[ x ] in true alexander and kyungsoo fashion, they had spent their day helping around the city and doing odd jobs; however, now it was because they purposely worked together instead of coincidentally bumping into each other. a sort of thing that tends to happen when you’re dating and no longer just very friendly acquaintances.
“arson?” alexander stops in his tracks, taking the shorter male with him as their arms are looped together. the walk home is cold this time of year. they like to keep each other close for body heat. for reassurance and comfort. though, that doesn’t seem to be enough for kyungsoo tonight if he’s willing to set fire to something in order to keep warm. the taller makes a face from underneath his knitted hat, ears sticking out cutely as his features wear a sort of dramatized panic that only he could pull off. “i’m supposed to help put out flames! not create them.” suddenly, he’s detaching himself from the other, alex’s fingers going to his coat zipper. he yanks it down with a satisfying little noise. “i have to save the city from your potential crime!” and then he’s pulling kyungsoo into his chest, attempting to zip up his oversized winter wear once more. it could be big enough for two if he tries hard enough.
“you’ll never get the chance now.”
and there’s an almost palpable satisfaction to his voice even though he’s only able to get them halfway zipped in. really, it’s the best he can do. at least he’s sort of also solved their ‘so cold that arson looks like a great alternative’ problem. his head tilts so that he can get a better look at his boyfriend, peering in with rosy cheeks and a suddenly gentle smile – dramatics gone. “better?”
winter is as relentless as ever, temperatures plummeting into the single digits faster than he can shove his hands into the pockets of his jacket. there’s a hole in the left one now, hardly big enough for his pinky to poke through but just enough for him to feel the wind’s familiar bite. snow hasn’t graced the city for at least a week now, but the occasional shower has mottled the streets with patches of ice, each one a trap waiting to be sprung. warmth and an extra pair of eyes are imperative to survival, and kyungsoo thanks each and every one of his few remaining lucky stars that alex fits both criteria. he makes sure to express his gratitude in the way their fingers lace together, in the way their steps fall in sync despite the height difference, in the way they sway as a unit to avoid suspicious spots in the sidewalk. it’s in everything he does, always.
(even when he jokingly proposes turning to arson for warmth.)
“you can still put it out. just let it burn for half an hour so we can get warm first.”
how he manages to say it with a straight face will remain one of those eternal mysteries of the cosmos, because the answer is far less important than finding a way to make sure kyungsoo doesn’t permanently lose all feeling in his fingers. it’s just that cold. setting fire to an innocent structure, however, is immediately struck off the list when kyungsoo finds himself wrapped up in alex’s jacket--with alex. standing mere inches from a ravenous fire could never compare with the warmth that comes from the dopey, ridiculously fond smile that alex shares with him now. that the zip manages to go up halfway is something just between astonishing and absurd, equal parts perplexing and comforting. it could probably go up higher if kyungsoo moved just a small way closer, but as much as he would love to spend hours like this, there still remains the issue of escaping the merciless winter.
“are we supposed to waddle home like this now? if you trip, i’m gonna fall with you.”
