Chapter Text
It’s a cold night.
More than cold, actually; it’s freaking freezing!
Badd pulled his phone out of his sweatpants, seeing the weather icon saying 9 degrees celcius. Shit, man, Badd thinks. This was the coldest it’s been in S City in a few years, and he hated it. It’s not like he had a problem with the cold – he ran hot anyways – it’s just that it was cold with no snow. What was the point of it being frigid if there wasn’t gonna be snow?
Oh how badd-ly he wanted to see snow again. He loved the snow.
The last time it snowed was when he was a child. When his parents were still around.
He grit his teeth and tossed his phone on his nightstand before flopping onto his bed. It was cold. He quickly got underneath the blanket, curling into a ball, but even after a good few minutes, his spot wasn’t warming up.
He’ll say it again, “I hate the cold.”
***
It must have been an hour, and Badd was still awake. Barely, but he could hear the heater running continuously. However, he was quickly drifting to sleep.
Finally, he thought as he curled up more.
But then his phone rang.
“Yer freakin’ kidding me,” he muttered angrily, kicking the blanket off and throwing his pillow against the wall. He took a few seconds to calm down before reaching across his bed to his nightstand where his phone still rang. He answered the phone without checking the caller ID. He pressed his phone to his ear before letting out a gruff, “Hello?”
“Oi, dipshit, what am I even lookin’ at?”
Badd’s eyes shot open and pulled his phone away from his ear and in front of his face. It was still dark, so the caller couldn’t see him.
“Still can’t see ya. Turn up your brightness or whatever the fuck.”
“No thanks, I’m not tryna wake up more than you already made me do.” Badd turned onto his back, dropping the phone beside him. “Whaddya want, Garou?” It’s been only a week since Garou got his first phone, and he’s been bugging Badd nonstop. Constant gifs, reels messages, stickers – basically everything someone would send after getting a phone for the first time.
“It’s cold.”
“Okay, and? What do you want me to do about it? I’m not comin’ to Bang’s dojo at–” He grabbed his phone to check the time, but was shocked to see Garou outside?? By their usual spot in the woods? With a tent behind him?? “What the fu- freak?”
“I said it’s cold. Hurry up and get your ass over here,” Garou demanded with a small pout. He probably didn’t realize he was doing it with how it was barely there, but Badd noticed.
He always did.
“Okay, okay, I’m comin’,” Badd said with a light huff. He sat up and slid off his bed before grabbing an extra hoodie. “Do ya need me to bring anythin’ extra? Blanket, pillow?”
“Nope, just you.”
Badd was glad he didn’t turn on any lights because otherwise Garou would’ve seen Badd’s cheeks go up in flames. “Alright,” he said while grabbing his bat and opening the bedroom door with his foot. “I’m headin’ out now. Be there in a few.”
“You better.” And then he hung up.
Badd couldn’t help but shake his head with a smile.
That idiot.
Listening to Garou’s last words, he sped through his house to the front door. As he opened the door, he caught himself. He scurried off to Zenko’s room, cracked her bedroom door open and peeked inside.
She was fast asleep.
Thankfully, she slept through the night most times, so he should be good to go. Badd clicked the door shut and made his way back to the front door. He opened it quietly and walked onto the patio before shutting the door just as quietly. He locked it, shoved his keys in his pants pocket, and hopped down the three steps to reach ground level.
He could rush and get to Garou in two minutes.
Could.
But where’s the fun in that? He wants to make Garou wait for the love of the game.
So Badd ambled down the small path on the small lawn of his home, outside of the chain-linked fence, and down the sidewalk. I think I’ll take the actual route rather than the shortcut, he thought with a grin. So that’s what he did.
He turned the corner and crossed the street to the park entrance. It was nice that he lived so near; it was a nice spot to relax every once in a while, but as of two months ago, it had been a weekly thing to meet up with Garou there late at night.
They would talk about so much, but sometimes nothing. They would lay there in silence and listen to the river rush by or listen to the trees sway. They would fall asleep resting their head against a dead log or bring a picnic blanket to lay on more comfortably.
Those or they would end up cuddling.
At first it was an accident, but lately, they’ve been doing it just because.
That’s totally normal between two guy friends.
Totally.
Badd was glad it was so cold out right now because he could blame the cold breeze for his red face. He shook his head and slapped his cheeks.
“I need to stop thinking so much about this,” he told himself. “Only friends. I am not going to fall for my only real friend.”
He hit his forehead onto his bat because slapping his cheeks did nothing. It wasn’t enough to bruise or anything, but it was enough to snap him out of it completely. He picked up the pace as he entered the woods area of the park. Soon enough, he was running. He was by the river in less than a minute.
“Fuckin’ finally,” Garou blazed, his foot bouncing against the grass impatiently. “You sure took your sweet time.” His brows were slightly pinched in agitation. “What took you so long?” He asked as he opened the tent – why did he even have a tent??? – and stepped in.
Badd shrugged. “Just ‘cause.”
Garou turned his head to the other. “‘Just ‘cause’,” he echoed as a question.
He followed behind Garou. “Yup. Why? You needed me here that bad?”
Garou zipped the tent in Badd’s face.
Badd laughed. It was so fun teasing Garou. “Oh, come on, I’m jokin’! Let me in.”
“Nope.”
Badd knows he can come in easily since the zipper was also on the outside, but he wanted Garou to be the one to let him in. It felt deeper than just opening a tent entrance.
“You beg for me to get my ass here, complain I took my time, and now you won’t even let me in? You’re just gonna let me freeze out here?” He crouched and stared at the tent. “Alone?” He took a waddle closer. “With no one to hold and warm?”
It was a bit… intimate, Badd knew that, but honestly, he really wanted to hold Garou again.
It ended up working because Garou unzipped a sliver of the entrance and stared out the hole. It was beautiful in the moonlight. “Fine. Get in here.”
Badd reached out and pulled the zipper down, making a hole big enough for his body to fit through. He kicked off a shoe before stepping in, and did the same to the other before zipping the tent shut.
When Badd spun around, he was shocked to see so many blankets and pillows spread out.
“How…”
“I had time.”
“The night guards are gonna think a homeless person lives in the park and kick us out.”
Garou scoffed. “Just pull the S-Class hero bullshit. They’ll let us stay.”
“Usin’ my status is a no go. You know that!”
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Garou muttered, rolling his eyes. “Gotta be too good for the world, huh?”
Badd perked up and looked him in the eye. “Was that…”
Garou caught his mistake. “No. No, it wasn’t. Shut up.”
“I dunno, it sounded like a compliment to me,” Badd teased.
Garou clamped his hands over his ears. “La la la, can’t hear ya!”
Badd laughed, eyes closed with a big grin, and fell on his ass. “You’re so frickin’ stupid!”
In his laughing fit, he couldn’t see how Garou gazed at him so fondly.
Badd calmed down after a minute, his laugh dying down to puffs for air. “So what’s–” He wheezed. “What’s with the tent? It’s so random. Cool, but random.”
Garou plopped beside Badd. “I dunno.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
Badd chuckled. “You’re funny.”
“I know,” Garou gloated with a smirk. “I’m the best there is!”
“Yeah,” Badd scooted closer to Garou, resting his head against his shoulder. “You are.”
Garou tensed up for second, but he loosened just as quickly. His head dropped onto Badd’s, then he twisted his body to pull Badd’s face to his chest and tangled their legs together. He hummed as he held Badd tighter.
Badd’s face flushed all over again. “O-oi, don’t suffocate me.” He gently pushed at Garou’s chest. “I brought ya a hoodie ‘cause I knew you’d be lightly dressed.”
And lightly dressed he was. Thin sweatpants paired with a tee. Come on, he’s asking for hypothermia!
“For me? Oh, you’re too kind,” Garou replied sarcastically, but he did end up splitting away from Badd. “Give it here.”
Badd picked up the hoodie he had dropped by the entrance and handed it to Garou. He quickly began to slip into the hood, and it fit him perfectly. Too perfect. Badd could feel himself warm up again just at the sight of Garou in his clothes.
Oh come on! It wasn’t this bad a few weeks ago, which is when he’d begun lending Garou his shirts and hoods. There’s no reason to get all funky about giving him my hoodie! Yet he was. He was getting all jittery inside, and it was getting harder to fight it with every thought of Garou, which was even worse because he thought about Garou most of the time now! Seeing him was the highlight of his week, and his week was a whole lot better when he caught Garou during the other’s job.
“Okay, Garou said, interrupting Badd’s train of thought. “I’m still cold, so come on.” He waved his hand toward himself, gesturing to Badd to get under the layers of blankets with him.
Badd chuckled nervously. Why am I nervous? “I’m going to overheat in there.” Despite saying that, he crawled to the nest.
“Good thing I run cold then.” And then he yanked Badd into him.
Badd let out an oof. “What was that for?”
“You’re too slow.”
“You’re too impatient,” Badd retorted, pushing Garou onto his back. Maybe Badd was still sleepy, but Garou's face was tinged pink. Badd decided to push it in the back of his mind. He then snuggled up against Garou’s side, but Garou clicked his tongue. “Wuzzat for,” Badd asked sleepily. It was finally catching back up to him.
“I’m the cold one, not you,” Garou shot back before pulling a blanket over them as he slid lower. The blanket fluttered onto Badd’s shoulders, and Garou nuzzled into his chest, one arm slung over Badd’s waist, one leg in between Badd’s. “Hold me back.”
Badd’s chest warmed. It was hard to pretend, because at this point? That’s what it was. Badd was pretending to not have an abnormal crush on his friend.
“Okay, Mr. Needy,” Badd mumbled into Garou’s hair. He smelled nice.
And so they laid there. No more words, no more sounds. Just silence. And that was enough. It was enough if it was with each other.
Maybe the cold wasn’t so bad.