After Oland’s mistake of asking the Lieutenant to “sleep together, huddled like sheep” receiving adequate punishment, they had all agreed that although it would be embarrassing, someone had to do just that for Marches. They didn’t have enough fuel to make the fire any hotter, and his condition was worsening by the hour. 

Begrudgingly (not really), Oreldo agreed to the task. Ideally, they all could have huddled together, but the blankets just weren’t big enough to make that feasible and keep Marches warm and comfortable at the same time. 

The Lieutenant and Oland laid down on the cabin floor with a respectable distance between them, and fell asleep quickly. 

Seriously, these guys are two peas in a pod!  Oreldo had to laugh. All it took was a life threatening situation to get those two unromantic knuckleheads to sleep together, and they couldn’t even bring themselves to take advantage of the situation to snuggle a little bit. What a waste. 

Oreldo glanced back at Marches, who was fitfully asleep next to the fire they had made. He climbed in under the sheets next to the other man, and scooted himself closer. They both still had on their coats, since the cabin was already deathly cold. 

Oreldo wrapped his arms around Marches, letting one arm act as a pillow while the other grabbed his middle, pulling him as close as possible. It was a little awkward since Marches was still lying on his back, but this was the best Oreldo could do given the other’s injuries. 

And so, Oreldo waited. He could feel the siren call of sleep, dragging him down, but he had a job to do. A few minutes passed, with Oreldo fighting his need to sleep the whole way.

Marches was still shivering, and breathing quickly. This was a bad sign, he was wasting too much energy shivering, and losing heat and moisture through his breaths. The longer this went on, the weaker he would become. 

There was only one solution. They had learned about fighting hypothermia during their basic training, but Oreldo never imagined that he would need to use that information after he joined Section 3. It was awfully cold, but he started stripping off his top coat, shirt, undershirt, and thermals while under the blankets, keeping them nearby. 

“Sorry Marches, this is for your own good. You can nag me later about how perverted I am” Oreldo whispered. 

It was a little difficult to do the same for Marches, but Oreldo managed to strip the other man while keeping the covers tight around them. Now, with both of their top halves exposed, Oreldo initiated their embrace again. This time, he grabbed Marches’ midsection, spooning the other man. With his bare chest covering the other man’s back, he would lose less heat, and Oreldo could warm his companion up. 

Marches continued to shiver, and Oreldo could feel the other man’s heartbeat desperately fluttering like a hummingbird struggling to stay in the air. A gnawing, sick feeling began to fill his thoughts. What if Marches only got worse? They were far from the town of Essan, let alone being able to call for help from their home base. The bandits wouldn’t care that there was one less soldier to eliminate. 

If he died here, Lieutenant Malvin might even force them to leave his body here, and continue on with the mission. Or worse, they would attempt to carry Marches’ body with them, and possibly fail the mission and get themselves all killed. Four stupid intelligence officers outwitted by a bunch of mountain bandits in a blizzard, leading to the many sick people of Essan dying too. 

No, he couldn’t let that happen. Oreldo gripped Marches tighter. He began stripping off his pants, and then quickly shoved Marches’ pants off too, unceremoniously kicking them elsewhere. Oreldo carefully hugged Marches, making sure to cover as much of him as possible without aggravating his injuries. He also began running his hands gently over the man’s front, attempting to find any cold spots and warm them up too.

Oreldo was never a religious man, but he began to pray. Please, please, don’t let this be the way he dies. He deserved so much better. He deserved to have found a lover at the very least. I’m begging you, please, save him. Please, let this work. Please, please, please…

He continued to pray desperately, until he fell asleep. Unbeknownst to Oreldo, his efforts had succeeded. Marches had stopped shivering, and relaxed into the other man’s embrace. His breathing had slowed to a normal rate. 

+++

The first person to wake up in their group was Alice. She climbed out of their blanket, careful not to wake Oland. 

She surveyed the area outside the cabin briefly through the windows, and then crawled over to Marches to check on his condition. 

Both Marches and Oreldo were still asleep. Puzzlingly, they were tangled together, a little less like sheep and more like how she sometimes found Elis and her husband, tangled together on the couch after staying up into the late hours conversing about some topic. 

Alice took off one of her gloves, and pressed her bare hand to Marches’ forehead. She couldn’t feel anything abnormally warm, a good sign. Whatever Oreldo had done, it had worked. 

They still had another hour, so she returned back to the other side of the room, where Oland was sleeping, and began packing their things and preparing for their departure. 

+++

In the depths of his sleep, Marches could hear light footsteps approaching. The figure stood above him, and then briefly placed their hand on his forehead. Marches stirred from his warm cocoon, gaining awareness of the real world. He wasn’t in his bed at the barracks, they were out on a mission to Essan to deliver some goods. 

He had gotten injured, and the rest of the team had carried him to the cabin that they were now in. The last thing Marches remembered was that he had passed out while it was freezing. Had they started a fire? 

He assumed that had to be the case, since he was decidedly not freezing to death. But then, why did it feel like he was wrapped in its warmth? 

Slowly waking up, Marches shifted his body and attempted to stretch his legs unsuccessfully.. Eyes still closed, he finally woke up completely and understood the situation that he was in. 

The warmth he was wrapped in was Oreldo. The body behind him was only a little bigger, and flat. So it couldn’t have been the Lieutenant, or Oland. 

Oreldo was spooning him from behind, making full contact with any open skin he could cover. And, healthy young man that he was, Oreldo jr. was also making contact, delightfully upright and saluting. 

Marches would have scrambled out of the sheets if he could manage it without waking the other man, but Oreldo’s grip was steadfast, and unmovable. He knew that the other man hadn’t just snuggled him for no reason. It was a last ditch effort at combating hypothermia, something they all had learned during basic training. 

But yet, that didn’t make the situation any less embarrassing. And it didn’t make the fact that he was now slightly enjoying being in Oreldo’s arms any less true. 

Although they would have to get up soon, and Marches was already awake, he decided not to stir, and continue being “asleep”. Oreldo would let go eventually, and then they could both forget that this happened or laugh about it as a funny story.  

A few minutes later, Oreldo groaned, finally awake. His left arm, used by Marches as a pillow, was feeling numb and tingly. Slowly, he started carefully untangling them, extricating himself. Oreldo felt Marches forehead with his right hand; pleased that Marches seemed better (and very much alive), he swiftly dressed both himself and the shorter man under the sheets.

He got them both dressed in record time, clearly experienced from his nighttime endeavors. Marches wanted to wait for the right time to “wake up”. Oreldo was still lying right next to him. Just before he could open his eyes, the blonde hovered over Marches, face drawing closer. 

“Thank you, god” he murmured, kissing Marches' neck, directly behind his ear. His lips lingered briefly, but he pulled away not long after. 

Oreldo got up, and made his way over to Alice and Randel, ready to discuss their plans for leaving the cabin. 

How….how was he supposed to react to that! Marches blushed bright red. That was the most sincere he had ever seen the other man. Hearing his voice right next to his ear, whispering, made a fuzzy tingle spread throughout Marches’ chest. Although he knew that Oreldo was callous, sleeping around with any pretty girl who would have him, he began to understand the appeal. 

How was anybody supposed to resist someone so charming?! Marches wasn’t sure if he would be able to forget, or even laugh about this later.