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Winter had set in fast over the land of Regnum, and it didn’t take long for snow to cover the ground. The group was currently staying at Hartman’s place in Naohs, making good use of the free beds, multiple home cooked meals and most importantly, a warm home with a fireplace to cover them from the weather.
QQ had been especially excited about the weather though and Kongwai had simply explained that snow was a very rare occurrence where they came from. Apparently only very few places experienced it there and even so it was quite uncommon, so it was likely this was the first time QQ had ever experienced snow.
When asked about his own experiences the mage just smiled and said it was limited. Which likely meant this was also very new to him.
“You’re gonna be stoked when you see Tenos then,” Spada grinned. “I’ve heard it’s all ice and snow all year up there!”
“There’s a place with always snow?!” QQ beamed, clearly enjoying the frosty weather. “QQ wants to see it!” she cheered from where she had been gazing out the windows to watch the snowflakes fall from the sky, twirling around in excitement.
“Hey, why don’t we go outside ‘n play while we wait fer Hartman t’ cook dinner?” Hermana suggested, looking around at their group.
“Sounds fun,” Ruca agreed.
“Yeah! We can have a massive snowball fight!” Spada challenged.
“QQ! Hermana! You need to remember jackets, it’s too cold to go outside like that!” Ange huffed at the girls who were already halfway out the door to the backyard.
“Ricardo and Kongwai, you should come join too,” Illia said, well, demanded was probably more accurate judging by the tone of her voice.
“I think I’ll be fine watching from inside, you all have fun though,” Kongwai offered calmly, more than happy to just stay inside with a book.
“Come on! Even Ricardo is coming out!”
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m only going to keep an eye on Ange and make sure nothing happens,” Ricardo explained.
“ Afraid of a little frozen water? Scared you won’t be able to keep up with us and have fun? ” QQ hummed in their native tongue, a fake-pleasant smile on her face though a challenging glint in her eyes.
Kongwai hesitated. He didn’t like the thought of losing to his fellow world traveler. “Actually, you know what, maybe I will join you,” he said, trying to keep as calm and casual as possible. QQ knew the truth though. She’d won this round.
As they walked outside, Ruca couldn’t help but approach the mage, asking for a translation to what their comrade had said to make him change his mind.
“She just said it would be more fun if we were all doing this together,” he lied and that seemed to satisfy the boy, because he didn’t ask any further.
Unfortunately as soon as Kongwai stepped outside he was greeted with a snowball to the face and a smug QQ looking at him from across the yard with Hermana laughing next to her. Apparently she’d been explaining the rules of a snowball fight and QQ wanted to test the throwing and just ‘happened’ to hit Kongwai. They both knew it was no coincidence.
The group split themselves into teams - boys vs girls - and soon even more snowballs were flying through the air. Despite what he’d said earlier, Ricardo got surprisingly very much into it, trying to command the other boys around the ‘battlefield’ only to be mostly ignored.
In the end Coda decided the girls won though, however most suspected it might have to do with Hermana and Illia trying to bribe him with food, which was unsurprisingly effective.
Afterwards it was obvious that Kongwai felt miserable though. He looked like he’d had fun as they were playing, but now he just seemed cold and wet and exhausted. Ricardo kept catching him trying to rub his hands together to generate some warmth.
He couldn’t help but notice how cold the mage’s fingers looked, slowly turning slightly blue and shaking constantly.
Before he could think differently Ricardo wrapped the other man’s hands in his own, feeling the freezing thin fingers against his skin. Without thinking any further he lifted their hands to his mouth, blowing a hot breath to help heat them up before rubbing them together to offer some of the heat from his own hands, which were only slightly warmer.
He stopped instantly when he noticed the flushed shock on Kongwai’s face - though whether the flush was from embarrassment or the cold was anyone's guess. He felt like he’d been caught with his hands in the cookie jar and he hoped the cold covered the heat in his own cheeks.
They just stood there, looking at each other with their hands still locked together.
“Thank you,” Kongwai muttered after a moment. If he felt embarrassed he didn’t let it show on his face, having a pleasant smile as usual masking anything he might feel.
“No problem. You should consider buying some gloves,”
“I’ll keep that in mind,”
Ricardo wasn’t sure what he should think about the fact that he still hadn’t let go of the other’s hands. The fact they were still so cold also felt like a great reason to keep them sandwiched between his own. Kongwai didn’t seem to mind either, so he kept holding on to them, occasionally breathing some warmth onto them to help them heat up a little. He couldn’t help but notice that despite the chill, the mage’s hands were incredibly soft. There were no calluses like the ones covering his own hands from years on the battlefield - working with weapons and training his body did that. The only odd thing was the gem-like things in the center of his hands, the smooth texture odd to the touch, but not unpleasant. Other than also being very cold.
When he moved them back up near his face once more to breathe more heat onto them, he was pretty sure he noted a slight hint of some citrusy scent. He wondered if the other man used scented moisturizer to keep his hands so soft. He wasn’t sure if that was something that would surprise him or not.
As he looked down at the hands between his own, seeing how small and slim they were in his broad ones, he couldn’t help but want to kiss his fingers. Which was definitely a thought that caught him off guard. He’d never thought that about another man’s hands - or anyone’s hands for that matter. But there was something about the cold feeling of the fingers on his skin, the softness of it all and how their hands locked together.
He wondered if kissing them would make him warm up faster. If the other would flush so hard his entire body would heat up. For some reason he doubted that. Kongwai wasn’t the type to let emotions overwhelm him like that. Even if he would feel flustered he definitely wouldn’t let it show at least. He knew that much. You couldn’t trust Kongwai to ever show any hint of emotion that wasn’t just the inoffensive, default pleasant calm.
He continued to warm Kongwai’s hands for a bit longer, doing his best to not make it awkward, when Hartman called them all inside for dinner. No one seemed to have noticed Ricardo and Kongwai holding hands basically the entire time since their snowball fight ended. Ricardo wasn’t even sure what the other had been doing since then, but judging from the snowmen and snow angels around the garden, he had a pretty good idea.
As they sat at the dinner table, eating and talking, Ricardo found himself unable to look away from Kongwai’s hands. He couldn’t help but almost study the way he held and used his cutlery on the food. There was a certain elegance to the act. He just wasn’t sure why.
He’d never been attracted to hands - and even now attraction might be a strong word for what he was feeling. There was just something about Kongwai’s hands that made him think they were beautiful. He wanted to hold them again, see how small they were compared to his own, admire how delicate they were. He’d never felt this obsessed with anything before. It felt weird. He felt weird.
The worst part was when Kongwai obviously noticed, as seen by him smirking as they made eye contact. Ricardo blushed and quickly went back to his food that he hadn’t realized he’d stopped eating. After that they pretended like nothing had happened, no one questioned anything.
And then one day, a couple days later, while the group were out in town to gather resources before they continued their travels, Ricardo suddenly felt something freezing touch the back of his neck and he would firmly deny anyone who said he shrieked at the feeling. As he turned around though, he found a smug looking Kongwai waving slightly at him.
“What do you want?” the mercenary asked defensively.
“My hands were getting cold again, I wondered if you’d like to help me warm them?” he hummed, playing innocent. They both knew he was anything but.
“... Fine, here,” he sighed, holding one hand out for the other to grab, which he did.
Ricardo then pointedly shoved both their hands into his pocket, sheltering them from the cold and started dragging him off toward a specific store he’d seen earlier.
Kongwai followed without resistance or hesitation, looking around at some of the stalls in town as they passed before noticing the wares of the stall they stopped in front of.
“You know,” he started softly. “If I actually get gloves you won’t have an excuse to warm hands again.” The teasing hum in his voice was infuriating.
“That’s the goal,” Ricardo muttered, trying to hide how flustered he felt for being called out.
“Then again, nothing is stopping you from doing it anyways even if I do own a pair of gloves,”
Ricardo stared at him for a moment, trying to decipher if what he said actually meant what he thought it meant. Was… Kongwai insinuating he was okay with them holding hands whenever? That he’d be okay with Ricardo just grabbing his hands at any time? He wasn’t sure what to think of that, if that was true.
Kongwai just casually looked over the various gloves, trying on some to see how they fit before deciding on a pair and purchasing them.
“What about yourself?” he asked. “Do you need a pair?” he elaborated as Ricardo had been too caught up in his own thoughts to understand the initial question.
“I’ll be fine,” he muttered, looking away, still trying to process everything.
Kongwai just smiled, waved goodbye to the merchant after making his purchase and grabbed Ricardo’s hand as they walked away, holding it firmly in his now gloved hand.