Work Text:
This was just his luck, Marrow thought as he waded through the knee height snow. It was supposed to be a run-of-the-mill, get-the-supplies-to-Amity-and-then-return kind of mission, but it had gotten a lot more complicated in the last 30 minutes or so. First, they had ran into a stray pack of grimm on their way back, and though the beasts had been defeated without injury, a megoliath had managed to stomp on the convoy truck. And secondly, the back axle of the truck had snapped cleanly in two from the force. The truck wouldn’t be moving anywhere. Period. At least the supplies were safe back on Amity. Silver linings, Marrow thought.
As he rounded the corner of the truck, he saw the second silver lining in the whole debacle: Weiss Schnee. There was no one else he’d rather have with him through this. Oh, there’d probably be people more suited to this situation, people who could easily fix the vehicle or use their semblance to teleport them safe and sound back to Atlas, but those kinds of people wouldn’t make him feel better about the situation, not like Weiss could anyway. Sometimes he wondered if the huntress had a second semblance that allowed her to regulate his emotions, similar to Ren. When had that begun to happen? Was it after the mines when Weiss had come to him asking how she could help the faunus in Mantle, or after their tour of the city? ( It was kind of a date, right?) Marrow wasn’t quite sure. But that was neither here nor there right now. They were stuck in the middle of Solitas tundra in a broken truck. They could at least count themselves fortunate that all Atlas military vehicles came with emergency supplies for situations exactly like they were in. They wouldn’t freeze or starve to death while waiting for rescue.
Weiss was sitting in the window seat, fiddling with an emergency beacon, trying to get it to work and broadcast their location. He tapped the window to let her know of his presence, she glanced at him through the window and opened the door. There was a bit of a pause as she shuffled herself into the middle seat. Marrow sighed as he sat down where Weiss had previously been, glad to be finally able to disengage his aura. Aura kept a person warm even in the most hostile of weathers, but even that couldn’t stop the chill from creeping into his bones. “How is it looking like?” Weiss asked, putting aside the beacon.
“Not good,” He answered, “There’s no way we’re getting this up and running on our own. The axle is completely busted.”
Weiss nodded, “That’s what I was afraid of. Neither of us is much of a mechanic, are we?”
“ Hey! I can take care of Fetch perfectly, thank you very much.” Weiss rolled her eyes at his joking outburst. “But I guess you’re right.”
“I’m always right! It’d get much easier for you if you’d just accept it.” Now it was Marrow’s turn to roll his eyes.
“Please tell me you got the beacon working.”
“I did!” She perked up and Marrow smiled at the obvious pride in her voice. Gods, why was she so cute? “I was just waiting for you to get back. You know the codes better than I do.”
He nodded as the huntress handed him the emergency beacon. Those codes had been drilled into him when he had joined the military. There were a lot of them, some for calling in reinforcements, for evacuation, there was even a code for calling in an airstrike on your location. He had never had to use that code and he hoped he’d never have to. It would likely be his last.
He punched in the code for an evac and they settled in to wait for a response, filling the silence with idle chatter. It didn’t take more than a couple of minutes for the response to come through.
“So that was the first time I got banned, then there was the second time...” Marrow was interrupted by the crackling of the radio and Weiss quickly stifled her giggles.
“ We’ve received your call for evac, Operative Amin. Unfor ...” The line crackled and went static for a second. “ Grimm... Mantle... Can’t...” Marrow frowned as they tried to make sense of the garbled message. “ Snowstorm coming... Hold on...” The line cut completely, plunging the truck into heavy silence.
“That’s...” Marrow began.
“Not good.” Weiss finished for him. She pulled her scroll out of her pocket, “The comms are completely down.”
Marrow sighed, this was starting to look worse and worse. “That’s not unusual out here. Especially with a snowstorm coming.”
“It sounded like Mantle was under attack,” Weiss sounded worried, that wasn’t good. If Mantle was under attack that meant that there was a large force of grimm nearby, if they attracted them...
“Mantle is defended by the entire military, and your teams are there too. I’m sure they have nothing to worry about.” Marrow tried to sound reassuring. “We need to stay calm. Last thing we need is grimm swarming us.”
Weiss took a deep breath, “You’re right... You’re right.” Then, sounding more like her normal self: “What’s our plan? If there really is snowstorm coming, we need to prepare for it. I noticed that there are some emergency supplies in the back of the truck while searching for the beacon.”
“We need to hunker down,” Marrow agreed. “The truck should be insulated enough that we won’t freeze, but it’s going to be a cold night, even with our aura.”
“Hmm, I think I saw a thermal blanket there too. Let me go grab it.” She clambered over the seats to the back of the truck. Marrow kept his eyes strictly on the windshield, refusing to even glance at her while her rear was up. It was bad enough that they were stuck in the middle of nowhere, Weiss didn’t need to also feel uncomfortable because of him.
He busied himself trying to get the radio back working, but like Weiss had said, he wasn’t much of a mechanic. It was more likely that he’d just manage to break it instead of fixing it. Why hadn’t he revised his mechanic classes after graduating from specialist training? He could keep Fetch well maintained and fix all kinds of weapons, just anything more complex was practically impossible for him.
“Uh, Marrow,” He heard Weiss call out, “I can only find one blanket!”
“What do you mean there’s only one blanket?” He called back. Each truck was supposed to have two thermal blankets. Had someone taken one out? Marrow growled, who could possibly be so irresponsible?! Blankets were a matter of life and death out in the glaciers. With only one blanket they would have to... Oh dear.
Marrow followed Weiss to the back of the truck, climbing over the seats with only minor difficulty. He cursed himself, this was just as much his fault as whoever had stolen the blanket. How could he not have done the necessary checks before the mission? It was a rookie mistake. Emergency supplies were always double checked. This is why people still treat you like a child. You’re stupid and irresponsible and if you both die from the cold it will be all your fault, he berated himself.
He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Marrow?” Weiss questioned, worry etched on her face. “What is it?”
The faunus forced himself to calm down, remembering his earlier words to Weiss. “It’s nothing,” he said, “You can take the blanket, I’ll just engage my aura for the night.”
Weiss smacked him upside the head. “Are you an idiot?” She asked.
Yes. He didn’t say that out loud. He was honestly shocked that Weiss would smack him. “Uh, no?” He tried.
She pinched the bridge of her nose, “You are. Do you really think that I’d let you waste your aura and possibly freeze while I was warm and comfy under a blanket?”
No, Weiss would never do that. He said as much. Her eyes softened. “We can share, it looks big enough to fit both of us under it. Or...” She blushed. “Do you not want to share it with me?”
“No, no, I’d love to be under the same blanket as you!” That , that came out wrong. He felt his cheeks flush and Weiss blushed even brighter. “Uh... I didn’t mean it like that...” It was too late to fix it. Weiss would find him disgusting and...
“I know,” She reassured him, “I would... also... like to be under the same blanket with you...” The air felt like it was growing hotter, which was a miracle considering the circumstances. Weiss’ lips looked soft and warm, and he longed to press his own against them to see for himself if they were. Instead, he cleared his throat and turned back to the supplies. When he glanced at Weiss over his shoulder, he saw that she was still looking at him, something akin to disappointment on her still flushed face. But that couldn’t be right, could it?
“There are some rations here. We... um... should probably eat something...” Anything to distract himself from Weiss’ lips.
“Yes,” Weiss said softly, “We should.”
The dinner was a quiet affair, both focusing on their food rather than the tension remaining between them. Every bite seemed to get caught in Marrow’s throat and he struggled to swallow his food. He’d glance at Weiss sometimes and he swore he noticed her quickly turn her gaze down to her dinner, instead of getting caught staring at him. This is all your fault, he lamented mentally, if you’d just have kept your big mouth shut, now she thinks you’re an idiot or worse; a pervert. No wonder she didn’t want to speak to him anymore.
The wind had started picking up outside as they ate, and soon he could see fat snowflakes slowly drifting down in the diminishing light. It wouldn’t be long until the truck would start to be buried under the snow. The snowstorms of Solitas seemed unassuming at first but that’s how they got you. You’d think you could get away with a short walk around the camp and all of a sudden, you’d find yourself lost in the snow. Marrow still remembered with horror one guy during his specialist training. They’d been on a training mission in the far north of Atlas, when the huntsman had left his tent for... Marrow couldn’t remember the exact reason, but the end result had been that the guy hadn’t been seen after that. His body had been found a week later buried under a snowdrift, frozen stiff with glazed eyes staring sightlessly up at the starry sky. Marrow still sometimes had nightmares about those eyes.
“I guess the storm really is coming,” Marrow said, mostly to fill the silence. Good going, Marrow, he thought, talking about the weather, real smooth.
“Yeah, it is,” Marrow cursed himself again for making it all so awkward.
“Listen, Weiss, I’m sorry.” He reached for her with his hand but pulled it back before even fully beginning the gesture.
“What for?” She tilted her head questioningly. Marrow tried to keep his eyes on hers, instead of her lips.
“For...” What exactly had he done wrong? “For making things awkward?” He tried again, offering her an apologetic smile. That did it, Weiss laughed and the tension seemed to melt away.
“Oh, Marrow,” She said between adorable snorts, “You didn’t make things awkward.”
“I... I didn’t?” He was confused now. Then what had that been about?
“I just...” Weiss paused, trying to think of words to say. “I just got scared... of myself.”
“Of yourself?” Marrow questioned.
“It’s stupid, okay?” Weiss blushed and looked to her empty food tray.
“It’s not.” He reassured her, “And even if it is, I’d still like to hear it.”
Marrow watched as the former heiress opened and closed her mouth several times, “ Ithoughtyouweregoingtokissmeand...” She said so quickly that Marrow couldn’t comprehend what she said. “And I wanted it...” She whispered.
“Wait,” He said, “Say that again, slowly, like you would speak to a five-year-old, or Jaune.” She smiled nervously at that.
“Marrow,” He shivered from the way his name sounded passing her lips, “I wanted you to kiss me,” She breathed. His brains ground to a halt and he was pretty sure he was looking like a fish out of water judging by the way he was opening and closing his mouth trying to think of what to say.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to make our friendship awkward or ruin it or...” She quieted when Marrow took her hand in his, interlacing their fingers. Everything was quiet, except for the beating of their hearts. He slowly cradled her chin with his free hand, tilting her head slightly back. Her lips parted slightly and she closed those big, blue eyes of hers that were so beautiful and leaned in closer... Their lips met gently, carefully, afraid to cross some invisible line that would make the other pull back.
Her lips really were as soft and warm as he had thought. He pulled back slightly, breaking the kiss. They were so close he could count her individual eyelashes. Her eyes fluttered open and the look in her eyes was so gentle and loving that it stole Marrow’s breath away.
The second kiss was hungrier, more desperate for whatever closeness they could get. Weiss’ arms wrapped around his neck and he felt her burying her fingers in his hair, pulling him even closer to her. He gently pushed her lips apart with his and let her make the first move. Carefully, almost shyly, she touched his tongue with hers, quickly growing more confident and before long Marrow felt it safe enough to let his own tongue do some exploring as well. Weiss sighed into the kiss and relaxed even further in his arms. Outside, snow continued to fall in ever increasing amounts, burying them in a small, surprisingly warm, cocoon, isolated from the rest of the world by miles and miles of glaciers, snow and the occasional grimm.
The thermal blanket was, as it turned out, large enough to cover both of them. Marrow sat on the floor, back leaning against an empty dust crate with Weiss sitting on his lap, both carefully wrapped inside the blanket. She rested her head against his chest and gave a happy sigh.
“I wasn’t aware that just kissing could be so... satisfying,” She mumbled, the warmth of both the blanket and his body making her sleepy. Marrow shared the sentiment, barely being able to keep his eyes open.
Marrow hummed, “Well, you know what they say about good company...” He said teasingly.
“We probably should practice it more some time.”
“Purely for research purposes, of course.”
“Of course.” Weiss yawned and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “Purely for research.”
The yawn was infectious, and Marrow felt like his jaws would dislocate. He leaned his cheek on the top of her head. “We should get some sleep first though.”
Weiss snuggled closer to his chest. “Is it wrong that I’m happy we got stuck out here?”
“No,” He answered, “I’m happy too.” He kissed her forehead and Weiss giggled softly.
“Maybe we should thank the grimm for breaking the truck?”
He shrugged though it was slightly awkward with her holding onto him so closely. “If you want to go find a grimm to thank now you’re welcome to do so.”
Weiss made an overly thoughtful hum at that. “...No, I think I like it here. You make for a very comfortable chair.”
“Such a compliment.” Marrow said dryly and Weiss laughed.
“Maybe we should do this more often too.”
“What? Getting snowed in?” He joked.
“Yes, I rather like it. We should definitely do this the next time we're on a mission together. ” She said in an incredibly dry voice. "But no, I meant cuddling."
“Your wish is my command, my lady.” Weiss snorted and playfully slapped his chest.
“Quiet, you. We’re having a moment.”
Marrow laughed gently but obeyed her. They stayed silent for a while, the only noise in the world being their soft breathing and the wind howling outside.
“Weiss?” He asked. There was no answer, so he craned his neck to look down at the huntress on his lap. She was asleep, snoring gently against him.
Marrow smiled, “Good night.” He whispered and closed his eyes as well.