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"Cold Mc Fucking hands, Kaminari."
"Wheeeeee. Ur neckkkkkkk. So warrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmm."
"Away!" Jirou yelled, stabbing at him with her earbuds.
Low Battery Dumbass took little notice- he instead decided to wobble delightedly, and shift his cold fingers to a different spot on Jirou's neck to leach what little warmth she'd managed to preserve.
She yelped at the contact.
"Fuck's sake nasty boy, get away! My fucking warmth. Get your own."
Kaminari wheedled brightly, bringing the entirety of his palm under her scarf.
"Wooooooo~ Mmmmmmmmm~"
"No! Begone!" Jirou screamed in discomfort. "Bad Spark Plug!"
But Kaminari had attached himself, weirdly limpet like, siphoning off her body heat like a goddamn parasite.
"Goddamn it Kaminari, go back to your room! You need to study."
As soon as the words left her mouth, Jirou realised the floor in her reasoning.
Kaminari's joyfully blank features darkened, and he fixed her with a look of panic and distrust. Oh for the ever-loving fuck.
Jirou collected her thoughts. She was gonna have to do this in simple sentences, he was clearly out of brain juice.
They entered the common room- it was empty.
"You are tired. You should rest. Eat something. Play video games. Recharge."
At the mention of video games, Kaminari perked up, but then he shuddered and shook his head.
"Spooky noo-noo!!" he screamed, grabbing her coat.
"The fuck is a spooky noo-noo, Kaminari?" The boy whimpered and shivered, eyes wide and scared.
"Spooky noo-noo, nooooo!"
Jirou decided to assume he had a horror game loaded on the console (god forbid he change the disc himself), and decided to let the matter slide.
"What about food then?"
Spooky noo-noos long forgotten, Kaminari bounced to the kitchen. He opened the fridge and screeched.
"Cold! Aaa!" He ran back over, hands outstretched.
Jirou tried unsuccessfully to dodge, and ended up stuck with Mr McFlurry against her neck.
"Bad! No hands Kaminari!"
"HANDS," Kaminari shrieked defiantly, pushing them against her exposed skin.
"Agh, FUCK! Okay! Here's the deal! I make hot chocolate"- "CHOCOOO" -"yes and you sit on the couch"- "wheeee~" -"yes and then I bring you hot choco and you recharge, 'kay?"
Judging by the happy buzzing noises he made as he stumbled over to the couch, Kaminari approved of the plan.
Jirou sighed, relieved to have her body-heat integrity back, and put on the stove. Why the fuck she agreed to train with him, in the middle of winter and knowing full well that he lost lucidity after using his quirk too much, she still wasn't sure.
Pity, probably.
She could hear the guy mumbling along to the radio, humming tunelessly to the cheesy afternoon hits. She stirred the milk.
The wood-fire crackled, and despite the presence of dumbass and his intrusively cold hands Jirou felt a little swell of gladness. Here she was, studying at a top hero school, wonderful, reliable friends and accommodation that felt like home. Charmed life, hey.
She started humming despite herself, adding chocolate powder to the mix and stirring gently.
Finished, she poured the hot chocolate into two mugs and brought them over.
Kaminari had settled down on the big sofa closest to the fire. He seemed to be in a bit of a trance, watching the flames dance with mouth agape. No drool this time thank god. He was so transfixed that it almost seemed like a pity to jerk him out of his reverie. Almost.
"Hey, drooly. Hot choc." Jirou held it out to him. He looked at her, eyes unabashedly fixing hers, and gave a big dopey grin.
"Yummmm!"
"Yummm," Jirou agreed as she settled down next to him.
Kaminari slurped away happily, and Jirou took advantage of the distraction to lean over and grab blankets. She tossed one at her friend, but he just looked at her blankly and let it bounce off his head.
Wasn't going to be that easy, huh. Jirou sighed and stood up, shaking out the blanket so she could spread it over him. Kaminari made happy noises and flapped his arms a little in appreciation ("wheeeee~").
Jirou fluffed out a blanket for herself, and sat down to take a sip of her drink. Before the cup reached her mouth, she felt a tug, and the blanket was dragged away. She looked at Kaminari accusingly- he'd somehow found the motor-skills to spread this blanket over the other one. Okay then.
She held out her hand and beckoned, but Kaminari shook his head and beckoned back.
Jirou scooched over and made a grab for the blanket, but Kaminari flung his arm up at the last minute. Instead, she crash landed against him with a startled yelp. He let his arm flop back down, covering them both with the double blanket.
She fixed him with a look of bemusement, and he beamed at her.
"Snuuugle!" he smiled, and Jirou decided she didn't have the heart (or energy) to protest. Not when his eyes sparkled like that.
Fucking doofus.
"Kaminari, you're a doofus."
He just wheezed away happily, snuggling closer without a hint of subtlety.
'This might as well happen,' Jirou thought to herself- she was exhausted, and more heat was good heat.
She let herself relax against Kaminari, and they sat for a while, shoulder to shoulder. Neither spoke, but the silence was warm and friendly, and softened by the crackling of the fire. They both smelled a little like sweat, but Jirou also picked up Kaminari's signature smell. It was surprisingly flowery, and quite pleasant.
Jirou let drowsiness wash over her. She spent a few minutes just feeling the rise and fall of breath in his chest. She realised her head had come to rest there, but it didn't really bother her so she stayed put. Kaminari hummed occasionally, contented little vibrations, and Jirou just let herself lie there and listen. She didn't feel particularly vulnerable- surprisingly- she was so comfortable.
Minutes passed in companionable silence.
Just as she was drifting off, Jirou could have sworn she heard Kaminari murmur: "this is nice."
Or maybe it was just her imagination.
--
The last dredges of light were fading from the windows of the common room when Kaminari stirred.
He looked around lazily, too warm and comfortable to move. It was then that he became aware of a weight on his chest.
Kaminari looked down to see Jirou snuggled up against him. Her mouth was slightly open, and a little bit of drool had dribbled out. As she breathed in and out- gentle breaths- her earbuds twitched a little.
She was lovely.
Oh.
He sat there for a while, quietly enjoying the way the low light cast her eyelash shadows across her face.
As the moonlight took over, Jirou stirred. She murmured gently, lazily pulling her head across his chest and rubbing sleep from her eyes. They flickered open and met his, and Kaminari became acutely aware that his arm was still gently draped around her.
'Okay, let's see how this goes.'
He couldn't help but smile at the squeak she gave as she stretched a little.
With the movement, Jirou became lucid- seeming to comprehend her surroundings.
To Kaminari's surprise though, she didn't draw back or show indignance. Instead, she matched his smile with a lazy grin. Seems like post-sleep-Jirou was a little bolder and more straightforward, because she sighed with obvious contentment and snuggled back.
There was another period of silence- just the two of them enjoying the closeness. There was no mistaking the genuineness of the moment, not to either of them.
Eventually, Jirou perked up her interest, and soon Kaminari could hear the voices drawing closer.
"It'd be weird if they found us just sitting here in the dark, huh."
"Hey, Aizawa gets away with it, why shouldn't we?" Jirou chuckled in response.
"I guess we should get up then," Kaminari said finally, making no attempt to move.
"I guess…" Jirou continued. "But my legsssss."
"Really? I feel fine. Fresh as a daisy."
"Goddamn you and your re-charging. I hate how you can just walk this stuff off."
"Ah well, it's only 'cause you keep me alive while I'm veggie-mode," Kaminari conceded. "Besides, I gotta say that I've never had a recharge this good before."
"Me neither," Jirou hummed, and they smiled at each other.
"Hey, maybe if we stay still they won't know we're here."
"Bakugou will smell us, I bet you eight dollars."
"Shit, you're right."
"Mmhmm."
"Wait, do you even have eight dollars?"
"Kaminari."
"Jirou."
"Cheap Pikachu."
"2006 reject."
"X-men supporting character."
"Soundcloud rapper."
"Too far man."
They laughed.