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“You’re sure we shouldn’t just turn around and go back to your mom’s house?”
“…No! I got this!”
Kotetsu focused on what he could see of the road ahead, his eyes distracted by the whipping white flurries flying past his windshield. The GPS mounted on his dash said they only had five miles to go—it couldn’t be that hard. C’mon.
“There’s a curve up ahead,” Barnaby said.
“I know! I see it!”
As much as the universe always managed to get in their way, this was a new one. Kotetsu wasn’t going to let a little mother nature get between themselves and the cabin rental he’d meticulously planned for their weekend off. Not even a little white-knuckle driving through winding mountain roads in a blizzard was going to stop him, not with a trunk full of groceries, dammit, and Barnaby’s favorite rosé, because he had been paying attention, after all, and he couldn’t wait to see Barnaby’s face when he whipped it out because he’d be so proud of him for remembering, he just knew it.
“We could always cancel and rebook,” Barnaby said.
“No we’re not. When’s the next time Lloyds is gonna give you three whole days off in a row?” he said, the soft holiday music on the radio severely downplaying the treacherous conditions up ahead. “Besides… the deposit’s nonrefundable.”
“I’d pay you back for the deposit.”
He gripped the wheel through his thick winter gloves. “Y’know… if things always had to be perfect when we hung out, we’d never get to do anything. A little adventure might be good for us.”
“I know. But it’s supposed to snow 24 inches tonight.”
“And?”
Barnaby shifted in his seat. “I’m just saying. What if the plows don’t come this way before we have to go back?”
Kotetsu exhaled through his nose, more out of pity than anything else. Barnaby always seemed to get a certain type of way this time of year. He couldn’t exactly blame him—the entire holiday season was just one giant lead-up to the anniversary of the most awful incident in his life, as if the entire world was coming together to celebrate his loss. All of the decorations, the festivities, the lights, the music… all just a big reminder of the gaping hole left in his heart where happy memories with his family should have been. The bastard known as Maverick made sure of that, surgically replacing every ounce of joy in his life with a single-minded focus on revenge and perfection when the man decided to make him his tool. Barnaby had made great strides since then, but he had no reason to enjoy this time of year, and no positive memories associated with it.
Kotetsu was determined to change that. Barnaby was family—to him, anyways—and he began warming to the idea during his first trip to Oriental Town. Without commenting on the nature of their relationship, the Kaburagi household welcomed him with open arms and friendly smiles, and Kaede was over the moon at his visit… though Kotetsu did notice she hid every scrap of evidence hinting towards her obsession with the man. And instead of finding himself unsettled by the newness of it all, Barnaby could be seen emitting a sense of contented peace that was a rare treat to behold.
The same held true for his next few visits, and Kaede was just as thrilled every time. Unfortunately, the Kaburagi household was also… small. Intimate. A little too intimate to truly enjoy one another’s company in peace.
Cue the cabin idea. Barnaby had started to open up to little adventures like this—Kotetsu had dragged him camping last summer, after all—he’d just never done something quite so rustic, and definitely not this far outside of Stern Bild. Away from the stress of the city and other prying eyes, maybe Barnaby could finally leave his other troubled thoughts behind for once. It was never quite that easy, though.
“Lloyds will be upset if I’m not back on time,” Barnaby stated in the middle of his silence.
“We’re not getting stuck out here. I’ve got 4-wheel drive on this baby. You think this is my first rodeo?” Kotetsu said, keeping his hands glued to the steering wheel. “We’re pretty close anyways. I’m not turning this thing around now.”
He glanced over at Barnaby, bundled up in a stylish red parka with a steaming paper coffee cup clutched in his hands and his back straight at attention like he was trying to be a second pair of eyes. With the snow beginning to blur the lines on the road, the only thing marking the edges were the scraggly black trees stretching up all around them, fading a short distance away into the white curtain up ahead. His wipers could barely keep up with the barrage of snowflakes blasting his windshield.
Kotetsu turned his eyes up at the rearview mirror. “I can't even see past all your bags.”
“I came prepared.”
“I came prepared,” he bit back. “You have twice as many bags as me. What the heck did you bring?”
“A little bit of everything. I didn’t know what kind of amenities they would have.”
He would have rolled his eyes had he not been paying such close attention to the road. “The listing said it’s fully stocked. We’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, but fully stocked for you might not be fully stocked for me.”
“Bunny, what does that even—”
The pleasant voice on their GPS interrupted the thought. “In 200 feet, turn left onto East Foothill Road.”
“See,” Kotetsu gestured at his phone. “We’re almost there.”
He gingerly tapped his brakes, trying not to slide right past their exit with the road slick with ice. Somewhere out there, a poorly-marked snow-covered dirt road would be their ticket right into their weekend getaway, and he kept his eyes on the edge of the trees in an attempt to find what looked like a passage. With the snow whipping in his vision, he could barely make out anything.
Whatever. He’d trust his technology.
“This doesn’t look like a road,” Barnaby said as he began his turn.
“Yes it does. The map thingy says it’s right here.”
Barnaby leaned towards the screen. “It looks like it’s further up.”
“Hey, I’m drivin’ here. Trust me, would ya?”
“I know…”
His car faced the woods. From head-on, the opening looked a little narrower than he thought. Huh, that was a little…
*CLUNK*
The bottom dropped out from his front tires. Barnaby nearly spilled his coffee, bracing himself against the door as the car tilted precariously towards the Kotetsu’s side. The snow made an uncomfortable crunch where it scraped up beneath his vehicle, all while the radio continued to play smooth holiday jazz like nothing was wrong at all.
Barnaby snapped his head towards him, his face painted with a deadly scowl. “Kotetsu.”
“Whoops.”
He put the car in reverse, attempting to back out from the ditch he’d dropped them into. The wheels spun in fruitless circles, only managing to dig themselves deeper into the heavy wet slush. It looked like they were officially stuck.
“Why did you even turn here?” Barnaby asked, his voice piqued in irritation.
“It looked like a turn.”
“No it didn’t,” he said, and pointed a gloved finger at the blue line on the screen. “It said turn in 200 feet. Our turn was up there.”
“Do I look like I know what 200 feet is?”
As much as they could argue about it until they both ran out of breath, calculating the exact measurement of just how stupid it was wasn’t going to get them out of their predicament. He put the car in neutral and opened the door to jump out, instantly sucking every last square inch of heat out with him.
The ditch was deeper than he expected. The snow rose up almost to his knees while more of it continued to fall in thick flurries all around him. Blinking rapidly to keep the huge wet flakes from flying into his eyes, he trudged to the front to inspect the damage, finding the nose of his green SUV buried halfway into the snow and the dense snowbank that scraped up against his undercarriage ensuring that any sort of traction they hoped to get would have to be truly earned. Super. If only he could activate, he’d have them out in a second…
His heart sank at how useless he felt. While his engine idled in the quiet air, the sound of his passenger door opening pulled his attention away as Barnaby jumped out to join him.
“Hey, stay in there. I’ll get us out.” Kotetsu rounded the corner to see Barnaby pulling his hat tighter around his head. “I got a little shovel in the back—”
“I can get us out if I activate. It’ll only take a second.”
A cold breath escaped him, manifesting in a cloud of vapor that Barnaby had to have noticed. He himself had gotten them into this mess, and he wasn’t going to let Barnaby hurt himself to get them out. “Don’t use your power here. We can get it out another way.”
“I’d rather just get us out and be done with it,” he said with his usual stubborn bite. Barnaby brushed his bangs aside, and Kotetsu’s eyes accidentally zeroed in on the cute way his curls flipped up around the edges of his beanie.
Whoops. His brain was already wandering somewhere else. If they ever made it to the cabin, he would have lots of time to admire Barnaby’s curls all night. Maybe he had a point…
He snapped himself out of it. “Hey. I mean it. I got a little folding shovel in the back,” Kotetsu said, pointing at the trunk. “I’ll start digging. I can push us out if you wanna take the driver’s seat.”
Barnaby gave some consideration to his reasoning, but he wasn’t about to just let him sit back and do it all. “I can help dig, at least. It’ll go faster.”
It seemed nothing he could do or say was going to keep Barnaby from wanting to help apart from literally chaining him to a tree. He relinquished, fetching the shovel from underneath the mountain of bags in his trunk to hand off to Barnaby while Kotetsu began digging with his own hands.
Barnaby carved out a neat trench around his portion of the vehicle while Kotetsu bent over near the driver’s side, using his entire body to pull back mounds of white fluff like a wild animal. Whatever the method, both of their techniques worked, and they stood back to inspect their handiwork once they could at least see most of the tires.
“Alright. Let’s see if we can back this thing out,” Kotetsu said, brushing the wet snow off of his gloves. “My hands are freezin’ off here. I’ll push if you wanna take the driver’s seat.”
“Sure.”
Kotetsu braced his arms against the front of the car as Barnaby hopped back inside. It annoyed him how much effort it took to do a task that should have taken a minute at most with his Hundred Power. There was never a time he missed it more than in his everyday mundane life, cheating his way through the most minor of problems with the ability of a hundred men. He could blast through the dishes so damn fast with his power activated—just so long as one didn’t mind the pile of broken ones in the garbage.
Whatever. They’d get the car out one way or another. Using his entire body as leverage, Kotetsu heaved against the front of the SUV as Barnaby spun the tires.
“Hey, not so fast! Do it slow!” Kotetsu shouted up at him. Barnaby tamped down on the acceleration, just as he’d been told, while Kotetsu continued to push with all his might. His fingers started to go numb through his gloves. The car didn’t budge, and not even grunting loud enough to scare away birds could grant him the power needed to free them. It was a good thing no one could hear him but Barnaby, and his partner had long since lost any sense of embarrassment around him.
Nothing. Sigh. It looked like they were going to be here a while.
While Kotetsu slumped against the hood, Barnaby opened the window to lean out. “What if we lighten the load?”
“Yeah, and I’ll double-team the oxen,” he said, to which he was met with a blank stare. “It’s a car, Bunny.”
He began shoving more piles of heavy snow away from the tires, groaning and panting like he’d never exerted so much effort in his life. Barnaby hung out the window with his brow flat against his eyes. “You’re sure this is going to work? I can call us a tow.”
“No, it’s gonna take an hour for a tow truck to get all the way out here. Let’s try again,” he said, standing back to inspect his work again. “You just kinda gotta do this… rocking back-and-forth thing… y’know… put it in drive, then reverse, then back again…”
He acted out the motions with his hands while Barnaby watched, and the look on his partner’s face was the same one he gave when Agnes was radioing them both some particularly stupid instructions or a plethora of other activities that he deemed not worthy of his effort. Kotetsu actually hadn’t seen that look yet today, which was impressive for 3pm.
“You sound like you know what you’re doing. Maybe you want to drive and I’ll push?” Barnaby asked.
He looked up at him skeptically as he hung out the driver’s side window. “You’re sure…?”
“It won’t bother me,” he answered, knowing exactly the topic he was dancing around. “I haven’t activated in a while.”
He’d just have to take his word for it. It didn’t benefit either of them to try and argue about it. Barnaby jumped out to swap places with him, the snow in the ditch reaching all the way to the tops of his boots, and looped around to the front of the vehicle to position his arms against it. Kotetsu brushed the snow from his pants before hopping in the driver’s seat and cranked the heat to full blast.
His hand grasped the gear stick. “Now you’ll see how it’s done. Watch this!”
He drove forward an inch, then put it in reverse, and gasped in excitement as the car finally lurched. Finding what felt like traction at last, he backed out onto the snow-covered roadway, flashing a confident grin that stretched from ear to ear.
“See? What did I tell you about that 4-wheel drive?” he shouted out the window.
His smile quickly faded when he found Barnaby still kneeling in the snow where they started. Bent down with his eyes squeezed shut and his lips pulled tight, Kotetsu thought he might have hurt himself. His first instinct told him to rush out and see if he was okay, but when Barnaby found the strength to look back up at him, his eyes glowed blue.
God dammit.
Barnaby rose to his feet, hiding the way his body reacted to the awful, stabbing pain that had to be shooting through his knee. He climbed back into the vehicle, carefully shutting the door behind himself to close themselves off from the raging blizzard outside. As he downed the last few drops of his cold coffee, Kotetsu’s eyes turned towards him.
“You didn’t have to do that, y’know.”
“I know,” he said. Barnaby reached out to turn the heat onto himself. “I just wanted to get back where it’s warm.”
“It’s gonna be bugging you all night…”
“I know,” he said again, sharper than the last, but the look on his face didn’t display any genuine irritation. “It’s a good thing I have an expert with me, then.”
His lip curled upwards into a greedy little smirk, and Kotetsu couldn’t help but find his expression mirroring that of his. Bastard. He could have just asked. They had all weekend to indulge one another, and he’d get his leg massage in if he wanted it. Maybe more. He also knew for a fact Barnaby could sense his heartbeat with his power active, and he desperately wished he couldn’t.
Barnaby snapped him out of his meandering thoughts. “We probably shouldn’t be parked right in the middle of the road.”
“Oh, right.”
They moved along to the next exit, an actual road, which turned out to be embarrassingly obvious even amidst the blustering snow. Barnaby didn’t even bother sparing him the judgmental look he so deserved for it. Kotetsu turned onto the narrow path, a winding, blind entry, the thick trees on all sides forming a tunnel with low-hanging branches that scraped along the roof of his car. The snow crunched beneath his tires as he rolled towards their destination.
Their final stop awaited them just beyond a small clearing up ahead. Nestled into the trees, a tiny log cabin emerged from the woods, frosted with a sheet of fresh snow and icicles which dangled from the edge of the roof. A large pile of firewood could be seen pushed up along the side of the building, and the patio, which he assumed would be somewhat more comfortable in summer, offered up a shovel to use at their leisure and a couple of buried rocking chairs that he’d pass on this time. A winding pine garland wrapped itself along the wooden beams that made up the railings, reminding him what they were here for—a cozy Christmas getaway, just as they’d been promised. Now they just had to unload.
They jumped out of the vehicle into the fluffy snow. Kotetsu paused with a few of his bags in his hands, trying to interpret Barnaby’s first opinions towards the accommodations. His initial impression was mostly unreadable, thanks in full due to the way his face scrunched up against the blistering snow and the messy wet flakes coating the front of his glasses. He’d have time to find out later, but for now, they needed to get inside.
The door creaked open as Kotetsu stepped inside. A strong, woody smell greeted his senses, laced with a delicate hint of cinnamon that transported him to Christmases from years past. A vaulted ceiling created the illusion that the interior was larger than it appeared. His eyes turned up to a narrow staircase leading up to the loft, where a single king bed awaited them above, backlit by the falling snow in the window. Kotetsu did have a soft spot for lofts, after all—not that it was the only reason he picked the place. The word ‘romantic’ and ‘for couples’ in the description might have played a part in it, too… he just wouldn’t share that part, because Barnaby already thought he was corny enough.
Barnaby walked in behind him, taking a moment to wipe the moisture off his glasses with his sleeve before checking out his surroundings. He looked a little unsure of it all yet, withholding any sort of comment, but he at least had one thing present to ground him in a comfortable sense of familiarity.
“Well… we’re here!” Kotetsu paused in the kitchen with his hands on his hips. “Make yourself at home, I guess. Just take it easy for a bit. I’ll get dinner started.”
Barnaby hesitated, but softened, nodding in understanding before turning the other way. An arrangement of comfortable furniture made up the living room, fluffy couches with kitschy plaid pillows and cozy-looking quilts with geometric patterns in deep greens and reds, just begging to be curled into with a steaming mug of hot chocolate. If it weren’t for the general vibe of the season, Kotetsu would have thought they were made just for them.
Barnaby finished checking out the living room and set his bags down along with his coat, then turned to Kotetsu with the first observation he made. “There’s no heat in here?”
“Yes there is!” Kotetsu gestured to the other side of the room across from him, where a small wood-burning stove sat along with a dry pile of wood that had been thoughtfully arranged next to it. “You just gotta do it the hard way.”
He eyed it suspiciously. “You just light it?”
“…Y-Yeah, I think so,” he said, and the look Barnaby gave him told him he didn’t quite trust that answer. “I mean, it’s been a while since I’ve used one. I’m pretty sure you just put some logs in there and light ‘em up.”
He gave Barnaby a crooked grin, which unsurprisingly failed to imbue any sort of confidence in him. The last time Kotetsu had seen a wood-burning stove in use was a family outing to the mountains during the peak of fall colors, back when he and his brother were still young enough to mostly get along. To tell the truth, his mom had been the one in charge of it. Rather than risk burning the house down, Barnaby pulled out his phone to look up the instructions, and Kotetsu watched the tiny shiver that shook out of his shoulders as he worked.
Kotetsu began unloading his groceries in the kitchen, an armload-and-a-half of bags that was far too much for two people for three days, but he didn’t care. It was a special occasion. They could eat and drink and do extracurricular activities all weekend if they wanted. He set the bottle of rosé at the edge of the counter where he knew it’d be seen, and though Barnaby didn’t comment on it, his eyes lit up when he noticed.
The click of the lighter and the crackle of wood told him Barnaby had figured out the heat situation. Kotetsu's plan for their first night had been to make enough fried rice to feed an army, but the heavy snowfall outside and the chill in his bones had put him in a rare soup mood instead. He laid out his ingredients on the counter, banging through cupboards full of unfamiliar pots and pans to find what he needed. He’d never made this particular recipe before, but it seemed easy enough—dump it all in a pot and they’d be good to go in an hour or two. A short bit of chopping and preparation later, and the soup was boiling away at a steady simmer.
When he finally spun away from the kitchen, he found Barnaby curled up on the edge of the couch, wrapped up to his ears in a dark-colored blanket that he recognized as one he must have brought from his own home. Rather than wonder what else he’d shoved in his suitcases, Kotetsu's eyes turned to the fire crackling pleasantly in front of them, joining him in watching the flames dance around inside. The heat had yet to reach all corners of the living room, and he found himself feeling a bit jealous at just how cozy Barnaby looked all wrapped up in his comforter.
He wandered up behind the back of the couch, lazily extending his arms around both of his partner’s shoulders. Barnaby’s neck turned towards him as he shoved his head in much too close.
“Bunny…” he whined. “Cold in here.”
“I know.”
He tucked his face into the crook of his neck, enjoying the warmth of his skin where the blanket had been moments ago. Barnaby smelled of wood smoke and freshly fallen snow, layered with the unique scent of himself that Kotetsu had come to recognize. He did miss his Hundred Power for these types of things…
“I’m not coming out of here, just in case you’re wondering,” Barnaby said.
“Oh yeah?” he said, lifting his head to rub his cold nose up against his cheek. “What if I come in there? Then what?”
Rather than wait for an answer, Kotetsu pressed a soft kiss into his cheek, feeling the soft skin under his lips tighten from the smile he’d dragged out of him. Barnaby’s hand snaked out from beneath his blankets, wrapping around the back of his neck to tug him in close, and without saying another word, he pulled him into a proper kiss.
The cold left him as he indulged in his partner's lips, gentle but passionate, briefly losing himself in the sensation amidst the warm glow of the fire. When they finally separated, Barnaby’s delicate smile sent a pleasant warmth to his core.
“Maybe I’d let you in,” came his answer. “Just for that.”
The wide grin on Kotetsu’s face broadcast his feelings plain as day. He ventured around to the other side of the couch, and Barnaby swung open one side of his blanket just long enough to let him in. He tucked his knees up near his chest, leaning his weight into his partner, and a shiver traveled down his spine at the contrast in temperature between the two of them. Luckily, he didn't imagine it would take long for that problem to go away.
“How’s the knee?” Kotetsu asked, his hand traveling along his leg to caress his thigh beneath the covers.
“Fine,” he replied. “The heat helps.”
They had no lack of it under the comforter with the two of them acting as space heaters for one another. They slotted themselves into a comfortable position, forgoing any sense of personal space as their hands joined together beneath the blanket. Barnaby nestled up against him, content to share in his quiet company, and he sighed deeply as his partner rested his head against his shoulder. He squeezed his hand, rubbing him in gentle circles with his thumb.
Barnaby always managed to prove something Kotetsu had known from very early on—he was never as aloof as he presented himself. The emotions he kept inside of him had simply been locked away, never allowed the opportunity to explore them as freely as he had now. At his core, Barnaby was a gentle soul, molded into hard edges by the man who made him his tool. As the years passed and his influence faded, Barnaby’s coarse edges chipped away, revealing the radiant and kind personality that always existed beneath.
The last remaining bits of chill left his body as they huddled together on the couch. He wouldn’t mind being here all weekend, he decided—but they had lots of ways they could enjoy themselves, and soup on the stove, and an entire bottle of rosé waiting to be downed that night. His wandering mind got the best of him.
“So… when can we open that wine?” Kotetsu asked. “I owe you one for the car.”
“Later,” he answered after a few seconds' pause. “When the room heats up.”
Kotetsu grinned cheekily, watching the orange glow of the flames flicker off of Barnaby’s face. “Then what are we doin’?”
Barnaby sighed through his nose. His face wrinkled into that sort of look of fake annoyance, the kind where he was trying to pretend to be upset but couldn’t. Instead, his eyes narrowed to meet his, and his lips curled into a sly little grin.
“Don’t ask me things you already know the answer to.”
Barnaby’s hand was dangerously close to the junction of his thigh. With his green eyes bored into him, the sudden, bold caress of his fingertips sent a different sort of shiver up his spine, and Kotetsu chuckled guiltily—his body wasn’t exactly keeping any secrets anymore. But not allowing him to get the final say, his hand traveled inwards just as well, and the shudder that left Barnaby when his hands brushed his zipper made his skin tingle in a way that radiated like crackling fire.
“You know… we could stay warm another way while we wait,” Kotetsu said, turning his eyes up toward the loft. “I heard that heat rises.”
It seemed the rational parts of both of their brains had already been turned off. It only took a second for Barnaby to throw the blanket off, sending all of their heat out with it.
“Alright,” he said. “But we’re opening the wine first.”