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Carrying a large amount of stuff with you wasn’t an option when traveling over long times and large distances, so what clothes you took with you had to be carefully considered.
Polnareff was rather fond of his chosen outfit. It suited him and showed off his physique quite nicely, whilst not restricting his movement at the same time.
Okay, sure, it wasn’t perfect. Exposed shoulders and arms weren’t optimal in the intense sun they experienced on their hunt for Dio, especially since Polnareff burned faster than he could put sunscreen on. Black also wasn’t the best colour to wear out in direct sunlight. But overall, it had served Polnareff well and made him look good whilst doing so.
At that point in time however, Polnareff was regretting the way he chose to dress.
That a place as hot as Egypt got that cold at the night was frankly unfair. It would have been fine if they’d stayed inside, but of course they had to stay the night somewhere in the middle of nowhere with no hotel or even houses in sight. He was going to sleep terribly that night.
Sitting up in his sleeping bag, that did little to keep him warm, Polnareff drew his arms around himself tighter. The fire they’d made to cook dinner a few hours earlier had all but gone out by now, only a few glowing embers still rested among the charred wood.
That that was better than nothing. Polnareff moved to sit closer to what used to be their fire, pulling his sleeping bag around his shoulders as he did so.
There wasn’t much heat coming from the embers, but if he got his hands close enough at least he could warm those up. Polnareff had never mixed particularly well with low temperatures, always being the first to be bothered by them and having almost permanently cold hands.
A shiver ran through his body.
A sound behind him stirred him from his thoughts. Polnareff snapped around in alarm only to make eye contact with Avdol. Polnareff had previously assumed he was deep asleep a little way away from where he was sitting at the remains of the fire. It was night, but under the light of the stars and the moon it wasn’t hard to see Avdol. He was laughing quietly.
“Wh- What’s so funny?” Polnareff asked, trying to stop his voice from shaking from the cold.
“Oh, sorry, it’s just… Are you perhaps cold?” replied Avdol, clearly amused.
Polnareff always loved hearing Avdol’s laugh, but right now his situation felt a little too undignified for him to appreciate it. Polnareff felt his cheeks heat up, pulling the sleeping bag to sit better around his shoulders. Maybe if this continued his own embarrassment would be enough to keep him from succumbing to hypothermia.
“Not all of us wear a school uniform in the desert or have a literal flaming bird as a stand!” Avdol laughed again and Polnareff thought that if any sound was warm enough to keep someone freezing, it would be that of Avdol’s laugh.
“You should have taken a jacket with you. Or something with long sleeves.” Polnareff huffed and glared at Avdol.
“Well, I know that now. I didn’t think we’d be dealing with the cold on a trip to Egypt. If it gets any colder, it might actually start to snow!” Polnareff turned back to the burnt out fire, the sound of Avdol’s amusement still filling the air behind him. “Ha ha, yes, very funny. But please, go back to sleep so at least one of us two is well rested.”
Avdol fell silent after a short while, his laughter dying down. Polnareff thought that maybe he should ask Avdol to have Magician’s Red relight the fire. It would only take a little of his time, so Polnareff was sure Avdol wouldn’t mind. Polnareff turned to face him again.
“Hey, Avdol coul-“
“Would you- oh, you go first.”
“No, no, what were you going to say?” Polnareff was curious now. Being cold could wait.
“I just was going to ask…” Avdol paused and cleared his throat. Them interrupting each other must have thrown him off. “Uh, you see… I’ve been told before that I run quite hot and seeing as you’re cold I thought that maybe… You’d like to come over here?”
“Come over there?” Polnareff asked, trying not to leap to conclusions. Polnareff hoped Avdol meant what he thought he meant. Avdol cleared his throat again.
“You know, share body heat.” Oh, he did mean what Polnareff though he did. “If that’s okay, obviously” Avdol added quickly.
“Oh no, that’s completely okay!” said Polnareff whilst standing up too fast.
When Avdol sat up and pulled his robe aside to make place for him, Polnareff hesitated. It dawned on him how intimate this whole thing was.
“We can’t have you freezing to death, can we?” Now Polnareff laughed, deciding to disregard his worries over the intimacy of the situation. It was, after all, Avdol who offered in the first place.
He sat down next to Avdol, the heavy fabric of his robe being draped over Polnareff’s shoulders. After a moment of consideration from Avdol, his arm followed too. Polnareff quickly concluded that Avdol most definitively radiated heat. The arm around his shoulders added a pleasant weight to the warmth that seeped into his skin at every point his body met Avdol’s.
When Avdol moved to lay down again he pulled Polneraff down with him. It was quiet now. All Polnareff could hear was the rhythm of Avdol’s breathing. He could feel it too, the steady rise and fall of his chest where Polnareff’s cheek was pressed to the soft beige fabric of Avdol’s shirt. And while his heart was racing, Polnareff was certain that he could fall asleep in minutes like this.
“What was it that you were going to say?” asked Avdol after a while.
“Hmm?” Polnareff blinked, not finding it in himself to lift his head to try and look at Avdol.
“When you were sitting at the fire. You were going to say something.”
“Oh. I was… just going to complain about the temperature again.” Avdol hums in response. Polnareff didn’t see the need to mention Magician’s Red now. This was better than a fire.
“You have cold hands.” Avdol said, laying his warm one over Polnareff’s.
Polnareff was glad that Avdol couldn’t see his face because he was sure he was blushing furiously at this point.
But it was nice to feel this warm, this comfortable. Their journey wasn’t an easy one and it would continue to grow harder as they approached Dio, but right now, Polnareff was more than content.
He hadn’t even expected to be alive past his quest for revenge, but he was glad he was.
And as they both started to fall asleep under the light stars and the moon, Polnareff secretly hoped that they’d spend more nights not sleeping at hotels.