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The recent events have left the city upside down. Or maybe not —actually everything was fine— but coming to terms with there being reptiles in Zootropolis and the whole Lynxley fiasco was… a lot to take in. So you decided to volunteer and help with the restoration of said district to take a closer look at everything. Besides, in the end you felt pretty bad for what happened.
Well turns out reptiles are quite scary, at least to you. They had no fur, no paws or pawpads… Some didn't even have limbs, just bulging eyes, long tongues, cold and rough scales, and in cases like Gary, sharp teeth with venom. Gary De’Snake was the great grandson of the actual founder of the city, so it was expected of him to lead said renovations for the most part. He was also a pit viper, so you did everything in your power to interact as little as possible with him. Besides, most of the labor was shoveling snow and thawing out the place, or helping with laying the foundation for the new weather walls that would separate Reptile Ravine from Tundra Town, on top of guarding it from blizzards during said renovations.
What no one expected was for one of those blizzards to get out of control. Maybe it was the people who were working on getting Reptile Ravine’s electricity system up to date, but one of the programmed blizzards for Tundra Town was hitting harder than usual, stalling the renovations and forcing everyone to shelter in the old buildings. And you just so happened to be with Gary in his house at that moment.
“The walls are top priority right now, so we might have- is it me or did it get colder all of a sudden?” he asked, stopping interrupting himself. Looking at the door, you could both see the snow quickly piling up outside. In fact, the sky was darkening with the heavy snowfall.
Curious, you headed to the door and decided to open it just a little, just to survey the situation. Big mistake. The door smacked you right in the snout with such force it knocked you off your feet. By the time you and Gary managed to close it, the harsh cold invaded the place. The district was pretty much back to its starting point, buried in snow. Looking back at Gary, he was just as shaken as you were, partly because of the hit you just took to the face. You two were stuck together until things calmed down. On one hand, Gary’s scales were starting to turn pale from the cold, despite the layers of clothes he had on. On the other, the idea of being stuck with a venomous snake was making you anxious. And to top it all off, you could swear you were starting to feel the cold too, despite your fur.
“Well? What did you see?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“There was only snow. I think something happened with the weather walls. It's straight up a blizzard.”
“What do we do then?” The poor snake was already rummaging through wardrobes and cupboards for anything that could warm him up —more clothes, blankets, anything— growing more anxious as he couldn't find anything.
“Every- everything okay?” you stuttered in-between the chattering of your teeth. The cold was actually getting to you. It was getting really bad.
“I’m just worried, that's all. Even you began to shiver,” he replied, pointing at you with his tail. “You know, I can't even shiver to regulate my heat. I need to rely on the surroundings. And… and right now they're… harsh. I'm sorry-” he cut himself off and slithered to one of the bedrooms, burying himself under piles of sheets.
Following him to the bedroom was quite the feat. You haven't felt this cold in a while, and with how fierce was the blizzard, the temperature dropped quickly, and left you limping. Gary was breathing laboriously, barely holding on. And the fierce wind kept banging on the windows and doors, threatening to break in the house.
“Get in. I need your warmth. I cannot fight the cold by myself. Nor can you.” He lifted the sheets to invite you, revealing his pale scales. He could barely open his mouth to speak. It was quite worrying, and even then, all you could focus on was on that fang. It was not like you weren't suffering either. In fact, it was starting to hurt. You couldn't feel your toes, your pawpads were getting cracked from the cold, and your bones were aching. Even breathing in left a stinging sensation in your chest. You barely even felt the hit in your bottom when you let yourself fall to the ground. Now you had to choose between hypothermia or a venomous bite. And something about the way you looked may have raised an alarm, because Gary caught onto your fears straight away.
“Is it the fang?”
Silence. You couldn't bring yourself to admit it. Couldn't even bring yourself to look him in the eyes.
“Is that why you were acting like that around me?” he followed.
Again, silence. You limited yourself to giving him the side eye, like a scared puppy.
“You know I don't… bite people, right? I even… I even have an anti-venom pen, just in case. The last thing I'd want is to hurt you… especially right now.” He could barely articulate his words. And you couldn't reply either, only answering with erratic head nods. You couldn't feel your nose, your ears were hurting, and you could barely move.
“Please…” pleaded Gary.
It took some back and forth to convince you. It probably wasn't even his words what did it, but the unbearable cold and the sheer discomfort and pain that came with it. Your eyes were fixated on his tail, sneaking up to you from under the sheets, but you were in too much pain to react.
“Permission to hug…?” he asked in a calm tone, almost as if trying to soothe you. You were too cold to answer, but you weren't protesting either. He wrapped his tail around your hind paw and gently pulled you under the sheets.
Since Gary didn't produce heat by himself, the sheets were barely any warmer, so you both had to rely on the little heat you had to get warm. His scales were cold and smooth to the touch, having an almost leathery feel to them. It gave you goosebumps, and the fang threatening to puncture you was not making you feel any better.
“Do you really have that anti-venom?” you asked him sheepishly.
“I have it on hand. Don't worry about that,” he said, taking the pen and waving it a bit in your face. ‘I'll take care not to hurt you. Mind if I… coil around you?”
The viper began coiling himself around your body once you gave your consent. He was visibly suffering, yet he took special care in making sure you were comfortable with him first and foremost, always asking for your approval before doing anything. And something about that care was soothing to you. Heartwarming, even. Perhaps it was also in the literal sense, because within a couple minutes you noticed his scales turn back to their vivid blue, and his eyes began to glow warm shades of pink and yellow. Gary then turned to face you, smiling and flicking his tongue.
“So… warm…” he sighed, nuzzling your neck for a second before catching himself. “I'm sorry for that. It's just…”
You spared the words and guided his face back into your fluffy neck, holding him close to you. You hugged him tight, sighing as you finally felt some of that warmth seep back into you.
“Thank you,” said Gary, continuously nuzzling you around for more warmth.
“I’m sorry for…”
“It's okay, I understand. But you've been brave and you faced your fears.” He paused for a second, letting out a sigh before asking, “Are you still afraid though?”
“No,” you muttered in a shy tone. Now that you spent some time with him —ignoring the circumstances that led to all this— you felt a bit stupid for being afraid. You could argue the risk of getting fanged was still something to be wary about, but he was taking care to not prick you. Besides, he had the anti venom on hand, so all was good. It was still rather strange to cuddle with a snake with those scales, and him coiling around you and all, but you were getting used to it.
“Good. I’m glad of it.”
The blizzard was still going. You weren't sure anyway, the snow had buried most of the house. The light struggled to pass through what little remained exposed of the windows, leaving the place mostly shrouded in darkness. All you could really see were Gary's eyes shimmering in the dark, fixated on you, and you could tell he was smiling.
“Do you think they'll help us?” you asked.
“They have to. Remember we're not the only ones stuck like this.”
You took a deep breath in response, giving Gary a couple squeezes in a playful manner. He was right after all, but you still had that tiny speck of worry itching at the back of your head. Gary was probably just as worried as you were, but all in all you were both glad to have each other to keep yourselves warm.
You kept cuddling each other for quite some more, and both refrained from saying anything, letting the gentle touches and occasional sighs speak for themselves. You weren't sure when it happened, but the silky sheets paired with the warm hugs must've made you doze off. When you opened your eyes you were greeted by a rescue team, who was already working on saving the rest of the work crew. In the end you were right, it was a malfunction of the weather walls what caused the blizzard. On the bright side, no one was hurt, so after some well needed rest the team was able to resume work on the renovations in no time.
You also found yourself quite comfortable around Gary now, even spending some of your breaks with him. None of you mentioned anything about what happened there though. Probably for the better, as your sudden change in behavior around him was raising some eyebrows here and there. Did they know?
Truth be told, they probably did.