a grin at Michael and then dives into the water, after a few seconds he sticks his head out several meters off bank.
Michael looks at his friend, who’s swimming around with ease, and watches him move closer to him.
“Don’t you fucking dare pull me in, Hemmings.” He says as he takes a step back, remembering exactly how sick he got the last time he fell into the water.
“I won’t.” Michael can barely make out his facial expressions in the dark, but he takes Luke’s word for it.
“I was wondering, can you like, count the seconds for me whilst I stay underwater? I wanna know how much I’ve improved since last time.” The water ripples as Luke floats.
“Oh, sure!” Michael goes to sit on the boulder where Luke put his clothes, and nodded. “Whenever you’re ready.”
Luke slips underwater smoothly, and Michael begins to count. He’s got a feeling that it’s going to be a while, so he grabs a stick and breathes it on fire, making shapes with the makeshift-torch in the night sky.
The water starts to move when he’s at 365, and at 378 Luke’s head pops up and he takes in a deep breath. He swims closer to the bank quickly, and climbs out onto the muddy ground.
“How long was it?” He asks, slightly out of breath.
“378” Michael replies, and he sees Luke’s face light up with the brightest smile he’s ever seen.
“That’s over six minutes, holy shit! I’ve never been underwater for so long!” He beams and grabs Michael into a tight hug. The water sizzes as it makes contact with Michael’s skin, and he hisses at the cold temperature of the tall Merman. He must be, what, six, seven degrees? He was freezing!
He can’t help but feel fond and happy, though. Seeing Luke excited like this made him feel even warmer inside. He squeezes him before he lets go, allowing Luke to put on his clothes before they went back.
His shirt sticks to his back and his hair lays flat on his head, water dripping down his face. Luke doesn’t seem to mind, though. Of course he wouldn’t. He’s a Merman. Michael thinks.
The boys start walking back, Luke's cold hand brushes against Michael's a couple times and Michael prays Luke can't see him blush in the dark, but then Luke grabs his hand and laces their fingers together. Michael can feel himself get warmer. He prays that Luke wouldn’t notice the increase in temperature, either. He starts to think how safe it was to have a fire-breathing Dragon with a hopeless crush in the middle of a forest.
Of course, he’s more than happy to hold Luke’s hand, but don’t blame him if he accidentally sets fire to their tent tonight.