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Horatio hurried inside the cabin he shared with Archie on the Indefatigable in the dead of night after his watch, making sure to be careful as to not accidentaly wake him. He was miserably tired not to mention cold. The weather's been dreadful these past few weeks which made standing watch one of the most unpleasant things to do. On top of all that, he had been assigned a tremendous workload the past few days causing him to be more tired than usual. Horatio was glad of the fact that atleast he was no longer outside on watch in the rain. It felt like his hands were frozen solid and his chest had begun to hurt, he hoped and prayed he wouldn't catch a cold.
Horatio was surprised to find that Archie was very much awake and reading a book. He looked up at him when he entered.
''I take it the weather hasn't gotten any better?'' Archie said with a small smile as he looked the wet and soggy Horatio up and down. Usually Horatio would be annoyed, but this time Archie's smile couldn't help but make him smile too. But then again, it usually did.
''No, it hasn't.'' Horatio replied and sighed, taking off his coat and jacket, struggling with the buttons as he did so. He felt even colder without them but couldn't he sleep in those things, not now that they were wet anyways. Even his jacket had gotten damp from standing out there. He swallowed hard, shivering as he struggled his shoes off. ''Why aren't you asleep Archie?''
''I can't seem to fall asleep.'' He replied in a slightly frustrated tone.
''You're never gonna fall asleep while you're reading that book.'' Horatio teased, climbing swiftly into his cot. He pulled his blanket tightly around himself but found that unfortunately, he was still bitterly cold. He was shivering as if he was out on the deck, blanket or not. His wet hair against the pillow felt very uncomfortable and he was suddenly very aware of his body. His arms and legs felt like they were frozen solid and he could barely move his hands. Horatio sniffled and tried to hug his blanket closer to his still aching chest.
Archie turned his head towards him at the noise and noticed just how badly Horatio was shaking. He wasn't very warm himself but then again Archie wasn't the one who'd just come back from watch. He knew what it was like of course. He remembered the last time he'd returned from watch in this state, Horatio covered him in blankets and didn't move an inch from his side until he'd stopped shivering and fell asleep. Archie smiled to himself at the memory.
Archie put his book down, climbed out of his cot made and his way to Horatio's, blanket in hand. He reached out and put his hand on Horatio's shoulder to get his attention. Horatio leaned back against his touch subconsciously, it took him a second to blink the sleep away, open his eyes fully and lift his head lazily. He looked at Archie with a confused frown.
''Shift aside a bit.'' It took a moment for Horatio's brain to fully register what was said. When it finally did, he swallowed hard before answering.
''I'm fine Archie, truly. I just need to warm up.'' He said as the cold air sent a chill so strong down his spine it made him shudder violently for a second. He was about to turn to back, ignore Archie and attempt to catch some sleep when he spoke again.
''Shift aside.'' He instructed, much more firmly this time. Horatio stared up at him for a moment, contemplating it. The offer sounded nice, very nice infact but he just couldn't let himself agree to it, despite everything. Archie couldn't have been too warm either, he was keeping his hands wrapped in the blanket as he held it. When that thought crossed Horatio's mind he shifted aside at last, Archie blew the candle out, clumsily layed down next to him and pulled their blankets over the two them. They moved around awkardly, trying to find a position that was comfortable for both of them. In the end, Archie was laying on top of Horatio with his arms around him. He rested his head sideways on Horatio's chest without a care in the world and snuggled into it, closing his eyes as he did. The top of his head was just under Horatio's chin which made Horatio's cheeks flush a deep red.
They'd done this before of course, they'd slept next to eachother during their stay in the spanish prison on colder nights or when one of them felt particularly alone. But never like this, never this close. In prison they'd just lay next to eachother, back to back, just enough to steal a little warmth from one another. Horatio hesitated before slowly lifting one of his trembling hands and resting it on Archie's back, glancing around the small cabin as he did so. Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him, but Horatio swore he'd left the door slightly open. His breathing quickened and he was about to ask Archie to politely go back to his cot when Archie's arms tightened their hold on Horatio. He could do nothing but lay there frozen as his heart beat out of his chest. Horatio listened for footsteps or any signs of another person outside for God knows how long, each creack the ship emitted caused his heart rate to go up. He didn't even notice how strongly he was holding on to Archie, nor did he notice how his hands had start to warm up. Infact, his whole body slowly thawing out. Horatio shut his eyes, attempting to steady his breathing and pull himself back to reality. He opened his eyes again and they, almost instantly, fell upon the sleeping figure that lay on top of him, his breathing steady and slow. Horatio took a deep breath before placing his other hand on Archie's back aswell. This was an unfamilliar situlation yet holding Archie felt so natural. It felt right. And Archie didn't seem to mind it.
Even though he felt awfully tired, Horatio couldn't help but stare at him in the darkness. He could just about make him out, he most definitely asleep. Seeing Archie so calm made his heart rate right itself. Horatio let his head lean down against Archie's, his lips and nose burying themselves in his dirty blonde hair. Horatio inhaled sharply, breathing him in. He smelled exactly like fresh rain to him. Horatio was hugging Archie to himself completly now, his thumb rubbed small circles against his back all the while he never took his eyes off of him. It was rare to see him so peacful, and Horatio cherished it. He was glad they were back on Indefatigable.
It was still raining heavily outside and Horatio felt sorry for the unfortunate souls on watch. His eyelids were gradualy drooping lower and lower, until he could barely make out the top of Archie's head. Perhaps it was the darkness that gave him a sudden surge of confidence, or the fact that they layed so intimately close to eachother but before Horatio gave in to sleep he planet a quick, soft kiss on the top of Archie's head. His own head, earlier swimming full of thoughts was quite, his once ice cold limbs comfortably warm. With his head against Archie's, Horatio closed his eyes. The last things he felt was the slow rise and fall of Archie's chest, lulling Horatio to sleep.