Spine

The air was cool and crisp by the time Merrin got to the peak of the mountain. Despite the fresh snow dusting the ground like icing sugar, he felt pleasant. A part of him wanted to attribute the warmth to the empty bottle of wine in his pack, but he knew that there was something else pulling the strings of his system.

Somewhere behind him, Ryth floated a few inches off the ground despite having absolutely no need to do so. Merrin had seen him teleport many a time, especially once the night had taken its hold on the world. But today he seemed happier to trail behind Merrin, if only to goad about how effortless it was to climb up the mountain path when you never had to worry about something as menial as walking. Although, a part of Merrin also suspected Ryth was trailing behind him for other, more sinister reasons. After all, he had been in Merrin’s head for long enough that he knew exactly what it was that Ryth was looking at.

‘You know,’ Merrin said, breath curling into the cold air. ‘Next time I’m choosing where we go this late at night.’

‘Oh but I know all the fun spots,’ Ryth said as he traced his nails against Merrin’s back, looping around his waist until he stopped in front of Merrin.

‘If the top of the mountain is your idea of fun,’ Merrin said, copying Ryth’s accent as best as he could. ‘Then I’m not entirely sure if I want to know what the extent of such a thing is. Because for me, getting frostbite isn’t something I would consider fun.’

‘Yet here you are,’ Ryth said and pulled Merrin flush against him. ‘Maybe then we can have you get stuck in my head, I think it would be a nice change of pace compared to the last year.’

‘I hear enough of your voice already, I don’t need to hear your inner monologue as well.’ Merrin looped his arms over Ryth’s shoulders and enjoyed the small amount of warmth radiating off of his body.

It was abysmal compared to the heat Merrin wanted, but compared to the icy cold air, it was like a roaring flame. He knew that Ryth would never let him get frostbite, at some point he would decide that enough was enough and pump magic through Merrin’s veins to keep him warm enough to keep going, until then Merrin would simply have to deal with it. Merrin would just have to hope that at the end of it all, Ryth would be kind enough to teleport the both of them back to the Clocktower so Merrin would not need to walk back down the mountain they had just climbed.

Merrin nestled his head into the crook of Ryth’s neck, twisting just enough to make sure his horns would not scratch Ryth’s pretty little face.

‘You know I didn’t just bring you up here for the view,’ Ryth said, breath warm against Merrin’s ear. ‘There’s something else hidden away up here that will warm you right up.’

‘Oh yeah?’ Merrin asked and pulled back to ghost a kiss across Ryth’s jaw. ‘And what might that be?’

‘Follow me.’

Ryth pulled away, touch still lingering on Merrin’s skin until he was certain that Merrin was going to follow right behind him. As always, Merrin would, and he held tight to Ryth’s hand as he dragged him to one of the rocky overhangs on the mountain. They passed the old remnants of a ruined portal and took a barely visible path the skirted the edge of the mountain.

It was stupid, but Merrin risked a glance down the side of the tree-covered mountain side to look out across the valley. Very rarely did Merrin ever find himself so high up, especially at a place so far away from Ashenport. Through the thicket of trees and rising snowfall, Merrin could just about make out the smoke trails rising from the houses of Ashenport, each one a beacon for them to eventually follow back home. Though a part of Merrin knew that it was unlikely that they would actually head back to the Clocktower tonight, after all, Ryth’s greenhouse and study were closer, a portal nestled within each making for easy transport back whenever they needed the safety of the walls.

Instead of continuing to trail around the mountain as Merrin had suspected, Ryth dragged him under the outcrop to where the warmth of steam hit his face. There, nestled beneath the rock and hidden away, was a small pool of glowing purple water. Or at least Merrin hoped it was water.

He pulled away from Ryth to dip his fingers into the pool, a warmth akin to a steaming bath seeping into his fingertips and warming his chilled body. When nothing happened to his hand, Merrin dipped his hand in even further. The pool would reach no further than his mid-thighs when standing, so it posed no risk to him sinking in and drowning, just a simple pool to lay back in.

‘Do you like it, Merrin?’ Ryth asked, pressing himself up against Merrin’s back.

‘Yeah,’ Merrin said and turned around in Ryth’s arms only to freeze when he actually caught sight of him.

Whatever meagre clothes Ryth had been wearing before had disappeared, leaving his body on full display. Every inch of ink-stained skin there for Merrin to drink in. Whatever words Merrin was going to say disappeared, lost on his tongue as he suddenly forgot anything and everything.

‘Ryth,’ was all he managed after a full minute of staring.

‘What?’ Ryth asked and tilted Merrin’s head up to look at his face. ‘I wasn’t going to bathe with my clothes on. That would have been ridiculous.’

Even if Merrin wanted to argue against that point, he found himself unable to form the right words to win such a stupid fight. So, he let Ryth slip a hand beneath his coat and pull at the buttons fastening his shirt closed.

After all, what was he going to do, bathe fully clothed?