It was definitely winter... and he was definitely crazy. 

Who goes to a mountain retreat in the middle of freaking winter? 

He did, apparently. 

In all honesty though, his friends, or really, coworkers, were the ones that had decided on the place. He'd lost a bet concerning their company's stock price. He'd wagered that it wouldn't decrease more than one percent over the previous month, even with the downturn in the economy. 

It had decreased 1.01 percent. 

The bet wasn't even that he had to pay for the flights, or the accommodations, or even the food. 

It was simply that he had to come with them. 

Glad I at least got my own room. 

The guys had decided to stay two to a room, and with there being four of them, adding himself as a third would have just made it uncomfortable. 

At least, more uncomfortable than it was already going to be for him. 

Just deal with it. It's only for a week. 

Fidgeting with one of the rings on his fingers, he considered what he was going to do for the week.

"Hey Ru?"

I think I'll just relax in my room for a bit, then have some dinner. That actually sounds like a good plan for the majority of my stay. Eat and rest. 

The place was known for its fantastic food options, and even with his allergies, the menu had looked quite appetizing. 

"Hey Ruru!" 

His mood suddenly souring, Ru looked up to pin a glare on his marketing analyst, Martin. 

The man immediately raised his hands in surrender. 

"I was just trying to get your attention but you lost your focus again on one of your rings," the guy hurried to say, making Ru calm his temper and look away for a moment.

It was a habit of his that he couldn't manage to break. He'd gotten better at managing it over the years, but his inner animal just couldn't help itself. It liked collecting things. And staring at things. And the worst part... gifting things. 

"Come on, boss man. We have to get there before sundown," his marketing strategist said as he walked back down the steps and gently tugged on the arm of his coat. 

That was a bit of an exaggeration, since it was at least an hour before the sun even began to go down, but he was right about one thing. He definitely didn't want to be stuck outside after sundown. 

It was already cold enough, even with a thick winter coat on over his suit... which he'd refused to change out of. 

My feathers would freeze out here in an instant. 

He had no idea how the local birds managed not to turn into popsicles every night. 

Nudging the man's hands away from his arm, Ru finally began ascending the longer sets of stairs. They were spaced out with little landings amongst the rocks and dirt, and, of course, they were already covered in a thick layer of snow. 

With him finally moving, his group hurried ahead, waiting for him inside the large lodge at the top of the hill... in the nice heated lobby. 

Bastards. 

If he hadn't been so cold Ru would have gladly taken his time climbing the steps, since the reservation was under his name and the scenery was honestly gorgeous, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. 

He was just getting to the last small set of stairs when something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. 

At first, he thought that it was just a normal person standing at the far side of the inn underneath one of the sheltering overhangs, but then he began to pick out little details that definitely were not normal. 

His left eye is red. 

He's only wearing a pair of shorts. 

And is that steam coming off of his body?! 

Before his mind could put together the information it was receiving the man caught his eye, seemingly startled by his attention. In an instant he had fled back inside, disappearing in a blur. 

Ru gave his head a good shake as he frowned, still staring at the spot the young man had vacated. 

There has to be a perfectly logical explanation for why he was steaming... and mostly naked in this freezing weather. 

That's when he remembered something specific about this resort. 

They have hot springs in the back! 

That would explain why the man was mostly naked and steaming.

That red eye is probably just a contact lens, too. 

He'd seen kids, and even some young adults, change their eye color with them. Though it was a bit odd to only do one side. Maybe he'd lost the other lens. 

Relaxing his shoulders that he hadn't realized had tensed up, Ru returned his attention to where he was going and finished ascending the steps. The moment he stepped inside the lobby he heaved a relieved sigh. 

I swear I'm staying inside this entire trip. 

After warming up for a moment, he calmly walked over to where his group was now standing at the front check-in desk. 

"Hello, I'd like to check-in under the name Ru Corvid, please," he said as he took out his wallet and handed the young lady behind the desk his I.D.. 

She took it with a faint blush to her cheeks and quickly scanned his photo and full name. The blush deepened after a moment and her lips tilted up as she clearly tried to suppress a giggle.  

Yeah, yeah. I know my mother didn't think my full name through that well. 

Or she did, and just wanted to mess with him forever. Either way, naming your kid Ru Evan Corvid was kind of mean when he was, in fact, a corvid. 

When the girl handed him his I.D. back and then took out six keycards, he gratefully accepted them and passed out all but the two for his own room. 

"Alright, we're all set. I'm going to go relax in my room until dinn—er?!" before he could finish his sentence Ru was grabbed and dragged down the hall and back out into the damned frigid cold! 

"Martin?!" he exclaimed as he hurried to get his footing. 

The man grinned over his shoulder at him before they turned down a long covered walkway. 

"this route is much faster according to the map of the place," he said before tugging him abruptly to the right and into a warm, bustling room. 

Oh man...

His mouth began to water immediately as he finally stopped struggling and allowed himself to be pulled along to a large round table. The room was massive and there were already quite a few people chowing down on what the resort had to offer. 

Ru happily sat down as Elijah pulled his chair out for him. They were both openly gay and would sometimes flirt a tiny bit with each other, but that was as far as it ever went. They were both tops and neither was willing to budge on that fact. 

A waiter was soon over to take their drink orders, then left after giving them some menus to look at. 

So much food that I can eat! 

He was used to only having one or two things to pick from at most restaurants, but this resort had an entire section of their menu dedicated to gluten free items! 

He happily browsed the menu and decided to order two different things. One for an appetizer and one for his main course.  

They talked for a bit while waiting on their food but it was clear that they were all pretty tired from the flight and drive out there. 

As soon as the food came everyone gladly fell silent. 

Ru was practically humming with sleepy contentment as he enjoyed his garlic knots and ravioli in a mushroom alfredo sauce. He hadn't had such good food since before his grandma had passed away. 

By the time they were done no words were necessary. They all paid their portion in cash, then added a generous tip before getting up and heading back outside. 

There was a walkway inside, too, but now he needed that blast of frigid air to stay awake. They split up after stepping back inside since his friend's rooms were a bit farther down the hallway than his own. Their farewells for the evening were simple nods and one grunt from Martin before Ru was left alone to finish his walk to the end of the hall. 

Oh? 

He stopped in front of a large dark red door, then pressed one hand over his mouth to hide a big yawn. 

After a slight shake of his head and one more yawn, he held up his keycard in order to make sure that the number matched the door in front of him, since it looked different from all of the normal ones behind him. 

With a shrug, he pressed the little keycard into the slot beneath the door handle, then pulled it open once he saw it flash green. 

Oh, wow. 

The room was absolutely gorgeous, and so well furnished! The theme was red and black, and it really fit. He wanted to explore the huge living space but his quickly-returning fatigue shut that idea down rather quickly. 

Instead, he trudged to the beautiful bathroom and quickly brushed his teeth, then simply left his suitcase there and turned back around before falling into the king-sized canopy bed with a deep sigh. 

So soft...

He nuzzled into the blankets like an exhausted cat, not even bothering to move so that his head was resting on one of the four silk pillows. 

Within minutes he was fading off into a dreamless sleep, but right before his mind went completely dark he felt an unfamiliar warmth first against his ankles, then beneath his cheek before a crisp coolness settled against that spot. 

The last thing he felt before finally drifting off was that same warm feeling sliding along the fingers of his left hand for the briefest of moments before disappearing completely.