Chapter Text
It seemed like a good idea at the time.
Ryou hunched lower behind a wall of bushes, furiously scooping snow into little balls and pushing them to Ishtar. Ishtar clearly didn’t believe in hiding or protecting himself as he towered above the shrubbery and launched snowball after snowball across the field of play. Ryou startled as a snowball burst against the greenery to his left.
“Ryou Bakura, stand up and take your hits like a man!”
Bakura’s voice taunted him from his position behind a snow bank. Ishtar answered Bakura with a playful growl, only to receive a snowball to the stomach from Marik. Their opponents high-fived each other and ducked as Ishtar fired a rapid succession of snow their way.
“Damn it!” Ishtar crouched down next to Ryou, his spiky golden hair still visible above the branches. He grinned ferally, the faux-battle exciting him. Ryou supposed he should have realized what would happen when he suggested a snowball fight. They’d paired off immediately, searching for a location to provide cover without being too far to land hits. Ryou had found the bushes and Bakura had cussed when that left Marik and him the snow bank and trees. Despite Marik’s constant complaining about the cold, he had gotten as into the fight as the rest. All their faces were flushed and they were each covered in snow, but none of them would give up. Marik and Bakura were sneakier in their attacks and therefore, made more hits, which is why Ryou was currently hiding. It worked well enough with Ishtar throwing and Ryou prepping the snowballs, enabling them to fire at their targets more often.
“We need a plan, asadi.” Ryou stretched up to kiss Ishtar’s cheek, returning to his position to peek through the bushes. He could hear the others talking, most likely using the lull to reinforce their barricade. Above them, the tree branches were weighted down with snow and that was when Ryou got his idea. His hands automatically started rolling the snow for Ishtar. “Do you think you can distract them?” His lover arched a brow in question at him. “I’m going to try to get behind them. See that branch?” Ryou shifted so Ishtar could look through his viewing spot. “Be a shame if something knocked all that snow off,” he explained, grinning as sweetly as ever.
Ishtar chuckled and caught Ryou’s chin. “My devious little mouse.” Their kiss was shorter than either would have liked, Ishtar’s teeth scraping over Ryou’s lip as they pulled away. Ishtar carefully moved the snowball stockpile to one end of shrubs as Ryou slunk to the opposite end. They would have to wait until Marik and Bakura began their next attack and Ryou’s thighs trembled with excess energy as he stayed in position. Thankfully, Ishtar’s patience ran out first and he stood up once more. “Stop fucking back there and fight me!”
Marik’s head popped up, straightening his hat, blond strands pressed down over his scarf and coat. “We were not! It’s too damn cold for that!”
“Maybe for you,” Bakura grumbled. He was greeted by a snowball to the face when he lifted his head. “Fuck!” The former spirit wiped the snow from his eyes as Marik watched, hiding his laughter behind his gloved hand. “You’re a dead man, Ishtar!” Bakura elbowed Marik as he gathered his return volley. “Come on and help me! Avenge my honor!”
The Egyptian lost his composure at that, cackling, only to receive a snowball upside his head from his twin and another to the crotch from his boyfriend. “Hey! Heeeey! That’s cold!” As the two teammates started bickering, throwing as much snow at each other as at Ishtar, and getting hit with twice as much from Ishtar’s focused tosses, Ryou bolted from behind the bushes. He stayed low to the ground, letting his hair help camouflage his movements. He didn’t straighten until he was hidden by one of the trees near Bakura and Marik’s position. He dashed to another just as Bakura’s attention shifted.
“Ryyyyyyyyouuuuuuuu,” he called. “Oh, Ryouuuuuuu. Come out and play with us.” His eyes narrowed, searching through the branches of the bushes to find Ryou’s hiding spot. Marik dropped lower behind the snow bank and huddled next to Bakura, his eyes on Ishtar. “This was your idea. Not afraid of a little snow, are you?”
“No, are you?” Ryou inquired as he stepped from behind the tree. Both men turned to Ryou in complete surprise, Marik’s eyes wide, Bakura’s mouth opening for a sassy retort as Ryou reached up to jostle the snow-filled branch over their heads. The snow came down directly on them, Marik screeching as the snow went down the inside of his coat, Bakura cursing at yet another face full of snow. Ryou zipped between their still-shocked bodies, hopping over the snow bank. He wasn’t quite quick enough, tripping as Bakura’s fingers snatched at his ankle.
He made it a few more feet before Bakura landed on his back and tackled him to the ground. Ryou thrashed around in the snow, giggling as he half-heartedly tried to get free. A snowball slammed into Bakura’s side, deflecting his attention. “Marik, you ass! Don’t throw them at me!” A snowball to his other side distracted him again, hunching lower over Ryou’s body as he pinned him into the snow. “Very tricky. I’m almost proud of you,” Bakura teased with a smirk.
Ryou squirmed under him, shivering more from the groan his movements pulled from Bakura than the snow surrounding him. “Ready to give up then?” Ryou asked, mocha-colored eyes shining brightly.
“When have you ever known me to give up?” Bakura dipped his head down, lips connecting with Ryou’s for a second before he was knocked off. “Bloody fucking hell!” Ryou ended up with Ishtar stretched across his stomach as the taller man held Bakura down in the snow. Ryou swatted at Ishtar’s ass, none of them watching as Marik approached and dropped snowballs on each of their heads.
As one, Ishtar and Bakura grabbed Marik around his legs, bringing him down into the snow with them. Marik squealed as he fell, trying to kick free. “No! No, you bastards! It’s too cold!” He whined, Bakura and Ishtar each draping themselves over Marik’s arms to keep him in the snow. “It’s cooooooold!” Ryou crawled out from under Ishtar and pulled himself over Marik’s core, helping hold him down. Together, the three of them ground against Marik’s body, Marik’s whining coming to an abrupt stop. Ryou’s white hair fell around them, smiling when Ishtar and Bakura nudged Marik’s scarf down to mouth at his throat.
Marik stilled and his eyes rolled back, gloved hands grabbing at the other two rather than pushing them away. Ryou gathered his hair back and tilted his head to drag his lips against Marik’s, earning a quiet whimper from him. “Let’s go home. We can warm up and I’ll fix hot cocoa for everyone.” Marik nodded and tried to sit up even while Bakura and Ishtar continued their attentions to his neck.
Ryou got to his feet first, brushing most of the snow off. Neither Ishtar nor Bakura had made any move to let Marik up or stop kissing his neck. Ryou shook his head. “Well, I’m going home to get out of these wet clothes. Anyone else?” At that, Ishtar scrambled to his feet with a grin, looping his arm over Ryou’s shoulders.
Bakura was slower getting to his feet, holding out his hand to help Marik up. “But who won?”
“Who…? We won, djinni. Obviously,” Ishtar sneered, walking ahead with Ryou.
He started to contest that answer, but Marik laughed and shook his head. “They beat us.” He took Bakura’s hand as they strolled behind the other two, leaning in to kiss his silver hair. “It’s okay. I’ll let you ‘win’ later tonight.”
Ryou tucked himself closer into Ishtar’s side, happy to listen to their banter echo through the quiet snowy streets back to their flat. Maybe the snowball fight had been a good idea after all.