When they hit the water, Watson gave a sharp gasp of shock at the rush of cold-that-was-nearly-pain, but it quickly turned into laughter alongside Holmes's. This was... glorious, like being a schoolboy again and slipping down to the creek to swim in the nude, without any cares. Nell was on the shoreline, barking at them, baffled but excited by their sudden plunge into the water, and was making a few hesitant forays into the freezing water after them.

Watson pulled himself close momentarily, treasuring what of Holmes's body heat he could manage to feel through the blinding cold. "It doesn't count unless you go all in," he declared, rather breathlessly, and stepped away to dunk himself in under the water. He could say, at least, that he was first.