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Shivering, Adaine poured the steaming water into her hot water bottle, returning it to it’s stand (she had no idea how some people could choose not to have an electric kettle) before screwing the stopper into place in the rubber with a hand she swore was about to freeze solid before pulling the soft green head of the frog shaped cover into place.
Even with the hot water bottle held tightly to her chest, Adaine could practically hear her teeth chattering, she slid the frog into her coat which was still not enough to keep her body heat in, even with the several other layers she had on under it.
Gracelessly, Adaine shuffled over to the other side of the room, pulling aside the curtains on Clammy’s box open to make sure the cat was still ok.
He pulled his head out of the nest of blankets to give a small meow and graciously accepted a few scratches before he burrowed himself deeper.
Smart cat. Adaine thought to herself before standing back up and closing the curtains once again.
When they’d first started shopping for Clammy, Fig had, of course, come up with the idea of miniature curtains for his crate. At the time Adaine had rolled her eyes but went along with her roommate enthusiastically designing, however she had to admit in this weather she could see the value in it.
She slumped back down onto the sofa and pulled the mass of blankets around her again, before beginning to type on her computer again.
She wanted to try and fall asleep to ignore the cold, but she needed to finish this essay and she doubted ‘it was cold’ would get her any extension on it, so she resigned herself to the tedious typing which forced her to extend her hands away from her cocoon.
It wasn’t too long before Fig returned from her lecture, closing the door with a sigh behind her as she peeled off her outer layers which were coated in snow, before gratefully accepting the oversized hoodie Adaine tossed her.
“Oh my God, thank you!” She was shivering badly and Adaine unraveled slightly, holding her arm out to signal for Fig to join her which she did with a moment of hesitation which may have registered as odd in Adaine’s mind were it not half ice.
“It’s fucking freezing out there! And super icy I nearly broke my arm again, I just got my cast off!” she exclaimed, burrowing into the nest of blankets.
Adaine had prepared to theatrically complain about Fig’s cold body when she inevitably snuggled into her side for warmth. Only, for possibly the first time since they’d started living together, Fig kept her distance, allowing they’re arms to touch but not moving in closer.
Thrown off slightly, Adaine paused for a second.
“It’s freezing in here as well.”
“Heating still broken?”
“Nah, I just wanted to keep that Terra Nova vibe going.”
“Terra Nova?”
“Yeah, you know that British expedition to the south pole where they all died?”
“Oh, right, was that the one where they brought donkeys?”
“Ponies, and yeah, but to be fair, it was the fact that they bought old, sick ponies which was the stupid part.”
“Donkey’s and ponies are the same thing.” Fig responded, sullenly through a blanket she had wrapped around the lower half of her head.
“You’re thinking of horses and ponies.”
“Nah, all the same. They’re all four legged and have hooves.”
Adaine laughed lightly at that, still typing on her computer.
“It’s too cold to cook!” Fig groaned, looking over at the kitchen.
“I’ve defrosted soup, we can heat it up on the stove easily enough.”
Normally when Adaine produced a solution to a food related problem Fig would exaggeratedly fawn over her with some loud declaration along the lines of ‘I love you!’ or ‘Marry me!’ but this time she just hummed.
“Awesome!”
This wasn’t enough to make Adaine worried by itself but she had noticed over the past couple weeks that Fig had been… less affectionate.
She knew that it was a stupid thing to be worried about, and honestly it was at least partially a relief, she didn’t need to hide her embarrassing blush which appeared whenever Fig was too close to her as often.
But she’d be lying if she said she didn’t miss it.
It had started after Fig had had a call with Aelwyn and Adaine had mentioned it to her sister but all Aelwyn had done was sigh loudly, roll her eyes, and tell her to talk to Fig.
But Adaine had no clue how to talk to Fig about it without seeming clingy and insecure. Besides, Fig probably just wanted some space. It was fine.
Absolutely Fine.
Well if it was fine or not, Adaine wasn’t going to reveal her (not so secret) crush just to ask for more cuddles.
After a while, Fig unwrapped herself with melodramatic groans in order to go check on Clammy, giving the cat a lot more attention than Adaine had; Fig stood up to the cold a lot better than Adaine did, another reason Adaine was upset by the reduced contact: having Fig curled up against her was basically another two or three hot water bottles.
While Fig was doting on her pet, getting plenty of meows and purs, alongside head boops, Adaine finished the section of writing she’d been working on and, deciding that rather cut it a bit fine on the deadline than freeze to death, she stood up and walked into the kitchen.
The hob in their flat was an old gas one which could be… temperamental, to say the least.
One of the sections didn’t work at all and all but one of the others had faulty igniters meaning they had to be lit by a lighter.
It was safe enough, Gorgug had checked everything when they moved in, him being raised by engineers was pretty much the most expertise they could afford, but still it was far from an ideal way of cooking food.
Adaine loved it.
She loved it for pretty much the same reason she loved everything else in the flat; it was completely different from what she’d grown up with.
The kitchen in the Abernant home had an electric stove: sleek, top of the line, modern like the rest of the appliances, with an extractor fan which worked more than a quarter of the time.
Adaine was glad she never had to see the ugly thing again.
With a frustration she enjoyed immensely, Adaine brought the hob to life, smiling slightly at how the dial was stiff and objectionable, fire springing up underneath the pot containing the thawed soup.
As she fiddled with the temperature, Adaine heard shuffling beside her and looked over to see that Fig had placed two bowls down by the stove and had taken spoons over to the table.
Adaine bit her lip. She usually had to scold Fig when she was cooking with her in the apartment, because she’d come up behind her and wrap her up in a hug, or tickle her to which she’d irritably knock her hands away then lecture her about safety which would mostly result in Fig cackling madly.
But Fig hadn’t even spoken as she’d rummaged through cupboards and draws.
It wasn’t like Adaine had a right to be disgruntled. She wasn’t entitled to her friend’s affections, and maybe it was selfish that she let Fig so close to her when she didn’t know the feelings which Adaine harboured.
And yet, something felt off.
“Um, Fig?” Adaine asked, both of them sipping the hot soup as they watched bad reality shows.
“Hmmm?”
“Are you… ok?”
“Yeah, of course, why wouldn’t I be?”
Adaine wasn’t exactly the best at picking up on social queues however even she could recognise that Fig had answered very quickly. Too quickly.
“I don’t know… you just seem a bit… like you have something on your mind?”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know that’s why I’m asking?”
“Well, I don’t, I’m fine.” Fig’s tone was final.
“Ok, good, if you’re sur-”
“I’m fine. Adaine.”
Adaine didn’t push the issue further, it was rare she saw Fig so on edge, it felt like she was hiding something big.
Even though she couldn’t ask, Adaine still let her mind run free on the problem, stealing furtive glances at her blanket-encased roommate who was staring, resolutely, at the television.
It was something she couldn’t tell Adaine: Fig loved to vent about her problems to Adaine. That pointed it to being one of two things:
Either it was something about Aelwyn she’d been asked not to share (which would make sense timing wise) but Aewlyn knew not to trust Fig with secrets.
Or it was something about Adaine herself (which would make sense with the seeming touch aversion). Of the two, that seemed more likely.
So then what?
Something Adaine had done to upset Fig? No, Fig was very vocal about stuff like that; they’d have an argument then forget it in a day or two.
Ok then, not angry, uncomfortable then.
So it was most likely something about Adaine that Fig had realised/learned recently which made her less comfortable around her.
If it was someone else, Adaine might have assumed they had found out she was queer and were not comfortable being so affectionate. But Fig had known Adaine was queer for almost the entire time they knew each other, and for longer than they’d lived together.
Besides, Fig wasn’t straight either so that really wouldn’t make sense.
But they’d lived together for months now, what could she have just learned?
Maybe something about her parents? But the only person who could tell her that was Aelwyn who hated talking about them as much as Adaine did.
Adaine furrowed her eyebrows, then looked over at Fig again, this time meeting her gaze. Fig blushed slightly and looked away, jerking her head as if she’d been shocked.
But that would imply… no. How could she have found out? Well, other than casual observation or talking to literally anyone with eyes or- ok so there was a good chance that Fig knew that Adaine had a crush on her.
Shit.
And she didn’t seem to be ok with it.
Shit.
And Adaine had been staring at her for a good while and was pretty sure her mouth was hanging open.
Shit.
Ok, this was fine, she could work this out, she just needed to come up with a plan, easy!
Two hours later, she had no plan.
Shit.
“I’m going to turn in, night,” Fig snapped her from her desperate internal planning session as she stood from the couch and walked to her room, checking on Clammy on her way.
Adaine was tempted to say something, apologise, or something, but she came up short.
“Night,” was all she managed to offer.
After Fig had disappeared into her room Adaine was left alone on the sofa. She was dreading the cold walk to her room, and was internally freaking out.
She really didn’t know how to fix this. She supposed it was good that Fig wasn’t furious about this, but it was still difficult.
Adaine wasn’t sure how long she sat there, but she must have been there a while because when Fig’s door reopened it was so dark that Fig clearly didn’t see her on the sofa and had crossed to her bedroom door, knocking gently.
“Fig?”
“Oh, sorry, didn’t see you there,” Fig laughed, flipping the light on, she had changed into her pyjamas, loose fitting pants and a hoodie thrown on over a tank top
“Um, I just wanted to say sorry… for snapping at you before. I just… I have got something on my mind and I’m a bit on edge.”
“Oh,” Adaine straightened up slightly, “It’s fine, I get it. Do you want to talk about it?”
“It’s… I haven’t properly processed it but I will talk to you about it at some point, if that’s ok?”
“Of course! You can talk to me whenever,”
“Thanks,” Fig smiled and turned back to her room before stopping.
“Why are you still up?”
Well she couldn’t say the actual reason which was that she’d been freaking out because she was worried her crush had been discovered. Partially because that would, y’know, reveal her crush anyway.
“It’s too cold,” she laughed instead, which wasn’t entirely a lie.
Fig laughed affectionately then fell silent, like she was contemplating her next decision.
“I mean, if you want, you could sleep with me? Not like that, obviously! Just, um if you were, y’know, I wouldn’t want you to freeze to death.”
“I’m flattered,” Adaine grinned, then bit her lip, “Are you sure that you’d be alright with that?”
“Yeah, sure, I mean, it’s not like it’s the first time, right?”
“Right,” God, why did she have to sound so awkward? Couldn’t she be suave? Just once?
They settled into Fig’s bed and Adaine burrowed herself into Fig’s side immediately. She had intended to give her roommate space but it was so cold, and Fig felt so warm.
“Maybe,” something about FIg’s voice was off, strangled almost, “you should take your clothes off. Like, the jackets and stuff I mean, you’ll heat up faster that way.”
Adaine didn’t really think that was a great idea but her shivering made it evident she needed as much heat as possible and so, with a groan, she clambered back out from under Fig’s sheets.
She sat on the edge of Fig’s bed, keeping her gaze fixed on the opposite wall as she quickly stripped off her jacket, several jumpers and a pair of fluffy pyjama pants, leaving her in her customary sleepwear; an oversized band tee she’d stolen from Fig and a pair of shorts.
Inspired to action by the frigid night air, Adaine scrambled back under the sheets and, this time, restrained herself slightly, lying parallel to Fig.
A second later she was pulled into a hug by her roommate who pulled Adaine’s arm over her as she faced away so they were cuddling in the centre of the mattress.
Fig was right, this was warming Adaine up faster. And that was only partly because of the blood rushing to her cheeks.