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It's cold during the winter, even more so then usual. It was cold to the point that Vale though about buying a new coat. But his lack of warm clothings wasn't his biggest concernes right now, neither was the snow that was covering the ground as far as the eye could see and probably even further. No, the problem was the new resident in the ranch that wasn't used to the cold weather.
1.
Spain doesn't get cold weathers, at least not like Italy does, so it isn't surprising when Marc lacks clothing that's above keeping someone mildly warm. What it is though, is a problem, a problem that has an easy solution,but a one that Vale isn't found of. Shopping.
That's how Vale ended up with Marc in the middle of a huge shopping center, browsing different shops. It took them almost half a day to find a fitting coat that was up to Vale's standards (for he has had a longer history with dealing with the cold.)
Marc comes out of the dressing room in a coat that must be at least 2 sizes too big for him. It's much more something that would fit Vale rather then Marc. "How does it look?" Marc asks, doing a little spin in front of Vale.
Vale holds in the laugh that is trying to escape him,his boyfriend was just so cute. "I don't know..." Vale strides twords Marc "It looks a bit too big on you."
The Spaniard huffs "At this point, I don't cear, I just want to get this shopping trip over with and go outside in something that won't have me freezing my balls off, do you want my balls to fall off?"
Vale just humms at the other's rant,browsing through the rest of the options for something warmer and more Marc's size.
In the end landed on a coat that was not only warm,but fitted Marc perfectly,a deep burgundy color that brought out Marc's warm skin and his pretty brown eyes.
The rest of the day went in a similar pattern – Vale dragging Marc to a another shop while Marc whined about not wishing to do this anymore. Vale felt like his own mother, back in the way when she used to drag his ass through shops insisting that he needed new clothes, Vale had always hated that.
Their shopping drip had only ended after the sun had gone down. They had bought Marc a new winter wardrobe, a warm coat, a scaf, a hat and fuzzy socks. He already had the mittens that Vale bought when he first returned to the ranch. Despite the rather unwelcomed shopping drip, Marc did have to agree that he was much more comfortable now. He no longer felt like his fingers and toes were gonna fall off.
2.
Marc isn't cold only outside, he is also cold inside! It's like it doesn't even matter that the ranch has a heating system, you will still find Marc somewhere in the house – usually in bed – curled up in warm blankets wearing fuzzy socks and in a thick hoodie (usually Vale's simply because it covers more of his body and thus goves more warmth).
What makes it worse is that any time he is in bed, he falls asleep, no matter how much he slept the night before, how much energy drinks he drank, no matter the time or what he had done through out the day. The moment he is in bed it's lights out and away into dream land he goes. Like hibernation.
And he will sleep for hours, maybe he will wake up for a moment, say something incoherent and then fall back asleep. It got to a point where Vale was getting genuinely concerned about Marc's health and took him to a doctor (hoe, you is a doctor) just for him to find out that some people just get lazier, unmotivated and more speepy during the winter because of the cold nd dark time.
In a way it is endearing to watch sleepy, only quarter there Marc latch onto any sources of warmth. Once Pecco had tried to refill his water bottle in the kitchen and Marc just leaned on him, wrapped his hands around the other man and almost falling asleep.
Poor Pecco was too sceard to move and didn't know what to do. Who knows how long he had been stuck there before Vale entered the kitchen and took Marc in his own arms. The Spaniard easily latching on to Vale's warmth despite the Italian running rather cold.
However, sleepy Marc meant cuddly Marc, which was a plus for Vale. He could easily answer his emails with Marc's head on his lap or Marc plastered to his side in bed.
3.
No matter how warm Marc may dress for the winter, one thing will always bug him, and that is the fact that his mouth refuses to cooperate with him when he is outside for too long.
Honestly,what is that??? Vale doesn't seem to have that problem, neither does Alex. Is it just him who starts to slur his words when he takes a walk in the park? It's not really a problem problem, but it's just so annoying!
Marc despises it when someone ask him a question and he opens his mouth just for nothing to come out, and when he is able to speak it comes out sounding like bunch of incoherent noises that nobody understands. The sounds echo weirdly even to his own ears.
A simple sentence like 'I don't know' turns into 'I dnokwt now' and Vale keeps laughing at him for it. However, it is amazing how fast Vale learned to decode his nonsense, understanding Marc even Marc couldn't understand what string of sounds left his mouth.
And it's not only his mouth that he can't feel, but his entire face, someone could slap him across his face and all he would feel is the cold biting his skin.
The cold also makes his nose and eyes water to the point he looks like a 3 year old who had a tantrum in the middle of the store, his nose snotty and tried tears covering his cheeks. The watery snot also freezes in the cild weather making the spot between his lips and nose sting.
Marc has tried to wear a scarf over his mouth and nose, but the moisture coming from him just breathing made the fabric damp amd rub against his chin uncomfortably, it was uncomfortable over all actually,not something he would recommend.
His face gets all dry too, he has a specific moisturizer just for winter. The skin of his hands would also go dry and start cracking like he is made out of porcelain. No matter if he wears his mittens constantly,the moment he takes them off for just a minute to blow his nose, there is already a tiny crack bleeding. And no matter how much he moisturizes his hands it doesn't seem to do anything!
4.
Marc doesn't like snow either, especially when it gets just a little bit warm and then the next day the snow is soggy and wet. And then the next day when it's colder again the watery snow has turned into slippery ice. At some point Marc truly believed that Ice was more dangerous then a MotoGP bike.
Normal snow is only a little bit better because it isn't a safety hazard when you walk on it, however it is very difficult to walk through snow. Every step feels like you are dragging your feet through glue. Plus, shoveling snow got to be one of the most annoying things ever.
However, he has to admit that snow can be really beautiful especially when it covers all the lans as far as the eye can see. It's pretty when snowflakes slowly fall from the sky and the only thing lightning up the park path is the warm light of the lamp posts and the moon. These walks are nicer then he would like to admit, since he has taken winter as an enemy
Skiing and snowboarding is also fun, but his favorite is sledding. There is just something about it, like a part of his childhood that he never got to experience. It is fun until you fall off the sled and then there is snow everywhere, inside your boots, coat, gloves and scarf. So snow gets a rating of 5 out of 10 from Marc.
5.
Long meetings is something that Vale has gotten used to now that he owns a MotoGP team. Don't get him wrong, he had long meetings when he was a rider too, but the meetings he is haveing now are much different and mhch more frequent.
He is glad that most of the meetings are bow through zoom, so he can still sit on his couch and not get up at 7 in the morning to get on a flight to meet the investors or something.
However there are meetings that he just can't miss, luckily for him these usually takes place in his own headquarters, close to his home (after all Tavullia is not that big) so he can get back faster.
The meeting had been going on for ages, but now Vale is finally free to go home. He gets in the car – not even bothering to turn on the radio – and starts driving back home.
The house is quite when he gets back, a little too quiet. There isn't Marc yelling 'welcom back' or Marc pattering to him to pull Vale back into bed for cuddles. "Marc?" Vale calls out for him once before starting to search for him.
Vale started to get worried when he couldn't find Marc on the couch or in the bedroom, not in the kitchen making himself a warm drink or in the bathroom sitting on the floor because there are heated tiles in there. After what felt like agonizing hours of searching, there was only one place left where Vale hadn't look.
He slowly makes his way down into the basement. There were a lot of rooms in there, some where Vale holds old bike pieces, his old clothes he kept for memories and a room that holds nothing but boxes of junk, he is pretty sure somewhere down here there is a bag of old bottles and cans that he never traded in for money.
But that doesn't matter right now, there would be no reason for Marc to be in any of those rooms, so he heads to the only place he hasn't checked, the sauna.
Vale was right, of course he was, at least partially. Marc was sitting in a corner of the room, fast asleep in fuzzy socks, a warm hoodie – that seemed to be Vale's – and some gray sweatpants. The sauna was turned on, but Marc wasn't actually sleeping in the sauna (thank goodness for that), but instead in the waiting room where the showers are. Where the room was almost too warm for Vale's liking from the heat that the sauna was producing.
Vale scoffs, apparently the ranch heating system wasn't enough for the Spaniard, but Vale couldn't find it in him to be mad. After all, how could he be mad at his boyfriend when he looked so cute sleeping there.
For a moment Vale considered waking the other up so they could go up and cuddle in bed, but decided against it since he doesn't want to wake Marc up. Instead he takes off his shirt to deal with the warmth of the room, turns the sauna off so they wouldn't be cooked alive and sits down next to Marc, pulling the other closer to him.
His ass won't thank him for sitting on the hard tiles when he wakes up, but that is future him problem, for now he is just content cuddling with Marc in a cozy warm room.