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"Wow that's cold!" Subaru exclaims, hugging his elbows closer to his body as his teeth clatter audibly. From his side Reinhard watches him with fond amusement as wisps of mist curl around his face with each warm breath. "It's quite nice though." He feels the need to add softly.
"Only you would be open to saying such a thing while I'm freezing my ass off here." He tries to drag his flimsy and thin jacket closer to his body but the bitter chill is far too strong aided by the slight draft that it simply eats through the fabric. Subaru grunts in frustration and tries to warm up his chilly nose with his hands.
Reinhard offers him a consoling smile as he slowly unravels his own scarf and eases it around Subaru's neck, after he ties it he tugs down the long end like a doting parent would and cups his cheeks to help rub some warmth into the pinkish tints at the tip of Subaru's nose and cheekbones.
"You really are cold... You have to be more prepared for the weather Subaru."
"The forecast didn't specify snow." Julius' voice intervened, followed by the crisp crunching of snow approaching them.
"Somehow he gets it." Subaru pouts in his hands and puffs out his cheeks once Reinhard releases them. Julius took the cold well, he wasn't very bundled up having thrown on a jacket over his uniform and stuck his hands into his pockets, on the other side Reinhard had this uncanny ability to always predict the weather, it was a bit scary how on point he was. They'd be laughing at him one second for bringing an umbrella to school while it was sunny out then the next they'd be rained on having to huddle underneath the umbrella so graciously given to them out of pity.
So Reinhard, ever diligent Reinhard, came to school with a scarf, mittens, and two coats.
Even if he could tolerate the cold far better than any of them combined, all of that was mostly so he could trade them off to the others. The mittens had already been forfeited to Ferris awhile ago since their fingers had started stinging with the chill, and one of the coats had been given to Subaru since he- Well... Wasn't the most prepared. Coming to school with nothing more than his uniform and mismatched socks after sleeping in and missing his alarm three times.
"You could be the weather guy." Subaru points at Reinhard whom gives him a small smile. "Ah, but none of you watch the news so that wouldn't be helpful." He points out in a frustratingly neutral tone.
"The news is boring!" Subaru throws his hands into the air and groans as Julius approaches behind Reinhard, the bustle of students shuffling out of the school yard abundant behind them all. Julius brushes his shoulder against Reinhard's. "The news has important information. Boring or not." He muses.
"You don't watch it either." Reinhard corrects slyly.
"You did make that a point..." Julius huffs and hides his chin in the propped up collar of his jacket. "Doesn't change it's importance though."
Reinhard places his index over his mouth and smiles. "I never denied that."
Another pair of footfalls echo louder above the rest and Subaru leans to the side to watch as Ferris stumbles and clutches their school bag, trying to reach them but in the process trying not to slip on the ice coating the school yard asphalt. They do manage to skid all the way over and their heels click as they fall into place next to Reinhard with a winded sigh. "Nya- I've arrived!" They pose theatrically in that roundabout exaggerated fashion they so famously adopt.
"Did your teacher keep you for long?" Reinhard comments, subtly adjusting his own crossbody school bag as Ferris nods with a dissatisfied frown.
"Yeah, sorry bout' that! She was upset over something, i dunno." Ferris sing-songs.
"Hey, isn't that Rein's scarf?" They point at the scarf wrapped around Subaru's neck. He pauses and thumbs it before giving Ferris a large gratified smirk. "Yep-Yep!"
"Luckyyy..." Ferris huffs. "I know, i know, you're stuck with mittens, ha!" He continues stroking the scarf like an evil supervillain.
"You two should really prepare better for the winter." Reinhard tuts with clear worry in his tone.
"Always unprepared." Julius agrees, leaning into Reinhard's shoulder as if they're some sort of married couple disappointed in their two children. Subaru buries his face in the scarf at the mental image, he does not want to see either of them as parental whatsoever, it really soils the already established image he has of them. "You just brought a jacket. Hy-po-crite." Subaru points out while drawling out the last word mockingly.
"A jacket is more than what you brought, you slept in again, didn't you?" Julius fires back lightning quick.
"I'll castrate you in your sleep." Subaru warns.
To that, Julius just shrugs his shoulders and pushes away from Reinhard to walk toward the front gates.
"I don't know about you guys, but i'm ready to go home." He adds as turns around to give them a look. A look that conveys, 'Well, are you coming or not?'
"Go home and go to sleep, you'll wake up tomorrow with a nasty surprise." Subaru hisses as he follows reluctantly, they all had the same general route home so it was common that they would all walk together until their paths inevitably diverged at the forked end. Ferris prances behind him and Reinhard lingers towards the back of the group with his hands in his pockets and a content smile on his face.
The sidewalk isn't too slippery thankfully, it had been dusted with sand for extra grip so they wouldn't be sliding all over the place walking home. "Quite the threat, Subaru." Julius brushes a strand of hair from his face. Infuriatingly purple strand of hair.
Subaru grunts in frustration. "It's not an idle threat." Ferris materializes beside him causing him to repress a flinch at their sudden appearance. "We still doin' the get-together this weekend?" They ask impishly.
"I'm available." Julius inclines his head politely. "Course'." Subaru agrees. "I have nothing marked this weekend." Reinhard echoes behind them all.
"Nya!" Ferris beams and thrusts a fist upwards in celebratory glee. "Then it's settled! No backing out!"
"That's quite ominous." Subaru looks at Ferris carefully. The devilish Ferris looks back with a mischievous glint in their eyes that gleams in the faltering evening light. "Ferris is joking." They coo while patting Subaru on the back. It does not feel like they're joking.
"I've already got enough to deal with." Julius chimes as he brushes the same strand of hair from his face- Honestly, he should just buy the guy a pack of hairbands at this point he truly seems to need some. Maybe it'll be cheaper as a Christmas present. "You don't deal with it, you're just there."
Julius sends him a look.
"Don't look at me like that!" Subaru points at him, feeling his own face heat up with embarrassment at the prolonged staring match.
"Like?"
He wrinkles his nose and glares at Julius with at much ire as he can muster. He was especially peeved at the guy for accidentally spilling his drink all over Subaru's precious homework, mere minutes before he had to turn it in. And just to rub salt in the wound it was the same drink he had graciously bought Julius! What a slap in the face.
"It is unfortunate that extracurriculars got cancelled today." Reinhard inclined his head towards Ferris. The one in question only shrugs, mildly inconvenienced. "Happenstance, snow's heavy today." She replies.
"Unfortunate?" Subaru stretches his arms over his head obnoxiously. "It's actually pretty fortunate, i hate having to do those stupid extracurriculars."
Reinhard sends him a sheepish look as he scratches the back of his head awkwardly. "I suppose that may be true for you then."
"Nya- This is where we say our farewells again!" Ferris suddenly exclaims, sliding up to Julius to give him a friendly shoulder nudge.
"Oh, i suppose ill see you guys tomorrow then." Julius smiles faintly while giving them all a parting wave. In response Reinhard inclines his head with a soft, "Tomorrow."
Subaru raises his hand to wave them off, "See you guys tomorrow!" Receiving a chorus of agreements from the two members absconding into the distance. Ferris had her house all the way in the back of the street near Julius' so they tended to take the same route home while Reinhard and him had the opposite end.
Speaking of the person in question, Subaru turns to see Reinhard staring blankly in front of him. Eyes not focusing on anything in particular, entirely lost in his own mind.
"Earth to Haruo?" He waves in front of Reinhard's despondent eyes. A glint returns to them and he turns to meet Subaru's gaze sheepishly. "My apologies, i just got a bit caught up."
A vague way to say he had completely clocked out for some apparent reason. "S'fine." He shakes his head fondly. "Anyway, i'll catch you tomorrow right?"
The question lingers in the air. Subaru feels sweat bead on his forehead at this ominous bout of sudden silence hanging between them, he clears his throat to help ease out of it but Reinhard doesn't look less nervous, or discomforted.
So instead he shuffles and gets ready to go home himself without a farewell from Reinhard, but something tugs on his sleeve and for a second he thinks he had accidently snagged it on something- But no, Reinhard has his sleeve tightly balled up in his hand.
"Subaru-" He begins, looking incredibly conflicted. His belated explanation comes out half choked. "Could i stay with you for tonight?"
"Oh." Subaru blinks in response. "Well why didn't you say so before?"
Reinhard looks stupefied, his lips slightly parted and his eyes widened like saucers. He looks as if Subaru had said something so supremely incomprehensible that he felt stupid that it wasn't common sense to him.
"It's your father, isn't it?" He ascertains.
Right, as much as Reinhard prides himself in being this elusive character, he truly is an open book once anyone knows the most surface level understanding of his situation. Subaru's evaluation hits true as Reinhard fumbles with getting the right words to circumvent actually admitting that he feels anything towards his father that could ever be described as slightly negative.
Since nothing is truly negative or positive all around. Subaru knows how much Reinhard loves his father, and subsequently how much his father probably, for all Subaru knows, loves Reinhard. That discomfort though is not something a boat load of hidden love can fix, especially when Reinhard himself is a disaster when it comes to communicating his feelings. Case and point.
So it's not really that much of a shock that Reinhard doesn't want to go home and face a foe he genuinely isn't equipped to handle. "Father came home yesterday after his time abroad." Reinhard threads his hands together shamefully.
"I don't... I don't think i'm ready to spend another night there." He admits as if the news itself was a cumbersome load to take off his shoulders.
"You're always welcome at the Natsuki household. My mom loves you anyway, there's no need to ask you know." Subaru quickly soothes his worries, dismissively waving his hand as if he's brushing off Reinhard's inner turmoil about burdening Subaru's family again with his presence like it's nothing.
Reinhard's lips quirk into the tiniest smile he can manage. "Thank you."
"Is there any reason you came with me and not Julius? Or Ferris?" He asks out of curiosity.
"I don't know. I thought about it and i guess i just felt like staying with you was the right choice." Reinhard admits airily, with a neutral tone. The sentence itself is anything but neutral, it makes Subaru feel warm inside in a weird way he doesn't want to decode at the moment.
"Then i gotta make it cool for you." Subaru poses theatrically, one hand poised at his chin in a thoughtful gesture. "Hmm- Idea!"
"You don't have to go out of your way to make it cool for me, Subaru." Reinhard sheepishly interjects.
"Too bad, i've just gotten the best idea since the invention of mayonnaise." Subaru grumbles something out underneath his breath, something along the lines of 'nothing is better than mayonnaise', before grabbing hold of Reinhard's sleeve and dragging him down the road. Reinhard lets himself be tugged down the street with a bemused snort, finding Subaru's antics amusing and his blithesome attitude infectious.
"Where are we going, if i may ask?" Reinhard softly cuts in.
"To the frozen pond!" Subaru eagerly answers with a wide grin.
"Which one?" Reinhard queries.
"The big one next to the school." Subaru responds.
There was a huge pond next to their school, it was fenced in with large iron link fences to stop rowdy and rebellious teenagers from congregating at the pond or being the stupid teenagers they are and falling in. It was a real big safety risk letting all those juvenile adolescents throw rocks at wildlife inches away from the bank risking falling headfirst into the pond.
But during winter the pond would freeze over completely. The nature of the pond, being a large body of water unobscured by trees or foliage made it a perfect ice skating rink. Sure, it was still pretty early to be testing the ice but he had seen plenty of kids stand perfectly fine on that ice.
So to surmise he had concluded very expertly that he could take Reinhard to that pond without a worry in the world.
"I don't think it's properly frozen over." Reinhard fretted behind him and Subaru had to suppress the urge to roll his eyes. "It is, you big worrywart. How did Anastasia and her clique skate on that pond then?"
"Well-" Before Reinhard could even formulate a singular word in rebuttal, Subaru shushed him quickly by pressing his hand against Reinhard's mouth.
"It'll be fine." Subaru reassures. "Besides, even if one of us falls in, the other can call for help. See? I've seriously thought this through."
Reinhard doesn't look very reassured. There's a crease of worry between his brows that tells of concern. "Subaru-"
"Are you afraid i'll laugh at you if you fall in?" Subaru snickers, placing his hands on his hips. "C'mon, i know i might laugh for a bit but i'd totally help you out. After laughing a little, of course."
"Is there a reason you're so insistent on visiting this pond rather than going home?"
Subaru pauses in his verbal jabbing for a moment. Surely Reinhard hadn't implied he was-? Well, he had nobody to blame but himself.
"Apart from it being a fun thing to do with my buddy, i have my own reasons." Subaru reveals half heartedly, glancing sideways at the dead trees flanking the path. Their leaves all dried up leaving long spindly branches winding tall facing the biting chill.
Reinhard closes his eyes for a second before opening them with a timid smile. "Then where's that pond?"
"I thought you'd never ask!" Subaru dramatically squeals, slapping his hands against his cheeks childishly in jest. Before Reinhard can object he grabs both of his hands and drags him further down the path with theatrical enthusiasm, towards the fabled pond.
They're met with a tall chain-link fence looming over them, standing as the only barrier separating them and the frozen pond beyond. Subaru slips off his crossbody bag and hefts the thing over the fence with a "Hup!", it lands on the other side onto the frosted grass with a crunchy thud.
Looking back towards Reinhard, he watches as Reinhard does the same with his own school bag, before grabbing the chain-link fence and beginning his climb over. A grunt escapes him as he strains to vault over the top of the fence while it rattles loudly.
He vaults over the fence and glances back up to meet Reinhard's gaze, encouraging him to do the same before grabbing his bag off of the cold bitter ground, hoping the bottom of it didn't get too wet from resting against the crystalline frost capped grass.
"Why can't we just-" Reinhard huffed, dropping down beside Subaru. "-Use the front gate?"
"It's locked." Subaru dusts his bag off neatly before securing it over his shoulder.
Reinhard frowns. "You know i don't really approve, but we could've just nicked the keys." He quietly offers as he picks up his own bag, glancing down at the wet spot at the bottom with a hint of annoyance.
"Oho- Reinhard being naughty? I thought i'd never see the day!" Subaru giggles at the mental image of Reinhard actually preforming any sort of thievery. Pickpocketing was far too juvenile for someone like Reinhard to do.
"I can make mistakes too, you know." Reinhard says as if that explains it.
"It's not so much a mistake as it is intended thievery that's the issue. You're student council, you're supposed to be the goody-two-shoes. The smart mature one." He continues, vaguely hand waving gestures in his usual expressive manner. Reinhard gave him a bemused tilt of the head. "I'm sure i'm not as smart and astute as you make me out to be, Subaru."
"Are you being humble, or are you just fishing for compliments?" Subaru grits his teeth as he trudges past the tall ferns obscuring their path towards the pond. "Never mind, the idea of you purposefully fishing for compliments is impossible to imagine." He hears a soft huff of amusement behind him and the slap of a damp tree branch hitting Reinhard square in the face after Subaru had gently guided it away from his own.
He glances over his shoulder and holds in a snort as he watches Reinhard scrub his face, the slight imprint of a tree branch visible over his nose speckled with a bit of dirt. The laughter escapes him as he tries to save Reinhard from the humiliation of being psychically sucker punched by nature. It fails, and he laughs aloud.
"Sorry! Sorry-" Subaru snorts and giggles, turning around to continue walking after Reinhard had sent him an unimpressed look.
As he does, a tree branch slaps him right in the eyes and his yelp reverberates through the open field like a distant echo. He recoils and rubs his stinging eyes as his mind tries desperately to tune out Reinhard's snickering behind him.
"That makes two. Two to nature, zero to mankind." Subaru grumbles out as he waves his hand in front of him while walking forwards to feel around for any other extra attackers ready to catch him off guard in the vast expanse of shrubbery. "Are you regretting this already?" Reinhard asks with humor in his tone.
"Don't make me regret it more!" Subaru answers hotly, waving his hand in Reinhard's general direction.
"Sorry, Subaru." Reinhard apologetically laughs.
Instead of replying audibly, Subaru turns back to the scenery before him and gingerly opens his eyes. Peeling away the last few feet of ferns and tree branches in front of him, he's met with the sight of a vast open field curving downwards as if they where at the top of a hillock looking down it's steep edge. At the basin of the valley, was the pond.
It was frosted over with a layer of spiderwebbed ice, the dew licked grass all along the bank and field was snow-capped and crunchy. Reinhard came to a stop beside him, looking down at the pond with a glimmer of wonder in his gaze.
"Pretty, right?" Subaru tilts his head as he admires the shock dawning on Reinhard's face.
"Yeah. It's very pretty." Reinhard agrees softly.
He grabs hold of Reinhard's hand, it's warm, and presses onwards down the small hill. It takes a bit of time for him to shuffle down the hill without slipping, the grass was a bit slippery as it was frozen over, not entirely, but enough to prove slippery should his heel catch the wrong angle.
They slip down the hill without issue and Subaru tugs Reinhard closer to the edge of the pond. The surface of it glimmers as sunlight reflects off of the ice in an array of sparkles. He feels Reinhard press against his shoulder and watches as mist forms around his face with each wonderstruck breath.
"You look like you've never been here before." Subaru asks with a hint of curiosity as he slowly reaches towards the ice with the toe of his shoe. The bag on his shoulder slips off onto the ground with a soft thud.
"I haven't." Reinhard answers indifferently, his eyes still plastered on the horizon of the pond as he follows suit and drops his bag beside Subaru's.
The ice doesn't fragment or bend at his shoe so he presses more of his weight onto his foot, the ice holds. "Seriously? You must be living under a rock, literally half of the class has been here already."
Reinhard watches him carefully assess the ice. "I don't really leave my house often." He continues in a more somber tone, eyes clouded. "Oh, right."
The ice continues to hold his full weight and he finally steps out onto the ice with both feet planted. He slides forwards a few inches and holds his breath- The ice stays miraculously solid. He had trusted that the ice was dense enough to hold at least one person on it, seeing as Anastasia had skated on it a few days prior with her friends.
Subaru turns around gingerly and grabs Reinhard's arms, gently pulling him onto the ice. "Well, this'll be your first time here then! And with me, ain't that exciting?" Subaru grins wide as Reinhard fumbles to catch his balance for a moment before righting himself and leaning against Subaru's arms.
"It's- It's pretty-" Reinhard's heel slips and he rights himself after a moment of shock. "It's pretty cool- I suppose?"
"We don't have skates but if you balance you can build some momentum." Subaru giggles at the humorous sight of Reinhard fumbling with his own balance on the ice. He detaches his hands from Reinhard's arms and stifles a snort at the audible sound of loss Reinhard makes.
He slides forwards for an inch or two before coming to a complete stop on the ice with his arms splayed out like he balancing on a tightrope. Subaru shuffles his feet to slowly slide himself closer as Reinhard still doesn't move, once he gets closer he can see the tight concentration on Reinhard's face in the furrowed crease between his brows.
"Do you need some help?" He asks slyly. Reinhard looks up from his feet and slightly starts careening forwards. "That would be appreciated." He bites out, tense as a tripwire.
"Finally, something i can best you at." Subaru grins as he helps Reinhard ease forwards by pulling at his arms, their hands interlocked.
"Subaru- This feels- Dangerous." Reinhard worries his bottom lip as he starts slowly sliding forwards again, his knees still bent inwards and shaking ever so slightly. "Calm down, you're worrying over nothing."
Subaru jerks him forwards and giggles as Reinhard yelps in shock. "Be more confident. You wont slip, trust yourself." Reinhard shakes his head at his consoling words, each shaky action filled with nervousness.
"Put one foot in front of the other." Subaru guides.
Reinhard sucks in a sharp breath as the hands guiding him suddenly disappear. "One foot in front of the other!" Subaru calls from where he stands, slowly walking away from Reinhard still fumbling with his balance on the ice.
"I'm putting one foot-" Reinhard raises one foot off the ice slightly, it glides forwards. "In front of the other." He slides forwards an inch before righting himself nervously.
"One foot..." Another, and another, and Reinhard leans closer and grabs Subaru's hands. A small timid yet victorious smile on his face as he looks behind him in triumph, assessing the distance he had managed to cross.
"See?" Subaru smiles at him and for some reason that lone sight has more weight to it than the feeling of actually crossing the distance on the ice. Reinhard feels something like pride swell in his chest, more confident in his steps now. "This isn't so bad." He admits.
"It's pretty sad that we couldn't get any skates though, huh?" Subaru sighs defeatedly. He had truly really wanted to go ice skating with Reinhard, but neither of them owned any ice skates and he didn't really want to buy a pair just to go skate for one season out of the year. It seemed like a luxurious investment he didn't have the money for.
Reinhard would've bought him a pair of skates if he asked, but he felt a little scummy to burden Reinhard financially like that for simple frivolities like ice skating. It was a trivial hobby.
They could've borrowed some skates.
But at the same time he doubted someone like Anastasia would be willing to hand over her prized skates so easily. Especially to Subaru.
"I think it's plenty fun even without skates." Reinhard reassures gently. He's more confident on the ice now, his back is straightened and his legs aren't shaking as much. "Thanks for soothing my wounded pride Haruo, you really are a saint."
Reinhard pauses at the mention of his nickname, a conflicted look crosses his usually so stoic expression as he turns to face Subaru. "Subaru." Mist forms around his face as he says his name. It curves around them disappearing into the air with his breath. "Yeah?" He nervously asks.
They blink at each other for a moment before Reinhard turns to look at he pond before him. "Can i kiss you?"
It takes a moment for the question to register to him. As it does he feels his face heat up exponentially, his eyes stay plastered on Reinhard's face as he stares, eyes transfixed, on the distant pond. Pointedly avoiding eye contact with Subaru.
"W-Well-" Subaru stutters and suddenly the feeling of Reinhard's warm hand in his is unbearable. They had kissed numerous times before but it was still a novel experience when it did happen, as sparse and few in-between as they where. He was still grappling with the thought that someone like Reinhard wanted to- asked to- do such things. With him of all people.
Timidly, he glanced away. "You don't have to- You know, ask all the time. You can just-" He makes a vague sound, hands moving as if to mime what he meant without speaking it himself. The thought of saying that filled him with trepidation.
At this, Reinhard finally peeled his gaze away from the pond. His lips where parted slightly and his gaze hardened as if he was preparing for some sort of battle. It was a bit funny- If Subaru wasn't mentally preparing himself as well.
"Okay." Mist curled around them as Reinhard leaned closer. Subaru felt his heart hammering against his chest, desperate and frantic. Time felt slow and far too fast at the same time, he wanted to tell Reinhard to hurry up, but also to hold up and wait. It was confusing, yet thrilling.
Reinhard's lips pressed against his and his next breath got lodged in his throat. He felt the telltale pressure of Reinhard's hand slowly trailing up his shoulder to pull Subaru closer, he returned that same hunger by curling his fingers against Reinhard's jacket tightly to press himself closer.
Both of their lips where chapped from the cold, but neither cared. He could almost taste Reinhard's cologne, the scent was so strong as he pressed closer it mingled with the taste of leftover vanilla chapstick on his lips. It was soft and warm, he could barely feel the chill of winter between them.
Reinhard pulled away first, he looked messy, hair tousled and eyes blank. "Thank you." His voice is scratchy. "Why are you thanking me? You're such a sap." Subaru pats his arm.
"I had thought it had been awhile since we had been- Intimate." He explains slowly, it sounds awkward and forced the way he words it, carefully polite and distant. "Yeah."
He looks almost gutted at the way Subaru dismissively says 'yeah', as if he's brushing it off like it's nothing. Neither of them are very good at communicating feelings of all things. "That's- That's not a good thing. I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault, i don't fault you for not being ready or open about it." Subaru shrugs. It stings and hurts but he desperately doesn't want to show that on his face. Reinhard still wasn't entirely ready to be open about their relationship and that wasn't his fault. Being honest, even Subaru felt a little trepid about sharing their status publicly.
Reinhard opens his mouth to no doubt apologize incessantly again, and Subaru cuts him off. "Don't say sorry, if you say sorry one more time i swear."
He blinks owlishly before a small smile graces his face. "Alright. I wont say sorry anymore." He acquiesces.
Subaru sighs in triumph before letting go of Reinhard's hand and pushing away, half-sliding half-walking farther down the pond. "Are you still feeling confident after that?" He calls after Reinhard's prone form standing awkwardly on the ice.
"I think i'd be more confident if you stuck close to me." Reinhard's smile is wobbly and nervous as he tries to shuffle over towards Subaru.
"Ha! Come over then." He eagerly gestures for Reinhard to continue penguin-waddling over.
Reinhard's gait is lopsided and stilted, each step looks cumbersome to take as he concentrates on the act of walking without loosing his balance on the slippery ice. Subaru muffles a laugh at the amusing sight.
That is, until Reinhard pauses in walking. His eyes widen, large as saucers, as his knees bend and he stares firmly at the ice below his feet. Subaru quirks a brow in curiosity at this sudden spike of uncertainty on Reinhard's face, he shuffles his feet to try to reach him but is stopped as Reinhard glances back up at him. "Don't move-"
Subaru blinks. Then looks down. He had slid all the way over to the far end of the pond where the ice wasn't as thick as the ice at the bank. The ice here was thinner and less opaque, transparent enough that he could see the water below and the spiderweb of fractures along the surface.
"Subaru, don't move. I'll come over, okay?" Reinhard looks panicked. Whenever Reinhard looks panicked, Subaru feels panic brew in himself. Someone as reliable as Reinhard being brought to the point of fear was enough to make anyone feel terrified by proxy. "Okay- Okay." The weight of his situation finally dawns on him. Maybe he had overestimated the ice.
It feels like even a single wrong twitch or breath could possibly break the ice. He waits and watches as Reinhard, awkward yet determined, shuffles closer and closer as carefully as he possibly can be.
The ice makes a terrifying groaning noise under his shoes that makes him hold his breath.
"Reinhard, i don't think-"
There's a loud gunshot like snap as the ice under his heels fragments then shatters. He hears someone shouting his name before he plunges into a bitter and cold bath that sucks the air from his lungs.
"Where are your parents?" Reinhard's teeth clatter with each word as he helps Subaru into the house. The gust of warmth makes Subaru feel almost lightheaded with relief, he was drenched from head to toe and the tips of his hair had already started to freeze with the time he spent outside. "W-Work-" He chokes out blearily.
Reinhard drops their bags next to the coat rack as he helps Subaru further into the empty house. It's blissfully warm inside that his limbs begin to sting as they thaw. "I'll make you some tea, you should take a shower." He sounds concerned, but Subaru is having a hard time focusing on anything beyond how cold he feels.
Flexing his fingers, he can see the pale tint his fingertips have taken on indicative of how cold he currently feels. Reinhard helps him to the bathroom door and pauses as Subaru looks towards the bathtub blankly.
"Do you need help?" He asks in a neutral tone, devoid of humor or malice. He means it genuinely. Subaru holds the door frame as he shivers. "Maybe." His hands feel too cold to move properly, he doesn't think he's able to turn the knob anyway.
He tries not to feel embarrassed as Reinhard shuts the door behind him and start leisurely helping him pull the tie out of the loop. He sits on the lid of the toilet waiting patiently and watching Reinhard turn the bath on, the soft rushing of water fills the bathroom and steam curls upwards from the basin of the tub as it fills.
Reinhard gently helps him out of his uniform and loaned jacket down to only his boxers. There's a slight flush on his cheeks most likely from embarrassment or the rapid change in temperature, but it doesn't rival Subaru's. It feels like a humiliation game at this point.
He's being incredibly careful as he folds Subaru's drenched uniform and tosses it in the laundry hamper neatly, taking a glance at the half full bathtub and a shivering Subaru. "Okay, do you want some help getting in?" Subaru nods, still trembling like a leaf.
It's about as awkward as it can get, Reinhard helps hoist Subaru into the bathtub and he exhales a breath of relief as the warm water touches his skin. It still stings, but it slowly thaws into a comfortable level of warmth with time. Reinhard gestures for him to turn around. "Might as well clean your hair, it definitely looks like you've fallen into a pond." Reinhard stifles a laugh as he picks out a large branch from Subaru's hair.
"A-Ah, i hope my p-parents don't find out." Subaru chuckles shakily.
"They probably wont." Reinhard reassures as he picks up the shampoo bottle from the cabinet above the sink and pours a little into his hands. "Unless you get sick."
Subaru opens his mouth to complain but instead a content sigh escapes him at the feeling of Reinhard's hands working diligently in his hair. He feeling of his nails against his scalp is soothing enough paired with the warm bath, he almost wishes he could fall asleep right there.
"Lean back a little, i have to rinse it out." Subaru obeys and he feels a warm cascade of water fall down his hair, rinsing the shampoo suds out and into the bath. He almost misses the feeling of Reinhard's hands in his hair, but before he can lament Reinhard had already started conditioning the ends.
"Jeez, that's a-a lot of d-dirt." He frowns at the dark speckles in the bathtub after Reinhard had rinsed his hair once. He hears an amused huff of air as Reinhard muffles a laugh. "You did fall into a frozen pond, after all."
"Y-Yeah, but, i didn't f-fall into a pool o-of dirt." Subaru frowns, flexing his trembling fingers he finds some feeling of movement had come back to his numb hands. "Ponds aren't known for their pristinely clean waters."
"Lean back." He does as he's commanded and the final rush of water cleans his hair. The feeling is beyond heavenly as it undoes all the knots and kinks he had attained after his unceremonious tumble into the pond.
"Alright." As Subaru twists and turns around he watches Reinhard roll down his sleeves and stand up, looking much less pale than before as he had also been somewhat drenched from hauling Subaru out of the ice hole. "I'll go make you some tea. Just soak in here for a bit, i'll come get you out in a moment."
Subaru doesn't object to that, sitting in the bathtub of warm water seemed like the best idea since the invention of- Oh, he feels a bout of deja-vu at that reminder.
The door doesn't shut, Reinhard purposefully leaves it slightly ajar as he absconds down the hall towards the kitchenette. Subaru slowly sinks down further into the bathtub, the faucet had been running the entire time, albeit not as quick as when Reinhard started to fill the tub. Now it was up to his chest and the aftermath of suds after shampooing his hair floated around him.
Thankfully his limbs had ceased burning with how abrupt the change in temperature was, from freezing titanic to warm spa. Now it was much nicer. Less achy.
He still couldn't stop thinking about how embarrassing it was to have Reinhard psychically help him undress. Not that it was meant to be anything erotic, it was still intimate especially considering their established relationship status. He couldn't help his mind drifting to if Reinhard would've-
"I've got tea brewing." Subaru's head snapped up. In his state of being lost in his own mind he had started to blow bubbles into the water while staring intensely into the far wall. Glancing up, he meets Reinhard in the doorway.
Reinhard had changed in the time it took to brew the tea it seemed, he had put on a sweater from Subaru's closet that laid unused for quite some time. "Okay." He blows more bubbles into the water.
"Do you need help getting out?" Reinhard asked softly, kindly. In his arm, clean and dry clothes.
Subaru felt his face heat up with a violent blush. "No," He clears his throat "I think i c-can get out myself."
Surprisingly, Reinhard looked a little relieved at that as he awkwardly placed the dry clothes down on the closed toilet lid and closed the door for him with a soft click out of politeness.
He's not sure he would've been able to survive that ordeal if he had taken Reinhard up on that offer. An incredibly awkward, embarrassing, discomforting ordeal.
Slipping out of the bath, he quickly changes into the dry clothes consisting of a button-up shirt and casual slacks before shuffling out of the bathroom carefully. He hears the kettle whistling in the kitchenette and the sound of Reinhard pouring the boiling water in a mug, it's an incredibly domestic sight he sees as he rounds the corner.
"There's blankets on the couch." Reinhard gestures towards the couch and as he says, he had gathered a few blankets and quilts to lay on the couch for him. Subaru hums in acknowledgement as he shambles towards the couch and practically falls over the length of it, grabbing the hem of a wide sherpa blanket and pulling it around himself.
Reinhard approaches after him and offers him a mug, Subaru readjusts himself into a sitting position to accept the offered tea and pats the empty spot beside him for Reinhard to sit down.
The couch dips slightly as Reinhard sits down beside him. Subaru inches closer and wraps one end of the sherpa blanket around Reinhard to pull the other closer before taking a long drawn out sip from the tea. A tangy lemony taste followed by the sweetness of honey coats his tongue.
"D'you think we'll get sick?" Subaru asks through sniffles and stifled sneezes.
Reinhard looks at him for a moment, placing his mug of tea down on the table in front of them before pulling one hand over Subaru's shoulder. "Hopefully not."
Subaru sneezes. "Man, that was unlucky."
Julius glances around the school yard, a look of conflicted concentration on his face as if he's searching for someone, or someone's.
"Looking for someone, nya?" Ferris pokes Julius in the side, earning them a startled inhale. "Ferris-!" Julius yelps as he adjusts his uniform nervously.
"Well, have you seen Subaru and Reinhard around anywhere?" Julius queries, worry clear on his face and in his tone.
Ferris hums for a moment, twirling a strand of her hair between their thumb and index. "After yesterday? Nyo, not really."
Julius opens his mouth to respond but is cut off as Ferris' phone pings loudly with a notification. Ferris scrambles to find his phone and check the message as Julius clears his throat. "Reinhard isn't the type to shirk school like this. I'm worried."
"Maybe Subaru of all people would skip, but definitely not Reinhard." Ferris hums and nods with Julius' explanation before belatedly laughing.
"Oh, i don't think you have to worry about them, nya." Julius raises a brow.
Before he can ask, Ferris turns their phone around to show Julius a message. There, at the top of the screen is a picture of Subaru and Reinhard presumably laying cuddled up together in Subaru's bed as Reinhard is completely knocked out in the background with a prominent flush on his face while Subaru holds the phone up, one hand showing the peace sign and sticking his tongue out cheekily at the camera.
Below the selfie, Subaru writes, 'We're both sick, so enjoy school losers.'
Julius makes a bemused sound. "What could've happened in one day for them both to get sick?"
Ferris' shoulders shake as she laughs.