Ficlet: Winter Warmer
Title: Winter Warmer
Pairing: Colin/Ryan
Rating: R for a little bit of the naughty
Characters: Colin, Drew, Greg, Ryan
Word Count: 3,222
Summary: Four of our favourite improvisers are stranded in a car in the middle of a blizzard. Someone has to go out to get gas…
Author’s Notes: It’s all about sharing bodily warmth. ;) After all, it is winter.
The SUV trundled along the gritted roads with slight difficulty, despite the adapted tires. The wipers fought a constant battle against the plummeting snow on the windshield and the heater on the inside was turned on full blast. The four occupants of the car, all clad in coats and scarves, continued to voice various discomfort.
“I’m fucking freezing,” moaned Ryan, hugging himself and staring bleakly out at the pristine white of passing scenery.
“No kidding.” Greg’s red hot sarcasm cut through the cold atmosphere and Ryan simply grunted in response and childishly kicked the back of Greg’s seat.
Drew threw a sideways glance at his friend seated in the passenger seat and rolled his eyes. “Guys, cut it out. The heater’s on full, it just takes a while to get working, all right?” he scorned and turned his attention back to navigating the foreign Canadian roads. “Why can’t you be more like Colin? He hasn’t complained at all.”
“Just because I haven’t been complaining,” the man in question piped up, “does not mean I am not just as miserable.”
Greg snorted with laughter. “And whose idea was it to go to Canada in the middle of winter, hey Colin?”
Colin made a frustrated face, prompting Ryan to jump in. “Greg, it’s not his fault the weather decided to be a total bitch today.” He looked at Colin and smiled in a pre-determined ‘you’re welcome’.
“Yeah, I guess. Sorry, Col.”
“That’s quite all right, Greg. No worries. After all, I am the Lighting Rod of Hate.” Colin smiled as he got a low laugh out of Ryan who, unable to keep his eyes off Colin, continued grinning like an idiot in love. Greg, noticing this little silent exchange, nudged Drew’s arm with his elbow once the chubby comedian had reached a red light.
“Like honey and sugar,” he commented, quirking his eyebrow to the backseats. Drew blinked at him at first but then burst out laughing upon realising what Greg meant. Ryan and Colin meanwhile just sat there, pretty clueless.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ryan didn’t sound angry, but amused and curious, and Greg just laughed again. He waved his hand vaguely.
“Oh, nothing important. Just an inside joke between Drew and myself.”
Drew was trying his hardest not to laugh any harder and in his efforts, he had resulted in making little spitting noises. Colin and Ryan looked at each other, mystified.
Suddenly, the engine began to splutter and croak and no matter how much pressure Drew put on the pedal, the car simply wouldn’t accelerate. A faint gurgling noise was heard as the tank emptied the last of its contents and the car eventually came to a shuddering halt at the side of the road.
“Shit!” cried Drew, his fingers tightening around the steering wheel in irritation.
“What is it?” Greg leant over to try and see the problem.
Drew’s lips tightened together and shook his head, sorrowfully. “We’re out of gas.”
“Oh, that’s just perfect,” Ryan sighed, hugging himself even tighter as the heating began to falter along with the engine. Colin swore quietly under his breath and Greg laughed bitterly, as bitter as the chill in the air.
“So, now what do we do?” Colin asked, leaning forward to poke his head through the front seats. Drew shrugged in response.
“I guess I’ll just call the breakdown service, see if they can come help us.”
Greg blinked at him in disbelief. “Drew, look around you! We’re in the middle of fucking nowhere. And with all this snow, you know how long it might take them to get out here?”
“Well, I’d like to know if you have a better suggestion, Captain Critical,” Drew huffed, managing to place his hands on hips, even in the small space.
“I do happen to have an idea, since you’ve asked.” Greg grinned and pushed his glasses up his nose, looking pretty pleased with himself. Drew looked on expectantly, irritation almost forgotten as Colin and Ryan both leaned in closer also. “We passed a gas station a minute or two ago, and I’m fairly certain they’d sell gas cans there. One of us simply needs to go back and get one.”
“You mean, go out there?” Ryan looked outside. Though the blizzard had slightly settled down, the Canadian sub-zero temperatures were almost brutal, and thick cloud had choked the midday sky. Greg nodded, his styled hair bouncing enthusiastically.
Drew, admitting defeat gracefully, folded his arms. “All right, so how do we decide who goes?”
The four men looked at each other, then out at the chilling white and Colin lifted up his hands. “Not me, I’m old and brittle. If I go out there, I’ll snap in half.”
“Uh-huh,” replied Greg incredulously, raising an eyebrow. “I’ve got a better idea.” Reaching into his pocket, the sarcastic comic pulled out a bunch of toothpicks (it was a commonly-known fact that he liked to chew them before facing the rancorous, hyena-like, half-drunk punters in dingy comedy clubs). He snapped one in half and placed the two pieces amongst two other whole sticks, rubbed them between his hands and held them in his fist, the ends sticking out. “Gentlemen, it’s short straws. Make your choice.”
Drew went first, pretending to be deep in thought about selecting his toothpick and simply chose the one closest to him. It was one of the snapped halves. “Aww, crap,” he sighed, but smiled none the less. Colin and Ryan both picked theirs at the same time and were equally relieved to see that the toothpicks in their hands were whole ones. This ultimately left Greg with the other half of Drew’s snapped stick - he held it up and laughed, a bit like an ‘evil-villain’ laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Drew asked, pulling his black fingerless gloves on.
Greg grinned in a genuine moment of glee and discreetly pointed to the two men in the back. “It’s like destiny.”
Ryan grumbled and moved back into his tight curled position, trying his hardest to keep warm in the faltering heat. “I’m just glad I don’t have to go out there. At least in here it’s warm.”
Drew pulled on his woolly hat, earflaps and all, and sucked in a pitying breath. “Won’t be warm for long,” he commented.
“You mean the heater’s not working?”
Drew shook his head. “Not without the engine.”
“Then… then how are we supposed to keep warm?” Ryan whined, teeth chattering.
“I don’t know, share bodily warmth or something,” the chubby comedian suggested. At this, Greg tried his best to stifle laughter. And failed.
“We’ll be back soon. Don’t bite each other’s heads off, will you?” he spluttered around his giggling. He and Drew stayed long enough to earn a glare from Ryan before opening the doors, letting in a gust of freezing air and bravely stepping out into the white wasteland.
Colin twisted in his seat to watch his two friends walk away and smiled. “Didn’t think they’d ever leave, pair of chickens,” he said, grinning and turning to Ryan. But the taller man wasn’t paying attention for he was trying to squeeze himself into a tighter ball. “Ry?” Colin reached out to touch his best friend’s arm and it felt like Ryan was leaning into it appreciatively.
“So cold,” came the near-silent reply. He began to shiver, feeling the chill encompass him entirely.
Colin bit his lip, had a brainwave and reached underneath the backseats. He pulled out a dark plaid blanket and shook off crumbs and fluff. Ryan opened one eye in interest and watched as Colin shuffled closer to him and threw the blanket over them both, reaching over and threading his arms through Ryan’s in a backwards hug. Ryan snorted.
“Helping hands?” he mumbled, very grateful for Colin’s generosity.
The Canadian rubbed his cheek against Ryan’s back in a nod. “Just trying to keep you alive.”
The pair sat in warming silence for a while before Ryan spoke up. “Hey, Colin, can I ask you something?”
“Sure, Ry,” Colin replied, eyebrows lifting. “You can ask me anything.”
Before Ryan asked his question he squirmed a little bit in Colin’s arms, sighed, and then continued. “When you and Deb got divorced, did you guys argue a lot?”
He felt Colin’s shoulders move in a shrug and let out a held breath. “Depends what you mean by ‘a lot’.”
“Like… every time you were in the same room together, you found something new to argue about?”
“Well, I can’t say it was that often, but yes. We’d argue quite a bit and one day, she said that she’d had enough. And that’s really all there is to it.”
Ryan thought about Colin’s words for a moment, wondering if that last sentence was a hinted closer of the conversation. But still, there was more that Ryan had to know. “How did Luke take it?”
Colin, surprised at Ryan’s sudden curiosity, answered the question. “Better then I thought he would - he was actually quite grown-up about the whole thing. Still, I reckon he was devastated when we told him.” At this, Ryan tensed uncontrollably. It wasn’t the cold that was bothering him as much anymore, but more a feeling of anxiety at Colin’s words. Colin noticed this and sat up a bit to look at him. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, just… trying to make conversation.” Ryan lied, trying for a full-hearted smile but was unsuccessful when his teeth began to chatter again.
Colin sighed, knowing that Ryan was trying to be brave and masculine, avoiding sensitive conversation at all costs. “Tell me.” His voice was soft but pressing and the other man found himself compelled to drop his macho façade for the moment,
“Pat and I, we’re… well, things aren’t all that… my marriage isn’t too happy right now.” Ryan spoke his confession quickly, something that Colin seemed to understand.
“Oh,” he said plainly, wondering just what you say to that. It occurred to him then that Ryan wanted to know of his past experience in order to analyse the current situation of his own marriage. The divorce was quick and fuss-free and this was advice he wanted to give until he realised that Ryan had a lot more at stake: He had three children, one of which was only a few years old, and there was simply no knowing of the repercussions that a marital divide would have on such a family. “Does she want a divorce?”
“I don’t know. I think that’s where all this is headed, though.” Ryan sighed miserably. “I just feel so alone around her.”
“Oh, Ryan. I’m so sorry…” Colin trailed off, not sure what else he should be saying and not even sure why he was apologising. He looked up, expecting to see Ryan’s sad eyes but saw the back of his head instead. Without thinking, he found himself shifting until he could touch his nose against the back of Ryan’s neck and gently kissed there in a strange impulse. It took a few seconds for the taller man to register what Colin was doing but strangely, he felt content to let him continue until a small spark inside him hinted at wanting more of this sensual contact.
As he rolled over, Colin moved gently forward, raising a hand to Ryan’s cheek and pressed their soft lips together hesitantly, capturing Ryan’s top lip between each of his. Ryan let out a slight mewl of surprise and Colin broke then, in shock that perhaps he’d done something hasty, worrying that he’d made a mistake. He made an effort to pull away and return to his side of the backseats but Ryan’s grip showed no sign of loosening or letting go. In fact, it was tight, strong and encouraging. Colin had little time to process this as Ryan came in this time and stole another kiss that was more needy, more deep and passionate and… nothing like he’d ever felt before.
“Ry?” Colin breathed once they’d parted.
“Shh…” Ryan manoeuvred his friend so that Colin was now straddling his lap, closing any gaps between them and replacing the bitter cold with luscious warmth. Hands were travelling everywhere; Colin’s sifting through Ryan’s hair whilst Ryan’s had anchored themselves firmly on the other man’s hips. It wasn’t very long until both men started to feel a vibrant acceptance for what they were doing. More importantly, it never felt wrong or feigned - it felt natural like they’d always been doing it. Even as the kiss gained such intensity that the real stirrings of passion flared inside them and any other thoughts other than red-hot desire mysteriously vanished for the time being.
Colin’s lips moved downward to kiss Ryan’s neck as large hands came up to spur the older man on.
“Col…” he purred, fuelling the fire with soft noises of delight as Colin’s kisses got lower and lower, and the need got higher and higher. Once he’d found the sweet spot just under the Adam’s apple, Colin suckled there for a while, wanting to hear more of Ryan’s pleasure and loving how he was making Ryan so incoherent. Yet, to his confusion, he didn’t even know why he felt this way.
“Wait, Ry… what are we doing?” he asked as he pulled away and noticed that Ryan’s head was leaning back against the seats in obvious impulsive desire, lips parted slightly and cheeks flushed a deep red. The sight made his heart jump and he wanted to kiss him again, but first there were questions left unanswered.
Ryan groaned at the loss of contact and looked at Colin pleadingly. “Please, Colin, don’t stop now… that felt so good.” He leant back again, expecting to feel lips reattach themselves to his neck, but instead Colin moved a little bit further away.
“Are you sure?”
The look in Colin’s soft eyes was inquisitive and curious, but also held guilt. Sighing, Ryan rolled his head a bit until he was looking out the window and not at Colin. “I don’t know, Col. Maybe I’m just hurting from my marriage, or maybe it’s because of the body heat or something,” he paused, and Colin was left wondering whether or not Ryan had actually fallen asleep, but then he spoke once more. “Or… maybe it is sexual tension, ‘cos you know how the fans have always said it and how we keep getting those letters asking if we’re sleeping together and-”
He paused mid-sentence, mouth agape in hesitation that perhaps he’d said too much and caught Colin’s gaze in the most intense moment. There really was no denying what had been building up between them for quite sometime, and now that he was finally acting upon these feelings he couldn’t stop himself from getting that little bit out of control.
At that moment, Colin took his hand and squeezed it, forcing their fingers to entwine together. “It’s okay,” he whispered, using his other hand to cup Ryan’s cheek. “I feel it, too.”
“You do?” Ryan was hesitant, but so eager.
Colin nodded. “Yeah. I want this, too, Ry. I want you.” The two men rested their foreheads together and chuckled softly at such intrinsic, instinctive chemistry that always seemed to pass between them. Colin shifted slightly on Ryan’s lap and froze, his eyes glazing over in renewed excitement. “You’re hard.”
Ryan smirked and winked. “Sure am.” He shifted, too, rubbing more of himself against the man in his lap. “So are you.”
Colin moved forward and the kissing resumed, much more desperate than before. So much so that it wasn’t really kissing anymore - it was a wet mash of lips and tongues that sought a thrilling connection. Amidst the throes of such passion, Colin’s hand had found it’s way down to the zipper of Ryan’s jeans and had begun massaging the seeking bulge through rough denim and Ryan gasped, breaking their kiss and letting his head roll back once more - an opportunity which Colin used to suckle gently at that inviting neck.
“That feels… mmm… so nice.”
That’s exactly what Colin wanted to hear. He wanted to please the other man, make him moan in the intimate pinnacles of desire, and he was well on the way to making that happen. Without any further doubts in his mind, Colin unbuckled Ryan’s belt, unfastened his pants and slipped one hand inside.
It suddenly struck him that he was touching Ryan in his most intimate of places in the most sensual of ways, but that simply didn’t matter when every touch felt so natural and instinctive. And soon, Colin had begun a gradual rhythm on his friend that seemed to meet with positive approval as Ryan tried his best to move his hips into Colin’s actions.
Ryan’s hands reached for something to grip onto as the pleasure mounted - one landed on the seat whilst the other found one of the Canadian’s buttocks and grabbed at it roughly. Colin could only grin against Ryan’s neck as the moans from his friend vibrated through his lips.
“Colin… oh, Colin more…”
At this, Colin’s hand picked up speed and pressure and the rest of Ryan’s sentence was drowned out by a long groan as the strain inside him began to break. Much to Colin’s utter delight and glee, Ryan breathed out his name in one long, sensual sigh as he came in an explosive climax. That purely euphoric look on Ryan’s face had hit him with such a blow - that was the moment he’d fallen in love.
Ryan collapsed against the seat from where his back had been arched in a concave and the man in his lap followed suit, neither of them able to wipe the grin off their faces. He was panting, trying his best to return from the sexual high and knowing that Colin had driven him there was making it even harder to recover from.
Just then, a sharp tapping noise emanated from the right-hand window followed by a very deliberate cough. Looking up at the noise simultaneously, Ryan and Colin saw Greg standing outside the car with Drew right behind him, smirking that million-dollar smile. Colin hid his face into Ryan’s neck whilst the taller man groaned in frustration. “Busted,” he sighed.
“How long have you been watching?” Colin called out to their spectacled friends.
“Let’s just say that this view was well worth the cold!” Greg called back, trying fruitlessly to hide his laughter. Drew wasn’t even trying.
“Anyway,” Drew recovered enough to say. “We got the gas.” He held up the gas can to prove it. “Colin, can you take your hand out of Ry’s pants and help us?”
Colin just sneered at the pair who were already walking around the car in order to get to the filler cap. He looked back at Ryan and smiled, fondly remembering their passionate outing. “Don’t worry. We’ll get them back.”
“Let me rest first,” Ryan replied, who was smiling so much his cheeks were beginning to ache. “Thank you, Col. That was so great.”
Colin laughed, so happy he could cry. “Thank you, too.” They leaned in for another kiss.
Meanwhile, Greg was watching the newly infatuated couple with amused interest as Drew filled up their SUV with the gas. He nudged his chubby friend and grinned.
“What did I tell you?” he said. “Like honey and sugar.”