The winter had been bitterly cold so far, and tonight wasn't an exception. Nathan shuddered a little and curled up in hopes of conserving heat, but that didn't help much. He sighed and considered getting up and fetching an extra blanket. The idea didn't sound too tempting though; it really meant he would have to get up. The room temperature was freezing.

It was probably around midnight. He had been trying to sleep for some time now, but he tended to just doze off and then wake up because of the cold. Hugh, whose bed was on the other side of the room, didn't seem to be much luckier either. Neither of them spoke, though; they didn't want to wake up the other, in case one of them happened to be asleep.

Nathan gritted his teeth and changed his position. He owned an extra blanket, but they had needed those outside during the day and the blankets were now drying off somewhere. The blanket would surely be dry by now, but... No, he definitely didn't want to get up.

There was a low sound of something hitting against a wooden surface from the other side of the room. He turned to look but couldn't see much in the darkness. Hugh cursed quietly, so Nathan peered at his friend, wondering what had just happened.

"Everything all right?" He asked, sitting up a little.

There was no reply at first, but then he could see movement as Hugh reached down from the bed. "Yeah... I just dropped a pillow on the floor while moving around," Hugh told him. "Now I can't find the darn thing, and then I- ow!"

"Hugh!" Nathan called out, startled by a soft 'thud'.

His friend laughed quietly. "...Hit my head on the nightstand. Again." There was a rustling sound, and then Hugh whispered, "Found it! The pillow that is... Ack! The floor is ice cold!"

Nathan smiled. "Oh well, one more reason for me to not go find a spare blanket... I sure could use one though. Hey, Hugh? Want to lend me yours?"

"Only if you'll give me yours," the other boy replied. He had managed to get back to bed now and by the sound of it was trying to move around a little to stay warm. Nathan knew the feeling; staying still for too long meant he would get cold. It was probably one of the reasons why he couldn't sleep for more than about ten minutes at a time.

"Well," he mused. "Come here, maybe I will."

Hugh got up, and Nathan grinned to himself. Despite the fact that they had been mostly joking, sleeping next to each other didn't sound too bad of an idea. It would certainly be warmer that way. He almost laughed when Hugh crossed the floor; from what he could see, the dark-haired boy was tiptoeing over the floor tiles.

"Ice cold floor huh?" Nathan asked when Hugh reached his side of the room and crawled into the bed. He got no answer; instead, Hugh moved over him to the side of the bed that was next to the wall, and stroked Nathan's calf with his toes. Nathan drew away instantly and grimaced. He then twirled around, getting entangled in the blankets while doing so.

"Nathan! You just stole all the blankets," Hugh complained. "I could use those too, you know."

Nathan untangled the blankets and covered himself and Hugh with them. The other boy felt warm, and Nathan snuggled close to him. Indeed, this had been a good idea. Maybe they would actually be able to sleep now... if they wanted to, of course.

"Much better," Hugh mumbled. "Almost. I'll be more comfortable once my feet get warmer. Damn that floor is cold..."

"What, not warm enough yet?" Nathan whispered, trying to tease. "Am I not giving you enough warmth? All right, if you insist... I think I know how to make you very, very warm..." He moved his hand on Hugh's waist while speaking, and then slid it down the other boy's body, stopping on his crotch. "Well... More like, hot?"

Hugh grinned at his friend. "You could give me more than that..."

"Maybe." Nathan vanished under the blankets. Yes, they would surely sleep quite well tonight.

Author's notes:

This was written as a challenge fic for good old CV fanfic LJ community. The theme of the challenge was " Etymology". The main character here is Nathan... and his name happens to mean "giver" in Hebrew. Yes. *cough*

- Elmina (March, 2006)