The Cold Meets Cozy

Ch 6

  Nikolai gasped loudly as he entered back into the fort. "Hey! It's supposed to be my turn!!!"

  Bram chuckled from where he and Fyodor were embracing one another. "If you and Shibusawa get two turns, it's only fair that the rest of us do, too."

  Nikolai scowled, "how rude..."

  Shibusawa seated himself by the fire, "he makes a good point. Poor Sigma and Goncharov need to have a second turn as well."

  Sigma sat down beside him, "I really don't mind. I don't need to have a second turn."

  "Then I'll happily take your turn!!!" Nikolai volunteered.

  Ivan giggled as he sat beside Bram and Fyodor, "I expected as much."

  Nikolai stuck his tongue out, "no one asked."

  Ivan's smile grew, "you're just as fond of Dostoyevsky as I am."

  Nikolai glared, "what's that supposed to mean, huh?!"

  Sigma watched as Fyodor rolled his eyes and leaned into Bram. He smiled, whispering, "they might start a fight if we don't stop them."

  "Don't worry about them; they won't start anything while Dostoyevsky is around," Shibusawa inclined his head. "If you really don't want your second turn, might I offer you a hug?"

  Sigma blinked. Then he tilted his head to the side, "why are we taking this "turn" thing so seriously? This can't be normal, can it?..."

  Shibusawa shrugged, "who knows? I doubt anyone in this room fits under that label, anyway." He held his arms out.

  Sigma sighed, "I guess you're right..." His picture perfect dream of having a normal family and a normal life seemed unattainable...

  "Don't fret," Shibusawa pulled Sigma into his arms, "because none of us are normal, we cannot judge one another very harshly. I think it allows us all space to get along."

  "Oh." Sigma was very tense for a moment. Then he slowly allowed himself to relax. He whispered, "I'm worried about Dostoyevsky..."

  "I know, we all are," Shibusawa absently ran his nails across Sigma's scalp. "But it's no good to force answers out of someone..."

  Sigma nodded, "I just... It feels so terrible, but I wish he would just tell us what's wrong... He feels so different than usual. Sure, he may be acting more... I dunno, loving? But it feels like a distraction..."

  Shibusawa heaved a sigh, watching as Ivan and Nikolai bickered back and forth. "You can never tell with him... But perhaps he's acting this way because he wants to be comforted as well. Whether he knows that or not."

  Sigma closed his eyes, "even when I went to tell him the power went out... He sounded shaken up..."

  Shibusawa hummed, "a nightmare, perhaps? But I doubt such a thing would scare Dostoyevsky..."

  "I dunno..." Sigma mumbled.

  "It's alright, nobody is asking you to know," Shibusawa gave him a gentle squeeze.

  "Thank you," he whispered back.

——————

  When Nikolai claimed his third turn, everyone was winding down to go to sleep. Ivan had just returned from checking if the power had come back. He reported that it was lightly snowing outside and that there were quite a few inches of the white fluff blocking the doors that led outside.