[Koko wa Greenwood ] Truth in Advertising
Title: Truth in Advertising
Genre: CRACK
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Shinobu, Mitsuru
Disclaimer: Very much not mine.
Summary: Variaton of a theme, namely the tried and true 'blanket scenario'.
Notes: I happened on the one_blanket community and was all 'Hey, I've never written one of those!', and then I promptly went and wrote this fic, even though I have a ton of things I need to be doing instead. *shifty eyes* You did not see me here, and you most certainly did not see me post this fic.
Mitsuru's been on edge for weeks by the time break rolls around, and Shinobu's announcement of a ski trip acts as a trigger for the alarms in his head and what seems to be a faulty fight or flight reflex. Somehow, he's still not entirely sure how, he finds himself bundled up along with several other dorm dwellers for a weekend of skiing, good food and warm drinks by the fireplace despite his very good, very valid excuses and reasons not to.
The trip is excruciating, not so much because it was a long one as it was filled with singing and games and the very real and present desire for him to fling himself out the window and into the path of oncoming traffic. Everyone laughs, mistaking his pain and misery as some sort of elaborate joke on his part, and Shinobu is nothing but serene and amused and clearly wearing earplugs the whole time.
Mitsuru hates him a little for that, but mainly he hates himself for not having thought of that first.
'False advertising' seem to be the words of the day, as the alarmingly ramshackle series of cabins they find waiting for them in no way resemble the 'luxurious cottages' the brochure promised them, nor is the main lodge 'bustling with activity', and the only signs of life aside from the vicious looking rabbits was the groundskeeper. Who, he feels it should be noted, took great joy looking him up and down and leering, something which ordinarily might have been flattering, had it not been for the missing teeth and the fact that she was old enough to have been his great-great-grandmother.
"I really don't think we're getting our money's worth. " He says, glancing around the muddied grounds as the others wander off to explore their assigned cabins for the weekend.
"Oh?" Shinobu asks, studying the scrawled directions on the paper the groundskeeper handed him. "How so?"
Mitsuru gives Shinobu's back a disbelieving look. "Well, it's pretty difficult to ski without actual snow, for one."
Shinobu looks up at that, damp and soggy from the earlier storm "It's just a little warm."
Mitsuru clears his throat and indicates their current state with a jerk of his chin. "It was raining."
"Frozen rain." Shinobu corrects, as though it should mean anything beyond the fact that there is no snow for their ski trip.
"Ah, yes, my mistake." Mitsuru mutters, rearranging the bags he's carrying in order to retain feeling in his arms. "Frozen rain."
Shinobu smiles at him and points towards the edge of the compound at a dark and somewhat sinister looking forest that obviously devours the unwary. "Our cabin is in there."
"What?" Mitsuru doesn't even care that his voice went up an octave or two, because if he's incredibly lucky the noise will frighten away the carnivores waiting to strip the flesh from his bones. "Are you serious?"
"Of course I am," Shinobu says, turning to face the Forest of Doom, completely unruffled. "I made sure to reserve the best cabin for us."
"Of course you did." Mitsuru grumbles, reluctantly following as Shinobu leads the way. "Although I'd wait to see if it actually has a roof before making that claim, if I were you."
Shinobu waves a hand in dismissal, not bothering to look back as he steps around a fallen tree. "The groundskeeper already apologized for that, and she did give Hasukawa and Shun a discount."
Mitsuru snorts, taking great care not to trip over a tree root. "I think they would have preferred a bucket or two, considering the weather."
"Probably, but I think they'll be more preoccupied trying to determine how to avoid the rotten floorboards."
Mitsuru smirks, feeling genuinely pleased that he won't be the only one to suffer this weekend. "There is that," He admits.
"Indeed." Shinobu says, distracted and distant, and Mitsuru swears under his breath and increases his speed to catch up to him as he rounds a slight curve in the path.
It takes them another twenty minutes of walking through a thoroughly overrun and unkempt dirt path while storm clouds move in. Mitsuru squints up at the gathering gloom, a bad feeling settling in the pit of his stomach as the he hears a faint rumbling sound far off in the distance.
Thunder, he knows, does not mean snow.
"Shinobu - "
"We're here." Shinobu announces, stepping back to allow Mitsuru his first look at their home for the weekend.
Mitsuru turns his head to look and stops dead, eyes widening as he takes in the small clearing and the building sitting at its center with boarded up windows and stripped shingles like a demented little balding, gap-toothed goblin.
Their cabin, Mitsuru thinks in horror, is like something out of a fairytale, complete with overgrown weeds and tangles of briars and berry bushes, and he wants nothing more than to get right the hell out of there right now.
Shinobu doesn't seem to notice or care, and only notes the cabin's appearance with a quiet little 'hmmm' before walking down the weed-strewn walkway and up the rickety steps. He pauses to look back expectantly at Mitsuru before unlocking the door and stepping inside, clearly expecting Mitsuru to follow.
Which he does.
Mitsuru's feeling twitchy and half a second away from jumping out of his skin, so he's not entirely embarrassed when he lets out what some might call a girly scream when the door slams shut behind him.
"Sorry." Shinobu says, sounding anything but as he flicks on the overhead light. I didn't mean to scare you."
Eyes narrowing, Mitsuru opens his mouth to retort, and freezes as the light flickers and dies, leaving the two of them standing alone in a rundown cabin in the Forest of Doom, miles from civilization in the dark.
"Mitsuru?"
"What?" Mitsuru snaps, voice definitely higher than the norm.
"I didn't bring any paper bags."
"What?"
Shinobu chuckles, and Mitsuru turns his head to follow the sound when he moves. "I didn't bring any paper bags, so it would be best if you didn't hyperventilate just now."
"Oh, very funny," Mitsuru says, some of his anxiety fading as he tracks Shinobu through the darkness, frowning as he realizes Shinobu's circling around him. "I don't suppose you thought to bring spare light bulbs?"
"Actually no," Shinobu says in a low voice next to his ear, breath ghosting against the side of his face, hands lightly feeling along Mitsuru's arms for the bags he's carrying, "but I did bring a flashlight."
Mitsuru swallows hard, eyes shut tight as Shinobu continues to pat him down in search of said flashlight and tries very, very hard not to move, not to think.
"Mitsuru?" Shinobu pauses in what he's doing, the flat of his palm on Mitsuru's chest, and the heat from his touch is almost painful after the freezing rain and trek through the forest. "Are you all right?"
"Just," Mitsuru's voice falters, cracks a little, "just get some light in here, would you?"
Shinobu makes a noise of agreement and slides his hand up to Mitsuru's shoulder and squeezes for a moment before resuming his search for the flashlight.
Nearly a minute later and more of Shinobu's hands on him in weird and strange ways that have nothing to do with anything like actual intent, Shinobu produces the flashlight and immediately begins to blind Mitsuru by shining it in his face.
Mitsuru makes a sound that isn't quite a scream and flails wildly as he stumbles backwards away from the light in his eyes and winds up tripping over something and falling on his back without even the vaguest semblance of grace. It is, he knows, par for the course this weekend and resigns himself to the inevitable.
"Are you all right?"
Wondering what he possibly could have done to deserve such bad luck, Mitsuru raises his hand and waves it around. "Still alive."
Shinobu snorts, picking his way carefully across the room to his side, thankfully pointing the flashlight off the side as he looks down at him. "Anything broken?"
Mitsuru doesn't like the fact that he actually has to stop and think about it before he can answer. "Not yet." He replies, knowing that the weekend has just started and there are a wide variety of ways he could potentially fracture, if not shatter, one or more bones. "But the day is young."
Shinobu shakes his head and extends a hand to Mitsuru, who gratefully accepts it and allows Shinobu to pull him to his feet.
"Thanks." Mitsuru says, eyes widening as Shinobu gives a sharp tug, bringing him closer. "Um - "
"Hold still." Shinobu orders, brushing dust and cobwebs off his shoulders and back, and still holding his hand firmly in his.
Mitsuru does as he's told and fights the urge to pull his hand free and put as much distance between them as he can.
"We should look around, find out where everything is." Shinobu says, letting go of his hand as he turns towards the back of the cabin and the hallway leading from the main room. "See if we'll need to head back tonight or not."
Mitsuru nods and follows, grateful that it's dark enough inside the cabin to hide his face because he doesn't quite have control over it at the moment. "Good idea."
By the time they manage to get their bearings in the cabin two things become painfully apparent. One, the bags they were issued were obviously not as waterproof as advertised, and two, there is only one bed in the cabin.
One bed and a virtual plethora of pillows and blankets.
This, Mitsuru realizes in dawning horror, is a love shack. A pathetically broken down, battered, sorry excuse for one, but a love shack nevertheless. If the bedding hadn't given it away, the cracked and chipped mirror hanging precariously from the ceiling surely would have.
"There's no way I'm sleeping in that bed." Mitsuru declares, hanging onto the last, tattered shreds of his dignity by his fingernails. "And neither are you." he adds, turning to jab Shinobu in the arm pointedly. "If the damn thing doesn't collapse on its own the mirror will probably fall down during the night and slice anyone stupid enough to be under it into pieces."
"I'm impressed." Shinobu says, eyeing Mitsuru thoughtfully. "You've managed to surpass Hasukawa in terms of paranoia. Congratulations."
"It's not paranoia if they're really out to get you!" Mitsuru yells, well aware of the fact that he's maybe, just a little, overreacting a tad.
Shinobu ignores him and heads back towards the main room where the windows are at least boarded up and won't let the wind in, and starts poking at the fireplace.
"What are you doing?" Mitsuru asks, even though he knows. "Please tell me you're not doing what I think you're doing."
Shinobu continues to ignore him as he carefully stacks firewood, placing the tinder with equal care. "We're quite fortunate the groundskeeper kept the firewood stocked as well as it is. With the storm this close, it would be a bad idea to walk back to the main compound now."
"It's not that dark out, yet." Mitsuru points out, hooking a thumb over his shoulder at the windows. "We could probably make it before the storm hits."
"Yes," Shinobu agrees, gaze sliding towards him, "but then the vicious, flesh-eating animals would attack and then where would we be?"
"I hate you."
Shinobu simply smiles and busies himself getting the fire started while Mitsuru broods and eyes the doors and windows warily, so he misses what Shinobu says next the first time. The second time through he just stares, and it's only the third time Shinobu repeats himself that Mitsuru manages a response.
"What?" By now Mitsuru has nearly forgotten what his voice usually sounds like and has gotten used to the higher register. "Are you serious?"
Shinobu stares at him, arms crossed. "You'd rather catch a cold? Or get pneumonia?"
Mitsuru knows he won't win this one, knows that Shinobu's right, but it feels too much like surrender to him. Too much like -
"Mitsuru. The fire will only keep us so warm, and with our things soaked, we don't have much choice in the matter."
"Yes, but - "
"Mitsuru."
Sighing, Mitsuru turns so that he's facing away from Shinobu as he starts pulling his wet clothes off, trying to ignore Shinobu as he does the same. "I still think we should ask for a refund." He says, wringing excess water from his shirt before shaking it out. "This weekend is nothing like the brochure promised."
"False advertising?"
Mitsuru grins as he removes his pants and socks, squeezing as much water from them as he can before hanging them up next to his shirt. "Exactly. Some luxury cabin - one and-a-half rooms, and a hole in the wall where the bathroom used to be."
"Hence the one and-a-half rooms." Shinobu agrees, moving to stand next to him while he hangs his own clothes up. "Though I admit to being curious as to what happened to the bathroom. It didn't look like - "
"Please don't go there." Mitsuru says, quietly and a little desperately, because he's been wondering the exact same thing ever since the saw the gaping hole in the side of the bedroom wall. "Just don't go there."
"Well then," Shinobu says, gesturing at the pile of blankets and pillows before the fireplace, "after you."
Mitsuru stares at Shinobu, painfully, uncomfortably aware of the fact that they're both wearing underwear and nothing else, equally aware of the fact that they're going to have to huddle together for warmth, and -
"I can't do it."
"Mitsuru?"
"I can't do it." He repeats, staring at the cozy little nest Shinobu has made for them and unable, unwilling, to take a step closer to it. "Just give me a blanket and I'll sleep over there." He says, pointing to the other side of the room. "I'll be fine."
Shinobu raises an eyebrow at him and walks over the pile of blankets, settling himself under them with enviable ease, and watching him the whole time. "While I admit it's not a blizzard of epic proportions out there, it will get cold in here when the storm hits."
"Shinobu - "
"I hadn't actually expected to go skiing this weekend." Shinobu says, surprising him. "Although I did look up the weather reports for the area before booking the reservations, and the groundskeeper warned me of the rainstorms."
Mitsuru says nothing because he's trapped by Shinobu's eyes, pinned in place and unable to move, to talk.
"I felt the potential gains were well worth the risks involved, so I went ahead with things anyway."
A beat, and then Mitsuru's brain catches up to what Shinobu's saying, telling him. "I...you... Potential gains?" He bleats, mortified as his voice goes even higher than it ever has.
Shinobu smirks, flipping the blankets back invitingly. "I think you know what I mean, yes?"
The flare of anger he feels is enough to get him moving, get him acting in instead of reacting and he stomps his way across the room before throwing himself down next to Shinobu. "You...you bastard!" He yells, grabbing the blankets from Shinobu and wrapping them comfortingly around himself as he glares at the ceiling. "You were winding me up this whole time! You've been messing with my head for months you ass!"
Shinobu chuckles beside him, easing down into the pillows, hands behind his head. "You made it easy for me."
Mitsuru's glare darkens. "You're such a bastard."
"I am." Shinobu admits, and Mitsuru turns his head to look at him, breath catching in his throat as he sees the look in his eyes. "But then again, so are you."
"I...yeah." Mitsuru mutters, staring at Shinobu, feeling a little scared and a little awed and a hell of a lot cold, which is the perfect excuse to move closer to him, let him sling an arm across his shoulders.
"You could have said something." Shinobu says quietly.
Mitsuru actually thinks about it for a moment, and then realizes that while it's possible he could have, he's pretty sure he wouldn't have. He's also pretty sure Shinobu had to have figured things out long before he did, because looking back on it...yeah. Definitely a bastard.
Sighing, Mitsuru gives in to the inevitable and decides that while freezing to death might not be an option without a raging blizzard on hand, spending the night huddling for warmth with Shinobu while a rainstorm drenches the area isn't exactly on his list of Most Horrible Things Ever, either.
"I hate you so much." He says, winding an arm around Shinobu's chest. "Bastard."
Shinobu laughs, breath warm against his neck as he curls around him. "I hate you very much too, Mitsuru."
You have no idea how badly I wanted to name this fic 'Love Shack'. No idea at all.
Genre: CRACK
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Shinobu, Mitsuru
Disclaimer: Very much not mine.
Summary: Variaton of a theme, namely the tried and true 'blanket scenario'.
Notes: I happened on the one_blanket community and was all 'Hey, I've never written one of those!', and then I promptly went and wrote this fic, even though I have a ton of things I need to be doing instead. *shifty eyes* You did not see me here, and you most certainly did not see me post this fic.
Mitsuru's been on edge for weeks by the time break rolls around, and Shinobu's announcement of a ski trip acts as a trigger for the alarms in his head and what seems to be a faulty fight or flight reflex. Somehow, he's still not entirely sure how, he finds himself bundled up along with several other dorm dwellers for a weekend of skiing, good food and warm drinks by the fireplace despite his very good, very valid excuses and reasons not to.
The trip is excruciating, not so much because it was a long one as it was filled with singing and games and the very real and present desire for him to fling himself out the window and into the path of oncoming traffic. Everyone laughs, mistaking his pain and misery as some sort of elaborate joke on his part, and Shinobu is nothing but serene and amused and clearly wearing earplugs the whole time.
Mitsuru hates him a little for that, but mainly he hates himself for not having thought of that first.
'False advertising' seem to be the words of the day, as the alarmingly ramshackle series of cabins they find waiting for them in no way resemble the 'luxurious cottages' the brochure promised them, nor is the main lodge 'bustling with activity', and the only signs of life aside from the vicious looking rabbits was the groundskeeper. Who, he feels it should be noted, took great joy looking him up and down and leering, something which ordinarily might have been flattering, had it not been for the missing teeth and the fact that she was old enough to have been his great-great-grandmother.
"I really don't think we're getting our money's worth. " He says, glancing around the muddied grounds as the others wander off to explore their assigned cabins for the weekend.
"Oh?" Shinobu asks, studying the scrawled directions on the paper the groundskeeper handed him. "How so?"
Mitsuru gives Shinobu's back a disbelieving look. "Well, it's pretty difficult to ski without actual snow, for one."
Shinobu looks up at that, damp and soggy from the earlier storm "It's just a little warm."
Mitsuru clears his throat and indicates their current state with a jerk of his chin. "It was raining."
"Frozen rain." Shinobu corrects, as though it should mean anything beyond the fact that there is no snow for their ski trip.
"Ah, yes, my mistake." Mitsuru mutters, rearranging the bags he's carrying in order to retain feeling in his arms. "Frozen rain."
Shinobu smiles at him and points towards the edge of the compound at a dark and somewhat sinister looking forest that obviously devours the unwary. "Our cabin is in there."
"What?" Mitsuru doesn't even care that his voice went up an octave or two, because if he's incredibly lucky the noise will frighten away the carnivores waiting to strip the flesh from his bones. "Are you serious?"
"Of course I am," Shinobu says, turning to face the Forest of Doom, completely unruffled. "I made sure to reserve the best cabin for us."
"Of course you did." Mitsuru grumbles, reluctantly following as Shinobu leads the way. "Although I'd wait to see if it actually has a roof before making that claim, if I were you."
Shinobu waves a hand in dismissal, not bothering to look back as he steps around a fallen tree. "The groundskeeper already apologized for that, and she did give Hasukawa and Shun a discount."
Mitsuru snorts, taking great care not to trip over a tree root. "I think they would have preferred a bucket or two, considering the weather."
"Probably, but I think they'll be more preoccupied trying to determine how to avoid the rotten floorboards."
Mitsuru smirks, feeling genuinely pleased that he won't be the only one to suffer this weekend. "There is that," He admits.
"Indeed." Shinobu says, distracted and distant, and Mitsuru swears under his breath and increases his speed to catch up to him as he rounds a slight curve in the path.
It takes them another twenty minutes of walking through a thoroughly overrun and unkempt dirt path while storm clouds move in. Mitsuru squints up at the gathering gloom, a bad feeling settling in the pit of his stomach as the he hears a faint rumbling sound far off in the distance.
Thunder, he knows, does not mean snow.
"Shinobu - "
"We're here." Shinobu announces, stepping back to allow Mitsuru his first look at their home for the weekend.
Mitsuru turns his head to look and stops dead, eyes widening as he takes in the small clearing and the building sitting at its center with boarded up windows and stripped shingles like a demented little balding, gap-toothed goblin.
Their cabin, Mitsuru thinks in horror, is like something out of a fairytale, complete with overgrown weeds and tangles of briars and berry bushes, and he wants nothing more than to get right the hell out of there right now.
Shinobu doesn't seem to notice or care, and only notes the cabin's appearance with a quiet little 'hmmm' before walking down the weed-strewn walkway and up the rickety steps. He pauses to look back expectantly at Mitsuru before unlocking the door and stepping inside, clearly expecting Mitsuru to follow.
Which he does.
Mitsuru's feeling twitchy and half a second away from jumping out of his skin, so he's not entirely embarrassed when he lets out what some might call a girly scream when the door slams shut behind him.
"Sorry." Shinobu says, sounding anything but as he flicks on the overhead light. I didn't mean to scare you."
Eyes narrowing, Mitsuru opens his mouth to retort, and freezes as the light flickers and dies, leaving the two of them standing alone in a rundown cabin in the Forest of Doom, miles from civilization in the dark.
"Mitsuru?"
"What?" Mitsuru snaps, voice definitely higher than the norm.
"I didn't bring any paper bags."
"What?"
Shinobu chuckles, and Mitsuru turns his head to follow the sound when he moves. "I didn't bring any paper bags, so it would be best if you didn't hyperventilate just now."
"Oh, very funny," Mitsuru says, some of his anxiety fading as he tracks Shinobu through the darkness, frowning as he realizes Shinobu's circling around him. "I don't suppose you thought to bring spare light bulbs?"
"Actually no," Shinobu says in a low voice next to his ear, breath ghosting against the side of his face, hands lightly feeling along Mitsuru's arms for the bags he's carrying, "but I did bring a flashlight."
Mitsuru swallows hard, eyes shut tight as Shinobu continues to pat him down in search of said flashlight and tries very, very hard not to move, not to think.
"Mitsuru?" Shinobu pauses in what he's doing, the flat of his palm on Mitsuru's chest, and the heat from his touch is almost painful after the freezing rain and trek through the forest. "Are you all right?"
"Just," Mitsuru's voice falters, cracks a little, "just get some light in here, would you?"
Shinobu makes a noise of agreement and slides his hand up to Mitsuru's shoulder and squeezes for a moment before resuming his search for the flashlight.
Nearly a minute later and more of Shinobu's hands on him in weird and strange ways that have nothing to do with anything like actual intent, Shinobu produces the flashlight and immediately begins to blind Mitsuru by shining it in his face.
Mitsuru makes a sound that isn't quite a scream and flails wildly as he stumbles backwards away from the light in his eyes and winds up tripping over something and falling on his back without even the vaguest semblance of grace. It is, he knows, par for the course this weekend and resigns himself to the inevitable.
"Are you all right?"
Wondering what he possibly could have done to deserve such bad luck, Mitsuru raises his hand and waves it around. "Still alive."
Shinobu snorts, picking his way carefully across the room to his side, thankfully pointing the flashlight off the side as he looks down at him. "Anything broken?"
Mitsuru doesn't like the fact that he actually has to stop and think about it before he can answer. "Not yet." He replies, knowing that the weekend has just started and there are a wide variety of ways he could potentially fracture, if not shatter, one or more bones. "But the day is young."
Shinobu shakes his head and extends a hand to Mitsuru, who gratefully accepts it and allows Shinobu to pull him to his feet.
"Thanks." Mitsuru says, eyes widening as Shinobu gives a sharp tug, bringing him closer. "Um - "
"Hold still." Shinobu orders, brushing dust and cobwebs off his shoulders and back, and still holding his hand firmly in his.
Mitsuru does as he's told and fights the urge to pull his hand free and put as much distance between them as he can.
"We should look around, find out where everything is." Shinobu says, letting go of his hand as he turns towards the back of the cabin and the hallway leading from the main room. "See if we'll need to head back tonight or not."
Mitsuru nods and follows, grateful that it's dark enough inside the cabin to hide his face because he doesn't quite have control over it at the moment. "Good idea."
By the time they manage to get their bearings in the cabin two things become painfully apparent. One, the bags they were issued were obviously not as waterproof as advertised, and two, there is only one bed in the cabin.
One bed and a virtual plethora of pillows and blankets.
This, Mitsuru realizes in dawning horror, is a love shack. A pathetically broken down, battered, sorry excuse for one, but a love shack nevertheless. If the bedding hadn't given it away, the cracked and chipped mirror hanging precariously from the ceiling surely would have.
"There's no way I'm sleeping in that bed." Mitsuru declares, hanging onto the last, tattered shreds of his dignity by his fingernails. "And neither are you." he adds, turning to jab Shinobu in the arm pointedly. "If the damn thing doesn't collapse on its own the mirror will probably fall down during the night and slice anyone stupid enough to be under it into pieces."
"I'm impressed." Shinobu says, eyeing Mitsuru thoughtfully. "You've managed to surpass Hasukawa in terms of paranoia. Congratulations."
"It's not paranoia if they're really out to get you!" Mitsuru yells, well aware of the fact that he's maybe, just a little, overreacting a tad.
Shinobu ignores him and heads back towards the main room where the windows are at least boarded up and won't let the wind in, and starts poking at the fireplace.
"What are you doing?" Mitsuru asks, even though he knows. "Please tell me you're not doing what I think you're doing."
Shinobu continues to ignore him as he carefully stacks firewood, placing the tinder with equal care. "We're quite fortunate the groundskeeper kept the firewood stocked as well as it is. With the storm this close, it would be a bad idea to walk back to the main compound now."
"It's not that dark out, yet." Mitsuru points out, hooking a thumb over his shoulder at the windows. "We could probably make it before the storm hits."
"Yes," Shinobu agrees, gaze sliding towards him, "but then the vicious, flesh-eating animals would attack and then where would we be?"
"I hate you."
Shinobu simply smiles and busies himself getting the fire started while Mitsuru broods and eyes the doors and windows warily, so he misses what Shinobu says next the first time. The second time through he just stares, and it's only the third time Shinobu repeats himself that Mitsuru manages a response.
"What?" By now Mitsuru has nearly forgotten what his voice usually sounds like and has gotten used to the higher register. "Are you serious?"
Shinobu stares at him, arms crossed. "You'd rather catch a cold? Or get pneumonia?"
Mitsuru knows he won't win this one, knows that Shinobu's right, but it feels too much like surrender to him. Too much like -
"Mitsuru. The fire will only keep us so warm, and with our things soaked, we don't have much choice in the matter."
"Yes, but - "
"Mitsuru."
Sighing, Mitsuru turns so that he's facing away from Shinobu as he starts pulling his wet clothes off, trying to ignore Shinobu as he does the same. "I still think we should ask for a refund." He says, wringing excess water from his shirt before shaking it out. "This weekend is nothing like the brochure promised."
"False advertising?"
Mitsuru grins as he removes his pants and socks, squeezing as much water from them as he can before hanging them up next to his shirt. "Exactly. Some luxury cabin - one and-a-half rooms, and a hole in the wall where the bathroom used to be."
"Hence the one and-a-half rooms." Shinobu agrees, moving to stand next to him while he hangs his own clothes up. "Though I admit to being curious as to what happened to the bathroom. It didn't look like - "
"Please don't go there." Mitsuru says, quietly and a little desperately, because he's been wondering the exact same thing ever since the saw the gaping hole in the side of the bedroom wall. "Just don't go there."
"Well then," Shinobu says, gesturing at the pile of blankets and pillows before the fireplace, "after you."
Mitsuru stares at Shinobu, painfully, uncomfortably aware of the fact that they're both wearing underwear and nothing else, equally aware of the fact that they're going to have to huddle together for warmth, and -
"I can't do it."
"Mitsuru?"
"I can't do it." He repeats, staring at the cozy little nest Shinobu has made for them and unable, unwilling, to take a step closer to it. "Just give me a blanket and I'll sleep over there." He says, pointing to the other side of the room. "I'll be fine."
Shinobu raises an eyebrow at him and walks over the pile of blankets, settling himself under them with enviable ease, and watching him the whole time. "While I admit it's not a blizzard of epic proportions out there, it will get cold in here when the storm hits."
"Shinobu - "
"I hadn't actually expected to go skiing this weekend." Shinobu says, surprising him. "Although I did look up the weather reports for the area before booking the reservations, and the groundskeeper warned me of the rainstorms."
Mitsuru says nothing because he's trapped by Shinobu's eyes, pinned in place and unable to move, to talk.
"I felt the potential gains were well worth the risks involved, so I went ahead with things anyway."
A beat, and then Mitsuru's brain catches up to what Shinobu's saying, telling him. "I...you... Potential gains?" He bleats, mortified as his voice goes even higher than it ever has.
Shinobu smirks, flipping the blankets back invitingly. "I think you know what I mean, yes?"
The flare of anger he feels is enough to get him moving, get him acting in instead of reacting and he stomps his way across the room before throwing himself down next to Shinobu. "You...you bastard!" He yells, grabbing the blankets from Shinobu and wrapping them comfortingly around himself as he glares at the ceiling. "You were winding me up this whole time! You've been messing with my head for months you ass!"
Shinobu chuckles beside him, easing down into the pillows, hands behind his head. "You made it easy for me."
Mitsuru's glare darkens. "You're such a bastard."
"I am." Shinobu admits, and Mitsuru turns his head to look at him, breath catching in his throat as he sees the look in his eyes. "But then again, so are you."
"I...yeah." Mitsuru mutters, staring at Shinobu, feeling a little scared and a little awed and a hell of a lot cold, which is the perfect excuse to move closer to him, let him sling an arm across his shoulders.
"You could have said something." Shinobu says quietly.
Mitsuru actually thinks about it for a moment, and then realizes that while it's possible he could have, he's pretty sure he wouldn't have. He's also pretty sure Shinobu had to have figured things out long before he did, because looking back on it...yeah. Definitely a bastard.
Sighing, Mitsuru gives in to the inevitable and decides that while freezing to death might not be an option without a raging blizzard on hand, spending the night huddling for warmth with Shinobu while a rainstorm drenches the area isn't exactly on his list of Most Horrible Things Ever, either.
"I hate you so much." He says, winding an arm around Shinobu's chest. "Bastard."
Shinobu laughs, breath warm against his neck as he curls around him. "I hate you very much too, Mitsuru."
You have no idea how badly I wanted to name this fic 'Love Shack'. No idea at all.