OC Hell

When it rains, it’s cold, and when it’s cold, it sucks.

Orio thought this to himself as he sat in front of the window of the hideout, his long hair pulled back in a messy ponytail and a blanket wrapped tight around his body. He was beginning to see being a cold-blooded creature as a curse. Especially during a stormy season like this. With a soft huff he stood up and walked away, wanting to grab some food for himself to see if that would bring some warmth. The gang had settled down in an old and abandoned apartment building that was halfway underground for the time, staying closer to the surface since they thought it would be colder underground.

He shuffled his way out of the bedroom he claimed and wrapped his blanket tighter around himself, heading over to the kitchen to dig through whatever they brought with themselves. Once he went through the doorway though he stopped in his tracks and stared at the… much larger and hairier man at the stove. Ethan was whistling gently to himself, cooking some scrambled eggs and toast happily. After a few seconds he had a sense that someone was in the room with him and looked back, his head and eyebrows perking up as he turned and looked at Orio.

“Hey there~” he said with a smile, “Thought you and Gil were asleep. You want some eggs?” he asked, turning his body slightly and holding up the pan of eggs.

Orio just stood there and stared at him with a neutral expression for a moment. While he didn’t outright hate Ethan like he did at first, he still wasn’t too trusting of him. He just seemed… too nice.

“ …. Is that a no?” Ethan asked after a few seconds, lowering the pan back down onto the stove, “There’s plenty of eggs if that’s what yer worried about. I’m not eating that much-- Oh! I was also making toast, so that’s an option too if yer not feelin’ up for eggs--” He was definitely too talkative, though.

“.... Sure.” he said softly, looking away and walking over to the fridge. “Eggs are fine.”

Ethan perked up and looked at the other, actually a little caught off guard by the calm response. He was used to the hisses and growls as responses, or just being ignored entirely, but he still wanted to be nice since they were all basically stuck working together at this point. But this was a nice little change that made him smile.

“Alrighty then. Is scrambled okay or do ya want it another style? I do make a pretty mean omelette.” he spoke confidently with a grin, shuffling around the egg yolk.

Orio just rolled his eyes, grabbing out a small carton of milk from the fridge and cracking it open. “I’ll just take scrambled eggs.”

“Okay. Toast?”

“No.”

“Alrighty then.” Ethan nodded, continuing his cooking. Orio was definitely someone that just liked to get to the point and isn’t up for any kind of small talk. But he didn’t mind it so much, and he knew he could maybe get him to crack a smile one of these days. The shorter man walked over and sat down at the table, curling himself up the best he could in his chair with a small shiver. Ethan’s ear perked up and he heard the little noise, glancing back for a moment at his partner. “.... You pretty cold?”

Orio looked up and narrowed his eyes slightly, his upper lip sneering a bit. “..... Yeah.” he answered, leaning back and turning to look out the window again.

Ethan nodded and looked back at his pan, “.... You just hate cold weather?”, he asked, finishing up the first round of scrambled eggs.

“Yeah. It sucks being cold-blooded.”

“.... Cold-blooded?” Ethan blinked and looked back for a moment. “... Yeah. I’m a reptile.”

“.... What does that have to do with it?” he asked, looking genuinely confused and tilting his head slightly.

Orio just stared at him, waiting for some type of sign to let him know that this was a joke, but it wasn’t happening. “... Reptiles are cold-blooded creatures.”

“Which meeeaannss…”

Oh my god. “It means that my body is just whatever temperature the weather is. If it's cold, I’m really cold.”

“Oh! I didn’t know that actually. That’s pretty cool… I mean, I guess not right now when it’s cold-- Anyway--” he stopped himself, grabbing a few more eggs to make for Orio. “What I was trying to get at is, I got an extra hoodie over in my room. If you want… I could grab it for ya and--”

“No thanks.” Orio said a bit curtly, looking out the window again. “I’m doing fine with my blanket.”

Ethan blinked and looked back before he cracked the eggs, “Oh, uh… Alright. But let me know if you change your mind.” he nodded and turned back to the stove, letting the eggs sit and start cooking.

Orio just huffed softly and leaned back in his chair, not really wanting to accept any kindness. He would warm up soon, he just needed to grab a few extra blankets. Suddenly the windows began to shake a bit from the wind, causing the both of them to look over right before it suddenly blew open and let in a large and cold burst of wind and rain. Ethan very quickly hurried and pulled the window closed again, making sure to lock it extra tight. “Jesus, this storm ain’t kiddin’ around.” he remarked, pulling the curtains closed as well before going back to the stove, “Now it feels even colder.”

Orio was still sitting in his chair, definitely feeling how chillier the kitchen became as he curled up more in his seat. He could feel his teeth chattering slightly as his whole body shivered. A soft and shaky breath escaped him, looking up at the larger man as he remembered his offer. He didn’t want to admit it, but the idea of a large sweatshirt did sound nice and warming… especially from someone of Ethan’s build.

After about five more minutes Ethan was done with Orio’s plate, turning off the stove and picking up the two plates. He walked over and set the other’s food down for him with a smile, “Here ya are~ Nice and fresh.”

Orio simply nodded in thanks and stared at the food for a bit, gathering up his thoughts. “..... Hey.” he spoke softly, causing the other man to stop before he could walk away. “.... Um… Can I still have that sweatshirt?” he asked in a softer tone, avoiding any kind of eye contact as he pulled his plate close.

Ethan stared at him for a moment before a big and wide smile crossed his lips, standing up straight and setting his plate down. “Of course! Gimmie just a sec, I’ll be right back.” he said before walking out of the kitchen and into his own bedroom. Orio watched him silently and slowly began eating his breakfast, staring down at the plate. He can’t deny that Ethan does cook pretty well… makes him want to start trying to cook again as well. He took a couple more bites before Ethan came back into the kitchen, holding a dark blue hooded sweatshirt with white pockets and stripes. He walked up beside the other and held it out gently with that same wide smile, “Here ya go, hope it won’t make ya too warm…”

Orio just nodded again and took it, letting his blanket slip off his shoulders while he pulled the hoodie on. Almost immediately he felt much better, an entire wave of warmth washing over his body as he let out a relieved and happy sigh, even relaxing his posture and leaning back into the chair once again.

“Better?” Ethan asked, a soft chuckle escaping him as he watched his work partner enjoy the clothing.

“Yeah… Thank you…” he said, looking up at him. He wasn’t smiling, but Ethan could certainly tell that Orio meant that and was grateful for it.

“Aw, it’s no big deal at all~ You can even keep it if ya want. I got plenty of sweatshirts sitting around in my bags so I don’t mind sharing a few, especially if we keep gettin’ colder weather like this.” he went on, sitting down beside him to start eating, “I mean, I got a lot of stuff from my high school days, some from when I traveled around from different islands--”