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"You didn't tell me it was gonna be this cold," Bruno muttered, bouncing on his toes as his breath clouded in front of him. The street lamp in front pf Ren's house flickered, casting uneven light across his wind-chapped cheeks. He'd layered up in what he thought was a sensible hoodie and jeans combo.
Ren laughed, unwinding his own scarf with one hand. It was green and gold colored, those were probably Ren's favorite colors. "I did tell you. Three times. You said you could take it." Ren had that big grin despite his own heels being pink from the cold as well. "Lets get inside, its warmer there." Bruno nodded immediately and they headed Inside.
Ren's front door groaned shut behind them, sealing out the bite of winter air. Bruno immediately rubbed his hands together, blowing warm breath between his palms as he took in the living room, cluttered with guitar cases and half-finished sketches pinned to the walls, a space so unmistakably Ren it made his chest tighten. "You could've mentioned your place looks like a bomb went off in a music store," Bruno said, kicking a stray drumstick aside with his boot. He was smiling though.
"Hey, creative chaos," Ren countered, already shrugging off his coat and tossing it over the back of a chair. He nudged Bruno toward the radiator humming in the corner. "Stand there. You're shivering like a chihuahua." He had a gentle smile but there was a bit of teasing in his voice. It made Bruno's goosebumps under his hoodie stand up again. But....
Bruno rolled his eyes but obeyed, pressing his palms against the warm metal. He watched Ren disappear into the kitchen, heard the clatter of mugs and the hiss of a kettle. "You better not be making that weird cinnamon coffee again," Bruno called after him.
Ren's laughter floated back, bright and unapologetic. "Too late. It's tradition."
The radiator heat seeped through Bruno's jeans, and he let his shoulders relax. A stack of polaroids on the coffee table caught his eye, Ren mid-laugh at some party, Ren holding up a fish twice the size of his head, Ren asleep on a couch with Sharpie doodles all over his face. Bruno thumbed through them, grinning. "You're such a disaster," he muttered to the empty room, just as Ren reappeared with two steaming mugs.
"Yea, but you like this disaster. Cutie." That made Bruno's face go a deeper red and he pouted before turning his head away for a second. He wanted to mutter something despite enjoying Ren's compliments. Like really enjoying them.
Bruno snatched the mug Ren offered, wrapping both hands around it just to have something to hold onto besides his own nerves. The cinnamon scent curled up between them, familiar and warm, and he took a sip mostly to hide how his lips twitched at Ren's comment. "Disaster's putting it lightly," he grumbled into the steam, but the effect was ruined when he caught Ren's stupidly fond expression over the rim of his own mug.
Ren plopped onto the couch beside him, close enough that their knees bumped. He flicked one of the polaroids with his free hand, the fish photo, and grinned. "Remember this? You were so mad I caught a bigger one than you."
"That's because you cheated," Bruno said immediately, jabbing a finger at the photo. "You used my bait when I wasn't looking." Ren gasped, pressing a dramatic hand to his chest. "A lie! You were there the whole time. You just got distracted by that duck."
Bruno opened his mouth to protest, then snapped it shut when he remembered the duck in question, a ridiculous thing with one feather sticking straight up like a cowlick. He'd named it Ernesto. "...Okay, maybe." Ren giggled and kissed his boyfriend's cheek. It was sweet and gentle. And very warm despite them only being inside for a few minutes at that point.
Bruno's cheeks burned where Ren's lips had brushed them, and he hid his face behind the mug again, gulping down cinnamon coffee that suddenly tasted sweeter than usual. The radiator clicked beside them, and Ren stretched his legs out, knocking a pile of sheet music off the coffee table with his socked foot. Neither of them moved to pick it up.
"You know," Ren said, nudging Bruno's knee with his own, "I was thinking we could...." Ren hesitated a bit while glancing at Bruno's big brown eyes. He looked so innocent like this.
Bruno raised an eyebrow, his fingers tightening slightly around the warm mug. "You were thinking we could...?" he echoed, voice softer than he intended. The unfinished sentence hung between them, thick with possibilities that made his pulse thump under his skin. Ren's gaze flickered down to Bruno's mouth, then back up, and suddenly the radiator felt like it was cranked up way too high.
Ren leaned in, close enough that Bruno could count the flecks of gold in his stupidly pretty eyes. "We could," he murmured, thumb brushing the side of Bruno's mug where their fingers almost touched, "finally finish that duet you abandoned last month. Unless..." His grin turned wicked. "You were imagining something else?"
Bruno felt the heat flash across his face as he pouted at him. He looked back down at the mug but then felt a hand on his chin tilting it back up. Ren still had that big smirking grin on his face. Then a wink.
Bruno's breath hitched as Ren's fingers lingered on his chin, warm and rough from climbing things. The wink was downright criminal, that teasing glint in Ren's eye that always made Bruno's stomach flip. He swatted Ren's hand away, but it was half-hearted at best. "You're insufferable," Bruno muttered, though the way his toes curled against the carpet betrayed him.
Ren just laughed, tossing his head back against the couch cushions. "And yet here you are." He patted at his own chest to invite Bruno to lay against him. "Suffering so bravely. Now come here, my chinchilla."
Bruno hesitated for exactly three seconds, he counted, before huffing and letting himself slump sideways into Ren's chest. The mug wobbled precariously in his grip as he maneuvered it around their tangled limbs, but Ren caught it deftly, plucking it from his hands and setting it on the floor with a soft clink. "Disaster," Bruno muttered again, but the word lost all its bite when Ren's arms wrapped around him, pulling him flush against his warmth.
Ren hummed, low and content, his chin settling atop Bruno's head like it was made to fit there. His heartbeat thudded steady against Bruno's back, a rhythm more familiar than any song they'd ever played together.
"You love this disaster and you know it," Ren murmured, his breath stirring Bruno's hair. And he was right, Bruno really did.