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The sudden dip of the bed startles him awake and it takes Kakuzu a moment until rational thought kicks in. He is still in his room of the inn and there has been no chakra flare up alerting him to any intruders. Meaning that the body shifting around behind him belongs to his partner.
“What are you doing?” He is surprised himself by how slurred he lets his voice sound, how tired he allows himself to stay. But then again Hidan isn’t a threat. Not to him. By now he knows the way the zealot fights and what limits his religion imposes on him. He isn’t allowed to kill without a fight, making it safe to share a room with him since there is no danger of ambush. In general, travelling together had become more manageable once Kakuzu had deciphered the method to Hidan’s madness.
But this is new.
The sheets rustle again when Hidan moves. "I’m fuckin’ cold. What ‘bout it?" His arm brushes Kakuzu’s back making him flinch. Hidan’s skin feels like ice. A glance towards the window confirms that it has started to snow. They’re in the far north for a mission, have travelled along frosted roads but they had been lucky enough to reach a village before they could get caught in heavy snowfall. Thinking back Hidan’s hands and lips had already looked blue the evening before. "This room’s awful, it’s ‘cuz you’re cheap," Hidan goes on, mumbling. He’s equally tired. "Not everyone has five fuckin’ hearts to keep warm."
Kakuzu sighs. "Dress warmer."
It gets him a nudge by a cold hand. "Fuck you, ‘Kuzu. Hey, share the blanket!"
Pointedly, Kakuzu pulls his blanket tighter around himself. "Go back to your own bed!"
Hidan clicks his tongue. "Stubborn bastard." For a second there is only quiet. No movement, no sound, like he’s mulling something over. Kakuzu closes his eyes again ready to fall asleep again. That’s when the blanket is lifted, cold air brushes his back and then an even colder body presses against his back. A second later Hidan is calm again and they’re pressed together from thigh to shoulder. He has an arm slung over Kakuzu’s waist and his face buried between two of his masks.
"Hidan." Kakuzu doesn’t know why he hasn’t turned around and punched him yet. He’s barely suppressing the urge to just follow through with it, teeth clenched and one hand fisted into his pillow.
Hidan, however, relaxes against him, as unbothered by other people’s discomfort as ever. "Shaddup…" He presses his cold nose against Kakuzu’s skin. "You’re so damn warm." His hand finds Kakuzu’s elbow and comes to rest on his biceps. "You can beat me up tomorrow, cool?"
Kakuzu doesn’t dignify that with an answer.
"Cool."
More warnings wouldn’t do anything. Hidan is stubborn like that. Verbally, he couldn’t be swayed to do anything. They could start a fight now but that would be a risk to the inn’s furniture, not to mention that they would uselessly sacrifice sleep.
Hidan has settled by now, breathing evened out into sleep, softly brushing against Kakuzu’s back, and his arm a dead weight around him. Within a few minutes his body feels warmer, less like a frozen corpse, and despite how much Kakuzu tells himself that he dislikes Hidan’s mere presence, he finds himself drifting off again.
***
This night’s sleep ends up being the best sleep Hidan has gotten in a long time. He falls asleep quickly and effortlessly and not even strings upon strings of letter bombs could have woken him up then. When he does wake up it’s to sunlight shining right into his face and warmth surrounding him completely. It’s comfortable, almost too much so, and even though he doesn’t quite want to yet, he opens his eyes.
The room’s window is halfway snowed shut, obscuring the view of the outside world and leaving only a small rectangle where light shines through. But that’s not what keeps his attention. It’s the way he is still curled around Kakuzu, except during the night the other man must have turned around in his sleep because Hidan’s head is tucked under his chin, face buried at his collarbone and breathing him in. For the first time Hidan becomes consciously aware that Kakuzu smells nice. Like sun-warmed rocks and something else pleasantly earthy. More than that, it envelops him, strong arms wrapped around Hidan’s shoulders keeping him close.
He hums and shifts just a little closer. If he listens closely enough he can make out five different heartbeats but what is more interesting is how Kakuzu’s breath is quicker than a sleeping man’s.
It’s warm, it’s comfortable and Hidan lives to destroy such moments.
"Guess you’re really growing softer with age, huh?"
Kakuzu smacks him over the head and lets go of him in favour of getting up. Wordlessly gathering up what few belongings they have he makes a point of not facing him. Hidan sits up, blanket wrapped around his shoulders to soak up the leftover warmth, and grins at his back.
When Kakuzu finally turns to him again, he’s wearing his mask and the usual disgruntled crease between his eyes. "Drop that smirk before I wipe it off."
Hidan only smirks harder and back on the road he makes sure to start at least three fights to keep himself warm. The next night they still end up in the same position again, warm and comfortable.