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Entry tags:
Staying Warm (40 Nights: Kaito/Aoko)
Title: Staying Warm
Fandom: Detective Conan/Magic Kaitou
Author: Candyland
Theme: #28—I feel safe with you by my side
Pairing: Kuroba Kaito/Nakamori Aoko
Rating: R (semi-smexy within)
Disclaimer: All characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I do not own them. I merely borrow them, drop them in a blender, hit puree, and watch them dance. Yes, dance, my pretties…ahem.
Summary: It’s so cold…stay with me?
Aoko burst through the cabin’s front door with a vengeance; Kaito ran in right on her heels and slammed the door shut to prevent any more snow from blowing in behind them. A thin layer of the white stuff was already dusted across the floor in the entryway.
Kaito gave himself a shake, loosing more snow to the floor. “Whew…didn’t think we’d make it!” He shivered to punctuate his statement. “I don’t think we’ll get to do much skiing, though. The weather’s way too bad for it.”
She had already gravitated towards a window and was staring out at the darkening sky and the swirling snow. It was already night—it had taken a lot longer than they’d thought to get to the cabin in the first place. “I’ll go you one better—I think we might be totally stuck here for a while. It doesn’t look like it’s going to let up anytime soon.”
It had been a stroke of luck (or so they thought at the time) to even get there, really. A friend of Nakamori-keibu had offered them the use of his ski cabin in the mountains, saying that the harried Inspector needed and deserved a vacation. Aoko had jumped at the chance, inviting Kaito along for the ride. But it had been a twist of fate that had left the poor Inspector laid up with a broken leg, and screaming his head off that no, the two teenagers—especially two teenagers who happened to be dating—could not go off to a cabin in the mountains by themselves for a long weekend, thank you very much!
Naturally, Aoko didn’t listen.
She was starting to wonder if she should have listened, though—at least then they wouldn’t have been stranded out here in a raging snowstorm. Still, she thought her father was nuts to protest her and Kaito going there together. Dating or not, what did he think was going to happen, exactly?
Meanwhile, Kaito had started walking around, getting a good look at the cabin itself. It was surprisingly big with a kitchen, dining room, and living room (with a fireplace!) on the ground floor, and a staircase that probably led up to bedrooms on the second floor. Hardwood floors, nice furnishings…all in all, it seemed a very comfortable place to hang out.
Thus satisfied, he nodded in agreement to her earlier statement. “At least we’ve got a good place to wait it out.” He swung his bag up onto his shoulder and headed towards the stairs. “Should we check out the bedrooms?” There was just the slightest hint of a lilt in his voice on the last word that suggested many possible uses for the bedrooms.
It was just enough to make Aoko take a swing at him (out of pure habit) before grabbing her own bag and hoisting it. She marched past him, nose in the air. “I’m locking my door tonight, Kaito.”
He pretended to pout. “You crush my poor little dreams. You crush them so hard…” But he followed her up the stairs anyway to check out the rest of the cabin.
The bedrooms were simple, but cozy. Aoko claimed hers first…and a smirking Kaito immediately took the one directly across the hall. Aoko reaffirmed that her deadbolt would be in use come bedtime. Things may have been blossoming between them, but she was a good girl and she’d been raised right.
And she definitely not going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that somehow, deep down, the idea made some naughty little part of her go all a-flutter.
-o-
“Well, they were definitely ready for us—whoever they are,” Kaito commented, polishing off the last bite of his sandwich with a bit more gusto than was necessary. There’d been plenty of food in the well-stocked kitchen, but with everything that had already gone wrong, they decided to take the simple route with the deli meats in the refrigerator and just make sandwiches. “I’ll even do dishes!” he offered.
“…yeah,” Aoko deadpanned. “Two whole plates. You’re my hero. Don’t strain yourself there, champ.” Still, she smiled as he collected the two plates and bounced over to the sink to carry through.
While he was occupied, she walked out into the living room and looked out the window again. The storm was getting worse—it was just shy of a white-out, a stark contrast to the inky night sky.
She shivered. Why was it so cold?
…and the cabin went dark.
Instinctively, she screamed—not so much out of fear as surprise.
“Aoko?” Kaito’s voice came from down the hall. “You okay?”
“Fine!” she called back.
“Good. Stay put—just a sec…”
She waited patiently by the window, hearing the faint sounds of drawers opening and closing and things being rummaged around and moving in the kitchen. But finally, a faint glow appeared in the doorway. It would seem that he’d found some candles.
“It’s not much,” he said apologetically, passing her one, “but it’s something. Better than the dark, anyway.” She accepted the candle gratefully…and shivered again. He noticed: “Are you okay? …crap, it’s getting colder in here already, isn’t it?”
“The fireplace, maybe?” she suggested.
“Good call.” He moved past her towards the fireplace, and was pleased (and quite relieved) to find that it was already prepared—someone had obviously been planning to relax by the fire, probably after a long day of skiing and tromping through the snow. It didn’t take too terribly long to prod the fire alive with his candle, and finally, the edges of the log began to glow a simmering orange.
Aoko watched with no little relief as the fire began to burn before speaking up again. “Maybe…we should just stay down here for the night? By the fire?”
For once, he didn’t make a joke or leer. “I think you’re right. At least then we’ll stay warm.” He stood up and turned to face her. “Let’s get our stuff now, before it gets any colder. I’d say blankets, pillows, and pjs—then we’ll get ourselves set up down here.”
Both hurried up the stairs—it was definitely colder upstairs than downstairs by this point—and ducked into their rooms to change and grab bedding. Chances were that it was going to be a long, very uncomfortable night. But on the bright side, the cold guaranteed that they both probably shattered any and all world records for changing clothes.
Aoko was already down there when he returned. She’d even arranged her blankets into a nice little nest before sprawling out in front of the fire. Kaito couldn’t quite keep his eyes from wandering a bit, giving her prone form a once-over before he cleared his throat to announce his presence.
Her only acknowledgement was to turn her head and smile at him as he came in and began setting up his own bed. Before long, he was settled and relaxing in a blanket-nest of his own. It was quiet and cozy for a long moment, save for the fire crackling and popping.
Finally, Kaito spoke. “Ya know…this seems a lot like the beginning of a horror movie.”
Aoko lifted her head to raise an eyebrow at him. “Excuse me?”
“No, really!” he grinned, eyes sparkling. “People trapped in a cabin in the middle of nowhere at night in a storm, cut off from the rest of the world? That’s how all the classic horror flicks start, isn’t it? And then they get stalked by a monster or a psycho with a chainsaw or something and get killed off one by one!” He was beaming by the time he finished.
“I think we’ll be safe enough.”
“Oh? Why?”
“Virgins always survive those movies. So we’ll be fine,” she paused, then added, “…unless there’s something you haven’t told me, in which case I might have a few hundred questions for you.”
Kaito visibly blanched at the suggestion. “Ehehe…no. Sorry to disappoint you dear, but the only whirlwind romance in my life is the one between you and me. And you know all the details of that.” He was blushing ever so slightly as he finished, but Aoko could see it clearly in the firelight.
And somehow, his admission made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. “See? Then by the Laws of the Horror Movies, we’ll be perfectly safe from any monsters or walking chain-saws.”
There was another pause before Kaito piped up again. “I hope there’s nothing you’re hiding from me in that respect either?” At her slack-jawed expression, he explained, “Well, I wouldn’t mind if there was, but I’d be kinda sad if you felt like you couldn’t be honest with me about it.”
She sat up and took a swing at him more on principle than anything else. But when he caught her hand and pulled her forward to steal a quick kiss, she didn’t resist. “Baka,” she replied when he let her go. “I never had time for anyone else—I was always too busy chasing you down and keeping you in line, remember?” Now her faint blush matched his own as she added in a soft voice, “I’ve never even kissed anyone else.”
Kaito smiled and rolled onto his back so he was looking up at her. “I like kissing you!”
It was so silly, yet somehow it was such a Kaito thing to say, and she had to chuckle at it. “You’re not so bad yourself.” The last word trailed off into a yawn as she realized exactly how tired she was.
His look was sympathetic. “Aww, sleepy?” At her nod, he went on, “It really has been a long day. We should get some rest. Hopefully the blizzard will let up by sunrise so we can figure out what to do next and dig ourselves out, if necessary. Skiing or not, this has turned into a real adventure!”
Aoko grinned. “I think it’s because you’re here.” She feigned a dramatic sigh. “I swear, I can’t take you anywhere. You just can’t do anything like a normal person, can you?”
“Normal his boring,” he waved the comment off. “I prefer to be unpredictable. Soooo…” he flipped back over and cocked his head to one side, “…can I kiss you goodnight?”
“Hardly unpredictable…but not unwelcome,” Aoko murmured and let her eyes fall shut as he closed the distance between them for another kiss. It was supposed to be quick and chaste.
It didn’t stay that way for long.
He drew back, only to have her chase him and reclaim his lips once again. It deepened, and then arms were moving, sliding into a tangle to pull them closer together…and Aoko felt a surge of warmth running through her body that had nothing at all to do with the fire crackling beside them, and everything in the world to do with him…
They parted again, by an unspoken mutual accord. Eyes fluttered open…and reality crashed into them like a piano falling on their heads. The realization that they were alone and stranded.
Cut off from civilization.
With no one to immediately answer to.
It was a frightening, awesome comprehension.
Kaito moved first—he turned his head to break eye-contact and the wordless commune of questions, thoughts, and unvoiced ideas that seemed to flow between them. “I think I’ll sleep upstairs. Goodnight!” he said—far too quickly—and jumped to his feet and all but bolted from the room. She could hear him muttering something that sounded like, “Stupid…so stupid…” under his breath.
Still, Aoko didn’t move for a long moment, thinking and wondering and turning things over in her mind and weighing them and inevitably coming to one wonderful, awful, wrong, beautiful conclusion. She clambered to her feet as well, nearly falling over as a blanket tangled around her legs, and followed the path he had blazed: out the door and up the stairs to the bedrooms.
She gasped in surprise at how cold it really was away from the warmth of the fire. And it was so dark, with the wind howling outside like the shriek of a banshee…still, by keeping one and on the wall, she made it up the stairs without killing herself. The hallway, though, was proving a bit more of a challenge. She had none of Kaito’s abilities for sneaking in situations like this. “Kaito?” she called.
A floorboard creaked loudly underfoot, and she froze at the sound.
“Kaito?” she called again; her voice was shaking now. “Kaito, where are you? I mean it…” A door opened somewhere in front of her, and all she could think of was their conversation from earlier, about horror movies and killers stalking people in situations like these. “…Kaito?” she whispered.
A hand closed around hers.
She screamed and nearly jumped out of her skin until she heard Kaito’s voice. “Hey, hey! Calm down! It’s me!” The fingers encasing hers squeezed slightly. “It’s okay. It’s just me. Sorry, didn’t meant to scare you. What’s wrong?”
As her eyes finally began adjusting to the dark, his outline began to grow more pronounced. Soon, he was clear enough that she could see his facial features; his eyes especially were shining with surprising clarity. She took a deep breath. “You just ran off like that, and it’s really dark…”
“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “Look, I’ll walk you back downstairs and—“
“Kaito, you can’t sleep up here,” she interrupted. “You’ll freeze.” She was shivering like crazy, and she couldn’t understand how he seemed so comfortable. “Come back downstairs. It’s warmer.”
“I’ll be fine.”
Aoko wanted to scream. Instead, she took a step towards him. “Then I’ll stay up here with you.” She didn’t let go of his hand, but rather pulled on it as though to draw him closer.
She saw his eyes widen. “Aoko—no.”
“Why not?”
“Because…”
“…because?”
He hesitated, then sighed. “Because I don’t want to do anything stupid.”
“Like what?”
“You know what.”
Silence, tempered only by the screaming wind.
“You still can’t stay up here,” she repeated firmly. “I’m not going to let you freeze.”
“But—“
“Kaito, it’s fine,” she said gently. “If you’re really dead-set against us doing anything, then we won’t. See? It’s so easy—we’re both responsible and mature enough to handle sleeping in the same room without any problems.”
It was a moment before he replied. “…what do you want?”
Aoko’s eyes met his through the shadows. She tried to give the right answer, but there was something…some little part of her, deep down, that wanted something more…and her hesitation, her silence said volumes more than any words ever could have.
She gave his hand a squeeze before letting go and turning. “Come back downstairs,” she said quietly, but firmly, “so I can at least be sure that you survive the night, if nothing else.” And she was gone, her light footsteps padding slowly down the stairs.
Kaito swallowed hard, hesitated…and tiptoed after her. He moved slowly, not sure if this was what he should be doing at all…or what if this was a test of some kind? He was about to fail so hard…yet he kept going.
He peered around the corner into the living room. The fire did look very warm and inviting…and seeing Aoko stretched out on her back on top of their blankets in front of that fire certainly didn’t hurt its case any. He crept closer; she didn’t move overtly, but the hand slung casually across her stomach twitched ever so slightly at his approach.
She knew he was there.
As quietly as possible, he dropped to his knees beside her and just watched her for a moment. She still didn’t move, but he was fine with that. The firelight cast its soft glow over her, making the shadows dance around her and mold to her, accenting what was already there…
“You’re beautiful,” he said honestly, without any intentions of actually doing so.
She finally opened her eyes and looked at him, her gaze half-lidded and…well, it was taking every ounce of self-control in his body to keep from doing something unbelievably stupid right then. But it became a moot point when she said, “C’mere,” and reached towards him.
He eased down into her arms, pressing against her with all care so as not to crush her, and let himself fall into her kiss. There was nothing at all innocent about this kiss—it was warm and deep and loving and left no questions at all.
Still, when the kiss ended, he couldn’t quite keep himself from grinning at her. “Are you sure? If a maniac with a chainsaw shows up, we might be in trouble, you know…”
Aoko shook her head and smiled. “I feel safe if you’re here with me.” It didn’t take much pressure on the back of his neck to pull him back down for another kiss. It was so beautiful and surreal, she actually wondered if it was a dream…until his hands brushed against the top button of her pajama top.
What happened that night by the firelight would forever remain a precious secret, from the first tentative touches to the first fumbling experiments…until finally, in the quietest hours of the morning, something glorious happened.
And neither of them were the least bit cold.
PS: This is for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
alena_s_anigor—on a drabble request thing I did, she asked for Kaito/Aoko semi-smut, with the prompt of “cold night.” Well, certainly can’t pass that up, can I? Head meet desk now, please. L’anyhoodle, hope you enjoyed. Thanks for reading, everyone. Much love!
OMAKE
When the knock came at the door, both of them scrambled for it. They’d woken up to find that the snow had stopped, but was piled pretty high. On their doorstep was a man in a thick, heavy snowsuit and goggles. “You all right?” he asked.
“We’re fine…” Kaito replied, a bit confused.
“That blizzard came outta nowhere!” the man went on. “I’m with the lodge at the base of the mountain—we’re going around and making sure everyone’s okay. You folks need a lift?”
A quick conference later, they decided that to be a very good idea and dashed upstairs to retrieve their mostly-packed suitcases. Kaito did notice, however, that Aoko seemed to be lagging behind him a bit. She wasn’t walking as fast as he was, and he couldn’t quite help himself. “C’mon, granny. Hurry up!”
His jaw then dropped through the floor when she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him down to her eye level to address him. “I’ll have you know that you are the reason I am so sore this morning, Casanova. So shut your mouth and help me with this bag.”
Cross-posted to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
30_nights and 40 Nights: Kaito and Aoko.
alena_s_anigor!!! HERE IS YOUR FICCIE!!
Fandom: Detective Conan/Magic Kaitou
Author: Candyland
Theme: #28—I feel safe with you by my side
Pairing: Kuroba Kaito/Nakamori Aoko
Rating: R (semi-smexy within)
Disclaimer: All characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I do not own them. I merely borrow them, drop them in a blender, hit puree, and watch them dance. Yes, dance, my pretties…ahem.
Summary: It’s so cold…stay with me?
Aoko burst through the cabin’s front door with a vengeance; Kaito ran in right on her heels and slammed the door shut to prevent any more snow from blowing in behind them. A thin layer of the white stuff was already dusted across the floor in the entryway.
Kaito gave himself a shake, loosing more snow to the floor. “Whew…didn’t think we’d make it!” He shivered to punctuate his statement. “I don’t think we’ll get to do much skiing, though. The weather’s way too bad for it.”
She had already gravitated towards a window and was staring out at the darkening sky and the swirling snow. It was already night—it had taken a lot longer than they’d thought to get to the cabin in the first place. “I’ll go you one better—I think we might be totally stuck here for a while. It doesn’t look like it’s going to let up anytime soon.”
It had been a stroke of luck (or so they thought at the time) to even get there, really. A friend of Nakamori-keibu had offered them the use of his ski cabin in the mountains, saying that the harried Inspector needed and deserved a vacation. Aoko had jumped at the chance, inviting Kaito along for the ride. But it had been a twist of fate that had left the poor Inspector laid up with a broken leg, and screaming his head off that no, the two teenagers—especially two teenagers who happened to be dating—could not go off to a cabin in the mountains by themselves for a long weekend, thank you very much!
Naturally, Aoko didn’t listen.
She was starting to wonder if she should have listened, though—at least then they wouldn’t have been stranded out here in a raging snowstorm. Still, she thought her father was nuts to protest her and Kaito going there together. Dating or not, what did he think was going to happen, exactly?
Meanwhile, Kaito had started walking around, getting a good look at the cabin itself. It was surprisingly big with a kitchen, dining room, and living room (with a fireplace!) on the ground floor, and a staircase that probably led up to bedrooms on the second floor. Hardwood floors, nice furnishings…all in all, it seemed a very comfortable place to hang out.
Thus satisfied, he nodded in agreement to her earlier statement. “At least we’ve got a good place to wait it out.” He swung his bag up onto his shoulder and headed towards the stairs. “Should we check out the bedrooms?” There was just the slightest hint of a lilt in his voice on the last word that suggested many possible uses for the bedrooms.
It was just enough to make Aoko take a swing at him (out of pure habit) before grabbing her own bag and hoisting it. She marched past him, nose in the air. “I’m locking my door tonight, Kaito.”
He pretended to pout. “You crush my poor little dreams. You crush them so hard…” But he followed her up the stairs anyway to check out the rest of the cabin.
The bedrooms were simple, but cozy. Aoko claimed hers first…and a smirking Kaito immediately took the one directly across the hall. Aoko reaffirmed that her deadbolt would be in use come bedtime. Things may have been blossoming between them, but she was a good girl and she’d been raised right.
And she definitely not going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that somehow, deep down, the idea made some naughty little part of her go all a-flutter.
“Well, they were definitely ready for us—whoever they are,” Kaito commented, polishing off the last bite of his sandwich with a bit more gusto than was necessary. There’d been plenty of food in the well-stocked kitchen, but with everything that had already gone wrong, they decided to take the simple route with the deli meats in the refrigerator and just make sandwiches. “I’ll even do dishes!” he offered.
“…yeah,” Aoko deadpanned. “Two whole plates. You’re my hero. Don’t strain yourself there, champ.” Still, she smiled as he collected the two plates and bounced over to the sink to carry through.
While he was occupied, she walked out into the living room and looked out the window again. The storm was getting worse—it was just shy of a white-out, a stark contrast to the inky night sky.
She shivered. Why was it so cold?
…and the cabin went dark.
Instinctively, she screamed—not so much out of fear as surprise.
“Aoko?” Kaito’s voice came from down the hall. “You okay?”
“Fine!” she called back.
“Good. Stay put—just a sec…”
She waited patiently by the window, hearing the faint sounds of drawers opening and closing and things being rummaged around and moving in the kitchen. But finally, a faint glow appeared in the doorway. It would seem that he’d found some candles.
“It’s not much,” he said apologetically, passing her one, “but it’s something. Better than the dark, anyway.” She accepted the candle gratefully…and shivered again. He noticed: “Are you okay? …crap, it’s getting colder in here already, isn’t it?”
“The fireplace, maybe?” she suggested.
“Good call.” He moved past her towards the fireplace, and was pleased (and quite relieved) to find that it was already prepared—someone had obviously been planning to relax by the fire, probably after a long day of skiing and tromping through the snow. It didn’t take too terribly long to prod the fire alive with his candle, and finally, the edges of the log began to glow a simmering orange.
Aoko watched with no little relief as the fire began to burn before speaking up again. “Maybe…we should just stay down here for the night? By the fire?”
For once, he didn’t make a joke or leer. “I think you’re right. At least then we’ll stay warm.” He stood up and turned to face her. “Let’s get our stuff now, before it gets any colder. I’d say blankets, pillows, and pjs—then we’ll get ourselves set up down here.”
Both hurried up the stairs—it was definitely colder upstairs than downstairs by this point—and ducked into their rooms to change and grab bedding. Chances were that it was going to be a long, very uncomfortable night. But on the bright side, the cold guaranteed that they both probably shattered any and all world records for changing clothes.
Aoko was already down there when he returned. She’d even arranged her blankets into a nice little nest before sprawling out in front of the fire. Kaito couldn’t quite keep his eyes from wandering a bit, giving her prone form a once-over before he cleared his throat to announce his presence.
Her only acknowledgement was to turn her head and smile at him as he came in and began setting up his own bed. Before long, he was settled and relaxing in a blanket-nest of his own. It was quiet and cozy for a long moment, save for the fire crackling and popping.
Finally, Kaito spoke. “Ya know…this seems a lot like the beginning of a horror movie.”
Aoko lifted her head to raise an eyebrow at him. “Excuse me?”
“No, really!” he grinned, eyes sparkling. “People trapped in a cabin in the middle of nowhere at night in a storm, cut off from the rest of the world? That’s how all the classic horror flicks start, isn’t it? And then they get stalked by a monster or a psycho with a chainsaw or something and get killed off one by one!” He was beaming by the time he finished.
“I think we’ll be safe enough.”
“Oh? Why?”
“Virgins always survive those movies. So we’ll be fine,” she paused, then added, “…unless there’s something you haven’t told me, in which case I might have a few hundred questions for you.”
Kaito visibly blanched at the suggestion. “Ehehe…no. Sorry to disappoint you dear, but the only whirlwind romance in my life is the one between you and me. And you know all the details of that.” He was blushing ever so slightly as he finished, but Aoko could see it clearly in the firelight.
And somehow, his admission made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. “See? Then by the Laws of the Horror Movies, we’ll be perfectly safe from any monsters or walking chain-saws.”
There was another pause before Kaito piped up again. “I hope there’s nothing you’re hiding from me in that respect either?” At her slack-jawed expression, he explained, “Well, I wouldn’t mind if there was, but I’d be kinda sad if you felt like you couldn’t be honest with me about it.”
She sat up and took a swing at him more on principle than anything else. But when he caught her hand and pulled her forward to steal a quick kiss, she didn’t resist. “Baka,” she replied when he let her go. “I never had time for anyone else—I was always too busy chasing you down and keeping you in line, remember?” Now her faint blush matched his own as she added in a soft voice, “I’ve never even kissed anyone else.”
Kaito smiled and rolled onto his back so he was looking up at her. “I like kissing you!”
It was so silly, yet somehow it was such a Kaito thing to say, and she had to chuckle at it. “You’re not so bad yourself.” The last word trailed off into a yawn as she realized exactly how tired she was.
His look was sympathetic. “Aww, sleepy?” At her nod, he went on, “It really has been a long day. We should get some rest. Hopefully the blizzard will let up by sunrise so we can figure out what to do next and dig ourselves out, if necessary. Skiing or not, this has turned into a real adventure!”
Aoko grinned. “I think it’s because you’re here.” She feigned a dramatic sigh. “I swear, I can’t take you anywhere. You just can’t do anything like a normal person, can you?”
“Normal his boring,” he waved the comment off. “I prefer to be unpredictable. Soooo…” he flipped back over and cocked his head to one side, “…can I kiss you goodnight?”
“Hardly unpredictable…but not unwelcome,” Aoko murmured and let her eyes fall shut as he closed the distance between them for another kiss. It was supposed to be quick and chaste.
It didn’t stay that way for long.
He drew back, only to have her chase him and reclaim his lips once again. It deepened, and then arms were moving, sliding into a tangle to pull them closer together…and Aoko felt a surge of warmth running through her body that had nothing at all to do with the fire crackling beside them, and everything in the world to do with him…
They parted again, by an unspoken mutual accord. Eyes fluttered open…and reality crashed into them like a piano falling on their heads. The realization that they were alone and stranded.
Cut off from civilization.
With no one to immediately answer to.
It was a frightening, awesome comprehension.
Kaito moved first—he turned his head to break eye-contact and the wordless commune of questions, thoughts, and unvoiced ideas that seemed to flow between them. “I think I’ll sleep upstairs. Goodnight!” he said—far too quickly—and jumped to his feet and all but bolted from the room. She could hear him muttering something that sounded like, “Stupid…so stupid…” under his breath.
Still, Aoko didn’t move for a long moment, thinking and wondering and turning things over in her mind and weighing them and inevitably coming to one wonderful, awful, wrong, beautiful conclusion. She clambered to her feet as well, nearly falling over as a blanket tangled around her legs, and followed the path he had blazed: out the door and up the stairs to the bedrooms.
She gasped in surprise at how cold it really was away from the warmth of the fire. And it was so dark, with the wind howling outside like the shriek of a banshee…still, by keeping one and on the wall, she made it up the stairs without killing herself. The hallway, though, was proving a bit more of a challenge. She had none of Kaito’s abilities for sneaking in situations like this. “Kaito?” she called.
A floorboard creaked loudly underfoot, and she froze at the sound.
“Kaito?” she called again; her voice was shaking now. “Kaito, where are you? I mean it…” A door opened somewhere in front of her, and all she could think of was their conversation from earlier, about horror movies and killers stalking people in situations like these. “…Kaito?” she whispered.
A hand closed around hers.
She screamed and nearly jumped out of her skin until she heard Kaito’s voice. “Hey, hey! Calm down! It’s me!” The fingers encasing hers squeezed slightly. “It’s okay. It’s just me. Sorry, didn’t meant to scare you. What’s wrong?”
As her eyes finally began adjusting to the dark, his outline began to grow more pronounced. Soon, he was clear enough that she could see his facial features; his eyes especially were shining with surprising clarity. She took a deep breath. “You just ran off like that, and it’s really dark…”
“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “Look, I’ll walk you back downstairs and—“
“Kaito, you can’t sleep up here,” she interrupted. “You’ll freeze.” She was shivering like crazy, and she couldn’t understand how he seemed so comfortable. “Come back downstairs. It’s warmer.”
“I’ll be fine.”
Aoko wanted to scream. Instead, she took a step towards him. “Then I’ll stay up here with you.” She didn’t let go of his hand, but rather pulled on it as though to draw him closer.
She saw his eyes widen. “Aoko—no.”
“Why not?”
“Because…”
“…because?”
He hesitated, then sighed. “Because I don’t want to do anything stupid.”
“Like what?”
“You know what.”
Silence, tempered only by the screaming wind.
“You still can’t stay up here,” she repeated firmly. “I’m not going to let you freeze.”
“But—“
“Kaito, it’s fine,” she said gently. “If you’re really dead-set against us doing anything, then we won’t. See? It’s so easy—we’re both responsible and mature enough to handle sleeping in the same room without any problems.”
It was a moment before he replied. “…what do you want?”
Aoko’s eyes met his through the shadows. She tried to give the right answer, but there was something…some little part of her, deep down, that wanted something more…and her hesitation, her silence said volumes more than any words ever could have.
She gave his hand a squeeze before letting go and turning. “Come back downstairs,” she said quietly, but firmly, “so I can at least be sure that you survive the night, if nothing else.” And she was gone, her light footsteps padding slowly down the stairs.
Kaito swallowed hard, hesitated…and tiptoed after her. He moved slowly, not sure if this was what he should be doing at all…or what if this was a test of some kind? He was about to fail so hard…yet he kept going.
He peered around the corner into the living room. The fire did look very warm and inviting…and seeing Aoko stretched out on her back on top of their blankets in front of that fire certainly didn’t hurt its case any. He crept closer; she didn’t move overtly, but the hand slung casually across her stomach twitched ever so slightly at his approach.
She knew he was there.
As quietly as possible, he dropped to his knees beside her and just watched her for a moment. She still didn’t move, but he was fine with that. The firelight cast its soft glow over her, making the shadows dance around her and mold to her, accenting what was already there…
“You’re beautiful,” he said honestly, without any intentions of actually doing so.
She finally opened her eyes and looked at him, her gaze half-lidded and…well, it was taking every ounce of self-control in his body to keep from doing something unbelievably stupid right then. But it became a moot point when she said, “C’mere,” and reached towards him.
He eased down into her arms, pressing against her with all care so as not to crush her, and let himself fall into her kiss. There was nothing at all innocent about this kiss—it was warm and deep and loving and left no questions at all.
Still, when the kiss ended, he couldn’t quite keep himself from grinning at her. “Are you sure? If a maniac with a chainsaw shows up, we might be in trouble, you know…”
Aoko shook her head and smiled. “I feel safe if you’re here with me.” It didn’t take much pressure on the back of his neck to pull him back down for another kiss. It was so beautiful and surreal, she actually wondered if it was a dream…until his hands brushed against the top button of her pajama top.
What happened that night by the firelight would forever remain a precious secret, from the first tentative touches to the first fumbling experiments…until finally, in the quietest hours of the morning, something glorious happened.
And neither of them were the least bit cold.
PS: This is for
alena_s_anigor—on a drabble request thing I did, she asked for Kaito/Aoko semi-smut, with the prompt of “cold night.” Well, certainly can’t pass that up, can I? Head meet desk now, please. L’anyhoodle, hope you enjoyed. Thanks for reading, everyone. Much love!When the knock came at the door, both of them scrambled for it. They’d woken up to find that the snow had stopped, but was piled pretty high. On their doorstep was a man in a thick, heavy snowsuit and goggles. “You all right?” he asked.
“We’re fine…” Kaito replied, a bit confused.
“That blizzard came outta nowhere!” the man went on. “I’m with the lodge at the base of the mountain—we’re going around and making sure everyone’s okay. You folks need a lift?”
A quick conference later, they decided that to be a very good idea and dashed upstairs to retrieve their mostly-packed suitcases. Kaito did notice, however, that Aoko seemed to be lagging behind him a bit. She wasn’t walking as fast as he was, and he couldn’t quite help himself. “C’mon, granny. Hurry up!”
His jaw then dropped through the floor when she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him down to her eye level to address him. “I’ll have you know that you are the reason I am so sore this morning, Casanova. So shut your mouth and help me with this bag.”
Cross-posted to
30_nights and 40 Nights: Kaito and Aoko.alena_s_anigor!!! HERE IS YOUR FICCIE!!
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Loved this one. So cute and funny and sexy. The last line of the Omake was priceless.
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L'anyhoodle--thank you very much! Glad you enjoyed it!
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Thanks, hon! I'm really glad you liked it! And the omake...I have no idea where it came from. It just kinda happened >.>;; Kaito protests that it is in no way his fault that she's sore--he insists that if she hadn't tried something he refers to only as THAT, she would be perfectly fine. I have no idea what THAT is, and I do believe that to be for the best.
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Hee, omake! ^_____^
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Thanks! Glad you liked!
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EEE GREEN RED-EYED PLUNNIE!!! *runs away screaming*
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and was mostly back in my DBZ fangirl days.I'd like to think that I've improved a great deal since then ^^;; I'd never really even given a thought to writing a blanket fic, really...maybe I should try to do one and make it creative! :D! *is shot*Hee! My friend
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so I could go snigger at itso I could marvel at how far you've come in 5 years! =P I SO dare you to! *hands you a blue blanky with white plunnies on it*no subject
I LOVED THIS! ♥ ♥ ♥
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Oh, and the ending was just perfect... XDD
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*glomps* MWAH! Thanks, hon!! :D :D :D
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*pokes* I hope you post something again soon, yes? :D?
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" He was noble. Thank you for this fic))))
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Thanks for the fic))) I'm waiting for your new chappie
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