Chapter Text
They always said he was warm.
When the van was cold at night and the thin blankets the gang had weren't enough to keep Vivi and Arthur comfortably warm, it was just unspoken that it wouldn't take long for the two to scurry over to Lewis to cuddle up next to him. Arthur, with more hesitation of course, but he came over too eventually. Lewis didn't mind at all, he was happy to help out his friends, and it reminded him of before the "accident". Back then they cuddled up with him too, yet not because he had glorious hair made of fire, but because the big tall guy just seemed like the right person to go to when cold. They weren't wrong to think so, Lewis always did his best to help keep them comfortable. Yet now it didn't feel the same anymore, it felt wrong almost. Lewis couldn't understand completely, he himself didn't feel warm at all. To be honest, Lewis wasn't sure he even remembered what being warm felt like.
Since before the cave, and the time he had spent in the mansion afterwards, he hadn't been warm at all. He felt like he was in a perpetual state of cold, and no matter how many fires he lit, he stayed that way. It made him angry, but more so, it made him feel sick. Not ill sick, but sick in the sense that he was wrong, like he wasn't normal. Of course, being a skeleton ghost with affinity to fire wasn't exactly normal either. Yet, he just felt wrong. Sometimes before she fell asleep, comforted by the warmth he provided, Vivi would whisper, "You're so warm". It made him think. What was it like to be warm anymore? He vaguely remembers the sensation of warmth, but it's distant and on the verge of being forgotten completely. Every time Vivi said those words it was a quick reminder to Lewis of something he desperately wished wasn't true: he is dead.
Lewis looked to his right side where Arthur lay, sprawled out across Lewis' legs snoring quietly. He'd come to forgiven Arthur, Lewis had never been able to stay angry at his friends for long. Lewis still couldn't help but be upset by his death though, understandably so, he had avoided the topic completely after he and Arthur had had the conversation about the possession and what really happened in that cave. Late in the night though, when everyone was sleeping and Lewis, incapable of truly sleeping was left to his thoughts. He felt it the worst now, the cold. Cold being something he remembered perfectly. Since his "revival" as the specter he is now, cold was really the only thing he could feel. Even with Vivi to his left, leaned up against him huddled under the blanket, Arthur to his right, and Mystery curled up at his feet. He was still cold. There was nothing he could do about it, at least nothing natural. And being "natural", or well human-like, was Lewis' main goal as of late. Since rejoining his friends he'd spent hours perfecting holding his human form for long periods of time, sadly he just couldn't get his eyes to look normal. The hollow look they had was just hideous to him. He couldn't imagine what his friends though when they look at them. Or his true skeleton form.
He shuddered just thinking what they must really think about that frightening appearance of his. Lewis just couldn't understand why they felt so keen to get so close to him, he was a monster. A truly, horrendous monster at that. Yet here they were sleeping away like this wasn't a big deal. He sighed, closed his eyes to focus. Pulling up his human looking form with some effort, he let his breath go. To anyone who would look in a van window now, they just looked like close friends. It still wasn't enough for Lewis though, even like this in a human state he still felt the permeating cold beat at him.
"Why can't I catch a break?" he whispered to nothing. Even the sound of his voice made him cringe, it had a small echo like sound to it and it was just further evidence to his inhuman nature. He wished there was just one part of him that was the same as it had been before. He just wished, he could be warm for just one minute one more time.
As Lewis stared off into space, he failed to notice Arthur stirring. Eyes fluttering open still half asleep, Arthur looked up at his friend in confusion. Lewis never put on his human image unless they were going out into the public. Having it up right now, in private, when everyone was asleep no less didn't make any sense to him at all. He took in the melancholic look on the violet haired boys face, and knew almost immediately something was up. Arthur may be a coward, but he was anything but stupid. He can tell when something is wrong with his friends.
"Hey, Lewis, what you doing man? It's like three in the morning bud." he said in a hushed voice. Lewis looked down at Arthur surprised, being drawn out of his thoughts so fast the illusion of his human body flickered for a second. The look on Lewis' face put a smile on Arthur's face, Lewis had always been horrible at hiding his emotions. The smile didn't last long though, because it was still obvious something was bothering Lewis. If he didn't confront him about it Lewis would refuse to talk about it. For someone as kind and cuddly as Lewis he was downright stubborn and obtuse when it came to talking about himself.
"Arthur, did I wake you?" Lewis said, human facade not falling.
"Nah man, but what's with the illusion, there's no one around for miles you've got nothing to worry about."
"I'm uh, practicing?"
Arthur gave him a look that was filled with disbelief, another wonderful thing about Lewis. He couldn't lie. At all. Considering the faint color that was brushing his "cheeks" now, it was more than obvious he was lying.
"Lewis, what's wrong?"
The silence that followed was telling enough. Lewis looked away, allowing the illusion to drop. Fiery hair, taking the place of what had appeared to be his natural hair, sparked lowly filling the van with a soft pink glow. While lately, Arthur had found some comfort in the glow (especially in dark creepy crypts that Vivi dragged them into) right now it just felt sad. Cold almost. A wave of realization came over him, maybe that was it? Could ghosts get cold? Eyeing the flaming poof of "hair" Arthur assumed that it must be possible. Leave it to Lewis to not voice his own discomfort just to not bother anyone. Tugging at the blanket that Arthur had claimed for himself that night he moved it to spread over Lewis' lap as well, then moved himself up closer to his friend so he could stay under the blanket as well. Lewis looked over at Arthur again, confusion spelled out across his skully features.
"No need to worry man, I got ya. You get warmed up too okay? Can't have that fire of yours goin' out can we?"
With that Arthur curled back down again and closed his eyes, ready to go back to sleep, proud of himself for saving Lewis from his plight. Even though for Lewis, nothing had really changed. He did feel better somehow. The feeling of cold was leaving him, and he was almost sure that it wasn't because of the light blanket his thick browed friend had spread over him. Eyeing Arthur, then Vivi, and lastly Mystery, he felt happy. He felt a warmth that he had almost forgotten.
Lewis decided right then, that this warmth was far better than anything else. Even if he was cold occasionally, he didn't think it would matter anymore. He's got his family with him, and that's all the warmth he thinks he will ever need.