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They were all doing their best not to think too much on the upcoming tournament.
No one had any real idea what the tournament was meant to be, not really. They had spent the weeks since arriving at the academy studying and practicing their new magic, and now the first real test would be upon them within a couple hours.
Many students were up early this morning, unable to sleep in despite the tournament not starting until the afternoon. Scott had been wandering the academy aimlessly for more than an hour before he ran into other students, though it didn’t take long after that to fall into his usual group to try to pass the time by seeing the changes they had each made to their rooms.
The tunnels the girls had built were fun, if a bit cramped, though the real surprise was that Pyro had apparently been hard at work decorating his room.
~~~
“We’ve also got the jacuzzi!” Pyro made quick work of dropping down onto the first floor of his dorm as he spoke, leaving the other three up on the third floor.
“You have a jacuzzi?!”
“A jacuzzi??”
His friends quickly followed them down, Scott jumping down after Pyro while Shelby and Drift make their way down the ladder, still in shock about someone having put a hot tub in their dorm.
“Woah! I didn’t...”
There’s an unusual amount of freedom at this academy.
Pyro led Scott to the small room that housed the hot tub. There was certainly some amount of passive magic in the school that protected the building from the damage that would normally come from this sort of thing, for the walls were still pristine, no sign of damage from the steam that filled the room. On the far wall, the back side of a shoddy, cracked bookshelf could be seen forming the wall between the room they stood in and SeePeeKay’s dorm, the pages visible through the many cracks were similarly untouched by the moisture.
Stepping into the room felt like stepping into a sauna. Scott had been cold his whole life, growing up so far north, and it had only worsened since his magic awakened. No amount of blankets or wood in his fireplace would warm his dorm, and he no longer seemed to produce any heat himself. Even out of his dorm he felt cold; his only respite was his, so far very brief, visits to Pyro’s dorm, which always ran quite warm. Stepping into the room with the hot tub brought with it a wave of warmth even greater than the passive heat of the dorm, and it took all Scott had not to melt into the floor with how nice it felt. He set his backpack down by the door, happy to note that Aurora, usually quite content with the coldness of his dorm, was looking very relaxed as she sprawled half-out of the bag, soaking in the warmth like Scott wanted to.
He shed his cloak and outer layer of his heavy winter clothes as Pyro stepped inside after him, setting Cindermeare down by Aurora. Scott did not wait for an invitation, immediately stepping into the water, and sitting down on the small ledge inside the tub.
He could hear the girls, still outside the room, having gotten briefly distracted by something that Scott couldn't be bothered to try to figure out. He was too busy melting into the heavenly warmth that surrounded him, paying only enough attention to avoid slipping completely under the water. He faintly registered the quiet splash that came from Pyro entering the water beside him.
The hot tub wasn’t big to begin with. Clearly made to be enjoyed by just Pyro, perhaps to relax exhausted muscles after long days wandering the woods or hunching over books. It was just large enough to fit the four of them, though they would be a bit squished when the girls joined them.
All this to say, when Pyro slipped while attempting to sit, it’s not exactly a surprise they landed on top of Scott.
Scott was rather abruptly pulled from his relaxed daze by the weight that dropped on his lap, his only warning the quiet yelp from Pyro as he slipped.
For a few seconds, there was only silence between them.
Scott and Pyro had been rather close, before Pyro left Tegrith all those years ago. There was no hesitation with touching each other then, days spent chasing each other around, tackling each other into the lake during the rare summer days where it is warm enough to swim, sleepovers in the winter where the only way to stay warm was to share a bed, be it with your family or a friend. And while they had, slowly, been rebuilding their friendship in their time at the academy, much of that occurred with the buffer of their fellow students. One on one conversation still devolved into arguing as often as not, and the physical touch which was once common between them was now limited to the occasional brush of arms when in a tight space.
And one hug, over as soon as it began, after Scott thought Pyro had been killed falling from the tower.
Scott could not see Pyro’s face, from how they were positioned. Pyro had fallen as he came in beside Scott, slipped backwards and now sat facing away from him, Scott’s hands resting on Pyro’s hips from where he had instinctively reached up to catch him as they landed. Scott could not see Pyro’s face, but he could feel the tension where the two were pressed together. Scott was sure Pyro could feel a similar tension in his own body, though that was fading with every passing second.
Despite having only just gotten into the jacuzzi, Pyro was just as warm as the water around them, and the fading adrenaline from the sudden man in his lap was not enough to fight the effects of the soothing warmth, now paired with a comforting not unpleasant weight pressing into him. Scott said nothing as Pyro twisted around in his lap a bit, turning his head until he could see Scott’s face.
Scott met their eyes, watching as Pyro, usually so arrogant and quick to rebuke any perceived challenge, struggled for words. He opened his mouth several times, though no words came out as the tension slowly began to drain from his body. A strange peace, so unlike the constant fighting, settled over them, aided along by the calming atmosphere.
“Woah!”
The odd calm that had settled over them broke as quick as it had formed, as the girls filed in the room after them, having been just close enough to see as Pyro fell. The two had felt as if in their own world, just for a bit, stretching out what had actually taken less than a minute. Pyro slipped from his lap as the group broke into somewhat awkward laughter as Shelby and Drift set their backpacks down by the door, though it didn’t take long to settle back into the easy camaraderie that the group had formed in their first few days at the academy.
“That was NOT 5 feet apart!” Scott laughed as the girls approached the tub.
Pyro not-so-subtly sat at the far end of the set next to Scott, further squishing the group, though that presented little problem as Shelby took the opportunity to get closer to her friends, sitting about as close to Scott as she could without being on top of him, pulling Drift in next to her, the two immediately joining Scott in indulging in the pleasant warmth.
“We’re definitely going to need this after the tournament,” Drift said as she leaned onto Shelby. The close positioning left them with about a third of the available seating space being left open, but they ignored it in favor of enjoying the warmth and company of their friends.
Though he would deny it if ever asked, the warmth that Scott felt coming from Pyro during those brief moments lingered in his mind for days after the fact, warming him just the slightest bits during the cold nights.