Work Text:
Shivers
by TheGeekGirl
As I finish zipping the sleeping bags together I turn and watch him. Watch him shivering uncontrollably, his hands clutching at the silvered thermo blanket that is wrapped around his cold body. I sigh and reach out to brush the wet hair away from his face, the fronds of ice there melting beneath my touch.
Rummaging through our kits we had managed to find him some dry clothes. Teal'c had a pair of spare pair of shorts, myself a t-shirt. The cold was dangerous when wet.
He hadn't been able to change into the clothes himself. But wordlessly he had let me undress him, peeling away the wet garments, gently rubbing him with a sleeping bag to dry him off and get his circulation moving. He sat there, hugging himself, a pose we both
know so well. Watching me look after him. Allowing me to look after him.
His lips are no longer blue, I note as I help him into the sleeping bags. His teeth are chattering loudly and as he eases into the bag he winces as his cold limbs protest against the hard ground. He is shivering violently but I take this as a good sign that his body knows he is cold. The danger comes if he stops shivering before he has warmed up once more.
I reach up and flick off the hanging halogen flashlight, plunging the tent into darkness and it takes a few moments before my eyes re-adjust. I crawl into the joined sleeping bags and as pull him into my arms. My breath catches in my throat as he resists for a moment but then he settles back and I spoon up behind him. I whisper a gentle reassurance in his ear and he tries to nod through the fits of shivering. The body warmth will see him through the night and it is all we can offer for now. Until the sun rises tomorrow, the four of us are stuck here on this planet. With its six hour days, blue leafed trees and as we discovered this afternoon, hidden frozen rivers.
As I settle down, I allow my hands to splay over his covered stomach. I can feel the planes of his muscles even through the cotton of his t-shirt and the thin foil of the thermo blanket. My breath warms the back of his neck, as I indulge in the closeness. What would happen, I wonder, if I asked that we always slept this way?
I must have dozed for a while since it's darker now. I can hear the crackling of the fire outside. Sam or Teal'c watching the darkness bundled up against the vengeful cold. His shivers are less violent now. He is still cold but I think we are past the worst. I tangle my long legs down and wince as I find cold feet. He murmurs softly and turns in my arms, subconsciously so accepting of the closeness we have tonight. I tilt my face and place a gentle kiss on his hairline.
I want to ask him - would you let me hold you like this for the rest of our time? Truly not knowing what the answer would be. My courage is always strong in the dark but flees when dawn comes. He shifts again, draping an arm across my chest, curled up against my side. My hand finds the bare arm of goose bumped flesh. Slowly and gently I stroke it, hoping that it will give him a modicum of reassurance. Something it fails to do for myself.
A noise outside startles me. I feel a surge of panic, my arms automatically tightening around him protectively, before I realise that it is Sam and Teal'c talking in gentle unhurried tones. Changing of guard duty I surmise; I must have slept some more. I look down at the man draped across my body and a small smile creeps onto my face at the relaxation in his features. He is still shivering occasionally, his muscles spasming slightly in an automatic reflex. I remove my arm that is draped across his shoulders to feel around for the thermo blanket. Finding it scrunched up between his back and the sleeping bag, I try my best with the limited mobility I have to cover him with it once more. My actions rouse him.
"Wha..." he says sleepily, half mumbling into my chest.
"It's okay," I say softly, closing my arms back around him. Giving him my warmth, support and if only he knew it, my love.
"Yoursure?" he says, his teeth chattering slightly as another small shiver runs through him. An echoing one runs through me but for a totally different reason.
"Trust me," I tell him, burying my nose in his hair.
I can feel him smile against my chest as he replies. "Always, Daniel."
~ The End ~
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Author's websites: http://members.lycos.co.uk/slashbunny/