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"So, how was grocery shopping?"
Webs was the first to start a conversation as the group sat together at the kitchen table, quietly eating the pasta they cooked together.
The kitchen itself was still looking rather bland, as it was stocked with simple things that a completely normal apartment in Los Angeles should have. Nothing too special, but it was enough for them.
This was the first step into their new life after their year spent in prison. Diane was more than happy to help them out on their new path, so she rented an apartment for them that was pretty close to her place, so they could come over anytime. It wasn't big, but had enough space for the five of them. It had a kitchen, a living room, a bathroom and 2 bedrooms.
As already stated, it was enough to feel comfortable. Not quite like at home yet, but that would come eventually.
"Mostly pleasant", Snake shot back over the wooden table, hovering over his fourth portion of pasta, "but one guy almost ran me over."
"He just pushed his cart over your tail, babe", Wolf added with a chuckle, as he saw his boyfriend dig into his food. He bet on his tail that he would swallow down at least two more plates of pasta, he really had an appetite equivalent to Shark's, maybe even bigger.
"Remind me what Diane said earlier again?" Wolf was looking at Shark now, who wiped his mouth clean of tomato sauce. "She just said that she got a call from the housekeeper, who told her that the heating broke down all of a sudden… oh, and that they're working on fixing it!" he added. "Ay caramba, now we have to sit and wait in this cold in the middle of November?" Piranha grunted, leaning back in his chair, obviously full, and rubbing his arms in an attempt to warm them, "It was even warmer in prison!"
Looking out the window, Webs noticed that it already snowed outside, typical weather for that month of year. Considering that, it was gonna get a lot cooler inside the apartment without any heating. "Well, if I'd only be wearing a t-shirt like you, I'd be freezing too", Tarantula said feistily and pulled on the strings of her hoodie. "And plus, what's a little cold gonna do? Scared to freeze??" Piranha shot her a look and crossed his arms, pouting.
"She's right guys, besides, we're no weaklings, are we? We can stand a little cold", Wolf said with a shrug, putting on a wide grin, "but don't get too nervous piranha, or else we'll have to open up the windows to get some fresh air in. We don't want to risk you turning into a popsicle!", he joked, earning himself a laugh from the others and a barely audible, nervous chuckle from Snake, who just finished his fourth plate of noodles.
"Hey Hermano, you've been really quiet, everything good?" The reptile's brows shot up in surprise as he realized that Piranha's question was directed at him. His gaze wandered over the table, seeing nothing more but four pairs of eyes staring back at him. "Oh", he started, getting progressively nervous, "I'm good, just… really tired. Probably didn't get enough sleep last night. I think I'll… head to bed early." With that, he swiftly got off his chair and headed straight for the bedroom he shared with Wolf.
"Well that happened" Tarantula mumbled as soon as they heard the door close, "don't forget you're in charge of the dishes tonight, Piranha" she said dryly and immediate protest followed from the other side of the table, along with loud laughter and giggles.
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Snake sighed and rolled around on his side of the bed, trying to fall asleep, but regarding the clattering of dishes and loud talking coming from the kitchen, pressing his face into the pillow didn't help much.
He used his tail to pull the blanket closer to his face and really snuggled into it in an attempt to warm himself up a bit. What an act, he thought to himself and really hoped the others didn't grow suspicious on his sudden flee from the dinner table. He grunted at his remembrance, as the reptile has never been fond of sudden changes, and oh boy did something change right now.
He pulled his lower body more upwards as he felt another wave of that fuzzy feeling rolling over him again, not being a good one. It felt like a plague, sticking to his stomach and doing its best to constantly remind him that it's still there. It felt like a pressure on his chest. It felt like a pondering in his head, desperately pleading for him to do something. But he couldn't, he wouldn't, because he knew what would happen, he was well aware of the consequences that would bring.
He slightly flinched as he heard the door open, close, and then there was careful shifting beside him. Next thing he knew, a soft kiss was planted on his cheek and an even softer "goodnight sweetheart" followed after, so darn sweet it made his heart soar for a good moment.
He laid still for some time, thinking about their confession in prison from over a year ago. They've been officially together since then, but there were things the reptile didn't talk about, things that could change everything, and hell, was he scared of that.
Snake rolled over to face the sleeping face of his boyfriend and couldn't help but grin, even with the fuzzy feeling sending another reminder. He could do this, snake thought to himself before closing his eyes, maybe it wouldn't be so bad.
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Turns out it was going to be bad. Snake woke up to a penetrant pounding in his head that was no longer a pleading, but rather a demand for him to get up. Even though he didn't like it, he sat up on the mattress and checked the time: 11:30 pm.
Snake took a breath and left the bed, exiting the room into the hallway. The pounding practically screamed to him now, wanting warmth, and the reptile assumed that it would've been wiser to take a blanket with him. Now, he was dragging himself towards the kitchen, hoping that the stove had warmed up the room a little bit.
Halfway through, he already regretted leaving the bedroom, as his sight started to blur and every move he made was tiring him out. The reptile was putting lots of effort into keeping balance, reaching his destination that made him ease up at the slightly warmer temperature the room offered.
But then, the feeling headed down his body, now sticking to his stomach again, making him feel sick. Knowing that heading for the bathroom would take ages and probably cost him much energy, he took advantage of the kitchen trash bin and let his body do its job. Closing the cabinet, he leaned his head onto the wood for a few seconds to breathe when shivers started to make their way down his scales, making him freeze and let out a whimper.
He needed warmth, he needed to lay down somewhere, but dragging himself back to the bedroom? Not an option at the moment, so he made his shaky, rocked way over to the couch in the living room, where the heat of the stove was also present a little bit.
With his body finally settled on the furniture, he took a few shaky breaths, begging for the once again starting pondering in his head to stop, but his instincts showed no mercy. His vision was terrible, the reptile couldn't see a damn thing, so he decided to close his eyes and drop down head first onto a pillow, fighting against yet another shiver that sent a freezing shock down his spine.
Maybe, just for a few minutes, he could just rest here, Snake thought to himself and curled up a bit more on the couch, his head calming down, making him feel sleepy. Just a few minutes, was the last thing he thought about before closing his eyes, giving in to the chilling cold slowly settling in over the night.
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Wolf woke up to some inherent, distant discussion probably coming from the kitchen. A grin was plastered onto his face almost immediately, the others must be in a failing attempt to make breakfast again.
He rolled over to deliver a good-morning-kiss, but found the bed empty.
Heck, it didn't really surprise him, his boyfriend was a light sleeper and was probably already in the kitchen. Wolf let out a yawn and made his way through the hall after slipping into his warm sheep onesie. It was still pretty cold in the apartment, but it didn't bother him, really.
"G'morning" he greeted the others, who were desperately trying to prevent setting the kitchen on fire.
"Good morning Wolf! Are we gonna get scolded soon? We know how grumpy Snake gets in the morning, we've been trying to keep it down, but you know how these two can get" Webs said, gesturing towards Shark and Piranha with her head.
"Wait, he's not here with you?" Wolf asked, a bit confused, earning 3 equivalent headshakes from his friends. "We thought he was still in bed with you?" It came from Shark. Weird, where did that guy end up?
Wolf had a bad feeling it might be about last night's dinner. "Maybe he's in the bathroom? Dibs, I'll check!" and with that, Piranha ran off. Wolf strolled over to the living room, while webs and Shark kept an eye on the stove.
He found Snake all curled up on the couch, only his head sticking out of his own loop of coils, eyes closed."Good morning, sleepy head, time to get up!" he said in a soft tone.
Silence.
"Aw come on babe, don't be all grumpy at the others, you know how they get. Besides, you missed your kiss for breakfast!" he tried in a more soothing tone.
Nothing.
"Snake?" Yup, there was definitely a bad feeling nagging at him, something that told him this wasn't right.
It even got worse as he put his paw on the reptile's body, slightly shaking it, without any response. He couldn't help but start to panic a little, as he crouched down and shook the snake's body a bit more desperately.
"Guys, GUYS! Come over here, quick!!" was the first thing that came to his mind, and it didn't take long for shark and piranha to enter the room.
"What happened? Did you find-" "Wolf! I think you should see this!" Piranha got interrupted by Tarantula, and Wolf took off to go to the kitchen, glancing back at his two friends now trying to get the reptile to wake up.
Webs was sitting on the cupboard, an open cabinet in front of her, gesturing to it. Wolf took a glance, but immediately tumbled back a little from the awful smell of vomit the trash bin gave off.
What he did see though, between the undigested dinner, was a slingshot.
He took another look, which confirmed that Snakes entire storage of useful items laid in between vomited pasta.
Processing what he just had seen, the most unsettling thoughts and scenarios started off in his head, as he quickly grabbed Webs and headed for the couch, where Piranha and Shark were still fully going.
Piranha was calling out Snake's name, gently touching one of his coils. Shark stood in front of the couch. "Alright Mr. Grumpypants, you didn't want it any other way" Shark shouted with fear clearly in his voice,"if you don't get up RIGHT NOW, I'll…. I'll eat ALL THE PUSH POPS WE HAVE IN THE FRIDGE!" But his extremely loud exclamation earned him nothing but cold silence.
"What the hell is wrong with him?! Is he sick?!" Piranha threw into the room, causing a wild discussion to ensue. To say the least, it got loud, it got confusing as everyone shouted inaudible things.
But everyone heard it as Shark gasped and put a fin on his mouth. "You guys don't think that he's… that he's..??" looking over to the seemingly lifeless reptile on the couch who was part of their family.
Almost immediately, fear took the upper hand and caused them to freak out. Shark was trying not to cry, Piranha simply stared at Snake in absolute disbelief. Webs was nervously fiddling with her hands and legs and Wolf, well he looked like he had gotten a bad punch to the stomach. He walked around the room, like he would do planning a heist, back and forth, his paws at the back of his head.
Trying to breathe, he wanted to think of what to do, but no clear thought was able to fight through his fogged mind.
This wasn't happening, this couldn't be happening, he thought to himself and wasn't sure if it was just the cold sending a shiver down his back or something else.
He felt the fear creep up, sending his heart to beat heavily in his chest. He couldn't hear the others anymore, he couldn't look at Snake, he couldn't look at anyone, so he sat down with his face buried into his hands, not even noticing his uneven breathing until he felt a familiar tip of hairy legs on his shoulder.
"Hey pal, please, we need you to calm down. Just, concentrate on your breathing, concentrate on your heartbeat, we'll find a way to fix this." Wolf did as said and relaxed a bit, feeling his heartbeat ease down to a normal level.
He halted. His heartbeat.
It felt like a lever was pulled inside of him. He scrambled over to the couch, got onto his knees and carefully laid his ear on the area where Snake's heart must be, waiting to hear something, anything.
The others gathered around, hope plastered onto their faces. Wolf's irises darted around while he pleaded for something to happen.
Please, please, please if there are some miracles, please darn it, don't take him away from me!, he thought as still nothing occurred.
He couldn't lose him. Not like this.
Tears started forming in his eyes, and the others looked at Wolf in absolute devastation.
But then he flinched, as he heard a soft thumping from the reptile's chest, causing him to raise his paw to send a signal to the others. He started waiting again, just to make sure he didn't imagine it.
After about 10 long seconds, there was another one, 10 more seconds, another one, and heck, it was the most beautiful sound Wolf had heard today, filling him up to the brim with hope and smiling from ear to ear for a moment, his tail slightly wagging of joy.
Snake was alive, he had a heartbeat! The others were just as relieved, until another question popped up:
Why wasn't he waking up?
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-Rrring Rrring, Rrring Rrring-
"I'll get it! " Webs hopped off of Shark's shoulder, heading for the phone laying on the kitchen counter, leaving the rest of the gang who she has been discussing a reasonable way to wake Snake up from his unresponsive state for the past half an hour.
She climbed up to the still ringing phone, accepted the call and put it on speaker. It was Diane. "Hey Webs, just wanted to check in on you guys before my next meeting, I've spoken to the housekeeper again, looks like your heating problem is gonna stick with you for a while. How are things at the apartment?"
"Heh, they could be better…" Tarantula sadly chuckled and began explaining to her friend what was currently going on.
"Wh- But that's horrible! Did you really- yeah i'll be there in a moment- did you really not find a way to wake him up yet?" Diane asked worriedly. "No, nothing…" Webs answered and allowed herself a glance through the door to the living room.
Piranha was wildly waving his fins around, babbling nonsense, while Shark occasionally glanced over to her. Wolf was sitting on the floor next to the couch, keeping his ear close to Snake's chest, probably counting the heartbeats to make sure nothing changes. "He's also really stiff, plus the slow heart rate and breathing… Di, we have no idea what it could be, and honestly, we're pretty scared. Do you have an idea maybe?"
Webs could hear Diane sigh. "No, not at all, but I promise I'll check on you after my meeting. I'm really sorry I can't do more, but I'll have to end the call…Oh! Wait, I remember something! I don't know if it'll be of much help, but snakes are cold-blooded, as far as I know. Ah, sorry, gotta run, I'll see you later Webs!"
"See ya! Bye…" Tarantula sighed and ended the call.
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"What did Diane say?" Shark asked quietly, as Webs came crawling back into the living room. Wolf was still checking Snake's heart rate while Piranha was pacing around in the room impatiently. "Well, the heating won't turn on soon, but she'll check on us later today… She knew nothing about what could be wrong with Snake either…"
Webs sat on the end of the sofa, thinking about a solution, thinking about a way to help their friend, their loved family member, who was still resting on the couch, not moving a muscle. Why was he so stiff? Why was his heartbeat so slow? And most importantly, why wasn't he waking up?
Tarantula was pulled out of her thoughts as Wolf perked up all of a sudden. "Guys, we have a problem." This simple sentence was enough to get the attention of everyone in the room, but regarding the anxious look of the canine, it was clear that it wasn't good. "Please don't tell me…" Shark began, eyes wide.
Wolf lifted his head a bit, ears laid back, and finished the sentence his friend had started with a shaky voice. "... heartbeat's dropping."
"AY, NO!" Piranha shot over, understandably upset. "What the hell are we gonna do now? What if we never find a solution? We can't just-" Tears shot into his eyes, which he quickly wiped off with his fin as Wolf crouched down to his level and put a reassuring paw on his shoulder, at least as reassuring as it was possible for the canine at the moment."Think about what Webs told me earlier, we have to keep calm and think straight, there has to be something we can do to help him…"
Everyone shot a worried look over to Snake, before starting a discussion about what they hadn't checked yet.
Tarantula was sitting on Shark's shoulder, fiddling with her hands, eyes focused onto one place in the room, her common pose for when she was concentrating, and usually, she would quietly talk to herself.
"C'mon, C'mon, think dammit think, what could've caused this? Maybe dinner… No, that would've had us all sick.. But there's vomit in the trash can… Vomit. Sick. Stiff. Heartbeat. Breathing."
Webs felt like she was calculating a formula, going through every little detail of the day, programming a solution.
"Won't wake up, won't wake up…" Her eyes darted around the room, stopping on Wolf who was currently sitting down beside the sofa, trying to breathe in and out as calm as possible, every breath clearly visible from the coolness of the apartment.
"Breathing. Heating. Heat. Heartbeat. Breathing. Sick. Phone. Diane. Cold-blooded. Cold. Heating broke down. Cold…"
She halted, processing what she just said. "Cold, snakes are cold-blooded, the heating broke, cold… cold, HOLY THORAX, COLD!!!"
Webs was throwing her hands around wildly, gaining everyone's interest. "Has anyone checked his temperature?" "I felt his head, he doesn't have a fever, so we can scratch that…" Shark replied. "No, no no no, maybe not that, but maybe it's the cold that's causing this! Think about it!" she exclaimed and pointed outside the window, where it had begun to snow again.
Wolf immediately got to his feet. "Alright, we've got no more time to waste, let's try warming him up. Are we all in this together? ", he said as the gang all joined hands. "YEAH!"
Everyone parted ways, dashing through the apartment, collecting all the blankets they could find. Shark grabbed his walrus onesie and Piranha's bear onesie from the closet, also taking all the bed sheets he could find, piling them up in his arms.
Wolf was the first to return to Snake and instantly began to carefully wrap the blankets around the reptile's stiff body, making sure no spot was uncovered.
Shark joined in shortly after, spreading his huge, fuzzy onesie over the serpent, while Webs was busy tucking in the edges and putting a tiny piece of fabric, which served as a blanket for her, on top of Snake's head. When they were done, the reptile looked as if he had eaten a rhinoceros.
Sudden crashing from the bathroom made them flinch, staring in shock as Piranha raced towards them, handing Wolf a thermometer while mumbling something about totally not having wrecked a cupboard to a hold of the useful item.
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Turns out Webs was right.
After checking Snake's temperature, and double plus triple checking because they thought the thermometer was broken at first, they found out that the reptile was indeed unnaturally cold, just about as cold as the room was, which caused worry to set in again.
Now they were sitting around him in a circle, watching the serpent's chest rise and fall slowly every once in a while and checking his temperature regularly. Noone of them could deny that being a little closer to the solution was making them less anxious.
Wolf looked at his friends' faces, finding nothing but worry, fear, a spark of hope maybe?
Webs was sitting right beside Snake's head, carefully stroking his cheek, while Shark and Piranha were huddled together at the end of the couch, watching the motionless reptile.
Wolf gazed upon his boyfriend, silently pleading for something to happen, wanting nothing more than having Snake with him, all curled up, his face buried in his neck fur, his coils wrapped all around him. That's how he liked it best, always sending his tail to go haywire. But this seemed so far away at the moment, his fond memories being fought back by the immense worry that creeped inside him like a dark cloud in his head.
It tore him apart, made his mind play the horrible memory of almost losing Snake during marmalade's Guinea pig rampage. His inner eye saw him falling towards the crater again, felt the crushing fear, and then his brain just rewinded.
Was this what going insane felt like?
"AAH!" Wolf was pulled out of his thoughts by a sudden scream, along with the surprised shouts of his friends. "Shark, what the hell?! Webs panted, her tiny hand on her chest. "Oh my God you guys, his head just moved!!!" Shark replied, pointing a fin at the reptile, who's head, which originally laid on top of one of his coils, seemed to have slipped down a little.
Piranha jumped onto the couch, gently touching the serpent. "Oi chicos, he's right! He's less stiff than before!" Checking his temperature, it was confirmed that he had indeed gotten a bit warmer during the last half an hour. This realization set off a firework of hope and relief, leaving the gang's tails and fins wagging of pure joy.
The four got together for a moment, hugging each other and laughing as a ton of worry simply dropped off of their backs. It was working, and although Snake hadn't woken up yet, the hopes for it were higher than ever. So high, it made Shark suggest to go and buy some ingredients for soup, because as he stated: "Soup always warms you up from the inside, it's perfect!"
A perfect idea indeed, the others agreed and Piranha and Shark got ready to leave while Webs volunteered to prepare everything in the kitchen, leaving Wolf to stay with Snake to keep an eye on him.
"You sure you'll be alright, Wolfie?" Tarantula shot him a slightly worried look as she sat on the door handle. The canine simply nodded with a slight smile, showing gratitude for her concern. "Okay, just… if you need me, I'll be in the kitchen." and with that, she closed the door.
Now it was only Wolf and Snake, who was still motionless, chest moving a bit more rhythmic than before.
It's gonna be alright, Wolf told himself as he sat down on the couch and carefully slid his paws under the multiple sheets of fabric the reptile was wrapped in, slowly lifting the entire thing onto his lap, putting his arms around Snake and laying his head down with utmost care.
It's gonna be alright, that sentence circling inside his head over and over as he bent forward and placed a small kiss on the serpent's cheek before laying his head back on the furniture, closing his eyes as he stroked Snake's forehead and sighed.
"Don't worry sweetheart, I'll keep you warm."
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Considering the fact the gang wrapped about a dozen of blankets around the serpent's body, it wasn't long until he would regain consciousness.
So as he slowly came to, the first thing that went through his mind was how wonderfully warm and cozy it was. Just the way he liked it.
The next thing he noticed was how hard it was for him to move. His eyelids were still incredibly heavy, so he could only go with some small squirms of his body to try and figure out where the hell he was. It was warm and tight and - he was able to make his tongue flicker by now - he definitely picked up the scent of the living room.
This particular movement however, followed by a low groan, gained the instant attention of the canine also present in the room, who bent forward in a matter of seconds.
"Snake?" Wolf's voice was barely a whisper, as he gently put his paw on the currently waking up reptile. Snake's eyelids twitched as he tried to open them up and another quick flicker with his tongue detected the oh so familiar scent of the canine.
"W-olf"?, he asked, his voice hoarse and barely audible, as his eyes slowly fluttered open, earning a small gasp from Wolf, who quickly got down to his eye level.
"Snake, snake, love I'm here, can you hear me?"
It took a good moment, but another groan told him that the serpent understood him perfectly, making his tail wag slightly. Snake's eyes thoroughly scanned the room, registering that it must be some time in the afternoon, since it already started getting dim.
He tilted his head to see blankets and what appeared to be Shark's walrus onesie wrapped around his rolled-up coils, a few slow, but steady movements allowing him not to feel so tight anymore. His gaze landed on Wolf's worried facade, concern clearly written on his face. And then it clicked all of a sudden.
Shit.
Snake shot up, eyes wide, frantically looking around and stumbling over his words.
"Whe- where- how did I- what month is it- why am - uhhh.." was all he got out before a wave of dizziness attacked him full-force, blurring his eyesight and making him tumble back, being immediately steadied by Wolf, who leaned back with the reptile carefully pressed against him, trying to calm him down.
"Hey, hey, it's okay, everything is okay, just breathe.." he soothed the serpent, running his paws along his scales. They stayed like this for a couple of minutes, Wolf watching Snake's chest rise and fall in a normal rhythm again, which made his mind less worried.
He was awake, their plan had worked, now came the harder part, as he knew that his boyfriend was not really the kind of guy to openly talk about feelings and bodily well-being and- he halted.
What did Snake just say?
His gut knew in a matter of seconds that something was off. Sure, there was a possibility he was just confused, but still, there was something going on in general, considering the weird behavior at dinner and the vomit in the trash bin.
"Are you feeling better?" Wolf started, getting a slight nod and a long "mhmm" for an answer.
Might as well dig some deeper.
After he helped Snake to get a bit more comfortable inside his sheets of fabric so he could sit up properly, he settled down beside him. "Mind telling me what happened?" was the next question the canine threw in the room.
"Uhh, what'cha mean?"
"You know what I'm talking about Snake…" Wolf continued, eyebrows knitted, "You've been acting off since last night's dinner, what's wrong?"
Snake slid off a little in an attempt to widen the space between them, because he felt as if Wolf was right at the tip of his tail, and that worried him. A lot. "So I felt a little off, who cares? Happens to everybody…" he stated.
"Then what was that about what month we were on?"
Oh. Oh crap, did he say that? "Heh, don't know what you're talking about." Wow. Very smooth. But he couldn't think of what else to say at the moment, feeling his scales starting to heat up from nervousness. Well, that helped against the cold at least.
"Don't play dumb with me here, I know something is up" the lupine now spoke with a more warning tone, and let alone his bent-forward body posture reeked of suspicion. "Cut the crap and tell me what happened."
Snake desperately wanted this conversation to end. "I was just a bit tired Wolf, nothing else. I don't know why you're making such a fuss over it, I'm fine." he said, shifting around inside his roll. Was he sweating? Hardly, reptiles don't sweat. Wolf didn't make an effort to back off, trying in a different tone after heaving a frustrated sigh. "Just- come on, this is serious babe, just please, talk to me." "No, leave me be!"
This was definitely not working out. The lupine knew Snake, and he knew that the shifting, the eyes darting around, looking at anything but him, those were the inevitable signs that he was fibbing. Tilting his ears back, he gave it another shot, even though the reptile's ongoing denial made his chest burn up from frustration.
"I'm not leaving until you tell me what's bothering you, and don't try lying to me!"
"SHUT UP! Stop asking, it's not a big deal!!" the serpent snarled at him, spat the words right at his face, and that was all it took.
"IT IS A BIG DEAL!!" Wolf shot back furiously, wildly wringing his paws. "Dont you see that? I'm only trying to help you! Why can't you just tell me what's going on? Do you have ANY idea how worried you had us? How worried you had ME when we found you here and that… stuff in the trash and when we couldn't wake you up no matter how hard we tried?! And we didn't know what the hell we should do and you just… SHRUG it off like it's NOTHING and JUST-" Wolf scoffed and sunk his head down into his paws, taking in a few deep, shaky breaths.
Then, he continued. "I'm… I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to lash out on you, especially since you just woke up…I'm just… I was so scared for you, you know? I didn't know what to do, you weren't responding to anything, I felt like I was going crazy… I… I felt so helpless and I was so afraid to lose you…"
While Wolf's voice was shaky and teary, Snake had backed down a little from the canine's sudden outburst, absolutely dumbfounded.
He hadn't seen the lupine so upset in a long time, and seeing him sunken down like this made his heart ache. His brain aggressively tried to form a sentence, something he could say to comfort Wolf, but he had never been a guy of big words and right now, he was still too confused to come up with anything helpful.
So he settled for the truth, even though it was the one thing he had wanted to avoid so badly.
"Brumation."
Wolf looked up. "What?..."
Snake reluctantly moved on. "It's called brumation. I'm cold-blooded, that means my body temperature adjusts itself to the temperature outside, and when it gets too cold, my body kinda… shuts down."
His gaze finally met the glossy eyes of his loved one. "So, you knew this was gonna happen?" Now it was Wolf who looked baffled. "Why didn't you just tell me?"
Snake thought about his answer for a while. "I…I don't know… I guess I just wanted to avoid it, didn't want to bring it up after what you said at dinner, dammit I just didn't want you guys to think that I was…" he looked away.
Wolf thought about this for a moment, and suddenly, it dawned on him. Watching the serpent's chest moving heavily, he understood how hard it was for him to say it out loud. So he took the upper hand. "... You… you didn't want us to think you're a weakling?" he carefully asked, earning only a quick glance from Snake.
Wolf scooted closer to him.
"Snake, bud, why would you think that? I only said that to brighten up the mood, I would never-"
"I know you didn't mean it…" Snake interrupted him, "I didn't want you to worry about me, so I tried to brush it off. And look how well that went. Fucking cold with that fucking brumation stuff, it's pathetic, I'm pathetic, you probably think so poor of me now…" the serpent spat out, Wolf not believing what he just heard.
"Wha- Snake, who made you think this way?"
"Everyone. When you show people your fangs or your claws, when you show them you're strong Wolf, then they are intimidated. But as soon as you give them a hint of weakness, they take it and use it against you, leaving you all alone with your problems and your fear…I learned this the hard way, and I couldn't risk you thinking I'm weak too…"
"And what's so wrong with that?"
Snake couldn't help but let out a sad chuckle at that remark.
"What's so wrong with that? Everything! This stupid shit is my weakness! When I'm like this, I have no control over anything, I have nothing to defend myself with! When I'm like this, I'm vulnerable and… and after being alone for so long, I just couldn't take the thought of you guys leaving me too!''
Snake felt hot tears prickle in his eyes and turned away, wanting nothing more than to disappear from the current situation he was in. He clenched his teeth as a cold rush ran down his spine. He had crawled out of the multiple sheets of fabric during the conversation without noticing, and it was still damn cold in the room.
But suddenly, a paw gently grabbed his body and pulled it onto a warm, white sheep onesie, the second paw taking Shark's onesie that had been draped over Snake and wrapping it around him again.
Then, the paw traveled upwards and gently cupped his cheek, turning his head so he could look straight into the canine's soft, tear-filled eyes.
"Snake, sweetheart, I just told you how lost I felt when I couldn't figure out what was wrong with you. I was also weak back there, just like you when you're in that brumation thingie of yours. And that's perfectly normal, because everyone has something that makes us be like that. And you may have been hurt in the past, but that shit's over!"
Snake felt his lips tremble and a tight knot forming in his throat as Wolf stroked his cheek with his thumb and went on.
"You have us now, and none of us will leave you because you are vulnerable sometimes, and every single one of the others will tell you the same thing, because we care about you, I care about you. A lot."
Wolf wiped off a tear that slipped out of his eyes before kissing Snake on the forehead. "You are allowed to feel weak, you are allowed to be vulnerable and anxious. Just know that we'll be the to help you through it, because we love you Snake, we really, honestly do."
Snake's jaw, his chest, heck, his whole body was shaking as tears now started to slowly flow down his cheeks, Wolf quickly wiping one off from where his paw was.
Next thing he knew, he was wrapped up in a hug and felt soft pats on his back. "It's okay, it's all right, just let it all out"
And as if a lever put him on auto-pilot, his big coils wrapped up closer to Wolf automatically, and a giant wave of relief, of worry, of God knows what the hell he was feeling washed over him as he sobbed into Wolf's shoulder, eyes shut tight, the tears spilling out like a built-up river let loose.
He tried to blurt out some apologies, only to be stopped mid-sentence every time.
And with every stroke down his spine he felt another worry slip from his mind, with every low shush the canine whispered he felt another weight taken off his soul as he rubbed his head into Wolf's neck, sobs turning into small hiccups, turning into meek little sniffles.
They stayed in this position for some time, until Snake started speaking up with a raspy voice.
"Hey, Wolf?" "What's up?" it came back. They separated from their embrace and the serpent looked at Wolf with teary eyes. "Thank you, for.. y'know-"
"Hey Wolfie, you good in there? How's- SNAKE!" Webs was sitting on the door handle, a smile immediately appearing on her face as she saw that her friend was awake. Her loud exclamation also got the attention of the biggest predator in the apartment, who came bursting through the now wide open kitchen door in an instant, scrambling over to the couch.
Snake yelped as he was yanked into another crushing hug from Shark, Webs jumping onto his fin and nuzzling into the reptile's cheek. "Oh my goodness, you're okay! You had us scared like crazy, baby!"
"We were so worried about you, thank god you're awake! How're you feeling? Holy thorax, Shark, put him down, you're gonna make his eyes pop out!! He's probably freezing again!!" Webs shouted as she aggressively poked Shark's fin with her leg.
The huge predator gasped before gently putting Snake down. From that second on, he was not allowed to move a muscle as Shark put him into his Unicorn onesie and then carefully wrapped another three big blankets around the reptile while Webs took his temperature once more, giving him a warning look not to intervene.
They were still fussing over him when Piranha came crashing into the room, leaping at Snake, almost making him roll off the sofa.
"HERMANO!! Haha, you're awake! You really had us worried there, but luckily I found a way to help you!" he proudly stated, earning himself an annoyed "ahem" from the others present in the room. "Eheh, I mean, we found a way… together. Heh, glad you're better, Chico!" he happily exclaimed as everyone gathered around and wrapped the serpent up in a big group hug, all of them clinging onto him like he'd vanish any minute, laughing and even shedding some small tears of relief.
It took Snake a few seconds, but eventually he eased up, fully melting into it. Wolf slightly bent over and whispered a quiet "told you'' into Snake's ear, making him grin like an idiot. That however disappeared right away, as Shark strictly put him on blanket-roll-bedrest for as long as it took to repair the heating, while getting into his walrus onesie.
Snake's protest at that was very audible as Webs and piranha went to the kitchen with Wolf to get the door and fetch some of the finished soup they had prepared. When they came back, the giant pot of soup, several bowls and spoons in tow, Diane was with them, carrying some lamp in her arms and pushing a stand-up heater forward with her foot.
She was wearing some odd-looking white pants and a long blue coat to keep her warm. "Snake! Glad to see you're feeling better! Seems like you're in the best hands!" she exclaimed and grinned at the gang, getting a small "yup" from Snake before his stomach gave off an unamused rumble.
"I hear you're hungry, sweetheart. Good that we have food prepared for ya, even though you look like you swallowed down a whole hippo", Wolf joked and playfully poked into his roll of fabric. "I mean, considering you emptied your whole stomach into the trash, that doesn't surprise me" Webs shrugged, that statement causing Diane to wrinkle her nose in slight disgust.
"Wait, I did? Huh, don't even remember that.." Snake replied, puzzled. "Well pal, I guess you owe the others an explanation too" Wolf smirked, making the reptile reluctantly spill the tea to the rest of the gang while Wolf passed out the soup.
When Snake was done, everyone was staring at him, processing.
"Aaahh, so when it gets cold, you turn into a snake-popsicle!" "PIRANHA!!" "I was joking, geez!! But hey, try the soup we made for you! It's even got guinea pig in it! Piranha stated.
"It's got what-?!" Wolf was in sheer disbelief, staring at his bowl of soup, whereas Snake made his tongue do a happy flicker which instantly went back into his mouth, his eyebrows knitting together as he shot piranha a salty look.
"That's chicken…" he grumbled.
The others sighed in relief as Piranha crossed his arms, not believing the reptile saw through his little prank so easily.
"Never mistrust a snake's tongue, buddy." Snake chuckled and took a spoonful of the soup, feeling the hot liquid slide down into his body, already warming him up from the inside.
"S'good right? My mama's special recipe!" Shark fondly explained as Diane and Webs turned on the heater and set up the lamp beside a clearly confused Snake.
"Relax, Mr. Grumpypants, it's a heat-lamp, to keep you warm, and it even has UV-Light, so you feel like laying in the sun!" Diane explained and switched it on.
"Now that's something! And we'll have it warmer in here in no time with the heater. Thanks, Diane!" Wolf winked at her, earning a slight smack at the back of his head from the grumpy, soup-slurping reptile sitting beside him.
"It's no problem, and by the way, since you all seem to be prepared for cold times here" Diane gestured at the onesies everyone was wearing, "I thought I'd blend in." She unzipped her coat, revealing a white goose onesie with a little pair of flappy wings on the back.
"Haha! NICE! Alright!!"
Everyone cheered and laughed, even Snake let out a little chuckle as he teared up a bit again. "Hey, you good sweetheart?" Wolf looked at him concerned, and everyone else also turned to him worriedly.
"Ahah, no guys, it's nothing" Snake waved it off with his tail "I'm just… really glad you guys are here for me. I was so used to dealing with my problems all alone, that I didn't know how good it feels to have people around who care about you."
He quickly wiped off a little tear that wanted to escape his eyes, smiling fondly at his friends, his family. Everyone was smiling back at him, touched by his words. "Of course we care about you, pal! Just please, don't do this kind of stuff to us again, we were really freaked out" Shark said. "But hey, we figured everything out in the end! Woo-pang!" Webs cheered.
"Yeah, now let's dig in before our soup turns into ice blocks! I'm starving!" Piranha exclaimed before downing his bowl of soup in a matter of seconds, letting out a huge burp afterwards. Everyone laughed and together, huddled into their onesies, they kept talking about God knows what for hours and hours, cracking jokes and whipping out funny and embarrassing stories from long passed times.
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It had gotten dark inside the apartment and Snake stole himself a look at the clock in the living room. 11:30 pm.
What a coincidence.
He scanned the room and could see the huge form of Shark with a snoring Piranha in his arms, lying on the soft carpet on the floor with a blanket. Diane and Webs were huddled together on the chair, sleeping soundly aswell, Webs barely visible as she had settled down under one of the wings sewed onto Diane's goose onesie.
"Can't sleep either?" Snake whipped his head around to see Wolf sitting beside him, eyes half-lidded and obviously tired.
"What're you still doing up?" he asked the canine. "Well, I could just go with: I could ask you the same thing, but I'll let that slide since I'd just get a sly reply from ya."
"Heh, no shit." the reptile chuckled.
"No, I was just keeping watch a little." Snake nodded. "Y'know, I never got to say thank you for earlier today. Your words… really helped. Honestly." Wolf grinned at him. "Glad I could be of help"
"Now come here, those guys are not your herd you have to watch all night, get some sleep dammit." Snake's tail, wrapped itself around Wolf's wrist, inviting him to come lay down beside him.
He then layered his coils all around Wolf, laying his head down onto the canine's back.
Wolf was now draped on his belly, spread over the couch, not able to move a muscle. "Heh, can you atleast let me move my arms? I wanna deliver my handsome, gorgeous sweetheart a goodnight kiss!" he whispered with pursed lips.
Snake groaned "Oh quit it, you're gonna give me cavities from your sweet-talk!"
"Hahah all right… you warm enough?" Wolf asked. "Yeah, now stay still. You're soft and warm and I don't want you to move. You're not cold, are you?" Snake questioned.
"Well, I'd prefer a blanket, but I'm kind of stuck here", it came back from the canine, and in an instant, a blanket was tugged over him and warm coils wrapped themselves around him a bit tighter, giving off a cozy warmth.
And then he felt it. His tail wagging slightly as Snake nuzzled his face into his neck, tickling his ear playfully with a tongue flicker.
"G'night, Wolfie"
Wolf sighed, satisfied. This, exactly this was what warmed him up, filling his soul with an incredibly comfortable feeling. This was all he wanted, and he was lucky enough to be blessed with it. And he knew that Snake felt the same way. He felt his eyelids grow heavy in the embrace of his loved one, hearing the raspy voice of Snake quietly whispering into his ear before he finally drifted off into a calm slumber.
"Don't worry love,
I'll keep you warm."
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