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You had been rubbing your hands together for the past several minutes, trying to spark a semblance of warmth on this cool evening. The wind that whipped by your body was biting, sinking cold fangs beneath your layers of clothes and causing your spine to rattle with chills. You could feel your tears of frustration drying up in the breeze as you hugged your arms around your plump waist and shoved them in the pockets of your jacket. You wished you remembered to bring a pair of gloves with you before you departed for your date tonight.
"Hey, what’s wrong?"
You’re mildly startled as your brain is shaken from its momentary stupor, long lashes fluttering over your round, frost bitten cheeks as you turn your head to the person that was calling your name. Crow had stopped along the broad walk when he noticed you weren’t quite keeping up with him. The pier was fairly quiet tonight, barely another soul in sight as you and your boyfriend took a casual stroll to walk off the dinner you had just indulged in. The bright, neon lights of Neo Domino city were almost blinding as the various colours danced along your skin, colourful dots bleeding into the corners of your vision and reminding you that the dazzling lights of the big city were something you couldn’t quite get used to.
You offered Crow a polite smile as you chuckled softly, chest feeling light at the hint of concern lacing the tone of his voice. He circled back around so he was in step with you now, the heavy thud of his boots accompanying the click of your shoes along the pavement, only drowned out by the ocean waves crashing along the shore. The spray of sea salt in the air curled in the pit of your lungs with each deep breath that you took and you could taste it lingering on the tip of your tongue when you opened your mouth to respond to Crow’s question.
"I’m fine" you replied.
Crow cocked a questioning eyebrow in your direction as his gaze roved up and down your form.
"You sure?" he prodded.
You nodded along. "Yeah. My hands are just freezing."
You abruptly stop when Crow suddenly jumped in front of you, almost making you trip over your own feet as you halted. His steely grey eyes were shimmering beneath the dancing lights as he reached for your hands, fingers wrapping around your wrists as he tugged your cold hands from your pockets.
"Why didn’t you say so?" Crow said. "Here, give me your hands."
You didn’t resist the pull as your deathly cold hands came to rest in the warm palms of his, your palms touching briefly as the tips of his fingers rested against the fluttering pulse of your wrists. A soft hiss whistled through his teeth at the stark contrast between your body temperature but he didn’t let go of your hands, only held on tighter as you linked your fingers together and he cradled your hands in his.
"You’re freezing" Crow pointed out, before a sudden thought crossed his mind as he recalled something. "Is this why you refused to hold my hand earlier?"
A sheepish grin tugged on your lips as you nodded in response. "I didn’t want you to freeze too. You know I’m a cold frog."
Your response made Crow chuckle before he was tugging you to walk along with him, hands linked together and shoulders bumping as you walked side by side to the end of the pier. You could feel your frosty fingers starting to thaw out from the warm touch of Crow’s hand, his skin pleasantly warm to the touch and making your skin prickle with little bolts of lightning that left you feeling fuzzy. Your mind was caught in another brief reprieve as you continued to keep pace with Crow, only tuning back in when he started speaking again.
"I’ll remind you to bring your gloves next time" Crow said.
You squeezed his hand, cheek brushing by his shoulder as you turned your head and peered up at him beneath thick lashes.
"You promise?"
"I promise" Crow replied as he squeezed your hand back.