Cold Hands, Warm Heart

Posted on Tue Mar 29th, 2022 @ 12:43pm by Lieutenant JG Shaille Levine & Warrant Officer Koh Ottasu

Shaille emerged from the bedroom, thermals covered by a heavy bathrobe, and yet still she shivered. The air was already warm enough inside their quarters that she had no doubt that Koh was likely close to sweating up a storm, yet he smiled and hadn't complained once since they had gotten back to the ship.

Walking up behind him she slipped her arms around his waist, resting her head against his back, savouring the feel of his soft fur against her cheek. "Do you think we can turn the heat up just a little more?" she asked hopefully.

Koh was already warm, though he welcomed the initial turn up of the heat. He had never seen so much snow, so much ice, so much COLD... in his life. He was pretty sure that space would have been warmer than that planet at one point. Though, that was three thermal hikes ago. He hated saying no to her, mostly cause he knew she lacked the fur to keep extra warm during that encounter. He also didn't know how much more heat he himself could take.

"Well, if we do, we'll be able to brew tea in any room in our quarters." he joked, laying his hands gently on hers. "Okay, but on one condition. I'm about at my limit..." he said that last time, "... so if we go up again, think you could pour some water on my ears?" that same trick to bring his fever down.

Pulling one hand away, she reached up and trailed her fingertips from the tips of his ear down to his head. "It's okay, I can leave it where it is, I'll just add another blanket or two," she said with a smile, resting her head against his back again. "I don't know if I'll ever warm up properly," she said with a sigh. "I'm still so cold. So, so, cold."

He gave a gentle nod, "I've never been that cold in my entire life." he shared in her misery. "But I think there's got to be a queue for the holodeck to simulate hot springs, saunas, or the surface of the sun." he snickered. "So, let's get you bundled up, go tuck you into bed with all the covers, and I'll make some soup and tea for you." he offered with a smirk. "Maybe snuggle in with you under the blankets. On account of, you know, being warmer than humans are."

"How about we move all the covers to the couch and snuggle there instead? We can watch a movie or something while you keep me warm?" Shaille countered. "The couch is closer to the replicator too, you know, for hot drinks and snacks?"

"That... sounds like a fantastic idea." Koh said with a smile, his head tilting slightly as she teased his ear. "I think a movie night is fantastic. You go get on the couch and get yourself something to drink, and I'll go get all the ... no wait, I'll put down a blanket first, THEN we get on it, and then we roll ourselves up like, like what's that food, that hilarious food name that's a bunch of meat and cheese and everything inside a rolled up piece of a really flat, thin bread sheet?"

"A burrito! Yes." he chuckled.

Shaille smiled, stepping back and pulling the robe around her tighter. "A burrito sounds good, it sounds warm and toasty," she said as she headed for the bedroom to retrieve extra blankets. "For snacks, how does soup sound? Something nice and warm? "

"Soup is a great idea. I really enjoy the human notion of soup. It's very similar to our own, but you put *stuff* in it. Beef, noodles, vegetables... I mean we have soup back home, but once we put food in it, it's not considered soup anymore." he pointed out with a snicker. "Let's get bundled up, my paws are freezing." he waggled one of his paws. "Don't worry, unlike some people, I won't dig them into your back." he snickered. He didn't mind.

Just waking up suddenly as someone was putting icy daggers into his back.

He started to gather up the blankets and comforters from the bedroom. He draped the thickest comforter over the couch, then another blanket. "Okay, food and tea and then we bundle up. Also, I might snag an ice pack for my ears, just incase it gets too hot in that snuggle burrito."

Taking one of his paws between both her hands, she smiled as she rubbed gently before pulling her hands up toward her face, blowing a warm breath over his cold paw and then started rubbing gently again. "I'll get the ice pack, you sort the blankets."

She knew how to melt him. That much was without question. "Yes dear." he managed, before making his way to the couch to begin construction of the blanket fort. Laying the foundation, getting everything ready, putting the table near so they didn't have to reach too far. He tried to make sure that once they were nested in, they didn't have to go anywhere.

"And there. Fort Levine is ready." he announced.

It was only well after they were settled, snuggled together in the blanket burrito, a movie playing in the background that neither of them were really paying that much attention to, that Shaille let out a soft sigh, snuggling in closer to him, not only enjoying the warmth, but the comfort of his presence. "When our shield failed on the surface there was a time that I didn't think I'd get to do this again," she said quietly.

He was silent for a moment, though her words weighed on him heavily. "I'd have mourned you like family. I'd have travelled home, to the moons of Ts'usu. I'd have your picture posted as family." he spoke quietly, but his words were hard to say. "I'd wait until I got a sigh from you, any sign, that it was alright to move on... but I'd never find anyone like you again. No Daughter of Ts'usu could captivate me like you do, and no Federation born woman could hold my attention as you do. I'd live to be a hundred, and I'd think of you as fondly then as I do today."

"I was so afraid that our goodbye in the hangar might have been the last words we shared." he ran his hand through her hair gently. "Whoever or whatever is watching over us..."

She savoured the feel of his paws on her hair, closing her eyes for a moment and enjoying the closeness, a small smile dancing on her lips. "Whoever or whatever is watching over us had better keep it up. I don't ever want to face the day that I don't have you to come home to. I love you Koh Otassu," she murmured softly.

Koh leaned in to press his forehead gently to hers. "I choose to believe that the ancestors and the Emperor take more pleasure in our joy then in our sorrow." he commented softly before adding, "Anata wa watashi no miraidesu, Shaille Levine." he paused to let the moment sink in. "You are my future."