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Darcy shivered under her two heavy blankets and was debating if braving the cold air of the apartment for a second pair of fuzzy socks would be worth potentially feeling her toes again. She didn’t have to contemplate the situation very long before there was a beep at the front door of their apartment signaling that Tony had come home.
“Oh my g-g-god, you’re m-m-m-my hero,” Darcy called out to him, her voice throaty from coughing so much during the day.
“What’s up, Buttercup?” Tony asked from the doorway.
“I-I need you to br-br-bring me another pair of s-s-s-s-socks from the dr-dr-dresser,” she chattered. “M-m-maybe the quilt from the l-l-l-living room, too?”
“Hmmm, no can do, Baby Girl,” he replied as he walked towards the dresser and began rummaging through drawers looking for clothes. “Jarvis, what’s Darcy’s temperature?”
“Miss Lewis is currently sporting a 103-degree fever, Sir.”
“T-T-That’s why I want m-m-m-more socks and blankets, I’m so c-c-c-cold.”
“Yes,” Tony said turning around from the dresser and holding out one of his old, worn band t-shirts, “And it’s why I won’t be giving them to you. I have a vested interest in not letting my girlfriend cook her own brain. Here, get out of bed and change into this.”
“Being w-w-w-warm wouldn’t cook m-m-my brain, Tony. It would just make me v-v-very, very h-h-happy.” Darcy replied, “And if you think I’m g-g-g-getting out of my bl-bl-blanket cocoon and stripping d-d-d-down to near nothing right now, you have officially l-l-l-lost your mind.”
“Jarvis, at what temperature does the human brain begin to cook in its own skull?”
“107 degrees, sir.”
“See, I had f-f-f-four degrees to g-go, I was fine.”
“Darcy, Honey, would you please just listen to me? If you bundle up anymore you’re going to elevate your body temperature too much, and soon you’ll be too hot and wishing for an ice bath.”
“I would l-l-love to be too hot right n-n-now, Tony. I would love it with all m-m-m-my soul.” Even as she was griping she was slowly extricating herself from the pile of blankets, her body wracking with shivers when she was finally in the cool air of the bedroom.
“See, you’ve sweat through these clothes and it’s just making you colder,” Tony said as he pulled at her damp sweater.
“Nu-uh,” Darcy half-heartedly argued as she stripped out of her sweatpants and tugged on the fresh t-shirt. “What n-n-ow?” she asked, wrapping her arms around her body for warmth.
“Get back in bed, on my side. You got your side all sweaty.” Tony fiddled with the blankets that Darcy had piled on top of her previously, folding each of them and setting it aside until he found the lightweight knit blanket her mother had made for her. “Here,” he said as he settled it on top of her, then scooted into the bed and pulled Darcy on top of him.
“Christ, even your ears are cold,” Tony said as he tucked her head to his chest and tried his best to transfer his body heat to her freezing extremities. She shivered against him for another few minutes before finally she was able to feel her fingers and toes.
“Thank you, Tony,” she said, her first clearly spoken sentence since he’d arrived.
“Of course, Baby Girl. Get some rest, I’ll stay here,” Tony said as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.