#cavity-inducing

“Shit!” Alexei yells. The car careens across the slippery road, unbalanced and barely responding to Alexei’s hands on the steering wheel. He hears Kent shout in alarm. They’re both wearing seatbelts, but that doesn’t kill instinct; the second Alexei sees the lip of the ditch, he flings an arm out to brace Kent as they go over.

It is, thank God, a very shallow ditch.

Alexei still gets hit in the chest and the arm with both his and Kent’s airbags. He hears, more than feels, his arm pop out of its socket as it’s wrenched at a bad angle.

When the car finally stops moving, they’re nose-first in a shallow drainage ditch, barely at an angle but definitely stuck. The engine is still running, the radio still humming softly in the background and warm air still blowing out of the vents. Alexei tries to move his arm out from between Kent and the airbag and makes a soft sound of pain instead.

“Don’t move it.” Kent’s voice is tight but calm. “It might be broken.”

“Is not broken. Think maybe is dislocated. I’m had before, feels the same.”

“That is only mildly better,” Kent says. “Okay, let’s get it in a sling. I’m gonna call for an ambulance and a tow truck but I don’t think they’ll be out here any time soon.”

So Kent calls, and Alexei uses a scarf as a makeshift sling. Kent digs out the first aid kit and has Alexei swallow two painkillers. Then Kent goes outside with a ziplock bag and stuffs it full of snow. Once back in the car, he places it gingerly on Alexei’s shoulder. Alexei tries not to flinch. He’s always been sensitive to pain. It makes his chosen profession seem a little silly, sometimes, but he wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Kent knows both of these things about him. He kisses Alexei’s temple in sympathy and murmurs, “So brave for me, babe.”

Alexei hums and leans his head against Kent’s. Kent gets as close as he’s able, given the sensitivity of Alexei’s arm, and combs his chilled fingers through Alexei’s hair.

Outside, the snow continues to come down in sheets. It muddles visibility like heavy fog, blanketing the natural landscape and making Alexei feel a bit like they’re slowly being buried alive. Thank God for GPS, or else nobody would find them for hours. At least the car is still warm. They’ve got plenty of gas and tons of water and food. They’ll probably be out of here within the next hour or so.

It’s a bad situation but nothing to worry about. Still, Alexei catches sight of Kent’s face and is heartbroken at the misery he sees.

“I be okay,” he says. “Kenochek. Listen. We are okay. Is bad day, but we are okay. Don’t be looking so sad.”

Kent lets out a tight breath he must have been holding. “I just can’t believe our weekend is ending like this. It was going to be perfect, and then... all this shit.”

“All this shit,” Alexei agrees. “But we are okay.”

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. We’re okay.” Kent settles back into his seat. “I just... It was going to be perfect.”

Alexei chuckles. He regrets it a little, because it makes his shoulder tense and ow, that hurts. “You say like isn’t perfect, anyway. You’re here. I’m here. Could be alone, in ditch on side of small road in woods of Canada. I’m not. You’re not.” Kent is looking at him like Alexei is revealing words from God, so he smiles and adds, “Anywhere we are together, I’m think it’s perfect.”

“Yeah,” Kent breathes. “Yeah, you’re right. And you know what? Fuck it.” He straightens up and starts digging through his coat pockets. When he finds nothing, he unzips it and searches through his hoodie and jeans. “Of course I left it in my suitcase. No, fuck it,” he repeats, and meets Alexei’s baffled gaze. “You’re right. It’s—anywhere I’m with you, it’s perfect. And I had this all planned out, it was gonna be—but you’re right. So I’m not gonna go another day without saying this.”

Alexei feels an anticipatory thrill run through him. And then Kent says, “I love you. You are the best thing that has happened to me in god knows how long. You make me happier than I thought I could be, after—after Jack. And I don’t just mean all the things you do, the chirpy Tweets and late-night calls and that time you sent me flowers after every single game we lost last year until we won again. I mean how you make me feel like I can make you happy. I always feel like I have to work so hard to be me, to be Kent Parson, and with you I feel like I never have to try. You make me...” 

Kent huffs a wet laugh and wipes his eyes. Alexei feels his own eyes go wide. “Babe,” Kent says, “you make me feel perfect.”

“You are perfect,” Alexei says, overwhelmed. Kent rarely lays himself bare, at least in words. What brought this on? The accident? Alexei is going to be fine.

Kent smiles. “Yeah, see, just like that. I love you so much. So, I know our trip got fucked all to hell and the location is shit and I might not even have the ring, but. Alexei Mashkov, will you marry me?”

Alexei stares at him in shocked silence for a full minute before he realizes he has a line he’s supposed to say. “Da,” he says. “Da—yes. Yes, Kent, yes.”

Kent, being Kent, immediately whoops and almost slams his head into the headrest, and follows that up by impulsively reaching to hug Alexei before it occurs to him at the last possible second why that wouldn’t be a good idea.

So Alexei says, “Just kiss me, Kenochek.” Kent does.