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part 1/???

Dennis has a mild case of Cold Agglutinin Disease or CAD. When the temperature drops below 60 his hands and feet start to get tingly and achey. He has mild anemia in the winter but nothing debilitating. He copes with hand warmers and wool socks. He’s grateful for having easy solutions, because he could be much worse off. 

At the start of med school he would buy the cheapest white ankle socks he could find in bulk and wear two pairs since they were thin. Trinity noticed how he ran through those socks so fast so she gave him nice Nike socks for his birthday and Christmas. Everyone in the Pitt thought it was a joke at first until Robby casually chimed in, he’s got CAD so good socks are his best friend. That’s how Dennis ends up with a small mountain of white ankle socks of various thicknesses which are gifted to him that he appreciates everyday. 

So when Dennis and Pope move in together, Pope is astounded by the sheer number of socks Dennis possesses.

“Oh yeah, my sock collection is vast,” Dennis laughs when he sees Pope’s eyes get so wide. “I have CAD, so basically I gotta keep my feet warm or I get achey. Nothing too bad though,” he explains with a shrug. Pope nods and clears out a bigger drawer for all the socks. 

Pope didn’t expect simple white ankle socks to be as endearing as they are. Seeing his adorable boyfriend walking around with clean white socks and boxers in their now shared home made his heart almost burst every time. Also it was a nice reminder to keep up on sweeping their hardwood floors consistently. He wanted to keep those socks perfectly white. 

Really the only time Dennis was barefoot was in the shower. Even when they have sex, Dennis just prefers to leave his socks on, so his mind doesn’t drift to how cold his feet are. Pope thinks it’s the cutest thing in the world - hands always reaching for Dennis’ feet when they’re within reach. He becomes a little obsessed with Dennis’ socked feet. 

Now whenever they lounge on the couch, Pope pulls Dennis’ legs up, so his feet are on his lap. Pope will just hold his feet, covering them with big hands and occasionally squeeze. Dennis now will wiggle his feet or lightly kick, cluing Pope to give him a proper massage. Works every time; when Pope is done he’ll lift one foot to plant a kiss on top. When Dennis gets a little cold he’ll shove his feet under Pope’s thigh for extra warmth. 

Pope surprises Dennis one day with a small heating pad to wrap around his feet while they laze on the couch; it feels like heaven and puts Dennis to sleep almost every time. 

Dennis thinks Pope is just being a good boyfriend; humoring him with the foot rubs and all, not thinking that Pope actually is enjoying it too. 

One day they are out for a drive during a chilly autumn day. After lunch and a nice walk in the park Dennis wanted to get coffees and drive around just to look at the city. Absently Dennis feels Pope tugging at his knee, but he’s paying more attention to the beautiful buildings of downtown Pittsburg. 

“Sweetheart, come on,” Pope says, now pulling at Dennis’ sweats. 

“What?” Dennis turns his head, breath catching at the sight of Pope in sunglasses and a bit of auburn in his hair getting caught in the sunlight. His boyfriend is truly beautiful. This day is perfect in Dennis’ mind. 

“Gimme your feet, put ‘em in my lap,” Pope instructs. 

“You don’t have to do that, I’m fine like this. They feel fine, babe,” Dennis replies shyly, not knowing if he’d made that big of a deal of his feet being cold all the time. 

“Nah, it’s for me, I wanna hold em,” Pope says. “I like your feet in my lap, then I know you’re relaxed and safe.” Dennis has to blink away tears. How’d he get so lucky?

He already had his sneakers off to feel the warm air coming from the vent so he quickly twists his body to sit sideways in the passenger seat and stretches his legs out across the center console. He’s actually wearing some brand new socks that Pope got him that are pleasantly tight around the middle of his feet. He plants the soles of his feet on Pope’s thigh that is way warmer than the footwell.