Who: Nick and Charlie What: Iced In (gdoc) When: Saturday morning Where: Henry/Charlie’s House Warnings: Low Status: Complete
Nick didn’t spend the night too often, Martha was nice and didn’t say much about it but he wasn’t the sort of boy who was going to take advantage. They’d been let out of school early and he’d gone to Charlie’s to study, not really noticing that the storm had gotten progressively worse until it wasn’t safe to head back to the TARDIS. He wasn’t quite ready to call it home yet.
He, had remembered to let Martha know before they’d settled in to watch a movie and fallen asleep. Waking before his alarm, he blinked in the grey morning light, and reached for his phone trying not to wake up Charlie so he could check the time. It seemed darker than he thought it should be and frowning he sat up and leaned over to peer out of an adjacent window.
“Charlie. Char… wake up.” It looked like Madison had officially frozen over.
Charlie was glad to have Nick stay over any time. That night was no different. Cuddling in his arms after a makeout session was what he needed after that awful last week. His cheek rested on Nick’s chest, his eyes still heavily closed as though he hadn’t slept in ten years. This place had been challenging for him to get used to, though it was getting a little better now that Nick was there.
He had someone he loved and who knew him, he didn’t have to be on guard as often as he had been before. He slept more soundly with Nick than he did by himself. Sleepy eyes opened to see the other boy in front of him. Questioning him without words just yet.
“Mm?”
“It looks like Elsa exploded outside.” Yes, he’s seen Frozen. Do not judge. “And we got a text from school about a snow day.”
Not that there was as significant amount of anything that looked like snow. He supposed all of that meant they could go back to sleep, it was early enough his alarm hadn’t gone off so a few more hours in bed would be nice. Plus it was warmer under the covers. Obviously being icy and freezing outside meant it was chillier inside too.
“It’s snowing?” Charlie got up reluctantly to go look. Was it ice or snow? He peered out the window and squinted. It appeared to be both.”Come on!” He pulled Nick up, trying to get him out of bed to go see the snow. Pulling on a pair of pants and one of the many hoodies he’d already stolen from Nick, he headed for the door. Could they even get out to see it? He pushed at the door to open it and it didn’t budge.
Strictly speaking, no it wasn’t snowing. ALso they were going to freeze out side but that didn’t stop Nick from scrambling after Charlie, pulling on another of his hoodies and his joggers, shoving his feet into trainers as he followed.
“Let me try,” He gave the door a shove, used his shoulder the way he would playing rugby and it… didn’t move. “I think we’re stuck till it defrosts a little.”
He really should probably text Martha, and Charlie might want to make sure Henry knew.
“Is it cold in here?”
“Oh no. Stuck inside with my hot boyfriend with the rugby arms. That must hurt a little after that?” Charlie moved to give it a little rub as if it would do much for him if it did. But all the same, he liked watching him be all strong.”Maybe we should get some tea?” As much as he wanted to drag Nick back to bed, he didn’t want him to freeze. He reached for his hand to hold.
It didn’t really hurt, but he didn’t mind the rub, he liked Charlie touching him. That was what had made him decide he was bi.
“I like tea,” he threaded his fingers with the other boys and headed toward the kitchen. He could also eat something so hopefully there was food. In the kitchen he flipped on the lights to nothing, and noticed that the clocks were all blank. “Power’s out. Probably explains why it’s so cold in here.”
He hesitated then, he didn’t really know the kitchen well enough to make the tea without help.
He gave that arm a little squeeze before sliding into the kitchen with him. “Hm. So it is. Well, we’ve got fixings for sandwiches anyway. Henry takes those work. Probably won’t mind if I make you one.” Yes he was going to enjoy this little moment of domestic bliss when it came to having Nick in his home. He was going to play home maker and make him lunch. Charlie himself wasn’t super hungry, but he dug through the fridge to grab a few sandwich things. “What do you like on yours?”
“Tea drawer over there.” He pointed at one of the thousands of drawers in that massive kitchen. Between Henry and Charlie living on caffeine they had a fantastic selection of teas. “Might have to be ice tea though.” So much for that warm up solution.
“Depends on the sandwich. Mustard? Cheese? You think he has any chutney?” A grin because he was joking, though a cheese and pickle sandwich was never amiss. He went to the tea drawer, had to love a house with a tea drawer and pulled out a couple tea bags, sugar, located mugs happy to open cabinets once he;d sort of been given permission. Then he inspected the stove.
“This is gas.” Which meant hot tea was doable. “Just need a kettle.”
“Doubt it…but maybe he is British.” But they were trapped in small state America. Who knew what he’d gotten his hands on. “Looks like you’ve got turkey, and some kind of beef and peanut butter. American as hell.” Charlie snickered a little. Mostly they went out to eat, but work sandwiches were a good go to when Henry hadn’t the time. “Oh, ah there should be a kettle in there.” He pointed near Nick’s left leg where various appliances lived. All of them are untouched. “We usually just go out to eat. This is going to get real interesting.” Not that Charlie ate much at all anyway, but at some point he’d need something. Pizza wasn’t available since it was frozen.
“I can cook,” he shrugged and opened up the cabinet, rummaged for a kettle. He could bake, cooking wasn’t that different. Though if he was honest he mostly heated things up. Or made pasta and ready made sauce. “Nothing fancy. But we won’t starve as long as you have things to make.”
The stove worked, which was really the important part.
Speaking of which he filled the heavy metal kettle with water and put it on the stove, it lit on the first try and and he grinned over at Charlie.
“Not as fast as electric but hey we can boil water at least.”
“Can you?” Charlie turned around to look impressed with him. Suddenly wishing food didn’t make him queasy. “I can make cereal. And sandwiches and heat up pizza.” He gave a bit of a laugh. “Clearly I’m the next Gordon Ramsay.” Charlie began pulling out ingredients and putting them all together to make a bit of a meal for him. “Pretty sure there’s pasta and things like that.” They had some food. But they didn’t eat in a lot.
He got a full body shiver while he was making that meal, in spite of Nick’s jacket and stopped for a moment just to rub his hands together. He was so thin that the chill was getting to him. His hands felt a little stiff. He tried to stretch them out a bit.
“Just me and mum the last couple years, and David before that.” Though his brother had always been a prat about doing anything in the kitchen. “So I can do basic stuff. Scrambled eggs. Soup. Pasta. Beans on toast.”
He noticed the shiver, the water was warm but not up to temperature yet. “You should get back in bed. Or put on more layers.” Both probably.
“You're brilliant, you know that? “ Charlie couldn't cook at all. But, food had never really been on his radar. Even as a kid he'd been particular. He finished putting together his boyfriend's sandwich, and gently placed it in front of him.
His hand really hurt doing that. The cold sinking in was awful, but he didn't want to leave Nick. “I'm okay. “ He did text Henry briefly that the house was frozen in. He leaned on Nick for both warmth and comfort. “You okay? “ He asked. Charlie hated the cold.
“I’m really not,” brilliant he means. Anyone could make a cheese toastie or pasta. He took a bite of his sandwich, it was good and he smiled as he chewed wrapping an arm around Charlie when he leaned against him, rubbing lightly along his arm to try and warm him up. He was cold but not quite as cold as Charlie, but he had more muscle on him which he thought was helpful in temperature regulation if he remembered science class correctly.
“Better now,” he continued to eat his sandwich and when the water boiled poured it into the mugs with the tea bags. He didn’t let go of Charlie until he had to step away to put the plate in the sink and go get milk for their tea. “Sugar?”
Charlie threw a look over at him and rolled his eyes. “I say you are.” He didn’t mean just for the cooking either. The arm around him helped. He stayed as close as he could until he stepped away for the tea and he shook his head to the sugar question. “Nah.” He responded. “No sugar.” He was more content in Nick’s arms than anything else. He almost whined when the other boy moved away.
It was so cold. He probably should have felt hungry or something, but he didn’t feel anything at all. He just felt tired. Like at that point he could probably sit on the floor and fall asleep there. He had to flex his hands again. “Feels like a bloody freezer in here.”
Nick doctored his own tea, watching Charlie out of the corner of his eye, concerned but not sure how to ask if there was something more than the cold wrong. He pushed Charlie’s tea to him, that should help with the hands anyway.
“Want to go back to bed?” It would be warmer, and they could always grab more blankets. He was sure Henry kept a linen cupboard stocked somewhere. He was the type. They could try building a fire in one of the fireplaces, but he didn’t think either of them had the skill for that.
“Yeah.” He responded, he couldn’t really think straight or he might have made a suggestive remark. He held the cup of tea and it helped a bit. His hands stopped hurting as much. He let Nick lead the way back to his room. All the while having to force himself to remain upright. To not drop the tea. Once they made it back to his room, he shakily put the cup on the desk and sat on the edge of the bed.
He was shivering, to the point of feeling miserable, but not wanting anything except his boyfriend to soothe it.
“Hey,” he was frowning more now, had noticed the shaky way Charlie was moving. Concern lacing his words. “In bed, I’ll grab more blankets.”
He hesitated, stripped off his hoodie and held it out to Charlie, because getting in bed in his coat wasn’t going to be comfortable. He shivered a little in a t-shirt and his sweatpants but he’d be fine until he got back.
Then he was off in search of a linen closet, what he found was Alex with his arms full of blankets.Nick was still a little awkward around Henry and his boyfriend, not as awkward as he would be if it was Charlie’s mum and dad but still it was funny the two of them meeting in the hallway when technically neither of them lived here.
“Hey man, was just bringing you guys these. I can build a fire in the den too if you’d prefer that to body heat.” Nick still blushed hotly at the implication, and the easy way the man said it, out was one thing - being blase about sex and sexuality was something he thought might be a purely American thing.
Or an Alex thing. He’d never met an American before.
“Thanks,” he reached out for the blankets. “I was just looking for a linen closet. Charlie’s in bed trying not to die of hypothermia.” Light, but his concern showed through and Alex was good enough at reading people that he just nodded.
“Well if you want a fire before the power comes back on, let Henry know.” Then he was gone, back into the big house to wherever he’d come from and Nick went back to Charlie’s room.
“Alex is a lot.” He said as he carried the armload of blankets into the room.
When Nick handed him yet another one of his hoodies, Charlie did feel a little bad. But also cold. “You need one too..” He protested at first, but it seemed Nick wasn’t going to take no for an answer on this one, the other boy was on his way out to look for blankets. Charlie gave a slightly exasperated sigh, but didn’t let it go to waste. He put both on and crawled into bed, burying himself under all the covers. He curled into the smallest ball, trying to keep warm.
Only the very top of his head peaked out when Nick came back in. “He’s here too?” God this house was so big he barely even noticed. Charlie shook his head. “What’d he say?” A lot was a kind way to put it. They were both lucky they hadn’t gotten the sex power points yet.
“He’s here, he offered to build a fire in the den if the blankets aren’t enough to keep us warm until the power comes back on.” No way was he mentioning body heat to Charlie, just remembering it made him blush again. It was less what Alex had said and more that Alex as an entity was a lot, the man reminded Nick of Darcy somehow.
He shook out the blankets, layering the thicker ones on top of the lump that was Charlie in the bed, tucking them in around the edges. Then he found his beanie hat, pulled that on, wrapped one of the blankets around his back and nudged at his boyfriend. “Got room in there for me?”
“Think that can be managed.” Making room for Nick that was. He slid over so Nick had room to get in. He was already feeling better. A lot less stiff, though at some points he’d probably need to eat something, as much as he dreaded the idea of it. He wasn’t feeling well in that regard, but he would rather just cuddle with his boyfriend at that point. “At least Henry isn’t alone then.” Charlie felt better about Alex being there now, about being in bed with Nick instead of in some common area. It was much warmer in the blankets. He’d stopped shivering as badly.
Nick didn’t hesitate to climb under the covers, pulling the blanket around his shoulders up by their heads as he settled in and scrunched down. He shivered then, it was actually already a lot warmer under the covers than outside.
“Probably for the best,” And he wasn’t going to think about Alex talking about body heat with Henry either. He still needed to message Maratha again, let her know he was stuck but for now he tucked himself against Charlie and draped an arm across the other boy’s waist and huffed a laugh. “Might be awkward if only one of us was here.”
Charlie was pretty sure he’d heard them “sharing body heat” once or twice already. But thankfully Henry had bought him headphones for Christmas. They got a lot of use at night. He curled up against Nick with that arm around him. “You know…there is one thing that is good for heat.”
Now that Nick was there the shivers had stopped entirely; He was almost hot with two layers on. But, he didn’t want to worry Nick again so he kept them both as they were.
Nick didn’t want to know about that, seriously he needed to be able to look both men in the face and hearing about or actually hearing anything was not going to make that feasible. He was warming up nicely as well, snuggled closer unconsciously tucking a sock clad foot between the other boys.
“Oh?” He recognized the tone of Charlie’s voice, and chuckled, ducked his head so they were temple to temple.
No, Charlie wasn’t going to traumatize him with the details. Especially not when Nick’s face was that much closer to his, and he could do so many better things with it. Like kiss it. Which he did once it was within range. Now that he didn’t feel like he was going to pass out from the cold, he had a sudden burst of energy. What better way to use it?
“Mmmm,” he hummed into the kiss, fingers flexing against Charlie’s hip where his hand had come to rest. Returning the kiss was almost instinct at this point, lips parting on a soft huff of air, slow and sweet and Nick could feel it all the way down to his toes. He shivered again, but it had nothing to do with the cold and everything to do with the boy he was in bed with.
There was minor concern over the brief shiver, but when Nick didn’t stop-neither did he. That first kiss turned into another, one that was deeper and more heated. He was not going to complain that they were stuck there in the slightest. He was actually getting a little hot though in two sweaters, but for the time being he didn’t want to break kisses. He just dealt with it. His hand slid up to Nick’s chest, palm resting against it with a little weight.
Nick shifted, leaning into and over Charlie a little more fully as the kiss lingered, deepened. The other boy was so warm, ironic considering they’d gotten back in bed because it was literally freezing outside, and the red head made a sound in his throat that was almost but not quite a moan.
His lips dragged over Charlie’s jaw to his neck on instinct more than anything else, finding his pulse with his lips. He inhaled and nuzzled closer, Charlie really did smell incredible, it did things to Nick’s insides.
This was what he’d missed. Seeing Nick above him like that caused a red sheer tint to creep into his cheeks. He had so many things to say in his mind, but none of them came out. He sucked briefly at Nick’s lower lip as he pulled away to give attention to his neck. That caused a less than dignified pleased sound from him. The hand he held to Nick’s chest slid down it, touching the hem of his shirt.
He’d gotten a couple new fragrances when he’d gone shopping with what he hoped were to become new friends. He was glad Nick didn’t seem to object. “Think I like this storm.” He said dumbly with a little laugh as his hand slid under Nic’s shirt, gliding up to touch his chest and muscle.
His abdomen tightened as Charlie’s fingers grazed bare skin, bloody hell if he was honest his entire body tightened. Entire body being both literal and a euphemism.
He didn’t stop him, but he couldn’t stop the soft gasp and he pushed himself up so he was looking down at the brunette.
“Oh? Why’s that?” A small smile quirked his lip, heart in his eyes and his brain trying to really really not think about the hand on his skin.
Fingertips brushed over a nipple as he met his boyfriend’s eyes with his own. All the blood had rushed downwards, his own pants had become a bit uncomfortable. “For a few reasons. The tea was particularly good.” He teased, also a euphemism if he was entirely honest. He traced the line of his pec.”Can I take this off?” He wanted to see the skin he was touching. Other hand giving his shirt a light tug.
Yes. Hell yes. A part of Nick was absolutely on board with taking off his shirt. It wasn’t like Charlie hadn’t seen him shirtless before, they’d changed for rugby more than once beside each other. A smaller part of him had a mini anxiety attack, but it lost as delicate fingers traced over his skin.
“Yeah,” it came out a little bit breathless, a little unsure even as he shifted enough to sit up and pull his shirt over his head. Cold air rushed into their blanket cocoon when he did it and his skin was suddenly covered in goose flesh making him laugh. “Should have thought that through better.”
Charlie closed his eyes for a moment at the rush of wind chill, but quickly pulled the blanket back over them once the shirt was gone. He shifted closer to Nick, hands back on his chest. “Let’s see if we can fix that.”
Once the wind was locked back out of the blanket fort they’d built for themselves, and Nick had settled, Charlie moved closer to him. His lips pressed against where his hand had been on his chest and downward to a nipple. Pausing for a moment before brushing his tongue against it and glancing briefly upwards at Nick. It was a bold move, but with just them-he felt a little bit confident to try new things.
He couldn’t suppress the shudder, the gasp as Charlie’s tongue touched his skin. He didn’t know what to do with his hands, his fingers clenching against the blanket. HIs pulse jumped and he froze eyes flicking down to meet the other boy’s.
“Char,” it was too much and not enough and he didn’t know what to say. Honestly he didn’t know what he wanted to say, but the wide eyed gobsmacked expression, the anxiety in his face probably said something without words.
He wasn’t sure what that tone was, so he stopped for a moment. “This okay?” If it wasn’t, all Nick had to do was say the slightest word and they could go back to kissing or something similar. He hadn’t meant to paralyze his boyfriend. And he wouldn’t go further without his actual consent. Look at that Alex, consent talk sank in. Though, Charlie knew about that for other people if he was entirely honest, he just hadn’t at the time for himself.
“Yeah. It’s.. uh…” catching his breath seemed impossible and he wasn’t even sure he wanted to try. It was just, a lot, a few months ago he hadn’t even really been aware of being into guys and at the moment he was extremely aware of how much he was into this particular one. He is aware that he sounds unsure and overwhelmed and resists the urge to duck his head so he doesn’t have to look at his boyfriend.
“Can we…” Okay at some point he was going to have to complete a sentence again. He sighed, took a deep breath. “I do like it. I’m just… not sure I’m ready to do anything more than kissing.”
Shirtless kissing, obviously.
Charlie paused for a moment, trying not to look embarrassed. He was obviously a bit ahead of Nick in this department, and didn’t realize how much until just now. But instead of words, considering he had a hard moment of coming up with any-he just slid back up a bit. Lifting Nick’s chin with a gentle finger, and capturing his lips. “Yeah, it’s fine.” He said softly after, kissing him again before letting his hand slide back up to rest on his chest and tried to just carry on instead. Words would not be his friend, and it wasn’t like that made him want to touch Nick any less.
“Sorry,” he almost smiled when he said it, half a kiss and half an apology as Charlie pressed his lips to his again.
He relaxed into the softer kiss, pulling Charlie down with him as he burrowed into the blankets and brought the other boy with him.
“Certainly warmer than I was.” He laughed a little embarrassed.
He tried not to dwell, but his brain didn’t listen to his silly little wants most of the time. Why would it start now? As Nick pulled him closer, he rested his forehead against his neck briefly and closed his eyes. “No s words.” He reminded him as the kiss broke to breathe. “You feel warm.” A quiet response as he let himself catch his breath for a moment. He just felt like curling up to him for a moment, so he did.
“Fine, no s words.” He slid his arms around Charlie and pulled him closer against his chest. This was good, he liked the feeling of the other boys breath on his skin, his hand lightly resting on his chest. He could do this. He wanted to do this.
“Get some more sleep,” He bent so his face half buried in the dark curly hair and let his hands skim the bottom of Charlie’s top so his fingers grazed the strip of bare skin there. “Maybe the power will be back on when we wake up.”
And if it wasn’t they could go and get Alex to make a fire, play a board game or something. What did you do without power?
He was just in his head too much to do anything else. He was a bit relieved when Nick put his arms around him, but he didn’t feel up to going out. He still felt mildly embarrassed, but didn’t want to say so. Sleep would help. Hopefully. The fact that Nick didn’t push him away was a good sign. But he couldn’t help but to mentally spiral a bit until eventually sleep took over.
Some of the skin there was a bit rough where Nick touched, like it had scars that hadn’t healed entirely correctly. Charlie didn’t comment on it though, that was one hundred percent something he wasn’t prepared to talk about. “Mmhm.” Was all that was mumbled in the safety of his arms.
He smiled softly, curled closer and let his own eyes drift closed, the steady beat of Charlie’s hear and the soft sound of his breathing lulling Nick to sleep soon after.