For Each December // UshiTen

Cozy and Cold

"Hungry?" Aone mumbled as they entered the small two room two bed hotel. He absentmindedly threw his keys to the rental car on the counter and tried to ignore the horribly ugly decor. The hotel was near the lake, so it was themed to fit as such. The walls were a bright blue, paintings of various water animals and sunny days mocked them both.

The place was quite bare, too. Aside from a bag each of clothes, neither brough anything in from the car. Partially because of the events of the day, but also because the snow had begun to pick up again.

Ushijima didn't think twice about turning down the offer of food with somewhat of an attitude. Yes he could go for some, but he wasn't the fondest of being awake any longer. Aone looked over at the other male who, before he could even sigh at, closed the bathroom door to get changed.

"What a pain." Aone thought to himself, trying to remember the good in the other. The way he would send him a picture of every painting he made and ask if Satori would like it always made him smile. Even if it wasn't for him, he was happy seeing so much of Ushijiima in what he made. Aone loved his voice. Regardless of how much he talked, he was always happy to hear it. He was especially happy when he spoke of things he was interested in. Record collecting, painting, plants, even the days he would come home from work and actually have a something good to say of the experience.

But now, well, he could barely say he knows him.

Aone had to stop his thoughts for a moment, calling himself out. Of course he was different. He'd just lost his five year long relationship. No wonder he was such a mess. 

Pulling his distant gaze away from the awfully colored wall, Aone moved himself to bed. The sheets were cold at first, making him shiver in his already damp clothes. He never bothered changing after hearing the shower start in the bathroom. So he lay under the thick white blanket, agreeing to give in to the sleep he so craved.

When Ushijima came out of the shower, he certainly did not expect Aone already in bed. He couldn't say he minded it, still being rather heated from their discussion in the car. Deciding the television may keep him up, he turned off the lamp and also tried to turn in.

But he couldn't sleep peacefully.

His nightmares tortured him with distorted portrayals of his boyfriend, sickly and weak. He was left in the dark on what symptoms he had or even the illness itself. Due to this, his mind presented its own perceptions. They went anywhere from boils to puking to even extreme wheezing, sending Ushijima into severe distress. In his dream he was trapped though. Trapped behind glass just over a foot away from the one he loved most.

He shot up in a cold sweat, immediatly grabbing his phone off of the nightstand to text Tendou. It took until he unlocked his phone to realize even attempting it was futile. The nightmare, in a sense, was already reality.

For just a moment, Ushi considered forcibly waking up Aone for some sort of comfort. It was quickly decided against, however. What was this, an angsty fanfiction? 

Envy shot through Wakatoshi's veins as he glanced to the other full sized bed, seeing Aone resting rather peacefully. After that passed, he was hit with a wave of appreciation. It dawned on him how much his friend had really been there for him, not only today, but for years. He deserved the rest.

Ushijima rose from his bed, regretting not puting on socks as soon as his soles made contact with the chilling ground. After an extended period of pacing, Ushijima planted himself on the couch. he picked at the white twisted frills on the arms of it while the television turned on. When he accidentally pulled one off, he decided that was enough playing with the furnature.

The show that came on was mindless, 3am content you would expect from a low budget cable channel. It worked out rather well though. there was nothing more he wanted then to turn his brain off, forgetting the grotesque imagry he was subjected to.

The man was so sucked into the content that he payed little to no mind to the other stirring. Whatever cooking show was on was obnoxiously loud to the point of Aone giving up on trying to sleep again. So instead he went to meet the other, somewhat floored when he saw his messy bed head.

"Wow he's amazing." Aone thought, knowng he would never dare let it slip out of his mouth.

After getting over that slight shock, he sat down with the other. Ushijima pretended not to see him for just a bit loner, admiring the dish on screen.

"I could paint that." He spoke in a voice screaming of 'I just woke up.' Aone had but another moment of internal panic, causing him to speak withou thinking for once.

"You should paint me instead."

"Alright." 

Ushijima stood up and left the hotel room, somewhat concerning Aone. It was only a few minutes later he was back though, sporting a rather familiar bag from the car containing the paints Aone tried to convince him he would not need.

Aone spent the next three hours staring at Ushijima work. His heart fluttered slightly each time he looked up to study his face for the portrait, though he stared on blankly. Ushijima was a very delecate painter, brush hardly making contact with the paper. Each stroke was small and well thought out. It was far more interesting then whatever was on the screen.

"I think it is done." Ushijima said, all sleepiness gone from his voice. It had to be one of his favorite pieces. Aone felt the same way, grabbing the portrait and covering the painting of the lake he was so sick of looking at.

"Finally, I hated that picture." Ushijima spoke, letting a somewhat genuine laugh out. Damn him for making Aone smile too.

They sat together on the couch once more, eyes burning as it was going on 6am. As soon as Aone quit lookng, Ushijima fell asleep, slightly leaning against him. That was the moment he knew he was in bad.