Benefits of Cold Feet

Elliot woke up abruptly when he felt something ice cold press against his leg.

He opened his eyes to pitch blackness and shifted away from the touch, but it found his shins again. He groaned inwardly, wanting nothing more than to go back to sleep.

"Claire," he said groggily.

She didn't respond, only nestled her feet more snuggly between his ankles. Her toes were like ice.

"C'mon," he said tiredly. She still didn't respond, but he knew she was awake. "I was sleeping."

He felt her bury her face into his neck. He sighed and rolled over onto his back.

"How?" she finally said, looking back at him in the darkness, her face fuzzy without his glasses on. "How can you sleep when it's colder than the North Pole in here?"

"It's not," he said. He glanced over at the clock. He squinted and made out 1:30. He'd been asleep perhaps twenty five minutes.

"Yes, it is. I'm freezing," Claire said. "Why do you insist on keeping the heat down?"

"My wallet has more say in it than I do," Elliot said dryly. "But Claire, I gave you blankets."

"You call those thin sheets blankets?" she said incredulously. "I'd call them newspapers."

He stifled another sigh. "You know," he said, just the slightest bit annoyed. "You didn't have to invite yourself over here tonight."

She pressed her icy toes harder against his ankle. "Of course I did," she said. "After all those hints over the phone about how empty this place made you feel? How could I not come?"

Elliot felt himself soften slightly. He hadn't, in fact, been intentionally hinting at anything; he'd only been filling her in about the process of moving into his new flat. It was a short distance from his school and just around the corner from what would soon be his first full time job. It was a small, modest place, enough for one person, and occasionally (or perhaps more than occasionally) two. Elliot was all moved in, but it turned out he didn't really have much stuff to fill it with. He had some sparse furniture- things his parents didn't want anymore, a few beat up bargain buys. He had his books, a small TV, necessary kitchen supplies and toiletries. Enough to get by.

However it was true that despite its small size, the place did feel a bit…lacking. But he'd only been living there a week; he'd fill it eventually. This was, more or less, what he'd mentioned earlier that afternoon when he'd called Claire up. She hadn't seen the place yet and he had planned on waiting until it was a little more put together before he invited her over, but when she showed up unexpectedly just before dinnertime with Chinese takeout, he was nothing short of delighted.

Elliot sighed and rolled over onto his side to face her. "I know," he said.

She raised her eyebrow. He lifted a corner of his mouth. "I was only kidding."

"Of course you were," she said. "You were ecstatic to see me."

He chuckled quietly and leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. "When am I not?"

He could feel her smiling satisfaction in the darkness. "Well in that case I may have to come over more often."

"You just might," he said.

"I think I will." She found his hand under the sheets and pulled her feet back to her side of the bed.

"Hey," he said. He wrapped his arm around her waist and slid closer to her, pulling her against him. He pushed his warm legs against her cold feet. "Better?"

She nodded, her face hardly an inch from his. "Much better than turning up some money wasting thermostat."

He smiled and closed the inch between them and kissed her. He pulled away when their noses met. "Goodness, Claire, you really are cold."

He could almost feel her eyes roll in front of his. "What do you think I've been trying to tell you?"

"Sorry," he said, and kissed her icy nose.

"You're such a sap," she said, a smile in her voice.

"Only because you like it," he said.

"Oh I don't think so," she said. "You were born this way."

He only sighed and leaned forward to kiss her again. When they broke apart she said, "What you were not born, however, was an interior decorator."

"And you were?" he said, suspecting what was coming.

She smirked in the darkness. "We'll have to find out."

He sighed again and closed his eyes. Dating Claire would never be a walk in the park, though it was always an…interesting one, to say the least.

She moved closer against him and he tightened his arm around her.

"You know, the place a lot less empty with you here, Claire," Elliot mumbled as he drifted back to sleep.

"Of course it is," she said into his neck. "Especially after I move half of my stuff over."

Elliot sighed and told himself he'd deal with that in the morning. He could at least pretend he had some measure of control over his own property.

If he had to be honest, though, he couldn't imagine himself in a better situation. And as he fell back to sleep, Claire pressed against his side, he thought that perhaps keeping the heat down was one of his better financial decisions.

A/N: So for the past few days I've been staying in a hotel with particularly cold air conditioning and despite the thick blankets, my toes have been like ice cubes. So I got to thinking and thought these two would be the perfect pair to put into this type of situation :) If you're not familiar with Claire and Elliot, they also appear in my story 'Borderline Dancing.' Check it out if ya wanna, don't if ya don't!