James couldn’t help but shiver as he stepped into what was the living room area of Scott’s apartment; the hour walk in near blizzard conditions was not as pleasant as he could have hoped. There was little wind, but whenever it did blow, it was cutting.
“Oh, you’re shivering! Was it really so cold outside?” Yukito asked as he put his arm around James’ shoulder. “Ah! And your check is bruised! What happened?” Yuktio pulled James to the sofa and sat him down. “Don’t answer that yet. You need a blanket and a mug of hot cocoa first!”
Yukito left to get a blanket, leaving James on the sofa. He looked around the room. It was filled with what seemed to be Scott’s things. James picked up a book off the coffee table that was in front of him. ‘Hmm, Life in a Vacuum: a history of black holes. Only Scott would find that fascinating,’ James thought as he put the book back down. Shivering, James thought back to how different things were this morning. At ten o’clock, he was warm, not just physically, but also felt warm inside…but now, a mere six hours later, he felt cold inside. Ignorance really is bliss sometimes. Slowly, James’ thoughts returned to this morning. He didn’t really know how he felt about Scott – he did know that he really liked being around Scott, and that he kissed well…he tasted of a summer rain. Well, what James thought a summer rain might taste like; he had always avoided those like the plague. Something about it raining while the sun was shining seemed very wrong to him. But, now it was different. James, for once, couldn’t wait until the summer rains came. ‘I think I want to go to the park and sit with Scott while it showers like that,’ James thought to himself, a blushing crossing his face.
“Ah, you aren’t catching a cold are you?” Yukito asked, surprising James out of his thoughts. He mentally scolded himself for thinking too hard and not paying attention. It seemed he was only capable of doing one at a time. “Here’s the blanket. You just wrap yourself up and I’ll make some cocoa,” Yukito said smiling, as he handed the blanket to James.
Taking the blanket, James settled back into the sofa and wrapped the blanket around himself. Looking up to see Yuktio looking down on him, he blushed deeper. “Thank you, Yukito.”
“No problem! Now for the cocoa!” Yukito cheered as he ruffled James’ hair. “So, what happened to you?”
“Oh…umm, where’s Scott? Is he not here?” James asked as he watched Yukito put the kettle on.
“He’s not here. I’m not sure where he is actually,” Yukito answered turning around to face James. “I’ll give him a call and then you can tell me what happened?” Yukito said with a worried look on his face.
“Okay…thank you.” James felt bad for not answering Yukito, but he would rather have Scott there to help him figure out what to do. And he didn’t really feel like telling the story twice if he could get away with not.
“It’s okay,” Yukito said as he walked over to the coffee table. Grabbing his phone, he winked at James, “just no lying about what happened, okay?” James blushed again. “Hmmm, sukotto…sukotto…ah, aru yo!” Having found Scott’s phone number, Yukito plopped down in the chair across from James. “… …he’s not picking up,” Yukito pouted as he pushed the phone to his ear. Waiting a few more seconds, Yukito looked resolutely at James. “He’s not picking up. I’ll leave a message,” Yukito said as he walked back into the kitchen. The kettle was about to start screaming. Propping the phone on his shoulder, Yukito poured some water into two mugs. “Ah, sukotto! Jemuzu ha koko ni iru yo! Hayaku kaette ne~! Hurry, hurry! James wants to talk to you.” Yukito closed his phone and put it on the counter. “Hopefully he’ll be back soon! I wouldn’t think he’d miss his chance to see you again,” he said as he brought the two mugs of hot cocoa into the sitting area. “Now, what happened?”
Over the mug of cocoa, James told Yukito what had happened with his parents and what his stepfather had told him. Outside evening was slowly approaching, and the snow was falling heavily.
---
“Wow, Yukito is really going at it!” Quince exclaimed as he looked out the window of Mitch’s apartment.
“Dang, he is. Geez, how deep is that? A few feet at least,” Mitch said as he moved over to the window to gaze out at the snow covered city.
“Wow, it’s almost 6,” Scott said as he looked at his phone. Putting it away, he looked at Mitch. “So…ahh…can we stay the night?”
“Ha. I figured you’d ask,” Mitch said as he turned his back on the snow-lined cityscape. “Okay. But you two have to figure out who gets the sofa and who gets the floor.”
“Sofa!” Quince yelled out almost before Mitch had finished.
“Hey! That’s unfair! Rock-Paper-Scissors for the sofa!”
“No. Why would I take a gamble when I already have the sofa,” Quince said as he plopped onto the sofa, disturbing the socks that were resting on it.
“Honestly, Scott, the floor’s probably cleaner…” Mitch said as he patted Scott on the back.
“That’s not funny…and I’m old. I have a delicate back,” Scott pleaded as Mitch laughed.
“Dude. Seriously. The floor’s probably better. I never made out with anyone on the floor.”
“Eew!” Quince exclaimed as he slowly got off the couch. “Who did you make out with on the sofa?”
“Well…you know…”
“OKAY, I’m going to go take a shower now,” Quince said as he covered his ears and made his way to the bathroom. “No more making out!” he yelled before slamming the bathroom door.
Scott and Mitch both laughed as they heard the tub fill up with water. “So, who did you make out with on the sofa?” Scott asked as he sat at the kitchen table. He was glad to see that Mitch had calmed down after whatever happened this morning. Scott thought he knew about what had happened, but he didn’t even want to think about it – he just hoped that Yukito would get what was due to him sometime in the future.
“Hahaha! What makes you think I did make out with someone on the sofa?” Mitch answered with a sly smile. Winking he asked, “you want some tea or something? I think I got decaf coffee if you’d prefer?”
Laughing slightly, Scott answered, “decaf if you got it, you sly bugger.”
“Hey, do you want the sofa or not? I’m helpful. Helpful!” Smiling, Mitch started his electronic water boiler and opened the cabinets to get out two mugs and the instant coffee.
“So, think school will be out tomorrow?”
“Probably. It doesn’t seem like he’s gonna stop. I wonder why the little prick’s doing this? Usually, he at least waits a month and then comes crashing through like he’s as important as he thinks he is.”
“Uh, I wonder why. Maybe it was my little showing last night…” Scott thought as he thumbed the tabletop.
“Probably he’s jealous ‘cause you got a cute little boyfriend~” Mitch teased as he made a kissy face at Scott.
“Oh, shut up.”
“Hahaha! You and Lance with your loving relationships.” Sighing, Mitch added, “almost makes a man wanna…no, wait, it doesn’t!”
“One day you’re going to fall in love with a beautiful girl only to find out it’s a drag queen, you know that don’t you?” Scott scolded jokingly.
“Well, at least it’ll be interesting. Ruins my shot at kids though.”
“Ha! I didn’t know you wanted kids.”
“Yeah, I want a herd. Six, seven, maybe eight. Ten if I’m feeling frisky.”
“OH GOD! You’re frisky for coffee???” Neither of them had noticed that Quince had come out of the bathroom; yet, there he was, dressed only in a towel dripping water.
“Well, if you put it like that, then how can I resist?” Mitch joked. “Do you need clean clothes, or were you planning on just ruining the floor of my apartment with all your dripping?”
“Clean, non-frisky clothes if you please,” Quince said, bowing slightly.
“As you wish, dear sun god,” Mitch replied mockingly as he too bowed. “But, I think all my clothes will be too big for you.”
“They’re just for sleeping in.”
“So, you’re gonna wear your own knickers, huh? Come on, it’s a great chance to finally get into Mitch’s boxers~!” Scott teased from the kitchen.
“I’ll leave that to you,” Quince replied curtly as he followed Mitch to his room. There, Mitch handed him a shirt. “This’ll do, thanks.”
“No problem. Want some coffee?”
“Naw. …have any cocoa though??” Quince asked hopefully.
“I think so. Once you get done dressing the royal body, the hot cocoa will be waiting in the lowly kitchen. Good day, sire,” Mitch mocked as he exited his room, bowing his way out.
---
“Wow! It’s getting late!” Yukito exclaimed as he looked as he phone. “And Scott hasn’t called back…I wonder where he is?”
“I don’t know, but I’m sure he’ll come when he gets your message…” James said as he looked out the glass doors onto the city. It was still snowing outside, and the city looked beautiful. Between the soft moonlight and the snow, James had never seen the city look so nice. “Do you control the snow?”
“Yup, yuki means snow after all,” Yukito said cheerfully.
“…then why didn’t you make it stop? Do you not want to go to school tomorrow?” James asked, still looking out the window.
“hahahaha!” Yukito laughed slightly embarrassed. “I forgot about the snow! I think I accidentally made it snow harder! I got so worked up by your story! I can’t believe your parents! Ha! They aren’t even parents.” Yukito stood up and took the mugs into the kitchen. “Well, anyway, you’re staying here tonight. Because of the snow, and because I don’t want you going home to that! Not today, at least.”
“Thank you,” James muttered as he turned and stared at his hands in his lap. “I just hope Scott is okay…”
“I’m sure he is. Don’t worry. The jerk just probably got all wrapped up in something else and hasn’t checked his phone,” Yukito pouted as he came and sat on the arm of the sofa. “Now, time to get ready for bed!”
Taking James’ arm, he dragged him into Scott’s old room to get him a shirt to sleep in.
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