Things are Different Now

                                    

                                          



When Harry enters the kitchen, he notices how Louis is already in there with a cup of steaming tea in his hand. They make silent eye contact briefly before Harry turns to the refrigerator. He reaches inside the cold box to try to find something to eat on this fine early morning.
"You're up early." Louis states, still leaning against the kitchen counter.
Harry grunts out of exhaustion, "I woke up with a chill coming through my vents."
Louis looks down sheepishly, "Yeah, that was me. Sorry about that."
Harry shrugs and pours himself some tea. "Why are you up this early?"
Louis sets his cup of tea down and gives Harry a look, "My room got kinda toasty." Harry nods, looking down into the hot liquid of his tea. "Our rooms are connected, I assume?"
"Most likely, yes."
After a moment of silence after Harry answered, he reaches for the remote of the tv that sits on the kitchen counter. But as soon as he reaches for it, Louis also reaches for it, not noticing Harry's already moving hand.
Their fingers brush together, sending painful bolts through their whole bodies. Their skin tingles, with cold, with heat.
Simultaneously, the men jump back yelping in pain as they hold their hands close to their chests. The force from their powers touching sent them back a small distance from where they were originally standing.
Louis grunts out, "Oh fuck ow. I'm sorry."
Harry winces with the same amount of pain, "No, that was my fault. I'm sorry."
Harry looks down at his stiff fingers, noting the frostbite.
Louis looks down at his throbbing fingers, noting the burns.
They both look at each other, still gripping their hands tightly. Slowly, a small smile cracks on their faces as they just stare at each other. They burst into meaningless giggles and drop their injured hands.
After they settle, Harry comments with a nod toward Louis' abandoned tea, "I see you like your tea hot."
"Who doesn't?" Louis asks with an eye roll.
Harry remarks, "People who like iced tea."
"That's one iced thing that is not for me." Louis admits with a slight grimace.
"Me either." Harry agrees, "But there is one icy thing that's growing on me."
With that, Harry takes his tea to his room. Louis is left watching him, silently thinking about Harry's words.
He didn't mean that; he couldn't have, Louis thinks to himself, that curly forest fire of a man might finally be seeing how enjoyable it is to be around me.





The team wanders around the training room, looking for something to do. They're tired of always having to train. They've been heroes of Eroda for four years without having any official training.
"What if we sneak out again?" Niall suggests.
Zayn slaps his arm lightly, "That went very very badly last time."
"What if we just go back to our quarters and hang out? Like watch tv or play games?" Harry asks.
Louis shakes his head, "There are guards always waiting outside of our quarters and the training room after the last time we escaped. We wouldn't be able to get in without Cordon and Grimshaw finding out."
They all give up, resting on the benches, sadly.
The training room door opens.
Shawn struts in, his eyes running over a clipboard he holds. He suddenly stops only feet in front of the team. His eyes shoot up curiously, glancing at each man.